Innholdsfortegnelse for 3/8/2020 i City Press

news@citypress.co.za Despite government’s appeals for calm in the face of the country’s first two confirmed cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19), South Africa is still gripped by panic, fear and hysteria. Two people – one person in KwaZulu-Natal and one in Gauteng – have tested positive for the virus, which has infected more than 103 000 people and claimed more than 3 500 lives around the world. Most of the deaths have been in China, but the virus has spread rapidly in Europe, Asia, Australasia and North America in the past fortnight. So far, there have been no deaths recorded in Africa, where several countries have confirmed infections. In South Africa, government is pulling out all the stops to contain the virus, including designating specialist hospitals for quarantine and treatment. It…

As the country grapples with its preparedness to deal with the coronavirus, which was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December – and has already affected more than 103 000 people and killed more than 3 500 worldwide – local epidemiologists say plans were put in place in readiness for an epidemic of this nature more than 10 years ago. In December 2017, the coronavirus became a notifiable condition and was gazetted under the “Regulations relating to the surveillance and the control of notifiable medical conditions”, along with 21 other diseases – only, it did not yet have a name. It was listed under number 18 as a “respiratory disease caused by a novel respiratory pathogen”. A footnote explained that examples of novel respiratory pathogens included novel influenza A virus…

King Goodwill Zwelithini (pictured) and the royal household have emerged as the main casualties of the belt-tightening measures applied by the KwaZulu-Natal government, announced during the presentation of the provincial budget on Friday. Refurbishments of the eight royal palaces and the acquisition of a vehicle for one of the queens will be put on ice until possibly the mid-term adjustment later in the year, and this too is likely to depend on whether the province’s financial position improves or not. Senior KwaZulu-Natal treasury official Nelly Shezi, alongside provincial head Simiso Magagula, told a media briefing at the Royal Show Grounds in Pietermaritzburg on Friday that treasury had moved to arrest runaway expenditure and ensure value for money in all areas of government expenditure, including checking whether items presented for funding…

A former chief executive officer (CEO) of a state-owned mining company who was implicated in a controversial transaction to buy a liquidated Gupta mine for a whopping R1 billion, has, after a disciplinary process, been banned from occupying any senior positions at state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The former African Exploration Mining and Finance Company (AEMFC) head, Sizwe Madondo, has been found guilty on several charges, including dishonesty, nepotism and failing to act in the interests of the company. The ban was imposed last week by Advocate Nazeer Cassim SC, who was chairing the disciplinary hearing. “These findings [should] be forwarded to the relevant authorities to ensure Madondo is not given a position as a senior employee in any other SOE, otherwise there is no deterrence to wrongdoing,” Cassim said. Cassim also…

In the heat of the moment, a frustrated lecturer sent an SMS to her superior, implying that she slept her way to the top almost three years ago. As a result of that “sex slur”, Nokhuthala Siqwayi, a maths and accounting lecturer whose expertise is much-needed in the education sector, lost her job. Details of Siqwayi’s SMS to her superior, whose name is known to City Press, are laid bare in the ruling issued last month by the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), a bargaining council serving the public education sector, confirming her dismissal. She was fired in 2018 by the KwaZulu-Natal department of education for alleged misconduct in 2017. On December 5 2018, she appealed her dismissal at the ELRC, on the grounds that it was unfair. But, last…

When he answers the call for this interview, Oliver Zono is ensconced in the warmth of his apartment in the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. The digs, which are provided by his premier division club Krasny Yar, have proven to be an island of respite from the bitter cold that grips the city in the Russian winter. Temperatures can plunge to as low as -26°C, but, on Wednesday, Zono cheerfully reported that it had thawed to a balmy -1°C. Zono’s braving the cold to play professional rugby is the reality of a growing number of South African players who have been sent to Siberia by the shrinking numbers in the professional ranks at home – many of them head to Russia because they can’t break into the lucrative European…

At the outset, let me state quite unambiguously that I have no axe to grind with anyone, but the PSL disciplinary committee’s recent decision sends out the message to players and clubs that referees can be verbally abused and physically assaulted, and the perpetrators will get away with it. The case I’m referring to is the behaviour of two Bidvest Wits players, Ricardo Goss and Sameehg Doutie, who were charged with assaulting referee Masixole Bambiso in a heated Absa Premiership game against Cape Town City. The two, with some of their colleagues – who also didn’t cover themselves in glory – were clearly seen verbally abusing and physically pushing the referee because they disputed a decision that he had made against their team. In fact, the footage shows one player…

