Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-04-26 i Star

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za EMIRA Property Fund has received a mandatory R2.87 billion offer from Maitlantic 10 Proprietary (Maitlantic) and Clearance Cantara Master Fund (CC) after Maitlantic and its partners took control of 35.03 percent of Emira’s shares. Maitlantic and its partners have made a mandatory offer to acquire all of Emira’s shares for R9.15 a share, cash. Emira said on Friday that an independent board would review the offer. Emira’s JSE share price closed 2.35 percent higher at R9.57 on Friday. The price has drifted steadily upwards over a year from R7.60. The offer price was 2.6 percent lower than Friday’s price, and was much lower than Emira’s net asset value per share of R14.75 per share at December 31. Two of Emira’s existing shareholders, Luxanio Trading 157 and Tamela…

TREMATON Capital shares rose 4 percent on the JSE on Friday after the investment holding company said it expected its half-year earnings to show an improvement compared to last year. The group said its headline earnings per share for the six months to end February would now in- crease to 2.1 cents from 0.01c last year and earnings per share were now project- ed to hit 0.6c compared from 0.4c the prior year. Its intrinsic net asset value – which the board of directors of Trematon considers to be the most important measure of shareholder value – would increase to approximately 530c from 510c while its book net asset value is expected to remain flat at 411c. The share price rose to R2.60 a share, up from…

GIFT TLOU gift.tlou@inl.co.za ALLEGATIONS of corruption, impropriety and fraud have continued to surface across several municipalities across Gauteng. This is according to a lengthy report released by the province’s Human Settlements, Urban Planning, and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department. The report has portrayed Rand West City Local Municipality as the more scandalous organisation. As a result, advocate William Mokhari SC has conducted an investigation in terms of section 106(1)(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act No. 32 of 2000, as amended (the Systems Act), into allegations of maladministration, fraud, corruption and serious malpractice that has occurred at the municipality. The investigations come after a number of allegations of impropriety were levelled against the municipal manager, the mayor and the Rand West City Local Municipality. Mokhari’s findings have now…

Peter Bachtis | Benoni The continuing ANC script of riotous hilarity continues. It has decided to import Cuban engineers to assist with infrastructure refurbishment and development. Where exactly are these unsuspecting victims going to start their work? Well, there is pothole problem, the railway problem, the bridges “about to collapse” problem – too many to list. Cuba is a country, glamourised after Castro’s demise but, nonetheless, a country stuck in the ’50s. Its infrastructure is non-existent and most people are struggling to make a living. What are they doing in South Africa? We have our own resources and skills that are not being utilised for the benefit of this country. Send them back to Cuba now and stop undermining our people, Mr President.…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za RELEBOHILE Moeng ended up creating her own products after looking to heal the scars on her face. In 2007, she was involved in an accident on the N1 highway where rocks had been placed across the road, leading to her getting more than 150 stitches on her face. After searching for a year for more affordable solutions to help heal the scars, Moeng started using cold-pressed argan oil, which yielded results. Although the scars were still visible, she said, “there are no keloids or raised scar tissues visible due to the penetration of the oils that worked on the collagen of the skin. I discovered the benefits of the oil through product testing by the SABS, that the oil contained over 96% Omega 3+6+9. “After experiencing the…

Fifteen more government officials were arrested in connection with the misuse of about $7.95 million (about R114m) in funds meant to fight the coronavirus in Malawi. The arrest bring to 61 the total number of people arrested since last Sunday. “Five arrested officials are from Blantyre City Council. They include Richard Chakhala, director of finance. Ten arrested officials are from the ministry of information, accounts department. They include Alick Kampeza, civic education officer,” said Malawi Police Service (MPS) spokesperson James Kadadzeka. “The suspects will be answering charges of theft by public servant and fraudulent accounting among other charges. MPS detectives are still on the ground and more arrests will follow.” The net is closing on officials who allegedly abused the Covid-19 funds, after an audit ordered by President Lazarus…

SOUTH Africans are passionate in their debates on any given topic. This passion is often on display on social media and call-in radio shows, where the exchanges are unscripted and spontaneous. On Thursday, Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu welcomed 24 Cuban engineers. This was nothing new. Since the inception of the South Africa-Cuba Agreement in 2001, Cuba has been able to impart knowledge on the maintenance and operation of water infrastructure in the country. In 2011, the first group of nine Cuban engineers came to South Africa, then the figure grew to 13 in 2013. Thirty-five Cuban engineers arrived in February 2015 and departed in March 2019. Last year, 25 engineers arrived and have been placed in the water cluster regions and some of our provincial…

