Table of contents for 2022-08-23 in Mercury

TRANSFORMATION of South Africa’s life offices and asset managers has made steady progress on targets set by the Amended Financial Sector Code (FSC) by 2020, but management control, employment equity and skills development targets have not yet been met. This was according to an inaugural study on the transformation of South Africa’s life offices and assets management commissioned by the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (Asisa). The ownership targets of sectors were exceeded marginally in 2020, according to the three-year study released yesterday. “While it is pleasing to see that we are well on our way, we must also acknowledge that we are not quite there yet,” said outgoing Asisa chief executive Leon Campher. On management control, including board participation, executive directors and executive management, life offices, and…

WORKFORCE Holdings, a provider of employment, training and wellness services, said yesterday that despite improved interim results, it was withholding its dividend as it focuses on growth and acquisitions. In its interim financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2022, its headline earnings per share had improved to 14.6 cents per share, compared to the comparative period last year at 11.2c per share. Earning per share increased by 31 percent to 14.7c per share. Revenue increased by 21 percent to R1.9 billion, mainly due to stabilisation in the market after the devastating effect of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as strategies that had been put in place by the group to support both brand and product diversification. In an interview, Workforce Holdings financial…

OWNERS of undeveloped land have received a shock increase in property rates from the eThekwini Municipality that has seen their payments more than double. In one case, a property owner saw the rates for her vacant plot of land jump from R400 to more than R1 000 per month. The increases are based on the valuation roll that came into effect at the start of the new financial year on July 1. DA councillor Warren Burne said the rates on vacant land had always been high, and were punitive in a bid to discourage people from holding undeveloped land for years as that created a rates “hole” for the municipality. But landowners who spoke to The Mercury, said they were stunned by the rates increase. A landowner said the increase…

Three years after her arrest for fraud and corruption in 2019, former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede finally had her day in court yesterday, when she and her 21 co-accused were asked to plead on numerous criminal charges, which include racketeering. The trial got under way in the Durban High Court. In terms of the racketeering charges, the accused have been charged with: Conducting an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering. Managing an enterprise. Use of property derived from a pattern of racketeering. Acquiring or maintaining an interest in or control of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. All the accused pleaded not guilty to these charges, when they were read out in court. In the R320 million trial, the State has alleged that Gumede along with her…

Zulu King Misuzulu described this past weekend’s kraal entry ceremony as marking the end of hardships for the Zulu nation. I beg to differ. Overall, upwards of R100 million a year of taxpayers’ money is allocated to the Zulu royal household. This is for maintenance of seven palaces at the last count; dowager queens, courtiers and staff; limousines, cars, drivers and bodyguards; maintenance for illegitimate children, private school fees, overseas flights and shopping trips; grossly unproductive farms and adjacent operations; untouchable cattle and underutilised farming equipment, broken machinery and farm buildings; salaries and “as like” co-payments for hundreds of headmen and chiefs. Living like aristocrats in a colonial bubble of robber barons, lords and ladies. Let them eat cake. Not to mention the deeply feudal Ingonyama Trust and how it…

Durban’s famous beachfront is like a magnet. Known as the Golden Mile, it draws people from all walks of life to its golden beaches, the warm, blue sea, the white-crested waves breaking on to the shoreline, the sand dunes with indigenous plants, the line of hotels forming a skyline and the palm-fringed promenade stretching away from the harbour entrance to Blue Lagoon. It’s an enchanting place. Here you see a medley of humanity in all its guises – black and white, the young and old, big and small, the fat and rounded, thin and tall, short and plump, children and toddlers, mothers pushing their babies in prams, the invalid in wheelchairs; people walking, running, cycling; children on roller skates and tourists on rickshaws; others strolling along, breathing in the fresh…

Defence Minister Thandi Modise has revealed that no one has been held accountable yet for the irregular purchase and importation of a Cuban drug for Covid-19 by the SANDF. Modise revealed this in reply to parliamentary questions from DA MP Sarel Marais. In 2020, the Defence Department procured the drug Heberon after entering into an open-ended contract, signed after the first delivery of the drug. The late auditor-general Kimi Makwetu found irregularities in the procurement of the drug and that the importation of 970 895 vials of it was done without the authorisation from the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority. This prompted former minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to institute an investigation by appointing a three-member ministerial task team (MTT), whose report is yet to be made public. In his parliamentary questions,…

