Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-07-28 i Star

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za S&P GLOBAL Ratings has warned that the recent civil unrest could slightly dent the expected rebound in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2021. In a report yesterday, S&P said the civil unrest was a clear example of wide income inequality, increasing poverty levels and poor access to health services. South Africa experienced widespread looting of retail outlets and manufacturing facilities in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng following the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma. The unrest is estimated to have cost the country R50 billion in lost output and placed at least 150 000 jobs at risk. S&P’s corporate ratings director, Omega Collocott, said the unrest had also severely hampered supply chains because of blocked road and rail transportation corridors. Collocott said the damage to elements of the country’s…

Capital & Counties resumes its interim dividend distribution Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za UK-BASED Capital & Counties (Capco) has recommenced dividend distributions with a 0.5 pence per share distribution for the six months to June 30 after UK Covid-19 government restrictions were lifted and retail and hospitality customers fully reopened. Rent collection improved in the first half for the group that holds most of its assets in Covent Garden in London, and 65 percent of June quarter had been collected adjusted for payment plans. Customer support was being provided on a case-by-case basis and was expected to reduce with easing of restrictions. The total property value of £1.8 billion (about R37bn) represented a 5.1 percent decrease (like-for-like) from the value at the end of December 2020. Net rental…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za AVI, WHICH owns more than 50 consumer brands from frozen convenience foods to fashion accessories, said yesterday that it anticipated headline earnings a share to rise by between 5 and 7 percent for the year to June 30, from last year’s 470.8 cents a share. The group said the net effect of the recent looting and violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng on the 2022 financial year was not expected to be significant, because strong replenishment demand suggested that retail densities would improve in unaffected stores. Direct damage was limited to four Spitz stores where all of the stock was stolen and the fixtures were damaged. The stores were expected to resume trading in three to six weeks. None of the group’s other sites suffered damage. Snackworks lost…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za THE ANC in Joburg has vowed to investigate claims that rival leaders in Roodepoort on the West Rand have filed an incitement of violence charge against their branch secretary in a bid to eliminate him as a party candidate for the upcoming local government elections. According to insiders, the complainants lodged a criminal case against Keke Tabane, hoping that the governing party would disqualify him from being a councillor in accordance with the ANC’s step-aside policy instruction to all senior members and officials facing criminal charges in courts of law. But after being alerted about the allegation, the ANC is said to have given Tabane an opportunity to contest the election as the party’s councillor-elect despite facing a criminal charge of inciting violence following protests in…

Thami Zwane | Edenvale Divide and rule is a failed, short-term and cruel policy used by governments and businesses the world over. In the early 1970s it was applied by whites to break the Indian strike when Diagonal Street in Johannesburg, a then Indian commercial precinct, was declared a white business area. Blacks from townships were hired as scabs. Human beings brazenly turned into weapons of mass destruction, a conscious decision we all make to either build up or break down others. Fast-forward to 2021, this inhumane control mechanism is still used to pit local blacks and foreign blacks. Truckers’ protracted plight, as a classic example, cannot be wished away. Like a flickering fire, it keeps on resurfacing. Sadly, the government and captains of industry turn a deaf…

THE money in politics is used to subvert trust and integrity, which are the basis of credible, ethical leadership. Politicians and political parties receive money from the elite who control the economy, while those political entities, in turn, go to the majority (poor) to convince them for support (votes). The visible influence of money in our political system robs the electorate of an opportunity to improve their livelihoods. Those who are controlling the economy are “investing” money in individual politicians or political parties, with the hope of having their economic interests safeguarded. The decision by the highest court in the land, the Constitutional Court, to keep the CR17 bank records sealed, threatens fundamental cornerstones of our democracy – such as transparency, accountability, openness, and honesty. This is after ANC president…

