Innholdsfortegnelse for 2/9/2020 i City Press

In a situation reminiscent of the 2005 revolt against the ANC leadership, supporters of former president Jacob Zuma are mobilising to stage a coordinated defence of him. Whereas in 2005 it was prompted by his dismissal from then president Thabo Mbeki’s Cabinet, and his subsequent resignation from ANC positions, this time the rebellion has been sparked by the warrant of arrest issued by the Pietermaritzburg High Court in KwaZulu-Natal after Zuma failed to show up for his fraud and corruption trial on Tuesday. The ANC’s national general council (NGC) reinstated Zuma to all his ANC positions in June 2005, paving the way for his triumph at the party’s national elective conference, held in Polokwane, Limpopo, in 2007. Now loyalists comprising sections of the ANC women and youth leagues, the Umkhonto…

SUBSCRIBE TO CITY PRESS IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS AROUND THE HOME DELIVERY OF YOUR NEWSPAPER OR WANT TO SUBSCRIBE, THE DETAILS BELOW WILL HELP CONTACT CENTRE NUMBER: 0861 248 977 087 353 1300 EMAIL ADDRESS: subscribers@citypress.co.za NEW SUBSCRIBERS SMS LINE: SMS “SUBS” to 32368 SUBSCRIPTIONS WHATSAPP NUMBER 087 353 1333 Subscribe (retailers) • On the Dot Retail contact number: 0861 888 989 • On the Dot retail email address: assistance@onthedot.co.za PRESS COUNCIL City Press subscribes to the Code of Ethics and Conduct for South African Print and Online Media that prescribes news that is truthful, accurate, fair and balanced. If we don’t live up to the Code, please contact the Public Advocate at 011 484 3612, fax: 011 484 3619. You can also contact our Case Officer on khanyim@ombudsman.org.za…

It’s been two months since she was crowned Miss Universe, but it hasn’t been an easy ride for her as she still has to wake up every day knowing she will have to try to convince people she deserves the title. “This is the reason I’ve decided that actually I don’t have to do that convincing. I just wake up and acknowledge that I am here in this position. The obvious initial obstacles were around the colourism and the racism I faced stepping onto the platform, and which I still face today,” says Zozibini Tunzi. The newly crowned Tunzi took a moment to give City Press a peek into her life as Miss Universe while she was briefly – and undercover – in the country recently for a campaign shoot…

The department of home affairs’ processes for undocumented immigrants are inadequate, leaving it unable to determine the number and status of undocumented people in the country. This is according a follow-up performance audit conducted by the office of the Auditor-General, which presented its findings before Parliament’s portfolio committee on home affairs this week. The 60-page report lays bare agrowing crisis of undocumented people which has been exacerbated by budget cuts, shoddy systems and overburdened state machinery. Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that the department had accepted the 65 recommendations made in the report. He insisted that the department was working overtime to arrest the problem, but was at times hamstrung by a lack of synergy in government departments. He argued that a cut in budgets across government had left…

Beloved Christian crossover artist BeBe Winans is returning to South Africa for a two-city tour in Johannesburg and Durban. Winans told City Press in a telephone interview earlier this week that when he first visited – he couldn’t remember when – it was a moment for him. “I can’t describe it, but my feelings were in tune from head to toe. “It has been a beautiful experience every time and it has everything to do with the rhythm of the people. It’s my home.” The six-time Grammy Award winner, who is more passionate about writing than singing, said this tour would be his last visit to the country –unless he can convince his sister, gospel singer CeCe Winans, to return with him. “BeBe is getting ready to retire from singing…

This year’s International Cricket Council Under-19 World Cup, which ends today in Potchefstroom, North West, has been an entertaining tournament, with some nail-biting finishes, solid individual performances and inspiring storylines. The curtain will come down after the final between Bangladesh and India. “I closed my shop to come and watch these boys. They look good,” a Bangladesh supporter said as South Africa took on Bangladesh in the quarterfinal earlier in the tournament. “It means a lot for the people back home. They will be treated like kings.” In that game against South Africa, where spin was again the undoing of the junior Proteas, Rakibul Hasan announced himself to the world with a five-for, bowling with precision and accuracy. Bowling in only four of the five innings, Hasan has the best…

Jomo Cosmos have repeatedly come close to dropping out of the second-tier NDF, and their struggles continue. Ezenkosi recently marked the 37th year since they were founded by club owner Jomo “Mjomana” Sono in January 1983, but there hasn’t been much to celebrate lately, even though Sono said they planned to commemorate the milestone. Many football fans are wondering what happened to one of South Africa’s most prominent professional football clubs. Cosmos haven’t shown any signs of untangling themselves from their downward spiral since the 2017/18 season, which was the last time Sono’s beloved team came anywhere close to returning to the elite league since their relegation to the NFD four years ago. Sono said that creating a team from scratch almost every season was the main reason they were…