The SANDF has responded to media reports which stated that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo cost the taxpayer about R2.6 million. SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said a weekend newspaper report on Ramaphosa’s chartered flight to Kinshasa for an SADC summit was “misleading”. Dlamini said because the presidential plane Inkwazi and other executive aircraft were out of commission, and Kinshasa offered limited regular commercial flights, the South African Air Force sourced quotes from potential service providers to transport Ramaphosa and his delegation. “The national carrier, South African Airways, was one of several bidders from whom the Air Force sourced quotes. SAA filed the lowest quote at under R1.6m (which is) R1m less than the R2.6m “estimate” the (newspaper) tried to pass off as fact,” said…

The Hawks in the Eastern Cape are searching for a woman who allegedly swindled a man out of thousands of rand after she claimed to be his girlfriend. Hawks spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, said their provincial Kidnapping Task Team was searching for the woman and her real boyfriend, who allegedly hatched a plan to fleece the man out of his payout in 2020. Mgolodela said that in June, two years ago the man received a payout from the Road Accident Fund. “The Tsolo man received a call from the woman claiming that she was his long-time girlfriend. She said she wanted to meet him urgently. The man then invited her to Maclear and paid for her travel costs as he was excited to meet his long-time girlfriend,” Mgolodela said. She…

Gugu Ndulama was one of more than 10 000 people who participated in a special countrywide celebration of the 40th anniversary of Cricket South Africa’s flagship KFC Mini-Cricket Programme at the weekend. The special celebration was held countrywide in 16 venues simultaneously. Many of the Proteas men’s and women’s cricketers came through CSA’s Mini-Cricket Programme, which KFC has sponsored for the past 14 years, while it has also given administrators like Ndulama the launchpad for a career in sports management. Ndulama is the provincial Mini Cricket co-ordinator for Eastern Province Cricket, whose KFC Mini-Cricket Festival at Gqeberha’s St George’s Cricket Stadium was attended by 512 mini cricketers and 70 coaches. It was an especially proud moment for Ndulama, who has been involved in the game of cricket for 12 years…

Scientists have identified evolutionary modifications in the voice box distinguishing people from other primates that may underpin a capability indispensable to humankind – speaking. Researchers said an examination of the voice box, known as the larynx, in 43 species of primates showed that humans differ from apes and monkeys in lacking an anatomical structure called a vocal membrane – small, ribbon-like extensions of the vocal cords. Humans also lack balloon-like laryngeal structures called air sacs that may help some apes and monkeys produce loud and resonant calls, and avoid hyperventilating, they found. The loss of these tissues, the researchers said, resulted in a stable vocal source in humans that was critical to the evolution of speech – the ability to express thoughts and feelings. This simplification of the larynx enabled…

An investigation is under way after a teenager drowned while out on a school trip late last week. Spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education in KwaZulu-Natal, Kwazi Mthethwa said Grade 10, 11 and 12 pupils from Ikusasalethu High School had been on a trip at the iSimangaliso Wetland Park at the time. “The excursion was a success and on their way back the school had organised a braai for the learners at St Lucia Beach. Before the braai, the learners decided to swim and during that period one of the learners unfortunately drowned,” he explained. The matter was reported to authorities and a search was organised. National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson Jan Hoffman said the duty crew along with iSimangaliso Wetland Park rangers responded and were informed that a…

THE writing is on the wall. The organised section of the working class in the public service is not succumbing to the dictates of neo-liberal and austerity forces. The resolute and fighting stance adopted by the trade union movement in the Public Sector Bargaining Council (PSBC) is more than a salary dispute between the government and its employees. It is a fierce broader battle against neo-liberalism and austerity based on the present economic trajectory in South Africa. Against this background, to the workers: remain resolute, do not mourn, do not retreat, and mobilise beyond the public service for support in the fight against neo-liberalism and austerity. Neo-liberalism as a model of free market capitalism’s basic tenets is, among others, based on greatly reduced government social spending, deregulation and privatisation. Thus,…

