Table of contents for 2022-11-11 in Star

Cape Town comedian Altaaf Sayed is turning his sorrows into laughs with his comedy show called Finding Archie. Sayed, from Athlone, first performed this show at a sold-out Baxter Theatre in 2020 but said the last two years had seen him go back to the drawing board to craft this latest version of this one-man comedy show. Partially paralysed from the waist down, Sayed, 36, said six years in comedy took him on a journey of discovery and acceptance with his disability. “Most people don’t know me as a comedian. In the show I touch on my disability a lot as it is who I am and I speak about how I learnt to deal with it,” he said. Ten years ago, Sayed was diagnosed with a rare degenerative neurological…

A ZIMBABWEAN fugitive who has been on the run for over two years was yesterday apprehended by Interpol and the police at an apartment in Sandton. Police in Gauteng have confirmed the arrest of businessman Frank Buyanga Sadiqi, who was wanted by Zimbabwean authorities for kidnapping, robbery and three counts of contempt of court emanating from an incident which took place in Zimbabwe in April 2020. The suspect is alleged to have kidnapped his now 8-year-old son and fled to South Africa. The operation to bring Buyanga to book was conducted by Interpol South Africa through the assistance of the SAPS’ National Intervention Unit. The operation took place in the early hours of yesterday at an upmarket hotel in Sandton, Joburg. According to national police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe, the…

AFTER former State Security Agency boss Arthur Fraser opened a criminal case against President Cyril Ramaphosa at a Johannesburg police station, much was expected to be done about the matter by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Fraser registered the case at the Rosebank police station in May, accusing Ramaphosa of concealing a crime at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo where about $4 million (R73.4m) was stolen. One of the questions was why the president had kept so much money on his property. He has said that it was the proceeds of game farming, which opened up a can of worms, with Fraser accusing him of lying. Opposition parties have voiced their frustrations over the NPA’s slow response, saying the delay could stem from political interference in order to protect…

Bidders Choice Auctioneers will be hosting an online liquidation auction of three commercial properties from Liberty Moon Investments. The first is a retail centre at 9 Witteberg Avenue, Eldorado Park Ext. 2. Bids open on November 23 at 8am and close on November 24 at 11am. The main retail block is about 2 310m². It features a single-storey, double-volume building with concrete mezzanine floor; a ground floor with three occupied shops, an office space and two ATMs; a mezzanine floor with ablutions, changing rooms, two offices, a server room and storage area. Detached retail block B, of about 570m², is single storey, with two occupied shops and two vacant shops. Detached retail block C, of about 2 310m², is single storey, with four occupied shops and three vacant shops.…

The South Caucasus region has grown increasingly important for the energy security of a large part of the world, as it is situated at the centre of Eurasia’s major energy and transport corridors. The region, comprising the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, is known to be one of the most unstable in the world due to its strategic location and rich mineral resources. Turkey was among the first countries to recognise the independence of these three South Caucasus nations following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991. Turkey played a key role in Azerbaijan’s military victory over Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh in November 2020 after 44 days of war. Since then, Turkey has begun challenging Russia and Iran’s dominance in the South Caucasus region.…

IN keeping with the city’s commitment to providing decent and proper housing to the people, the City of Ekurhuleni last week relocated 114 residents from Cinderella and Central hostels and Hlahane and Crossroads informal settlements to newly finished housing units at the Leeuwpoort Mega Housing Project near Rondebult in Boksburg. Altogether, 152 units are complete and delivered to the targeted locals in wards 32, 34, 42,43 and 93, which included Cinderella and Central hostels and Hlahane and Crossroads informal settlements. The Leeuwpoort project is expected to yield 22 000 housing units once completed in mix typology ranging from RDP walk-ups, social housing development, bonded residential units to retirement village housing units. The project created jobs for 308 workers on site and 29 subcontractors comprising 22 locals and seven specialised subcontractors…

