Innholdsfortegnelse for 3/29/2020 i City Press

From page 1 “At the moment, we have a lethal combination: lack of access to capital and energy shortages. These are key tools needed to get any project off the ground. Any investor looks at these before making a decision to invest,” he said. Lumkile Mondi, an economist and nonexecutive director of the Small Business Institute, said the downgrade meant South Africa would now be excluded from the FTSE World Governing Bond Index (WGBI), and the government bond market would experience further capital outflows as fund managers with investment grade mandates would be forced to sell South African government bonds. Nonresidents hold about 37% (R800 billion) of the total domestic government bonds, and the number is expected to substantially decline with the combined impact of Covid-19 and the downgrade. This…

Any Mpumalanga ANC activist who attends a party meeting has no guarantee of returning home alive, if past and recent events are anything to go by. The province’s ANC meetings have been a powder keg for about a decade now. Branch meetings, especially ones where comrades are to be nominated for leadership positions in a region or province, turn into brawls where chairs and water bottles are thrown around. Sometimes guns and knives are wielded, resulting in people being killed. According to three former ANC chairpeople in Mpumalanga, the root of all this evil lies in the modern practice of dispensing money to win delegates over, as well as in the pursuit of a luxury lifestyle. On March 15, ANC member Prince Manzini was allegedly assaulted by a mob until…

and- the- premier- is- the- face- of- that- campaign.- You- eliminate- her,- and- whois- left?- No- one,”- said- the- source. “This- was- well- timed- so- that- when- conference- sits,- she’ll- still- be- notwell- enough- to- be- there.” The- source- said- that- Mtshweni-Tsipane- was- responding- well- totreatment. City- Press- has- also- learnt- that- a- narrative- was- being- pushed- on- thesidelines- to- debunk- the- poisoning- allegation. “They- want- to- tell- the- public- that- the- premier- is- infected- with- thecoronavirus,- while- she- is- not.- They’re- deflecting- attention- from- the- realissue- here,- which- is- poisoning,”- the- source- said. Tsipane-Mtshweni’s- spokesperson,- Sibongile- Mkani-Mpolweni,- did- notrespond- to- questions- despite- promising- to- do- so. The- watershed- conference- is- expected- to- take- place- next- month,- but- isalready- in- its- build-up- phase.- There- have- been- two- fatalities- due- to-…

Experts have cautioned against turning to alcohol to cope with the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown as it can have severe implications on mental and physical health. The European arm of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that relying on alcohol was an “unhelpful coping strategy”. However, it acknowledged the difficulty many people faced while adjusting to prolonged isolation, and said it was normal to feel stressed, anxious and lonely in these kinds of situations. Health officials said alcohol was unlikely to help alleviate stress during the pandemic and global state of emergency. The health experts recommended that people “minimise the unhelpful coping strategies of using tobacco or alcohol”. The recommendation comes after off-licences were added to government’s list of UK retailers that were allowed to stay open during the Covid-19 coronavirus…

Today marks 14 days since record label boss Lunga “Baainar” Nombewu has been in self-quarantine. Nombewu, who tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus last week, said his road to recovery was still a long way off because he had to go through another 28 days of self-isolation. “My doctor told me I need to be tested twice before I can be cleared of having the virus. This means I am going to be in self-isolation for another 28 days,” Nombewu told City Press this week. He said being infected with the virus had affected his life because he could not kiss, touch, hug and be with his loved ones. However, the 41-year-old couldn’t contain his excitement that of five close contacts, his daughter and cousin had tested negative. “We are…

The National Institute for Communicable diseases (NICD), says the ability of the Covid-19 coronavirus to mutate – its ability to alter its genetic material and therefore circumvent test results – is, for now, “not a big problem”. The NICD’s professor Cheryl Cohen told City Press that it was possible for patients who tested negative before to test positive in later tests. But, she said, this was not related to the issue of the virus being able to change form and circumvent test results. “During the incubation period, which is the time between being infected by the virus and becoming ill, the virus can be at levels in the body that are too low to be detected by the tests until the person actually becomes ill. “This is why we recommend…

