Table of contents for 2021-06-08 in Star

Part One Over THE past few weeks, a flurry of articles has flooded the media ecosystem whose sole bent seems to be to impugn the dignity and damage the reputation of Dr Iqbal Survé and the Sekunjalo Group. Crafted with dedication and conveyed via Independent Media’s rival media chorus, these articles smack of McCarthyism, the term that has become synonymous with defamation of character and/or reputation through the widespread dissemination of indiscriminate allegations based on unsubstantiated charges. In other words, lies without proof or evidence are told often enough to become a version of the truth. McCarthyism came about in the US in the late 1940s and 1950s and is attributed to Senator Joseph McCarthy, who carried out a witch-hunt during this time, under the auspices of looking for supposed…

CHICAGO FIRE S9 M-NET, DSTV CHANNEL 101, 7.30PM In the season 9 premiere, Firehouse 51 welcomes a new member to the team, whose presence could provide some complications. Brett’s leadership shines during a scary call. CHICAGO MED S6 M-NET, DSTV CHANNEL 101, 8.30PM In the thrilling season six premiere, the entire staff at Chicago Med adjusts to the new normal of the pandemic. Dr. Choi, Dr. Lanik and April fight on the front lines. CHICAGO P.D. S8 M-NET, DSTV CHANNEL 101, 9.30PM A gripping season premiere. The team responds to the shooting of a 5-year-old girl and they must work the case while facing new obstacles that come from the heightened attention on police reform.…

ITUMELENG MAFISA itumeleng.mafisa@inl.co.za THE SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) could declare a dispute with the SA Local Government Association (Salga) should facilitators fail to break the current stalemate in the wage talks between the two parties. Last week marked the last round of negotiations following many rounds since March, wherein the unions presented demands to Salga which represents the country’s 257 municipalities and their entities. Samwu spokesperson Papikie Mohale said the unions were waiting for a proposal from facilitators on what they should settle for. The unions were originally asking for a R4 000 salary increase, a R3 500 housing allowance, and six months paid maternity leave among other demands, but they had to fall back on their original demands because Salga had apparently drawn a line on what could…

BONGANI NKOSI bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za PROPERTY giants are dragging a conservancy NGO to court for raising objections against their applications to turn swathes of land north of Joburg into residential and commercial areas. Century Property Developments and Riversands Developments were out to convince the high Court in Joburg that Greater Kyalami Conservancy’s (GEKCO) objections and appeals were frivolous, meritless and only intended to delay construction of extensions of Riverside View. In its own papers, GEKCO rejected the application as a ploy to intimidate and dissuade it and the general civil society from exercising the right to object to changes to land use. Municipalities were mandated to process objections before approving developments. The City of Joburg carried out this work in this matter. Century and Riversands wanted GEKCO and its chairperson, Kristin…

Staff Reporter AS SOUTH Africa gears up to celebrate Youth Month, a group of hopefuls have qualified as nature guides from the Field Guides Association of South Africa. Following the announcement of the three-year partnership between Somkhanda Community Game Reserve and Bhejane Nature Training in June 2020, WILDLANDS, a programme of the WILDTRUST, said it is encouraging to witness positive stories which put youth empowerment, upskilling and employment at the forefront. South Africa has some of the highest youth unemployment rates globally with an estimated 58% of youth currently unemployed. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic and its unprecedented challenges, Bhejane Nature Training took on local community youth from the surrounding communities of Pongola, KwaLubisi and Dlakusa who were part of the Youth Employment Services (YES) 2020 group into an intensive training…

MOST people agree Eskom needs to be fixed. Complaining or pointing fingers won’t solve the problem. Where the ageing infrastructure needs an overhaul, how can this be done? South Africa may not be able to afford a total restructuring of this utility. Unfortunately, increasing costs may be necessary, even if it is unpopular. Many are unwilling to pay more for a service which is so erratic. And times are tough. But by looking at the big picture, short term pain will lead to medium term gain. These improvements will improve our quality of life and our morale. They are likely to also ramp up our economy, with increased investments and much needed jobs being created. |…