I wonder if you’ve noticed how certain referees seem to be going soft in their handling of some football players. I’ve observed it and I think they are doing a disservice to refereeing and match officiating in general. The new buzz words in refereeing these days are “man management”. What a load of nonsense. This is where we, as referees, are supposed to make allowances for the “emotions” and “stresses” felt by these poor (and overpaid) prima donnas as they go through “the trials and tribulations” of being professional players. If you were to dissect the pressure they feel, you would find that they worry about whether they should buy a Ferrari, a Porsche, a private jet or a tropical island this weekend. Literally, in some cases, their salaries resemble…

Big guns Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns sailed through the Nedbank Cup first round last night to add themselves to the list of 10 teams that have booked places in the Last 16 of the Ke Yona competition. The notable big upset so far was that of third-tier league campaigners Vaal University of Technology, who eliminated premier division side Golden Arrows at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto during one of yesterday’s early matches. The minnows from the ABC Motsepe League stunned coach Steve Komphela’s Abafana Bes’thende 6-5 on penalties following a 2-2 stalemate during normal play. Vaal University of Technology have qualified alongside Amavarara FC from the Eastern Cape, the other third-division team to progress beyond the Last 32. Meanwhile, last season’s runners-up, Chiefs, laboured to a 1-0 win over GladAfrica…

There is a story, told with conviction by those who claim to have firsthand knowledge of it, about how one of the wives of a former president turned up at an airport in a coastal city and demanded to get on a flight, without a ticket. When this wife, whose identity and that of her polygamous husband shall not be revealed because the story has not been properly verified, was told that things didn’t work that way, she flipped. She told those who were politely interacting with her that, as the president’s wife, she was entitled to fly on his airline anytime she wished. Anyway, the polite people she was haranguing remained calm and respectfully took her to a holding area while arrangements were made with the husband’s office to…

Africa’s women are supposed to be taking centre stage at the African Union summit in Ethiopia this weekend. President Cyril Ramaphosa said he planned to use his role as the new chair of the continental body to promote the economic empowerment of women. It is ironic that he will tackle the issue of women in a country that, according to the UN, has some of lowest gender equality performance indicators in sub-Saharan Africa. Ramaphosa said: • The principle of equal pay for equal work is still not consistently applied; • Women’s participation in certain industries, especially in science- and engineering-related fields, is still far lower than that of men; • Women still carry the highest burden of childcare and “unpaid work” in the home; • Women still occupy lower-paid positions…

South Africa simply does not have enough traffic law enforcement officers and that is the root cause of the high road accident fatality rate. With fewer than 19 000 traffic officers and close to 12.5 million vehicles, the officer to car ratio is 658 and, with a road network of about 747 000km, each traffic officer is responsible for almost 40km. We have one of the poorest road safety records, with aroad accident fatality rate of 22.4 per 100 000 population in 2018, and our fatalities have consistently been above 20 over the last 30 years. Something drastic needs to be done to address the problem but, with resources already stretched, it seems unlikely that more traffic law enforcement officers will be appointed soon. The 11th key strategic theme of…

We’re racing towards the end of the tax year and the start of the next, with the president’s state of the nation address (Sona) and the finance minister’s budget speech for 2020/21 on the horizon. Small and medium-sized businesses will be listening closely to find out about government’s spending priorities for the year ahead, as well as its plans to revive the economy. Let’s consider some of the concerns on small and medium-sized business owners’ minds, and some ways government could address their challenges: . The tax burden: Finance Minister Tito Mboweni painted an unflattering picture of the economy and the state of public finances in his medium-term budget speech in October. He highlighted a projected tax shortfall of more than R50 billion as a particular concern. What’s more, the…

A friend of mine, Mark, went to Cambodia this past holiday season. He asked the taxi driver what the unemployment rate was. “Unemployment rate? What is that, sir?” the driver asked. “The number of people who don’t have a job,” Mark said. “Oh, everyone is working here, sir.” True, the unemployment rate of Cambodia is about 0.1%. “Wow!” said Mark with adegree of resignation, the kind of feeling you get when someone beats you in a race and you realise you have no chance of catching up. “Our unemployment rate in South Africa is 30%,” Mark said. “So many people without jobs?” the driver asked, incredulously. “They must give people jobs.” Mark tried to explain that the economy wasn’t doing well … The driver didn’t give him a chance to…

