Innholdsfortegnelse for 2023-02-22 i Star

THE SOUTH African currency and stock market remained under pressure yesterday as investors continued to push up their forecasts for higher US interest rates while the ongoing power crisis has deteriorated the outlook for South Africa’s economy. The rand yesterday lost as much as 10 cents from the previous close, falling to R18.24 against the US dollar, close to its lowest since early November 2022. Investors are worried that the US Federal Reserve could have to stay on its hawkish path for longer after a string of economic data releases revealed a resilience in the US economy. The dollar is also likely to streng- then further as investors price-in the renewed hawkishness of the Federal Reserve as the likelihood of the central bank pausing on interest rate increases after…

I recently attended the Savanna Newcomer Showcase (SNS) held at the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town. There were a number of well-established comedians from in and around Cape Town in attendance. For the first time, the SNS event came to Cape Town, and we were excited to witness 20 fresh comedians battle it out in a five-minute slot each to prove their comedic talent in front of established comedians and a difficult crowd who weren’t just laughing for any joke but those earned. The SNS is the first in a series of build-up events ahead of the upcoming Savanna Comics’ Choice Comedy Awards and has become a staple on the annual comedy calendar. Schalk Bezuidenhout was the MC and really kept the crowd entertained between sets with his hilarious commentary…

POLITICAL parties and civil society organisations are hoping that Finance Minister Enoch Gondogwana will shed light on the scrapping of e-tolls when he delivers his Budget in Parliament sitting in the Cape Town City Hall today. The parties expressed doubt after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s comments that the e-tolls had been scrapped and that a final announcement would be made in due course. Lesufi reiterated his statement on Monday, when he delivered his maiden State of the Province Address in the Gauteng Legislature. In his remarks, Lesufi said he was “... pleased to report that e-tolls have been scrapped”, saying he and the ministries of Finance and Transport would make a joint announcement on the matter. “Together with the national government, we are on the verge of agreeing on all…

from page 1 The children told the court, through their victim impact statements, that what happened to them had affected and continued to affect them as they now found it hard to trust people and maintain relations. They further informed the court that they still suffered from the trauma caused by the family. State prosecutors, advocates Cornelia Harmzen and Marie Jonker, told the court that the six showed no remorse for their actions, as they had subjected their own children to the scrutiny of the court, where they had to testify using the intermediary services and also relive their trauma. Moreover, the accused were parents to the children and were in a position of trust, which they had betrayed and failed to protect the children. In his sentencing, Nel said…

A man was arrested by the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) after being found in possession of stolen official licensing documents. JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla said the man, driving a white Mercedes-Benz was arrested in the Joburg CBD. “Officers were conducting crime prevention patrols at M2 and the Selby off-ramp in the Johannesburg CBD when they spotted and stopped a white Mercedes-Benz vehicle with no front registration number plates displayed,” Fihla said. “The officers searched the vehicle and recovered official licensing department documents also known as ‘face value’. When asked how he acquired the documents, the driver alluded that they belonged to his brother-in-law who is an e-hailing service driver.” Fihla said the JMPD officers went to Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport to enquire how the official documents had…

A husband got less than he bargained for when he turned to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to divorce his wife to whom he was married in community of property, when the court ordered a forfeiture of the patrimonial benefits, resulting in him not receiving half of her pension benefits. Judge Brenda Neukircher found that the husband would have unduly benefited if an order for forfeiture of his wife’s pension benefits was granted. This was because the husband was an absent father, was financially selfish and, on the balance of probabilities, assaulted his wife. The husband claimed she was the one who had assaulted him during their marriage and had to defend himself. The wife, on the other hand, painted a different picture of how he had allegedly…

I TOOK an early-morning flight from Johannesburg to Durban on Sunday. My son took me to OR Tambo International Airport. But, as he had only five minutes to leave the car at the drop-off zone, he didn’t have time to show me how to find my way through the departure section. As we were trying to get our bearings, a young Muslim woman, dressed all in black in traditional garb from head to foot, approached us and asked me to follow her. Pleasantly surprised and relieved, I followed her through the zigzag queue to the section for local departures. She asked for my boarding pass, went through it and then directed me to my departure gate. She also asked me to have my ID ready. She was also going to…

The DA had called for the national state of disaster on electricity only to cry foul all the way to the court, seeking the declaration reversed. That’s an imbecile thing to do in a crisis. Since there was a significant constituency not sold on the proposal to declare a disaster, the spontaneous gazetting wasn’t worth it either. President Cyril Ramaphosa should have exploited the public address platform that brought a loyal audience before him. First, to clear a thick air of mistrust that arose from messaging dissonance on the load shedding question. Second, to outline a safeguard mechanism of the disaster plan. The government is not necessarily empowered to declare a disaster on a public entity, especially on account of its self-induced incapacity to provide an essential service. The entitlement…

