Innholdsfortegnelse for 7/12/2020 i City Press

”According to the regulations, a Covid-19-positive person must be buried within 48 hours and, before they leave the hospital, they must be put in a sealed plastic bag. That’s why, in some cases, the families of the deceased end up burying a person without knowing whether that person is the right one or not” The long-feared Covid-19 coronavirus storm has arrived. Funeral parlours are battling to cope with demand as Covid-19-related deaths around the country rise daily, and government is increasing capacity in cemeteries to cater for the deluge. Meanwhile, doctors working at hospitals in Gauteng, which is now the country’s Covid-19 epicentre, are having to decide who will and will not get treated with scarce ventilators and oxygen after hospital admissions in the province skyrocketed over the past 10…

At least 33 officials at Emfuleni Local Municipality are implicated in a massive looting spree that saw the municipality spend more than R870 million in irregular contracts. However, six months after a report by forensic company Comperio Consulting was finalised and adopted by the municipality’s council, none of the officials has been disciplined for their alleged role in bankrupting the municipality. The report revealed deep rot and linked the municipal manager, and/or chief operating officer, and/or chief financial officer and/or deputy municipal manager to each of the 15 contracts under investigation. “This is a concern as it is much easier for a top executive or senior manager to override processes and procedures, as has been seen with the cases in hand,” said the report. It reveals that the municipality lost…

Pressure is being brought to bear on the ANC after its controversial decision to reinstate two officials to their positions in the party in Limpopo, despite being implicated in the VBS Mutual Bank looting scandal. On Friday, the VBS shareholders forum wrote to Luthuli House via ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, saying that their members were “extremely disappointed” about the manner in which the governing party was handling the VBS matter. Shareholders forum secretary Robert Livhoyi said members were unhappy with the recent reinstatement of Limpopo ANC deputy chairperson Florence Radzilani and treasurer Danny Msiza, who were suspended following allegations that they participated in the looting of at least R2 billion from the now defunct bank. The ANC Veterans League in Limpopo is also approaching Luthuli House to raise concerns about…

Last week, Nia Pearl, whose real name is Peleka Lwana, found herself trending on social media, following her appearance on DJ Kabza De Small’s new mammoth album. With the announcement of singer Sha Sha’s (Charmaine Shamiso Mpambiro) BET gong for the Viewer’s Choice Award for Best New International Act, it is safe to say DJ Maphorisa’s Blaqboy Music stable might be the hottest in the game right now. The stable’s new edition from Mthatha, Eastern Cape, Nia Pearl has been in the music industry for a while now but has only just begun to receive some much-needed attention. “I guess there’s something that must be said about God’s timing being the best. In the past year or so, I was working hard on getting DJ Maphorisa’s attention so that I…

Despite his three master’s degrees, Limpopo politician Lehlogonolo Masoga’s appointment as chief executive of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ) last year has been questioned because he has no qualification in engineering. The advert for the position explicitly stated that the ideal candidate should be in possession of an engineering degree, preferably in built environment, plus a Master of Business Administration or Leadership degree and at least 10 years’ experience in an executive or senior management in economic development position. Masoga’s educational qualifications are impressive, but he has neither an engineering nor a business degree. The former Limpopo legislature deputy speaker and former economic development MEC has three master’s degrees – in governance and public leadership from Wits University, leadership and change from Leeds Beckett University in the UK and…

The controversial decision to accommodate Covid-19 coronavirus patients at a lodge linked to an Eastern Cape MEC could be investigated by the office of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane (pictured). The Cala University Students Association (Calusa), a non-governmental organisation, and United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa last week filed a complaint requesting Mkhwebane’s office to probe the matter. Calusa’s Lwazi Ncapayi said in the complaint that they were mandated by a collective called the Forum to lodge the complaint. The Forum is made up of the Cala Ratepayers’ Association, the Elliot Residence Association and the Siyazakha Land and Development Forum. Ncapayi said it came to their attention on April 15 that 18 Covid-19 patients were accommodated at Mioca Lodge in the Cala Reserve, just 3km outside Cala, near Komani. The patients…

Two women are romantically linked to one man, but they are unaware of it. He then tricks both of them into a polygamous marriage, on South Africa’s most watched show, Uzalo. When will the two brides, Nonka (played by Thuthuka Mthembu) and Sphilile played by (Tee Xaba), find out about each other for the first time? They are wrapped in their white gowns, ready to say “I do” to love of their life Sbonelo (played by Wiseman Mncube). In tomorrow evening’s episode, which emotions will be written all over Nonka and Sphilile’s faces regarding the “man of their dreams” – hurt and disappointment or joy? Sbonelo wants to marry Nonka first, but their wedding is disrupted and descends into chaos. Now, the questions are: How will they proceed? Will Sphilile…

