Table of contents for 2022-04-04 in Star

A MODERNISATION programme, administration improvements and efficiency gains boost tax revenue by 25 percent, buoyed by personal income tax, VAT and company tax. The SA Revenue Service (Sars) has vowed to further strengthen tax administration after preventing nearly R210 billion revenue leakage in the 2021/22 financial year. Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said on Friday the efficacy of the taxman’s administrative efforts had resulted in additional tax revenues being collected which prevented revenue leakages from impermissible transactions. Kieswetter said that these efforts contributed R209.7bn for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, including R137.5bn of additional revenue and preventing impermissible refunds and leakages worth R72.2bn from leaving the National Revenue Fund. “Our increased focus on revenue collection efforts is yielding pleasing results. This year I can report that just…

INFORMAL traders are calling on easing of red tape in government programmes as the Auditor-General on Friday told Par- liament there had only been a 10 percent uptake of a R175 million fund meant to provide relief to spaza shop owners. Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development were told by Senior Manager for Small Business Aphendule Mantinyane that only about R17m of the fund meant to provide relief to spaza shop owners had been taken up while another development fund was farmed out to Nedbank as informal traders showed lacklustre interest. “We need to increase the footprint for these funds because there is very low uptake. The debt relief programme could not assist all applicants and it was then transferred to Nedbank for management purposes,” Mantinyane…

THERE was a “noticeable” increase in optimism about the future strengthening in sales activity in all three property classes, industrial, offices and retail, during the first three months of 2022, the latest FNB Property Broker Survey showed. “The respondents are most optimistic about industrial property market activity’s direction in the near term, returning a positive reading to the tune of +38.46 points,” FNB Commercial Property Finance Property Sector strategist John Loos said on Friday. Commercial property brokers in and around the six major metros were surveyed – the broker respondents all deal in owner-serviced properties and some in the developer or investor markets as well and in the listed sector. Loos said the improvement in optimism in all three property classes was in spite of interest rate hiking…

THE Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector has called for real reform as the Department of Basic Education takes over the function from Social Development. Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga officially received the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Function from Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu in Pretoria on Friday. Ministers Motshekga and Zulu signed a pledge committing their respective ministries to the achievement of quality outcomes in the ECD Function. The handover was the culmination of a process announced in the 2019 State of the Nation address delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa that would see the migration of the responsibility of ECD centres from the Department of Social Development (DSD) to Basic Education. The director-general for the DBE, Mathanzima Mweli, said the DBE welcomed the shift of ECD function as…

PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, in her many endless acrimonious legal skirmishes with both Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and President Cyril Ramaphosa, always accuses these two adversaries of “ad hominem arguments or attacks or insults” and of resorting to “invectives”. The court papers between Mkhwebane on one side, and Gordhan and Ramaphosa on the other, are inveighed or patently written with strong hostility on both sides. It is as if they are trading and hurling insults at each other using pedantic and colourful language camouflaged in legalese and legal niceties. Let us examine Mkhwebane’s lexicon as to the meaning of “ad hominem” attacks and “invectives” allegedly levelled at her by her protagonists. Ad hominem argument comes from the Latin phrase “argumentum ad hominem” which literally means “argument against the…

FAMOUS SA song writer Neill Solomon has composed a song for refugees and people forcefully displaced from their countries of origin by war, political violence, threats to life or natural disasters. A documentary about the pains faced by refugees was aired at the Nelson Mandela Foundation by the Turquoise Harmony Institute, a Johannesburg based NGO that facilitates peace talks, education, religious tolerance and communication within communities and races. Sello Hatang, chief executive of the Mandela Foundation, thanked the Turquoise Harmony Institute for organising the launch of the meaningful song, saying the desire of people who have left their homes to obtain a safer and more peaceful life is a fundamental human right. Hatang also expressed his utmost regret for the racist treatment of black students in Ukraine. A panel…

I HAD a bittersweet moment last week while attending the Zeerust Regional Court sentencing of Kealeboga Mongae, 47, who defrauded the Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality of more than R1 million. I felt good because it would act as a deterrent for those who are stealing or planning to steal. I felt bad because the money that this selfish criminal stole would never be recouped for public usage. Austrian writer Karl Kraus said: “Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country.” If we had a country with a heightened level of morals and ethics in the public and private sector, we would not have children attending schools under trees or falling into pit toilets because…

A new national disgrace has begun – and no one seems eager to stop it. Its source is a problem that is not new but which has worsened of late – blaming migrants for this country’s problems. For decades, politicians have found mileage in portraying migrants as a problem. They have found willing allies in sections of the media and other voices in the public debate who are happy to decry the presence in our midst of people whose sin is that they were born elsewhere. In a country racked by poverty and inequality, politicians have created a climate in which people are encouraged to blame migrants for their frustrations. The issue has now worsened as political parties and citizens’ organisations proclaim their intention to target migrants and to make…