The mining industry in South Africa is a long way from being ready to survive without coal-generated electricity, the Minerals Council SA (MCSA) has said. South Africa’s electricity crisis, the impact of the climate crisis and the necessity for sustainable, environmentally friendly mining practices were the main talking points at the Investing in African Mining Indaba, which was held in Cape Town this week. In his opening address at the indaba, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said that South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan looks at coal playing a smaller role in South Africa’s energy mix, and that it would comprise 60% or less of the mix by 2030. The MCSA, which represents the leading mining companies in the country, emphasised during a press conference that the move away…

A lucrative medical waste contract controlled by the KwaZulu-Natal health department is expected to come under scrutiny in the Pietermaritzburg High Court after it was stripped from one provider and handed to another under circumstances the aggrieved company claims were “illegal” and “irrational”. Durban-based Compass Medical Waste Services hopes to have the multimillion-rand contract it lost in May last year – subsequently given to Germistonbased Buhle Waste by provincial health – reviewed and set aside, claiming the alleged underhand method used had the deliberate, illegal and sole intention of excluding Compass from continuing with the contract. The department, however, claims it had no choice but to boot the company out as it had to “bring new role players into the province and halt the monopoly Compass has been exploiting”. The…

We know from the study of human behaviour that sacrificing something now for a potentially larger return in the future is hard for us. This is known as “present bias”, where we put more value on something we can have today rather than an on undefined benefit in the future, which is why we are so bad at saving. What if we can find ways to make saving almost “invisible” – where it happens without us really feeling that we have sacrificed something? There are some examples of this, such as FNB’s Bank your Change option and Old Mutual’s savings option – in both, every time you spend money using your card, a few extra rands are transferred to a savings account. It is like putting your loose change into…

Afro-pop superstar, Mr Eazi, who is quickly becoming a global music trailblazer, has released his first single of 2020, Kpalanga (Banku Music/emPawa Africa), along with an arresting video directed by TG Omori. Kpalanga, which translates as “go crazy”, finds Mr Eazi capturing the ebbs and flows of a powerful but strained love affair over producer Killertunes’ multilayered, Afro-trap beat. The track was inspired by the real-life love between Eazi’s military father and civilian mother. Continuing his ascent as one of the most influential and progressive African artists to break into the mainstream, the last 12 months have seen the Nigerian, whose given name is Oluwatosin Ajibade, collaborate with talents such as Beyoncé, Colombian singer J Balvin and Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, making his debut appearance at Coachella; and launching…

The Cape Peninsula is set to become an arts mecca as artists, gallerists, curators and collectors from South Africa, other parts of the African continent and abroad gather for a convergence of two culturally significant art events. For art lovers, the combined experience of the returning Investec Cape Town Art Fair and the inaugural Stellenbosch Triennale will offer a wide-ranging platform to explore works by great and emerging artists. The Investec Cape Town Art Fair returns to the International Convention Centre (ICC) for its eighth edition, with the aim of getting artists and curators from around the globe to engage in cultural and economic exchanges. Cape Town is ideally positioned as a vibrant cultural hub, attracting collectors from all over the world, willing to spend a good buck on art.…

Last week, we touched on the first encounter that the Matabele had with the Boers. Over the next 10 years, the Matabele lost battle after battle with the Boers. Mzilikazi had made many other enemies and, in 1837, Barolong under Chief Moroko, Griqua under Peter Davids and Batlokwa under Chief Sekonyela all joined with the Boers under Gerrit Maritz and Hendrik Potgieter to march against the Matabele. Attacked again and again, the Matabele retreated further and further north. Mzilikazi and his defeated army veered off to the west and into Botswana, while Gudwane led a group of Matabele on a destructive path through the relatively peaceful Bapedi, Bavenda and Lobedu settlements. When two seasons had passed, Gudwane was pestered to proclaim a new Matabele chief, but instead sent a search…

ANC chairperson and the minister of energy and mineral resources, Gwede Mantashe, has called for beleaguered carrier SAA to be shut down if it cannot sustain itself. Speaking at the governing party’s 108th birthday celebrations in Komga, Eastern Cape, Mantashe said there was no reason for the state-owned airline to keep receiving bailouts if it was unable to function on its own. “As government, we have a duty to ensure that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) deliver on both the developmental and financial mandate,” he said. “SOEs cannot expect to be bailed out over and over again. All the time they run to Tito [Mboweni, the finance minister] to give them money. They must generate a developmental mandate and sustain themselves.” He said the national carrier, which was not even servicing the…

