Table of contents for 2022-01-13 in Star

Reuters START-UPS raised more venture capital funding than ever last year and more cities around the world started to look like tech hubs – although Silicon Valley remains firmly in the lead. In 2021, investors more than doubled the amount of cash they handed out to start-ups, hitting $621 billion (R9.65 trillion) globally and shattering the previous year’s record, according to new data from research firm CB Insights. The US accounted for about half of the world’s funding total, with start-ups in the country raising about $311bn, according to the report. The Silicon Valley region and New York retained their top spots for both the most money raised and the most deals completed. Those tallies were helped along by a few big funding rounds for established companies. But…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za THE case of the life-imprisoned Liqhayiya Tuta, who was a 21-year-old second-year Unisa law student when he stabbed two undercover policemen in Sunnyside, Pretoria, four years ago, is headed to the Constitutional Court. Constables Lawrence Magalefa and Nkosinathi Sithole drove an unmarked red VW Polo vehicle and wore civilian clothes when they chased Tuta and his friend down the streets after 11pm on March 2, 2018. The gun-wielding officers, who were part of the police’s Operation Fiela, apparently suspected that Tuta was hiding a laptop as he walked. Tuta ran to a Shell petrol station, where the officers cornered him. It was at this point that he fatally stabbed Sithole. He also stabbed Magalefa, who survived but spent weeks in hospital. Tuta was charged with murder and…

Anita Nkonki anita.nkonki@inl.co.za AS we all know, getting in shape is not a stroll in the park, it all needs considerable effort and consistency. After sharing recent photos and videos of herself, media personality and radio host Unathi Nkayi’s body transformation became something to talk about, with many admiring the beauty of it. Her reels on Instagram show her working out and giving it her all. Nkayi opened up around a year ago about not being particularly pleased with her body as a result of the lockdown. Her daughter had assumed that she was expecting. This was part of the reason she took it upon herself to do something about it. “If you want it, you can have it. A year ago I was not happy with my body…

Sinazo Alungile Novukela | Mount Frere PENETRATING the market as a subsistence or rural farmer is difficult yet not impossible. It is difficult because the commercial markets come with a lot of demands that rural farmers are often not skilled to achieve. Before a rural farmer plants, they should have identified the type of the market they want to supply, know the requisite good agricultural practices of the market and have relations with role players in the market one wants to supply after harvesting. Culturally, rural farmers in the Eastern Cape, for example, plant maize in abundance because maize is also its staple food. Throughout the summer into autumn, fields are brimming with maize that would be in surplus supply because it cannot be consumed by subsistence farmers’ families only.…

Hong Kong would create a host of new national security crimes, city leader Carrie Lam said yesterday as she presided over the first session of a new “patriots only” legislature. The legislation will add to a national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing that has empowered authorities to crack down on dissent. The current national security law defines four crimes – secession, subversion, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces – and offenders can face life in jail. Lam did not say what the new crimes would be. | AFP…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za GO LIFE INTERNATIONAL, the Mauritius and JSE AltX-listed investment holding company, said yesterday that its headline loss per share for the nine months to end-November 2021 came to 0.005 US cents (0.078 SA cents) per share, but that it is restructuring and working on recapitalisation plans. The loss per share came to 0.006 US cents at the same time a year before. No revenue was disclosed. The com- pany fully impaired its subsidiaries during the year ended February 29, 2020. “The company has been through some tough times over the last two years. The board has dealt with many challenges and the asset base has been completely eroded,” the company said. New management had been secured as well as some interim funding. “However, as communicated in…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa ranks 51st with a score of 104 points on the Henley and Partners Index for countries with the most powerful and least powerful passports, which not only has a telling effect not only on investor confidence in that destination, but determines citizens’ mobility in accessing resources globally, according to the Henley Passport Index. In the 17 years of the index, South Africa has added only 39 countries to which citizens can travel without visa requirements or without obtaining visas on arrival. Top of the chart are Singapore and Japan, tied with a score of 192. Among comparable developing countries, South Africa trails Turkey, while it is in pole position for all African countries as well as China, which ranks at 64 with a score of…

