Innholdsfortegnelse for 2023-07-05 i Star

MASSMART’S Makro has proven to be the cheapest retailer for consumers to fill up their grocery baskets with basic items for the third month in a row. According to data from Outlier- africa, which looks at in-store prices of the same basket of goods across eight major retailers, Makro ranked as the cheapest store to buy goods from, with the most expensive being Pick n Pay, for the month of June 2023. The basket is made up of basic goods that most people are likely to have in their homes and use every day. The prices of 12 products from eight major retailers: Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay, Spar, Food Lover’s Market, Woolworths, Makro and Boxer Superstores were collected for the price comparison. “As of June…

THE NATIONAL Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said its members were on the verge of a strike at Bell Equipment’s plants in Richards Bay and Boksburg, with demands that include a R2 000 housing allowance and transport allowance of R1 000. In a statement, the union said these demands were a burning issue. “We need to make it clear that Bell does not even offer housing allowance or transport allowance of any kind, and yet, other companies, which are part of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC), companies like Foskor and South32 are offering that to workers,” the union said. Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said: “We demand that all workers must benefit from the profit share scheme, and for the purposes of this…

AMERICAN economist Thomas Sowell once said: “The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.” While there have been many treatises written about the accuracy of this statement, current events playing out in South Africa prove that it is at least half true. When it comes to politics, economic concerns are usually disregarded – or at the very least, ignored in favour of political manoeuvring. South Africa’s support of Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine has led to the US threatening to level sanctions against the country. Sanctions could kill your IT systems I write this as a technologist, a software engineer and the…

Awarding-winning investigative journalism show Carte Blanche is preparing to celebrate a huge TV milestone next month. The show, which first aired on August 28, 1988, with Derek Watts and Ruda Landman at the helm, has gone on to become a trusted source of groundbreaking investigations that delve deeply into the heart of pressing issues. Unfortunately, Watts had to step away from the show recently after being diagnosed with skin cancer that has spread to his lungs. Last month the team at Carte Blanche said they would provide regular updates on him. Despite Watts’s absence, the rest of the team of award-winning TV journalists, Claire Mawisa, Macfarlane Moleli, Masa Kekana and Bongani Bingwa, still captivate audiences every Sunday evening and it remains the number one show on M-Net. In the 35th…

Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who was found not guilty by the Western Cape High Court in September last year, said the court ruling has no value to her already severely impacted career as the public protector, with her term coming to an end in October this year. In September, Mkhwebane was ready to return to her office following a decision by the Western Cape High Court declaring the decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend her invalid and setting it aside. Mkhwebane, who successfully argued for her suspension to be set aside, had argued Ramaphosa’s suspension of her was unconstitutional. Her legal adviser said Ramaphosa had suspended her out of revenge because of her report on the CR7 presidential campaign as well as the Phala Phala burglary at Ramaphosa’s farm in Limpopo,…

According to a recent survey, 75% of South African parents feel the demanding pace of life reduces their opportunities to spend as much quality time with their children as they would like. To make a difference, Cadbury Dairy Milk has introduced the “Generously Give a Voice to Story Time” initiative, which aims to bring families together. Lara Sidersky, Mondelez SA category lead for Chocolate, says: “As a brand that is rooted in the spirit of generosity and bringing people closer together, Cadbury has been on a three-year journey with the nation of storytellers to curate a digital library of 1 500 relatable children’s stories in all 11 South African languages. Give a Voice to Story Time Cadbury partnered with local personalities Shekhinah, Rorisang Thandekiso, Yoza Mnyanda-Siboto and Jak de Priester,…

TENSIONS have been reduced in Olievenhoutbosch with some parts of the area receiving water after a three-day outage that resulted in chaos. By yesterday afternoon, 60% of water had been restored in the area as the City of Tshwane worked to restore the remaining 40%, according to ward 106 councillor Kenny Masha. Extensions 23, 24, 25 and the shopping centre’s water had not yet been restored. Yesterday, we reported thousands of people had been lining up at points where water trucks were deployed, to fill buckets for drinking, cooking and sanitation. There has been no running water in the residents’ taps in the area since Saturday. There were also reports of violence, with water trucks being hijacked and people fighting for places in line. However, Masha yesterday said water had…

TWO plant science honours students at the University of Pretoria (UP) are on a mission to establish a trail for school pupils aimed at educating city residents and preserving the natural splendour of the green mountain ridge rising above Mamelodi. The project – which is being coordinated by students Lynadia Samuel and Jessica Berry – reflects the growing support that UP botanists and others are giving Mamelodi residents in raising awareness about this almost unspoilt natural haven above one of the city’s largest residential areas. Samuel and Berry will build on work already done by last year’s cohort of honours students from UP’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. “This work forms part of an elective community engagement module, called BOT 789, Plants, People and Planet, that they choose…

