Innholdsfortegnelse for 8/9/2020 i City Press

Some exciting changes are happening to your favourite Sunday read in the digital sphere. All the Media24 titles are making their way on to one online platform, so you can get all your favourite news and magazines under one banner. Media24’s new digital subscription service launched yesterday. Although there will be content that is available free of charge, a freemium model will allow for the majority of the content to be free, including breaking news, but premium content will be reserved for subscribers only. Premium content includes investigative and in-depth journalism, opinions, analyses and views on news, as well as politics, sport, business and lifestyle stories. A subscription will also get you access to journalism from City Press, You, Drum and True Love magazines, as well as e-editions of these…

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

“It feels surreal. Every moment feels like a memory my mind wants to pause and capture so that it can be engraved forever.” This was Shudufhadzo Musida’s reaction after making it into the top 10 in the Miss SA beauty pageant. The 23-year-old, who hails from Ha-Masia in Venda, Limpopo, was left feeling humbled and honoured after winning the public vote, which is a good indicator going into the competition. “I felt like I had a whole village walking behind me and that is a feeling I will never forget.” Musida said she was motivated by the desire to have her voice heard on a global stage. “I’ve always known that I have a calling that is bigger than myself,” she says. Her plans, should she win, involve continuing the…

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), the largest public sector union in the country, with a membership of about 235 000; the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), the largest trade union for teachers in the country; and other affiliate unions have turned up the heat in calling for Cosatu’s leadership to not sit idle while allegations of corruption go unpunished under the ANC-led government. The affiliates are growing increasingly impatient over festering corruption, particularly the graft reported during the national state of disaster, and continued inaction from President Cyril Ramaphosa, who gained the trade union federation’s support on a ticket that corruption would be eradicated under his leadership. City Press understands that Nehawu made an impassioned plea to both Cosatu and SA Communist Party office bearers in…

A revelatory and brilliant documentary by South African film makers Richard Poplak and Diana Neille will open in South Africa soon. Called Influence, it profiles “morally slippery” British reputation manager Lord Timothy Bell as he recounts work done by his infamous public relations (PR) firm Bell Pottinger, including a campaign run for the Gupta family in 2016. As part of the now disgraced firm’s work for the Guptas, Bell Pottinger spread a racially divisive campaign that sought to take focus off the corrupt family and place the blame for South Africa’s socioeconomic problems squarely on what it called “white monopoly capital”. Because this accusation contains an element of truth, the campaign’s rhetoric was immensely successful and caused massive social harm before it was revealed to be a paid-for campaign. Bell…

Welcome Hlatshwayo went to battle with a monster, and narrowly escaped the clutches of death. This is how the 46-year-old described his recent three-week battle with the Covid-19 coronavirus, a virus that has infected more than 538 000 people in the country so far and had claimed more than 9 600 lives by Friday. “I’m coming [back] from the dead,” Hlatshwayo told City Press this week. “It’s by the grace of God I’m alive and He gave me a second chance to live – I nearly died.” His fight with Covid-19 landed him in the intensive care unit at Mediclinic Midstream in Centurion for six days. He was hooked up on a ventilator, which he credits for saving his life. But the construction company owner feels real conversations need to…

One Day in Bethlehem by Jonny Steinberg Jonathan Ball 312 pages R199 Multiaward-winning South African author Jonny Steinberg tells the gripping story of Fusi Mofokeng and his unending struggle for truth and justice. Fusi was wrongly imprisoned for 19 years after being accused of acting as an accomplice in a murder in 1992, committed by his brother-in-law in Bethlehem in the Free State. In 2011, he was released into a world he no longer recognised, where his parents and brother had all died. While serving his sentence, Fusi studied law, fought for his release, appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and is still seeking a presidential pardon. His story in Steinberg’s hands is a symbol of Everyman – if you’re black and poor, wherever you live in the world,…

The news that former Sharks captain Tera Mtembu has signed with US Major League Rugby side New England Free Jacks signalled the end to an unfulfilled career in South African rugby. Mtembu’s appointment as the first black African captain in domestic first-class rugby, at the ripe old age of 23 in 2014, generated a lot of expectation. But as his time at the Durban franchise winds down – he leaves for Boston in Massachusetts in December – his career is measured more by injury layoffs than by caps earned. In the 11 years he was at the Sharks, Mtembu amassed 47 Super Rugby caps, 44 appearances in the Currie Cup and turned out for the Sharks XV 33 times – a period in which he’s had no less than seven…