Inspired by his decades-long love of cars, international author Linwood Barclay envisions a world in which automotive technology outpaces our wildest dreams – and our darkest nightmares – in a gripping new novel of action and suspense. The media have descended on Garrett Island, a small, isolated community that is the setting of a visionary experiment. All the residents’ cars were sent to the mainland and for the past month the islanders have been “driving” the Arrival, a revolutionary autonomous vehicle. With a simple voice command, an Arrival will take you wherever you want to go and, because the fleet is networked and aware of one another, car travel is now 100% safe. The future, it seems, has arrived. As the excitement reaches a fever pitch, Sandra Montrose – islander,…

Why do ANC politicians in executive positions in government have this misguided tendency to tread where they do not belong? The latest to do so is Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who is lately posturing as an engineer. This leads him to contradict, for example, everything that experts tell us, including those of Eskom. For example, he is confusing the country by making statements such as, “the country has no energy crisis, but the problem is base load”, whatever that means. He even goes as far as to deny that some of Eskom’s power plants are old and should be mothballed. He is just an administrator, and he must listen to those with the appropriate knowledge. What is galling is that we have been here before as these politicians do not…

If you have been wondering what our highly paid councillors are up to during these hard times, it’s not too hard to see. They are doing dirty dancing on the council floor. Yes folks, they are having the time of their lives, doing the ANC jive all day long. Dancing, swinging, clapping and singing, they are having a jolly time, crossing the floor, from one party to another, to whichever party offers them a tantalising morsel to fill their ravenous bellies. And as they sing and dance across the floor, all else is forgotten – the agenda for the day, emergencies and matters requiring priority attention – potholes, broken robots, illegal dumping, piles of rubbish accumulating on the streets, taps running dry and raw sewage spilling on to our streets…

SOUTH Africa’s population is urbanising at a rapid pace. The sheer rate of change poses challenges to planning for sustainable and liveable cities. Part of what make cities work is having green spaces, such as parks, sports fields, nature trails and street trees. These provide many social, ecological and economic benefits. Research from multiple countries such as Australia, China, Finland, India, the US and South Africa has shown this. Aside from looking good and providing recreation, urban green spaces improve air quality, physical and mental health, and regulate storm water flows. They counteract urban heat islands, store carbon and create jobs. Some communities nevertheless oppose urban greening efforts because they fear that green spaces and street trees provide places for criminals to hide. Such fears are not unique to South…

Since the withdrawal of the French army from Mali, Russia’s Wagner Group has replaced it as a target of jihadist propaganda, experts say, with extremists making hay with claims that its mercenaries have committed atrocities against civilians. Having been pushed towards the exit by the leaders of Mali’s 2020 coup, France finally withdrew in August , more than nine years after its military intervened to stop a jihadist takeover of the troubled Sahel nation. The colonels in charge in Bamako have been increasingly turning to Russia, and particularly to Wagner’s paramilitaries, according to Western sources. Bamako denies this, acknowledging only the support of Russian military “instructors”. But it is Wagner that the Al-Qaeda-linked group Jama’at Nasr al‑Islam wal Muslimin, or JNIM, has been targeting in the information war. “Wagner’s operations…

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Fossil fuel lobbyists have flooded UN climate talks in Egypt, a report by watchdog groups said yesterday, even as calls grow at the summit for a windfall tax on oil majors’ bumper profits. More than 600 lobbyists from some of the world’s biggest polluters have registered for the climate talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, up 25% from last year. That is more than the number of representatives from the 10 most climate-affected countries combined. Activists gathered for a small rally at the conference, calling for big emitters to be thrown out. | AFP…

Report found that there were 782 fossil fuel projects in operation or under construction in Africa between 2016 and 2021 DEVELOPMENT Finance Institutions (DFIs) in southern Africa are pouring significant amounts of money into fossil fuels exploration more than they are financing renewable energy. This goes against the Paris Agreement as climate change requires financial institutions to stop funding fossil fuels and to fund a swift, just transition to renewable energy. These are the findings contained in a report released by the Fair Finance Coalition of Southern Africa (FFCSA) yesterday on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP27, in Egypt. COP27 has already been marred by controversy as activists said that there were more fossil fuel lobbyists at the gathering than representatives of the 10 countries most…