The digital space is evolving: Companies are using influencers as brand advocates because they have the power to engage with fans and to drive conversation with the desired audience. That is why many brands are jumping on to the influencer-marketing bandwagon. But you don’t have to be a celebrity to have a huge following on social media. Instagram influencer and make-up artist Mihlali Ndamase (23) and Muvhango actress Buhle Samuels (30) are living proof that if you are consistent with the content you create, you attract more brands and followers on social media. Ndamase and Samuels are the new “it girls” who have taken social media by storm. They have something in common: A huge following on Instagram. And they have taken advantage of their smartphones to create content that…

The department of correctional services is claiming R165 000 from the tyre service chain Supa Quick, after one of its trucks was stolen while parked outside the company’s premises in Silverton, Pretoria. In papers filed in the Pretoria High Court, Supa Quick admits that the Nissan 50 Cabstar UD35 truck was stolen, but denies that it was negligent. Two correctional services officials took the vehicle to Supa Quick to have a defective battery checked. The officials claim that they were told to park outside because another vehicle was blocking the entrance. They then handed the keys over to Supa Quick and left the truck there. When they returned, they received an invoice for R684 for the battery, but there was no sign of the truck. In its claim against Supa…

“This came at the right time. It’s escapism and I can leave everything behind to focus on my work – something which I love to do.” This is how actress Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa reacted after landing a role on Mzansi Magic’s telenovela, Isibaya. Mlotshwa is picking up the pieces, focusing on her work and being a great mother to her two sons after a rough 2019 which was dominated by her much-publicised divorce from Nkosinathi “DJ Black Coffee” Maphumulo. The 31-year-old, who made her debut on the show on Thursday night, plays vixen Sizakele Sibiya. She is acting alongside veteran actor Hamilton Dlamini, who plays her father, Andile Sibiya, on-screen. The TV personality described Sizakele as a slay queen who has brains. “She is very unapologetic, passive and strong. It…

The health department, which claims that it is ready to roll out one of the most far-reaching and expensive health initiatives inthe history of South Africa, appears unable to provide a “healthy” working environment for its own personnel. Since September 2018, hundreds of employees at the department’s Civitas building in Pretoria have refused to enter it after it was declared unsafe and unhealthy. Every morning they arrive for work and gather in the lobby where they wait until 11am before leaving. Zweli Mkhize, the minister of health, has now ordered the department to find an alternative office urgently, although it is unclear how long this will take. The labour department declared the building unsafe in October 2018. At the time, City Press’ sister publication, Rapport, reported that the building complied…

The trail of how R134 million “erroneously” transferred into the Bojanala District Municipality’s bank account disappeared on the same day and was used to pay off service providers could be contained in the municipal’s ledger account. The ledger ostensibly shows how millions were used to pay for catering and the clearing of illegal dumping sites when the municipality was too broke to even pay its workers. Despite being broke, the municipality appears to have spared no expense – paying millions of rands on what was recorded in its ledger as bills for catering for events as well as for the clearing of illegal dumping sites. Payments for these services, which raised eyebrows because of the challenges the municipality was facing at the time, with some areas in the area experiencing…

2015/16 Absa Premiership Overall ranking: 16th* Automatic relegation 2016/17 NFD Overall ranking: 10th Finished seven points from the relegation zone 2017/18 NFD Overall ranking: 3rd (Play-off berth) Contested the PSL promotion/relegation play-offs but were beaten to promotion by Black Leopards 2018/19 NFD Overall ranking: 13th Evaded demotion by a point 2019/20 NFD (renamed GladAfrica Championship) Current ranking: 14th 10 league games remaining *Rankings reflect the seasons since Cosmos got relegated from the premier division four years ago Compiled by Daniel Mothowagae THEUNS KRUGER, Graphics24…

Safa is hoping that its dispute with the PSL over the multimillion-rand match officials’ sponsorship deal will be resolved during an arbitration meeting that is scheduled to take place later this month. The matter is set down for February 28 following a protracted dispute that exploded after Safa unveiled a R50 million five-year sponsorship deal with OUTsurance in September 2018. The start of the Nedbank Cup Last 32 this week served as a reminder of the ongoing stand-off as the referees were banned from officiating in the insurance services company’s branded kits in any of the Ke Yona competition matches, as well as in the Absa Premiership matches. The PSL contends that the deal with the insurance company is in direct conflict with the rights of Nedbank and Absa because…