SOUTH Africa, like many countries across the world, is battling to secure adequate energy to cater for growing populations and ever-increasing industrialisation, amid loud lobbying and calls for the abandonment of coal. Traditionally, coal has been the mainstay of the vast energy system in South Africa, meeting around 70 percent of the African economic giant’s power generation capacity. Last month, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa told the China-South Africa New Energy Investment and Cooperation Conference at Sandton that Pretoria is looking to boost its renewable energy capacity with the help of a trusted BRICS partner, China, an increasingly close political and economic ally. The conference was organised by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, the South Africa-China Economic and Trade Association, and InvestSA.…

Vacant properties can invite criminal activity into your neighbourhood, according to Fidelity ADT marketing and communications head Charnel Hattingh. Hattingh said that a large number of residential properties are standing empty, mainly due to economic issues. Landlords are struggling to find tenants who can afford to pay rent and holiday homes across the country are often left unoccupied for extended periods. “Unoccupied properties are frequently targeted and vandalised by opportunistic thieves or by vagrants who illegally move in and use the building as a place to ‘work’ from, often targeting neighbouring homes,” Hattingh said. She said that criminal activity such as petty theft, burglary, vandalism and break-ins often increase in neighbourhoods with vacant properties. “Residents are urged to report vacant properties to their local Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) or Community Policing…

The role of national team cricket coach is morphing ever closer to a football manager, but Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter is doing his very best to create an environment where his players “feel like they are coming home”. Walter and the Proteas are currently in camp in Durban for a couple of days before a number of his players head off to ply their trade in various T20 leagues around the world. Eleven Proteas and youngster Dewald Brevis will be participating in the inaugural Major League Cricket (MLC) from next week in Texas and North Carolina, while top-order batters Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks will also be heading to North America, where they will be turning out for the Vancouver Knights in Canada’s Global T20 League. A…

Rob Valetini and his Australia teammates are ready for an all-out physical onslaught up front when the Wallabies face the Springboks in their Rugby Championship opener at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (5pm kick-off). Yesterday, Bok coach Jacques Nienaber announced his match-day 23 for the encounter, revealing a brutish pack filled big ball carriers. Loose-forward Valetini, if selected by coach Eddie Jones tomorrow, will then come up against Marco van Staden, Pieter-Steph du Toit and skipper Duane Vermeulen. Speaking after the Bok team announcement, the 24-year-old argued that the Boks’ bulk and physicality was impressive and that they will have to manage that facet of the game if they are to glean any advantage from the pack battle. “They are big boys,” he said, “especially Duane there at the back of…

CAPE TOWN would have a full film industry that was thriving just like Hollywood if the country did not have inequality and transformation issues in the industry, the Independent Directors Association Africa (Idaa) said yesterday. The chairperson non-profit organisation Andile Sinqoto said Cape Town would be the hub of everything, because the best production services companies were based in Cape Town. “These challenges affect our economy because some people do not want to come and shoot in South Africa. They only come to shoot here because they have to. If Zimbabwe had similar services and locations as South Africa, they would rather go to that country. “They just can’t because South Africa is the hub and our rates are cheaper here than anywhere in the world. It seems they…

Most PEOPLE in South Africa have become used to the term energy availability factor (EAF) as a measure of the Eskom power stations’ (combined) performance. Yet it is doubtful if many people understand what this term really means in practical terms, let alone how to compute it technically and scientifically, unless you have worked in operating Eskom power plants. I will attempt to share with ordinary South Africans what EAF really means and what those that operate Eskom power stations would have to do to keep acceptable EAF between 70% and 80%, which would translate to the country not being subjected to any load shedding at all. Literature abounds in the lexicon of power generation. We shall discuss this in due course. For now, we focus on what the…

Kevin Spacey has been accused of “groping” and “grabbing” a young man. The Oscar-winning actor, 63, is facing 12 charges of sexual assault and appeared at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Monday, where one of his alleged four victims gave evidence and said he had been made “very, very uncomfortable” by the former House of Cards star, who he accused of “grooming” him from the minute they met. In a filmed police interview shown to the court, the man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said: “He grabbed me in private areas, and tried to get me to put my hands on him. “He tried to grope me and grab me and it made me feel very, very uncomfortable. He was almost, from the get go, grooming…