WHILE South African cricket has for years given off the impression that it was progressive and open to transformation, the past few weeks have finally lifted the veil of racism permeating the game at all levels. But should we even be surprised? Cricket, like any other institution, is merely a mirror that reflects our South African reality. Thirty years after the sport was “unified”, and even though more black administrators run the game, the participation of black players has seen them sidelined, greeted with hostility, and subjected to naked racism. Former Model C schools have been left to unearth the next generation of black cricketers because there has hardly been development of any talent in townships. Some of our favourite cricketers have appeared before the Social Justice and Nation Building…

ISLAMABAD: A 19-year-old Pakistani has become the youngest person to summit K2, the world’s second highest mountain, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said yesterday. Shehroze Kashif reached the 8 611m summit yesterday. Kashif, who began climbing in his early teens, scaled the world’s 12th highest mountain, 8 047m Broad Peak, at the age of 17. In May, he became the youngest Pakistani to scale Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. He now holds an additional record as the youngest person to have summited K2 and Everest. Several of Pakistan’s youngest climbers have been on K2 in recent days. | Reuters…

LONDON: The British Museum will restore eight ancient glass artefacts damaged in last year’s Beirut port explosion, the London cultural institution announced yesterday. The glass vessels were shattered after 2 750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the port caused a blast that devastated the city on August 4 last year. Workers will piece together hundreds of glass fragments at the British Museum’s conservation laboratories in London. The European Fine Art Foundation is funding the effort. The artefacts were held in a case displaying 74 Roman, Byzantine and Islamic-era glass vessels in the American University of Beirut’s Archaeological Museum, 3.2km from the site of the blast. Only 15 vessels were deemed salvageable and eight safe to travel to London for restoration. | AFP…

Thousands of Ethiopian army recruits paraded in Addis Ababa on Tuesday to bid farewell before leaving for training – potential future participants in a bloody, eight-month-old conflict in the north that continues to spread and intensify. Young women and men wearing plastic sandals and baseball caps danced in central Meskel Square at a ceremony attended by defence minister Kenea Yadeta and the capital’s deputy mayor, Adanech Abiebe. The mayor’s office said 3 000 young people would join the ranks of Ethiopia’s National Defence Force. The conflict between the central government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that controls the Tigray region, is spreading to other parts of northern Ethiopia, and youth from other parts of the country are joining federal forces. Fighting first broke out in Tigray…

Transnet is getting ready to lift force majeure in staggered way Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za TRANSNET said yesterday that it was considering lifting a force majeure after five days of downtime that involved only using systems that could be operated manually to cope with a backlog of trucks, ships and empty dockyards. In a statement yesterday, Transnet said it expected that some applications may continue to run slowly over the next few days, while monitoring systems were brought back in a staggered manner, to minimise further risks and interruptions. “It is expected that some applications may continue to run slowly over the next few days, while monitoring continues. All operating systems will be brought back in a staggered manner, to minimise further risks and interruptions,” the group said. Logistics groups, including…

Alyssia Birjalal alyssia.birjalal@inl.co.za Mumbai police have raided Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra’s Juhu bungalow and seized 48 terabytes (TB) of mostly adult images and videos following Kundra’s arrest. Kundra was arrested on July 19 and police said they had sufficient evidence that he was a key conspirator in the porn production ring. Kundra maintains his innocence. Shetty who was interrogated by police, said she was unaware of the exact nature of the content on the app “Hot Shots”, but described the material as “erotica” rather than pornography. Shetty said her husband was innocent and alleged that it was co-accused Pradeep Bakshi who was involved in the app. According to a report on IndiaTV, police are said to be planning to clone Shetty’s phone and might question her again.…

RESIDENCY Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za COURT woes have continued to pile up for the Home Affairs senior official accused of aiding controversial pastor-turned-fugitive Shepherd Bushiri to irregularly obtain permanent residency. The Labour Court in Johannesburg has dismissed Ronney Marhule’s application for leave to appeal its earlier judgment that went against him. Judge Edwin Tlhotlhalemaje dismissed Marhule’s application in May that sought to bar his employer from using legal representation in the internal disciplinary proceedings against him. Marhule, the suspended chief director of permits, maintained the department had no legal standing to use a lawyer in the disciplinary hearing. His reasons included that the senior management service handbook did not allow for the use of lawyers in internal disciplinary hearings. Home Affairs favoured fielding lawyers in the case, given the complexity and…