Kedibone Modise kedibone.modise@inl.co.za Media personality and businesswoman Pearl Thusi has accused her employees of stealing from her. In a series of tweets, the Behind The Story host expressed her disappointment at the people she trusted with her “property”. “My home staff has been stealing from me. I’m hacked,” said the TV star. “The saddest thing is when staff in your home steal from you, it’s like losing family. And without proof of who did it, you have to pay for their crime to let them go or deal with the CCMA. That’s actually crazy. “The stuff is just missing and no one knows what happened, but they’re the only other people with access to the property missing. I’m actually hurt. I really cared for these people,” said the star. “Home…

Sonri Naidoo sonri.naidoo@inl.co.za A CITY free of waste and hijacked buildings are just some of the service delivery initiatives that Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse has pledged to tackle this year. Together with the newly elected mayoral committee, Phalatse launched the multiparty government programme, in which they plan to address key areas that are broken and need fixing. Kicking it off with “a golden start”, she said the aim was to achieve other important goals in order to get the basics of service delivery right. “For too long, our residents have suffered the indignities of poor roads, power outages, water outages and an ever-degrading quality of life. Some have even lost jobs including many who have been without work for a long, long time. “Our councillors are daily inundated with calls…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za A FARMER who complained after a wildlife conservationist posted pictures sent to him of a dead baboon and porcupine in cages on the farmer’s premises on social media lost his legal bid not to have this information published. Eastern Cape farmer and insurance broker Herman Botha was livid after conservationist Bool Smuts posted pictures of the dead animals on Facebook. Also included were Botha’s details, such as where he lived. Botha turned to the Grahamstown High Court and obtained an interdict against Botha from publishing his details online. While Botha did remove some of the details, he did not take the interdict against him lightly. He turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal, where five judges ruled in his favour and ordered that the interdict had to…

Anita Nkonki IT IS not an uncommon thing to find well-known personalities shielding their bundles of joy from the limelight. In fact, it has become the norm. The harshness of social media has seen many celebrities choose to keep their kids away from the public eye to protect them from the criticism and judgements that are forever swirling around. After having a wonderful time with her two grandchildren, Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize has come out to say “hands off” of her grandchildren. The flamboyant business-woman took to Instagram with a brief message on the need to protect children from needless exposure. “I had such an amazing time with my grandchildren this past weekend. As a parent, I think it is important that we protect our kids from unnecessary or premature exposure.…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina @inl.co.za PUBLIC Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo has revealed that hundreds of thousands of public servants have racked up R14.3 billion in leave taken due to ill health and incapacity in a period spanning 19 months since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The cost in the normal sick and incapacity leave excluded the benefits claimed by public servants in the Defence Department and the State Security Agency (SSA). Dlodlo revealed this in a response to parliamentary questions from DA MP Mimmy Martha Gondwe. Gondwe enquired about the total number of public service employees who have taken leave due to ill health and incapacity since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. She also asked for the breakdown of the number of public servants in each national…

Penelope Andrews Since the dying days of apartheid in the mid-1990s, and at several pivotal moments since, South Africans have yearned for some measure of accountability for the ravages of apartheid. After all, the end of a system declared a crime against humanity by the UN had to yield an inevitable reckoning and accountability, especially for its victims. The first opportunity for accountability for apartheid crimes in democratic South Africa came with the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, released in 1998 and 2003. The universal expectation was that those denied amnesty at the commission for apartheid-era atrocities, or those who refused to appear before it, would be held accountable by the criminal justice system. A slew of prosecutions would have been in order. Regrettably, such accountability did not…

Novak Djokovic yesterday admitted “errors” in his travel papers and for not isolating after a claimed Covid-19 infection, as he battled to stay in Australia and fight for a record 21st Grand Slam. The world number one tennis player said his team had offered fresh information to the Australian government, which was pondering whether to cancel his visa, again, and throw him out of the country. “We are living in challenging times in a global pandemic and sometimes these mistakes can occur,” the unvaccinated 34-year-old said in a statement released as he practised on the courts of the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. The Serbian star flew into Melbourne a week ago claiming a vaccine exemption because of a positive PCR test result on December 16. Border agents rejected…

