Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-04-26 i Star

SASOL yesterday said it has declared a force majeure on the export of some chemicals products due to the impact of heavy rainfall and floods. KwaZulu-Natal was recently hit by devastating floods. Sasol, the producer of fuel products and chemicals from coal, which released its production and sales metrics for the nine months ended March, said the impact of the floods might affect its fourth-quarter volume outlook. Sasolburg volumes were 11 percent lower than the previous period, resulting from coal supply issues. Liquid fuels sales were 5 percent higher due to a recovery in fuel demand. Chemicals sales volumes from Sasol’s South African assets were 10 percent lower, but this was offset by higher prices, resulting in a 16 percent increase in sales revenue. “At this stage, only production rates…

Former Eskom head Matshela Koko PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africans owe their support to the Eskom board and management as they work to turn the utility around and despite its failure to keep the lights on all the time. Hours after Ramaphosa made these remarks in his weekly newsletter yesterday, Eskom urged the public to reduce the consumption of electricity as the power system was severely constrained due to the delay in returning units to service and the loss of multiple generation units. Throwing his weight behind the Eskom board and executive, Ramaphosa again blamed policy missteps and the impact of state capture over many years for the regular load shedding in the country. However, he did not mention what role he had played when then President Jacob Zuma…

From Page 1 The process of structural reform this administration embarked on in 2018 will have a far-reaching impact on the South African energy landscape, even if the changes will take time to bear fruit,” he said. Ramaphosa said the existing power stations were not maintained properly for years particularly as these plants were made to “run harder” to meet the country’s energy needs. “We are doing everything in our means to ensure that, like state capture, it soon becomes a thing of the past. It is difficult to expect the millions of South Africans grappling with the inconvenience and hardship caused by intermittent power outages to remain patient as we resolve these longstanding challenges. It is difficult to convince them, as they sit in the dark, that we are…

THE SANDF navy has announced plans to name a new state-of-the-art warship after King Sekhukhune, the first of the Bapedi nation, which is largely located in Limpopo. The announcement was made by representatives of the South African Navy, who had made a courtesy visit to the Bapedi royal palace at Mabe Tjate III in Sekhukhune on Friday. They were received by the Queen Mother Manyaku Thulare. The launch of the warship is expected to take place in Durban in June. Speaking to Pretoria News yesterday, the navy’s chief director for maritime strategy, Rear Admiral David Maningi Mkhonto, said the reason for the visit to the royal house was to request permission to use the name of King Sekhukhune I. “This is an old tradition of the navy, and its an…

AN ATTORNEY who received hundreds of phone calls in one week from someone – and then lost his application for a protection order against the harassment – has succeeded in appealing against the lower court’s decision. At the time of the lower court’s decision, the magistrate had reasoned he could simply block the other party’s phone number. Two judges of the high court sitting in Johannesburg said that a court may not dismiss an ex parte application (where an applicant launches an application without the knowledge of the other party) for protection from harassment without the application being properly considered. The attorney applied in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in terms of the Protection from Harassment Act. His application was accompanied by a supporting affidavit detailing alleged harassment by numerous phone…

I am thinking about the events in the past year that have impacted the business environment and society in general. It seems a business’s continuity plans are agile to meet the changing economic climate. We saw the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and part of the Eastern Cape. Most companies has to cease business operations. The events come against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns that forced businesses to close. Are our businesses ready to remain operational after a disaster? Business must be prepared and the government should bolster its efforts to ensure that it can weather storms.We need to establish risk management processes to mitigate the risk of disruptions. The events will be the norm, especially considering climate change. This, therefore, raises the question whether businesses…

