Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-10-25 i Star

DIS-CHEM Pharmacies’ forecast of a 43.1% to 45.4% increase in headline earnings per share for the six months to August 31, 2022, saw its share price ratchet up 5.82% to R33.46 at the close of the JSE yesterday. The pharmaceutical retailer courted controversy when chief executive Ivan Saltzman issued a memo to staff last month saying that the retailer, which has more than 20 000 employees, was falling behind on racial transformation targets at some level and would no longer be hiring whites, unless a special case was made to him or the head of human resources. Saltzman subsequently apologised for poor wording in the memo, but the group stood by its decision. The group said in a trading statement yesterday, that headline earnings per share (Heps) was expected…

SOUTH32’s shares dipped by almost 5% on the JSE yesterday as it reported a mixed first quarter production update. The shares closed at R42.23 on the JSE yesterday and have decreased by 19.98% in the past six months. In its quarterly report to September, released yesterday, the diversified miner – which is listed on the JSE, ALX and London Stock Exchange – said aluminium production for the first quarter of the 2023 financial year rose by 9% quarter-on-quarter to 279 000 tons as its southern African smelters continued to test their maximum technical capacity and the Brazil Aluminium smelter was successfully restarted. South32 chief executive Graham Kerr said: “Highlights during the September 2022 quarter included an 11% increase in copper equivalent production at the Sierra Gorda copper mine in…

Elizabeth Debicki has started filming controversial scenes showing Princess Diana’s final night for The Crown. The actress, 32, was seen in a grey suit and black top in Barcelona at the weekend – the same outfit worn by the royal hours before she was killed in a Paris tunnel car crash in 1997 when she was 36 years old. She was also seen with Khalid Abdalla, 40, who plays Egyptian film producer Dodi Al-Fayed, killed in the crash with his and Diana’s driver. Diana was famously captured on CCTV footage in the grey outfit at the Ritz Hotel the night she died. Local media in Barcelona reported The Crown would be recording the events leading up to Diana’s ill-fated 1997 trip to Paris when she died in an underpass, with…

The National Shelter Movement of South Africa (NSMSA), in partnership with the Heinrich Boell Foundation and the Department of Social Development (DSD), wrapped up the second annual GBV Shelter Indaba after tabling critical issues prevalent in the country. NSMSA board member Dianne Massawe said that in order to deal with gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), anger was necessary. She also called for a new approach to deal with GBVF. “We need anger because without it, we are accepting this appalling situation and saying that GBVF is okay. It will become normalised… Our speech and approach to how violence against women is reported in our media must change. We need to stop sensationalising GBVF and start reporting on the facts,” said Massawe. Dr Zubeda Dangor, the head of the NSMSA executive,…

Security firm Fidelity ADT is warning residents to be cautious about what they dispose of in their bins, as thieves might be using discarded items and boxes to gain intel on households. Fidelity ADT head of communications Charnel Hattingh said the firm had received information of break-ins that have occurred within a day of bin bags being placed outside for collection – a clear indication of what would-be thieves are using as ammo. She said: “We are resorting to warning residents to be mindful of what they throw away and how they dispose of these items. Not all rubbish bag diggers are as innocent as they appear. Would-be thieves may rummage through rubbish to gain information about households before planning a break-in. “Make a conscious effort not to leave…

THE RAND fell to another two-year low yesterday as the markets turned sour on the back of a stronger US dollar and lingering concerns over the impact of ongoing power cuts on the domestic economy. The rand weakened to R18.43 against the greenback by 5pm, the lowest level since May 2020, sliding from its close of R18.05/$1 on Friday, as risk aversion levels rose both globally and domestically. The domestic currency has remained under pressure for the better part of this month as South Africa’s electricity crisis worsens in spite of a number of measures in the energy plan. Emerging market currencies, including the rand, also took a beating as investors voted with their feet and sold more than $1.3 billion (R23.5bn) worth of Chinese stocks after President Xi Jinping…

THE highest medical negligence claims against Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital stem from the maternity unit, which faces claims amounting to nearly R1 billion. This was revealed by former Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi in her written reply to questions by DA spokesperson on health Jack Bloom in the Gauteng provincial legislature. Mokgethi said 85% of the medico-legal litigations concerned the maternity unit, at 51. She also gave shocking details about broken medical equipment, lack of staff and the risk posed to newborn children due to the broken equipment at the hospital – the largest in Africa and the third-largest in the world. Mokgethi gave these responses on September 27, before her removal from office on October 6. She was replaced by Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko. Although the maternity unit at the…

THERE seems to still be a long legal road ahead in the rape and sexual offences trial of Rivers of Living Waters church leader, Bishop Bafana Stephen Zondo. The trial was due to resume yesterday but it had to be postponed for at least a week due to translation problems. Zondo’s defence team earlier objected to the translation by a court interpreter of the evidence presented by the alleged third victim, who took the stand in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. Advocate Piet Pistorius noted at least three instances in which he claimed the interpreter did not correctly interpret the evidence presented by the woman. Judge Papi Mosopa ordered that the discs containing the woman’s evidence had to be reviewed by the court’s chief interpreter, who was supposed…

Discovering safe ways to treat diabetes based on indigenous knowledge of medicinal plant remedies earned local scientist Dr Nehemiah Latolla top spot last week in the South African leg of the International FameLab science communication competition. Latolla will now represent South Africa at the International FameLab 2022 science communication competition next month. A post-graduate researcher at Nelson Mandela University, Latolla captured the attention of the judges when he told them about his passion for tapping into South Africa’s wealth of indigenous knowledge, including natural remedies to treat diabetes. His research in phytochemistry – the branch of chemistry concerned with plants and plant products – is focused on evaluating the safety and efficacy of natural products to treat this metabolic disorder. Latolla said: “South Africa has about 30 000 recorded plant…