Herman Gibbs herman.gibbs@gmail.com AFTER his side played second fiddle to Nigeria in their Africa Cup of Nations opener, Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz did not take kindly to the defeat as he made his way off the pitch only to be confronted by a fan who hurled abuse at him. Queiroz remonstrated with the angry fan and invited him onto the field. Security ground staff tried to usher Queiroz to the dressing room. Nigeria beat the Pharaohs 1-0 in Tuesday’s Group D fixture. Afterwards, Queiroz was annoyed with referee Bakary Gassama of Gambia for failing to award Egypt a late penalty. Some 10 minutes from the end, Nigeria’s France-based winger Moses Simon slipped in his penalty area and brought down Egyptian midfielder Ahmed Sayed. All the Egyptian players crowded around the…

MALI beat title hopefuls Tunisia 1-0 after a tale of two penalties yesterday as the Africa Cup of Nations moved to Limbe in Cameroon’s south-west, a region on edge due to the conflict led by anglophone separatists. Ibrahima Kone’s spot-kick shortly after half-time was the difference in a Group F game, but Tunisia could have earned a draw only for Wahbi Khazri to have his late penalty saved. Mali held on despite having substitute El Bilal Toure sent off late on, and the result is a setback for 2004 champions Tunisia, as another of the leading contenders struggled in the heat and humidity of a mid-afternoon kick-off. After an average of a goal a game in the first nine matches of the tournament, this was another lacking goal-mouth action, although…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za CONSIDERING the Bulls’ struggles on their United Rugby Championship (URC) tour, it was almost a blessing in disguise for prop Gerhard Steenekamp that he had to return home – to get married. The Currie Cup champions had been dismantled by a high-octane display from Leinster to go down 31-3 in Dublin last September, and a long three weeks lay ahead for the Pretoria side. Instead, Steenekamp was able to fly back to South Africa for his wedding to now wife Elbie the following weekend, and missed the games against Connacht, Cardiff and Edinburgh. “It’s much more enjoyable than what people made it sound like before the time – no, I’m just joking,” he said when asked how married life has been treating him. “It’s very, very nice,…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za IS IT TIME for the South African government to end the National State of Disaster which was declared at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic on March 15, 2020? This is a question on the lips of some captains of industry as the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, is set to announce whether this will lapse or be extended on Saturday, January 15. The National State of Disaster has been renewed every month on the 15th since March 2020, restricting the number of people who can gather indoors or outdoors, imposing a curfew and costing businesses millions of rand in the process. The business sector said that it is ready to do away with all restrictions following the lifting of…

NON-LIFE insurer MiWay announced late last year that it had appointed Burton Naicker as CEO, to replace René Otto, who retired at the end of 2021. As a founding member and CEO, Otto led the business from a start-up 14 years ago, to the direct insurer it is today. René said: “It was without a doubt the best 14 years of my life. Together with my management team, we built a great business and made a meaningful contribution to the economic and social landscape of South Africa. “I am particularly proud of the strong values-based culture that we built with and for our staff. I believe it is the strongest differentiator between MiWay and most of its competitors.” Burton officially assumed his CEO duties with effect from January 1 and…

Liam Karabo Joyce The new school year won’t see just kids starting “big school” and matric learners getting ready for their final lap, it will also see Rachel Kolisi pick up a pen and book. The businesswoman and wife of Springbok captain Siya Kolisi revealed that she finally took the plunge and is going back to school. “I’m officially a student – again! I’ve been wanting to study for a long time, but just haven’t had the opportunity. Finally decided to take a dive and do it,” she said in an Instagram post. She said she is “trying to figure out” how she was going to manage everything and used the moment to encourage her followers to work on themselves this year. “Still trying to figure out how I’m going…

Willem Phungula willem.phungula@inl.co.za FORMER ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal leader Dr Makhosi Khoza’s days as a member and councillor of the party appear to be numbered after she publicly clashed with the founder of the party, Herman Mashaba. A senior party leader who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Independent Media yesterday that the party was waiting for her to finish three months as a councillor, then would “fire” her from the party. “Although she was voted by the ANC to chair Mpac (Municipal Public Accounts Committee … the seat she is in belonged to the party. She was not an independent candidate,” said the leader. The two were on Radio 702 where their differences played out in the open, with Mashaba accusing Khoza as having voted with the ANC during the…