We’ll put them in our facilities, we’ll feed and take care of them and have security around them. People are misbehaving and this calls for us now to force them to otherwise take all precautionary measures Any person testing positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus in North West will not be allowed to self-isolate, but instead will be placed in a monitored quarantine facility, the provincial government has resolved. The decision to move all those who test positive to four facilities across the province was prompted after several cases of failed self-isolation which pose a high risk to spread the virus in the province which had reported a total nine positive cases so far. One of the recorded cases of failed self-isolation is one that saw a wild search, ending late…

Looking for a face mask? They’re hard to come by nowadays. Luckily, clever creatives such as Woodstock Laundry in Cape Town have responded to the need. Their adult face masks, which cost R500 for a pack of 10, are 100% reusable, washable and locally made in a factory in the Mother City. Buying one of these masks is a great way to support a local small business, rather than purchasing cheap, foreign imports. Woodstock Laundry has more than 10 stylish designs to choose from, with each mask lined with a specialised moisture-absorbent inner. The brand is careful to note that its masks are not medical. Instead, they prevent you from touching your nose and mouth, which will help but may not prevent you from getting the Covid-19 coronavirus. Similarly, P&H…

With SA Rugby hoping that the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic-enforced suspension of Super Rugby will end at the beginning of May, the truth is that the tournament might not be completed this year. Should that be so, here are five of the surprising performers from the four South African franchises: James Venter (Sharks, flank, 23) After three years languishing in the Lions’ SuperSport Rugby Challenge team, and a couple of pity Super Rugby caps, the former Glenwood High School pupil decided to head back home to Durban to turn his prospects around. It was a good decision on two counts – the Lions were always going to have similarly small loose forwards (Kwagga Smith, Marnus Schoeman and Hacjivah Dayimani) to the 1.82m, 92kg Venter; and new Sharks coach Sean Everitt wanted…

Formula One has been forced to rethink its season, but bosses are still optimistic the majority of the 2020 calendar can take place, despite the swiftly spreading Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. The original schedule consisted of 22 races, beginning this month and ending in December. So far, eight races have been lost. The season-opening round in Australia was called off just hours before it was due to begin. This was swiftly followed by postponements of the Bahrain, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Netherlands and Spain races. The Monaco Grand Prix was cancelled outright, marking the first season since 1954 without its presence, and the Chinese event was postponed in the early stages of the outbreak in China. Despite the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, Formula One’s chief executive officer Chase Carey is confident the…

Football Uefa Europa League final Host: Stadion Energa Gdansk in Gdansk, Poland Initial date: May 27 Uefa Champions League final Host: Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey Initial date: May 30 Status: Uefa has postponed all its club finals – the Europa League, Champions League, and the Women’s Champions League. Revised dates to be confirmed Euro 2020 Host: Tournament was to be played across Europe, with the final set for London Initial date: June 12 to July 12 Status: Uefa has postponed the competition to June and July next year Multicoded sports Olympic games Host: Tokyo, Japan Initial date: July 24 to August 9 Paralympic games Host: Tokyo, Japan Initial date: August 25 to September 6 Status: The International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee have decided to postpone…

• Kagiso Rabada (Proteas bowler) “Well, it’s been quite a radical change from what I am used to doing in terms of going to training facilities. With the instruction and advice to self-isolate, I’ve been training at home, and doing what I can to stay active and healthy. I’m recovering from a minor injury as well. Rehab is going great. I’m glad that I have been given more time to be 110% fit when we eventually come back. “I’ve had plenty of time to relax and I’ve managed to do things I never get a chance to do any more. I’ve time playing music and working on some samples and songs,” said Rabada, who is an aspiring deejay. “I’ve played PlayStation with friends online, spent time with my family, watched…