Sneakers may not be at the forefront of your mind in times like these, but being a collector or sneakerhead is a hobby that has grown tremendously. A few artists have played a huge part in achieving this in a country that not so long ago was all about Converse All Stars and Dickies, expanding our tastes to include what some would consider works of art that you can wear. #Trending presents five of the most pivotal releases that were either designed by a popular footwear brand in collaboration with a local artist, or drops that were conceived entirely from scratch to become stand-alone brands. 5 KWESTA’S URBAN ART RELEASE YEAR: 2018 The streets love Kwesta. The raspy-voiced prince of poetry is also one of our top exports. Why…

“All I want is to get back to work,” said suspended SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Barry Hendricks this week after an arbitrator cleared him of any wrongdoing after claims that he conspired to block the nomination of a candidate in the buildup to the now postponed Sascoc elections. Hendricks was placed on mandatory leave in the middle of April, but, despite victory in arbitration, Sascoc has refused to lift the suspension, citing a pending parallel disciplinary process. “Sascoc said they are drawing up something ... ‘investigating something’. An independent arbitrator has found that I’m not guilty, but now they are going back to say there are two parallel processes? Now it gets worse because they want to conduct the investigation through the same judicial body that…

Switch on your phone on any day of the week and you will be bombarded with memes, jokes and cartoons depicting the state of South Africa’s governing party. Most of these point to an ANC that is corrupt, inept and uncaring, and has put self-aggrandisement above service to the people. Listen to conversations among ordinary citizens, and you will hear them sigh in exasperation and say: “Mara iANC.” That statement of resignation tells you a lot about the sullying of the brand of an organisation that was associated with good. This, by the way, is not a sentimental hark back that glorifies “the movement of Nelson Mandela, OR Tambo and Albert Luthuli”. There is a time and place for such sentimentality, but even that is naive. Even under those leaders,…

While his peers in his own sport and in other sporting codes in South Africa have been quiet on the #BlackLivesMatter anti-racism campaign, Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi took a leadership role this week as he urged Cricket SA and the Proteas to take a stand on the matter. Now footballers, rugby players and others must also make their voices heard. Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku has so much potential, but he clearly has communication challenges. While we know that many will perish from Covid-19, it was a wild, sensational claim to say that 1 million graves were being prepared in Gauteng. Young man, your job is to help save lives, not consign them to the grave.…

As the country enters the height of the winter season this month, the risk of load shedding as a result of the pressured Eskom grid is quite high. Identified by Google as South Africa’s most searched term in the past decade, load shedding continues to bring about a huge amount of frustration, inconvenience and increased short-term insurance risk for many South Africans. Through the introduction of various load shedding notification apps, people can now see the schedules in advance and can ensure that they are adequately prepared. However, there are still times when load shedding occurs in the early hours of the morning or overnight, leaving many household items at risk of being damaged due to a power surge when electricity comes back after a few hours . A power…

Kelly Khumalo has promised that her new reality show, Life with Kelly Khumalo, will reveal her other side that Mzansi has never seen before. The 13-episode show starts on August 6 on streaming service Showmax. And it will answer many questions people have about the songbird. “My new reality show is coming up next month and people should expect everything that is Kelly Khumalo,” Khumalo told City Press this week. “The show is so real and unscripted,” said the 34-year-old, who didn’t want to reveal much about her project. However, the show’s producer Legend Manqele, who has partnered with Khumalo to reposition her brand, said he was excited about this project. “Kelly has been misunderstood by a lot of people. Her new project will be following a journey of a…

Blood stains on the tar road outside the entrance to the church and items of clothing strewn on the ground leading to the gate greeted onlookers at the headquarters of the International Pentecost Holiness Church yesterday. At the main entrance to the church stood a stationary bus that was riddled with bullet holes – signs of a deadly attack. This was the scene in the aftermath of an early morning hostage situation at the church, commonly known as the Modise Church, in Zuurbekom, a town on the West Rand in Gauteng, that left at least five people dead, more than 40 arrested and a number of guns confiscated, after an alleged battle for control of the church had turned ugly. The police said four people were found shot and burnt…

