Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-05-27 i Star

Reality TV star Londiwe “Londie London” Zulu’s relationship is trending on social media with speculation rife that her Durban businessman fiancé Hlubi Nkosi has been unfaithful. Controversial gossip Twitter account Musa Khawula seems to not want the Real Housewives of Durban cast member to enjoy her last weeks of pregnancy or, if she has already given birth, bonding days with her newborn. The singer revealed during part one of the reunion episode of the reality show she was expecting their second child and was close to giving birth. While this is meant to be a joyous time for the couple, the rumour mill indicates that all is not well on the home front. Khawula alleged Zulu had moved out of her Hillcrest home with her fiancé, after he allegedly impregnated…

The iconic blue guitar Kurt Cobain rocked out with in Nirvana’s seminal ’90s Smells Like Teen Spirit music video is expected to fetch up to $800 000 (about R12.5 million) when it goes up for auction next month. With Smells Like Teen Spirit racking up more than 1.4 billion views on YouTube, the 1969 blue Fender is arguably one of the most famous in rock, said Martin Nolan, the executive director of Julien’s Auctions. A portion of the proceeds would go to a mental health charity, the auction house said. | Reuters…

ALMOST 500 young South Africans will be given an opportunity to break into the workforce, learn skills in the ever-growing ICT sector and contribute to their communities. South Africa has become a leading hub on the continent for the growth of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, as the sector is one of the biggest employers in South Africa. The sector contributes about R93 billion (2,7%) of the country’s GDP, according to Stats SA. As a major player in the ICT sector, Telkom has partnered with Youth Employment Service (YES) to give 455 young people a critical opportunity to break into the workforce and learn future-fit skills in the sector. “Youth unemployment in South Africa is currently at 66,5%. Through Telkom’s partnership with YES, we are increasing job…

LANA and Roman Wade have fled the city for a little corner of paradise, exchanging their flat with its unhappy memories for a small honey-coloured house among the rolling green hills of Oxfordshire. Their new home, set in a residential close known as The Gardens, is their dream and their new neighbours are charming. So why is Lana feeling so uneasy? Lana and Roman may seem like an attractive, popular couple. But they are also a couple with a secret; a secret buried in the life they have left behind, a secret they have shared with no one. But their new neighbours – these charming, affluent men and women in the Gardens – have secrets of their own, terrible secrets, unimaginable secrets that include the apparently happy family who lived…

SHARKS are among the most persecuted animals on Earth. Nicole’s blockbuster story lifts the lid on the shocking details of the trade in shark fins, and raises awareness of the plight of sharks in the 21st century. In November 2003 a female great white shark was tagged near Dyer Island off South Africa. Her tag popped up in February 2004, just south of Western Australia. The shark had swum an epic 11 000km. Scientists were even more surprised when she was identified back in South Africa in August 2004 – she had covered 22 000km in less than nine months. Since then, many great whites have been tagged and have shown a propensity for undertaking long migrations – but none has yet matched Nicole's amazing feat. This story incorporates a…

The good news about monkeypox is that it doesn’t spread that well between humans. Because of this, the monkeypox outbreak will probably be kept under control by isolating infected people and their contacts, coupled with selected vaccination. Fortunately, monkeypox is similar enough to smallpox that the smallpox vaccine is effective against both viruses. Rather than vaccinate everyone, we will most likely use “ring vaccination”: vaccinating contacts of known infected people to keep the outbreak under control. Ring vaccination works when there are limited cases that can be easily identified. This approach was used in the past for outbreaks of Ebola (highly effective Ebola vaccines were developed after the 2014 epidemic to little fanfare) as well as to eradicate smallpox in the 1970s. Unless there is surprising new information about this…

A NOVICE teacher once scribbled on a learner’s exercise book, Khavhara buka wena! which means “will you please place a cover on your book”. The following day, in reply, he received a razor-wire response from a teenager: Akina cover wena! (“I do not have a cover.”) Teenage challenges call for teachers and parents to adopt a new set of competencies. Here is a bond that allies teenagers with their parents and teachers. This would ensure that the stronghold of rebellion would be laid to rest. It would not be easy for teenagers to throw off the yoke of rebellion if parents and teachers were not excellently equipped to deal with their evolution. Due to peer pressure, teenagers are drawn into a vortex of drugs. Research has shown that the use…

