Table of contents for 2021-11-23 in Star

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za GLOBAL factors continued to put the rand on the back foot yesterday as the local currency began the week under serious pressure, slumping to a one-year low. The rand yesterday breached the R15.80 mark against the US dollar, its lowest since November last year, pressured by a stronger dollar and concerns over new lockdown restrictions in Europe, as well as some hawkish comments from Fed officials. Investors are growing increasingly worried about the spread of Covid-19 in Europe as the onset of cold weather sees the continent battling a fresh wave of infections. Several nations are reporting record-high infection rates and have begun introducing full and partial lockdowns, with Austria becoming the first EU country to go back into a national lockdown as of yesterday. Anchor Capital’s…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za OMNIA Holdings put in a robust performance in the six months to September 30, and was in a fundamentally stronger financial position than it was two years ago when it ran out of money, chief executive Seelan Gobalsamy said yesterday. He said in a telephone interview that they turned the group around by sticking to their strategy of focused capital allocation in a disciplined way, including fixing some business and selling others over the two-year period. In the past six months, the supply chain was optimised for improved reliability. Revenue from continuing operations increased to R9.9 billion from R7.6bn at the half-year of the 2021 financial year. Gobalsamy said it was the first time Omnia had managed to grow turnover by more than 30 percent;…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za THE R100 million Tiger Brands Venture Capital Fund, aimed at giving start-ups in the food and beverages sector a capital injection, had made its first funding offer, Tiger Brands chief executive Noel Doyle says. Nine other opportunities were being assessed “There are some interesting concepts, not all of them fit our profile, and there are some we would like to latch on to. “The first funding offer has been made and is in the process of being negotiated. It is exciting and I am hopeful that in six months we will have some that we can showcase,” Doyle said last week. He said the group’s strong balance sheet would enable it to provide the funding. “With great ideas and with our balance sheet we certainly have…

Kedibone Modise kedibone.modise@inl.co.za South African multidisciplinary artist Gabrielle Goliath, in collaboration with the University of Cape Town (UCT) choir, is commemorating the life of Uyinene Mrwetyana and other victims of gender-based violence. Mrwetyana, 19, was raped, tortured and bludgeoned to death by Luyanda Botha, at a local post office on August 24, 2019. Following this horrendous act of violence, Botha dumped the young student’s remains in an open field, dousing her body with petrol and setting it alight. In her latest installation work Chorus, Goliath uses music to “recall” the lost lives of many women, children and non-gender-conforming individuals who were raped and brutally murdered in South Africa. “In Chorus, members of the UCT choir sound a lament for Uyinene Mrwetyana, not as a song, but the internally generated resonance…

Viwe Ndongeni-Ntlebi viwe.ndongeni@inl.co.za Many families will be looking at spring cleaning their homes and getting ready for the holidays soon. One place in your home that might not be on your list as you dust and declutter is your medicine cabinet. It should be. Just like the closet full of clothes you might not have worn in a while, medicine cabinets should be cleared out regularly, so that unused and unwanted medicines don’t stay on the shelf unnecessary. Gerda Potgieter, from Medipost Pharmacy, says: “Medicine cabinets should be cleared out regularly, as certain types of medicine may degrade and lose their effectiveness over time and may even become hazardous.” Even the way we store medication could be a health hazard. As a safety measure, the team at MedicinePlus suggest you…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za RIVERS of Living Waters Church leader Bishop Bafana Stephen Zondo should tell the truth because he’s a religious man. This is according to the woman who claims he had raped her on three occasions 40 years ago when she was just 7. But the Zondo camp insisted the alleged victim thumb-sucked the charges, as she and her family wanted him to pay them R1 million to drop the charges. The woman, the first of eight alleged victims to take the stand in Zondo’s North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, rape trial, has been cross-examined for days by Zondo’s advocate. She claimed she was raped in either 1980 or 1981 by Zondo, who was then a teenager. The witness, who cannot be identified, said she only had the…