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ally Bejani Chauke has denied that he was part of a plot to discredit Deputy President Paul Mashatile. It emerged in reports recently that Mashatile was allegedly living a lavish lifestyle and enjoying close ties with business people who have scored millions in contracts. One of the businesspeople mentioned is Edwin Sodi, whose companies have been embroiled in controversies over shoddy projects. Chauke denied yesterday that he was part of the plots against Mashatile. He also said he knew nothing about WhatsApp messages in which he shared information on plans to destabilise Mashatile. “It has come to my attention that there are manipulated fake WhatsApp chats regarding the plot to disrupt the stability and operations of the Office of the Deputy President via the media. One of…

Durban snake catcher Nick Evans detailed what he described as a “spectacular” sight when a resident from the Escombe area of Queensburgh in the greater Durban area captured two large black mambas intertwined in a wrestling match over a female last week. Evans said the resident and his friend, Duncan Slabbert, were treated to “one of the most spectacular snake sightings one could possibly wish for”. He said he was unfortunately unavailable after he was contacted by Slabbert, who rushed over to the property after receiving a call from the resident. Evans said the two males were wrestling over a female, which is typical behaviour for this time of year as winter is the mating season. Male mambas don’t bite each other, he said, rather they wrestle till one…

Former University of Cape Town Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, has welcomed the Public Protector’s ruling in favour of the institution on its decision not to grant a doctoral degree to a PhD student accused of plagiarism. PhD student, Adam Andani, approached the Public Protector’s office in 2019 after UCT did not accept his thesis on the grounds that he substantially plagiarised a former law student’s dissertation. Andani initially lodged an internal review against former vice-chancellor Dr Max Price, citing procedural irregularities in the appointment of a third examiner to evaluate the thesis as well as disparities in the third examiner’s report. He asserted that there were disparities which were overlooked by UCT’s Doctoral Committee of Assessors to the Doctoral Degrees Board not to accept the thesis. The matter was then…

SCORES of Soshanguve residents picketed outside the Soshanguve Magistrate’s Court yesterday against the bail application of an alleged rapist. The picket was led by newly-formed Pretoria-based political organisation, The Transformation Alliance (TTA). Bigboy Kabelo Masehla, 42, is accused of raping a 22-year-old and his case was postponed to Friday for his bail application. Speaking to Pretoria News yesterday, TTA president Abel Tau said the reason the party was involved in the picket was because gender-based violence (GBV) was on the rise in Soshanguve. “We were approached by the community when the alleged perpetrator was not being arrested. It is now known that he was victimising her so that she drops the charges. “He was doing that by offering her money. Soshanguve North is prone to this GBV scourge, and…

SWIMMER, Lara van Niekerk, has been named the winner of the Tshwane Sportswoman of the Year award. Van Niekerk has represented South Africa in various international competitions, and competed in both individual and relay events, specialising in freestyle and butterfly strokes. According to Van Niekerk, her swimming career took off when she represented South Africa at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain. She continued to participate in other prestigious events such as the Commonwealth Games and the African Games, where she achieved notable performances. On Saturday night, Van Niekerk was bestowed with the prestigious Sportswoman of the Year by the Tshwane Sports Confederation. She came out number one against a list of over other 20 sportswomen competing in sport. As one of the sponsors, Spar North Rand’s, Retha…

Renowned award-winning musician Msaki, real name Asanda Lusaseni Mvana, believes those who have a platform must use their voices to make a positive impact. She will mentor young women in the music industry through the songwriting workshop that Nando’s and Samro are hosting, and she is elated to be part of the Basadi in Music Awards. The Ubomi Abumanga hitmaker is set to host the Nando’s Emerging Artist and Samro Songwriter’s Workshop that will take place today. These awards are dedicated to celebrating and empowering women in the music and entertainment industries. The workshop is designed for emerging musicians and songwriters seeking to enhance their skills and further their careers in the music industry. As an accomplished artist known for her soulful and captivating music, Msaki brings a wealth of…

Today’s youth are facing a new and insidious threat under the guise of “the infinite scroll”. Infinite scroll is a feature that uses sophisticated compression algorithms and artificial intelligence to keep users hooked and engaged for as long as possible on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. This leads to a phenomenon called mindless scrolling or zombie scrolling, which is loosely defined as browsing through photos and videos on social media platforms without a clear purpose or goal. There are consequences There are adverse consequences to mindless scrolling on users’ well-being, particularly the youth. According to a study by Woolley and Sharif, this type of scrolling leads to a rabbit hole, which ultimately reduces productivity and motivation. The study also found that watching multiple videos in a…