The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic offers our country an opportunity to recapture the spirit of ubuntu, demonstrated by empathy, responsibility and solidarity. The “social distancing” required to limit the spread of the virus needs to be complemented by closer emotional bonds – ubuntu – with our fellow citizens who are more vulnerable than we are, particularly those without the basics essential for self-protection. The Covid-19 pandemic is simply one of many crises that humanity is likely to face, given our disregard for boundaries and the disrespect of taboos our ancestors maintained to keep humans safe from disruptive viruses and bacteria. Climate change emergencies such as fires, floods and droughts are here to stay until we change our destructive behaviour as the human race. Our emergency responses need to embrace behavioural changes…

Grudges in chaos Covid-19 is a disaster to the world, but its onset has not hidden the old grudges and hostilities among our politicians. This week the old nemesis of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and especially former Nelson Mandela Bay Metro mayor Mongameli Bobani, Athol Trollip, sought to expose the party. “[UDM leader] Bantu Holomisa said that environmental cleanliness was crucial [in dealing with the disease], yet former mayor of NMBM allowed the city to become a pigsty”, he tweeted. Holomisa retorted: “We are in a serious pandemic time and all that concerns you is your bitterness with UDM?’’ Ignorance kills Some African countries have been patting themselves on the back for having few or no cases of Covid-19, while European countries are in crisis. But Siyahleba and company…

John Donne, the English poet, penned these lines: “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee/ Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so ... One short sleep past, we wake eternally/ And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” A larger-than-life Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa is gone. The mere mention of his name brings a flood of memories. He was, and still is, admired for his remarkable knowledge when it comes to indigenous matters – from the herbs and trees, to animals and archaeological issues, to the history and origins of the Zulu nation and African people at large. Admirers still see Mutwa through their minds’ eyes wearing his trademark “Necklace of the Mysteries”. Each item found on the iconic neck piece represents different eras in African…

South Africa is on the precipice, and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech on the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown reminded me of PW Botha’s Rubicon speech. The one thing that they have in common is the military taking over our streets. Easy solutions are habit-forming. This is the second time in his first term that he has unleashed the army; first in the Cape Flats and now in the whole country. For heaven’s sake, I hope there will never be another excuse. This is Africa. Our militaries have a habit of overthrowing elected governments. It is our society after Covid-19 that I am most concerned about. We currently have 20 million unemployed people, and so they have nothing to lose. The soldiers who are roaming their streets will not offer a solution to…

ASK FOR A PREMIUM HOLIDAY ON INVESTMENTS If you have contractual agreements for investments such as retirement annuities or endowment policies, speak to your financial adviser or service provider for a premium holiday. If you urgently need to break a fixed deposit, find out if your bank will waive penalty fees. Old Mutual says that for its core range of savings policies, it now has a measure that allows customers to skip up to two premiums before a policy is treated as off the books. Customers can still restart their premiums within 12 months and choose to repay premiums or not. Old Mutual is allowing employers to reduce or put retirement fund contributions on hold for three months. These options apply to employer and member contributions. Nedbank says that for…

A businessperson from Pretoria East said he installed web cameras in his bathroom because he suspected that his wife suffered from the eating disorder bulimia. But his wife said there was no excuse for his behaviour – and claimed that he also sabotaged her car by pouring water into the fuel tank, resulting in the car breaking down 400m from their home. The couple, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is involved in a bitter legal dispute over where their child, a toddler, should live. The mother said she and her husband had been separated for some time, but that they still shared a home when he had secretly had the cameras installed. She was particularly distressed about the camera, which, she claimed, was installed in a shower she…

A shake-up is expected from one of the country’s favourite radio stations, Metro FM, ahead of a new line-up that kicks in on Wednesday, April 1. As always, just a few days before the annual radio reshuffle, rumours are swirling that changes could affect popular sports presenter Robert Marawa, host of Marawa Sports Worldwide, which airs simultaneously on Metro FM and Radio 2000, Monday to Friday between 6pm and 7.30pm. It is rumoured that the show might either be reduced to a few days or reduce its time to just an hour. SABC insiders told City Press that other radio personalities who are going to be affected by the reshuffling of the airwaves are Ntombi Mzolo and Siphokazi January, as neither will be coming back to host their graveyard slots.…