Zainul Dawood zainul.dawood@inl.co.za NATIONAL police commissioner General Khehla Sitole said the Public Order Policing (POP) unit was understaffed and plans to rebuild it was reliant on budget allocation. Currently, the unit has 5 005 officers while they should have 12 000. Sitole said the POP unit has been scaled down since 1993. He yesterday testified before the SA Human Rights Commission of (SAHRC) as the national investigative hearing into the July unrest continues. Unrest broke out and swept through Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, leaving more than 340 people dead. The public demanded answers from the SAPS and the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) saying they were not visible during the upheaval. The SAHRC panel told Sitole similar utterances were made during the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the Marikana massacre…

Zinedine Zidane Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time as Manchester United manager finally ran out on Sunday as the Norwegian was sacked following a humiliating 4-1 Premier League defeat at Watford. Solskjaer failed to win a trophy in nearly three years in charge at Old Trafford and tangible signs of progress after finishing second in the league last season have been blown away amid a run of five defeats in their last seven league games. United are already 12 points off the pace at the top of the table and the club have announced their intention to appoint an interim manager until the end of the season before making a permanent appointment. Here, we look at five of the leading candidates to be Solskjaer’s successor: Expectations were high for United to challenge…

HERMAN GIBBS After Bernard Parker spared Kaizer Chiefs’ blushes with a match-winning header against Maritzburg United, coach Stuart Baxter has called for more of the same against an erratic AmaZulu at FNB Stadium tomorrow It’s too early to say that Chiefs have turned the corner after a sluggish start to the season because they could easily have come a cropper against a resolute Maritzburg on Sunday. A set-piece provided the platform for Parker to weave his magic with a diving header after a Reeve Frosler corner kick, which was reeled out to Keagan Dolly. Parker met Dolly’s kick with a low dive in the penalty box and steered the header through the outstretched hands of Maritzburg’s German goalkeeper Marcel Engelhardt. “I am really pleased we’re starting to score goals…

Michael Carrick said yesterday he is relishing the “privilege” of taking temporary charge at Manchester United as captain Harry Maguire demanded the players take responsibility for the disastrous results that led to the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Solskjaer was sacked on Sunday after a dismal run of one win in seven Premier League games. Carrick, 40, was part of the Norwegian's coaching staff, but will take caretaker charge while the club work on plans to appoint an interim manager until the end of the season. “To see Ole unfortunately lose his job yesterday was tough for me and tough for a lot of people at the club,” said Carrick, who won a clutch of major trophies as a United player between 2006 and 2018. “You could tell by the…

Sizwe Dlamini sizwe.dlamini@inl.co.za EOH HOLDINGS chief executive Stephen van Coller caused harm to many small black businesses working with EOH by treating all enterprise development partners as “suspected” criminals. This is according to Save EOH – a group that aims to expose the unethical business conduct within the company – who made claims that Van Coller lied under oath to the Zondo Commission on no less than 54 occasions during his testimony. The Save EOH submission to the Zondo Commission noted at least 54 factual inaccuracies relating to various aspects of the company, which it said formed the basis for formal criminal charges to be registered with the SAPS. The submission has also been delivered to shareholders and members of the board of EOH. When contacted for comment, EOH group…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za BARLOWORLD moved well into the black in the year to September 30 with headline earnings per share (Heps) at 1 195 cents compared with the 268c loss in 2020, and it also declared a special dividend. Normalised Heps from continuing operations came to 1 323c versus 70c in 2020. A dividend of 300c was declared compared with no dividend at the end of the 2020 year, and this brought the total payout in 2021 to 437c per share. On top of that, a special dividend of 1 150c will be paid. Shareholders were enthused, as the share price went up 9.76 percent to R148.18 per share by yesterday afternoon. Group revenue increased 8.4 percent to R53.8 billion, with revenue from…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za NETCARE, the third largest private hospital group in South Africa by value, yesterday resumed dividends for the year ended September 2021 and reduced debt even as it dealt with the third wave driven by the more contagious Delta variant. Netcare declared a 34 cents a share final dividend as operating profit rose to R2.02 billion, compared with R1.39bn last year. Chief executive Richard Friedland said the group would continue paying dividends due to strong cash flows. “The strength of the balance sheet and the underlying businesses, together with an enhanced pipeline of new initiatives should allow the continuation of dividend payments and position Netcare to return to pre-Covid-19 profitability and growth over the medium term,” said Netcare. In May last year Netcare scrapped its interim dividend…