The Pietermaritzburg High Court has stirred up a hornet’s nest by questioning a medical note submitted by former president Jacob Zuma’s lawyers and by subsequently deciding to issue a warrant of arrest, which has been stayed until the next court appearance. The court was not convinced by the note, which had date alterations and was vague. Latent Zuma supporters, who have been lying low for a while now, were galvanised to issue a cacophony of similar press statements about how courts had humiliated Zuma and how he had fought for freedom but was now treated as if he were an outcast. They accused the courts of abusing their power to target Zuma. Amid the anger and outrage, a few things are being missed. One is that it is the work…

Pomp and luxury UDM MP Nqaba Kwankwa has been living it up in Kenya where he is visiting. He even commented that he was an MP for the wrong country since MPs there have a driver, a bodyguard, a PA, a researcher, a communication assistant etc. But Kenyans who saw the tweet came down on him like a ton of bricks. Had he even seen the areas which the pampered MPs were supposed to look after, they asked him. How can he praise such wastage? Has he seen how poor Africans are suffering under the useless MPs he was praising? Kwankwa was forced to go back and hide under the rock he came from. King of U-turns Two weeks after making a humiliating about-turn on his decision to suspend Tshwane…

Former president Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is ill and can’t appear before the state capture commission which he was instructed to set up by the courts after alleging that the Public Protector’s recommendations were not binding; that’s the word from The Mud House, also known as Nkandla. And this week, he also said he is too ill to appear before a criminal court that is supposed to determine whether he is innocent or guilty. The Mud House says Zuma’s problems started when his estranged wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli, allegedly poisoned him, a charge which failed to stick and resulted in a withdrawal of charges by the National Prosecuting Authority. And, with this rumour of Zuma’s Cuban hospitalisation being nothing but a false flag operation, South Africans are left wondering if he, eyeing…

All comments from citypress.co.za Pollen Veeh There are no criminal charges here, she was arrested by the Hawks so that she does not contest as ANC regional chairperson. If not, why do they always postpone her case? Don’t you investigate and arrest? They arrested her before investigating. Skhokho Groovein By having “criminal charges hanging over her head” she has added more qualifications for any top ANC position, even being the party president. That’s how the ANC operates. Charles Rantz Shows all of us, those who can see the reality, that the ANC is not honest about fighting corruption. Mzukisi Qholosha She will obviously emerge victorious. The Hawks made her a sacrificial lamb. They charged her when they had zero evidence against her instead of bringing a watertight case, if ever…

‘Once a person has learnt to read at school, there is no limit to how much he or she can grow in knowledge and the power to use it. ‘I only went to school as far as Standard 5 (Grade 7),’ someone will complain in order to explain why he or she is backward – a flimsy excuse.” Although they were published 31 years ago, these words, penned by the late professor Es’kia Mphahlele for the 1989 August issue of Tribute magazine, are still relevant and continue echoing with immense positive impact on a generation of current readers. This is the quality associated with timeless writers. Their writings inspire and transmogrify everyone who reads them, irrespective of age and colour. Most of the country’s social ills and upheavals are attributed…

There is no sugar-coating it: South Africa’s economy faces a tough year, and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have forecast GDP growth of below 1% for the year. Many large businesses have announced they will imminently retrench thousands of workers, but, under the right conditions, small businesses could help close those gaps. To drive inclusive economic growth, we need to develop and grow our vibrant, resilient small business sector. Bensch is the executive vice-president of Sage in Africa and the Middle East…

“When it comes to social upliftment, we are all aware of the challenges we are facing from municipalities. How do we build on the right terms with the right skills to work with a local community?” Pressures that emerged during the 2016 Paris Agreement to reduce carbon emissions, as well as requirements from the growing impact investment sector, are pushing mining companies to clean up their act and implement environmental, social and governance standards in the industry. Environmental, social and governance issues, as well as the need to reduce carbon emissions, were a theme headlining presentations and panel discussions during the four days of the Investing in African Mining Indaba, which took place in Cape Town this week. The term “impact investing” emerged in 2007 and referred to measuring the…

The countdown has begun towards the “go-live” date of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on 1 July 2020, which will potentially be a game changer for the continent, with its consumer market of 1.2 billion people with a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion (R37 trillion). The agreement establishing the AfCFTA is not only creating the biggest trade agreement since the World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in 1995, but also taking the most significant step towards economic integration for African economies. It will create a single continental market for goods and services (with free movement of businesspeople and investments), expand intra-Africa trade across the regional economic communities, and enhance the competitiveness of African economies. The establishment of the AfCFTA is one of the African Union’s (AU’s) Agenda 2063…