THE musical chairs at play in the Johannesburg and the Ekurhuleni municipal metros is beginning to be nauseating. The power game the residents of the two metros are being subjected to is unwarranted. The political merry-go-round that is going on at the expense of service delivery is not amusing at all. The circus that is made up of the ANC, the DA, the EFF, ActionSA, Patriotic Alliance, IFP, UDM, PAC, ACDP, FF+ and other parties belongs in a zoo. Within a space of merely four weeks we have had the mayoral chains and robes of these municipalities changing hands. In Joburg, we have had the DA’s Mpho Phalatse being ousted by the ANC’s Dada Morero through a motion of no confidence. Within two weeks Phalatse was back at the helm,…

Wet roads and poor visibility contribute to more than 27% of all fatal accidents in the country. Citing a report compiled by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), head of DialDirect Insurance, Anneli Retief, said there was definitely an increase in vehicle accidents during rainy weather. According to Retief, this is mainly attributed to wet roads, poor visibility and failure by motorists to adjust their driving to wet weather conditions. “Adopting a proactive approach to wet weather, driving safely, making sure that your vehicle is up to the task, and adjusting your driving behaviour, is absolutely vital,” said Retief. She said the rainy weather also resulted in the proliferation of potholes, putting even more strain on the fragile road infrastructure. “A pothole is depression or a hollow in a road…

Notes on Falling Bronwyn Law-Viljoen Umuzi Notes on Falling by Bronwyn Law- Vijoen is a rich novel if sometimes a little confusing, or maybe challenging is the better word, as the reader is required to concentrate to follow the threads, as they appear to unravel. What it gives us is a creative arc and a lens through which to view the turbulent creativity of the ’70s in New York and the lives of those who pursue the arts, as it intersected with the challenges of ’90s South Africa and an archival search to find a parent. The characters are complex, their depths mined intricately for the reader. Thalia is an art photographer in South Africa in the ’90s, daughter of a newspaper editor in Johannesburg. She wins a scholarship to…

RED Ink is a gripping thriller, set in present-day Johannesburg, it has a distinctly local flavour and brings the city to life through all its contrasts and contradictions. When public relations consultant and ex-journalist Lucy Khambule – young, beautiful and ambitious – receives an unexpected call from Napoleon Dingiswayo – a convicted serial killer, nicknamed The Butcher by the media – her life takes a dramatic turn. Dingiswayo wants Lucy to tell his story. Intrigued by Dingiswayo’s approach, Lucy decides to take the opportunity to fulfil her life-long dream of writing a book, but it comes at a cost she could never have imagined. After their initial contact, Dingiswayo becomes an all-too-obliging subject and Lucy soon discovers her choice of topic is not for the faint-hearted. Soon after meeting him…

There is a standing joke that when Africans attend an international conference, the keynote is dining, winning, shopping and socialising since they are averse to presenting argumentative conference papers. I hope the contention does not hold true for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt. Africa must provide motive power in the form of emotional intelligence for the developed nations to galvanise into action and pay for the damage caused by climate change, for the greater good of the planet. All eyes are on COP27, since the effects of climate change are equally devastating whether one was born in a tropical climate or a temperate climate. Rogue weather patterns are being stepped up globally in a cataclysmic manner. We are all in the same boat, and the boat is…

Some can claim President Cyril Ramaphosa was a presidential candidate who was preferred by even Nelson Mandela. As a businessman, Ramaphosa did very well for himself but on the political front, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The question is this: on what grounds did Ramaphosa become a presidential candidate, besides him, standing and smiling alongside a released Nelson Mandela? Sadly, the greatest reason South Africans are seemingly under Ramaphosa’s spell is that Ramaphosa is their last hope for avoiding accountability after electing Jacob Zuma, despite all the warning signs that were there. So when the likes of Thabo Mbeki tell it like it is, the burning desire and rush are not to scrutinise the validity of what has been said, but to sweat profusely towards protecting…

Peter Jones, the eternal revolutionary, was detained with Steve Biko, one of the icons of the liberation movement. Steve was taken away, tortured and killed on September 12, 1977. Peter is the last person from the liberation movement who saw Steve before he was brutally murdered. Peter was tortured and then spent approximately 540 days imprisoned without trial. Peter has his own compelling histories of independent contributions to the liberation of our country. Peter suffered a stroke a while back. I visited him recently after communicating with Ingrid, his wife, who is a strong and independent woman in her own right. When I entered the room where Peter was serenely lying, the soft air swirling around him created its own music. An orchestra of memories produced exquisite sounds as if…