Limpopo health authorities are tracking down relatives and friends of a man who defied orders to self-quarantine and travelled to his home village from Gauteng after his Covid-19 test allegedly returned positive. The man was apprehended yesterday. He had left his place of quarantine in Gauteng to travel to Limpopo. Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba said she was worried that such behaviour would cause further damage. The province was – with the rest of the country – trying hard to curb the spread of Covid-19. Ramathuba said the patient was tested in Gauteng and ordered to remain at home by officials in that province. However, he decided to drive to Limpopo where he interacted with other people. “His family will immediately get tested and quarantined to curb the virus from spreading,”…

The National Arts Council (NAC) will continue paying the artists whose gigs have been disrupted by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. With all events cancelled and the country in lockdown, artists and musicians are unable to work. But NAC chief executive Rosemary Mangope said the show must go on. “The show must go on no matter what, and so we will have to reinvent ourselves,” said Mangope. “We will support the beneficiaries we gave funding to last year, and had been confirmed for activities such as festivals, which can’t happen [because of the coronavirus outbreak]. “If they are able to push out what they can they should, but we will still fund them as they have to live.” Mangope said the council would support artists to livestream their shows – on…

Created by Dallas Jenkins, the writer and director of The Resurrection of Gavin Stone and other hit faith-based films, The Chosen follows the story line of the gospels through the eyes of those around Jesus. The series is somewhat of a phenomenon and holds the title as the number one crowdfunded media project in history, raising roughly $13 million (R229 million) from more than 6 000 investors. It is now being translated into 52 languages, which is also crowdsourced by the audience. It’s the first streaming TV series to be released globally in more than 180 countries via its own app. The app has been downloaded more than 1 million times, with more than 10 million episode viewings in a short period of time. We caught up with Jenkins to…

If you’ve been practising social distancing, then the transition to a lockdown should be less difficult; and undoubtedly the most important thing for a South African to comply with amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Working from home has become a reality, but being stuck indoors can be mentally taxing. We’ve rounded up a few useful apps, websites and games, including those that have temporarily opened access to help during these trying times. VIRTUAL MEETINGS The most popular video calling services for business include Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts Meet. Zoom has a free option of up to 40 minutes per call and Teams is free for up to 50 people per meeting. Hangouts is available to subscribers of G Suite, which starts at $6 (R106) per month, but all…

March 15 – Australian GP (cancelled) March 22 – Bahrain GP (postponed) April 3 – Vietnamese GP (postponed) April 19 – Chinese GP (postponed) May 3 – Dutch GP (postponed) May 10 – Spanish GP (postponed) May 24 – Monaco GP (cancelled)* June 7 – Azerbaijan GP (postponed) June 14 – Canadian GP June 28 – French GP July 5 – Austrian GP July 19 – British GP August 2 – Hungarian GP August 30 – Belgian GP September 6 – Italian GP September 20 – Singapore GP September 27 – Russian GP October 11 – Japanese GP October 25 – US GP November 1 – Mexican GP November 15 – Brazilian GP November 29 – Abu Dhabi GP *Organisers at first postponed it, but later cancelled…

In his message to the nation on the eve of the national lockdown, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba called on South Africans to “be wise people and listen, for our own sake, and for the sake of the nation”. Makgoba said this as the country was preparing for the most draconian restrictions on civil liberties since apartheid-era states of emergency were lifted in the early 1990s. This time the curb on freedoms is for the greater good – a blunt weapon in the fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus. South Africans have been asked to sacrifice the freedoms they take for granted so that this “invisible enemy”, as President Cyril Ramaphosa called it, can be slowed down and eventually defeated. By this weekend the virus had already infected close…