Itumeleng Mafisa CASH-strapped South African Airways (SAA) subsidiary Mango Airlines was so broke that it had lost a number of planes and couldn’t even pay Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS). This was revealed in court papers seen by The Star. Several unions, including the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA), the National Union of Metal of SA and the Mango Pilots Association have filed papers at the South Gauteng High Court asking that the airline be placed under business rescue to ensure its survival. Mango was in so much debt that it was struggling to even pay salaries. More than 10 pilots have left the company because of uncertainty of employment and issues with payments. The Star understands that pilots were owed eight months’ in salaries. According to the…

PRISONS are meant to be a form of retribution and rehabilitation for those who have committed crimes, but many are often a haven where gangsters continue to run their illegal operations undeterred. Confinement of up to 24 hours a day in overcrowded communal cells also means that, very often, more vulnerable inmates have no choice but to do the bidding of powerful gang members just to survive. Statistics gathered between 2015 and 2018 showed more than 500 inmates died annually in the country’s 243 correctional centres, said Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services spokesperson Emerantia Cupido. Most of the deaths were from natural causes, some were suicide while others were murder. Pollsmoor Prison has not only been identified as the most overcrowded in the country, but also one of the most…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za “WE ARE not going through the best of times at the moment, but if this can just give us a slight bit of hope for anyone out there to know that we can do it as South Africa then I’m happy…” That was the sentiment from swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker yesterday after she claimed Team South Africa’s first medal at the Tokyo Olympics with a second-placed finish in the 100-metre breaststroke. Team SA got on to the medal scoreboard yesterday with Schoenmaker later joined by surfer Bianca Buitendag, who also secured a silver gong. There was a surprise in the Rugby Sevens event, though, as the Blitzboks – highly fancied as medal contenders – lost 19-14 to Argentina, who had a player sent off after just three minutes…

Peter Bachtis | Benoni FM 102.7 was licensed to play smooth, mellow sounds, including classical music across the age, from Bach to Brahms, from Sinatra to Bublé. Instead the so-called bosses pulled the plug, allowing noise pollution, coupled to mostly incomprehensible lyrics during the day. I make a stand against modern R&B, and all the other sounds that some refer to as music. Rothschild and Crwys-Williams, should be clamped to the nearest viola with a trumpet blaring into their “misguided” ears, until they give us back the original Classic FM 102.7. It is shameful that the broadcasting controllers pulled the plug. In a country of 60 million, there are many who feel the way I do. Give us back our all-day classic station now!…

Dhesigen Naidoo WE APPROACHED Mandela Month this year with weighty shoulders. The burden of Covid-19 is even more extreme than its initial shock in the form of an unprecedented global health crisis last year. Covid-19 is also expanded and deepened with two factors that appear to dominate. The first is the unbelievable interconnectedness of all who live on the planet, and, second, is the extreme stark inequality that characterises our time. An expression of this is the gross global vaccine inequality that threatens the prospect of a reasonable and timely exit from the pandemic status we live under. The second expression of that “inequality epidemic” as Antonio Guterres expressed in his 2020 Mandela lecture has been a week of intense, damaging, social unrest in South Africa. South Africa is…

Wiping away tears, a police officer told a rapt US congressional hearing yesterday he believed “this is how I’m going to die” while defending the Capitol in Washington on January 6 against a rampaging mob branding him a traitor. Another recalled how he was beaten unconscious by rioters supportive of then-president Donald Trump, and said he “went to hell and back” protecting US lawmakers and the citadel of American democracy. The gripping accounts served as opening testimony in a landmark hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, which opened with hair-raising videos of the deadly attack. But it was the dramatic personal recollections of officers under siege by people they described as “terrorists” that set the tone in a closely-watched session. It was “something from…

