Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-05-06 i Star

SOUTH African markets and the rand remained subdued yesterday as investors digested the US Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates to curb historic high inflation, while striking a less hawkish tone regarding future hikes. The US Fed raised interest rates by half-a-percentage point last night, as was expected by most commentators. It was the most significant hike in 22 years, though the Fed dismissed the likelihood of larger hikes going forward. The JSE All Share Index fell by 0.96 percent, dipping below 70 000 index points to 69 682 points, the lowest in more than a week, dragged down by commodity-linked stocks and Naspers. Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said the tone of the Fed remained hawkish, comparable to the last meeting, and did not…

MONDI, the multinational packaging and paper group, is divesting of its R11.4 billion operations in Russia, the group said in a quarterly update yesterday. “The board has decided to divest the group’s Russian assets. The divestment process for these significant assets is operationally and structurally complex and is being undertaken in an evolving political and regulatory environment,” the group said. There was no certainty when a transaction would be completed or as to the structure of any possible transaction, it said. The net asset value of Mondi’s Russian operations was €687 million (R11.38 billion) as at December 31, 2021. “The Russian businesses have, to date, managed supply chain constraints. However, the situation remains fluid, with interruptions to pulp and paper production possible going forward. “All significant capital expenditure…

Kaley Cuoco is dating Tom Pelphrey. The Big Bang Theory star and the Ozark actor have made their romance Instagram official as they shared two posts on the social media platform. The 36-year-old actress shared a number of photos including Polaroids of them cuddling up during a mountain getaway, as well as a picture of him kissing her on the cheek. She captioned the post: “Life lately. ‘the sun breaks through the clouds, rays of gold slipping into my eyes and heart, rays of yellow to break the grey’ (sic)” Pelphrey, 39, also shared some Polaroid photos of them together alongside a lengthy caption. He added: “But nothing can save you. Not your friends, not the best Fred Astaire musical you’ve ever seen – the grace of it, not your…

YESTERDAY marked the end of the grace period for motorists whose driving licences expired between March 2020 and August 2021 to have them renewed. Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) CEO Wayne Duvenage advised people to challenge fines for expired licences. “We advise people to challenge their fines received for an expired licence, if they can demonstrate that they have attempted on a few occasions to have their licence renewed, but could not do so because either they will have screenshots of the online booking system being down, or rejecting their booking attempts, etc, or photos/videos of long queues and inability to get into a centre to book their renewal, etc.” Duvenage said if the government processes and systems had made it unreasonably difficult for people to have their licences renewed,…

SLAIN Hillary Gardee will be laid to rest tomorrow in Kwamagugu township, Mbombela, Mpumalanga. Gardee, 28, was abducted on April 29 and her lifeless body, which had a bullet wound in the upper part of it, was found abandoned in a field in Mbombela on Monday. The death of Gardee has sent shock waves across the country and the continent. She was the daughter of the EFF’s former secretary-general, Godrich Gardee. On Wednesday, an autopsy revealed Gardee had a bullet wound in her upper body, which left the family and EFF angry and they questioned how police missed it when they combed the crime scene. Yesterday, EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo, said Gardee’s funeral will be attended not only by South Africans but by people from the continent because her…

WHEN Nina Mistry’s life hits rock bottom, she decides to change her stars by falling in love … with herself – a hilarious, heartfelt story from outrageously funny novelist Radhika Sanghani. Nina didn’t plan to spend her 30th birthday in jail, yet here she is in her pyjamas, locked in a holding cell. There’s no wi-fi, no wine, no carbs – and no one to celebrate with. Unfortunately, it gives Nina plenty of time to reflect on how screwed up her life is. She’s just broken up with her fiancé, and now has to move back into her childhood home to live with her depressed older brother and their uptight, traditional Indian mother. Her career as a freelance journalist isn’t going in the direction she wants, and all her friends…

