Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-03-16 i Star

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE TOURISM and leisure industry has been left in the lurch after the government decided not to bring to an end the lockdown regulations as expected, in spite of looming litigation. Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, yesterday announced the extension of the National State of Disaster for another month to April 15. Yesterday marked two years since the National State of Disaster was first declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dlamini Zuma said the regulations were extended due to “the need to continue augmenting existing legislation and contingency arrangements undertaken by organs of the State to address the impact of the disaster”. This means that tourist establishments and sports events will still have to adhere to restrictions regulating the capacity…

IT IS SELDOM the case that war is fought over one reason and one reason only. Empirically, wars have historic contexts that brew their own toxic cocktails. They are covered in layers of admixture of truths, half-truths and ever so often, outright deception, some of which will never be accessible no matter how long the execution of the war takes. It wasn’t going to take long before one of this war’s many layers would begin to unveil. This is the role and effect of oil and gas. When the body count continues to rise, the historic order of these layers is violently ruptured and laid bare for everyone to reckon. This phase of conflict has subjected the relationship of the warring parties and their supporting allies to unusual pressures, as…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za THE SHARES IN Famous Brands, which owns Wimpy, Steers and Debonairs among other brands, in late afternoon trade slid nearly 9 percent to R57.38 despite the firm flagging that it had lifted its sales amid a challenging period marked by Covid-19 and the July unrest. For the 12 months ended February 28, 2022, the group said leading brands’ system-wide sales increased by 35.8 percent, while like-for-like sales rose by 33 percent. Signature brands’ system-wide sales improved by 55.1 percent, while like-for-like sales increased by 59.3 percent. System-wide sales refer to sales reported by all restaurants across the network, including new restaurants opened during the year. Famous Brands said it had been a challenging year with operations impacted by various levels of Covid-19- related…

Oluthando Keteyi oluthando.keteyi@inl.co.za Rapper AKA is the winner of his arbitration battle with Makhuducom Media over ownership of The Braai Show. The award-winning rapper took to his social media platforms to announce that his legal battle with Makhuducom came to an end, with him emerging victorious. AKA has been in a legal battle for his 50% share of copyrights to The Braai Show, which was produced for SABC 1. In a bid to enforce his rights arising out of the partnership agreement concluded by the parties, AKA took Makhuducom Media to the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa. Makhuducom Media and AKA entered into a partnership to produce content for AKA TV. Both parties agreed that the entire copyright and other rights would be jointly vested in the parties. Last year,…

Lehlohonolo Mashigo lehlohonolo.mashigo@inl.co.za DEPARTMENT of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has extended the state of disaster to April 15. She said the decision was taken in order to augment the existing legislation and contingency arrangements undertaken by organs of the state to “impact the Covid-19 disaster”. The move has prompted some negative reaction from civil society organisations and political parties. Action SA president Herman Mashaba said they would be exploring all possible avenues to challenge this latest extension. “This may include legal action and exploring collaboration with like-minded political parties to ensure the freedoms of South Africans are restored,” said Mashaba. He said that at the end of March South Africans will have lived under this State of Disaster for 24 months. “During this time,…

Itumeleng Mafisa itumeleng.mafisa@inl.co.za SOUTH Africans have been warned to ready themselves for a hike in the price of bread because of Russia’s war with Ukraine. The chief executive of the National Debt Advisor, Sebastian Alexanderson, said South Africa may be far from the war, but the ramifications of the raging dispute were likely to be felt here in a month or two. The average price of bread in South Africa is R15 a loaf. Bread is consumed as a staple, affordable food. “In South Africa we are the last to feel what is happening around the world. The West is sanctioning Russia, which is one of the largest wheat exporters in the world, which in turn means there’s going to be a short supply of wheat around the world,” Alexanderson…