Supporters of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan gathered outside his home yesterday to stop the police arresting him on anti-terrorism charges related to a weekend televised speech. The police filed charges against former cricket star Khan on Saturday over what they said was a threat in the speech in which he spoke about police torture of an aide who faces sedition charges for inciting mutiny in the military. “We will not spare you,” Khan said in the speech, in which he named the police chief and the judge involved in the case against his aide. “We will sue you.” “The purpose of the speech was to spread terror among the police and the judiciary and prevent them from doing their duty,” the police said. Dozens of supporters gathered outside…

THE Springboks sure can “relate to Australia” after the Wallabies’ historic defeat to Argentina. Argentina top the Rugby Championship standings after recording their biggest-ever win against Australia, thrashing them 48-17 in San Juan, which saw the Wallabies slump to their lowest-ever world ranking (seventh). The Springboks are getting ready for their first meeting against Australia in Adelaide on Saturday, and just like the Australians they, too, know how dangerous the Pumas can be, especially at home. It's for that reason that Bok coach Jacques Nienaber says they can relate to Dave Rennie’s team. After all, the South Africans suffered their biggest defeat to Argentina in 2018, when they lost 32-19 in Mendoza. But, for now, it’s not the South Americans the Boks have to worry about. Nienaber and his charges…

FANS in KwaZulu-Natal can look forward to two enticing local derbies as AmaZulu battle Golden Arrows, while Royal AM welcome Maritzburg United in the Premiership tomorrow. Table-topping Usuthu are hard in preparations as they look to continue their rich vein of form against an Arrows side at the opposite end of the table. Unlike their neighbours, Arrows have been far from excellent. Their complacency in the transfer window is already telling as they clearly lack a regular goal scorer and an experienced centre back. AmaZulu have been the most impressive team in the league so far and it comes as no surprise that they’ve won three of their opening four matches, accumulating 10 points form a possible 12. However, midfielder Keagan Buchanan believes the form of their provincial rivals only…

ORGANISERS of the Comrades Marathon have assured runners and supporters that this year’s “Ultimate Human Race” will live up to expectations. Sunday will see the 95th running of the race. It will be the 47th Down Run, starting at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall and finishing 12 hours later at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium. This will be the first race since it was cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Comrades Marathon Association chairperson Mqondisi Ngcobo said they have worked hard to maintain the marathon’s world-class standard from previous years and assured there was a good line-up of runners. “We will have a little over 15 000 starters on the day, we had initially capped it at 15 000 because of the Covid-19 restrictions, but when the restrictions were removed,…

INVESTMENT analyst Dr James Greener socks it to us on several fronts in his latest grumpy newsletter. Politicians charging into battle with “inflation” with laws and more laws when it is state interference with the free markets that is mostly to blame for money losing its value. The former schoolmate crypto geniuses who vaporised a trillion dollars of other people’s money with their puzzling currencies, then smartly disappeared. Lotteries – “a voluntary tax on the mathematically illiterate” – which have now become infected by theft and corruption. Driving licences. “For a nation where reportedly only about half of the drivers on our roads have obtained a driver’s licence, the present squabble about whether the five-year expiry period is legally enforceable seems somewhat moot. “First, it is claimed that the…

The ongoing spewing of sewage into a canal just off Kingsway High School in eManzimtoti is an absolute disgrace. The stench from this sewage as one drives past is putrid. In fact, this stench permeates all the way to Kuswag High School. This is a health hazard. The sheets of what looks like asbestos that have been put up to “hide” the eyesore is “admirable”. However, this problem is not going to be resolved by hiding it. The authorities under whose jurisdiction this falls need to account to the residents of eManzimtoti as to why this is still continuing and when it will be attended to.…

Our politics at every level of political interaction becomes murkier and dirtier, as political gladiators jostle for political supremacy. Character assassination has become a grotesque weapon of mass political destruction. It has become open season to spawn conspiracy theories – which like a massive spider’s web – has enmeshed the landscape, clouding truth from fiction, falsehood from reality, accompanied by massive doses of fake news, misinformation, disinformation and crude intimidation. The year 2022 will go down in our turbulent history as the most destructive period since the advent of democracy 27 years ago. Claims and counter claims have given birth to and spawned a tsunami of conspiracy theories, from the bizarre to the mundane, from the outlandish to the plausible. People gravitate toward conspiracy theories that affirm or validate their…