POPE Francis yesterday mourned the casualties of the hospital fire in Baghdad as well as the death of 130 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. “I am also near to the victims of the fire in the hospital for Covid patients in Baghdad. As of now, there are 82 people who have died. Let us pray for all of them. “I confess I am extremely sad over the tragedy that has again taken place in the Mediterranean. One hundred thirty migrants died in the sea. They are people. “They are human beings who begged for help in vain for two whole days – help that never arrived,” the pontiff stated after saying the Regina Caeli prayer, as quoted by the Holy See. At least 130 migrants drowned off…

NAIROBI: The death toll from clashes this month between Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups, the Oromo and Amhara, in the northern Amhara region may be as high as 200, the government ombudsman said yesterday, up from previous reports of at least 50. Residents and officials in Oromiya Special Zone, an area in Amhara with a majority Oromo population, and the town of Ataye said there were deadly clashes in the area on April 16. “According to information we got from people who are displaced, we estimate that up to 200 people might have died from both zones. “We still need to verify the number,” Endale Haile, Ethiopia’s chief ombudsman, told reporters.…

Myanmar’s pro-democracy activists sharply criticised an agreement between the country’s junta chief and Southeast Asian leaders to end the nation’s violent post-coup crisis and vowed yesterday to continue their protest campaign. Scattered peaceful protests took place in Myanmar’s big cities yesterday, a day after the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Jakarta, Indonesia, reached a consensus to end the turmoil in the country, but gave no timeline. “Whether it is Asean or the UN, they will only speak from outside saying don’t fight but negotiate and solve the issues. But that doesn’t reflect Myanmar’s situation on the ground,” said Khin Sandar from a protest group called the General Strikes Collaboration Committee. “We will continue the protests. We have plans to…

HERMAN GIBBS EMBATTLED Kaizer Chiefs overturned a first-half deficit to score an upset of humongous proportions when they defeated Premiership leaders Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria yesterday. The result marked Sundowns’ first Premiership defeat this season. This reverse will be welcomed by the chasing pack, which is led by AmaZulu, who are three points adrift after 24 matches. Sundowns, after 22 matches, are on 47 points. The outcome also spoilt the 50th birthday celebrations of Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi. Chiefs nevertheless moved into a top-eight slot for the first time in a while. Sundowns sounded an early warning of how they might hurt Chiefs when midfielder Gaston Sirino unleashed a low drive from outside the penalty area after good work by teammate Lyle Lakay. The shot…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za MTN ZAKHELE Futhi, the mobile operator’s special purpose empowerment vehicle, has received a further R75 million to lessen the blow from MTN Group’s decision to withhold the final dividend for the year to the end of December 2020. The scheme’s chairperson, Belinda Mapongwana, said the money would enable MTN Zakhele Futhi to meet its cash requirements for the next 12 months. Last September, MTN Zakhele received a R15m injection to meet its financial commitments after MTN withheld its interim dividend in the six months to the end of June last year. “The 2020 financial year has been a challenging year for MTN Zakhele Futhi, and for the first time in recent history MTN Group announced that no interim dividend would be paid for the six-month period ended…

THE OSCARS, M-NET, DSTV CHANNEL 101,10.30PM Don’t forget to tune in tonight to see what went down at the 93rd Academy Awards. GOMORA S2, MZANSI MAGIC, DSTV CHANNEL 161, 7.30PM Gomora follows the lives of two families and how thin the line between rich and poor really is. In the new season, the stars of the show are embroiled in a lengthy court case and a shocking death unexpectedly brings Thathi and Melusi (Xolisa Xaluva) closer to each other. THE BLOCK AUSTRALIA, M-NET, DSTV CHANNEL 101, 5.25PM Four couples compete against each other to renovate houses and auction them for the highest price, in this Australian reality competition series.…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE FIRE-gutted Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital will resume services on May 3, following a blaze that saw two blocks of the facility significantly damaged. The fire broke out at the Special Dispensary Stores and spread to sections of the parking lot multi-storey structure, causing significant damage to the building on April 16. Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday that more than R40 million worth of stock, largely personal protective equipment and other essentials, went up in smoke. Gauteng provincial government spokesperson Thabo Masebe said on Saturday that a preliminary assessment of the building has been conducted to determine the extent of the damage. “The preliminary report revealed that the fire had affected Block 3 and 4 of the hospital. The two blocks shall remain…

THE NATIONAL Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate (ID) has confirmed the arrest of Michael Harry Lomas, a UK citizen and former Eskom contractor, in London on April 15. He appeared in the Westminster Magistrate’s Court last week. Lomas was granted bail of £100 000 (R1.9 million) and submitted additional surety of £250 000. The appearance means Lomas’s extradition to South Africa has begun in earnest in the UK. ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka said the latest move follows months of talks with UK authorities about the fraud and corruption case where Eskom paid R745 million to Tubular Construction Projects. It exposed the state-owned entity to R1.4 billion as per the escalation of the contract. “Lomas has been indicted along with four other accused in South Africa, arrested in December 2019 and…