Anita Nkonki anita.nkonki@inl.co.za In the star-studded cast of the local telenovela The Wife, viewers could not help but single out the South African Film and Television Awards (Safta) nominated actress Lerato Mvelase, singing her praises for her remarkable acting skills. When the second season of The Wife began last month, viewers were brimming with excitement at the prospect of seeing more talent. Mvelase ensured her presence would be felt as she became part of the much talked-about telenovela, in which she plays Nomusa, the woman who replaced Zandile (Mbau) in her jail cell when the Zulu brothers broke her out at the end of Season 1. Mvelase is an Emmy nominee for her performance as Katlego in Home Affairs and was also nominated for a Safta for her roles as…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za DANÉ van Niekerk is busier than she’s ever been, even though she’s not where she wants to be. That’s the paradox of the injured Proteas Women captain’s life right now when there’s an ICC Women’s World Cup being staged in a country with a time difference of 12 hours and is over 11 000km away. “I’m all over the place. I told Marizanne (Kapp) yesterday there’s all these requests coming through. It’s keeping me busier than when I’m actually playing cricket, but it’s keeping me out of trouble, though,” Van Niekerk told Independent Media yesterday in an exclusive interview. “The time zones are getting to me. I never thought I’d be in South Africa on New Zealand time. Certainly struggling a bit, but still blessed to be…

PEP Guardiola refused to panic after Manchester City wasted a host of chances in a damaging 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace on Monday that severely dented their bid to retain the Premier League title. Guardiola’s side had 18 shots and 74% of the possession, but left Selhurst Park ruing a series of misses on a significant night in the title race. Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte were guilty of the most glaring miscues, with Palace keeper Vicente Guaita keeping the leaders at bay with several saves. With second-placed Liverpool having won at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, City are now just four points clear of Jurgen Klopp’s team. Liverpool can close to within one point of City if they win their game in hand at fourth-placed Arsenal today. But…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za ALL eyes will be on Kyle Blignaut in the men’s shot put at the opening Athletics South Africa Grand Prix meeting today, but there will also be a number of competitive races in the season-opener in Bloemfontein. Tokyo Olympic finalist Blignaut is aiming for a big 22-metre throw this year, but his coach Pierre Blignaut (no relation) told Independent Media recently that he will build up slowly to that point after coming off a recent injury. Kyle’s personal best is 21.21m, but is eyeing the SA record of 21.97m, set by Janus Robberts in 2001. “I am ambitious. I want to improve and focus on the big throw in this big competition. I’ll be happy with a 21.80m throw, and then maybe something special can happen for…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za ORLANDO Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi has backed goalkeeper Richard Ofori to ensure that they don’t leak as many goals as they did in the first half of the season after he returned to full fitness this month following a long-term injury. On Sunday night, Pirates returned to winning ways by beating Eswatini’s Royal Leopards 3-0 in their fourth game of the CAF Confederation Cup group stage, which came after successive losses in the Premiership and Nedbank Cup. What was also pleasing about Pirates’ win was that they kept their second clean sheet in four games. Kudos for that should go to Ofori, who was making his second start in a row after an injury last August. Siyabonga Mpontshane struggled between the sticks during Ofori’s absence, conceding 23…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za WHATSAPP has denied it was engaged in anti-competitive conduct and that it had tried to exclude GovChat from the market. The social media platform was responding to the Competition Commission’s plan to refer Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Facebook South Africa to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution for abuse of dominance. The commission wants Meta Platforms and its subsidiaries to face a maximum fine of 10 percent of their turnover. However, “GovChat has repeatedly refused to comply with our policies that are designed to protect citizens and their information, preferring to prioritise its own commercial interests over the public. We will continue to defend WhatsApp from abuse and protect our users,” a statement from WhatsApp said yesterday. The Competition Commission alleged that…