A request for a new trial by Ghislaine Maxwell, the former Jeffrey Epstein associate who was convicted of child sex trafficking late last year, has been denied by a federal judge in New York. Maxwell was convicted of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by the late Epstein. Two of his victims, identified as “Jane” and “Carolyn”, testified in Maxwell’s trial that they were as young as 14 when she began grooming them. She is due to sentenced on June 28, which could see her facing life in jail.…

THE PUBLIC Investment Corporation (PIC) has requested an urgent meeting with the Absa Group board following the appointment of a white man, Arrie Rautenbach, as its new chief executive. On Friday, the PIC voiced its disappointment with the appointment, saying that the appointment of a black person could have promoted transformation in the group. The PIC said in its correspondence with the board, that the appointment was a missed opportunity for the board to publicly demonstrate its commitment to “purposefully transform the banking group and advance diversity, inclusivity, and racial and gender equity, at the most senior levels of organisation”. “As a significant shareholder, the PIC had previously recorded its disappointment to the board about the apparent instability at the executive level following the departure of its former chief executive…

AN INTERNATIONAL study has suggested the government’s plans to develop an extensive gas-to-power sector could likely negatively impact the economy and climate. A study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), entitled Gas Pressure: Exploring the case for gas-fired power in South Africa, said that developing an extensive gas-to-power sector in South Africa from scratch would involve significant investment in both gas supply infrastructure and power plants. The institute said that to introduce the first 3 000 megawatts of gas capacity and gas supply by 2030 could cost at least R47 billion – money that could ultimately be wasted, as gas was likely to be squeezed out of the market by cheaper, low-carbon alternatives. To artificially stimulate local demand for gas, South Africa’s Department of Mineral…

CREDIT bureaus are governed by the provisions of the National Credit Act, 34 of 2005 (NCA), and the regulations pursuant thereto, and are regulated by the National Credit Regulator (NCR). They gather and amass information around the credit and spending habits of consumers/companies on behalf of third parties (banks and financing institutions) to help them determine whether to lend credit or not to the person/company concerned. That’s a lot of information and control over us mere mortals, and in the wrong hands can be a potential disaster, blackmail, and a weapon of note. TransUnion, a US-based global consumer credit-checking agency, was alerted on Friday by a group calling itself, N4ughtySec – bad actors (hackers) apparently based in Brazil – claiming to be responsible for breaching cybersecurity at TransUnion South Africa,…

BEFORE this weekend’s eagerly anticipated Celeb City Boxing Exhibition between Cassper Nyovest and NaakMusiq, the two artists fielded questions from the media at Sandton’s The Venue GreenPark on Wednesday. While there were the usual AKA and Prince Kaybee jabs from Cassper, one of the more interesting things that came out of the presser was his openness to take his concept abroad. In response to a question about the future of the concept and whethr he would fight a Nigerian artist, Cassper said he didn’t have issues with Nigerian artists. He said he’d seen that Davido had been training and if he did get in the ring with the Fall hitmaker, he’d “Whoop his ass too”. Cassper said he wouldn’t mind getting in the ring with Burna Boy if the opportunity…

CALLS have reignited for an overhaul of the Department of Home Affairs after a cable breakage shutdown services across the country. The breakage, which connects to the State Information Technology Agency (Sita), caused the department’s services to come to a standstill on Friday. It managed to restore its online service only yesterday afternoon. Home Affairs Ministry spokesperson Siya Qoza said the department will be extending operating hours today to compensate for the time lost. Due to the network outage, Qoza said the department ran limited services which included passport collections, and handwritten death certificates for burial purposes. Computerised certificates would be issued from today. “The Department of Home Affairs and the State Information Technology Agency have been able to fix the cable breakage that impacted service delivery on Friday. “Home…

ANOTHER union shop steward at a public TVET college has been fired for intimidating a colleague to attend a workers’ meeting. TD Matlala became the second lecturer and unionist at Westcol TVET College, Randfontein, to be axed over a strike incident that some staffers complained was tantamount to intimidation. Stanley Ngoako Moshobane, who belonged to the Health and Allied Workers’ Union, received his marching orders in October after being found to have intimidated a colleague, Chantal Labuschagne. Matlala, a shop steward for the Public Servants Association, learnt her fate last week at the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC). Matlala and Moshobane faced sanctions over the same strike action on August 16, 2018. ELRC commissioner Nzwisisai Dandadzi found Matlala guilty of intimidating Joanna Christina Coetzee, her colleague who had lectured at…

