Table of contents for 2021-05-11 in Star

Kedibone Modise kedibone.modise@inl.co.za Fat-shaming is one of the most common forms of cyberbullying and celebrities are often the target of this abusive behaviour. Rapper and media personality Boity Thulo refused to be bullied by a rude troll who posted a snide comment about her being “fat”. It all started when Thulo shared pictures of her and her mother, Modiehi Thulo, on Mother’s Day. In the snaps, the duo are rocking matching dresses at the recent launch of Thulo’s premium alcoholic and non-alcoholic sparkling fruit beverage brand, BT Signature. S he captioned the post: “My person, #Happy MothersDay.” Fans were raving about how gorgeous Thulo’s mom is, but one Twitter user chose to fat-shame Boity.He wrote: “Why isn’t she fat like u?” But Thulo hit back, letting the troll know that…

BALDWIN NDABA and ZINTLE MAHLATI The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) yesterday vowed to come down hard on all its errant members, including its suspended secretary- general, Ace Magashule, if he fails to apologise to President Cyril Ramaphosa for penning an unlawful “suspension letter” to him. Adding to Magashule’s woes, the party has further confirmed that he will remain on suspension until the conclusion of the fraud, corruption and money-laundering trial against him. He is due to make an appearance in the Bloemfontein High Court in August for the determination of a trial date, along with 15 others. One of them is former human settlements MEC Olly Mlamleli. The drama unfolded on May 3 last week following an ANC national working committee meeting which took a decision to suspend…

ZELDA VENTER ONE of the Boeremag’s bomb manufacturers, Kobus Pretorius, and his father Dr Lets Pretorius were quietly released on parole last year. They and others prepared the homemade bomb which was to be placed to injure or kill the then president, Nelson Mandela, in 2002 while he was on his way to open a school in Bolobedu, Limpopo. Both had been sentenced at the end of the country’s first treason trial under the new dispensation in 2013. The father and son served about seven years of their 20-year jail term. The Department of Justice and Correctional Services confirmed that they were granted parole after serving the required minimum number of years in jail. The two met the requirements to be placed on parole. Pretorius sr, a medical doctor,…

Goitsemang Tlhabye goitsemang.tlhabye@inl.co.za WORDS with no action behind them will not put an end to the senseless attacks and killings of emergency medical services personnel, their union has said. Its leaders were responding to a call by MEC for Health Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi for communities to help put an end to continued attacks on emergency services workers responding to calls. Mokgethi said unless communities worked together with law enforcement agencies to put an end to the attack on personnel and the vandalism of their equipment, many people needing emergency medical care might find themselves without assistance as workers would be reluctant to respond to calls for help. She stressed that an attack on emergency services should be seen as an attack on the rest of society. Mokgethi’s sentiment followed the…

THABILE MANGE | Krugersdorp THERE is a debate raging over whether the country should hold local government elections this year. The ANC and IEC want the elections to go ahead as planned. A date has already been set: it’s October 27, 2021. On the other hand, the EFF is opposed to elections being held in October this year. The red berets want elections be postponed to a later date in the year or early next year. Reason? To save lives. Covid-19 is at the centre of the debate. My view is that the elections should continue as planned. If Covid-19 cases will be high by then, technology should be used. Those who don’t have access to the internet should be granted access. Or other means should be…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za TRANSFORMATION is happening but slowly, as there are too few black executives occupying management positions in South Africa, a new report shows. The Sanlam Group launched the inaugural 2021 Sanlam Gauge report on the B-BBEE (broad-based black economic empowerment) scorecard performance of 11 sectors in the country last week. The gauge, presented in partnership with the Sunday Times Business Times, is the first report of its kind to deliver insights on how industries within South Africa are transforming. Sanlam Group chief executive Paul Hanratty said the report was to help South Africa drive the debate of how best to achieve true economic inclusion and equality for all. “The findings of this report will, we hope, catalyse introspection in corporate society. We urge business to ask: How can…

ACROSS the globe, everybody loves knockout football, because it gives the smaller clubs the chance to upstage the glamour teams and capture a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Knockout football is where fairy tales can come true – and that was the case when Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) won the Nedbank Cup on Saturday night with a 1-0 victory over Chippa United. It was a remarkable final, precisely because it was a “fairy-tale” ending to the competition with two unfancied sides battling it out. TTM’s pot of gold is a big one, R7 million to be exact, and another spin-off of their victory is that they have won a place in next season’s Caf Confederation Cup. On the road to the final, TTM beat SuperSport United,…