Jasper Philipsen won a second consecutive stage of the Tour de France yesterday as a series of high-speed falls at the Nogaro motorbike racetrack stole the headlines. The Alpecin rider Philipsen finished at a speed over 67km/h and took the overall lead in the sprint points battle after pipping Caleb Ewan and Phil Bauhaus. The Belgian expressed shock at the falls. “I’ve never experienced a finish like that before, those curves are tight and I’m so happy not to have fallen,” said the 25-year-old. His teammate and lead out man Mathieu van der Poel also spoke out about the choice of placing the finale on a racetrack. “A circuit is not safer than a road. I’m just happy I managed to stay upright and managed to find a gap for…

RCL foods has predicted its headline earnings per share to be at least 35.6 cents lower for the year to June 2023 than the 118.6 cents a year before, with the uncertainty in the local sugar industry mainly to blame. RCL Foods said in a trading statement yesterday that headline earnings per share were expected to be at least 30% lower, due to a special levy raised by the South African Sugar Association (SASA) on its sugar business unit, the significant impact of load shedding across all operations, and unrecovered feed costs by Rainbow. The poultry and sugar group expects earning per share to be at least 34.2 cents lower than in the comparative period reported EPS of 114.0 cents. The group said the South African sugar industry was in…

FOLLOWING the High Court’s recent judgement in a dispute between ama- Bhungane and the Moti Group, which ruled in the publication’s favour, the group said it had noted the judgement which was just the first round of an ongoing legal process. In a statement, the group said: “The Moti Group has studied the judgement and firmly believes that a factual finding was not made on amaBhungane’s possession of stolen documents. “The organisation is now considering its legal options going forward, including an approach to the Constitutional Court, as this matter relates to the constitutional right to privacy.” “We still believe strongly that it is unlawful for any media house to publish and make use of stolen documents,” Dondo Mogajane, the CEO of the Moti Group said. “There is no hierarchy…

THE COLLAPSE and closure of many State-owned entities (SOEs) has caused a major apprenticeship skills and jobs shortage vacuum in South Africa. In the past, the majority of out of school youth could easily find jobs in SOEs. The sectors varied from energy, water, agriculture, telecoms, aviation, steel, cement, mining, minerals, electronics, textiles, general goods manufacturing, etc. The National Party government, dur- ing apartheid, created policies biased towards the support, development and funding of SOEs as the main drivers of economic development and transformation in the then apartheid South Africa. And the benefits of those industrial focused policies are still visible to- day, 30 years after the fall of apartheid. We can never condone the evil system of apartheid. But we must also acknowledge its basis of success at an…

THE AFRICA Health Business (AHB) Symposium, a pan-African conference at the heart of the African healthcare scene, convened on June 29 and 30 in Johannesburg. The symposium assembled African healthcare leaders to discuss solutions that will harness and combat new and existing public health challenges towards attaining the Africa CDC’s New Public Health Order – a new health standard for Africa. Following the conference’s insightful discourse, we explore the private sector’s multifaceted role in this new order. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), at least 400 million people globally lack access to one or more essential health services. Every year 100 million people are pushed into poverty and 150 million suffer financial catastrophe, because of out-of-pocket expenditures on health services. This is the stark reality in healthcare service delivery…

The National Arts Festival (NAF) 2023 was a full-circle moment for multifaceted artist Asanda Lusaseni Mvana, best known as Msaki, who won the Standard Young Artist Award for Music last year. And part of her winning prize was to debut a new work at this year’s National Arts Festival in Makhanda. Having obtained her degree in fine arts at Rhodes University, it came as no surprise for Msaki to showcase not only her vocal prowess but her virtual art skills as well. Her exhibition, titled Del’ukufa (Dare to Die), delves into themes of violence, healing and identity. Msaki says her aim is to stir conversation and “provoke contemplation” on these interconnected narratives. Her art installations include elements such as animal skulls, sand, crosses, a healing drum, candles, imphepho (sage) and…

The INFORMATION regulator has told the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development that it has 30 days from Monday, July 3, to pay a R5 million fine for contravening various sections of the Protection of Personal Information (Popi) Act. The fine, accompanied by an infringement notice, comes after the department’s failure to comply with a 31-day enforcement notice issued by the regulator on May 9. The matter is related to a cyberattack on the department’s IT systems in September last year that led to all electronic services provided by the department, including the regulator’s website, being temporarily unavailable for days. An investigation at the time found that the problem had been caused by expired IT security licences. In the proceedings against the department, the regulator had asked for proof that…