FEBRUARY 8 2018 Nedbank Cup last 32 Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 Royal Eagles (FNB Stadium) GladAfrica Championship campaigners Eagles looked set to take the dull game to extra time but Manyama popped up in the 70th minute as he turned two defenders before flicking the ball over the advancing keeper to send Chiefs into the last 16 AUGUST 4 Absa Premiership Highlands Park 2-3 Kaizer Chiefs (Makhulong Stadium) Manyama headed it home from a Kearyn Baccus cross five minutes into Amakhosi’s opening league match of the season and later tapped in an equaliser in the 50th minute. Amakhosi defender Mulomowandau Mathoho fired the winner less than 10 minutes from the end SEPTEMBER 28 Absa Premiership Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 Baroka FC (FNB Stadium) Manyama’s tap-in from a rebound in the 39th minute…

“We end up losing the game [because of] the same player – and I am going to say it – he cost us the whole season. He has cost us two goals again tonight [Saturday]. It’s unacceptable.” This is what Gavin Hunt said after Bidvest Wits’ 2-0 loss to SuperSport United last weekend. As much as I respect Hunt for being honest and forthright, I don’t agree with him at all regarding how he handled the situation. No matter how angry you are, this is not how you address your player/s. You don’t condemn him publicly like Hunt did to Sifiso Hlanti. What is even more unacceptable is Hunt’s rant about how Hlanti cost his team the season. Who put the defender in the team in the first place? It’s…

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS Absa premiership Baroka FC 2-0 Black Leopards English Premiership Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth Arsenal 1-0 West Ham Sheffield United 1-0 Norwich City Wolves 0-0 Brighton Southampton 0-1 Newcastle United Crystal Palace 1-0 Watford TODAY’S FIXTURES Absa Premiership Highlands Park vs SuperSport United (Makhulong Stadium, 3.30pm); Cape Town City vs Bloemfontein Celtic (Athlone Stadium, 3.30pm) English Premiership Chelsea vs Everton (Stamford Bridge, 4pm); Manchester United vs Manchester City (Old Trafford, 6.30pm) Women’s T20 World Cup Final: Australia vs India (Melbourne Cricket Ground, 10am)…

The parents of Enock Mpianzi must have been stunned when they found out the contents of the forensic report into his death. The 13-year-old was swept away in the Crocodile River while attending a Grade 8 orientation camp at Nyati Bush and Riverbreak Lodge near Brits in North West on January 15. The report, which was made public this week, found that both Parktown Boys’ High School and the campsite were liable for his death. The levels of negligence detailed in the report are astounding. The report found that the river was overflowing – a metre higher than normal – yet neither the camp nor the teachers ensured that pupils were wearing life jackets. It said that teachers had no control – they were late for the camp activities and…

The last woman dropped out of the presidential race in the US this week, leaving two old guys to slug it out and giving us further proof that the world is far from ready to change. In her statement last month ahead of International Women’s Day this week, UN Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka noted: “Another priority target for our impatience is the lack of women at the tables of power. A proven solution is to introduce legally binding quotas for women’s representation. Nearly 80 countries have already successfully done so, and a few states have gender-balanced Cabinets and explicitly feminist policies. This is a desirable trend that we need to see more of in both public and private sectors, where, overall, the proportion of women in managerial positions remains…

Last Saturday, the opportunity for public comment on the proposed amendment of section 25 of the Constitution, dealing with the question of land expropriation without compensation, came to a close. The proposed amendment was an election rallying cry for some parties. In our 2019 election manifesto, the newly formed Good party said: “A section 25 constitutional amendment is not required: government already expropriates land, and section 25 already allows for zero compensation where appropriate.” The EFF championed the idea that the Constitution needed amending to enable land reform to happen. This idea dominated our politics, without much thought for what the Constitution already provided. So, we are now on the cusp of a constitutional amendment. It is not clear whether the ANC jumped on the land expropriation without compensation bandwagon…