PARIS: Cuba’s embassy in Paris said on Tuesday that it had been attacked overnight with petrol bombs which caused some damage but no injuries to its staff in an incident that prompted French authorities to beef-up security around the building. Three petrol bombs were thrown, causing a fire on the façade and the entrance of the building, the embassy said in a statement. Cuba has been rocked by protests against a deep economic crisis. “Those directly responsible for these acts are those who incite violence and hatred against our country,” said Cuba’s foreign ministry. Its embassy in Paris said such acts had been “encouraged by campaigns by the US government against our country.” France’s foreign ministry said that a judicial investigation had been opened. | Reuters…

BERLIN: An explosion in a German industrial park yesterday killed one person and left four others missing, setting off a fierce blaze and sending a pall of smoke over the western city of Leverkusen. Emergency services took three hours to extinguish the fire at the Chempark site, home to chemicals companies Bayer and Lanxess, that flared up after the blast, park operator Currenta said. Police said 31 people were injured, five of them seriously enough to need intensive care. The area and surrounding roads were sealed off for much of the day. Police told residents living nearby to stay indoors and shut doors and windows in case there were toxic fumes. Currenta said locals should also turn off air conditioning systems due to possible toxic gases. | Reuters…

The whole build-up to the first Test was worrisome. Covid-19 wrecked havoc with the Springboks’ preparations, but that is something beyond the control of coach Jacques Nienaber and SA director of rugby Rassie Erasmus. But there were a number of situations and decisions that could’ve been avoided. Having followed the Boks’ unforgettable run to the 2019 World Cup title all around Japan, the South Africans were always clear in their planning, ideas in terms of selection and tactics, and the fitness of players. Just one example – Cheslin Kolbe could’ve been risked for the semi-final against Wales, but Erasmus opted for Sbu Nkosi at right wing, and it paid off as the Sharks star was excellent on the day. For the first Lions Test this past weekend, captain Siya Kolisi…

The man Springbok supporters love to hate, Owen Farrell, could yet feature prominently in the British & Irish Lions series because of a concussion uncertainty over flyhalf Dan Biggar. Yesterday, coach Warren Gatland provisionally named Biggar in his side for Saturday’s second Test, but the Welshman must pass an assessment by an independent concussion consultant before being given the go-ahead to play, with the controversial Farrell waiting in the wings. The English flyhalf incurred the wrath of South African when he got away with an illegal shoulder charge on Springbok centre Andre Esterhuizen in a match at Twickenham in 2018. Farrell will at the least be on the bench but if he indeed starts, it will mean the Lions will have a new halfback combination for the match…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za STATE-OWNED low-cost carrier Mango Airlines yesterday temporarily suspended all flights because of outstanding payments of more than R57 million to another state-owned company, Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS). ATNS provides air traffic, navigation, training and associated services within a large part of the Southern Indian and Atlantic Ocean, comprising at least 10 percent of the world’s airspace. Mango’s grounding of its flights left hundreds of customers stranded at airports across the country, because it happened without warning. Mango said it would offer customers vouchers to help with alternative travel arrangements on other airlines. In a statement, Mango’s acting chief executive, William Ndlovu, apolo- gised for the inconvenience. “We plan to resume normal operations as soon as possible,” Ndlovu said. “We ask for calm and patience as…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za THE Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has hit back at opposition parliamentarians for alleging it was failing to support artists during the Covid-19 pandemic. This after the EFF and DA levelled the accusation when it briefed MPs on a R70 million package that was part of the third phase of relief funding for artists and athletes. EFF MP Ringo Madlingozi said mismanagement had played its part in the disbursing of relief funds in the first and second phases. “Now the department talks of no money. Artists are still living in distress,” Madlingozi said, adding that some artists’ children had been kicked out of school for the non-payment of fees. “They are not looked after properly by the department … This department failed them dismally,” he…