Given Majola given.majola@inl.co.za FOLLOWING a period of heightened optimism supported by favourable agricultural production conditions, the Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI) declined in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 as rising fuel, fertiliser and agrochemicals costs worry the sector. The index fell by 12 points to 62 points after reaching its second- highest level on record in the fourth quarter of 2021. A level above the neutral 50-point mark implies that agribusinesses remained optimistic about operating conditions. This meant that the first-quarter results still reflected favourable conditions, albeit not as strong as the recent quarters. Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said that the Agbiz/IDC ACI’s first-quarter results presented a picture of a sector that was still on solid footing, despite the uncertainty generated by…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za OLD MUTUAL sales and earnings recovered well in the year to December 31 as Covid-19 restrictions eased and despite higher than expected mortality claims that had a negative impact on earnings, chief executive Iain Williamson said yesterday. Results from Operations (RFO) more than doubled to R4.4 billion. RFO, excluding the impacts of Covid-19, were up 18 percent compared to the prior year, driven by recoveries across all divisions, he said. Net income of R6.66bn swung around from a R5.1bn loss a year before. A final dividend of 51 cents was declared. Williamson said through the year the group had returned R13.3bn in capital to shareholders through dividends and the unbundling of 12.2 percent of Nedbank in November 2021. The focus on returning capital…

Andrew Dittberner I AM SURE that everyone has been taking note of the Naspers and Prosus share price movements this week. This extends a severe downward trend going back to January 2021 where the total decline for both counters is in the region of 62 percent. This follows a decline in Tencent’s share price of an equal amount over this period. Importantly, Tencent (and by association Naspers and Prosus) are not alone, as it has been a Chinese tech-wide sell-off, suggesting this is not about individual company fundamentals. Rather, concerns around the regulatory environment and the geopolitical risks appear to be at the forefront of investors’ minds, and how they may impact the longer-term outlook for the businesses. Given the extended period that this uncertainty has persisted, it is…

Reform Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za A senior ANC leader has called for the party’s president to be based at its headquarters Luthuli House full-time and new recruits to undergo political initiation before becoming fully fledged members. ANC national executive committee (NEC) member Ngoako Ramatlhodi said he favoured the separation of the position of party president from the president of the country and that this should be given serious thought. In addition, he said in order to build such a strong ANC there should be a strong team of full timers at the party’s headquarters Luthuli House in downtown Johannesburg to be led by the president and the secretary-general. Their job will be to reconstruct and redirect the ANC into a liberation movement, it proclaims to be: ideologically, organisationally and in line…

l Digs in heels despite legal threat l Given until Friday to rescind call Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za The City of Joburg is adamant that it will end the contracts of 130 former ANC political staff members by the end April despite a legal threat by lawyers representing the affected employees. Early this month, the city announced that it would rescind the full-time employment of about 130 employees. According to the city, the previous administration under executive mayor Geoff Makhubo, had illegally converted the fixed-term contracts of political staff members, making them permanent without following due processes. Reacting to the legal threat, Mayoral spokesperson Mabine Seabe said the Joburg multi-party government had been clear that the decision taken by the Mayoral Committee, Council and the city administration was and is a…

Ndivhuwo Thenga | Centurion THE TABLING of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill last week is a step in the right direction for the government’s efforts to commercialise cannabis. In his State of the Nation address last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that government was ready to legalise and regulate a commercial cannabis industry which is estimated could create 130 000 jobs and generate R28 billion for South Africa’s economy. His announcement followed the tabling in Parliament of the Cannabis Masterplan, by the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, in August last year. The masterplan detailed the government’s roadmap towards the legislation and development of hemp and medical cannabis industries. The previous legislation had provided limits on only personal possession and cultivation and had…

Staff Reporter If you missed out on the first edition of the premier lifestyle event, Under the Tuscan Sun, don’t despair. The Allure Group (TAG), the company behind this event and in partnership with The Star, will be introducing an equally enthralling sequel: An Afternoon in Puglia. This event will be hosted at a venue 30km outside Johannesburg. The ambience will be reminiscent of the relaxed and unhurried lifestyle of the small villages in the south of Italy. Puglia (pronounced poo-li-ya), which is also known as Apulia, is in the southern part of Italy that forms Italy’s “boot”. It’s known as the birthplace of many Italian delicacies. In creating a world-class lifestyle experience, the event will be curated by VS Luxury Group, and be complemented by an Italian inspired multi-…

Spotify has removed paid subscriptions for users in Russia. The streaming giant has already “indefintely” stopped all operations from their Moscow office - in light of President Vladimir Putin ordering troops to invade Ukraine last month - and they are working on “providing support and individual support to our personnel” in both Russia and Ukraine. Sanctions have made processing payments --- by providers such as Visa and Mastercard --- “not possible”. A Spotify spokesperson said: “Due to new restrictions introduced by major payment providers, payment processing is not currently possible for the majority of Premium users.” They said premium accounts “will be cancelled if a recurring payment fails and the account will then be automatically moved to our free service”. | Bang Showbiz Tech…