Limpopo Premier Chupu Mathabatha has directed the MEC for cooperative governance, housing and traditional affairs to facilitate engagements with the department of water and sanitation, and all water authority entities and municipalities to review poor service delivery mechanisms regarding the delivery of water. This comes as the province aims to address the challenges of delivering water to communities. Last month, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu made R143 million available for drought relief in Moutse. “The commitment of R143 million will go a long way towards addressing water challenges in Moutse, Motetema and surrounding areas,” said Mathabatha. “Notwithstanding these positive developments, we are still not comfortable with the status of water service delivery and infrastructure in the province,” said the premier. However, he indicated that progress was being made regarding…

Makhosazana Xaba co-edited the first edition of Queer Africa: New and Collected Fiction (2013) which won the 26th Lambda Literary Award for the fiction anthology category in 2014. She is the author of two poetry collections: These Hands (2005 and a second edition in 2017) and Tongues of their Mothers (2008). Her poetry has been anthologised extensively and translated into Italian, Mandarin and Turkish. In 2014 she was nominated for the poetry category of the Mbokodo Awards. Her third collection will be published shortly. She is the author of Running and other stories (2013), which won the SA Literary Awards’ Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award in 2014. She is pursuing her PhD at Rhodes University as a Mellon Scholar.…

Eastern Cape Finance MEC Mlungisi Mvoko has painted a bleak picture of the province’s economy amid the highest recorded unemployment rate in the country and a shrinking equitable share of funding from national government due to migration. Mvoko was delivering his budget speech for the year 2020/21 at the legislature in Bhisho on Thursday afternoon – and there was little to cheer about. The MEC said that, due to the declining economic growth, the provincial equitable share of funds was negatively affected, and the province lost R960 million during this year’s medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) due to fiscal reductions initiated by national government. “We also lost R2.4 billion during this year’s MTEF due to updates of new data in the provincial equitable share [PES] formula. The updates in the PES…

WATCH THIS TENSE THRILLER Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman) is a former special operations soldier working as an informant for the FBI to help dismantle the Polish mafia’s drug trade in New York. But when the FBI’s operation goes wrong, resulting in the death of an undercover cop in New York, Koslow is coerced into returning to Bale Hill, the prison he previously served time in for manslaughter, to take down the cartel from the inside. A tense, action-packed crime thriller with a strong emotional core, The Informer is based on Tre Sekunder AKA Three Seconds, a Swedish novel by the crime writing team of journalist Anders Roslund and the late Börge Hellström, a former criminal turned author. We are giving 10 lucky readers double movie tickets to any 2-D movie…

The Equalizer 2 (2019) M-Net (DStv channel 101) Sunday, 8.05pm Denzel Washington reprises his role as the hard vigilante Robert McCall. This time he is pushed to his limit when he seeks justice and revenge for someone he loved and lost. Best of the Best II (1993) e.tv (DStv channel 194) Friday, 10pm Alex Grady and his partner, Tommy Lee, turn their karate talents toward crime fighting. An illegal fighting club, headed by Weldon, is a centre for crime and criminals. Alex and Tommy decide to take it down but first they have to fight their way through Brakus, the big evil, and his growth protein-engorged posse. Support The Girls (2018) Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161) Saturday, 10.30pm Regina Hall plays an optimistic manager of a Hooters-type bar, who is…

Former SABC chief operating officer Chris Maroleng wants a whopping R16 million or his job back. This ultimatum is contained in his court papers filed at the Johannesburg Labour Court this week. He is challenging his sacking for misconduct in April last year. Maroleng, who was fired less than a year after succeeding Hlaudi Motsoeneng, is now in a tug-of-war with the public broadcaster over his dismissal. In his court papers, which City Press’ sister publication Sunday Sun has seen, an aggrieved Maroleng is demanding payment for the remainder of his four-year contract. He also casts a shadow on the process which led to his dismissal. He accuses the SABC of dropping the ball by not affording him the right to appeal an allegedly questionable disciplinary process. “The unlawful and…

The DA has followed through on its threat to take legal action against a decision made by the Gauteng government’s executive committee to place the City of Tshwane under administration. While the ANC and the EFF welcomed this decision, the DA has questioned whether it was legal and whether the correct processes were taken in reaching it. The DA also said it would fight for its survival in the municipality that it has led since the 2016 local elections. “The [court] papers are being drafted. We have also written to the MEC as he has not followed the correct procedure,” DA interim leader John Steenhuisen told City Press. In a letter sent on Thursday to Gauteng Premier David Makhura and the provincial MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Lebogang…