When AKA’s mom Lynn Forbes expressed that in DJ Zinhle and Nadia Nakai, she has gained daughters, it drew mixed reactions on social media. South Africans may have been mourning the loss of the rapper, real name Kiernan Forbes, but many people took a lot from his integrated family. In the lives of DJ Zinhle (Ntombezinhle Jiyane) and AKA, you would see how effortless it was to get along while not being in an intimate relationship. Their relationship was about giving their daughter Kairo the world despite their differences. And because of how progressive all these families are today, Zinhle is able to freely pay tribute to AKA. “Kiernan, I’m so sorry you have been robbed of your time with your daughter, with @nadianakai, Steffan, your mom @lynnforbesza, dad, and…

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin announced in a state of the nation address yesterday that Moscow was “suspending” its participation in the New START nuclear non-proliferation agreement, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia. Putin said Russia will not “withdraw” completely from the treaty, which has been extended to run through to February 4, 2026, but he said that Russia would not allow Nato countries to inspect its nuclear arsenal. He accused the alliance of helping Ukraine conduct drone strikes on Russian air bases that host strategic bombers which are part of the country’s strategic deterrence. The 2011 treaty placed “verifiable limits” on the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads deployed by the countries. “Our relations have degraded and that’s completely and utterly the…

Dar es Salaam: Tanzania’s government gave its approval yesterday for the construction of a $3.5 billion (about R64bn) crude oil pipeline despite human rights and environmental concerns about the mega-project. The 1 443km pipeline will transport crude from vast oilfields being developed in Lake Albert in north-western Uganda to a Tanzanian port on the Indian Ocean for delivery to international markets. Uganda’s first oil is expected to flow in 2025, almost two decades after reserves were discovered in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. The pipeline required approval from both countries. | AFP…

THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and others have welcomed the multiple life sentences handed down to a Pretoria north family convicted of running a porn sex ring, which involved their own and two foster children. The Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court sentenced the 70 and 69-year-old foster parents to 12 life terms, including 95 years’ imprisonment, for their role in a sex ring, which involved the rape, sexual grooming of children and distribution of child pornography, dating back to between 2005 and 2010. Their son and his wife, aged 49 and 39, were given a five-year wholly suspended sentence and three years of correctional supervision. Magistrate Pieter Nel ordered that the sentences run concurrently, that their names be added to the national register for sexual offenders and that they be declared…

SHOPRITE Checkers has lost its bid in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to challenge the amount of time that had lapsed concerning a former employee’s right to sue for damages suffered when she was flung from a forklift while packing goods on shelves. The appeal revolved around the proper interpretation of the various sections of the Prescription Act. Prescription relates to the period after which a debt can be extinguished or written off. In October 2014, the woman, then employed as a packer with a sales and marketing company that renders merchandising services to retail stores, was at work at the Checkers Hyper in Meadowdale Shopping Mall, Edenvale. While on duty, she climbed into a cage coupled to a forklift to pack merchandise on shelves. The cage was lifted…

IN THE past few months and years, a lot was said about the fragmentation of our politics. The ANC appears to be split into factions. Municipalities have to contend with awkward coalitions. This is good news. It is a sign of our fledgling democracy starting to mature. In the beginning some measure of stability was assured by the dominance of one party. This, however, is against the concept of democracy. It leaves no room for real debate. If democracy is a government of the people by the people, then opposing views must be heard and be taken seriously. It is normal for a new democracy to grow towards a state where divergent views of the people are accommodated and, frequently, this leads to coalitions. That is not an easy process…

The DA in Gauteng embarked on a fact-finding mission at Roosevelt High School in Johannesburg this week. This came after the school issued a letter to parents regarding detention on a Friday from 1pm to 4pm. The school governing body (SGB) explained that the letter, which stated that a Muslim learner issued with detention must attend as this took priority over mosques, was sent in error. This was corrected by the principal on January 29. Another letter was issued. Muslim learners who need to attend detention may first go to mosque and then return to the school. The SGB said the decision was taken to have detention on a Friday as they wanted to clamp down on uniform infringements. The DA is pleased that an amicable solution has been found…

The ousting of Mpho Phalatse and her replacement with Thapelo Amad is a case in point. There is no consensus regarding the significance of the possible dominance of coalition politics. There are people who welcome this change in South African politics. But there are those who are sceptical about it. Myriad reasons are offered for this positive and negative reception of coalition politics. At the core of the negative reception of this tendency is the question of ideology. This is because the basic assumption is that different political parties represent different ideologies which inform their relevance and political visions. African nationalism, Liberalism and Marxism-Leninism are some of the things that come to mind when thinking about these political parties that are contending for political power through coalition politics. A perfunctory…

BAMAKO: Three UN peacekeepers were killed and five were seriously injured after their convoy hit an improvised explosive device in central Mali, the UN peacekeeping mission said yesterday on Twitter. Mali is struggling to stem an Islamist insurgency that took root after a 2012 coup and has since spread from the country’s arid north. Thousands have died and millions been displaced across the Sahel region. Some of the groups have links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State. At least 281 peacekeepers have been killed in Mali since the start of the mission in 2013, making it the deadliest UN peacekeeping mission in the world. | Reuters…