SA Rugby’s review into the arbitration process of chief executive Jurie Roux remains ongoing, the administrative body said in a statement yesterday. Roux has been locked in a protracted legal battle with his former employee Stellenbosch University into the misappropriation of funds during his tenure while in charge of the university’s finance department. Roux was accused and found guilty of siphoning off and using unauthorised university funds between 2002 and 2010 for the Maties Rugby Club. In December last year, upon being found guilty, he was ordered by the Arbitration Appeal Tribunal to pay back R37-million to the institution. However, SA Rugby said yesterday that the legal process between Roux and the university remained ongoing, after an application to appeal the tribunal’s decision was filed with the Western Cape Division…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za THEIR season has been largely underwhelming, but SuperSport United can take plenty of confidence from their back-to-back wins against AmaZulu in the Premiership and against Platinum City Rovers in the Nedbank Cup Round of 16 last weekend. Matsatsantsa would have been hoping to challenge for the league title ahead of this season. That has not happened, but they can still aim to ensure a strong top-eight finish, while also embarking on a deep run in the Nedbank Cup. Kaitano Tembo’s team have been drawn to play against GladAfrica Championship side Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila in the quarter-finals. They will be firm favourites to advance to the semi-finals. SuperSport’s next challenge is a game against Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium today. A win for SuperSport could potentially see them…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za MINERAL Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has shot down suggestions that South Africa should approach Russia and negotiate a deal to buy oil directly from them as means of mitigating rocketing fuel prices in the country. South Africa is grappling with record fuel price hikes as the elevated global price of Brent crude oil reached 14-year highs this month following sanctions by Western countries on Russian oil. Briefing Parliament yesterday, Mantashe said that South Africa would not follow their BRICS partners’ forays in seeking deals with Russia, but allow market forces to dictate. “We don’t buy from Russia. There is something that is called the market. It’s not an issue of which country you buy (from),” Mantashe said. “There is a cartel like Opec where the…

ONE OF THE key issues announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) was the outcome of the Presidential State Owned Enterprises (SOE) Council’s recommendations. The council recommended, as part of SOE reform agenda, the adoption of a centralised shareholder model for its key commercial state-owned companies. The model entails separating the state’s ownership functions from its policy making and regulatory functions, minimising the scope of political interference and introduce greater professionalism and manage state assets in a way that protects shareholder value. While not explicitly stated, the model is that of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings. What does this model entail and would the centralisation of SOEs help advance South Africa’s economic and social development agenda, given South Africa’s stage of development? What similarities, superficial or…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE REPAIR and expansion of infrastructure will remain stalled unless the government acts swiftly to make good on its repeated promises to remove unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles facing the private sector, economist Dr Roelof Botha said yesterday. As an example, Botha, who was interviewed at the release of the Afrimat Construction Index (ACI) yesterday, cited the SA National Road Agency’s recent admission that 238 projects had been stalled for 18 months while the organisation determined the exact meaning of the term “local”, in their tender documents. He said the government had spent some R223.6 billion on infrastructure in the 2021/2022 financial year, which was 22 percent more than the 2020 fiscal year, notwithstanding the low base of the 2020 financial year due to Covid-19 restrictions. An…

Kedibone Modise kedibone.modise@inl.co.za Actor and television host Moshe Ndiki and his musician husband Phelo Bala have gone their separate ways. In an interview with IOL Lifestyle sister publication Isolezwe, Moshe confirmed the news of his breakup with Phelo. The Metro FM presenter also revealed that he was no longer married to Phelo. He said despite his marriage with Phelo not working out he still believes in love and marriage. “As a person who was married before, I am still intending to marry again because I love marriage and I love love,” Moshe said. “The problem is not in love or marriage, but it’s in people.” Moshe and Phelo tied the knot in 2019 in a private ceremony. The couple only revealed their secret marriage on their one year wedding anniversary.…