Fresh from showcasing his latest collection, Dragon’s Den, at Paris Fashion Week, local designer Quiteria Kekana has questioned the level of support South Africans give to creatives. Speaking to City Press from Paris, France he said: “We need to learn because some of the stuff leads to black-on-black hate and, now, I am in a city where people celebrate my work.” He presented his creations in Place Vendôme last weekend, saying they represented his rise to success after his struggle with depression. His solo show was live-streamed.…

The process to pave the way for social partners to give government the go-ahead to tap into the Government Employees’ Pension Fund (GEPF) as a last-ditch attempt to rescue Eskom is gathering steam, with trade federation Cosatu announcing that the process currently hinges on essential details being ironed out between invested partners. Cosatu’s parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks this week said: “We should be able to finalise the Eskom social compact framework agreement in the next few weeks.” Parks told City Press that Cosatu and a team tasked by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) were busy enriching Eskom’s social compact framework agreement so that it would appeal to those who were in a position to greenlight the plan. “We have made huge progress in our engagements with social…

The Sharks backed up their handsome return of three wins from four matches from their Australasian tour with a well-deserved victory against the Jaguares in Durban yesterday. In beating last year’s Super Rugby runners-up, the Durban side went to the top of the South African and overall conference standings, thanks to their fifth win in six games, with 20 points. That said, they might feel they could have won with a bonus point had they not lost their focus and their grip on the game in the final stages. Going into the game, the big question hanging over the Sharks was whether their pack of forwards would stand up to their international rugby playing-level counterparts in the set pieces and contain the Jaguares’ notorious driving maul. As it turned out,…

SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) acting chief executive Ravi Govender has told participants that there will be no space for disruption as the embattled federation heads into its general election later this month. The build-up to the March 28 poll to elect a new board has been marred by allegations of intimidation, notably the public spat between interim chair Barry Hendricks and renowned sports administrator Ntambi Ravele. Hendricks denied any wrongdoing and has since emerged as one of those vying for the vacant Sascoc presidency, after Gideon Sam stepped down in December after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. The nominations have not been made public, but Hendricks confirmed that he was standing and so was his fierce rival, Athletics SA president Aleck Skhosana. East London-based sports…

On the eve of last year’s polls, a little-known civil society organisation – the New Nation Movement (NNM) – attempted to halt the elections in the Constitutional Court. It argued that the Electoral Act was unconstitutional because it prevented independent candidates from contesting elections at national and provincial levels. While the effort to halt the elections was unsuccessful due to a lack of urgency, the Constitutional Court heard substantive arguments on the matter in August. Judgment is expected soon, and we should all be watching closely. Many South Africans are unaware of this case, or of the fact that, if successful, the ramifications of this judgment will send shock waves through our political system. Our voters have grown increasingly disillusioned. A judgment in the NNM’s favour has the potential to…

If the DA wasn’t so obsessed about not being obsessed about race, the party’s latest policy proposals on economic redress would be quite attractive. Released a week ago for discussion and debate ahead of the DA’s policy congress next month, the document spells out the party’s vision for dealing with inequality. Economic Justice: A Sustainable Developmental Goal Model is a sensible intervention in a country where many mistake sloganeering for policy, and where ideology keeps some leaders stuck in mud. But then the DA is like most atheists or agnostics, who are so obsessed with believers that they turn their convictions into a religion. The DA baulks at the idea of using race as a proxy for redress – even as it acknowledges that the race-based policies of the past…

Though South Africans have reason to feel defeated and despondent about our economy, there are positive indicators of a changing tide. The electricity crisis is perhaps the most real physical manifestation of our nation’s lost decade. And now the chickens of neglect, mismanagement and corruption have come home to roost. But the crisis has also acted as a catalyst for change. It has in the past exposed ideological schisms between the ministries of finance, public enterprises, and minerals and energy. Yet recently, the immediacy of the crisis has also relieved the deadlock. There is now alignment between President Cyril Ramaphosa, the new Eskom chief executive officer André de Ruyter and chief operations officer Jan Oberholzer on how to address immediate supply issues. Eighteen months of load shedding, though unpopular, is…

