Table of contents for 2023-01-06 in Star

RE-ELECTED ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has emphasised that the ruling party needs to do more to eradicate corruption and disunity within the party so that it could serve the people of South Africa better to ensure a better performance in the 2024 national elections. He was speaking at the opening address of the second leg of the 55th party national conference at the Imvelo Safari Lodge in Mangaung, which will be the main hub with each province attending the conference in a hybrid format. The city will be the centre of the party’s 111th anniversary, known as the January 8 statement, which will be held on Sunday with build-up activities in between. Late last month, the party kicked off a gruelling elective conference at the Nasrec Expo Centre, south of…

ESKOM is due to face a legal challenge this year in a bid to stop it from applying targeted load reduction on numerous feeder lines across the country. Sakeliga, in collaboration with Agri North-West, TLU SA and affected businesses, launched an application with the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, against Eskom, for the court to review and set aside the electricity giant’s load reduction policy. Tian Alberts, of Sakeliga, said for more than a year now Eskom has regularly, and for hours on end, been terminating the power supply of direct users on certain feeder lines, in an apparent attempt to curb illegal usage and to collect debt. In the process, paying end-users – often businesses and farms – are also targeted. Load reduction is implemented above and beyond national…

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has confirmed that the Boksburg tanker explosion has claimed three more lives. This has brought the death toll to 37 people who have died following the tanker explosion that took place on Christmas Eve near the Tambo Memorial Hospital. This means that the death toll has risen from 34 to 37 in the past seven days since the last update following the death of three more victims. On Saturday, December 24, a truck carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) got stuck under a bridge in Boksburg, resulting in a leak and blast that instantly killed 10 people. Since then, the number of victims and fatalities has risen. A joint memorial service organised by the national and provincial governments was held ahead of the new year to allow…

THE kindness, warmth and assistance given to the victims of the Boksburg fiery gas inferno is an act of magnanimity unprecedented in recent times. Helpers rushed to bravely assist the injured as flames shattered the environment. The country’s grief was punctuated by an overwhelming sense of bereavement. The shock of an awakening and the sense of disillusionment was seen before a global audience. Some of those brave acts of heroism in attempting to rescue the injured and retrieve the dead are acts of courage that will be recorded and remembered for posterity. South Africa witnessed raw strength in the face of pain and monumental grief. Communities and organisations rallied with courage, grace and resilience to confront a raging inferno that placed in peril the entire neighbourhood. There are a plethora…

As 2022 drew to a close, people wished their friends and family Happy New Year. Now it is that time of the year when people shower their friends and family with warm compliments and wish them good health. This is also the time of year when people exercise their puritanical ideals by embarking on a spiritual fasting journey with a view of invoking God’s intervention in their life challenges. During the season of festivity, people have an insatiable desire for food regardless of the healthy make-up of the meal. Our bad eating habits impact negatively our vitality, make us feeble and less supple, make us sick and diseased and clog our system. We often poison our bodies by consuming unhealthy food and after we have executed this unsavoury act upon…

THE SOUL OF A LION Willie Labuschagne Loot.co.za (R330) Tracey Mcdonald Publishers A MAN who has devoted his life to working with animals both in the wild and in captivity is Willie Labuschagne. He is most likely best known for his many years as director of the Johannesburg Zoo, and director of the National Zoological Gardens. One can only imagine he has a treasure chest filled with wonderful wildlife stories. In his memoir, The Soul of a Lion – reflections on a life lived with animals, he lifts the chest’s lid to share some marvellous stories from his wildlife experience. Labuschagne was born on the outskirts of Volksrust (on the border of the then Transvaal and Natal). His father was an MSc in Botany. When his dad was appointed information…

Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency Andy Greenberg Loot.co.za (R677) IN May 2021, Colonial Pipeline Co paid some $4.4 million in cryptocurrency to hackers who were holding its computer systems hostage. The culprits were part of a cybercriminal ransomware gang known as DarkSide, and the group helpfully provided the company with an address for a digital wallet where Colonial could deposit the ransom. Cryptocurrency such as bitcoin has become the currency of choice for cybercriminals who believe that using it protects them from law enforcement because it is anonymous and untraceable. It turns out they are only half right. Less than a month after Colonial paid DarkSide, the Justice Department was able to claw back nearly half of the ransom. How…

