Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-06-15 i Star

TELKOM’S share price took an almost 9 percent dip yesterday on the JSE following the release of its annual financial results, posting a decline in revenue and profit due to global supply chain challenges and chip shortages. In late afternoon trade the share was down 8.75 percent to R36.71, the share being down 14.4 percent over 12 months. In an interview, Telkom chief executive Serame Taukobong said the results reflected the challenging market conditions the company was facing. The mobile operator for the year ended March 2022 recorded revenue of R42.76 billion, 1.1 percent lower than the previous year. Profit also decreased from R2.6bn to R2.4bn. However headline earnings per share increased by 2.5 percent. Earnings before interest, tax, and amortisation (Ebitda) were…

A SIGNIFICANT contribution to the “Just Transition in South Africa should come from the private sector finance, according to the head of the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team, Daniel Mminele. He has said there are many opportunities for public sector finance to leverage off the private sector and crowd in additional investments. Mminele was the keynote speaker at the JSE in Sandton where the bourse released its sustainability and climate disclosure guidance as part of its efforts to promote transparency among listed companies on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures. The JSE’s sustainability disclosure guidance aims to be a reference document that uses a basic set of metrics in established global standards for locally listed companies to provide disclosures. The JSE has released its sustainability and climate disclosure…

1 403 people killed from January to March Crime in Gauteng is of greatest concern and disappointment for the SAPS and the people of the province as a 45.2% increase in murders was reported from January to March 2022. Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela, who presented the province’s 4th Quarterly Crime Statistics for January to March, said that when the Gauteng police released the previous quarter’s statistics, they anticipated that the “honeymoon period” was over. This is because lockdown curbs eased, the curfew for movement was lifted and liquor outlets operated for longer. Gauteng police reported a 45.2% increase spike in murders, which amounted to 1 403 killings from January to March. Mawela said the analysis showed that the main causes of murders were arguments and…

Durban snake rescuer Nick Evans needed some assistance to unwrap a 2.5m male python which locked his arm and leg together. Evans is working on a project with The LionHeart Experience. “With any pythons we capture, we collect as much data off of them as possible, and then set them free again. Important data, as one aspect we’re looking at, is population size,” he said. In an account of his experience, Evans said it was not only the mating season of green and black mambas, but it was also the mating season of pythons. “Recently, in one wetland, we found eight pythons. Two groups of two males, then two females together, with a snake that escaped (possibly a male). A lone female was observed near two of the males,” he…

Forty-six years ago, young children, barely into their early teens, saw their elders bowed and nearly beaten by minions of apartheid and took it upon themselves to re-ignite the dying embers of freedom. So many died in the wake of June 16, 1976. They did not die in vain. Where are their successors? It’s up to you, my children of June 16, 2022, and beyond for the successors of those of 46 years ago have become lazy and indolent. Captured, most likely by the glitter of false promises into believing that they will be economically free. Not happening, considering the fact that the youth unemployment rate in SA was nearly 56% in 2020, the highest of any of the G20 countries, followed by Brazil, with a youth unemployment rate of…

SUICIDE rates did not increase during the pandemic, despite an anticipated drastic increase following the outbreak of Covid-19, a new report reveals. A new international study on the impact of Covid-19 on suicide and self-harm rates in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) has suggested there was either no change or a decrease in suicide rates following the pandemic. This, despite many people, including mental health experts, having anticipated a dramatic increase in suicide rates after the outbreak of Covid-19. The findings of the study were published recently in the journal PLOS Global Public Health. Led by Dr Duleeka Knipe from the Population Health Sciences Institute at the University of Bristol, the research was conducted by a group of scientists from across the globe, including Stellenbosch University (SU) and the SA…

As I write this piece, the ANC is in the middle of a war that we see every five years in the country before the national elective conference of the liberation movement which decides its national leadership and subsequently, the leadership of the country itself. This is, though, disguised as a fight against corruption in government and for obvious reasons the whole nation is catching stray bullets in a war they have nothing or so little to do with. To better put this into context I will need to briefly go back to the history of our country pre-1994 and while doing that focus on the ANC and its politics during this period I have mentioned. I will use what those who lived and participated in the apartheid struggle continue…

NEW DELHI: Air pollution can shorten lives by almost 10 years in Delhi, the world’s most polluted city, a report by a US research group says. The Air Quality Life Index by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago notes that about 510 million people who live in northern India, nearly 40% of India’s population, are “on track” to lose 7.6 years of their lives on average, given the current pollution levels. The study said the average Indian life expectancy was shortened by five years at current air quality levels. Bad air kills millions in India every year. | IANS…