The Limpopo provincial government has launched a youth skills development initiative to help youngsters gain expertise that will stand them in good stead in the tough jobs market. Premier Chupu Mathabatha said this was important because the biggest proportion of unemployed youngsters were those who did not have a matric. “They constitute more than 55% of the unemployed population. This is followed – at almost 35% – by those with matric as their highest qualification,” Mathabatha said. He said that, through a partnership with MSC College in Polokwane, Gijima and MictSeta, the province had placed more than 300 youngsters in a 12-month-long skills augmentation programme. A similar partnership between the provincial government and Google SA will lead to cooperation in the training of young people in digital skills, computer science…

The household debt levels in South Africa are staggering. According to the debt counselling firm, DebtBusters, the average debt counselling client earning more than R20 000 a month is spending 64% of their income on debt repayments. A whopping 64%. Debt-to-income ratio is the percentage of your monthly income that goes towards paying your debt. A healthy debt-to-income ratio is no more than 35%. If you think about this figure, compared with the 64%, it is scary. Debt can feel overwhelming, especially when you have multiple debts, such as credit card accounts, personal loans, overdrafts and a balloon payment waiting at the end of the contract period. Carrying debt is burdensome; it doesn’t just affect your finances but your health and family life as well. Getting out of debt is…

If you lock your money into a five-year fixed deposit, it is important to note that, even if you only receive the interest on maturity, you will be liable for tax on interest each year as if you had received it. For example, if you receive 10% interest on a R500 000 deposit, your account will receive R50 000 in interest in the first year. Even though you do not receive the money, you would be taxed on any interest above R23 800 if you are younger than 65 and after the first R34 500 if you are 65 or older. The Fedgroup Secured Investment allows for partial withdrawal of the annual interest to meet your tax obligation.…

Shaka, aged 22, was invited by Dingiswayo to come under his protection. The chief liked the fact that they were both outcasts, driven out by their fathers. Shaka’s father, Senzangakhona, acknowledged the Mthethwa chief’s superiority and began to pay tribute to him. As a soldier in Dingiswayo’s army, Shaka soon distinguished himself. The army did not provide rations, so the soldiers depended on food they searched for or hampers from home. In Shaka’s case, the food was brought by his sister, Nomcoba, and her friend, Pampata. She had been kind to Shaka and his family since meeting them when he was a boy and she brought them their first meal at Mbiya’s kraal. Ever since, Pampata had been an admirer and supporter of Shaka, prophesying his greatness. In turn, Shaka…

It’s her twin sons’ eighth birthday. Thembisa Mdoda-Nxumalo meets with me before she dashes off to buy more cakes and balloons to celebrate the special day. She looks magnificent in an African print wrap shirt and jeans, lit by the glow of a dusty restaurant window overlooking trees, as if gauging the lay of the land in a kingdom. It’s obvious at a glance why Mdoda-Nxumalo was chosen to host the singing competition – the Old Mutual Amazing Voices. She’s an elegant leader who’s comfortable in her own skin. “I’ve always wanted to host a music show and do a live show, which is what I am going to do next month at the finale on April 5. You know, just to see whether I deserve all those awards,” laughs…

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The pressure is on as the SABC gears up to change its presenter line-ups on some of its radio stations. Eyebrows were raised this week when popular 5FM host Thando Thabethe, announced her resignation. She co-hosted The Thabooty Drive show on weekdays from 3pm to 6pm. This was followed by the resignation of Majota “Phat Joe” Khambule from his breakfast show on Radio 2000. City Press’ sister publication, Sunday Sun, understands that Thabethe will be moving to 5FM’s sister station, Metro FM, where she will host the afternoon drive show. Well-placed sources claim that Thabethe is being moved to Metro in the hope that she will attract more listeners to the station. “The SABC is hoping that having Thando on the afternoon drive will increase the listenership,” said a source.…

The purpose of the DA’s social economic justice draft policy, which was designed to find an alternative to the ANC’s BEE one, is to move the country away from race classification while creating economic inclusion. The party’s head of policy, Gwen Ngwenya, says the draft policy is a completely different approach from what the DA has traditionally done, arguing that it is a move that has been in the works for long time. “We underwent the process of drafting a new policy that is completely ours. So, essentially, this is a completely different approach. It tries to broaden redress policies to target the majority,” she said. The move was highlighted in the DA’s manifesto last year, in which the party said it “emphatically rejects the approach to BEE as carried…