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is exacting a “crippling” economic toll on many countries, the UN said this week, as it launched a tool to help countries calculate the cost of treating girls and women harmed by the practice. An estimated 200 million girls and women worldwide have undergone the procedure, which causes a host of mental and physical health problems – including haemorrhaging, chronic infections, cysts and life-threatening childbirth complications. The World Health Organisation (WHO) calculated that it would cost $1.4 billion (R21 billion) a year to treat all resultant medical needs. “FGM is not only a catastrophic abuse of human rights that significantly harms ... millions of girls and women, it is also a drain on a country’s vital economic resources,” said Ian Askew, director of the department of…

It’s no secret that we are facing tough economic times. We have to deal with the rising fuel prices, electricity cuts and the high cost of living. But despite all these challenges, households can still save money if they become more conscious of how they spend. Here are some techniques to help you save in tough times: START ASIDE HUSTLE 1 There are two ways in which you can achieve a financial goal. One is to look into your current budget and cut where you can. The second is to do something to earn extra income. The tough economic climate puts a lot of pressure on salaries, making living on one source of income strenuous. Starting a side hustle does not have to be capital intensive, it could simply be…

The inaugural Stellenbosch Triennale features the On The Cusp exhibition, underpinned by the same criteria of giving young and emerging artists a break. “It is important that at the time of the invitation, the artists were living on the continent and were ‘on the cusp’ of something big in their careers,” said contemporary Ghanaian curator Bernard Akoi-Jackson. The opportunity also offers artists a chance to “pick mentors from among those in the so-called Curators’ Exhibition”, added Akoi-Jackson. “Having my artwork shown at the Stellenbosch Triennale is a great opportunity. I’m most looking forward to the networking – the possibility of meeting people from different parts of the African continent, especially in the contemporary African art scene,” said Angolan photographer Indira Mateta, who features in On The Cusp. “I’m looking forward…

Les Misérables The film explores false utopias that could easily fall apart at the seams. It also reflects what we experience in South Africa – a rainbow nation that is, ironically, one of the most violent and unequal societies in the world. – Moroetsana Serame Bad Boys for Life Seeing Will Smith and Martin Lawrence looking old and catching so many beat downs was weird and didn’t make sense, even though ageing is just part of life. The pair had a believable charm about them when they were younger. – Phumlani S Langa Dolittle This is trying to be several movies in one. If it were a dessert, it would be more like abanana split than a perfect soufflé. It’s sweet, light and fun, but not exquisite in its execution.…

Former SA Revenue Service executives Ivan Pillay, Andries Janse van Rensburg and Johan van Loggerenberg have lauded National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Shamila Batohi and her team for ending their “misery”. But they did not rule out the possibility of suing the state for the suffering caused by the decision by former National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shaun Abrahams to have them criminally charged. The trio were accused of having illegally spied on communication at the NPA headquarters during the trial of late police commissioner Jackie Selebi in an operation dubbed Project Sunday Evenings. “At long last justice has prevailed … Hopefully this is the turning point that people have been waiting for,” said their jubilant lawyer Bernard Hotz yesterday. Hotz was responsible for submitting a 3500-page review application…

”People can’t come here, harass you, intimidate you and get away with murder. If these are corrective measures that are being taken against the staff members, what about the union reps [representatives Ntola, Mathonsi and Maseko]?” South Africa’s largest teacher union, the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), is allegedly using its dominance at teachers’ registrar the SA Council for Educators (Sace) to crush a smaller rival union formed by its former president, Thobile Ntola. An audio recording of a Sace executive committee meeting, held in February last year, shows how Sadtu president Magope Maphila gave instructions to the council to deal with Ntola’s union, the SA Liberated Public Sector Workers’ Union (Salipswu). When confronted with the content of the recorded meeting this week, Sadtu threatened to have the City Press…

Claims of racism at Wits University’s medical school have resurfaced amid a probe into allegations that black medical students falsified their portfolio marks. The management’s decision to exonerate a white student, whose name is known to City Press, has sparked claims that the university’s medical school was targeting black students. City Press understands that six black students, who were expected to graduate last year, could not do so after their final results were withheld pending the outcome of the investigation. The six were studying towards a three-year Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice degree. This is not the first time students in this programme have been involved in similar allegations. In 2015, 24 students faced a similar investigation after they were accused of misrepresenting their marks. Wits University did not respond…

An amount of R19.6 million that an alleged syndicate of corrupt municipal officials in Limpopo has siphoned since last November is just the tip of the iceberg, says Mayor Stan Ramaila, adding that tens of millions of rands are suspected to have vanished. The Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality in Groblersdal had a few incidents of money being stolen in small amounts of R5.4 million, R12 million and R2.2 million since last year, but Ramaila is certain that more missing millions will be detected through his corruption-busting efforts. Last July officials deposited R5.4 million in two tranches of R4.5 million and R900 000 into wrong accounts. The Hawks have since frozen the accounts and R4.7 million has been recovered. Officials had also deposited R1 million instalments for 12 months last year…