The DA in the City of Joburg has opened a case of corruption against council speaker Colleen Makhubele. The party has accused the speaker of using municipal resources for her private benefit and that of her party, the Congress of the People (Cope). The Star understands that the DA was tipped off by some whistle-blowers. “The DA caucus in the City of Johannesburg has today opened a case of corruption in terms of the Corruption Act (No.94 of 1992) against the speaker of council, councillor Colleen Makhubele, for making use of city resources for personal gain,” caucus leader Belinda Echeozonjoku said. Echeozonjoku said the whistleblowers who had tipped off the party had already lodged complaints with the Public Protector’s Office and the Special Investigating Unit. “The charges include utilising Joburg…

Bloomberg’s latest South African Shisa Nyama Index shows South Africa’s food costs are rising again. The cost of a basket of goods in Bloomberg’s South African Shisa Nyama Index, designed to show the price of a traditional backyard barbecue in townships and rural areas, rose 15% in June from a year earlier. That compares with 12% in May. Crunching data from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) group, Bloomberg’s index tracks the prices of some of the key ingredients in a shisa nyama, including maize meal, onions, frozen chicken portions, beef and wors. PMBEJD’s data collectors track food prices on the shelves of 47 supermarkets and 32 butcheries that target the low-income market in the greater areas of Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg and the remote towns of Springbok…

TSHWANE mayor Cilliers Brink yesterday dispelled suggestions that wide-spread water outages affecting residents were possibly due to the implementation of credit control action by Rand Water. The cash-strapped municipality owes the water utility at least R544 million in arrears for bulk water supply. Addressing journalists at Tshwane House, Brink said: “We asked Rand Water at the weekend, ‘Are you applying credit action against Tshwane?’ And the answer was very clearly to the city manager, ‘no’. Also, you can’t apply credit action without notice. It is unlawful. So, we know it is not a credit action. We are not shy about the fact that we have financial issues.” He attributed the situation to operational problems at the water utility, saying it has been experienced several times since December. “A few months…

THE Gauteng Department of Education will dispatch its psycho-social unit to Hoërskool Garsfontein, in Pretoria east, to give counselling to traumatised learners and teachers following a grisly discovery of a learner’s dead body on the school’s rugby field on Tuesday morning. The dead girl has been identified as a Grade 10 learner and it was still unclear how her body came to be on school premises during the holidays. Department MEC Matome Chiloane, who visited the school yesterday, expressed condolences to the bereaved family and pledged to also give support to learners and teachers. Chiloane said information was still sketchy regarding the circumstances that led to the death of the learner. He expressed hope that the police would act speedily by collating a post-mortem report that would guide the nature…

THE University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, will be honouring Professor Ann Skelton with an honorary Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa in recognition of her excellent leadership as a global figure in international children’s rights and with an established track record in both research and legal practice. Skelton is the current chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. She is also a professor at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Private Law at the Faculty of Law, and holds the Unesco Chair in Education Law in Africa. “It is a fantastic honour to receive this doctorate from the University of Strathclyde, which prides itself on being an environment of useful learning. As my career has always been a mix of practice and academia, the idea that…

After being out of the limelight for quite some time, Zodwa “Zodwa Wabantu” Libram has caused a stir with an exotic video that is doing the rounds on social media. In the video shared, which has sparked controversy about African spirituality and sangomas, the dancer, who is known for performing stripteases, can be seen half-naked while some of her fans are skimming parts of her body. While this is no shocker, as she regularly makes appearances half-dressed, the recent video has received a hail of criticism after her disclosure that she is a traditional healer. This has also cast doubt on the narrative of modern-day traditional healers, as many have argued that they expect the dancer to dress more conservatively. Libram shared pictures and a video on her Instagram account…

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says it was not a difficult decision to award the captaincy to veteran Duane Vermeulen for Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener against Australia at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. The 36-year-old Vermeulen captained the Boks on three occasions in 2019, but for this game Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am was a strong contender for the reins in the absence of injured Siya Kolisi. “Siya is our captain and he is supported by a number of strong leaders,” Nienaber said. “A number of guys could have done the job this Saturday and done it well. For this one, we just felt that Duane’s calmness is what is required in our first game of the year.” SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus added that the position of No 8 is…

Proteas women’s spinner and the world No 2-ranked T20 international bowler Nonkululeko Mlaba is humbled by the three Cricket South Africa award nominations she has received for her stellar 2022/23 season in the green and gold. On Friday the country’s best performing cricketers will be recognised and rewarded for their achievements in the past season. One of the stars was Mlaba who played a vital role in getting South Africa to their first final at a World Cup. Mlaba has been nominated in three categories – Fans Player Of The Year, Women’s T20I Player Of The Year and for the Delivery Of The Year. “I’m very happy, excited and humbled by these nominations,” Mlaba told Independent Media in an exclusive interview. “This shows that I’ve been doing the work behind…