When Mmusi Maimane addressed DA supporters at Constitution Hill in May 2017, as he launched the DA’s Road to 2019 election campaign, he said: “the ANC is dead”. I was outraged by what I considered to be a fake and inappropriate notification of the untimely passing of the ANC, from a leader of the official opposition party. I penned a furious and fierce counter- attack on Maimane, using the best weapon I have in hand, my words. I wrote: “The DA’s latest crusade is to declare that the ANC is dead and hastily prepare for an afterlife in South Africa midwifed on the fragile umbilical cord of an opposition party configuration”. At the time Maimane was envisaging a coalition-style political configuration with the DA as a major player. As is…

Rome: Twenty charities yesterday slammed new rules on rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean introduced by Italy’s right-wing government, saying they went against international law and will result in more deaths. Under the new decree, charity vessels must head “without delay” to the Italian port assigned to them after each rescue, which aid groups say will limit the number of people they can help. Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s new government has vowed to stop the charity performing a “ferry” service from North Africa. But the order “to proceed to a port while other people are in distress at sea, contradicts a captain’s obligation to give aid. | AFP…

MEXICO CITY: An escaped Mexican cartel kingpin died after a shoot-out early yesterday, four days after he fled prison in a violent mass break-out, authorities said. El Neto – full name was Ernesto Alfredo Pinon de la Cruz – was tracked down in the city of Ciudad Juárez on the US border, and then shot after a chase, officials said. A top gunman for the Los Mexicles cartel, he escaped with 29 other inmates after raiders in armoured vehicles attacked the prison in the Juarez early on New Year’s Day. At least 19 people – guards and other prisoners – died in the assault, one of Mexico’s bloodiest prison raids in recent years. | Reuters…

Jurie Roux has stepped down as SA Rugby CEO “in the best interests of the game and the organisation”, president Mark Alexander has said. Roux completed a 12-year stint at the governing body on December 31, and has been rumoured to be on the move to sport investors CVC Capital Partners, who are believed to be in discussions with SA Rugby on a private equity deal. The 52-year-old Roux’s departure came on the back of the controversy around his corruption case with previous employers Stellenbosch University. He was ordered by an arbitrator to repay R37-million to the university for misappropriating funds while working at their finance department from 2002-2010 while he was also chairman of the university’s Maties rugby club. Roux lost an appeal in that regard in December 2021,…

The Sharks have built up a healthy head of steam in recent weeks – a run of form that could be hampered by the terminal reliance on an increasingly unwieldy United Rugby Championship (URC) sponsorship deal. Last year, URC CEO Martin Anayi waxed lyrical when he announced that Qatar Airways would partner the tournament to fly the South African franchises between Europe and their homeland. It was a deal, he said then, that would make the South African teams’ lives so much easier as they need not worry about the financial or logistical aspects of booking flights to compete in the competition. In the present, and the partnership is reportedly not bearing the yield as promised and might even be having a negative effect on the SA sides who must…

Cape Town City will look to revive their stuttering season when they host fifth placed Orlando Pirates at Cape Town Stadium tomorrow. Eric Tinkler’s side head into the game 11th on the log with just 16 points. They have been unable to replicate their heroics from last season which saw them finish second and qualify for the CAF Champions League for the first time in their history. The Citizens are 18 points adrift of top of the table Mamelodi Sundowns and a further 10 points behind third place Richards Bay FC. City have lost three of their last five games, most recently a 1-0 defeat to SuperSport United. The pressure is mounting on Tinkler to turn things around and following the defeat to Matsatsantsa he conceded that things are just…