MAJOR crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, do not only change human behaviour, but also transform our cities and the way we live. In 1837, the typhoid outbreak in Croydon (part of Surrey and now part of London) killed numerous people. When the cases were mapped out using the epidemiological method, the source was found to be a polluted chalk water well at Addington, London, which was pumping untreated water into the public supply. The water was polluted with the bacteria, typhoid bacillus, because of a worker who was an active carrier of typhoid working in the well while chlorination was stopped. After the final discovery, important changes were made to the water system. During the 1848 to 1854 cholera epidemics in London, physician John Snow carefully gathered data about…

Kedibone Modise Michael Taylor-Broderick’s How to Train your Human will make its debut at the newly built theatre at the Shongweni Farmers’ and Craft Market on Saturday, December 11. Inspired by the popular How to Train Your Dragon films and books, this family-friendly show will be staged every Saturday until January 8. Directed by Stacey Taylor-Broderick, the magical production focuses on teaching all attending “dragons” the skills needed to successfully train their humans. Performed by two highly respected “dragons”, Mpilo Straw Nzimande and Kaylee McIlroy, the production explores the five love languages to unravel the wonders and mystery of creating a path to the human heart and other humans around them. Shongweni Farmers’ and Craft Market owners Keith and Christine Standeaven say they wanted to create a performance space to…

Mashudu Sadike mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za RESIDENTS of Malamulele in Limpopo are “very afraid” and “frightened” after heavily-armed men stormed and robbed the Malamulele police station of rifles, pistols and ammunition on Sunday night. Police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said that around midnight a group of armed suspects stormed the Malamulele police station and held officers at gunpoint in the community service centre of the precinct. “Some members were forced into the back of a police van while one member was ordered to unlock the safe where the suspects took R5 rifles, 9mm pistols, shotguns and an undisclosed number of ammunition,” said Mathe. She said the suspects proceeded to a food outlet and a petrol-filling station, where they robbed the businesses of an undisclosed amount of cash. “All role-players, including a multidisciplinary team…

Romantic trip ends in girlfriend’s body being found at game farm in Mpumalanga Sonri Naidoo The body believed to be of missing Alexandra woman, Zama Maphisa, has been found at a game farm near Dennilton in Mpumalanga. Maphisa went missing in September after she left with her boyfriend on a romantic sojourn to the game farm and never returned. Her boyfriend Lefadi Chego has been arrested and appeared in court last Monday. His murder case was postponed to Thursday. Police are awaiting DNA results. Chego, the father of their 4-month-old baby, apparently surprised Maphisa with a getaway on September 28. According to Maphisa’s post on social media, the pair seemed to be enjoying the holiday in what seemed to be a loving relationship. Tracy Sithole said she started…

Anita Nkonki anita.nkonki@inl.co.za MEDIA personality Dineo Langa is on a high after announcing sparkling news to her fans about being a new ambassador for JC Le Roux. The House of JC Le Roux is South Africa’s first dedicated sparkling wine cellar and a leading wine producer. The Estate star took to her social platforms to pop the big news. “And just like that, in my year of congratulations, I usher this one with a sparkle. Absolutely thrilled to announce my ambassadorship for the House of JC Le Roux family. “We have another surprise in store with this fabulous announcement and we promise we won't keep you waiting for too long.” JC Le Roux also shared its excitement: “Vibrant, elegant and ready to sparkle, JC Le Roux Nectar has a…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE Department of Basic Education (DBE) has emphasised the importance of inclusive education for persons with disabilities in the access for education for all. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga led a jointly organised summit with the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities to host the Inclusive Education Summit yesterday under the theme “Accelerating Inclusive Education: Leaving No Learner Behind”. The summit comes at a time when learners with disabilities continue to drop out of the formal education system at an alarming rate. “An inclusive, just and fair society can only be achieved through collective action. We are in this together and we rely on support and counselling from experts and people who are active in this area, but also people who have a passion around…