KYIV: US General Mark Milley, chairperson of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has estimated that around 100 000 Russian and 100 000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured since Moscow waged its ongoing war against Kyiv on February 24. He said yesterday that around 40 000 civilians had died in the war. Milley said the scale of casualties could convince both Moscow and Kyiv of the need to negotiate over the winter months, when fighting may slow due to freezing conditions. He noted that between 15 and 30 million refugees have been created since Russia launched its invasion. The UN has recorded 7.8 million refugees from Ukraine. | IANS…

GENEVA: The UK faced a barrage of questions and criticism of its migration and poverty policies in a UN review of its human rights record yesterday. Luxembourg’s ambassador Marc Bichler called London’s plan to send asylum seekers who arrive in Britain to Rwanda a violation of international law that “risks causing irreparable harm to those seeking international protection”. The US also questioned the policy. Mike Freer, a junior minister in Britain’s Justice Department, said Rwanda was a safe and secure country with a track record of supporting refugees. No deportations have yet taken place. | Reuters…

Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs are stepping up their preparations ahead of a long day at the office in the Carling Black Label Cup tomorrow. Amakhosi will take part in the second semi-final of the day when they collide with Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates at noon at the FNB Stadium. The unique nature of the Black Label Cup has presented an interesting challenge for the Glamour Boys. The inclusion of a long-time club servant in Eric Mathoho, who was voted in by the supporters, in the starting XI has meant the current team doesn’t have a natural right-back on the field. Edmilson Dove, who is one of the most versatile members of the Chiefs squad, will line up with Mathoho, Njabulo Ngcobo and Sfiso Hlanti in defence. “At the end of…

Government’s decision to accept billions of rand in international loans for the Just Energy Transition investment plan have raised fears that it will push the country to the edge of a debt cliff. This week, the International Partners Group (IPG), which includes the UK, US, Germany, France and the EU at COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, pledged $8.5 billion (about R148.4bn) to assist South Africa shift from coal to renewable energy and there are also plans to make an additional R10bn available. The IPG loan comes on the back of multibillion-rand loans taken in the past two-and-a-half years to respond to the socio-economic crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic. These include a January World Bank R11.4bn low-interest development policy loan to South Africa to help the government widen its…

A Zimbabwean woman who helped herself to church funds between 2012 and 2015, has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, Lady Memory Mutsika, 43, had been charged with 128 counts of theft. She said Mutsika was a church treasurer of the Pretoria City Seventh-Day Adventist church. Her responsibilities included transferring tithe and offering money deposited to the church account to the Northern Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. “Mutsika transferred more than R800 000 of the money received from the tithe and offerings to her bank account and for her personal use,” she said. Mutsika asked the court for a non-custodial sentence to pay the church back the money over a five-year period. However, Mahanjana said the accused only indicated her…

A SIXTY-year-old Gauteng gardener who transports his equipment using his bicycle has won the hearts of people. Almost R25 000 has come pouring in through the Back a Buddy campaign to help Gift Zingora. It began when resident Grant Zoghby stopped to chat to Zingora about his business. “Hard-working with a smile! Today while driving home I noticed the lovely smile on Gift’s face while peddling his makeshift bakkie/bicycle. I decided to stop and chat to him,” said Zoghby. He said Zingora, born in 1962, was a professional gardener who left his home in 2010 to make a better life for himself and his family. “He loves gardens and plants and currently rides his makeshift bicycle to and from his clients. He takes all his gardening tools along with…

AYANDA Ntshingila, a seasoned marketer and veteran in the financial services industry, sees her new position at the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) as an excellent opportunity to gain experience and advance her career. Ntshingila assumed the post of head of public relations and stakeholder engagements at the beginning of the month and has laid the groundwork for her team, setting a high standard for what she expects of them. She has already been introduced to the JRA’s impromptu way of life, having had to make site visits due to recent heavy rains that caused disruptions on the city’s roads. Ntshingila, a seasoned marketer and communicator and a member of the Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA), is working towards becoming a chartered marketer. “I am thrilled to be joining the…