Churches the world over have been known to be places where communities get shelter and help; where the poor and needy are guaranteed love and care from their fellow brothers and sisters in God. However, in the recent past, many churches have been turned into places of business where greedy men make a living. Sometimes their greed has turned churches into multibillion-rand industries where the leaders of such institutions live lives of luxury while their followers suffer in poverty. These so-called men of God have their own private jets, get driven in luxurious vehicles and have 24-hour armed guards. Aren’t they supposed to be protected by the God they follow? The stunts they pull are out of this world. Here in Mzansi, we’ve seen that those who blindly follow these…

The 2008 global financial meltdown is referred to as the Great Recession, and this year may well be remembered as the Great Separation. At present, a third of the planet is in lockdown, turning social distancing, which was initially a guideline and a request, into a mandatory rule of law. So what do you do, now that you have cupboards full of toilet paper, non-perishable groceries and, if you’re lucky, wet wipes and hand sanitisers? On Friday, I enjoyed a virtual happy hour with a group of friends who occasionally meet for Friday sundowners to kick-start the weekend. We group-Skyped each other at an agreed time, ready with our own drinks and snacks, and raised a glass in cyberspace. My sister-in-law, on the west coast of America, has an open-ended…

This week marked a very sad chapter in the history of our democratic South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa shunned ancient African healing knowledge, African medicine and traditional healers when he addressed the nation on the escalation of measures to combat the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. However, in the same breath he sent out a statement mourning the passing of iSanusi Mkhulu Credo Mutwa. It would be comic had it not been hypocritical and gravely ironic that an African head of state from the governing ANC, which has no history of being led by a non-African, consulted with every sector of society except the traditional healers, but felt it necessary to express his “sorrow” that one of our own, Mkhulu Mutwa, had passed on. One can’t help but ask: What was Ramaphosa…

Government restrictions on flights following the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic have led to a 98% decline in airlines’ passenger transport income, says the International Air Travel Association (IATA). The association this week said it expected a 38% contraction in the total miles flown by passengers, and that income from passenger flights would drop by around $252 billion. As late as December last year, the IATA was still expecting this year’s income figure to grow by 4.1%, to $872 billion. It estimated that the number of passenger miles flown would increase from 4.5 billion (7.24 biilion kilometres) last year to 4.7 billion this year. According to the association, Europe is the region that has been worst hit, with an expected 46% decline in passengers. On January 26, there were 181 449 flights…

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Within 30 minutes of making a desperate, last-ditch call to the offices of the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) in Johannesburg this week, an email with documents landed in musician Albert Meintjes’ inbox. Less than 24 hours later, a financial lifeline was in his bank account. He could go home. Meintjes, who lives in Groot Brak on the Cape south coast, was touring with his show, Koos du Plessis: Stories behind the man and in his music, in the north of the country, when the corona clock ran out. He completed three of his scheduled 14 shows but, within days, the others were cancelled – one by one. “I performed in Hoedspruit and then Middelburg, but when I arrived in Pretoria the shows began going belly-up. The next thing…

Itt is every traveller’s worst nightmare – to be sexually assaulted in a foreign country, and, worse still, have your harrowing ordeal handled with hostility and disregard by that country’s officials. For local paediatrician Dr Legodimo Madihlaba, that nightmare became a reality that has left her traumatised. She is haunted by the assault and constantly replays in her mind what happened to her on March 10 at Cairo International Airport in Egypt. Madihlaba (40), who lives in Gauteng, spoke to City Press this week. Despite having suffered the alleged sexual assault, she has chosen to reveal her identity because of the scourge of gender-based violence plaguing not only this country, but the world at large too – and, she says, “to ensure that no other South African woman, or woman…

In an unauthenticated affidavit a hitman alleged he warned former Gert Sibande district mayor and current legislature member, Andries Gamede, after he was sent to poison him at a function in 2008. Gamede had survived what he believes was a political assassination when Alberto Mhlanga (44) broke into his house in Secunda in 2006, but opted to steal his VW Touareg, which was found in Malawi. In 2010, politician James Nkambule’s autopsy report showed that he died of poisoning. Nkambule, who was an ANC member before joining the Congress of the People, had stirred up a controversy when he said senior politicians in Mpumalanga hired a Mozambican hitman to kill their rivals - one of them was former City of Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala, who was shot dead when he…