Chinese star Peng Shuai’s video call with the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not address or alleviate the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) concern about her well-being, the organisation said. The whereabouts of Peng, a former doubles world No 1, became a matter of international concern nearly three weeks ago after she alleged that former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her. She appeared at a dinner with friends on Saturday and a children’s tennis tournament in Beijing on Sunday, photographs and videos published by Chinese state media journalists and by the tournament’s organisers show. But they have done little to quell concerns. “It was good to see Peng Shuai in recent videos, but they don’t alleviate or address the WTA’s concern about her well-being and ability to…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za JSE HEAVYWEIGHTS Naspers/Prosus yesterday reported strong e-commerce revenues during the half year ended September 2021, despite widening trading losses. Prosus said e-commerce revenue growth jumped 53 percent to $4.2 billion (R66bn), while parent company Naspers said e-commerce revenues was up 52 percent to $4.6bn, outpacing revenue growth at Tencent, the Chinese internet gaming and social media group, in which Prosus owns a minority stake. Growth in e-commerce was driven by Classifieds, Food Delivery, Edtech, Payments and fintech. However, its operating loss increased from $274 million to $315m as a result of investments to expand e-commerce units. The value of the e-commerce portfolio had been on a steady growth path and excluding Tencent and VK/mail.ru is now approaching $50bn, up from $13bn five years…

Given Majola given.majola@inl.co.za SCHOOL uniform customers could find reprieve as the Competition Tribunal has confirmed, as an order, a consent agreement whereby a school uniform supplier/retailer agreed to no longer enter into exclusive supply agreements with schools and school groups, and to change existing supply agreements to this end. The tribunal said in a statement issued yesterday that the consent agreement between McCullagh and Bothwell (Hyde Park); McCullagh and Bothwell; and DRRW Invest- ments (collectively, “McCullagh and Bothwell”) and the Competition Commission formed part of greater efforts to increase competition, reduce barriers to entry and ensure cheaper prices in the school uniforms market. In accordance with the consent agreement, McCullagh and Bothwell would have to, among other things, ensure that any new supply agreements with schools did not contain a…

The Springboks won two out of three matches on their end-of-year tour, and while that stat is far from a bad one, you can’t help but feel that this team deserved more. After beating Wales in Cardiff and overcoming a confident Scotland side in Edinburgh, the Boks suffered a one-point defeat to England on Saturday in a match that was naturally their biggest one of the tour. Nonetheless, the Boks end 2021 as the No 1 team in the world. Apart from the on-field action, there was also lots happening outside the field of play, with World Rugby finally giving their verdict on the charges they brought against SA director of rugby Rassie Erasmus just three days before the Boks’ biggest Test of the tour. Erasmus has been suspended with…

Kedibone Modise The curtain rises once again at Theatre on the Square after it shut its doors for over 20 months due in adherence with the Covid-19 lockdown regulations. The award-winning theatre house announced earlier in the year that it lost its corporate sponsorship and risked shutting its doors permanently due to a lack of funding. Producer, owner and artistic director Daphne Khun says she’s ready to welcome theatre and music lovers back. “We feel strongly that nothing could be more appropriate than to start with the healing and uplifting power of beautiful music. The show must go on,” Kuhn said. And what better way to celebrate this great milestone than through song and dance. This holiday season, Theatre on the Square is bringing a jam-packed programme of concerts with…