The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has announced that ifthe DA, which has 84 seats in the National Assembly, succeeded in pushing through a motion to start proceedings to remove Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane from office then it too will garner enough votes to launch its own motion of no confidence against President Cyril Ramaphosa. The ATM, which only has two seats in the 400-member National Assembly, faces a near impossible task to get the majority needed for the motion to pass. Party leader Vuyolwethu Zungula is, however, undeterred, and on Friday told City Press: “When you act inthe best interest of the people then you can be positive that your argument will find resonance with other parties. So this argument that we only have two seats inParliament does not hold…

With the majority of the international summer season spent looking for signs that didn’t come, the Proteas find themselves in a position to fashion a result they couldn’t have expected in today’s third and final ODI against England at Wanderers Stadium. For awhile, the Proteas had been looking for evidence that they were emerging from a rotten run of form last year, which saw them unable to buy a win in tests and enduring their worst World Cup in history. But, by losing the four-test series against England 3-1 after the false dawn of winning the first, they can’t have expected to be the ones with their nose ahead going into the third and final ODI – also known as the Pink ODI – in Johannesburg today. The reasons Quinton…

BROKEN OR EQUALLED • Best PL start after 25 games Liverpool – 73 points (2019/20) Manchester City – 68 points (2017/18) • Most consecutive PL home wins Liverpool – 20 wins (2019/20) Manchester City – 20 wins (March 2011 to March 2012) ACHIEVABLE • Fewest PL defeats in a season Liverpool – 0 losses (2019/20) Arsenal – 0 losses (2003/04) Liverpool can only equal record • Longest period in the PL without a defeat Liverpool need to get to June 23 without a loss. Arsenal were undefeated for 537 days (May 2003 to October 2004) • Longest PL run without a defeat Liverpool – 37 games (2019/20) Arsenal – 49 games (May 2003 to October 2004) • Most PL points in a season Liverpool – 73 points (2019/20) Manchester City…

Pep Guardiola has played down suggestions that Lionel Messi could join him at Manchester City, and believes the forward will end his playing days at Barcelona. Messi (32) has spent his career with Barca, but has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave for free this summer. Guardiola coached Messi at Camp Nou between 2008 and 2012, winning three La Ligas and two Champions Leagues. “He will stay there [at Barca]; that’s my wish,” said the City boss. Guardiola left Barca for Bayern Munich after becoming their most successful manager with 14 trophies in four seasons. He went on to win three successive league titles in Germany and has won the Premier League for the past two seasons with City, though they trail Liverpool by 22 points…

Orlando Pirates’ hotshot Gabadinho Mhango has not only earned himself instant hero status at the Soweto powerhouse, but his goal-scoring exploits have not been achieved in local football since 2012. With his feat of eight goals in five successive matches between December 21 and January 18, Mhango equalled the best-scoring sequence record set by Siyabonga “Bhele” Nomvethe for Moroka Swallows eight years ago. Nomvethe’s eight goals in a run of four matches towards the end of the 2011/12 season catapulted Swallows to a second-place finish, and the veteran striker scooped four major individual awards to cap a remarkable season. ‘Mhango’s excellence could result in his winning this season’s top-scorer gong’ Before Bhele, another former Swallows striker, James Chamanga, netted eight goals in three consecutive games in the 2007/08 campaign. The…

CVC Capital Partners, the private equity firm that has already unsettled World Rugby with the big-money deals it has signed with the Six Nations and the English Premiership, is said to be in talks with SA Rugby about a similar deal. The details about the proposed agreement are still scarce, what with SA Rugby having decided to keep the contents of the negotiations away from its own shareholders, the rugby unions. But if CVC’s buying into the Six Nations and the Premiership to the tune of £300 million (R5.8 billion) and £200 million, respectively, is anything to go by, this is the kind of deal that should set South African rugby up for the foreseeable future. Several senior officials in the game have admitted to being aware of the talks,…

Labour has often been accused of being stubbornly opposed to any move to restructure state-owned enterprises, for its high-pitched criticism and little constructive input. So when Cosatu this week called for Eskom’s debt to be pared down using funds from the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) – a not-shabby amount of R254 billion – one might be forgiven for being taken aback. But was it really constructive? The proposal, which has resulted in a flurry of activity with social partners at the National Economic Development and Labour Council, comes with certain conditions. Eskom cannot cut any jobs and it cannot be “privatised”. Privatisation, in Cosatu’s understanding, includes the proposed unbundling of the entity into three streams. This raises questions: What is the value proposition here? How does it benefit a bloated…