This weekend, life abnormal begins for South African citizens as they try to adjust to life under a 21-day government-imposed lockdown in an effort to stem the spread of the highly infectious Covid-19 coronavirus. City Press spoke to some ordinary citizens to find out about their thoughts regarding the measures taken by government, what the lockdown means for them and how they intend to spend their time over the next three weeks. Chester Margardie, 29 (Pretoria East): If we abide by the lockdown, and do what we’re supposed to do, I think we can cure this virus. I’ll be isolating myself at home. I’ll be using this time to spend with family at home, catch up on the Bible and do things I don’t normally get a chance to do…

Limpopo, South Africa’s northern gateway to Africa, was chaotic this week as travellers tried to cross the border in a desperate bid to beat the deadline signalling the start of the national lockdown, which came into effect at midnight on Thursday. The rush resulted in chaos at the Beitbridge international border post on Friday, after it was closed at midnight – leading to a column of traffic stretching 5km and scores of restless travellers. “We are waiting, hungry, with nothing to eat; the border has been closed,” said long-distance taxi driver Tau Sibanda, speaking on the phone from Beitbridge late on Friday. When I arrived, I was told that no cars were allowed to cross to the Zimbabwean side. It was chaos. Both lanes were closed with cars heading to…

Twenty-one days in the same place can be daunting, and people are already jokingly predicting a spike in the country’s divorce rate as a result. Spending time with your partner is great when you have a choice in the matter, but this lockdown is going to force us into each other’s space for at least 21 days. I believe that, just like everything else, it can be managed, but it will take some work from all parties involved. Don’t let the days wind down without any planning. Create structure and some sort of routine. Allocate time for work, meals, time on your own and time with your partner. The trick is not to only allocate time in the bedroom with your loved one. Come up with things to do together…

Will I be able to leave the house to go to the supermarket? Yes, if you need groceries. You will also be able to seek medical care, visit the pharmacy, get petrol, access banking services and collect a social grant Can a lockdown period be extended? Yes, when it’s complete and if we have started to flatten the curve of infections, our freedom of movement will be returned to us. If, however, it does not then the lockdown will most likely be lengthened Will students who have to study via online learning be accommodated by cell phone operators to receive data/free access to learning resources? Vodacom’s e-learning portal for Grade R to Grade 12 learners is free to access and zero-rated for Vodacom data usage. The MTN Foundation has sponsored…

The day before the nationwide lockdown set in, South Africans went on a spending spree to rival Black Friday. South Africa’s four biggest banks – Nedbank, FNB, Capitec and Absa – have not yet been able to provide definitive figures, but said they saw enormous increases in transaction volumes on Thursday – especially at supermarkets, grocery stores and pharmacies. Transaction volumes of retail banks usually skyrocket in the run-up to Black Friday and on the day itself, when South Africans go bargain hunting. According to a report issued by BankservAfrica at the end of 2019, transaction volumes for Black Friday in 2019 came to 7 million. This represents an increase of 36% on a year-on-year basis. Total Black Friday-related transactions amounted to R6 billion in 2019, a 106% increase over…

administrators spent the week delegating duties to themselves and other senior city managers. “We addressed organisational issues and laid out what needs to happen and what is expected going forward, such as prioritising the building of a fit-for-purpose team and a culture of professionalism that is characterised by performance, consequence management and governance,” he said. Other crucial issues that Nawa identified as needing urgent attention from his team included “upgrading the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant to ensure that the people of Hammanskraal finally receive clean drinking water, which is their basic human right”. He commended his entire team, which includes Gilberto Martins, Lefadi Makibinyane, Riada Kruger, Lebogang Mahaye, Lesedi Mere, Thulisile Njapa-Mashanda, Masabatha Mutlaneng and Shiva Makoto. He gave particular praise to acting city manager Mavela Dlamini, saying the…