PRICELESS! That is the word Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber used when asked about the significance of Saturday’s all-South African United Rugby Championship (URC) final, even if it means he is not going to have a great deal of time with a full squad to prepare for the first Test against Wales on July 2 in Pretoria. While Nienaber awaits a host of Stormers and Bulls players, he says he has had to be inventive at the ongoing Springbok preparation camp and has had to use some Pretoria club players for the opposition because even the Blue Bulls Currie Cup team is busy preparing for a semi-final. When asked if he would prefer to have a full squad currently training, Nienaber said: “I would rather have it this way. “The big-game…

Bafana Bafana will take on Mozambique in the quarter-finals of the Cosafa Cup starting in Durban on July 5. The draw was held at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban yesterday. Bafana were given the privilege of advancing straight to the quarter-finals of the southern African tournament by virtue of being one of the highest ranked sides. In the other quarter-finals, Madagascar play against Namibia, Zambia face the winners of Group A, and guest nation Senegal are up against the winners of Group B.…

A 165-run second wicket partnership between Lara Goodall and Andrie Steyn helped South Africa to a comfortable victory in the second one-day international against Ireland in Dublin yesterday. In the process, the Proteas wrapped up the series with one match to spare. The pair, both pushing for spots in the side ahead of the return of some of the star players for the England tour in a few weeks, batted efficiently as South Africa reached the required total of 214 with 11.2 overs to spare. Goodall, who made a career best 93 not out, has found some good form since the second T20 International and her innings yesterday, which came off 99 balls, included eight fours and was her second half century of the tour. She has looked increasingly more…

To our beloved youth whose era requires the same resilience as that of the1976 youth. The era where they consult an office, with the best of their qualifications, and get denied access to employment by an official who can hardly express themselves in the language of medium of instruction. The era where genuine visionaries are given no spotlight yet the clowns with their destructive content get full attention from some biased and captured media outlets. The determining factor to your future lies in the lens through which you see all these challenges. If you see them as an excuse to give up and join the syndicate of the corrupt, you will have no story of your own to tell in the future. Instead, you will be the story that reflects…

A DIVORCED father who stopped certain payments towards his two children – both over 18 – was ordered to pay his ex-wife R166 000 within 30 days. If he fails to do this, the sheriff of the court is entitled to take possession of his assets to sell in order to recoup the money. He stopped the payments because he felt that his daughter did not do as well as he wanted her to do in her tertiary studies, thus he decided not to pay any further towards her studies. The husband turned to the Western Cape High Court to have a warrant of execution for arrears maintenance, schooling fees, tertiary education and other amounts set aside. His ex-wife earlier obtained the warrant, as she said she had to pay…

The construction of a 10km tar road in Molelema and Matsheng villages, North West, has been halted for more than a year as the government disputes the R114 million cost for the project. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has revealed that the project to tar the gravel road will remain on hold until a court delivers its ruling. Replying to written parliamentary questions, Mbalula said the government sought to appeal an adjudication outcome that found it liable to pay R114m to Botong Nkolele Joint Venture, contracted in 2019 for the project. The joint venture was awarded the contract to build the road for R65m. This amount was based on its bid, which was the lowest of 24 bidding groups. Of the 24 tendering groups, 20 placed their bids well…

THE INSPECTION and maintenance of fire hydrants in Tshwane has received a boost, thanks to a partnership between the metro and Hollard Insurance. The two parties yesterday said they had come together to ensure the cleaning, number marking and testing water pressure of 3 500 of the 25 000 hydrants in the metro. Hollard said it was important for insurance industry because often, when fires were reported, emergency authorities arrived at the scene to find fire hydrants were not working, missing, or did not have water. Its CEO Nash Omar said: “Over the years the insurance industry has suffered millions of rand because of what was supposed to be a small fire.” At the launch of the partnership Tshwane mayor Randall Williams said: “Working together with Hollard,…

‘Almost as of Yesterday’ is a chapter in the Rev Allan Boesak’s ‘Selfless Revolutionaries’. This is the first of a two-part series. If, he said, South Africa were one day to have only a few black faces in office, and not fundamental changes of economic policies allowing only a few blacks to become rich, and not a whole new economic pattern that will bring meaningful redistribution of wealth, opportunities and power, “our society will be run almost as of yesterday”. In 2019, a journalist from Time Magazine in the US visited South Africa to “see what lessons the world could learn from South Africa”. After 1994, there were the lessons of reconciliation. Now, after Cyril Ramaphosa, might there be lessons of a new beginning? In Hout Bay’s Imizamo Yethu, she…