His story, of overcoming the odds, is an inspiration to many who have heard it. The Springbok captain continues to make moves that not only make his family but also his country proud. He has just announced a major move to relocate to France to play for Racing 92. Now, Mzansi and the world are set to see a different side to the multi-award-winning sportsman in his new deeply personal documentary, Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story, when it premieres at the end of February. If the documentary’s title rings a bell, it is because it is similar to his 2021 autobiography, Rise. The documentary’s title also serves as a message to encourage others to “rise up” from any circumstances or challenges, while most importantly it is also the English meaning…

Crime threatened left in lurch as 7 million emergency calls not answered or abandoned WITH more than 7 million emergency calls to 10111 being dropped and only 41.5% of the ideal number of staff employed at police call centres, the situation was dire but came as no surprise to crime activists who received complaints from community members daily. The statistics were based on feedback by Police Minister Bheki Cele for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years, and from April 1 last year until present, following a parliamentary question by DA MP Andrew Whitefield. Whitefield wanted to know what the number of personnel should be, and how many people were employed at each 10111 centre, as well as what number of dropped calls were recorded in respect of each call…

Police statistics show that more than 3 400 elderly women and men aged 60 and beyond were criminally assaulted in the Western Cape and Gauteng alone in 2021. Police recorded 1 070 women pensioners above 60 years old as victims of assault in 12 months in the Western Cape in 2021 – second only to Gauteng’s 1 105. The province also had the second- most assaults reported to police of men over 60, with 564 cases. Once again, Gauteng tops the provinces with 712 such cases. These statistics were presented in the form of replies by Police Minister Bheki Cele, sent this week, to parliamentary questions posed by IFP MP Zandile Majozi. She had asked for the number of assault cases opened by the elderly and the number of cases…

JOB Sikhala is critically ill in prison amid allegations he was poisoned. It is worrying that a Zimbabwean opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) MP Job Wiwa Sikhala is seriously ill after suspected poisoning. Sikhala, who has been detained without trial for seven months in Harare’s notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, seems to be in a stable condition after suspected poisoning. Sikhala who represents Harare’s poor high-density suburb of Zengeza West, in Parliament, as well as his fellow CCC MP Godfrey Sithole and 14 other CCC activists were arrested on June 14, 2022. This was in connection with the disappearance and the murder of CCC activist Moreblessing Ali in May 2022. Sikhala, also a lawyer, was then asked by her family to represent them in trying to find her.…

The countdown has begun to the highly anticipated Miss Universe 2022 pageant, which will have hopefuls from different countries across the globe contest the coveted title. The reigning Miss SA, Ndavi Nokeri, has also jetted off to the prestigious 71st Miss Universe pageant that will be held at the Ernest N Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. In a video she shared on her Instagram account, she expressed how elated she was to be going to the US. “I am finally on my way to Miss Universe. I am currently at the airport, and we are hitting it off. I am so excited. Thank you so much for all your love and support. I am literally feeling you guys with me. I can’t wait to tag you along for…

THROUGH FIRE THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY Faf Du Plessis & Marco Botha Loot.co.za (R320) Due to author modesty, most autobiographies of cricketing greats disappoint because they tend to grossly underplay the cricketer’s prowess. Thankfully, this restraint does not pertain to biographies. The globally acclaimed former Proteas’ cricket captain Faf du Plessis, a superb captain, batsman and fielder, has just penned his eponymous autobiography, FAF. While suffering the shortcomings of modesty, FAF does offers something unusual and of tremendous value, rather than being a “this happened, that happened” autobiography; Faf du Plessis offers us a heady combination of personal introspection and his insight into cricket as he sees it. “I’m not setting out to write a book about how great I was. Because I wasn’t (sic!). I’m writing this book as a…

THE BLUE WINDOW Suzanne Berne Loot.co.za (R541) Simon & Schuster When we first meet Adam in Suzanne Berne’s novel The Blue Window, we know only that something terrible has happened to him, something so humiliating and disgraceful that he can’t bring himself to think about it. He’s home from his first year of college, not so much nursing his wounded ego as trying to erase it, a project that entails thinking of himself as not Adam but A, which also conveniently stands for Anonymous. Or Absent. It is “End of Day 18 in Year 2019 of the Battle Against the Self, beset on all sides by demoralising reminders of familial attachment”. His mother, for instance. If she asks him: “What have you been doing all day?” A might say:…

