Sunday Sun 5/17/2020

• THE DA claims in Constitutional Court papers that the national lockdown, under the Disaster Management Act (DMA), is unconstitutional. It has called for the legislation to be amended. The party is taking government to court in two separate matters which challenge the validity of some aspects of the lockdown. On Thursday, DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach, filed a 170-page affidavit on behalf of the party in an urgent application in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. She argued President Cyril Ramaphosa should have declared a state of emergency, adding the regulations were unconstitutional. • THE government’s phased exit from the lockdown is nonsensical and unscientific, says one of the top scientists advising it. Dr Glenda Gray, a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee and chairperson of the South African Medical…

LIMPOPO premier Stan Mathabatha has been accused by the province’s sacked head of communications, Phuthi Seloba, of playing dirty. According to Seloba, the premier had undue influence on his dismissal last week. Before being let go, Seloba was suspended and a disciplinary hearing established against him. Speaking to the SunTeam on Friday, Seloba accused the premier of protecting his spokesperson, Kenny Mathivha, who was late last year suspended for fraud. This following a disciplinary hearing for expanding his travel grant. Mathivha, speaking on behalf of the premier and himself, contested the allegations. “I saw the statement by Health Education and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) with my name on it and am now following a legal process as my name’s been dragged through the mud. We followed due process. “If I…

THERE are two ways that a “new airline” can be created to take the place of South African Airways in its current form, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan said on Friday. One would be to create an entirely new company and trying to acquire a few of the most important assets of the old SAA. The other option would be to restructure or reorganise the existing SAA by doing away with what is not functioning to keep what is central to the mission of resulting the “new airline”. SAA has been in business rescue since December. Gordhan told Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in a briefing on Friday that due to the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the global airline industry, (re)starting any airline would have to…

SHOWBIZ darling, Nina Hastie, has come face-to-face with the grim prospect of her car growing legs – and moving from where she’d parked it. This as thugs attempted to steal the comedian and businesswoman’s drop-top ride. The 37-year-old was so traumatised by the incident that she decided to sell her baby after the incident. Nina told Sunday Sun that said she got rid of the car after it got fixed. Explained Nina: “The insurance paid for the damages, I’m not using that car anymore. “I found that someone had tried to take something and couldn’t get it, the door was then left damaged.” She had opened a case of attempted theft out of a motor vehicle at the Norwood Police Station in Jozi in August. According to a police statement…

IT’S not only the poor or hard-hit families who need food parcels, even artists. This was evident when a group of Limpopo artists lined up at Matsila Village, outside Louis Trichardt, to received food parcel from local chief Levhuwani Matsila yesterday. The artists, including Penny Penny, Dr Thomas Chauke, Dr Colbert Mukwevho, collected food parcels for artists who are under their leadership. Penny Penny said they sat down with Matsila two weeks ago to discuss the plight of artists in that region. Said Penny Penny: “Many have lost gigs and can’t afford to buy themselves and their families food. “We know it’s not much but it’s better than going hungry.” The reality show host of Papa Penny Ahee said he was not part of those benefiting from the food parcels…

THERE’S a war brewing between the South African Roadies Association (Sara) and the Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa. The non-profit organisation is demanding transformation for the events, technical and production services industry. According to Freddie Nyathela, the president of Sara, the events, technical and production services should be treated as full-time employees. Said Freddie: “We want the department of arts and culture to regulate this industry. Without policies in place they get exploited. “The minister is the only person who can implement this. For the past few years we have been engaging with the minister but he’s deliberately ignoring us. “We’re demanding sick leave, lunch breaks, normal hours of work at the employer’s usual place of work, first aid kits, recording allowances, payment of wages, among other things.…