The world has not yet won the war against malaria. While the total number of cases has declined from about 81.1 cases per 1 000 population to 59 per 1 000 since 2000, there were still an estimated 240 million cases and 600 000 deaths in 2020 globally. Malaria remains a menace across Africa. The continent carries by far the world’s largest disease burden: 94% of cases and 96% of deaths occur across the continent. Alarmingly, children aged five or younger account for 80% of these deaths. There is no room for complacency. While vaccines look promising, there is still a steady rise of antimalarial drug resistance, especially in East Africa. The parasites are evolving mutations which allow them to escape routine diagnosis. The mosquitoes are…

KYIV: Two captured Russian soldiers pleaded guilty yesterday to shelling a town in eastern Ukraine in the second war crimes trial of the war. At the trial in a central Ukraine, district court, state prosecutors asked for them to be jailed for 12 years. A defence lawyer asked for leniency, saying the two soldiers had been following orders. Meanwhile, advancing Russian forces came closer to surrounding Ukrainian troops in the east, briefly seizing positions on the last highway out of a crucial pair of Ukrainian-held cities in Luhansk province before being beaten back. Russia is fighting for control of the industrial eastern Donbas region. | Reuters…

“I was born for this!” That’s how Arthur Zwane, in a tailored black suit, crisp white shirt, gold and black tie, trimmed chiskop and goatee, summed up his appointment as the new Kaizer Chiefs coach. Zwane takes charge of one of the most demanding jobs, not only in the land but on the continent. This is a fact that he knows too well, considering that Chiefs are the most successful and followed club in the country. Zwane’s appointment didn’t fall on his lap because of his 22 years’ service to the club that has stood beside him even in his darkest hour, including being banned from football for allegedly doping. No! He knows and embodies Chiefs’ culture and identity, having succeeded as a player where he won 12 trophies in…

NOMZAMO Mbatha has been away from our TV screens for quite some time, but the A-list actress has been hard at work making her comeback. The Coming 2 America actress has been confirmed as the female lead in the 2023 historical drama series, Shaka Ilembe, which is currently in production. Mbatha will play Queen Nandi, the revered mother of Shaka. The talented Lemogang Tsipa will play the adult King Shaka and newcomer Ntando Zondi will play the boy Shaka, while Thembinkosi Mthembu will star as King Dingiswayo and Wiseman Mncube as King Zwide. Mbatha, who also wears the hat of series executive producer, said that she is honoured to bring Queen Nandi to life. “History will remember those who informed its people of where we come from, to better understand…

SHE owes her life to a scrap collector who saved her from the clutches of would-be abductors, who forced her into a car, stabbing her in the face. On Tuesday, just after 9am, mother of two, Mieshka Achmat, 25, from Parkwood, who usually takes transport to work in Diepriver, Cape Town, said she was forced to go by foot, after having taken her son to the health centre in the morning. When Achmat arrived in Southfield, she found a car parked and walked past it. The driver started the car and proceeded to follow behind her. “I then walked into another road and ran and that’s when I realised I was in a dead end road and the car turned in that very same road,” she said. Achmat sent her…

COSATU has warned the ANC that if it continues to privatise state-owned entities (SOEs) such as SAA and Eskom it would suffer a massive loss of membership and electoral support. The trade union federation issued the warning yesterday, following its three-day central executive committee meeting, which ended on Wednesday. The warning came less than a week after Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan insisted that the government was continuing with its deal of awarding equity partner Takatso Consortium 51% shares in SAA. During his Budget speech on Friday, Gordhan also slammed moves by political parties to oppose the deal, saying: “Concluding the transaction will ensure the viability and survival of SAA.” But Cosatu is adamant that the ANC is wrong to privatise SOEs under the guise of poor performance, saying speople…

WHEN a former assassin, Zikhona, wakes up next to a dead body in an affluent Johannesburg suburb, she knows of only one person who can clean up her mess – Uncle Zenzele. The incident unravels ghosts of the past, forcing the Z Gang to crawl out of their Mozambican hideout. It is not only Zikhona’s situation that is intricate, but the gang’s wealth back home is threatened by the torching of their taxis. They are also about to lose their millions through the elaborate laundering syndicate of a murderous underworld mobster while also nursing a terminally ill member. Zenzele resorts to the only thing he knows best – guns, treachery and dark powers – while unleashing his battle-hardened gang to fend off the police and the underworld mobsters chasing…