Vaping is growing more prevalent among young people, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Now a new study has found that adolescents who use e-cigarettes are over three times more likely to use cannabis than those who don’t. The research relies on the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (Path) study, surveying a nationally representative group about their use of tobacco since 2013. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor looked at a cohort of 9 828 youths who reported that they had never used marijuana. Between 2017 and 2019, they found, those who reported vaping were more likely to say they had begun using cannabis one year later than those who didn’t use e-cigarettes. Of the adolescents…

A 30-year-old suspect has been arrested in Mpumalanga for possession of dagga with an estimated value of more than R1 million. Police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said: “A 30-year-old suspect who is from the Kingdom of eSwatini is due to appear in the Nkomazi Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday (today) for dealing in dagga. The man was nabbed at Buffelspruit next to Jeppes Reef Port of Entry on Sunday. “His arrest came after police in Schoemansdal were patrolling, as well as conducting stop-and-search duties on the R570 Road. They then stopped a white Isuzu bakkie with one occupant.” Mohlala said officers found 31 bags stashed with dagga weighing about 240.85kg, “with an estimated street value of about R1 011 570”. The man was arrested and charged for dealing in dagga. The…

To boost drug discovery research capacity, UCT’s Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D) has partnered with the University of Limpopo (UL) on a project titled “TB Drug Discovery Hit to Lead Optimisation”. UCT said yesterday that the project aimed to contribute to finding solutions for Africa’s tuberculosis (TB) epidemic through cutting-edge research. It will expand on existing work focusing on the synthesis of novel compounds active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), the causative agent for TB. UL’s Professor Winston Nxumalo has been appointed as the principal investigator on the project, while H3D, led by UCT’s Professor Kelly Chibale, will be offering support in the form of training, mentoring and access to infrastructure, including TB biology and drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics screening assays. Aligning with the SA Medical Research Council’s (SAMRC)…

Those close to the two members of the Zulu royal family who are contesting the kingship need to advise them to accept the olive branch extended to them by King Misuzulu. Reconciliation in the Zulu royal family would go a long way to uniting the divided royal house. Princes Simakade and Buzabazi Zulu have both claimed to be the rightful rulers of the Zulu nation. At the weekend thousands of local and international dignitaries, including members of the provincial and national cabinets, business leaders and celebrities descended on kwaKhangelamankengane Palace in Nongoma. They were there to witness a historic moment of King Misuzulu entering the kraal, a ritual that basically confirmed him as the king of the Zulu nation. However, the ritual has not ended the divisions that have caused…

Ukraine’s capital Kyiv banned public celebrations this week to commemorate independence from Russian- dominated Soviet rule, citing a heightened threat of Russian attack in a war that the UN said yesterday has killed more than 5 500 civilians. Near front lines in the south of the country, Ukraine said Russia fired rockets into several southern Ukrainian towns north and west of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, captured by Russian forces after they invaded Ukraine in February. Artillery and rocket fire in the region of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor complex has stirred fears of a nuclear disaster and led to calls for the surrounding area to be demilitarised. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned of the risk of more severe attacks ahead of Ukraine’s 31st anniversary tomorrow of independence from Russian- dominated…

AFRIMAT’s planned R650 million acquisition of the Gravenhage manganese mine has fallen foul of a water-use licence and a dispute has been declared with the sellers. The share price fell 3.64 percent to R50.30 on the JSE yesterday afternoon. In an update of the acquisitions yesterday, Afrimat said the conditions for the Gravenhage acquisition had not been fulfilled, in that a water-use licence issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation deviated materially from the water-use licence application submitted by the sellers to the department. The water-use licence thus did not constitute the grant of the water-use licence application as contemplated in the acquisition agreement. Gravenhage is a long-life, near- development manganese resource in the northern part of the Kalahari manganese field some 120km from Afrimat’s Demaneng iron…