A group of student activists at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) are crying foul after the higher- learning institution agreed to allow them to register on condition that they do not participate in student politics. The students were initially barred from registering but, after initiating a court case against the university, the two parties settled on the condition. The four students Khutso Maphutha Letsau, Sergio Malatji, Sphesihle Radebe and Phasoane Mphahlele told City Press they were convinced that the university was preventing them from registering this year because of their active political involvement in the institution’s affairs. They claimed the university was trying to prevent them from exercising their “right to freedom of expression”. In court papers filed by Letsau earlier this month, he alleged that the university had denied…

Hundreds of children in South Africa are not having their births registered, simply because their parents are unmarried and the department of home affairs does not recognise the complexities surrounding these cases. This perpetuates the notion that this group of children do not have the same inherent worth as others born within wedlock, says the Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria. This is becaused the 1992 Births and Deaths Registration Act does not make provision for unmarried fathers to register the births of their children, without the child’s mother. These children are stateless, which means that they are not recognised as citizens of any country in the world and they can’t access basic things such as their constitutional rights, social services, healthcare or education. In 2018, the…

This has got “daft idea” written all over it. But, like all stupid ideas (especially this writer’s), once they enter the feeble mind, they have to be blurted out. Having watched the Proteas batsmen – the white ball lot in particular – struggle to scrape together enough runs when captain Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma failed to lay down a platform from which they could launch, a silly idea came to mind, thanks to the reintroduction of Heinrich Klaasen and to Kyle Verreynne’s being given his debut in the recently concluded series against Australia. If the specialist batsmen are struggling to make runs, why not load the side with wicketkeepers? Klaasen and Verreynne took the keeping quotient in the side picked for the ODI series against the Aussies to…

After a quiet winter break and just six days of preseason testing, Formula One returns in earnest at next Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. It’s during this season opener that the pecking order begins to take shape, with early indications showing that Mercedes are still the team to beat at the front of the grid. Red Bull appear to have made big strides and may have even overhauled Ferrari to create the second-fastest car of this year. For the Italian team, the start of the new season could be a turbulent one, thanks to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Along with AlphaTauri, formerly Toro Rosso and Haas, Ferrari may find themselves on the wrong side of several travel restrictions imposed by some of F1’s host countries. The fourth race of the season…

Although runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool have finally lost their first league match of the season, not even the staunchest Manchester City fan believes that their side can still win the league. Going into today’s Manchester derby, the Citizens are more than 20 points behind the Reds, and are looking towards the Champions League and FA Cup to salvage their season. With presumably enough of a gap between themselves and fifth-placed Manchester United, Pep Guardiola’s team can go into the match without too much pressure – or, at least, they could, were it not for the Manchester derby against their big rivals, City. The rivalry between the two clubs goes back to 1881, when Manchester City (who were then known as St Mark’s) lost 3-0 at home to Newton Heath…

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane recently described Bloemfontein Celtic as a fearless team, singling out Ndumiso Mabena as the one who runs the show for Phunya Sele Sele. As Celtic head into their away Absa Premiership fixture against Cape Town City this afternoon, Mabena will most definitely be the focal point in the attack. At 32, the talismanic striker is not showing any signs of slowing down. Instead, the statistics are showing that he surpassed the performances he delivered in his first two seasons at Celtic, and he is now inching closer to double figures on the scoring charts. So far, Mabena has scored seven league goals in 20 appearances. This is an improvement over his season tally of five league goals in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 campaigns. Celtic…

There could be new faces on the Bafana Bafana technical team when they face São Tomé and Príncipe later this month. Bafana will face the island nation in back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. South Africa will host the first leg at FNB Stadium in Nasrec, Johannesburg, before travelling to São Tomé and Príncipe for the return leg a few days later at the Estadio Nacional 12 de Julho. The game will be played on an artificial pitch. City Press has reliably learnt that Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki has recommended either Kwanele Kopo or Farouk Khan to fill the vacant post of assistant coach. Ntseki has been assisted by Kaizer Chiefs reserve team coach Arthur Zwane and former Bafana coach Trott Moloto on an ad hoc basis since he…