CONTRARY to popular belief since the live televising of the Oscar Pistorius criminal trial, television cameras inside the courtroom are an aberration. Televising criminal trials can have undesirable negative consequences that many won’t admit because they enjoy the front seat live-streaming in their sitting rooms as if they are at the cinema or bar with snacks and a drink of their choice. Unrestrained television coverage of criminal trials can result in justice being skewed because of courtroom stunts and gimmicks being pulled by lawyers on both sides. On the basis of what the watching public see on television they then form stereotypes about judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers. Judges, prosecutors and lawyers can easily become the subject of mockery, scorn and ridicule by their peers and the general public. Even…

New Delhi: India must immediately end a “vicious” crackdown on Muslims who took to the streets to protest against a ruling party official’s remarks about the Prophet Muhammad, Amnesty International said yesterday. Two demonstrators were killed and hundreds arrested last week in nationwide protests over the remarks, which embroiled India in a diplomatic furore and caused widespread outrage in the Islamic world. Footage of bulldozers demolishing homes of those arrested or identified as protesters has since been spread on social media. | AFP…

Bulawayo: A court in Zimbabwe has found Jeffrey Moyo, a New York Times freelance reporter, guilty of violating immigration laws for allegedly helping foreign journalists gain false accreditation. He was handed a fine of 200 000 Zimbabwean dollars (around R9 631 or $600) and a two-year suspended sentence. Moyo, 37, was arrested in May last year for providing fake media accreditation cards to South Africa-based Times reporters Christina Goldbaum and Joao Silva to enter Zimbabwe for an assignment. “It is clear the accused may have connived” to fabricate accreditation cards, said the magistrate. | AFP…

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has criticised South African football heavily, saying its players and professional league will always be below par unless they fix the underlying issues. Hired to succeed Molefi Ntseki early this year, Broos has always been a straight talker. The Belgian divided the nation in his first-ever briefing, saying he’ll be cutting off the dead wood as he looks to infuse more young blood into the national team structures. That project got off to a flying start, with the South Africans coming close to making the World Cup qualifiers before losing to Ghana in the final game of the group stage. But since then, the wheels appear to have come off for Broos’ charges, who’ve now failed to win in their last four games across all…

Swallows FC and the University of Pretoria are bracing themselves for a colossal ‘winner takes all’ clash in their Premier Soccer League (PSL) promotion-relegation play-off match today at the Lucas Moripe Stadium (3pm kick-off). The two Gauteng-based outfits have proven too much for Cape Town All Stars, who were also involved in the play-offs, and are both in position to earn a spot in the DStv Premiership next season. The Dube Birds have it all to do in this encounter after a disappointing defeat to All Stars. They trail AmaTuks by a single point, meaning they must beat Tuks to retain their top-flight status. Perhaps the most interesting factor is how Swallows head coach Dylan Kerr plans to address his side’s defensive frailties. The Soweto-based club forfeited a lead and…

A backlog in DNA testing has led to delays with the burial of Tshepang Pitse, who was murdered and mutilated by her husband in Soweto last year. The Protea Magistrate’s Court yesterday heard that the case concerning murder accused Flavio Hlabangwane had been blocked by numerous delays because of a backlog in the DNA tests being done by forensics. The Star understands that not all of Tshepang’s body parts have been found, including the upper body. Hlabangwane had earlier agreed to show police where his wife’s body parts were, but only the head and some limbs were found. The Star understands that police were still running tests on the body parts. Hlabangwane’s lawyer had complained in court that the case was dragging and going nowhere. This led to the prosecution…

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has finally proposed to make it a binding policy that all schools built from mud, asbestos, metal and wood be replaced. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has this week published proposed amendments to the minimum norms and standards for public school infrastructure. The document detailed that norms and standards going forward should entail that all public schools should have water and electricity. They should also have enough classrooms to accommodate all enrolled learners and adequate perimeter fencing. Motshekga, or any successive minister, will monitor the implementation of the new norms and standards, the document said. “Each Provincial Department of Education must annually … provide the minister with detailed reports on plans and progress on the implementation of the norms. These progress reports and plans…

Racial, religious, and political hatred is spreading across the world at an alarming pace. With multiple crises in the world, and millions being displaced, humanity should be concerned about volatile statements made by office-bearers in conflict-ridden countries. These prejudicial statements recall the falsehoods, lies and bigotry vented by the Nazis against non-Aryans. Humanity has a solemn duty to oppose demagogues spewing fear and hatred under the cloak of freedom of opinion. Politicians deepen existing divides when they use inflammatory language, such as hate speech.These remarks are not just empty rhetoric or political theatre; they are in essence high-octane incendiary venom capable of escalating out of control. Demagoguery has replaced has replaced decency and civility. It waxes and wanes in different countries, and is intense in some parts of the world…