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power since 2002, has found itself losing support amid soaring inflation and unemployment rates. Millions of Syrian refugees are now at an increased risk of xenophobic attacks from the nationalist segment of Turkish society who blame Syrians for the worsening economic situation. The AKP has opened the country’s border to millions of Syrians since the eruption of the Syrian conflict in 2011. Turkey’s ultra-nationalist figures who are today recognised as representatives of the Ottoman Empire’s Union and Progressive Party (CUP), also known as Young Turks, is a political group that embraced the Turkification policy excluding the Empire’s Arab and Kurdish citizens. The UN Refugee Agency reports that Turkey currently hosts some 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees,…

It is a scary fact that in SA many of our competent and brilliant minds are exiting our country for more secure posts overseas. A young doctor went to write her English exam for admittance to the UK, and found of the 300 people writing the exam, most were black. With the instability of our country and the draconian and stifling labour laws, I don’t blame the young people for leaving in their droves. Please, dear government and ruling party, take note and re-think what you are doing to our beautiful country.…

WE ARE all back to work with altered, transformed work culture and leaders are finding themselves in uncharted waters; with their work cut out for them in ways that extend far beyond a P&L. The spotlight is on executives, CEOs and business owners to make decisions; but we don’t have the answers because – guess what – we are scared as hell, and this makes leading our companies in the current landscape a “not so peachy” experience. 3 how-tos of learning to lead again and rebuilding a company, from fear to future-proof 1. You’re not going to be everyone’s peach. Boundaries are important, but not everyone likes them. Example: wearing tie-dye on Zoom was once considered cool, but it isn’t acceptable at Head Office. What this means is that some…

Migrant labourers worked through the night near the World Cup clock that yesterday started counting down 200 days to kick-off, with hosts Qatar facing mounting questions over costs and conditions for fans. Eight shiny, air-conditioned stadiums are ready for the tournament’s start on November 21, but every night the army of South Asian workers who underpin Qatar’s energy-rich economy swarm over unfinished roads and building sites around Doha. Dozens of gigantic cranes tower over the capital’s skyscrapers while organisers juggle with the dilemma of welcoming an estimated 1.4 million fans wanting entertainment and alcohol in the conservative Islamic state. Qatar has faced frequent questions about human rights, including for the tens of thousands of migrant workers who built infrastructure around the World Cup. The country says it has cracked down…

RAND Merchant Bank (RMB), the corporate and investment banking business of FirstRand, yesterday announced that chief executive James Formby would hand over the leadership to Emrie Brown, who would start in October. Brown as a female executive takes the role as gender equality in corporate leadership in South Africa is closely monitored. In March, RCS deputy chief financial officer Tonia Pavlou, who advocates for gender equality in the boardroom, said: “The South African state of affairs in terms of gender representation at executive level is most accurately captured by the top 40 JSE-listed companies, of which only four have female chief executives. “According to StatsSA, women make up 50 percent of South Africa’s working age population, but only fill 38 percent of ‘manager’ and ‘professional’ posts. “Beyond that,…

AN EGYPTIAN farmer has been ordered, pending divorce action, to pay his estranged wife just over R77 000 per month for maintenance compared to the R2 000 he offered at the start of the proceedings at the South Gauteng High Court. The estranged couple, who share a minor daughter and adult son, have been living apart since November last year after the woman fled from the family home, having allegedly suffered a tumultuous marriage with a history of abuse, intimidation and violence. The woman, a cancer survivor, has relied on her husband for their living expenses. The parties are married out of community of property, including accruals, and the family home is the applicant’s (wife) home. The man owns a seven-hectare working farm, has several income streams and receives income…

THE term “high-maintenance” is part of everyday speech, and usually refers to a woman who places a high value on her personal image, wants or needs. Often uttered within the context of dating, the implication is the woman in question is too much hard work; an easier, more relatable mate would be preferred. Rarely, if ever, do we come across the term “high-maintenance man”. On dating apps, users make split-second decisions, relying on profile pictures to guide them. In my research into dating apps and heterosexual matches, I found men sought to portray themselves as handsome, muscular – tanned, even – in their profile shots to attract more matches. Conversely, women sought to portray themselves against a cultural idea. Women looked to develop profiles which conveyed them as “not high-maintenance”.…