The latest data from Statis SA show that Gauteng, which this week surpassed the Western Cape as the epicentre of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, has recorded the largest inflow of migrants, with 1.55 million people settling in the 18 1001 square kilometre region between 2016 and this year. These data were released by Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke on Thursday when he delivered the Mid Year Population Estimates for this year. The data reveal population changes that occurred between July 1 2019 and June 30 2020. Gauteng is by far the most populated province in the country, now with 15.5 million people – more than a quarter of the population. However, Maluleke indicated that, although the impact of Covid-19 was yet to be factored into the recent statistics, its impact could be…

Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s attempts to load her department’s advisory body, the National Rapid Response Task Team, with former student activists and political activists has again come back to bite her. In May, Sisulu (pictured) came under fire when the DA accused her of utilising her power of appointment to the advisory structure as a means of “staffing herself a political war room at the taxpayers’ expense”. At the time, the appointees being challenged included former Fees Must Fall leader Chumane Maxwele, former Pan Africanist Congress of Azania leader Thami ka Plaatjie and former Congress of the People regional leader Mbulelo Ncedana. This week City Press learnt that yet another former student activist had come forward claiming to have been offered a contract by Sisulu to…

From alleged discrimination with testing, to nurses working while awaiting their Covid-19 coronavirus test results – which later came back positive – and patients under investigation for the virus being admitted into wards with uninfected patients. These are some of the allegations made against the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto. As Gauteng became the country’s new coronavirus infection epicentre this week, nurses at the maternity ward of the province’s biggest tertiary hospital, claimed they were working under a shroud of fear and anxiety about contracting the highly contagious disease. They also alleged that protocols, such as the deep cleaning and fumigation of theatres, were being flouted. Speaking to City Press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, the sources in the hospital’s maternity section alleged that healthcare…

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane (pictured) has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to send in the Special Investigating Unit to probe allegations of Covid-19-related corruption in the province. Since the start of the national lockdown in March, the province has limped from one scandal to another, involving questionable transactions and deals in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The most recent scandal involves the department of health, which allegedly spent R10 million on scooters which are meant to transport patients in rural areas of the province. The scooter programme has embarrassed both the provincial and national health departments after Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize admitted this week that they were not suitable to transport patients. Mkhize and Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba were present when programme as launched last month. The OR…

Much of the Our Story of Matiwane is taken from a rare text by Reverend Albert Hlongwane, who was told the story by his kinsman and Matiwane’s grandson, Msebenzi. In his prime, Matiwane was a short, stout and unimpressive-looking man who normally wore a cloak of black and white calfskin, yet he was widely feared for his ruthlessness, and respected for his resourcefulness and bravery. His leadership of the amaNgwane came about because of the actions of his grandmother and great-grandmother. Read on to find out how these women came to play a significant role in the future of the amaNgwane. Matiwane’s amaNgwane SA Heritage Publishers 48 pages, illustrated R115 at bookshops Let’s take a look at Matiwane’s family line first to discover how he learnt to be so resourceful…

There is a new rule in the PSL that players have to get used to fast – when in doubt, sanitise, sanitise and then sanitise some more. From balls, boots and cones to baskets, bibs and goalkeeper gloves. Nothing is left to chance. During our visit to Highlands Park’s training facilities on Friday, City Press got to see this first-hand, albeit from the outside, as only members of the club were allowed near the training fields. Having been granted permission the day before to take pictures from a distance of the team training, the club did an about-turn and we were denied entry by an unidentified official at the entrance gate when we arrived. Understandably, the compliance officers are the boss and they can, in theory, veto any decision made…

A desperate Cheetahs franchise has come out defiantly in the face of growing rumours that they and fellow South African Pro14 team the Southern Kings will be axed to make way for all four of the Super Rugby sides in what would be a new Pro16 competition next year. Nothing is official, but talk from up north and in local rugby circles has reached something approaching a crescendo about SA Rugby breaking away from Super Rugby to join Pro14 as early as next year, with the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers representing the country in the tournament, and the incumbent teams missing out. But the Cheetahs, through outgoing managing director Harold Verster – who admitted to being in the dark about the machinations behind the scenes – put on a…

The legitimacy of our judiciary is inherently dependent on every judicial officer conducting themselves in accordance with the foundational values of our constitutional democracy and putting the public interest above personal interest. The public the judiciary serves must never doubt that judicial officers respect them and the office they hold. Once a judicial officer crosses the line and conducts him or herself in a manner that creates a perception of self-interest and puts his or her personal interest above public interest, the core values of our judiciary are shaken. It’s one thing to hold a personal view and another to propagate that view in public. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng crossed the line when he entered the complex terrain of both religious fundamentalism and politics. After years of preaching about the…