Africa has contributed negligibly to the changing climate, with less than 4% of global emissions. Yet, it stands out disproportionately as the most vulnerable region in the world. It was, therefore, fitting that the UN climate change conference last year, COP27, was hosted in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The African continent is facing some of the severest effects from climate change seen in a decade. In 2022, every part of Africa was affected by extreme weather events and slow-onset processes. These ranged from wildfires in Algeria to catastrophic flooding in South and West Africa. The Horn of Africa is witnessing the worst drought in 40 years; Mozambique has had a devastating cyclone season. There have been historic floods for a fourth consecutive year in South Sudan and Sudan. These extreme events…

NEW DELHI: India detected a total of 11 subvariants of Covid-19 in international travellers who arrived in the country from December 24 to January 3, health ministry sources said yesterday, adding they were a mix of new and existing variants. The variants detected were all sublineages of Omicron variant of Covid-19 , including the BA.5.2 subvariant and a sublineage of BF.7 subvariant that were driving China’s recent coronavirus outbreak. Hundreds of Covid-19 variants are circulating globally, but a handful that are of concern and are being monitored. Of the 1 227 passengers who were tested, 124 were found positive, the sources said. | Reuters…

Arthur Zwane has stood by his decision to steadily introduce youngsters into the Kaizer Chiefs senior team, explaining that it’s in line with the club’s vision. Chiefs are one of the most successful clubs in the land but after chopping and changing coaching personnel in the last few seasons, the club hasn’t been consistent in promoting youngsters. Enter Zwane. The club legend, who cut his coaching teeth in the development set-up, is determined to change that narrative by blending the old and the new. The 49-year-old’s decision to throw youngsters into the deep end, however, has divided supporters. “For the past five years, our development structures have produced quality players. When they were given the opportunity, they did well,” Zwane said. “It’s just a matter of being consistent from that…

COSATU says it hopes the ANC will reflect on its inability to grow the economy, fix the load shedding crisis and reduce unemployment and poverty during its 111th anniversary. The ANC’s 111th celebration is set to take place in the Free State this weekend. The event is marked to drum up support for the main January 8 statement, which is expected to take place at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium on Sunday. Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the labour federation expected the ANC to come out with urgent solutions to address the scourge of poverty and degradation that exists with lavish wealth. “South African workers expect a solid political and economic programme to kick-start the economy and accelerate economic transformation. “The ANC January 8 statement should take forward the…

Unemployment is probably the greatest challenge facing South Africa today. It was necessary to undertake a number of initiatives to address unemployment and poverty. One initiative that has been going on for almost 20 years is the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). A list of these programmes is available from the Department of Public Works. The idea is to take unemployed, unskilled individuals who are unable to find alternative employment and to give them a minimal salary and to try to impart some training and skills. The EPWP is subject to a Code of Good Practice which outlines how the programme has to work. This Code of Good Practice is published in the Government Gazette. The individuals have the protection of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Labour Relations…

What we need to emphasise more often is that there is a price to be paid for them to materialise. That is the defining moment whether one’s resolutions will materialise or not. We all can write them down, we all can rehearse them but not all of us are ready to pay the price and that is one of the reasons why we have returned soldiers from resolutions even before the year matures. Those not ready to be who they aspire to be against all odds should forget about accomplished resolutions. The price will come in different forms depending on the type of resolutions. Some will have to stand the pain of losing friends who will remove themselves from your friend list, since you no longer behave the same way…