Freedom Day signified the end of more than 300 years of colonialism, segregation and white minority rule. A new democratic government elected by the people, for the people was established. In attempts to overcome an unjust past, our nation has readily embraced the meritocratic beliefs of equal opportunity, human rights and inclusion. This is evident in our laws, policies and actions. Twenty-eight years later, however, our country is still being eroded by egregious inequality. As we mourn the loss of life and tally the cost of the destruction left in the wake of the catastrophic KwaZulu-Natal floods, we become even more aware of this inequality. More than 600 already resource-constrained schools serving marginalised communities have been damaged, while an existing basic housing crisis has been exposed. With each passing year…

A jihadist group in Mali yesterday claimed to have captured a fighter from the Kremlin-linked Wagner mercenary group reportedly fighting Islamist militants in the country, and to have seized weapons from “mercenaries who fled”. The US, France and others say Russian paramilitaries in Mali are operatives from the private-security firm, which has also been accused of abuses in the Central African Republic. But Mali’s military government says the Russians in the country are military instructors. | AFP…

Despite the Premier Soccer League (PSL) being a bungling organisation notorious for being incompetent, quietly ineffective and messing up fairly basic decisions, local football has not lost its appeal, judging by the excellent spectator turnout at the weekend. PSL teams suffered high and lows, starting with Mamelodi Sundowns, who saw their CAF Champions League hopes evaporate into the night air at FNB Stadium on Saturday. They were dumped out of the continental showpiece by Angola’s Petro de Luanda, who secured a 3-2 aggregate win to advance to the semi-finals. Sundowns tasted defeat for the first time in this season's Champions League last week when they lost 2-1 to Petro. On Saturday, their second leg clash ended in a 1-1 stalemate, which gave Petro the green light into the semi-final round.…

Janelle Monae has come out as non-binary. The 36-year-old actress-and-singer – who identifies as queer and came out as pansexual in 2018 – no longer sees herself as a woman and feels she is far greater than “the binary”. Appearing on Thursday’s episode of Red Table Talk, she said: “I just don’t see myself as a woman solely. I feel all of my energy. I feel like God is so much bigger than the ‘he’ or the ‘she’.And if I am from God, I am everything.” The Moonlight and Hidden Figures star insisted she will “always, always stand with women” and “always stand with black women, but I just see everything that I am, beyond the binary”. She said it was necessary for her to be open and honest with…

THE government is pulling out all stops to prove the constitutionality of the amended Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto). It has unleashed the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) to lend a hand in the court battle over the piece of legislation intended to implement the points demerits system for traffic offenders. This battle is headed to the Constitutional Court, where the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) will seek a confirmation of the North Gauteng High Court ruling that declared Aarto unconstitutional. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has filed a notice to oppose the confirmation application by the Johannesburg-based non-profit organisation. Mbalula’s position is that Judge Annali Basson erred by finding that Aarto encroached on the powers of the provincial and municipal authorities. In the judgment delivered earlier this…

A number of Freedom Day-centred activities are expected to take place ahead of the public holiday and on the day tomorrow. The City of Cape Town will honour the composer of part of the democratic South African National Anthem, Enoch Mankayi Sontonga, through a temporary exhibition at the Cape Town City Hall. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika was composed by Sontonga, a Methodist mission school teacher in 1897. On April 20, 1994, a proclamation issued by the then-state president stated that the country would have two national anthems, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and The Call of South Africa (Die Stem van Suid-Afrika). A shortened, combined version of the two would later become the National Anthem in 1997. The opening will take place today at the Nelson Mandela Exhibition, First Floor, for members of…

DJ EDIT SA, real name Kennedy Mudzuli, is back with a smashing new Afro Tech single titled Riye Riye. It’s yet another giant leap in the music industry for the Pretoria DJ, music producer and recording artist, who is still basking in the glory of his last project, the Afro Storm EP. The new single is strictly for the dancefloors, following in the same path as DJ Edit SA’s previous hits such as Ko Davin, Mukwevho, K-Squad Anthem, Morning Glory, Ndo No Lenga, Zorbel, and Afro Storm. Riye Riye is the first release in 2022 by DJ Edit SA, the experienced journalist who balances his fast-growing music career with his day job as deputy editor of the Pretoria News. Just like in the past two years, the May 6 release…