According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Global Wealth Report 2020, global private wealth has been accelerating, exceeding economic growth worldwide. With the number of millionaires reaching 24 million last year, and the financial technology industry offering new services to people with more limited amounts of disposable income, the value of assets held by private wealth managers increased hugely over the past decade. According to data, the total value of global private wealth surged by 80% over the past 10 years, reaching $226.4 trillion (R3.8 quadrillion) last year. The BCG report showed that, in 2010, the combined value of assets held by private wealth managers was $133.3 trillion. Statistics indicate that the value of private wealth last year witnessed the most significant increase in the past two decades, growing by…

A second suspect in the VBS Mutual Bank case has indicated that they will plead guilty. This comes right after former VBS chief financial officer (CFO) Phillip Truter turned himself in last week and said he would plead guilty to all charges. The suspect, believed to be Mattheys Gerhardus Wienekus, the former CFO of Merafong City Local Municipality – one of the 20 municipalities that invested money in VBS – is the second out of the nine individuals who were arrested who wants to plead guilty. Wienekus (64) was arrested in connection with R50 million which was invested with VBS when he was acting CFO of the municipality. City Press understands that the investigation into the municipalities that invested money into VBS, which was in contravention of the Municipal Finance…

Jada Pinkett Smith has admitted that she did have an affair with singer August Alsina while married to Will Smith, during a bombshell tell-all confessional. The actress sat down with her husband for an intimate conversation on her Facebook show, Red Table Talk, where she revealed how the relationship took place. Jada said she developed a friendship with August four years ago, but revealed she and Will were going through a “difficult time” and had “basically broken up”. The shocking confession comes after both actors initially denied August’s claims that Will gave him his blessing to have a relationship with Jada. In Friday’s episode of Jada’s web series, the Hollywood couple sat opposite each other as they set the record straight and reaffirmed their commitment to each other. Jada began…

”When we start thinking about dropping out as a process that happens over time, in which a disengaged pupil is pushed or pulled away from school ... we are better able to identify the drivers of dropping out and find ways to address them” Simphiwe John* was skipping classes and frequently absent from school because he found it difficult to adjust to English. John (14) had moved from Lower Mthombe, a village in King William’s Town, to East London in the Eastern Cape to be closer to this father. He used to attend a rural school where the medium of instruction was mainly isiXhosa, and English was predominantly spoken at his new school. He struggled both academically and socially as he had yet to make any new friends. John is…

As time moved on during the Covid-19 pandemic, most people feared being infected and dying less than the financial insecurity this period has brought. When asked about which words or phrases came to mind about the coronavirus, during a survey by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Center for Customer Insight, the respondents frequently said: “death toll”, “loss of jobs”, “business closures”, “hunger”, “economic recession”, “increased poverty” and “increased insecurity.” Death toll, BCG found, topped the list but most words and phrases were about financial and job security. BCG conducted its survey on consumer sentiment in two segments – from April 17 to April 22 and then from May 18 to May 22. BCG’s managing director and partner, Stefano Niavas, said that when the survey was conducted in May, consumers’ health concerns…

Renault Triber Expression Price: From R177 900 Remember the VW Citi Golf? Of course you do. When it retired, Volkswagen replaced it with the Polo Vivo – a solid car for less money than the Polo. Though justified by its good quality, the Vivo became quite expensive over time. Today, the cheapest one goes for R207 500. Always being just one generation behind the latest version, it represents good value. But motorists struggle to afford anything more than R200 000, and cheaper cars are tiny. French company Renault saw a gap and introduced the Triber seven-seat SUV. The price? R177 900 for the entry-level Triber Expression. With a R50 000 trade-in, you could pay it off over five years for less than R3 000 a month. But what’s it like…

When the dust has settled around the #BlackLivesMatter conjecture that played itself out in local cricket circles this week, Messrs (Pat) Symcox and (Boeta) Dippenaar will find they were instrumental in seeing to it that Cricket SA (CSA) joined the antiracism movement. In a manner not too dissimilar to apartheid South Africa presenting a comprehensive forward defence to democracy for decades, four white former Proteas players – Symcox, Dippenaar, Brian McMillan and Rudi Steyn – were strident in voicing their opposition to current Proteas player Lungi Ngidi’s saying he and his team-mates would talk about also acknowledging the movement. McMillan’s response could have been predicted as early as 21 years ago, when he sledged Ashraf Mall by suggesting a teammate bowl him a “coolie creeper”, while the weight of Steyn’s…