Kate Burridge and Howard Manns THERE has been much debate recently about the way women who work in Australian federal parliament are treated. This discussion has highlighted that society continues to place very different values on the way women and men behave. Language – as a behaviour – holds a mirror up to these values. And changing the way we think about language is an important step towards changing the way we think about gender. Folk wisdom provides a dizzying array of misleading accounts of how women communicate, many of them riddled with sexism. Proverbs tell us “women’s tongues are like lambs’ tails; they are never still”. But research tells us men talk and interrupt more – especially when speaking to women. It’s hard to stop the proverb and…

A total of 59% of Japanese citizens think that the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo should be cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a fresh poll conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper showed yesterday. The survey was conducted from May 7-9 amid a countrywide surge in infections. The state of emergency will remain in place in the prefectures of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo until May 31 and has been additionally imposed in Aichi and Fukuoka. On average, 64% of respondents in the six prefectures were in favour of cancelling the Games. In 41 other prefectures, the average was 57%. Among those who want the sporting event to take place, 23% believe that the Games should be held without spectators, while 16% backed limiting their number. The…

JAKARTA: Mount Sinabung in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province erupted at 7.47am local time yesterday, belching thick gray ashes 2 500m from its peak, the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre said. “This eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 90mm and a duration of 246 seconds,” centre officer Armen Putra said. At 3.42am local time, Sinabung also erupted, spewing thick ashes 1 000m for 150 seconds. The centre recommended people not move to areas within a radius of 3km from the peak. It also urged people to avoid rivers originating from the volcano and to wear masks when going outside so that dangerous volcanic ashes will not be inhaled into their lungs.…

DAMASCUS: The Syrian Supreme Constitutional Court has approved three candidates, including incumbent President Bashar Assad, to run in the May 26 presidential election, rejecting all appeals from candidates who were disqualified, the head of the court, Mohammad Laham, said yesterday. “The court has studied the appeals, according to the constitution, and decided to reject them all on the basis of the absence of any reason for their submission,” Laham said, noting that there were six appeals. “The Syrian Supreme Constitutional Court finally announces the presidential elections, in which the incumbent president and two announced candidates will run,” he added.…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za The fairytale finish to the Premiership that AmaZulu so desperately crave seems to be slipping out of their grasp with every Mamelodi Sundowns victory, but coach Benni McCarthy has stressed his charges will fight to the very end. Having been top of the table for a brief period just last week, Usuthu now trail Sundowns by seven points with just four games remaining in the campaign. It is going to be a near miracle for AmaZulu to haul in the Brazilians, with the KwaZulu-Natal team requiring other teams to do them a couple of favours. But having gone 16 games unbeaten in the league, McCarthy simply wants his team to carry on the momentum in their clash against Baroka FC at King Zwelithini Stadium today. “With the…

COCA-COLA Beverages Africa (CCBA) has acquired Maluti Mountain Breweries’ interest in the soft drinks business, which was now part of a newly formed entity called Coca-Cola Beverages Lesotho, following a reorganisation, CCBA said in a statement yesterday. The other key shareholders in the venture were the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) and the Ministry of Finance. The deal was signed on October 6, 2020, and all regulatory approvals were obtained. The non-alcoholic, ready to drink business in Lesotho would be referred to as Coca-Cola Beverages Lesotho (CCBL) and would operate as a subsidiary of CCBA, with management control. The entity started distributing Coca-Cola products from yesterday. “We are committed to growing the soft drinks industry and the business in Lesotho and will endeavour to launch new products into the Lesotho…

Jamal Grootboom jamald.grootboom@inl.co.za YouTuber Lasizwe Dambuza’s joke about giving up his virginity to King Misuzulu kaZwelithini rubbed some tweeps the wrong way. Following the death of both King Goodwill Zwelithini and Queen Mantfombi, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini was on Friday named heir to the Zulu throne. The Lasizwe: Fake It Till You Make It star decided on Saturday to shoot his shot on Twitter since King Misuzulu was unmarried. “The new Zulu King can definitely take my virginity … I’d make a plan on how I’d carry his babies! I have the biggest crush on him! Such a handsome man with PRESENCES AF!” Some tweeps didn’t take kindly to the post, although it was clearly a joke. “You can’t be speaking about the King and your nasty virginity in one sentence,”…

WITH the advent of the third wave of Covid-19 cases approaching in Gauteng, the public has been asked to assist with getting the elderly registered for the government’s next phase of vaccination efforts. Premier David Makhura said the command centre had noted a steady increase in the number of new infections across the province. He said there had been an increase in the number of new cases, particularly in Tshwane, Emfuleni and Johannesburg in the past two weeks. Areas most affected in Tshwane include Atteridgeville, Laudium, Pretoria central, Hercules, Danville, Saulsville Lotus and Pretoria generally. By yesterday morning, there were 56 new cases in that region alone. Other regions that showed a high number of new infections included Region 4, which includes Waterkloof, Olievenhoutbosch, Silverton and Centurion with 39. There…