AS mentioned yesterday, the presence of singer and socialite Kelly Khumalo’s lawyer, advocate Magdalene Moonsamy, as her eyes and ears in the courtroom was objectionable on the basis of potential prejudice to the defence. All the State witnesses inside the house where Senzo Meyiwa was shot on October 2014 are directly or indirectly linked to Khumalo. Saying this is neither meant to cast aspersions on Khumalo nor feed the conspiracy-theory frenzy that this case has come to be associated with. It is pleasing that North Gauteng Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela, presiding over the Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain’s murder trial, has had second thoughts about the objection raised by defence lawyer advocate Malesela Teffo. Maumela yesterday ordered Moonsamy to leave the courtroom. That does not stop her from following the…

We are a nation of thieves. Corruption and looting of state funds and resources have become endemic. Like a plague of locusts sweeping the country, they devour everything in their path. No government department, parastatal, local council or public institution can lift its head up high and say to the nation it's clean from corruption, mismanagement and wasteful expenditure. Even during pre-ANC days I know of principals who used to steal but it was on a minuscule scale and what we may call petty thieving. Now with one of the most corrupt governments in the world what must be happening at schools and hospitals now that the floodgates have been opened? Look at Eskom, once the engine room of our economy. Load shedding is leaving the public and business exasperated.…

Living in a country that is ruled by corruption, nepotism and criminality has conditioned people to think they are the only paths that lead to financial gain. It has become normal for people to request favours from friends such as “putting them in work” or placing their child first on the list for a favourable school. People get opportunities in places where they know someone who works there. That leaves the hard-working people, who have qualifications for those roles, with no hope. Unethical behaviour runs so deep in our society that it has become normal for people to get opportunities they do not qualify for or they fake documentation to get their positions. How could it be possible for people to preserve their moral compass when criminals in Parliament steal…

South Africa’s decision to abstain from a United Nations vote condemning Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine has received much criticism. President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended South Africa’s neutral stance on the grounds a peaceful resolution should always be sought in such cases. The approach adopted by South Africa in relation to the UN Resolution has been viewed with hostility and with dismay among diplomats from the west and NATO-aligned countries. The country’s stance has been interpreted as appeasement of President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. A number of reasons have been placed under the microscope in efforts to understand South Africa’s stance. Mainly foreign direct investment and ideology. In light of these two factors, Russia and South Africa’s FDI is unbalanced with South Africa having approximately R77 billion worth of investments in…

Twitter Inc is poised to agree a sale to Elon Musk for around $43 billion (R677bn) in cash, the price the CEO of Tesla Inc has called his “best and final” offer for the social media company, insiders said. Twitter was set to possibly announce the $54.20-per-share deal late yesterday once its board has met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, the sources said. It is always possible that the deal collapses at the last minute, the sources added. Musk is negotiating to buy Twitter in a personal capacity. | Reuters…

A CHURCH on Sundays, daycare centre during the week, untidy with a leaking roof and no play area or toys – this is the situation facing eight children at Thusanang Day Care Centre in Soshanguve Extension 6. On Friday, 7-month-old baby Reitumetse Buthelezi died at the centre under mysterious circumstances. The centre has been operating since 2006, but only registered in 2016 by Johanna Lebang. She said she noticed Reitumetse’s neck was slumping and he was not playful. She called paramedics and the police, and alerted his family. “The baby was brought here in the morning. I fed him soft porridge that he came with, and put him to sleep. “I noticed his neck was slumping and I called his grandmother because I did not have his mother’s phone number.…

School Governing Body Association says the outcome of the disciplinary hearing of the alleged dagga smoking by learners at Leondale High School will set a precedent for how the education sector will deal with drug use at schools. The 36 suspended Leondale High School learners, who were shown smoking dagga on school premises, were accompanied by their parents to the school yesterday as their disciplinary hearing commenced. The video of the learners went viral last week after the incident occurred on April 20, also known as 420 Day, an unofficial international day dedicated to celebrating and smoking marijuana. Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department has launched an investigation into how the implicated learners were left unsupervised. “We need to give the investigation time so that we…