The confrontation between the Russian Embassy and the French government over a satirical cartoon published by the embassy glaringly exposes the hypocrisy of France and its stance on freedom of expression. French leaders have brazenly trumpeted that they are a fully fledged constitutional democracy and allow dissent without fear or prejudice. Let me try to lay out the main path of argument, which is rather lost amid Emmanuel Macron’s digressions and verbiage. It was former president Francois Hollande who gloated, during the Charlie Hebdo fiasco, that France’s commitment to freedom of expression is “non-negotiable”. Why the volte-face over a Russian satirical cartoon? France colonised Algeria for 132 years, committing war crimes and testing nuclear weapons in the Sahara that affected thousands of Algerians, without apologising for their atrocities or paying…

Over the years, South African physical anthropologists have written a great deal about the peoples of southern Africa. Those of us in this field need to ask if these publications have contributed to the country’s own social heresies. That, of course, will be the task of historians. But we need to be aware that the old problems continue to surface all over the world. Publications in the 1990s tried to resurrect biological racism by stratifying levels of intelligence by race. These are aberrations that have triggered heated responses from professional physical anthropologists. But in the eyes of the public such ideas do have legitimacy. In the South African context, despite having vanquished the apartheid dragon, we need to understand exactly how much of the racist underpinnings of the policy have…

The Sovereignty Council of Sudan has ordered the use of military force to maintain order in the South Darfur State, international media reported. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the Deputy Leader of the Council, said the decision was made after an escalation in violence and fighting in the Sudanese state. Furthermore, the council banned tribal gatherings under emergency law immediately, to end tribal conflicts in South Darfur. Clashes intensified in Darfur after the withdrawal of the international peacekeeping force AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (Unamid) from the country, said reports. Many areas in Darfur have witnessed sporadic deadly clashes between Arab and African tribes over land, resources and grazing paths. Tribal leaders reported that fighting persisted in the latest ethnic violence. Heavy clashes last week between rival groups in Darfur claimed more…

MOODY’s Investors Service has changed SA’s credit ratings outlook to stable from negative, which has been welcomed by the government as affirmation of its structural reforms programme. Moody’s on Friday affirmed South Africa’s Ba2 long-term local and foreign currency issuer, and senior unsecured-debt ratings. SA’s ratings status was downgraded to Ba2 with a negative outlook by Moody’s in November, 2020 after the economy entered a deep recession as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and lockdown restrictions. Moody’s lead analyst for South Africa, Lucie Villa, said the government had shown it was able to re-prioritise its spending over the past two fiscal years while staying committed to fiscal consolidation. Villa said the decision to affirm South Africa’s ratings at Ba2 reflected the country’s long-standing credit strengths, including a sound financial…

THE relief in the fuel price has been welcomed as a much-needed step to help hard-hit consumers keep their heads above water. The government last week announced a reduction in the basic fuel levy by R1.50 for two months, while pursuing a more permanent and sustainable restructuring measure of the fuel price. The R1.50 adjustment should reduce the general levy for petrol from R3.85 a litre to R2.35 a litre, and reduce the levy on diesel from R3.70 a litre to R2.20 a litre, until the end of May. Spokesperson for trade union Uasa, Abigail Moyo, on Friday said they were pleased with the government’s fuel price intervention and welcomed the possibility of added interventions once the two-month period has lapsed. “The temporary decrease of R1.50 per litre in the…

n In January Mkhwebane received a complaint PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is investigating President Cyril Ramaphosa on fresh complaints. In January Mkhwebane received a complaint after an audio was heard of Ramaphosa saying he was aware of corruption performed by his ANC cadres but did not take action because he wanted to protect the party. The complaint was by ANC MP Mervin Dirks. Shortly after Dirks’ complaint, ANC MP Pemmy Majodina sought to remove Dirks from the ANC study group. The Anti-Poverty Forum has submitted a second complaint to the public protector, the first was a 2019 complaint about Independent Power Producers and a massive deal allegedly implicating Ramaphosa and his brother-in-law, then Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe. The Anti-Poverty Forum’s recent complaint is about a “corrupt link between…

SOCIAL wellness has come under increasing pressure during the Covid-19 lockdown and its effects are still seen in communities around Pretoria. This is according to Takudzwa Madhina, who has been appointed at the Faerie Glen office of the Christelike Maatskaplike Raad in Pretoria East. Madhina has made history, as he is the first male ever to have been appointed to this female-dominated office. March was National Social Work Month, and the theme this year was “The time is right for Social work”. Madhina said the past few years were especially challenging for many people who had lost their jobs due to Covid-19. Speaking about the challenges of social work, he said poverty among people was ever-growing, which added to the workload of social workers. “When the breadwinner in a…