LONDON: British media regulator Ofcom has written to broadcasters ITV and Sky to ask them to explain their handling of the death of Nicola Bulley after her family criticised their conduct. Bulley, a mother of two who went missing by a river in northern England last month, was confirmed dead this week. Her family said Sky News and ITV had not respected a request for privacy. Although police said there was no evidence of foul play, day-to-day developments were widely reported in Britain and debated on social media. | Reuters…

Much interest in how R1.68 trillion tax collection windfall will be distributed Economists say Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana faces a colossal conundrum in how he manages the government’s takeover of Eskom debt. Godongwana is dangling a windfall to dole out to departments and State-owned entities as he announced, in his October Medium-Term Budget policy statement, or Mini-Budget, that the government had revised up to R1.68 trillion its gross tax revenue collection. All eyes will be on him at the Cape Town City Hall today watching to see how he divvies up the pie. Godongwana is expected to deliver a definite decision on the R350 social relief of distress grant and/or the basic income grant, and a partial takeover of Eskom’s Achilles heel, its R400bn debt, among other things. Economists…

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the ANC was working tirelessly to snatch back Tshwane and Ekurhuleni from the hands of the DA and its coalition partners. Lesufi said he was concerned about the two metros, which are being led by the DA. Developments in the two, which have been concerning for the premier, include the fact that Ekurhuleni was being led by a minority government under the DA, and now Tshwane has no mayor or mayoral committee since DA mayor Randall Williams’ exit last week. Williams had brought his party into disrepute with the auditor-general’s adverse findings on the metro’s finances. “We have to dislodge the DA in Ekurhuleni; they are a minority government, and the majority must rule. “We are also going to dislodge them in Tshwane; it is…

After a successful launch last year, the Top 16 Youth-Owned Brands Awards return with a two-day event on June 15 to recognise and empower proudly SA brands owned by the youth. Pat Mahlangu, the awards’ founder, says he wants to change the narrative that youth are inactive and uninterested in making change. He says the youth play an active role in the South African economy; however, they are not given enough recognition or the spotlight to acknowledge their impact on this. The awards will bridge that gap by empowering, educating and fostering a brand-led South Africa. “There are a lot of misconceptions about youth-owned businesses. And one of the big misconceptions is that youth-owned brands are poor. But if you look at our winners for 2022, these are proper brands…

IT IS inconceivable and contradictory that the very same government that is hell-bent on getting rid of “remnants of colonialism” like Port Elizabeth, at the benefit of “Black Bigots & Black Educational Snobs”, the Gqeberha moniker, wants to sponsor a “colonisers’ team”, viz Tottenham Hotspurs with a cool R1 billion largesse. The cities that are always prioritised for governmental benefits are Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and then the Cinderellas like Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and/or East London follow thereafter. Somehow, the big cities don’t take precedence in the Renaming Crusade of our beloved Africanists who seem to be run-of-the-mill fascists, giving the middle finger to narcissistic Anglo supremacists of sunny South Africa.…

Law has been used as an instrument of terror towards indigenous South Africans. The terrorism that saw the displacement of the jurisdiction of aboriginal black South Africans replaced with the jurisdiction of South Africa was “legal”. With the recent case of Mr Nyepane Shilane, a pensioner who was ordered to demolish a block of flats he built on his property because he did not have the correct permits, the legal terrorism seems to continue unabated. South African law presents one of the most apt examples of the pitfalls of positivism. The terrorism the indigenous/aboriginal South Africans suffered, from the Commandos and the Trekkers, to the British and Afrikaner jurisdictions that combined for South Africa to be born, was sanctioned by “law”. The most famous instance is the Natives Land Act…

HONG KONG: Some Chinese provinces are giving young newlyweds 30 days of paid leave in the hope of encouraging marriage and boosting a flagging birth rate, the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily Health said yesterday. China’s minimum paid marriage leave is three days, but provinces have been able to set their own more generous allowances since February. The provinces of Gansu and coal-producing Shanxi now give 30 days, while Shanghai gives 10 and Sichuan still only three. Last year, China recorded its lowest ever birth rate, of 6.77 births per 1 000 people – largely the result of a “one child” policy from 1980-2015. | Reuters…

It’s tough being a Lions supporter at the moment. With reports suggesting fractious relations within the union, and on-field results that have been mostly disheartening, it can be quite laborious to find any positives to grasp and hold onto. But positives there are, however tenuous, even after the latest defeat at the hands of the Sharks this past week. The Lions will face Glasgow Warriors on Saturday in a rescheduled United Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park (4.15pm kick-off). The match can afford the team – from top to bottom – an opportunity to try and put behind them a tough few weeks, and rise from adversity to show the world their true mettle. It will be a test of character, one that will show whether the Lions can address…