VISUAL activist, humanitarian and photographer Zanele Muholi says she wants everyone to know that artists are just ordinary people. The uMlazi-born artist has under her belt exhib-itions at Tate Modern in London, Fotografiska in Stockholm, the Brooklyn Museum and Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Muholi identifies as non-binary and is immersed in the community, creating work from within that reflects struggles and resilience, but also increases visibility and a self-empowering sense of community. Muholi first rose to prominence in the early 2000s with a series of photographs that sought to envision black lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and intersex lives beyond deviance or victimhood. The artist’s aesthetic choices are intuitive rather than premeditated, though inspirations seem to include the likes of Somnyama Ngonyama. The personal edge Muholi brings to each artwork…

THE Gauteng Department of Health has urged parents to get their children immunised to protect against disease as World Immunisation Week kicks off. World Immunisation Week, which takes place from April 24 to 30, is an opportunity to underscore the importance of immunisation in saving lives and to encourage families to vaccinate their children against deadly diseases. “The Gauteng Department of Health urges parents, who might have missed their children’s immunisation dates due to the onset of Covid-19, to ensure that their little ones are immunised at regular ages as set out in the Road to Health care card in order to protect them against diseases,” said the spokesperson of the Gauteng MEC of Health, Kwara Kekana. The department said that the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the provision of routine immunisation…

BUSI Mavuso is a board member of Eskom. She is also the CEO of Business Leadership South Africa. Scopa is the parliamentary standing committee on public accounts. In appearing before Scopa recently, dealing with the Eskom mess, she was asked to leave when she told the truth. Her “offence” was to decline, in her capacity as an Eskom board member, to accept the smear that the board and the CEO, Andre de Ruyter, both appointed by the government, should accept the blame for the mess Eskom has become. She, the board members and De Ruyter must accept scrutiny and accountability, but what about the ANC? She stated that it was the fault of ANC government inaction over many years. Everyone in South Africa, must know this. After all, president Jacob…

The province of KwaZulu-Natal has been a troubled one from time immemorial. In the late 1980s and ’90s, it was one of the provinces that were gutted by so-called black-on-black violence when the UDF took on the IFP. When that was settled, the province became a flashpoint for political intolerance among its people who were caught between IFP and ANC support lines. After several efforts to deal with that, it became a thing of the past. The province then became home to violent crime and political killings. Sadly these are taking root, and seemingly very little is being done to deal with them even though the reputation of the province is being heavily tainted. In the midst of this, another challenge popping up in the province is that of the…

Fresh from winning a second term as French president, Emmanuel Macron soon faces another fight that will determine whether he can pursue his reformist agenda – parliamentary elections in which his rivals are looking to deny him a majority. All 577 deputy seats in the lower- house National Assembly are up for grabs in the votes on June 12 and 19, and Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) party, with 267 MPs, is likely to encounter stiff resistance, analysts say. “The parliament elections are going to be the true election, because getting a majority will be essential,” said Dominique Reynie, a political analyst at the Fondapol institute. Yet two polls released just after Macron’s victory over far-right challenger Marine Le Pen on Sunday found that two-thirds of French people do…

Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi was on cloud nine after steering the Sea Robbers into the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup, but amid the euphoria he gave a candid review of their season across all competitions so far. “If you see our team, it’s not the same team that started the season. There’s progress and there are some players that are coming back from injuries. We are improving in certain areas. I don’t think we’ve seen Pirates this direct,” he explained. Pirates progressed to the next round of the African showpiece after they beat Simba 4-3 on penalties in the last eight. The game ended 1-1 on aggregate after Kwame Peprah levelled the tie after Simba had won the first leg 1-0 at home. The Confederation Cup is not…