IN 2019, Omani author Jokha Alharthi won the International Booker Prize for Celestial Bodies. Her multifaceted generational story, translated from the Arabic by Marilyn Booth, offered English readers a rare look at Omani literature, particularly Omani fiction by a woman. The second of Alharthi’s novels to be translated into English, Bitter Orange Tree, arrives this month. As before, the author continues to demonstrate a deep sympathy for the ways women suffer and survive the vicissitudes of a society that gives them little agency. And fans will recognise Alharthi’s fluid treatment of chronology and setting, once again gorgeously translated by Booth. Alharthi, who earned a PhD at the University of Edinburgh and now teaches in Oman, can simultaneously emphasise the universality of her characters’ feelings and the unique cultural context of…

Separatists and jihadist groups in the Sahel region are increasingly threatening the security of the entire African continent. Libya’s autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi’s fall in 2011 was only the beginning of turmoil that would ensue in the region. The rise of Libyan rebel groups has led to a struggle for neighbouring governments to maintain peace in their countries as separatist groups have already gained traction in Northern Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger. Morocco’s hosting of the Global Coalition against Daesh (Isis) in Marrakesh on May 11 was an important step in forming a coalition among North Africa’s strong capitals to fight against jihadist groups in the Sahel and maintain peace and stability in one of the world’s most volatile regions. “The ministers welcomed the first Global Coalition to Defeat…

EMBRACING her spirituality has influenced her craft and, in Noma Priscilla’s latest offering, she candidly shares her spiritual journey. The performer, known as Nana GG, is back with a profound song titled Thokoza Tebogo, which unpacks details about her son’s passing and her spiritual quest. She says with this song, she wanted to close the chapter on her son’s death after she had been bearing the loss for a long time. The singer believes that only now is she seeing things from a new and different perspective. She spoke to The Star about how essential it is for her to be sharing this song. “It is very important sharing this song because the message is deep. And after all that I have been through. Losing my son. Heartache and pain…

MultiChoice and Bomb Productions have announced production on the drama series, Shaka ILembe, has began in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, where its filming has created more than 8 000 jobs. Set in the 1700s, Shaka ILembe tells the story of the making of the African king, with iterations from his early childhood through to adulthood. The two actors playing Shaka are Lemongang Tsipa (adult king) and newcomer Ntando Zondi (boy king). The cast is headlined by Amazon’s Coming 2 America’s Nomzamo Mbatha, who plays Queen Nandi, the mother of Shaka, with Thembinkosi Mthembu as King Dingiswayo and Wiseman Mncube in the role of King Zwide. Mbatha will also executive produce the series. “Being able to bring this important story to the screen with such stellar talent speaks to the heart of…

Take a large sheet of paper and write small. We are to make a list of great things that have ACTUALLY been achieved by any or all of AU/UN/BRICS/SADCC. Fabulous international jet-set gala events where VERY important people from around the world strut their image in grand clothes and jewellery, with finest fare and best liquors, families, retinues and minions and bodyguards all tagging along at home taxpayer expense. Wonderful, inspiring speeches about the elimination of colonialism, inequality, poverty, unemployment, racism, capitalism and other topical -isms. High exposure, but that seems to be all. Empty politics, nothing concrete ever seems to get done. (Oh, a small piece of paper would have been enough…)…

How do we as a country get to a point where we are less reactive to gender-based violence? More so than ever, it is always after the fact that, as communities, we find ourselves enraged by the increasing incidents of GBV. To compound matters more than the wound of the actual brutal incident are the events that follow, where justice is supposed to be done. Where do we need to begin in an effort to understand why these horrific crimes continue to make themselves permanent fixtures in society? The domino effect of the aftermath of a GBV crime is also reactive, exposing the police’s inadequacies and a clearly flawed justice system that re-inflicts the pain of the crime. In January this year, Jakobus Petoors made headlines after he confessed to…

World leaders, financiers and chief executives said they were leaving this week’s World Economic Forum with an urgent sense of the need to reboot and redefine “globalisation”. The framework of open markets that has shaped the last three decades of commerce and geopolitics looks increasingly wobbly as trade spats fan economic nationalism, a pandemic exposes the fragility of global supply networks and a war in Europe could reshape the geopolitical landscape. Worry over signs of this breaking down were palpable at this week’s reboot of the WEF, an annual gathering of the world’s well-heeled, most of whom have championed globalisation. International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva summed up the mood of the event. Georgieva said she fears the risk of a world recession less than “the risk that we…