Allyson Chiu HEATHER Jeffcoat is a keen observer of people. “I notice people,” said Jeffcoat, who ascribes her perceptive eye to her nearly two-decade career as a physical therapist. “I notice how people walk. I notice how people stand. I’ll just be like, ‘Oh, that person’s gripping their gluteal muscles, or that person looks like they're gripping their abs’.” The latter observation – what some experts call “stomach gripping”, or what’s more widely known as sucking in your stomach, is one that Jeffcoat said she often sees among the patrons at her usual Starbucks, next to a spin studio in the Sherman Oaks neighbourhood of Los Angeles. “They’ll be dressed in their spin clothes, basically a crop top or a sports bra and capris, and I’ve noticed it,” she…

BETTY MOLEYA betty.moleya@inl.co.za A REPORT by the National Arts Council has implicated senior officials in irregularities pertaining to the management of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme, include financial mismanagement, process irregularities and lack of adequate oversight. Two officials have subsequently been charged. Although all funds have been accounted for, five other former members were cumulatively paid R511 452 for performing the work of independent panel members. These payments, the report said, were regarded as irregular expenditure, a contravention of the provisions of the National Arts Council Act. “They failed to provide financial oversight regarding the implementation of the programme within the allocated budget of R285 million, resulting in an over-commitment amount of R428 073 778 – more than double the allocated budget.” The report identified conflict of interest in respect…

Itumeleng Mafisa TSHEPANG Rea Pitse, the decapitated woman whose body was found in a fridge in Soweto a few days ago, had tried to seek help from the home of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Pitse, who was allegedly killed by her husband Flavio Hlabangwane, together with her older sister Tshenolo, had tried seeking help from Madikizela-Mandela’s Orlando West home about their living conditions at their aunt’s house in White City. Madikizela-Mandela’s former personal assistant, Zodwa Zwane, told The Star that she intervened and tried rescuing the two. Pitse later married her cousin, Flavio, and she had several miscarriages. Zwane said she had never anticipated that the situation would end in the death of one of the women. “It was after the passing of Mrs Mandela. The girls called me, and they had…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said he hopes to have left Manchester United in a better state than he inherited them three years ago after the Norwegian was sacked by the club on Sunday. A 4-1 thrashing by lowly Watford finally saw the axe fall on Solskjaer after the club’s hierarchy kept faith with the 48-year-old in recent weeks despite humiliating home defeats to rivals Liverpool and Manchester City. “This club means everything to me and together we’re a good match, but unfortunately I couldn’t get the results we needed and it’s time for me to step aside,” Solskjaer said in an interview with United’s in-house media. “You know what this club means to me and what I wanted to achieve here. For the club, for the fans, for the players, for…

Grant Winter This week’s R17.5 million Joburg Open on Randpark’s Firethorn course could well turn out to be the battle of the big hitters in the form of rip-it-and-grip men Wilco Nienaber and Dean Burmester. For spectators, finally allowed back in their numbers, watching these two is sure to be a treat. The tournament marks the start of the 2022 European Tour and, looking back at last season, the 21-year-old Nienaber topped the driving distance statistics with an average “bomb” of 323.31 yards. The 32-year-old Burmester wasn’t far behind. He averaged 318.34 yards which put him in second place. These are average distances, of course, and it’s not uncommon for this long-hitting pair to open their shoulders and approach the 400-yard mark with their bullet-like tee-shots. Put another way,…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za A true sign of the growth Stellenbosch FC have undergone this season is the fact that coach Steve Barker expects his team to claim “maximum points” in their Premiership encounter against Orlando Pirates at Danie Craven Stadium tomorrow. Pirates belong to the royalty of footballing clubs in Mzansi, with the Soweto giants revered all around South Africa. But Stellenbosch, who are now just three seasons into their existence in the top flight, are no longer satisfied to just compete with the bigger teams. Stellenbosch now want to topple their opponents from their lofty perches, gained primarily through reputation, particularly when the opposition visit their Danie Craven Stadium fortress, like Pirates will be tomorrow. Stellies have certainly shown they can back up this confidence with performances this season,…