Matiwane, chief of the Ngwane, became known as both cunning and ruthless. About 200 years ago, Zwide attacked and defeated Matiwane’s amaNgwane, an act that was to have far-reaching consequences. There was no warning of this attack and no apparent reason for it. Fleeing from the village, Matiwane rounded up his tribe and attacked the Hlubi, with whom he had a grudge. Burning the Hlubi village to the ground, Matiwane recovered the cattle that were his, taking the Hlubi herds along with them. On their path over the Drakensberg, Matiwane ruthlessly raided the tribes near Ntenjwa, east of Bergville, before settling near Mont-aux-Sources. Here he hoped to let his tribe gain in strength, but moved from the area when he heard that Shaka was on his way with his warriors.…

I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017) Lifetime (DStv channel 131) Sunday, 7.20pm This Lifetime film chronicles the true story of the June 2002 abduction of 14-year-old Elizabeth Ann Smart. She was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City, US, by a religious fanatic, Brian David Mitchell. Mitchell took her to a hilly encampment where, alongside his twisted accomplice, Wanda Barzee, he held Elizabeth captive. Over the course of her nine-month captivity, she was starved, drugged, raped and subjected to bizarre religious rituals until she enabled her own rescue. Elizabeth herself serves as a producer and on-screen narrator to explore how she survived, and confronts the truth and misconceptions about her captivity. The Lion King (2019) M-Net (DStv channel 101) Sunday, 8.05pm Beyoncé and Donald Glover lead the cast in this…

Before the Covid-19 coronavirus stopped all sport around the world, the four South African franchises campaigning in the Super Rugby competition were split into two camps: The pace-setters and the stragglers – the Sharks and the Stormers belonging to the former camp, and the Bulls and the Lions to the latter. Former Southern Kings assistant coach and former Blitzbok Vuyo Zangqa, as well as former Springbok centre Gcobani Bobo, give their views on why things panned out the way they did. THE PACE-SETTERS Zangqa on the Sharks Why are they doing so well? I’ve noticed that they have used the talent in the back four – Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Sbu Nkosi and Madosh Tambwe or Aphelele Fassi – to the best of their abilities. If you noticed how they…

We are living in unprecedented times. Never has most of the population witnessed such restrictions on their movements. The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is being described by some as a war-like situation. In many ways, that’s true, but, as one journalist put it last week, like all wars, this will end and we will get back to normal – whatever that is. So, what do we as referees do to keep ourselves fit and ready for the resumption of the now-stalled season? This week, government put a 21-day lockdown on people, businesses (except essential ones) and services. This is in line with many other countries, and I think it’s the correct move. It will affect many millions of people around South Africa, but it is necessary. Match officials are a hardy…

France-based emerging Bafana Bafana star Lebogang Phiri had a choice to return home, but the 25-year-old opted to remain in the country, despite its classification as one of the epicentres of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. This is according to Buti Phiri, the father of the EA Guingamp midfielder. Buti said he had been in constant communication with his son, who is based about 500km from Paris. “He had a choice of coming back home, but he would have been caught between the protocols of [14 to 21 days] quarantine because France was under lockdown before South Africa,” Buti said. The player, who hails from Alexandra in Johannesburg, would have been in the country last week because of his call-up for Bafana Bafana’s back-to-back Afcon qualifier against São Tomé and Príncipe,…

On January 23, China put 50 million of its citizens in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province under a mandatory quarantine. By then, China had learnt a few things about the new Covid-19 coronavirus and how it was being transmitted. The biggest fear was the spread of the virus into mainland China, where it would be almost impossible to contain and manage. China immediately instituted aggressive measures to contain the virus – it shut cities down and instructed people to stay at home; it also tracked infected people’s movements through their cellphones to keep an eye on their whereabouts, and punished those who did not follow instructions. In the middle of February, 13 foreign and 12 Chinese scientists, led by Canadian World Health Organisation (WHO) epidemiologist Bruce Aylward, arrived…