New Delhi: Hundreds of Indian air travellers were stranded inside their planes after the low-cost airline SpiceJet cancelled or delayed flights due to an “attempted ransomware attack”, the company has said. Many angry passengers, some left waiting inside their planes for up to five hours earlier this week, complained about a lack of communication from the carrier. The airline said it had contained and rectified the situation”, but ongoing delays had forced some flights to airports with night curfews to be cancelled. Ransomware attacks occur when hackers take control of a computer system. | AFP…

THE hypothesis is simple, if pundits and supporters are to be believed: With Zimbabwe no longer eligible to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 qualifiers, Bafana Bafana should have an easier time getting to Ivory Coast next year. Zimbabwe and Kenya were ejected from the tournament’s qualifying rounds by CAF earlier this week due to the ongoing bans handed down to them by Fifa for political interference. The biggest winners in their absence are Group C’s Burundi, Cameroon and Namibia; and Group K’s Liberia, Morocco and SA, as only the top two teams will qualify for the biannual showpiece event. Or so one would imagine. Not so, says Bafana captain and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. Speaking at the launch of Castle’s It’s Within campaign on Wednesday at Imbizo Shisanyama…

A man who pursued a novel court application aiming to compel Sun International to pay back the R5.2 million he squandered while gambling at its casino has lost. Suhail Essack, a Gauteng businessman, lost money belonging to his wife during a gambling spree at a popular casino in Sun City, North West. He resorted to the South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, to argue that Sun International had to pay back all R5.2m because he was designated as an excluded person from all gaming entities in Gauteng and nationally. Essack was designated as such from November 6, 2017. The exclusion was done at his own request. The designation was done in terms section 14 of the National Gambling Act. The piece of legislation allows individuals to register themselves for exclusion from…

JOBURG Health MMC Ashley Sauls yesterday congratulated cleaning product manufacturer Harpic for bringing back the dignity of the people of Klipfontein View in Tembisa following a new toilet restoration drive. The unveiling of these ablution facilities which have been restored and given a facelift happened at a section of Klipfontein View. The section lacks proper sanitation, road infrastructure where residents often share communal ablutions facilities that are in a poor state of hygiene, with children and women forced to bear the brunt of sharing ablution facilities. The area became the second to benefit from the Harpic Hygiene For Her project following a similar initiative launched in Zandspruit in 2020. Among those who brought a smile to the residents were Mapaseka Koetle of Scandal, former Miss South Africa Bokang Montjane, rapper…

SINOYOLO Sifo is a husband who cooks. His goal: to break the gender stereotypes that surround male figures in the kitchen and encourage more men to cook. As he says, the kitchen is no longer the domain of women only, and men need to get more comfortable in the kitchen, so they can share equally in the responsibilities of day-to-day life and its demands. Using what he calls “the universal language of food” in Sifo: The Cooking Husband is an invitation to readers – men and women alike – to share in the joy of making memories through food. Inspired by the nostalgia of home and family, this book brings together a selection of almost 70 recipes, each one simple and accessible, wholesome and delicious. There are scrumptious breakfasts, indulgent…

It is a sad reality that South Africa has become a very dangerous place and too often our young people find themselves bearing the brunt. An event such as Youth Day should therefore serve as a rallying call for parents and caregivers to recommit themselves to doing more about the safety of our youth. “As much as we would like, we cannot protect our children from every single danger that is out there. But what we can do is to prepare and equip them with the skills they need to avoid any potentially dangerous situations while also teaching them what to do in case something goes wrong. “Considering the fact that crime seems to continue to increase, it becomes clear that we as caregivers need to do more,” says Charnel…

CITY of Joburg Finance MMC Julie Suddaby tabled her maiden budget speech during a special sitting of the municipal council on Wednesday morning. Themed The Golden Repair, Suddaby’s overall budget allocation places an emphasis on bringing the city back to its former glory following years of neglect of key infrastructure such as roads and energy generation, and emergency services, crime, and health care, among others. Some of the biggest take aways from the speech include road and transport infrastructure development, with the department set to receive an operational budget of R4 billion and a capital budget of R519 million as well as R6.1bn towards public safety and crime prevention. Suddaby said the emergency management services, which have been battling after losses to their fire engine fleet, which had been reduced…