Ben Harper, true crime journalist, is about to unravel his most shocking story yet – his own. The day his older brother was murdered was the day Ben’s life changed forever. In one of the most shocking crimes in national history, Nick and his friend were stabbed to death by two girls their own age. Police called the killings random, a senseless tragedy. Twenty years on Ben is one of the best true crime journalists in the country. He has left the past behind, thanks to the support of his close-knit hometown community. But when he learns about a fresh murder case with links to his brother’s death, Ben’s life is turned upside down once more. He soon finds himself caught in a web of lies, one that implicates everyone…

AUTHOR Ng “brilliantly depicts the destruction that parents can inflict on their children and on each other” - Mark Lawson, Guardian. Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee; a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfil the dreams they were unable to pursue – in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker; in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the centre of every party. But Lydia is under pressures that have nothing to do with growing up in 1970s small town Ohio. Her father is an American born of first-generation Chinese immigrants, and his ethnicity, and hers, make…

BLACK South Africans who lost their lives while working in the military labour units during World War I (1914- 1918) are set to be honoured for the first time. This as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) plans to redress this historic omission by building a memorial in their honour at the Cape Town Company’s Garden. In the early part of the war, 35 000 black South Africans provided labour services to the South African forces in German South-West Africa (now Namibia). They fulfilled a wide range of auxiliary roles including stevedores, wagon drivers, railway builders and repairers. More than a century later not all the names of those lost from the ranks of the labour units have been recorded in remembrance. The CWGC had identified the causes of death…

YOUNG Overberg chess champ Tayden McKenzie has been hailed for flying the South African flag high, on his return from the youth championships held in Rhodes, Greece this month. The World Cadets and Youth Championships for Rapid and Blitz were held for three consecutive days from May 1 with the participation of 331 players from 40 countries. Tayden received a hero’s welcome on his return to the country yesterday. His proud father Tyrol Mackenzie said he was still amazed by his son’s drive and passion for the game. “He was still in Grade 1 when his teacher noticed that he was really good with maths, so she asked him to attend the chess team to see if he’d like it. “My wife and I were very surprised because Tayden…

I recently received an invitation from a group of pastors to attend a “prayer session for the KZN floods”. I firmly believe prayer brings significant changes in a variety of living beings, but I decided to turn down their offer because I was not as excited as the Hebrew poet. I firmly believe that saying a prayer after a devastating disaster has occurred is counter-productive. Our priorities are misplaced, we pray when we are supposed to work with our bare hands. Booker T. Washington observed the emancipated slaves in the US swapped manual labour for religion. The former slaves felt comfortable to rest under the religious cherry tree while avoiding every form of manual labour. I mused a little over the invitation: Why pray for the KZN floods instead of…

A cursory look at the results of by-elections held across the country on Wednesday should worry the ANC and the DA. In a shock, the EFF managed to take away a seat from the ANC in the Mahikeng Municipality in the North West. With 54% of registered voters in ward 5, on Wednesday the EFF candidate Dedrick Mbali Phetha garnered 69% of the vote. According to the IEC, voter turnout was only 42% of registered voters, and although by-elections aren’t known for mass voter turnout, anything under 60% should worry the ANC. We can usually gauge enthusiasm for any political party by its ability to motivate its supporters to vote. As evidenced by Phetha’s emphatic victory, ANC voters resolved to stay home. If ANC voters are still disinterested in 2024,…

Western aid to Kyiv had slowed their offensive in Ukraine but would not thwart its victory, Russia said yesterday, as conflicting reports emerged about efforts to rescue civilians from a besieged steel plant in the devastated city of Mariupol. Nearly 10 weeks into a war that has left thousands of people dead, flattened Ukrainian cities and uprooted more than 13 million people, the Kremlin conceded that Western countries had prevented a “quick” end to Russia’s military campaign. “The United States, Britain, Nato, as a whole, hand over intelligence... to Ukraine’s armed forces on a permanent basis,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. “Coupled with the flow of weapons that these countries are sending to Ukraine, these are all actions that do not contribute to the quick completion of the operation,” he…