Mpiletso Motumi FOR its first exhibition of the year, the Standard Bank Art Gallery is inviting viewers to reimagine photography and its power to capture themes and images that are quintessentially South African. Photographer Andrew Tshabangu’s work, titled Photographs in Our Mother Tongue is currently on display at the exhibition. “Back in the day, I was working on this theme of Johannesburg titled Johannesburg in Transition or City in Transition. At some point it was a white city and then post-1994 there was the flight of former citizens and at the same time there was an influx of people into the city by people from the township and villages. Also, to a certain extent, people from different parts of the continent as well,” Tshabangu said. It was that transition between…

African News Agency (ANA) A Belhar, Cape Town, mother has defied the odds and is living proof that hard work and determination can make your dreams come true. Natasha Dietrich, 47, will be graduating with a Bachelor in Education diploma from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) on May 5. The mother of two had for years worked as a cleaner and had only a secondary level of education, a matric certificate. Dietrich’s journey to becoming a qualified teacher began when she started as a casual worker with Bidvest Prestige in 2011 as a cleaner. In 2014, she was given a permanent position; however, working among students sparked something inside her. Dietrich said she worked at ResLife, where students spend their time studying. She said she witnessed the…

AS WE marked World Malaria Day yesterday, we asked people around the world to take a stand and #DrawTheLine Against Malaria, to show solidarity in helping to end this deadly disease within a generation. Ending diseases like malaria is the pathway to beating pandemics like Covid. Further investments in ending malaria reduce the burden on health systems and increase capacity to prevent, detect and respond to pandemics. Six countries alone account for over 50% of global malaria deaths: Nigeria (23%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (11%), Tanzania (5%), Burkina Faso (4%), Mozambique (4%) and Niger (4%). The overwhelming majority of the world’s malaria cases and deaths are now occurring across the African continent, which carries 94% of all malaria cases and deaths. Zero Malaria’s Draw The Line Against Malaria…

christi van der westhuizen IN THE 1990s, a commonly held view was that South Africa had achieved a “miracle” because of its relatively peaceful political transition from apartheid to democracy in 1994. In recent times, anti-Constitution pessimism and opportunism have been on the rise. A lack of meaningful redistribution of wealth has led politicians to proclaim constitutional democracy has failed. Scholars influenced by decolonial theories have criticised the constitutional order as a form of “neo-apartheid” that perpetuates white privilege. Non-racialism has been dismissed as “colour-blindness” that hinders the correction of race-based inequalities. But is the pessimistic view accurate? One of Africa’s leading scholars, Ugandan-born Mahmood Mamdani, believes not. In his latest book, Neither Settler Nor Native, Mamdani argues that South Africa has succeeded most in breaking out of colonial divisions…

WASHINGTON: Khloe Kardashian, a US reality show star of Armenian descent, thanked President Joe Biden for being the first US president to formally recognise the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. “Thank you for honouring the stories, the pain, suffering and loss of the Armenian people”, the TV personality wrote on Instagram, pointing out that back “in 1915, over 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered and tortured”. “Today we honour our ancestors on Armenian Remembrance Day”.…

PARIS: The Tunisian national who killed a police administrative worker last Friday near Paris had watched religious videos glorifying acts of jihad just before carrying out his attack, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard has said. The murder has shocked France, which faces a presidential election next year at which fears over terrorist attacks, immigration and violent crime will dominate the agenda. Ricard said yesterday that the official investigation had shown that the assailant, identified as “Jamel G”, looked at the videos on his phone just before his knife attack on the police worker, a mother-of-two called Stephanie. Stephanie died of stab wounds; Jamel G was shot dead by police after the attack.…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za Adapt IT has informed its shareholders that Blacksheep Master Fund, which holds a 44.4 percent stake in the company, had given Volaris its irrevocable undertaking to support its bid for the takeover of the South African software company. Volaris, a subsidiary of Toronto-listed Constellation Software, tabled an offer to acquire 100 percent of the issued share capital of Adapt IT on April 7 for 650 cents a share, which represented a premium of 56.9 percent to the 30-day volume-weighted average-traded price of Adapt IT shares on the JSE of 414c as at January 26, which was the last trading date before the date on which the general offer by Huge Group to Adapt IT shareholders was announced. Constellation Software has more than 125 000…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za A MUNICIPAL manager and chief financial officer of Sedibeng District Municipality are in hot water for allegedly soliciting a bribe of R1 million, from a security company contracted to guard municipal buildings and property in the Vaal region. The allegations against the acting municipal manager Motsoaledi Makhutle and acting chief financial officer Kajal Wiese are contained in a letter written by Kgalalelo Frank Machete, dated September 24, 2020, to the late municipal manager Stanley Khanyile. Now the DA in Gauteng is calling on the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Lebogang Maile to urgently investigate allegations that Sedibeng top officials solicited a R1m bribe from Mafoko Security Patrols PTY (LTD). DA spokesperson Kingsol Chabalala said the municipality did not act upon receiving the complaint.…