Dubbed by athletes and wellness advocates as the “ultimate superfood”, chia seeds are known as nutritional powerhouses as they are high in magnesium, omega 3 fatty acids, zinc, iron, vitamin E and calcium. Chia seeds are tiny black or white seeds from the plant “Salvia hispanica L”, which is said to be native to Central America. They contain antioxidants and minerals such as calcium, and have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to help protect against heart disease and dementia. The tiny dynamites loaded with antioxidants have the ability to reverse the harm caused by free radicals. Six more reasons to include chia seeds in your diet To increase energy in the morning, chia seeds can also be added to fruit bowls or smoothies. They don't…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa remains unmoved by calls by opposition parties for the ANC to do away with its cadredeployment policy, saying the DA was “leapfrogging” due process in its legal challenge. He argued that the DA’s entire case was based on the State Capture Commission report whose recommendations he was still considering. The DA has gone to the Gauteng High Court in Joburg to have the policy declared “unconstitutional and unlawful”. Ramaphosa used his 200-page affidavit to defend the policy for its transformational goals, saying it ensured that state institutions reflected the demographics of the country and also ensured that persons most “fit-for-purpose” were appointed in critical positions. In his capacity as the head of the executive of an ANC government, he maintained that the commission did not recommend…

Weeks of baking drought across Europe have seen water levels in rivers and lakes fall to levels few can remember, exposing long-submerged treasures – and some unwanted hazards. In Spain, suffering its worst drought in decades, archaeologists have been delighted by the emergence of a prehistoric stone circle dubbed the “Spanish Stonehenge” that is usually covered by the waters of a dam. Officially known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal, the stone circle currently sits fully exposed in one corner of the Valdecanas reservoir, in the central province of Caceres, where authorities say the water level has dropped to 28% of capacity. Memories of past droughts have also been rekindled in Germany by the reappearance of so-called “hunger stones” along the River Rhine. Many such stones have become visible along the…

As a subscriber to this newspaper, I have taken note of the declaration by Independent Media that they will not be silenced and media freedom was at stake if Standard Bank were to close their account. I am a member of the public and in the public interest I am factually stating that the closure of Independent Media would result in the public being unable to exercise their right to freedom of expression. I am a subscriber to Independent Media and have also been a client of Standard Bank for 45 years. Although both the media and the bank operate to serve the public interest, neither party has elicited an affidavit from the public, who directly are affected. Therefore I am stating factually that Independent Media allowed me to raise…

A person who loves you will expect you to find, use and enjoy your skills and talents. Your skills and talents are much easier to neglect (people do it all the time). Your lover will not settle for less than your best and will offer you the same. Upping your mutual game will require courage, effort and commitment. Avoid love if you are lazy. He or she will respect your separateness and will know you each come with your own unique dreams, ambitions, longings, hurts and disappointments. In love you will be comforted, inspired, challenged, but he or she will not cross over and be you. He or she will always know you are your own person with the ability and courage to be the separate person you are. It’s…

WHILE the plant-based food sector is celebrating a temporary win after urgent legal efforts to halt product seizures were successful in the Johannesburg High Court, they have also called for further dialogue with government. The legal efforts followed a letter sent out by the Food Safety Agency (FSA) on August 16 indicating that the agency “will seize any meat analogue products presented for sale in South Africa, which are using the product names prescribed for processed meat products in terms ... of the Agricultural Product Standards Act”. The sector went to court and the ruling handed down prohibits the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and its designated assignee, FSA, from seizing any plant-based meat alternatives they deemed to be in breach of the Agricultural Product…

The recent court appearances of four convicted prisoners, arrested for allegedly running an extortion scam from their prison cells in Gauteng, has brought into focus corruption within correctional facilities and the ineffectiveness of rehabilitation programmes. This is according to Dr Mahlogonolo Thobane, a criminologist and senior lecturer in the College of Law at Unisa, who said the problem of inmates having access to contraband while incarcerated affected most, if not all, correctional facilities. Thobane said although inmates were not supposed to have access to illegal goods, most people knew they had cellphones and were even active on social-media platforms. She said the main reason the problem had continued unabated over the years was due to the unavoidable issue of corruption involving correctional facilities’ personnel, as deals and an exchange of…