Let me start by saying that I do not condone the poor treatment that coach Brandon Truter and his family allegedly endured in the twilight of his tenure at Swallows FC. Truter, the current AmaZulu interim coach, claimed at Dobsonville Stadium this week that he and his family were threatened by the Swallows faithful after the team went through a slump last year. He also claimed that the club chaired by David Magoshoa, a business tycoon, still owe him his settlement fees after they prematurely released him from his contract due to a series of poor results. For someone who resurrected the once ‘Mighty Dube Birds’ from the doldrums of the lower ranks of South Africa football back to the elite league in less than a season in charge, he…

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander says the financial incentive of having South African teams playing in the European Rugby Champions Cup is not the main motivating factor for wanting to play in the competition. South Africa’s four franchises – the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions – play in the United Rugby Championship, with the first three currently in the top eight. With there being a financial reward for the teams that gain entry into the European Champions Cup – albeit only to the franchises – teams have even more to play for and top their regional shields. Speaking about the opportunity, Alexander, who was this week re-elected president, said that the main incentive is playing more top teams. “I think it’s not a financial thing,” Alexander said on the sidelines…

Streaming giant Netflix has issued a statement after comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked on stage while performing a comedy set during the streaming giant’s Netflix Is a Joke festival here. According to Variety, a spokesperson for Netflix said, “We care deeply about the safety of creators and we strongly defend the right of stand-up comedians to perform on stage without fear of violence”. Video footage circulated during Chappelle’s comedy set showing a man rushing on to the stage and tackling the performer to the ground. Chappelle has been performing a number of dates at the Hollywood Bowl in the last month. The attacker was seen getting up and trying to run off stage before he was caught and tackled by what appeared to be security personnel and members of Chappelle’s…

THE government’s refusal to pay pension annually to an Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla) veteran has been ruled unlawful by the South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg. Mangaliso Petse, who joined Apla in exile in 1987 at the age of 14, has faced stonewalling from the Department of Military Veterans since 2015. His troubles started after the department paid him a once-off lump sum of R52 629 and made it clear to him that this was all he would get in terms of regulations of the Military Veterans Act. The payment followed Petse’s verification that he was indeed a liberation fighter under Apla, which was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania. The Military Veterans Verification Board confirmed his status on August 30, 2013. Petse returned to South…

The police ministry will have to cough up just over R170 000 for the unlawful arrest of a man at a festival in 2018 where an altercation erupted and another person was seriously injured. The plaintiff, Keenan Noemdoe, who was an independent security official at the festival, claimed damages against the police minister for his alleged unlawful arrest and detention. He was arrested on a charge of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and/or assault with the infliction of a dangerous wound and was detained for 26 hours and 25 minutes at the Motherwell police station in the Eastern Cape. The police, however, argued that Noemdoe was lawfully and justifiably arrested and detained without a warrant and this was effected in terms of section 40(1)(b) of the Criminal…

THE celebrated Venetian detective returns in his 31st case. Once again, Commissario Guido Brunetti is willing to bend police rules for an acquaintance, even though Elisabetta Foscarini, the woman who asks the favour, is not really a friend. But her mother was good to Brunetti, so he feels he has no choice. Her son-in-law has alarmed his wife by telling her they might be in danger because of something he’s involved with. Because Enrico Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti suspects the likely reason must be the finances of one of his clients. Brunetti takes a look and finds little: one client is an optician, another is Fenzo’s father-in-law, with whom he helped establish a charity, another is the owner of a restaurant. He is about to tell his friend that…