SINCE 2001, the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) has been synonymous with blood donation drives and educating the public about the precious lifesaving resource that is blood. However, our function stretches beyond this. In addition to collecting 3 000 units of blood a day, the SANBS is ramping up efforts to collect more blood plasma, needed to treat people with a wide range of conditions requiring clotting factors support. This includes the treatment of coagulation disorders like haemophilia, trauma patients who experience massive haemorrhaging and neonates with significant risk of bleeding out. Plasma is the liquid component of blood that contains antibodies, clotting factors and other proteins and makes up 55% of the body’s blood volume. It is essential to saving lives. Many people may think that donating plasma…

A Somali mother and her child were killed and four others injured when a Kenyan warplane bombed two towns in southern Somalia, the woman’s husband said yesterday. The bombing by the Kenyan plane occurred last Thursday night in two towns in the Gedo area in Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Jubbaland. The Somali government on Friday condemned what it called “indiscriminate air strikes” carried out by Kenyan forces in the towns of El Ade and Hisa-u-Gur. A contingent of the Kenyan military is part of the AU-mandated peacekeeping force AMISOM stationed in Somalia to help defend the government from the al-Qaeda-linked insurgent group al-Shabaab. Ali Ahmed Sheikh, the woman’s husband, said yesterday he had been out of the house when the warplane struck his family home in El Ade and that…

LAHORE: A woman died after an ex-security guard at a Pakistani hospital posed as a doctor and performed surgery on her, police said Monday. Shameema Begum, aged 80, died this week, two weeks after Muhammad Waheed Butt attempted to treat her back wound at a public hospital in the eastern city of Lahore. “We can’t keep up with what every doctor and what everyone is doing at all times. “It’s a large hospital,” explained an administrative official from Lahore’s Mayo Hospital, who did not want to be named. He said it was unclear what type of surgery the imposter had performed in the operating theatre, where a qualified technician was also present.…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za IN a major blow to some local athletes still pushing for Tokyo Olympics qualification, the African Championships in Athletics, scheduled to take place in Lagos, Nigeria, have been cancelled. The event had already been postponed and moved to different dates and venues in Algeria, and late last month, the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) made a final decision to have the championships held in Nigeria. But yesterday, Athletics South Africa’s excellence manager Hezekiel Sepeng sent out a circular to the local provinces in which he announced that the event was off. “(ASA) has received communication from the (CAA) confirming that the CAA African Senior Championships that were to take place in Lagos, Nigeria, from 23-27 June, 2021, has been cancelled,” Sepeng wrote. The 800m Olympic silver medallist…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE CONTINUING rally in the price of gold has seen South Africa’s net foreign exchange reserves climbing to a four-month high in May as the yellow metal rose on the commodity supercycle. The SA Reserve Bank (SARB) said yesterday that the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $54.14 billion (R726.25bn) from $53.69bn in April – the largest jump since Janu-ary, mainly due to the increase in the US dollar gold price as gold price increased 7.6 percent month-to-month to $1 904.30 per ounce. SARB said that it has also noted a $0.5bn increase in gold reserves to $7.67bn. The central bank said matured foreign exchange swops conducted for sterilisation and liquidity management purposes, as well as valuation adjustments due to asset price and currency…

SIRIUS Real Estate, which owns branded business and industrial parks in Germany, performed well in the year to March 31, declaring a higher dividend for its 14th consecutive reporting period, chief executive Andrew Coombs said yesterday.An 1.98 euro cents (32.3c) dividend was paid for the six-month period ended March 31, bringing the total payout for the year to 3.80 euro cents. Like-for-like rent increased by 5.2 percent in this period while the growth last year was 6.1 percent.Coombs said the group had generated an accounting return of 19.5 percent, bringing to seven the number of years of double digit growth, with the average accounting return at just over 16 percent. He said they were seeing high levels of investment in the German market with the country…