ITUMELENG MAFISA WAGE negotiations between the government and the public service unions have reached a stalemate, with the government expected to make a new offer to unions this week. Speaking on behalf of Cosatu, Mugwena Maluleke said the government had five days, starting today, to come back to unions with a new offer or unions would officially declare a dispute. Several processes still need to happen before unions can legally go on strike. The negotiations reached a deadlock last week. Unions are demanding a 7% wage increase, a R2 500 increase to their housing allowance, daycare facilities for workers and a 12% Covid-19 incentive. The mood was that of disappointment and anger over the fact that in the 2020 negotiations public servants did not receive their increases. The government…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za A SHOCKINGLY low 43% of the country’s latest aspiring chartered accountants (CAs) have passed their SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) examination. In an even more alarming outcome, only 24% of the 1 792 black candidates passed Saica’s Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) exam in December. The pass rates among all other races were not something to write home about either. The 1 315 white candidates achieved a 64% pass rate, 53% of the 535 Indian candidates passed and 45% of 238 coloured candidates made the grade. The number of black CAs has remained low in the country, prompting the Saica and government to go on a transformation drive in recent years. Defending its decision to offer bursaries to only black and coloured students in 2017,…

Keen to make the most of a statutory holiday for newlyweds, a couple from Taiwan found a novel way to maximise their honeymoon – by marrying four times in just over a month. The unusual story, confirmed by Taipei’s Labour Department last week, is the latest to go viral and highlight innovative, if somewhat bizarre, loophole wrangling by Taiwanese citizens. Taiwanese companies are legally obliged to offer eight days of paid leave to newlyweds. But an unnamed bank employee decided to game the system last year, claiming 32 days’ leave. Over 37 days, he and his wife married four times and divorced three times, claiming the full eight days for each of their nuptials. The bank baulked and the employee appealed to Taipei city labour department, which initially fined his…

FRANTIC, last-ditch attempts are being made to rescue Cricket South Africa. There is still time to save the organisation. Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s crafty timing on announcing his intention to invoke Section 13 of the National Sport and Recreation Act has given CSA until Thursday to agree to the new Memorandum of Incorporation needed to ensure the administration of the organisation can be restructured. By Friday, when the Government Gazette is published, the door will be shut on Cricket SA. It will no longer get government money, and more crucially, it will lose recognition as the governing authority for cricket in the country. And then the Proteas will no longer be recognised as the official, representative team of South Africa. That will have far-reaching effects, and as CSA staff pointed…

A missing Indonesian submarine has been found cracked apart on the seafloor in waters off Bali, the military said yesterday, as it confirmed that all 53 crew were dead. “There were parts of KRI Nanggala; it was broken into three pieces,” said Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono. Indonesian military head Hadi Tjahjanto told reporters that “all 53 personnel on board have passed on”. Indonesian Military Chief Hadi Tjahjanto confirmed that all the 53 crew members aboard the submarine were dead after some other components of the vessel were found. “Based on the authentic evidence, it can be stated that all the crews of the KRI Nanggala submarine are dead. “For that, I express deep condolences,” he said. Authorities said that they received signals from the location more than 800…

Lausanne: A top International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission member has said the global sports governing body should not take a call on whether the Tokyo Olympics should be held or not, and that the decision should be left to medical experts. Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser, a four-time Olympic ice hockey gold medallist, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that “this decision needs to be made by medical and health experts, not by corporate and big business”. “A very clear and transparent explanation needs to be given if the Games are going to go ahead. You need someone else outside less invested than you to say it is or isn’t worth it. “It shouldn’t be the IOC making that call,” she said.…

ROME: Italy has reached a deal with the European Commission over its recovery plan, Prime Minister Mario Draghi told cabinet late on Saturday, after days of intense talks, paving the way for it to be submitted to Brussels by month end. Italy plans to spend more than €220 billion (R3 802bn) from the EU and national funds to revive its coronavirus-battered economy, a draft seen by Reuters showed. Economy Minister Daniele Franco unveiled the plan’s details to the cabinet, after it was delayed for 12 hours to allow negotiations to proceed with Brussels. Draghi’s spokesperson said he told his ministers that he got the green light from the commission by intervening directly in the talks, even though there were still some “marginal adjustments” to iron out.…