JEAN MICHEL BOUVIER | Bryanston GERMANY has started to vaccinate just over 1 million people per day and we have managed to vaccinate, after four months, just over 300 000 people. Even Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone have done better. And although a new batch of vaccines arrived on May 3 we have to wait up to May 17 to start vaccination. Why? Are we so incompetent? And why does the government want to be the only authority for the purchasing and distribution of vaccines? I guess for their connected cadres to score millions again. When are they going to stop looting and plundering this country? But, of course, the ANC government will come up with waffle and spin and give us a thousand excuses.…

THE BIDEN administration has agreed to back a proposal to suspend intellectual property protection for Covid-19 vaccines. This is a break from US government’s long-held position on strong intellectual property protection, which has also been supported by many research-intensive countries in Western Europe and the pharmaceutical industry. These protections are codified in the World Trade Organisation’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreements. India, South Africa and many other emerging economies have been pushing for a waiver from patent protection, and have been supported in this effort by World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The intent behind the push for the waiver is, of course, well intended – to remove any bottlenecks due to intellectual property protections and ramp up the production and distribution of the vaccines in…

ISRAELI police clashed with both Palestinian protesters and far-right Jewish Israelis at the Temple Mount yesterday, kicking off a fraught national holiday that threatened to ignite the latest bout of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The confrontations at the Temple Mount left more than 300 Palestinians injured, including seven who were hospitalised and are in serious condition, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Video footage circulated on social media of Israeli police officers brutally beating a detained man whom the Haaretz newspaper identified as a Turkish journalist. Over the weekend, more than 250 Palestinians were injured in similar clashes. “The Israelis don’t want us to pray. They want to keep us from our mosque,” said Ahmad, a young Palestinian man who refused to give his last name out of security concerns, standing near…

LOS ANGELES: Jeff Bezos’ mega yacht will be one of the largest in the world, Bloomberg reported, citing information from the shipbuilder as well as various online bulletin boards for yachting enthusiasts. The boat will be bigger than a football field and span over 127 metres. It will sport three enormous decks as well as three masts. According to the outlet, the yacht’s price tag is estimated to be well over $500 million (R7 billion). In addition, it will have its own support yacht with a helipad.…

auckland: Police praised “heroic” bystanders for disrupting a frenzied knife attack at a New Zealand grocery store yesterday. A man wielding two knives allegedly stabbed four people, three critically, before he was restrained by onlookers and held until police arrived at the supermarket in Dunedin, on South Island. Surveillance footage showed the actions of the bystanders were “nothing short of heroic”, said New Zealand Police Superintendent Paul Basham. “Those that intervened, some of whom became injured themselves, I think have acted selflessly and with great courage to prevent this man from hurting anybody else,” he said. Violent incidents in the island nation are rare. New Zealand tightened gun laws in 2019, after a man opened fire at two mosques.…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@in.co.za A WAGE dispute is looming between public sector workers unions and the government as negotiations have deadlocked at the bargaining council, which could threaten efficient service delivery. This after the unions yesterday seemingly refused to move from their demands and the government from its offer, respectively, as wage negotiations resumed for the fourth round. Public sector workers unions are demanding 7 percent salary increases, among other demands, while the government remains steadfast in its zero percent salary offer. Analysts have warned that raising workers salaries above inflation amid deteriorating fiscus could see South Africa’s sovereign credit ratings status degraded further into junk. The public sector wage bill is among three of the fastest-growing government expenditures. The Public Servants Association (PSA), which represents more than 235…

STOCKS on the JSE extended their gains for the fourth session yesterday, briefly crossing the 69 000 index point mark amid continued optimism over a global economic recovery. The FTSE/JSE All Share Index (Alsi) rose to 69 043 points during afternoon trade because of the risk-on sentiment after Moody’s skipped its scheduled review of South Africa’s sovereign credit rating on Friday. At the close, the Alsi was at 68 377.23 points, down 0.21 percent, while the Top 40 Index was at 62 389.39 points, 0.29 percent lower. This is a far cry from when the Alsi fell to 37 900 points in March last year as Covid-19 wreaked havoc in the markets, before it rebounded to 67 000 points in February this year. The JSE was yesterday buoyed by commodity…

ITUMELENG MAFISA Metrobus has accused the Democratic Municipal and Allied Workers Union of SA (Demawusa) of being greedy and destructive. Metrobus spokesperson Goodwill Shiburi said the municipal entity had been losing R250 000 to R300 000 a day since the strike began. The losses came from the failure of buses to go out on the road. The Star understands that most bus drivers are willing to work and have been reporting for duty at the depot. The City of Joburg does not recognise Demawusa, which has around 100 members at Metrobus, as a union. However, Metrobus has suspended bus services because it says it is unable to ensure the drivers’ safety. There had been plans to have Joburg metro police escort the buses, but it seems that was not…