Ntombi Nkosi ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has condemned “the brazen” escape of four inmates yesterday from the Rooigrond Medium A Correctional Centre. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said it was working with the SAPS, and has launched a manhunt for the jailbreakers. DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo identified the inmates as: Zacharia Francisco Nyalimate (Mozambican national), convicted of house breaking and murder. He is serving 27 years in jail. Alfred Gwambe (Mozambican national), convicted of theft, house breaking and possession of a stolen vehicle. He is serving 65 years. Siyabonga Sithole (South African), convicted of rape, theft and house breaking. He is serving a life term. Edward Madiba (South African), convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm. He is serving 15 years. “The department…

Goitsemang Tlhabye goitsemang.tlhabye@inl.co.za TO MARK SA Library Week (March 16 to 21), authors are showing off their books to ensure people not only get back to a culture of reading, but have relatable, original and local content to read up on. The City of Tshwane’s Es’kia Mphahlele Library will be hosting authors to show off their inspirational offerings to youngsters visiting the information hub. Author Paballo Makhetha said she believed it was important for people to resurrect the long-forgotten culture of reading as they’ve allowed social media to take over the hard copy most grew up reading. Makhetha said that as technology advanced, it was important to produce books in a way that enabled the youth to take up the crucial skill in the manner they were accustomed to absorbing…

Herman Gibbs herman.gibbs@gmail.com BAFANA Bafana coach Hugo Broos is hoping to uncover the reasons behind the distinct lack of form of Percy Tau, who under-performed for Al Ahly against Mamelodi Sundowns in a Caf Champions League clash over the weekend. After naming the national squad to play two friendlies in Europe next week, Broos shared his concerns about Tau, who played in Al Ahly’s three-man midfield on Saturday. Tau, along with fullback Karim Fouad, were the rank weak links in the visiting team, and both were substituted. Even Sundowns’ least impressive player, Haashim Domingo, would have scored a better rating than Tau and Fouad. The Belgium-born Broos had an interest in Tau ever since he spent four years playing for four different clubs in his native country. Tau’s English club…

THE 2022 Formula One season is about more than just the renewed battle between reigning champion Max Verstappen and the man he dethroned, Lewis Hamilton. It will be a heavily revised version of F1’s high-speed soap opera, featuring new race management, all-new cars designed to create closer racing, and a reshuffled cast that will launch into the unknown at this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. Fourteen weeks after the sour, contrived and controversial last-lap drama in Abu Dhabi that ended Hamilton’s four-year reign as champion and ushered Verstappen to a first title, the curtain rises on a “revolutionary” new show featuring the most sweeping technical rule changes in 40 years. The return of “ground effect” aerodynamics for the first time since 1983 with much bigger wheels and fatter tyres, a…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za WHILE most of the attention will be concentrated on the United Rugby Championship (URC) stars, Bulls coach Gert Smal is intrigued about how a new-look loose trio will operate in the Currie Cup clash against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld today (8pm kick-off). Smal picked six starters from the URC team that beat Munster 29-24 at the weekend – Kurt-Lee Arendse, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Arno Botha and Walt Steenkamp – while Canan Moodie and WJ Steenkamp were on the bench. There is even more firepower on the bench in the shape of Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Ruan Nortje, Elrigh Louw, Chris Smith and Cornal Hendricks. But Smal gave a stern response yesterday when asked about selecting URC starters in the Currie…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za CHIPPA United are still far from safe in terms of relegation, but there is no doubt that their performances have improved in recent weeks under coach Kurt Lentjies. The Chilli Boys head into their Premiership game against Marumo Gallants on the back of a scrappy 2-1 away win over Golden Arrows. They did lose 3-2 against Gallants three weeks ago, but it is a game that the Eastern Cape side could have won had they had more luck and composure on their side. After leading for much of the game, they eventually were downed after conceding twice in the last 10 minutes of the game, with Ndbayithethwa Ndlondlo and Joseph Malongoane doing the damage. Chippa are up against a very confident Gallants side. Dan Malesela’s team are…