BLACK CAKE, a cake made with rum-soaked fruit is a tradition in the Bennett family. Many readers from British backgrounds will know it as fruit cake, served at Christmas time, or at weddings, and the rum may often be substituted with brandy. And most families who eat this traditional cake make it from tattered recipes handed down through generations. The life of the black southern Californian Bennett family of mom, Eleanor, dad Bertdaughter Benny and son Byron is a good one. The children get along fine. It is a traditional and loving home with the usual squabbles, and trips to the beach. The one thing that stands out is that Eleanor is a strong swimmer and fantastic surfer. Byron adopts surfing with his mom without question. But he does have…

THE 130 City of Joburg staffers, whose jobs were terminated after their permanent positions were reversed to fixed-term contracts that expired at the weekend, have been dealt a crushing blow. The Labour Court said on Tuesday the applicants – the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the staffers if represented – had failed to show it had jurisdiction to preside over the matter. In his judgment, delivered electronically owing to Covid-19, Judge Andre van Niekerk, said: “The applicants have been unable to point to any provision in the LRA or any other statute that confers jurisdiction in this court to determine the dispute that serves before the court”. He added: “Whichever way one looks at the applicants’ pleaded cause of action, this court has no jurisdiction to enquire into…

NHLANHLA Mbatha’s comment on the courtroom arrest of advocate Malesela Teffo warrants a response (“Some animals are more equal than others,” The Star, May 3). While I accept his central argument that the arrest of advocate Teffo was “subjected to Hollywood-style drama”, I fail to see why he should play the race card when he poses the question whether the police would have done the same to a white lawyer who failed to appear in court. Twenty-eight years after South Africa’s freedom from white domination, when black people prevail at every level of government and civil service, I find it strange, to say the least, that he should display such a “baasskap” mentality. This is not to deny that racism does not exist and that it should be outed if…

AS THE country reels from the impact of the devastating floods in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the discourse on the promotion of sustainable natural environments, enhanced civic performance and service delivery through smart cities has again come to the fore. It is, after all, incidents like these that smart cities are assumed to address. These include increasing urbanisation, rising population and climate change. Consequently, a window of opportunity (albeit an unfortunate one) to make the case for smart cities has been created by the disaster. This article contends, however, that for any such smart city project or venture to work, the obsession with flyovers, robot-serviced eateries and other sci-fi conjured realities has to be substituted with due consideration for the social factors influencing rural-urban migration in South Africa. Such deliberation will…

The jersey that Argentina football star Diego Maradona wore while scoring against England in the 1986 World Cup, including the infamous “hand of God” goal, was auctioned for $9.3 million (about R146m), a record for any sports memorabilia, Sotheby’s said. Seven bidders vied for it in an auction that began on April 20 and ended on Wednesday. Sotheby’s didn’t release the name of the buyer. The jersey had been owned by Steve Hodge, who swopped his jersey with Maradona after England lost 2-1. |…

Baroka FC’s fate appeared to be all but sealed when they suffered defeat at the hands of fellow relegation candidates Swallows FC two weeks ago. Kgoloko Thobejane was thereafter relieved of his duties as head coach and replaced by his assistant Vincent Kobola, who was entrusted with the job of possibly surviving the drop to the GladAfrica Championship. The club’s decision may prove to be of great significance, as Baroka notched up just their fifth league win of the season against Golden Arrows this week, which was also their second in 2022. The 37-year-old Kobola had nothing but praise for his men after their victory against Arrows on Wednesday night at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, and emphasised the importance of somehow finding victories in their remaining three games.…

The powers that be at the Lions decided to stick with their selection policy for the majority of the Currie Cup this season, but that will not entirely be the case tonight when they field their most experienced side for the tournament against the Free State Cheetahs. Jaco Visagie, Emmanuel Tshituka, Stean Pienaar, Fred Zeilinga, Manuel Rass, Tiaan Swanepoel and captain Andre Warner will bring much needed expertise and level-headedness, with a dash of wisdom, to a side that has lacked those characteristics in the Cup this season. Make no mistake, the Lions side that runs out tonight at Ellis Park (7pm kick-off) remains very much a young one – full of potential to be sure, but nevertheless vulnerable to a much more worldly Cheetahs side. Save for Jannie du…