A BEAUTIFUL plant species discovered in a conservation area on the Agulhas Plain has been confirmed to be a new fynbos species called Cyrtanthus novus-annus, Latin for Nuwejaars. The pretty pink and white flowered plants have only been found in two locations, both on the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area (NWSMA) in the Overberg, close to the most southerly tip of Africa. With fewer than 250 plants in total, covering an area of less than 5km², it’s likely that the new Cyrtanthus will be classified as endangered on the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) Red List once assessed. According to Cyrtanthus expert Dr Dee Snijman, who described the new find, “The species epithet honours the recent restoration of biodiversity in the Nuwejaars Wetlands area.” This conservation area covers 47…

South Africa’s highest fuel hike ever recorded will be imposed next week. The government will be increasing the cost of fuel by more than R3 a litre after Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced that the temporary cut in the fuel levy would not be extended. This gave South Africans a reprieve of some R1.50 a litre. The founder and national convenor of People Against Petrol Price Increases (Pappi), Visvin Reddy, condemned the increases and called for widescale protests to force the government to go back to the drawing board. These catastrophic petrol and diesel hikes will have a devastating impact on all South Africans, especially at a time when the economy is taking a battering from the Covid lockdowns, high levels of poverty and unemployment. Fuel prices affect everyone, irrespective…

Innocent people are being massacred across the US heartland because an ambiguous, outdated constitutional law empowers citizens to own guns. It is a sad reality because politicians are beholden to the gun lobby. The latest massacre in Texas, where 19 young children and others were brutally gunned down in an orgy of relentless firepower, is a graphic display of American culture that is based on mindless violence. The latest mass killings has turned the USA into “the land of the deranged and the home of the fearful”. Violence is now part of the American way of life, from womb to tomb. It has been pervasive from that country’s earliest days, almost 400 years ago. The National Rifle Association and its horde of gun nuts continually crow it’s not guns that…

It may seem strange to look to the discipline of quantum physics for lessons that will help to create future-fit leaders. But science has a lot to offer us. Like scientists, business leaders need to be able to manage rapid change and ambiguity in a non-linear, multidisciplinary and networked environment. But, for the most part, businesses find themselves trapped in processes that draw on the paradigm of certainty and predictability. This approach is analogous to the Newtonian physics developed in the 1600s. The ambiguity that business leaders operate in is encapsulated in mathematical models developed by the advances in quantum physics developed in the early 1900s. These advances culminated in massive progression in technology. And they can accommodate the complexity and uncertainty archetypes found in nature – and now, by…

GAZA: The Hamas group that runs the Gaza Strip yesterday warned Israel it risks another war if it allows flag-waving nationalists to march through Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday. The annual flag march celebrates Israel’s capture of the Old City in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel deems all of Jerusalem its capital, a status not recognised internationally. The Palestinians want to establish their own capital in the city. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett defended a decision to let Sunday’s march enter the Damascus Gate and pass through the Muslim quarter. However, some members of his coalition government have urged him to rethink the route. | Reuters…

JOHANNESBURG: The acting director of Africa’s top public health agency said yesterday that he hoped vaccine hoarding by wealthier nations would not be repeated with the monkeypox outbreak. More than 200 suspected and confirmed cases of the virus were detected in at least 19 countries since early May, mostly in Europe. Africa had used smallpox vaccines to manage outbreaks of monkeypox in the past, said Ahmed Ogwell Ouma of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. He urged the public to avoid looking for those vaccines and squeezing supplies for those most at risk. | Reuters…

ONE could argue fairly that 2022, when looked back upon by future generations, could be the watershed year when South African women’s rugby finally built a strong foundation on which to erect its legacy. Spear-headed by SA Rugby’s high-performance manager for women, Lynne Cantwell, the women’s game – with director of rugby Rassie Erasmus in the wings – finally seems to have a roadmap, purpose and objective. Yesterday, Cantwell gave an update on where the national teams – the Sevens and the XVs - are currently as they both prepare for showpiece events in the coming months. “Preparations are going really, really well,” said Cantwell. “The XVs go into camp for two Tests for the Africa Cup in June, two against Japan in July and two at home against Spain…

THERE is no denying that the recovery drive Sir Lewis Hamilton put in during the Spanish GP last week was peak performance stuff, but nevertheless I have a major concern. The Brit found himself at the back of the field after the first lap and fourth corner due to a collision with KevMag, which punctured his tyre and forced an early pitstop. It was there, while contemplating his options at the back of the pack, that the seven-time world champion dropped a shocking admission over the team radio, saying that Mercedes should rather retire him and his car and save the engine, rather than continue the race. Hamilton’s rabid fans have somewhat glossed over the incident, and that is understandable considering that he stormed to a brilliant fifth-place finish in…