The Royal Family are “delighted” by the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’ second child, a daughter called Lilibet Diana. Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan announced the safe arrival of their daughter, Lilibet Diana, on Sunday and Harry’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth, his father, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and his brother and sister-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have issued a statement to reveal they are thrilled by the news of the baby’s birth. A statement from Buckingham Palace read: “The Queen, Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news.” Explaining the couples decision to name their baby girl, who arrived on Friday, after Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana,…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za A SPRINGS man said his family would never again trust their Community Police Forum (CPF) after the father of two alleged he was assaulted by a CPF member outside his home. Mxolisi Guntu, from Casseldale, Springs in Ekurhuleni, told The Star that on Saturday evening he was home with his wife and two teenage sons, aged 13 and 15, when the family experienced a power outage. Guntu said the family thought the outage was caused by load shedding or their prepaid electricity had run out. However, the street lights outside were on. “My older son went outside to his room and we noticed that there was a vehicle that had overturned across the road from the supermarket next to my house and the electricity box outside had…

Athandile Siyo athandile.siyo@inl.co.za TWO best friends and teammates have made South African gymnastic history by qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. Coach Ilse Pelser said there was much happiness as Naveen Davies and Caitlin Rooskrantz, both 19, qualified for the games, which start on July 23. “The girls worked very hard to qualify. They train six days a week for an average of 26 hours per week. “They are coached by a dedicated team of coaches that include Leeland Christian, Candice Cronje, Anke Badenhorst, and myself, and we always push them to be the best they can be.” The two gymnasts are from the West Rand in Johannesburg. Davies also made history when she and her younger sister, Zelme, were the first women’s team represented by sisters in Egypt at…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE BATTLE for the word “butter” came under the spotlight in the high court in Pretoria when dairy giant Clover took on the household brand Stork about the its latest “butter spread”. Clover, in its urgent application against Siqalo Foods, owners of the Stork brand, is aggrieved about the latest addition to the rival stable – the Stork Butter Spread. In its advertisement regarding its latest product, Stork said “the cream of butter spreads is here”. But Clover told the court that this was misleading because it was definitely not butter. According to Clover, this labelling misrepresents that it is pure butter and not a modified butter product. Clover wanted a final order interdicting the owners of Stork from using the word “butter” on the presentation of…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za TRIBUTES have flooded in for theatre legend Shaleen Surtie-Richards since news of her tragic and sudden passing broke yesterday. Television, film and stage actress Surtie-Richards, 66, who had been living in Cape Town while working on popular Afrikaans TV series Arendsvlei, was found dead in a guest house yesterday. It has been reported that she had been dealing with health complications for many years after suffering a stroke and being diagnosed with diabetes. Family spokesperson Alistair Izobell said Surtie-Richards, a former teacher, had lunch with her brother on Sunday, and he was to accompany her for Covid-19 vaccination today, which she was “super-thrilled about”. “The family is coping with the passing of Shaleen by virtue of the love that they are now tangibly experiencing of people who…

THERE is an old saying that life begins at 40 – I think not! Now let me substantiate my statement. Current global trends reveal that life expectancy has increased exponentially over the years. Socially upward mobility, healthier lifestyles (eating and exercise), stimulating hobbies and greater interest in personal care and hygiene are all contributory factors in a plethora of reasons for longevity. Countries like China are now encouraging bigger families and are stretching the retirement age. While we all have every reason for celebrating a longer, healthier and happier life, “grey divorce” in the annals of the blue rinse brigade is alarmingly on the increase. Couples divorcing after decades of togetherness is not uncommon today. In 2013 , Vladimir Putin, then 60, split from his wife of 30 years, saying…

Yogas Nair and Moleboheng Mosia MEDIA law guru Dario Milo has got it all wrong. Independent Media’s internal Ombud’s office does have teeth. It operates exactly like the Press Council of South Africa, consisting of highly experienced panel members who act without fear or favour. Independent Media’s Ombud exists to help foster transparency and accountability in news outlets. Concomitantly, Independent’s Ombud allows the audience to feel that they are a part of the news gathering and dissemination process, and that their voice is listened to and taken seriously. In a recent article in the Daily Maverick, Dario Milo, a partner at Webber Wentzel attorneys and adjunct professor at Wits University, says Independent Media should consider whether its absence from the Press Council is doing it more harm than good.…

The former president of a French university has been charged following shock revelations over the putrid conditions in which thousands of corpses donated to the faculty for research were kept, a source said yesterday. Frederic Dardel has been charged with desecrating a corpse, a source close to the investigation told AFP, asking not to be named. His lawyer confirmed he had been charged Friday after being questioned over the scandal that forced the closure of the Centre for Body Donations at Paris-Descartes University. In 2019, the government shut down the centre, heralded as a “temple of anatomy” for over half a century, after reports that bodies were left to rot, be gnawed by mice or even sold. L’Express news magazine in November 2019 broke the story of what it described…