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Zweli Mkhize have been at pains to tell South Africans to not panic now that the first case of coronavirus has been recorded in the country. They have been urging that we exercise common sense and do things such as being alert, steering clear of sick people and, of course, washing our hands rigorously and religiously. But then you wonder ... in a country where, just on Friday, residents in QwaQwa were protesting over a lack of water – a dire situation which they say has gone unsolved for years – how exactly are those residents meant to practice hand washing and basic hygiene if the outbreak were to reach widespread levels? What are the people in places such as Makhanda and Komani, where…

You doth protest Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina has a stalker. Earlier this week, he tweeted a picture of Sakhile “Biggie” Thusi, a man whom Masina says follows him around and wants to dig up dirt on him before the ANC’s national general council. “If you know him, tell him he’s not dealing with a small boy, I’ll crush him & won’t believe, I’ve alerted the leadership,’’ a distressed Masina said on Twitter. While the mayor was expecting messages of sympathy from users, they were quick to tell him that he should not be bothered by this, unless he has some smallanyana skeletons in his closet. Back in time Times are tough on media owners and journalists alike, so it’s no wonder we see some strange things. This week, The Star,…

Opportunities to apply one’s undivided attention to a serious social problem, especially in academe, are rare and worth seizing. In 2012, a number of us, led by professors Nina Jablonski and Gerhard Maré, were given the opportunity by the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (Stias) to think about the question of race and racism in the context of what it means to be human in the world today. Responding to the imperatives of our location, our minds were naturally seized by the summons of being human in South Africa. The broad aim of what we called the Effects of Race (EoR) project was to understand better the effects that race and racism in the past 500 years of world history have had on our capacity to be full human beings.…

Omry Makgoale makes a compelling argument (in City Press Voices, March 1 2020) for the direct election of members of Parliament and the president by the electorate. At the ANC’s national conference at Nasrec in December 2017, the 5 000 delegates voted for the deeply tainted individuals, Ace Magashule as general secretary and David Mabuza as deputy president. This is clear evidence that the child going to bed hungry is the furthest thing from their minds and they simply cannot be trusted. Mr Makgoale, when you start the mass democratic action campaign mentioned in your article, I will be right behind you.…

Fool’s Gold edited by Arja Salafranca Published by Modjaji Books 214 pages R280 My name is Refiloe. I am 13 years old. My sister Lesedi is four. My parents passed away last year. Papa went first, three months before Mme. It all began in February last year, when Papa came back from the mines in Johannesburg. An ambulance dropped him right in front of our home, too ill to walk and talk. The driver of the ambulance spoke to Mme for a long time as the neybars helped carry Papa into the house. He told Mme how difficult it was to find our village because it is tucked away between two hills, and he is not used to driving in areas where there are no road signs. And the roads…

Some of Sir Richard Branson’s contemporary African art will be sold at a Bonhams art auction in London in May to raise money for Virgin’s nonprofit initiative Virgin Unite and the African Arts Trust. The collection of work was put together by Branson and art collector Robert Devereux. Virgin Unite said a portion of the proceeds would be used for its charity initiative in Mpumalanga, Pride ’n Purpose, which was established in 2003 and supports communities around the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. The charity organisation helps communities access water and education, and provides extramural activities for children, as well as support for local entrepreneurs. More than 35 000 people in six communities benefit from the project and the plan is to expand its reach this year. “African art has always…

FINANCIAL FREEDOM THROUGH PROPERTY BY LAURENS BOEL Penguin Random House R220 Retrenched, going broke and desperate, Laurens Boel turned his life around and became one of South Africa’s top property investors. In this useful and inspirational book, he provides you with a guide to financial freedom over a five-year period. And no, you don’t need to be wealthy and have contacts or even experience. All you need to start is a willingness to learn. Boel offers case studies, and practical and insider tips, and shows you how to make a right offer on a property deal, raise capital, find discounted properties and keep a positive cash flow. 13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A FAT GIRL BY MONA AWAD Head of Zeus R335 This award-winning debut novel is the story of…

Parasite (2019) The Bioscope, Maboneng Precinct March 9 and 11 to 15 Catch a screening of this year’s Academy Awards’ best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best international feature film winner. In it, we meet a poor family, the Kims, on their way to becoming the servants of a rich family, the Parks. But their easy life gets complicated when their deception is threatened with exposure. This is the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award recognition, and the first film in a language other than English to win best picture. It also won the Golden Globe for best foreign language film, among other awards.…