The Hebrew scriptures tell the story of God leading Moses and the Israelites from the bondage of slavery in Egypt to freedom in the land of Canaan. Because of the Pharaoh’s reluctance to release the Israelites, God smote his subjects with 10 fearful plagues, resulting in the deaths of many Egyptians. This narrative seemingly portrays a partisan, brutal God who visited afflictions on only one group, sparing his favourites and creating the myth of a chosen people – and inspiring some dangerous, narrow-minded divinity concepts. The notion of a divinely elected group has had disastrous effects in human history. But it also contains the seeds of a more universal theology – that of a deity who encourages compassion for the weak and oppressed, advocating a world where all humanity has…

Fears are mounting in the aviation sector that commercial airlines will not survive without significant financial assistance from government should there be a need to extend the current 21-day lockdown. On Friday, jittery airline bosses told City Press that, should authorities fail to arrest the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus and if the lockdown is extended, commercial airlines would crash if government did not intervene with a financial rescue package. In an unprecedented move this week, the airlines were forced to place about 10 000 employees on paid annual leave due to government’s decision to lock down the country for 21 days to flatten the infection curve. The airlines, including SAA, British Airways, SA Airlink, SA Express and low-cost carriers Kulula, Mango and FlySafair, were already running a fraction of…

The IDC is supporting South Africa’s efforts to prepare for the impact the Covid-19 will have on our people and the economy. The impact on the economy cuts across all sectors and includes: • Supply-chain interruptions; • Access to raw materials; • Access to markets – perishable goods lost in transit because of longer delivery periods; • Working capital disruptions; • Market loss – for example, export markets constrained by logistics or replaced by production; • Surge of imports to address the spike in demand; • Underperforming budgets – effect of extended down time; and • Reduced productivity – employees’ wellbeing: physical and psychological. The IDC’s immediate priority is to focus on sectors critical to: • Limit the spread and immediate effect of the virus; and • Support supply chains…

Australian company Theta Gold Mines has so far injected about R1 billion into establishing a mine in the historical gold mining Mpumalanga town of Pilgrim’s Rest, a heritage site. Pilgrim’s Rest has in recent times been known for the annual gold-panning championships and an economy completely reliant on tourism because of the town’s mining history and heritage, while in fact it still harbours abundant gold ore reserves in an area covering 620km2. This area was under Transvaal Gold Mining Estates (TGME), which was South Africa’s first gold mining company, founded in 1895. Theta Gold Mines has kept the old company’s name and still calls its venture the TGME project. There are more than 43 historical mines identified across the vast prospective gold field. Theta Gold Mines’ venture is a re-awakening…

USE THE LOCKDOWN TO GET YOUR FINANCES IN ORDER Rather than spending 21 days bingeing on TV series, put your finances in order: Budget: Start that budget you have always intended getting to. Pull out all your bank statements and store card accounts, and work out how much you really spend. Find out if your banking app offers a budgeting programme or sign up for something like 22seven.com. Start a notebook in which you write down everything you spend. This will give you insight into your behaviour and you will be surprised to find that there are places you are wasting money. Get a handle on your true debt levels: Calculate the total of all your debts. How much do you owe in total (not just the monthly instalment)? How…

To mitigate the effect of the 21-day national lockdown on workers, business and the economy, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) will be electronically processing applications for the Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme, known as the Covid-19 Ters Benefit. Employers who are unable to pay the full salaries of the workers they send home for their health and safety, because of the lockdown, are encouraged to apply for the Covid-19 Ters Benefit from the UIF by sending an email to covid19ters@labour.gov.za. After doing so, applicants will receive an automated reply outlining all the steps and details, including the requirements to claim benefits. During the lockdown period, manual claims will not be accepted, so as to reduce contact between people and curtail the spread of the pandemic. The UIF has come up…