Thabo Makwakwa thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za SUSPENDED eThekwini Municipality manager Sipho Nzuza is recovering in hospital after an alleged attack by hitmen that left him with burn wounds from a hot iron. Nzuza said he now feared for his and his family’s lives because the hitmen, who allegedly attacked him, were well-known and dangerous. Last week, naked pictures of Nzuza circulated on social media, accompanied by a video – where a man is heard alleging Nzuza had been caught sleeping with another man’s wife. Nzuza denied the allegation. “They (the alleged hitmen) carefully planned this whole thing. Everything shown on social media is lies. They planned it to make me look like a bad person,” Nzuza explained. He said those behind the alleged attack were people unhappy with the good work he…

THERE is no escaping the fact that South Africa’s economic situation is desperate. Already faced with sluggish growth and massive unemployment at the beginning of 2020, the events of the past year have pushed it to the edge. Within this context, people are desperately seeking solutions that will fuel growth and job creation. Those pinning their hopes on the large corporates which have traditionally been job creators are looking in the wrong place. These companies are much more likely to “right-size” and shed jobs. The focus should, instead, be on small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and empowering them with the technologies, including digital workforces, needed to scale and grow into new markets. That SMEs are the companies best suited to fuel economic growth in the new economic reality isn’t all…

BONGANI NKOSI bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za A LIMPOPO education official has scored a cool R650 000 from the department after his application for a top post was binned for a dodgy reason. Mapitsane Davis Moganedi was allocated a state vehicle to carry out his duties as a deputy chief educational specialist in the Sekhukhune South District. But, as the Limpopo Department of Education submitted at arbitration, his application for a chief educational specialist post was not considered because he did not attach a driving licence copy. Moganedi dragged his employer to the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) for arbitration, arguing unfair labour practice. The public education sector was rocked by a jobs for sale scandal five years ago. An official investigation confirmed that suitably qualified candidates were snubbed for jobs in parts…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za GENDER-based violence (GBV) has again reared its ugly head and sparked debate across platforms. The inquest into the death of rapper AKA’s fiancée, Anele Tembe, turned to social media again after a video emerged of Tembe being restrained. Media reports have been focusing on the relationship between the two, with claims there may have been some form of abuse going on. While the rapper, real name Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, released a statement defending his relationship with Tembe, the debate continues online. Actress Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa also made headlines with her own claims of GBV against her ex-husband, Black Coffee. Black Coffee, whose real name is Nkosinathi Maphumulo, refuted the claims on social media, saying he would never assault Mlotshwa and he wanted to set the record straight…

Nelson Mandela, elected our country’s first democratic president 27 years ago this week, once said: “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” According to Madiba then, Freedom Day in South Africa was probably the most apt day to launch a platform for theological dialogue and practical ethics. As South Africans were ending their public holiday, a group of people gathered in the Ahlul Bait Mosque Complex, in Cape Town, to deepen inter-religious dialogue and ensure that faith communities too contribute to the moral regeneration of our country. The launch of the platform was a fruit of the meeting between Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani and Pope Francis in Najaf, Iraq, at the beginning…

Africa is watching aghast as India struggles with coronavirus, fearing a long-running shortfall in the Indian-made vaccines that it needs to help shield its people. Often dubbed the “world’s pharmacy”, India is one of the biggest suppliers of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the Covax programme to help immunisation in poorer countries. But India has been hammered by an explosive growth in infections – accelerated, say scientists, by a new variant. The country has recorded 22 million cases out of a population of 1.3 billion, inflicting a death toll of nearly a quarter of a million. After sending more than 60 million doses abroad, India announced at the end of March that it was delaying overseas supplies as it works to meet its own needs. AU health ministers held…

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under investigation by parliament’s independent standards watchdog over a foreign trip and how it was declared to parliamentary authorities. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards said they were looking at whether he had broken the code of conduct for MPs. Johnson is being investigated under the section of the rules relating to travel outside Britain and referred to a section which said lawmakers must be open and frank in disclosing interests.…

MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber killed six police officers in front of a district police station in the Somali capital Mogadishu late on Sunday, police said, in an attack claimed by the al Shabaab Islamist group. “Six police officers including the commander of the Waberi (district) police were confirmed dead and six others were injured in the blast,” Somali police spokesman Major Sadiq Aden Ali Doodishe told a news conference. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault but said they had killed five police personnel. “Our target was to kill police commanders and we killed five police (personnel) including the commander of the Waberi police station,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesperson said.…