KUDZAI CHIKOWORE | Defender of Human Rights I AM DISGUSTED by the Zimbabwean foreign affairs and International trade minister Frederick Shava who was recently appointed by the heartless president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa. This minister told the world media there are no persecutions in Zimbabwe, before the UK deported 14 people. Which planet does Shava live on if he cannot see the crystal-clear persecutions which Zimbabweans are enduring daily in their country like slaves? In Zimbabwe, there is no rule of law and freedom of choice when it comes to politics. Supporting the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, is an offence for which one could be killed, harassed, intimidated, abducted, tortured, arrested, or dehumanised. Demonstrations and criticism of the careless, clueless and corrupt president of…

Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a rise in hunger in South Africa THE recent political and social unrest across parts of South Africa has again brought to the fore the deep structural problems faced by the nation. These include high levels of poverty for an upper-middle income country, largely due to extreme income inequality, which means that a large segment of the population is much poorer than the average, and massive unemployment. Hunger is another feature of South Africa’s inequality that has become pertinent in the socio-political climate. Many commentators have pointed to this as one of the underlying causes of the unrest. We do not propose that hunger is the cause of the current social upheaval. But, taken along with other deep-rooted structural inequalities, it provides additional fuel for…

MOSCOW: Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden warned yesterday of a “lethal threat” posed by Big Tech companies, estimating that the number of spyware victims would be a thousand times higher if investment in the intrusive technology continued. Earlier this month, reports said that Pegasus spyware, developed by Israel’s NSO Group and used by government agencies to track criminals and terrorists, was used by state services to hack 50 000 private phones of activists, journalists, and opposition figures around the world. “The first step must be to ban the commercial trade in intrusion software,” said Snowden. | Sputnik…

WASHINGTON: While the global economy is still growing, the uneven distribution of vaccines is widening disparities as rich countries pick up speed and leave developing nations behind, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned yesterday. The recovery “is not assured even in countries where infections are c very low so long as the virus circulates elsewhere,” the report said. World GDP will expand by 6% this year, unchanged from the April forecast, but the IMF flagged the “widening gap” as advanced economies grow faster and developing nations, slow. Advanced nations had vaccinated nearly 40% of the population, compared to barely 11% in emerging markets and a tiny fraction in low-income countries. | AFP…

A bill in Ghana that would make it a crime to be gay, bisexual or transgender has shocked the local LGBT+ community and raised fears over a possible surge in discrimination and violence against sexual minorities in the West African country. Gay sex is already punishable with up to three years in jail in Ghana, where homophobic persecution is widespread, but the draft law would go much further – making it illegal to be LGBT+ or advocate for LGBT+ rights, and imposing longer sentences. “This bill is a homophobe’s dream law,” said Danny Bediako of Rightify Ghana, a local LGBT+ group. “The community is shocked at how wide-ranging it is. People are even scared to go out now and some say they will leave the country if the bill is…

Kaizer Chiefs, in the throes of a spending splurge to bolster their ranks after their two-window Fifa transfer ban was lifted, yesterday announced marquee signings Cole Alexander and Keagan Dolly. The two international midfielders both signed three-year deals. This will see them play for Chiefs until the 2024/25 season. Chiefs' social media post read: “New player signings! Two Lions welcomed into the pride. We would like to officially announce the signing of Cole Alexander and Keagan Dolly to the club. Welcome MaKhosi, we are happy to have you with us.” Cape Town-born Alexander joins Chiefs' having followed coach Stuart Baxter from Odisha FC, the Indian Super League club. Alexander's arrival may correspond with the pending departure of Willard Katsande. Speculation is rife that Katsande will not be offered another…

ON the face of it, the five-member South African marathon team that flew out to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics yesterday is a pretty strong contingent that should do the country proud. Stephen Mokoka, Gerda Steyn, Desmond Mokgobu, Irvette van Zyl and Elroy Gelant are local road-running royalty and that they will be carrying our flag in Sapporo next weekend should not be surprising. To the uninitiated, Mokoka is a local running legend, a former Olympic marathoner, multiple champion on the track, cross country and road while Gelant is the current champion in the 42.2km distance and Mokgobu has won a marathon in Japan in the past. Steyn only recently smashed the long-standing national marathon record and three-time Soweto Marathon champion Van Zyl ran a PB to book her third…