A GAUTENG father has been unsuccessful in attempting to interdict his two children from viewing their mother’s corpse or arranging their mother’s funeral after the Gauteng High Court dismissed his urgent application. Qatimbi Mkhize is the estranged husband of deceased Audrey Mkhize and had sought an urgent application from the high court in which he attempted to interdict his biological children, Fanyana and Nombula Mkhize born from the marriage between him and Audrey, from making any funeral arrangements, also interdicting them from viewing their mother’s body at the funeral parlour or removing her body from the funeral parlour. The two children, who relocated to a home in Lenasia with their mother after a breakdown in the parents’ marriage during 2015 and an unfinalised divorce, already started making arrangements for their…

MUSIC powerhouse Pilani Bubu has hit the ten-year mark since she introduced herself to the entertainment industry and continues to bloom in her journey of telling stories in multidisciplinary mediums. The singer-songwriter, poet, and TV presenter prides herself in writing about her life experiences so that people can resonate with them and to positively impact their lives. With her multi-professions, she also believes in sending a message by colouring it in something deeper and meaningful. A message that might change someone’s life. If any word could describe the music sensation it would be “a veritable jack of all trades” as she manages to balance all her crafts. The Hopes Springing High smash hit maker delved into a conversation with The Star about the inspiration behind her work. “As I…

I HAD a case that needed the attention of the police. After reporting it at one of our police stations, I was told that the nature of that case belonged to another district. My feet turned towards the police station I was referred to. Before I had even arrived at that station, calls from the accused were nagging me on my phone. The loopholes in our justice system and in all our government departments have gone way too far. When the justice system has loopholes, it becomes the den of thieves and robbers. What kind of country have we become since 1994? What kind of robbery escalates until police stations are robbed of ammunition? We are always encouraged to work within the justice system to combat crime. How do…

PERPHAPS the only positive effect of Donald Trump’s presidency is that he highlighted aspects of ignorance and false news. In this world of “false news” and ignorance, the Dunning-Kruger syndrome seems to hold sway, in this country at least. The syndrome is described as the “cognitive bias of illusory superiority which comes from people’s inability to recognise their lack of ability”. Many politicians seem to work on the principle that stupidity expressed confidently is the avenue to success. There is a tendency for people to become an “instant fundi” after a brief search on the internet. We live in the golden age of ignorance which spreads with the speed of light, where false information appears to have the aim of deliberately created controversy and division. How do we “uninformed normal…

Will Smith has resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after he assaulted comedian Chris Rock over a joke about his wife’s closely cropped head during a live broadcast of the Oscars. Smith said his actions, were “shocking, painful and inexcusable”. “I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work.” Smith will still face disciplinary proceedings from the academy.…

Africa has hosted the World Cup, so now how about one of our countries winning the damn thing for the first time? Wouldn’t that be grand? An impossible dream, I hear you say, and I’d be inclined to agree as I don’t foresee such happenings any time soon – at least not in my lifetime, and most definitely not this year when the world’s best 32 teams gather in Qatar in November and December. The 2022 World Cup draw was conducted on Friday and while Africa seems to have sent its strongest five nations to represent it, there is nothing to suggest the continent should anticipate a glorious campaign by any of those. It is a pretty sad indictment on Africa. All of Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon and Ghana are…

Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder George Maluleka cut an emotional figure after scoring his first goal in his first start this season during their 3-0 win over Al Merrikh in the group stage of the Champions League at home on Saturday. Maluleka has had a disappointing second season with Sundowns. He’s spent more time kicking his heels in the stands than on the bench or the field. Before the match on Saturday, he had only made two cameos in the league. He showed his hunger and desire to help the team whenever he’s called upon, opening his account for the Brazilians with a sublime header from a corner, while Bradley Ralani and Kermit Erasmus completed the win in Johannesburg. Back in 2020, Maluleka’s move to Sundowns from Kaizer Chiefs was expected to…

Samir Nurkovic says he is in a good place physically and mentally as he finally ended his goal drought for Kaizer Chiefs this season when he scored in their 3-1 win over Chippa United in a Premiership clash at Nelson Mandela Stadium on Saturday. Three seasons ago, the Serbian striker enjoyed a fruitful start to life at Amakhosi as he scored 14 goals and registered six assists in 31 matches. But a change of coach and a long-term injury suffered in pre-season saw his numbers decline. He only managed six goals and four assists last term. Following another long injury lay-off, the Serbian’s form dropped this season before he finally scored for Chiefs in Saturday’s win. “We have to be realistic, I was going through a lot of challenges after…