Like many South Africans, I have a pretty significant commute every day to work and home again. And it occurred to me that, although South Africans are fairly used to the odd traffic light being on the blink – or now not blinking at all, thanks to Eskom – the four-way stop has almost become the norm. The trouble with this is that the majority of South African drivers have absolutely no idea how this works and think it is an elaborate game of chicken. The nature of South Africans might be ubuntu, but that goes out with the carbon dioxide when any South African gets behind the wheel. The first traffic signal was installed – according to various Google accounts – outside the Houses of Parliament in London on…

South Africa’s Greatest Bowlers: Past and Present by Ali Bacher and David Williams Penguin Books 198 pages R260 Bowlers sometimes tend to get the dirty end of the stick when it comes to cricket. Maybe it’s because spectators prefer to see swashbuckling sixes, to hear leather being thumped by willow or to see the exquisite sight of a perfectly timed cover drive. In South Africa, however, we have the utmost respect for bowlers, especially those fast and feisty ones who get into the batter’s face, who make the batter hop, skip and jump, and who wear every emotion on their Protea-emblazoned sleeves. It’s only fitting then that Ali Bacher and David Williams came together for a third time to finally release their book South Africa’s Greatest Bowlers: Past and Present.…

It appears that South Africans’ preference for all things sweet will see Treasury exceed what it expected to collect in taxes on sugary drinks. The state’s total income from taxation on sugary drinks in 2018/19 was R3.25 billion. Taxation on locally produced sugary drinks comprises R3.2 billion of this amount – R1.32 billion more than government expected to collect when the so-called sugar tax was introduced in April 2018. This is according to information contained in the latest taxation statistics from Treasury and the SA Revenue Service (Sars) for the 2019/20 financial year. The purpose of introducing the tax was to help fight diabetes, obesity and other related illnesses. However, various industry role players say the tax has done little to change consumer behaviour – and is constraining the sugar…

This is a leap year, so February 29 marks the end of the financial year. All information up to this date will be included in your 2019/20 tax return – including all tax deductions. Before the end of the month, do the following: . Top-up your retirement fund by investing up to 27.5% of your income tax-free to a maximum of R350 000. It is a great way to reduce your tax burden and secure your retirement at the same time. . Use your R33 000 tax-free yearly savings allowance. If you haven’t already maximised this benefit, pay in a lump sum before the end of the month. . Write down your odometer reading if you claim for travel expenses for business purposes. You also need to keep a log…

1 SAMSUNG GALAXY A51 Samsung unveiled the Galaxy A51 recently with brand ambassador Cassper Nyovest, who has been the face of the A Series since last year. The mid-range handset offers excellent value and includes features that the company felt were what consumers wanted most: long-lasting battery life, a better camera and a bigger screen. The result is four rear cameras featuring 48+5+5MP lenses and a 12MP ultra-wide; and a whopping 32MP selfie camera. During our tests, we found that pictures were pretty good, including the 5MP macrolens and selfie-cam, but lowlight images were average. It has a Live Focus mode for portraits, which lets you control the level of blur seen on flagships, and works well. The 16.5-cm screen has an Infinity-O display with a camera cutout, giving…

Black Tax BET (DStv channel 129) Tuesdays, 9.30pm When the “wokening” gripped South Africa a few years ago, things picked up steam with the politically correct power rangers popping up on every corner with the buzz phrase “black tax”. You must have heard it by now. The Urban Dictionary defines black tax as the extra money that black professionals are expected to give every month to support their less fortunate families and relatives. It is quite an obstacle for young black people as Thuli Dlamini finds out in this show. In the burbs, we meet a young professional and single mother of one. Thuli and her daughter are living the South African dream. Thuli works in the city as an estate agent and her daughter, Sihle is at a model…

Meet the Browns (2008) BET (DStv channel 129) Sunday, 8pm A single mum takes her family to Georgia for her father’s funeral, though she had not met him before he died. There, her clan is introduced to the crass, fun-loving Brown family. Monster-in-Law (2011) M-Net Movies All Stars (DStv channel 111) Wednesday, 8pm Charlotte, played by J-Lo, finally finds the man of her dreams and agrees to marry him. However, things get out of hand when his mother tries to ruin their relationship. We Belong Together (2019) BET (DStv channel 129) Thursday, 8pm A recovering alcoholic professor tries to put his life back together, but meets a seductive student who offers him an escape from reality.…