The president was in a sombre mood when he appeared before the media last week Thursday. With sunken eyes and a gloomy face, he seemed to have had a heavy night, trying to drink his troubles away. How stupid could he have been to hide his dollars under the cushion on his Phala Phala game farm? Wouldn’t it have been wiser for a man with so much business expertise to bank the money? Perhaps he was hiding his dollars from the Reserve Bank and the taxman. But in trying to avoid tax not only did all his money get stolen but he apparently had to pay all the accomplices for their silence. Poor man! What a mess-up! So much money and so much power, yet he can find no happiness.…

LEADER of the African Transformation Movement (ATM), Vuyo Zungula, has tabled an official motion requesting to institute proceedings for Parliament to investigate President Cyril Ramaphosa’s possible involvement in the concealment of theft that took place at his Phala Phala farm in Waterberg, Limpopo. Zungula’s official motion followed the rejection of a motion the ATM party erroneously tabled during a parliamentary sitting on Monday. National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Ngakula advised the party should write a formal motion for the matter to be considered. “The ATM is moving … to establish a Section 89 Committee Inquiry following overwhelming prima facie evidence against President Ramaphosa for constitutional violations as contemplated in section 89 of the Constitution. “It is common cause that Mr Arthur Fraser has submitted evidence at the Rosebank police station, where…

Ingredients 500g lamb pieces 1 Tbsp oil 1 large onion 2 cups of red split lentils 1 tsp fresh garlic, finely grated or chopped 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated or chopped 1 green chilli 1tsp turmeric ¼ tsp chilli powder 1 tsp salt, or to taste Freshly chopped dhanya Method Soak the red split lentils in cold water to cover. Peel and chop the onion and add it into a deep pot with the oil. Braise until slightly golden brown. Add the meat, stir fry for about 2 minutes. Pour one cup of warm water over, add the garlic and ginger. Put the lid on the pot and cook until the meat is soft. Stir now and then, adding water if necessary to prevent the meat sticking to the…

June 16 is the day that commemorates the heroics of the 1976 generation of learners who were brave enough to confront the oppressive apartheid regime. It is a day on which we, as a country, should ordinarily take stock of how far we have come in integrating young people into the mainstream economic and social aspects of the country. In the early periods of our democracy, young people would flock to stadiums to listen to what the democratically elected government was doing to create a conducive environment for young people to learn, work and contribute positively to the future of the country. Twenty eight years into democracy, many young people I have interacted with have lost all the hope this government has a plan or the political will to address…

QUITO: Ecuadorean police said yesterday that they had detained the leader of the country’s largest indigenous organisation, Leonidas Iza, after he led blockades on several highways and other allegedly violent acts in protest against the government’s economic policies. Indigenous groups began on Monday what they said will be an ongoing protest to demand President Guillermo Lasso freeze the price of gasoline, declare a moratorium on small farmers’ bank debts and limit oil and mining expansion. Protesters burned a patrol car and attacked police officers. | Reuters…

The Rwandan government yesterday doubled down on its defence of a controversial deal to take in asylum seekers being expelled from Britain, saying it was ready to welcome thousands of migrants. Government spokesperson Yolande Makolo described the agreement, which had been opposed by the UN and rights groups, as an innovative programme. “For us it is about being part of a solution to a broken global asylum system. We are doing this for the right reasons,” Makolo said. A plane carrying a first batch of asylum seekers being deported from Britain to Rwanda was due to leave yesterday despite court challenges to the UK’s policy. The British government warned that anyone who avoided it through last-minute legal challenges would be put on a later plane despite an outcry from critics.…

Former Kaizer Chiefs defender Daniel Cardoso, who was recently released by Amakhosi, has finally opened up about his seven-year stay with the club. The 33-year-old was let go along with the likes of Bernard Parker, Leonardo Castro and Lebogang Manyama as Chiefs initiated a revamp of their squad in an attempt to decrease their average age, with the aim of building for the future. Cardoso had been an integral figure in the Chiefs backline for the last seven years, which just so happens to be the most barren period in the club’s history. The centre-back revealed while speaking on Marawa Sports Worldwide what he feels was the reason behind Chiefs’ fall from glory. “The biggest downfall for the period I was there was the quality of signings,” Cardoso said. “You…

At last! To all Springbok fans out there, get set for a new-look game plan from the Wwrld champions in the lead-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup. No more box-kicks, aimless kicks downfield, Faf de Klerk taking his time to clear the breakdowns … Okay, okay, perhaps I’m getting carried away a bit. But there’s no doubt that the Bok squad Jacques Nienaber (and Rassie Erasmus) selected for the 2022 international season has some key elements that indicate the Boks are going to expand their horizons on the attacking front this year. Yes, the ‘old guard’ are still there, and social media pundits are still frustrated by the presence of Willie le Roux, while some are still questioning the presence of Jesse Kriel, Jasper Wiese, Rynhardt Elstadt, Herschel Jantjies…