Mamelodi Sundowns assistant coach Rhulani Mokwena has received a warm welcome back to the club from a surprising individual – die-hard Sundowns fan Sello Piet Moyana, who infamously attacked Mokwena on the bench during a game a few years ago. Moyana, who burst into the spotlight in 2018 when he attacked the Orlando Pirates bench during a game against Mamelodi Sundowns, has praised the return of the 35-year-old tactician. Images of Moyana confronting Mokwena trended on social media and sports highlight reels on TV. “Personally, I welcome the return of Rhulani. Sundowns is his home and that will not change,” Moyana told City Press. “He is a good coach and will add value to the technical team like he did before. Our team had a lot of success when he…

Another standoff between Safa and its special member the PSL is on the cards. This follows the league’s decision to resume the season next weekend – which flies against Safa’s stance that there will be no football until at least next month. City Press has reliably learnt that the mother body did not take the league’s pronouncement well, accusing it of jumping the gun. On Friday, acting PSL chief executive Mato Madlala wrote to Safa informing it of the league’s board of governors’ meeting on Thursday, which resolved to restart the season next weekend. “I write to inform you that the board of governors of the league met yesterday to determine training and playing venues, and the date to return to match play in the biologically safe environment ... the…

We all agree on this 108th day of lockdown that the bad news about our worsening Covid-19 crisis and our tanking economy is relentless and increasingly grim. Even the most cheerful among us is battling doom to find the silver lining. I haven’t found a silver lining exactly, but I do think that we have all been taking actions that do help and that, if we amplify these, we can begin to take ever bigger chunks out of the doom that surrounds us. My neighbourhood – like yours – puts out messages each week supporting local businesses. Instead of ordering food from a takeaway chain, our neighbourhood orders from the family-run Italian place or gets a caffeine fix from the local coffee shop. Members of our community are making masks…

With a looming depression triggered – not caused – by the Covid-19 coronavirus, we are all asking hard questions about how to reset the economy. If economic growth only came from mere savings then Portugal, the Netherlands and Spain would had been the first economically developed countries. These countries, compared with England, had accumulated gold and other resources from colonies as far back as the 1500s. England has shown that economic growth is driven by productive investment of savings within a particular set of property relations. Just like all investment in our current economy, the deployment of savings is based on anticipated returns. Savers expect better returns on these investments. Money managers allocate savings to enable their clients to earn better returns. Among other enablers of the 1930s Great Depression…

If SAA’s creditors approve its controversial rescue plan on Tuesday, government will have to provide a written undertaking that it will fund the plan within a week. But an undertaking such as this will be worth little more than political window-dressing and could be vulnerable to litigation, experts say. In addition to the more than R16 billion that government has already set aside in its budget to repay guaranteed SAA loans, another R10 billion will have to be availed to finance the rescue plan. It includes R2.2 billion for the generous termination packages for SAA employees, R600 million for creditors, R1.7 billion for aircraft leasing, R2.8 billion to get the “new” SAA into the air and R3.2 billion to compensate passengers for the airline tickets they paid for but couldn’t…

This is a hard time for South Africa, our continent and the world. It can seem impossible to think about anything except the human pain and economic damage we are seeing all around us. Any bit of good news is welcome. It is also important to keep thinking about, and planning for, a better future after the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic passes. South Africa’s more than 200 000 financial sector workers have shown great courage and discipline in serving the nation. Despite the risks they face, essential workers calmly go to their branches and offices every day to serve clients. The many thousands of people working from home are juggling their responsibilities with impressive stamina and self-discipline. The banks, insurance companies and asset managers’ information technology teams have worked literally around…

WhatsApp stokvel scams have been around for a while and have morphed into what’s being called a “WhatsApp gifting circle”. It is the same get-rich-quick pyramid scheme, just under a different label, and still as dangerous and illegal. People are being recruited to join a WhatsApp stokvel or gifting group by paying a joining fee. The idea is that, by “gifting” an amount of money, ranging from R200 to R1 000, you join the group and, in return, you recruit two people under you. As you recruit, you move up the chain and when you are at the top of the list of what is usually six people, it’s your turn to be paid. So, if you “gifted” R1 000, you would potentially be paid out R6 000 when you…