GENEVA: Nuclear-armed countries last year increased spending on atomic weapon arsenals by $1.4 billion, campaigners said yesterday. In a fresh report, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) detailed how the world’s nine nuclear-armed states continued to swell their spending on such weapons. “While hospital beds filled up with patients, doctors and nurses worked over hours and basic medical supplies ran scarce, nine countries found they had more than $72bn on hand for their weapons of mass destruction,” the report said. The US spent more than half of the total amount, at $37.4bn, accounting for roughly 5% of its total military spending last year, according to the report.…

MIHLALI BALEKA @Mihlalibaleka New Bafana Bafana assistant coach Cedomir Janevski says the new dawn they want to bring to the South African senior national team does not include teaching players how to play football, instead they want to help individuals gel together as a team. It’s been a tough year for Bafana. They failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon next year, after losing their last qualifier away to Sudan. They finished third in Group C behind leaders Ghana and the Sudanese. As a result, Molefi Ntseki lost his job. Safa have since appointed Hugo Broos as his successor. The Belgian coach then appointed two assistants, Macedonian Janevski and local footballing legend Helman Mkhalele. Despite having Macedonian roots, Janevski spent most of his life in Belgium.…

LENDER FirstRand said yesterday that it expected its annual earnings to increase by 35 percent, because the economy had rebounded faster than initially expected. Its current trends indicated that customers were using their discretionary savings as the economy had opened up. “Consumer spending is now back at pre-Covid levels,” First-Rand said. FirstRand’s portfolio of leading financial services franchises includes Rand Merchant Bank, First National Bank and WesBank. FirstRand’s headline earnings per share (Heps) of 308.9 cents, earnings per share (Eps) of 303.5c and normalised Eps of 307.8c for the year to June 30, 2020 would be exceeded by more than 35 percent in the year to June 30, 2021. FirstRand’s Heps, Eps and normalised Eps would be at least 417c, 409.7c and 415.5c, respectively, it said. The financial…

Kim Kardashian West has said talking about her infamous sex tape in the first-ever series of Keeping Up with the Kardashians helped her “deal” with her emotions. The 40-year-old reality star filmed a sex tape in 2002 with her then-boyfriend, Ray J, which was released into the public domain in 2007 just as Kim and her family were getting ready to launch the first series of their E! reality show. Kim spoke about the tape during an episode of the series when her sister, Kourtney Kardashian, asked her why she agreed to film the video, as she said: “Because I was horny and I felt like it.” And now, Kim has said talking about difficult subjects on the show had helped her to process events in her life. She…

Sifiso Mahlangu sifiso.mahlangu@inl.co.za Telecoms giant MTN is accused of anti-competitive behaviour by abusing its stronghold in the cellular market by selling bulk SMSes cheaper to its own clients than to its competitors. MTN is the only supplier that can process SMSes on the MTN network. In terms of an agreement between MTN and other networks and wireless application service providers (Wasps), MTN had committed to sell SMSes to them at between 11.1c to 14.3c an SMS. The Star has seen a copy of an interconnection agreement between MTN and other networks. In it, MTN undertakes to sell to the market at not less than 11c an SMS. A whistle-blower inside MTN says MTN’s Enterprise Development Unit (EBU) is selling SMSes to the banks at 8.5c an SMS, deliberately undercutting…