Anita Nkonki ONE of the common traditions about the beginning of the year is setting yourself new year’s resolutions. Many believe this helps you come with a fresh start as the new year offers everyone a blank slate. This also means setting a record straight on what they want to be different from the previous year. Media personality Moshe Ndiki has spoken candidly about what is tolerable for him and what he will not accept any more this year. The You Promised To Marry Me host detailed all the things on his Instagram account that he believed needed to be reciprocated to make things work. “I am mentally at a place where I can’t afford to freely give anywhere. Meaning if I love, I need for you to love me…

SOUTH Africans have had a torrid winter and an Indian summer. Our slow vaccination rollout saw our much-anticipated third wave arrive with winter. Our fourth wave started in November, putting our entire tourism and hospitality sector at risk for yet another summer season The looting in KwaZulu-Natal and pockets of Gauteng was devastating, but luckily did not spread to the rest of the country, so the impact on growth is expected to be limited to 0.4%. The attack on our symbols of democracy like the fire that broke out at our Parliament buildings in Cape Town and the senseless attack on the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein made South Africans very unsettled and concerned. Not to mention the release of the State Capture Report by the Zondo commission of inquiry. However,…

We might take it for granted, but water is one of the most precious and scarce natural resource on our planet. Awareness has been on the rise with respect to the importance of water for survival, especially in a dry country such as South Africa. It is true, that close to three-fourths of the planet is made of water, but not all of it is suitable for use. The water in the oceans and seas cannot be used as drinking water, and little of it can be utilised for other purposes. As a result, there is a constant shortage of water that is either good for drinking or home and industrial use. South Africa has experienced its worst drought in many years and the rains that are now falling in…

THE establishment of yet another anti-corruption agency in South Africa will not be a simple task, with possible difficulties in identifying its power relationships with the other agencies. At the end of the previous millennium and beginning of this one, there was a wave of anti-corruption agencies being set-up all over the world. One reason for that was the adoption of the UN Commission Against Corruption. The second reason, especially in Eastern Europe, was the desire of countries to join the EU. In the beginning, there were no criteria that countries had to meet with regards to fighting corruption in order to join the EU, but eventually the establishment of such agencies was required. There are two different types, the first being preventative agencies, which do not have any law-enforcement…

ESHLIN VEDAN eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za WHILE the big guns mostly avoided each other in the Nedbank Cup last-32 draw held in Sandton yesterday, there are still some interesting clashes to look forward to. The more decorated teams should mostly win their games, but knockout tournaments always produce upsets and there are bound to be a few, especially with the pandemic having taken a toll on the overall structure and quality of several teams. Kaizer Chiefs face TS Galaxy in a repeat of the 2019 final which famously produced one of the biggest upsets in South African football as the then Championship side got the better of Amakhosi. In another clash that promises much, attack-minded Cape Town City have been drawn against Premiership high-flyers Royal AM. City coach Eric Tinkler is aware that…

ZAAHIER ADAMS at Newlands Third Test, Day 2: India 223 (Kohli 79; Rabada 4/73) and 57/2 South Africa 210 (Petersen 72; Bumrah 5/42) SOUTH Africa are going to have to find another hero today if they are to remain in the contest in this series-deciding third Test. At the Wanderers last week it took a stern conversation between captain Dean Elgar and his chief fast bowler Kagiso Rabada that lit the fire at the Bullring. That responsibility may fall at the feet of Rabada once again, but it could be anyone of Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Duanne Olivier or Keshav Maharaj. At this stage, with South Africa trailing by 70 runs with India just two wickets down in their second innings, they would not care who steps up beacuse this…

ATHLETIC Bilbao midfielder Raul Garcia has condemned the decision to play the revamped Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, saying that “football now is all about making money and finding sponsors”. “It’s a complete nonsense,” said Garcia in Bilbao as he prepared to travel to Saudi capital Riyadh, where his side face Atletico Madrid today. Real Madrid and Barcelona played yesterday. The final is on Sunday at a sold-out King Fahd Stadium. “Maybe I’m old school, but soccer has changed and the fans have been forgotten. I don’t think I need to say that, anyone can see,” Garcia added. Spanish FA (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales on Tuesday defended playing in Saudi Arabia, saying the tournament was a way of generating income for some of La Liga’s more modest clubs. “We…