IN ONE of the most disastrous starts to the season (based on the past two seasons’ performances), the glamorous and much-loved world football outfit Liverpool FC are perched precariously on the English Premier League table, languishing in 11th position after 11 games and a paltry 16 points. The news has the press wallahs and football pundits predicting apocalyptic scenarios and nothing seems to be consuming more oxygen these days as The Reds are on life support for now. What kind of karmic justice is at play? What we lack is squad depth, further exacerbated by a long injury list and a punishing fixture schedule . It’s no use looking for excuses as we burn with perceived shame that our greatest efforts are fading embers. When I watched the Man City…

Remediating its ‘significant non-performing loans portfolio’ THE LAND BANK will be aggressively going after clients who are owing it more than R12 billion in outstanding loans as it has resumed new lending activities to commercial farmers after a two-year hiatus. In its integrated report released yesterday, the Land Bank said that it was implementing a strategy to remediate its significant non-performing loans (NPLs) portfolio. The bank said the settlement of client facilities has had the obvious effect of reducing its loan book concomitant to the reduction of its liabilities and has brought about an increase in the NPL ratio. Land Bank chairperson Thabi Nkosi said this challenge of a deteriorating overall loan book quality has received special attention by the board. Nkosi said they had developed and begun the…

GOLD FIELDS, which operates gold mines across three continents, said yesterday that its board of directors had unanimously recommended that its shareholders vote in favour of the controversial Yamana transaction. This follows Gold Fields announcing a deal to acquire Yamana Gold in an all-share transaction that appraised the Canadian company at $6.7 billion (R121.2bn) on May 31. On Friday, Reuters reported that an independent evaluation estimated Yamana’s mineral asset value at between $6bn and $8bn, in line with Gold Fields’ initial all-share offer of $6.7bn. In the past, some shareholders expressed concern that Gold Fields’ proposed acquisition of Yamana was too expensive, too dilutive of Gold Fields shares and would negatively impact returns for existing shareholders. Under the deal, Gold Fields has offered 0.6 of one of its…

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has been taking public jabs at Trevor Noah, pictured, for a while now. Earlier in the year, Ye was even suspended from Instagram for what the company described as “hate speech, harassment and bullying” towards the South African comic. In his latest diss, last week Ye referred to Noah as being “not even from America, he just look black”, which sparked uproar on Mzansi’s Twitter. Responding to a question from an audience member who asked him why he was beefing with Ye, Noah shared some of his most open and sincere remarks on the topic. “I was never beefing with Kanye West, I was concerned about Kanye West,” he said, which drew laughter from the crowd. “No, genuinely I mean this.” Noah…

The distraught father of four-year-old Bokgabo Poo was in tears in court as he begged his daughter’s alleged killer to reveal where some of her body parts were. The tearful dad said he wanted to bury his daughter. The emotional scene unfolded yesterday after murder and rape suspect Ntokozo Zikhali appeared in the Benoni Magistrate’s Court. Bokgabo’s mutilated body was found in a field in Wattville earlier this month with some of her body parts missing. As the 28-year-old accused left the court room and went down to the holding cells, the visibly distraught father stood up and shouted: “Tell me where my daughter’s body parts are. I want to bury my child,” a sobbing Irvin Ndlovu said. This was not the first time that Ndlovu has had an emotional…

SIBIKWA Arts Centre presented the first International Body Moves Dance Festival, where able-bodied and disabled dancers from South Africa, Uganda, Ireland, Italy and Flanders came together to honour and celebrate dance. The festival strives to challenge perceptions and expand understanding of dance and disability, promoting cultural exchange, collaboration and co-operation. CEO of Sibikwa Arts, Caryn Green, commented: “Sibikwa has always been focused on addressing the needs of communities. Disability is one of those areas where we have noted that people who are living with disability and people who are working with people with disabilities are calling for places and platforms for mainstream disability.” Green added it has been heartwarming to receive a positive response to the first-time festival. “It was just a beautiful and incredible experience that was really successful…

THREE professors from different disciplines at the University of Pretoria (UP) have joined forces to co-ordinate care for homeless people. The academics are contributing to a national policy for the homeless with a project that forms part of the framework for South Africa’s National Health Insurance in collaboration with the Presidency. Professor Debashis Basu, academic and clinical head of the Department of Public Health Medicine at the university, said: “We are not talking the talk; we are practising it.” They are doing this through the research unit of the university’s Community Oriented Primary Care project. This is where the university’s Department of Public Health connects with the Department of Family Medicine, headed by Professor Jannie Hugo. Collaborating further with UPs Centre for Faith and Community, where Professor Stephan de…

As matrics in South Africa brace themselves for the final countdown towards their school exit, according to a damning new report, children in Africa are five times less likely to learn the basics. The new evidence of low learning outcomes is devastating for Africa. It begs one question: whether the education system on the continent is relevant to the needs of the 21st century? The relevance of matric, for example, in South Africa, has often been questioned. And it will become a talking point again when we see how few make it to university or employment. Among the challenges are hunger, poverty, access to learning materials, language barriers and a challenge reported on previously in this column, inadequate support for educators. Given the evidence, it may not come as a…