ONE of South Africa’s biggest cultural gatherings, Cotton Fest, has revealed its star-studded line-up. It will take place for the first time on December 10 in Paarden Eiland Park, Cape Town. The concert set to kick off the festive season will feature more than 50 of South Africa’s hottest known and emerging hip-hop and Amapiano headliners from Cape Town and Johannesburg. The line-up includes local heavyweights such as Blxckie, Anatii, Pabi Cooper, Youngsta CPT, Shekhinah, Shane Eagle, Robot Boii, Uncle Vinny, Shishiliza, Felo Le Tee, Moozlie and Venom. Bringing the same authentic vibe that emanated from the Joburg edition to the Mother City this summer, this action-packed festival will not only showcase the diversity in the different popular music genres, but will also feature various lifestyle elements existing within the…

This year’s Exclusive Books Christmas selection – The List – is the widest in years. The campaign, Santa’s No 1 Supplier, is traditional and nostalgic, featuring Santa with his trusty elves, among the treasure trove of bookshelves at Exclusive Books. “This is a departure from Exclusive Books’ usual approach, where we would emphasise the general holiday aspect of the season, rather than the particularity of Christmas. “But our feeling for this year, post-Covid and amid our current challenging times, was that we all needed a bit of festive magic and wonder, a universal need no matter how you choose to celebrate at the end of the year,” said Exclusive Books marketing general manager Batya Bricker. The books are chosen with various criteria in mind – the most important being the…

IF, like me, you enjoyed reading the three brilliant volumes of Melinda Ferguson’s memoirs, Smacked, Hooked and Crashed, her fourth volume Bamboozled, while also outstanding, offers readers something quite different. Whereas much of the content of those earlier works might have caused the reader’s eyelashes to veer upwards in shock, surprise, disapproval, Bamboozled will give eyebrows substantially less work to do. Ferguson started writing this book five years ago. “And then I stopped. Blocked. Distracted. Diverted. Death smirked at us when we awoke and masked ourselves, adhered to curfews, Covid tests, Covid jabs, PCR swabs, as we watched endlessly ticking numbers and stats dipping and climbing, were told of new variants, travel bans quarantines. Time took on a new meaning, with ever-changing calendars of lockdown levels, restrictions, and viral waves.”…

Lukhanyo Am was recently voted Players’ Player of the Year by his teammates and fellow players. Just reward for a good season. The accolade, although not an international one, is one to be proud of. Many avid rugby fans will remember the great centres of yesteryear. Brian O’ Driscoll of Ireland was the highest-scoring centre of all time. Then there was Philippe Sella of France, who had pace, vision and a strong defence. I clearly remember the elegant running style of England’s Jeremy Guscott, known as the “Prince of Centres”. Our own Danie Gerber, regarded as the finest Springbok of all time, was fast, strong and elusive Lukhanyo Am has some way to go to achieve the above status, but I’m sure he will do his best to achieve world…

THOUGH it sounds controversial and inconsiderate, the irony of crime is that it knows no colour, creed, no social standing – and it does not care who you are. Yesterday’s news that former apartheid president, the late FW de Klerk, is the latest victim – posthumously – of the rampant crime most South Africans have experienced. The Nobel Peace Prize, worth a million, that De Klerk was awarded alongside former president Nelson Mandela in Norway in 1993 was stolen in a burglary at his home in Cape Town's upmarket Fresnaye suburb. Pieces of jewellery belonging to his widow, Elita, were also taken from a safe. It is unAfrican to kick a man when he is down – even when he is dead. But there are always exceptions. Many believe…

SAN FRANCISCO: As Elon Musk takes over Twitter and begins massive changes, those who do not like his ideology are migrating to other platforms and Mastodon, a decentralised open-source alternative to Twitter, is gaining traction. Eugen Rochko, the founder and CEO of Mastodon, said the platform had 381 113 active users on October 28. About 10 days later, he said his network had hit more than 1 million active users as Musk took over Twitter. On Mastodon, tweets are called posts. Meanwhile, Twitter told advertisers that its daily user growth has hit an “all-time high” after Musk’s takeover. | IANS…