Thabo Makwakwa thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za THREE years after being forced to drink two litres of human faeces and thrown into a sewer hole by his former boss Harry Leicester, his wife Maria and their son Chris, Joseph Mona’s health is deteriorating and he cannot afford to buy the adult nappies he needs. Emotionally overwhelmed 40-year-old Mona told The Star that he suffered from faecal incontinence. He said his life was changed drastically by the incident. He has found himself unemployed, unable buy groceries – all while waiting for his R250 000 in compensation which had not been paid as ordered by the court. Mona recalled how he was stripped of his dignity and humiliated. He said his health took a knock after the shocking torture. His stomach was constantly in pain because…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za A PASTOR from Durbanville in Cape Town will now be able to prepare his sermons in peace and quiet after a court ordered the closure of a puppy and dog daycare centre in the area. The Reverend Mark Wayne Christopher had to endure the barking and yelping coming from his neighbours, Puppy Town, for years. His complaints to Puppy Town owners Jolindi and Pieter Verster were ignored. Not even his complaints to the City of Cape Town that the Versters were contravening the by-laws by caring for more than 17 dogs and puppies during the day, yielded any results. The couple said that they were within their rights to operate their business and that Christopher could not expect to have peace and quiet all day, especially in…

Nomalanga Tshuma nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za THE family of a boy, 3, who drowned in the pool of a housing complex in Big Bay, is struggling to come to terms with his death, believing nearby swimmers could have saved him. In video footage obtained by the family, Shaun Azuka is seen jumping into the pool, while three women are in the pool, two swimming and one sitting on the edge of the pool directly opposite where Shaun was struggling to keep above the water. Family’s spokesperson Kaveer Buharee said Shaun died on February 12 after sneaking on to the housing complex’s top-deck adult pool. Buharee believed Shaun’s death could have been avoided. Family members were disturbed when they watched the video footage depicting how their son died. The video shows little Shaun’s…

What a bitter pill to swallow! As a senior citizen, and having lived and suffered the dehumanising and atrocious suppression of apartheid, I never ever thought one day I will have to swallow my pride and say to AfriForum that challenging our ANC government concerning Cuban engineers was a job well done. I find it a crying shame. Fundamentally, the sordid mess the Cubans are said to be here to correct is due to years of neglect of our infrastructure. The example of the Emfuleni sewerage pump collapse that culminated in faeces flowing into the Vaal dam happened due to dereliction of duty by two previous water and environmental ministers. It defies comprehension why our qualified engineers who possess all the expertise of executing these projects are neglected in favour…

WE welcome weekend reports that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Shamila Batohi is to crack the whip at the troubled institution. Batohi has reportedly decided to tackle Andrew Chauke, the NPA South Gauteng boss, for his alleged failure to prosecute prominent South Africans facing various serious criminal charges. Not long ago we questioned Parliamentarians making Judicial Services Commission (JSC) interviews, and in the process affecting the quality of the judicial appointments. In fact the whole process should be overhauled and revamped. Why we do not have a mechanism to reverse poor and wrong judicial appointments, as in any other job situation? This is a crucial question despite the argument that it would threaten judicial independence, and security of tenure. The Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution (Casac)…

Dutch judges said yesterday they wanted relatives of victims to finally have “clarity” about the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine as the trial of four suspects entered a key phase. Some relatives were in court for the start of a week in which judges will at last examine evidence against the three Russians and one Ukrainian, who are on trial in absentia over the July 2014 disaster. The trial formally began in March last year but has until now dealt with legal arguments, mainly about the admissibility of evidence in the crash in which all 298 passengers and crew on the Boeing 777 were killed. “Up until today no one has come forward and said they are even partially responsible …” presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis said. Steenhuis…

TOKYO: Tokyo police say they are investigating a deadly incident on the city’s subway, which reports said involved a senior official at the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC). Private broadcaster Nippon Television, citing metropolitan police sources, identified the person as someone who worked in the JOC’s accounting department and said his death was being treated as a suspected suicide. The police are investigating, said a police spokesperson. A JOC representative said the committee was collecting information, but did not give further details. Already postponed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Games are scheduled to begin on July 23 in the face of public concerns that the Japanese public can be kept safe from Covid-19.…

MALE: Maldives Police have identified a fifth suspect involved in the terror attack on May 6 against former president and Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed. The suspect has been in custody after being arrested in an anti-terrorism sweep conducted by police following the attack which left Nasheed critically injured. Police had searched 25 locations and received information from 150 individuals. Investigations were slowed down due to suspects and investigators contractingCovid-19. Four men had earlier been arrested for triggering a remote-controlled explosive device planted in a motorbike parked near Nasheed’s vehicle. He had multiple life-saving surgeries to his head, chest and limbs before being transferred to Germany for recovery.…