The Widow KL Slater Loot.co.za (R211) Sphere A gripping psychological thriller from the author of the author of The Marriage. “My husband was not a monster. No matter what they say ... The day my husband, Michael, stepped in front of a lorry after being questioned by the police, my world fell apart. “He was devoted to me and our 6-year-old daughter. But they’d connected him to the disappearance of a young mother from our tiny village. Now I stand at Michael’s funeral, clutching my little girl’s hand, with tears in my eyes as I insist to all our friends that he died an innocent man. Yet the questions have started, and nothing I say will stop them digging for the truth. “But none of them can read the secrets…

JUST two months ago, Police Minister Bheki Cele admitted in Parliament that the SAPS was unable to meet the country’s policing needs. “The SAPS’ current capability … requires substantial additional resources. The continuous prioritisation of available resources is therefore a requirement to address the most critical needs of South Africans, which is bound by the available resources,” the minister said. Cele conceded defeat in his department's war on crime after the SAPS’ annual report last year indicated that allocations would be reduced by R15.8 billion last year, and by a further R11.5bn this year as part of the government’s cost-cutting measures after the Covid-19 pandemic. SAPS’s headcount had declined from 197 000 five years ago to 172 000 at last year’s count, with another 10 000…

Israel’s new hard-right government seeks reforms to the judiciary to limit its influence on government policy and give politicians a bigger role in picking top judges, alarming opponents who fear it will hurt democracy and minority rights. Justice Minister Yariv Levin unveiled his plan on Wednesday, describing it as a restoration of balance between the legislative, executive and judiciary. It was greeted with delight by his partners in the nationalist-religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have long accused the court of overreach and the bench of elitism. Israelis opposed to the reforms fear for the country’s democratic health, defending the court as a bulwark for minority rights. The plan, which has yet to be written into law, includes limiting Supreme Court power to rule against government policy or…

Washington: Up to 30 000 migrants a month will be allowed into the US from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, while restrictions are tightened on those seeking to enter illegally, a senior US official said yesterday. The quota of legal migrants will be restricted to those with a US sponsor, while those attempting to cross the US-Mexico border illegally will be expelled under a beefed-up law enforcement presence. President Joe Biden will make his first visit to the border on Sunday with a stop at El Paso, Texas, before he travels to Mexico City on Monday and Tuesday for a North America leaders’ summit. | AFP…

To his credit, coach Rulani Mokwena shot down Ernst Middendorp’s declaration that the Premiership title race is over because no other team can upstage Mamelodi Sundowns in the second half of the season. At the halfway stage, Swallows FC coach Middendorp is convinced that the Brazilians will win the title comfortably. Middendorp’s claim came from exasperation after his side succumbed 2-0 to Sundowns a few days ago. German Middendorp had every right to feel that way after the match. Several 50/50 decisions went against his side, and one scoring chance was denied by the woodwork. Throughout the match, he showed his discontent with furious gesticulations which reflected his annoyance and anger. Anyone watching that match would not be convinced that Swallows were in the relegation zone because for 60 minutes,…

There will be nobody smiling more about the new SA20 league than the England management team with the tournament providing the perfect platform for a couple of injured seam bowlers to work their way back into form. World Cup winner Jofra Archer is, of course, the headline act and will be making his comeback from a long-term elbow injury for MI Cape Town. Archer will most likely share the new ball with Proteas star Kagiso Rabada in the tournament opener at Newlands on Tuesday. But it won’t only be Archer that England white-ball coach Matthew Mott will be monitoring over the next couple of weeks ahead of the three-match one-day international series against the Proteas in Bloemfontein later this month. Reece Topley will also be making a much-anticipated return after…

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu exited an Auckland warm-up tournament injured and in tears yesterday, just over 10 days before the Australian Open starts. The 20-year-old Briton, who stunned the tennis world when she won the US Open in 2021 as a qualifier, retired with an ankle injury at the start of the third set against Viktoria Kuzmova in the last-16. Raducanu, who has suffered a series of injuries since her New York triumph, won the first set 6-0 before losing the second 7-5. She then received treatment before declaring that she could not continue. The Australian Open starts on January 16, leaving the world No 78 facing a race to be fit in time. Veteran Venus Williams was another high-profile casualty on a rain-marred day. The 42-year-old American…