About 40% of the 6 424 murders committed between April and June this year were gun-related, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced when he released the crime statistics last week. Cele said it was shown that firearms were three times more likely than other weapons to be the weapon of choice in the reported murders, as 2 766 people were shot to death. “The expansion of illegal firearm use and the damage and destruction they can cause is well documented. “These crime statistics should be used as a management tool to guide the operational plans to deal with, among other crimes, the proliferation of firearms. “Police operational responses nationwide should continue to remove guns in the wrong hands,” Cele said. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation executive director Annah…

Kamoya Kimeu, a Kenyan who worked with the renowned Leakey family of paleontologists, was considered one of the world’s most successful fossil hunters, digging up skeletons millions of years old that proved that Homo sapiens, the first modern humans, originated in Africa, rather than in Asia, as previously thought. His work also helped scientists understand how ancient human ancestors developed and when they began walking upright, rather than on all fours, more than 4 million years ago. Kamoya, as he was known, died on July 20 in a hospital in Nairobi, aged 83 or 84, his daughter Jennifer Kamoya announced to the Kenyan media. The National Museums of Kenya, where he served for years as curator for historic sites and which called him “undoubtedly the best fossil hunter the…

COMMUNICATION from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to its claim handlers stating it would no longer pay for expenses already disbursed by a medical scheme to a claimant is being challenged in court. Phineas Mawila, who was seriously injured in a car accident will on September 26 ask the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to have the circular sent by the RAF overturned. He said in papers filed at court that he was lodging this application in the interest of all victims of vehicle accidents as it would adversely affect everyone who had lodged a claimed with the RAF. The reasoning of the RAF for no longer paying for past medical expenses was that those claimants with medical aid were compensated for the medical bills which they issue to the…

Kenya’s defeated presidential candidate, Raila Odinga, filed a petition to the country’s top court yesterday, challenging the outcome of the August 9 election in what he called a fight for “democracy and good governance”. Odinga, a veteran opposition leader who ran with the backing of President Uhuru Kenyatta and the ruling party, has rejected the outcome of the poll that delivered victory to his rival, William Ruto, branding it a “travesty”. The 77-year-old politician lost his fifth bid for the presidency by a narrow margin of around 230 000 votes, less than two percentage points. Hundreds of supporters cheered as dozens of boxes of evidence were unloaded from a truck outside the Supreme Court. “We have enough evidence that it is us who won the election,” Odinga said after filing…

Rugby, like any sport, is about results, but at some point, the “juggling act” between winning games and getting World Cup ready needs to be more true to the goal of building depth. It’s a tough one, no doubt. The Springboks want to win games, scratch that, they need to. Anything less simply won’t be accepted by the rugby-mad public, that much we know for sure. As the Springboks prepare to gear up for a historic clash against the Wallabies in Adelaide, Bok coach Jacques Nienaber has kept his starting XV largely the same, with only two changes in Faf de Klerk returning after completing his return-to-play protocols and Warrick Gelant coming in for Jesse Kriel (concussion) on the wing. They have also ditched the favoured Bomb Squad tactic in…

ST George’s Park in Gqeberha, Boland Park in Paarl and Newlands in Cape Town will host next year’s Women’s T20 World Cup, with Cricket South Africa (CSA) hoping the picturesque host cities will attract crowds befitting of the global event. CSA, and more broadly South Africa, is under pressure to match the enthusiasm that was generated in Australia, which hosted the last T20 World Cup in 2020, shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world into lockdown. Over 80 000 spectators filled the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground for the final between Australia and India, with a performance from popstar Katy Perry adding to the excitement of the occasion. There was no word whether CSA or the ICC would be able to get an pop sensation with that level of stardom…

COACH Dylan Kerr’s primary task will be to mend Swallows FC’s leaky defence in time for today’s Premiership clash against a visiting Sekhukhune United at Dobsonville Stadium. Kerr, the Maltese-born coach, was forced to watch his team play from the grandstands recently because he was waiting for a work permit after his contract was renewed. The good news is that he is now in possession of that permit, and will take up his place in the Dube Birds’ dugout for today’s match. Swallows have conceded six goals in four games, and once Kerr has attended to that problem the team can concentrate on improving their strike force. Presently, central defender Keegan Allan is Swallows’ leading goalscorer with two goals. He has a penchant for stalking into the firing line unnoticed…