Does Percy Tau have a future in the English Premier League (EPL), or will he follow in the footsteps of former Bafana Bafana captain Bongani Khumalo, who signed a long-term contract in England but never played an official game for Tottenham Hotspur? This is a valid question after his latest move to Belgium, where he was unveiled by RCS Anderlecht this week. Two years ago, Tau was a hit at Mamelodi Sundowns before he signed a four-year contract with EPL club Brighton & Hove Albion for a reported South African record transfer fee in the region of R50 million. However, the player from Emalahleni in Mpumalanga was immediately shipped out to Belgium on loan because he didn’t meet the work permit requirements to play in the Premiership. Despite being voted…

‘We should never remain hostages to our past. I thus humbly appeal to all of us that we let bygones be bygones, readily embracing each other in defining a new destiny. I implore you all to declare that never again should the circumstances that have put Zimbabwe in an unfavourable position be allowed to recur or overshadow its prospects.” These gentle and conciliatory words were said by Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa at his inauguration in November 2017. The country was in high spirits after the coup that led to the ousting of the authoritarian Robert Mugabe. But the same Mnangangwa this week said: “Those who promote hate and disharmony will never win. The bad apples that have attempted to divide our people and to weaken our systems will be flushed…

Pap revolutionary Although many might not believe it, a lot of the people who are adherents to the radical economic transformation rhetoric of the ANC believe they are “revolutionaries”. One of them is Andile Lungisa, who was this week forced out as a member of the mayoral committee in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro. In a video interview, Lungisa said that, if you were to visit him at his home, you would never find fruit juice, apples or oranges – or even fried meat – in his fridge. You would be sure to find Amasi and pap. This is all because “he is a revolutionary”. Shacks not Ahee It took a whole Papa Penny Penny’s video message to remind us how badly Limpopo is governed. Last week, Limpopo Premier Stan…

On this day 64 years ago, thousands of women from across South Africa used their collective power for good. Every year since, we reflect on and celebrate how those 20 000 women marched us closer to achieving gender equality, and Women’s Month helps us interrogate what more needs to be done. South African women from every race and class gathered at the Union Buildings in Pretoria with signed petitions to protest the apartheid government’s pass laws. The 30-minute silent protest was a warning to government; a powerful signal that the women they sought to marginalise and erase would be seen and heard on their own terms. This year, to commemorate this important milestone and the power of women, Anglo American, in partnership with City Press and Daily Sun, is celebrating…

Consumers who are strapped for cash can now barter things on their computers, tablets or cellphones. Swopanything.com, South Africa’s first bartering website, will allow consumers to trade anything – from goods and services to expertise and even specific experiences – without having to cough up any money. Bartering is the earliest form of commerce and is estimated to date back to 9 000BC – long before money was in circulation. According to Forbes, bartering again emerged after the worldwide economic depression in the late 2000s, especially in the US. Swopanything.com is the brainchild of Edward Bouwer, an entrepreneur born in the Netherlands who has been living in South Africa for the past 30 years. Bouwer is the chairperson of OneMinute Technologies, a software developer with offices in Cape Town and…

As we celebrate Women’s Day, thousands of childcare centres around the country remain closed. Yet, until the lockdown, these establishments provided sanctuary and food to perhaps 2.5 million preschool children and some peace of mind for their working or work-seeking mothers. Now hunger stalks the land and children, sometimes as young as seven or eight, are often left to care for younger siblings. This frightening reality brought to mind two comments I recently read. The first was the remark: “Health, for the majority of the population is a story of suffering, illness and disease.” The second: “A more undignified scenario than starvation of a child is unimaginable; the morality of a society is gauged by how it treats its children.” They were both penned by women about conditions in South…

‘Idon’t know where we get these slippery stepladders from, Mr Mfene,” Khafula complains. He is in a foul mood today; the sales of amaskopas are in serious decline. Prices are shooting up because the taxi fare has gone up. He is on the bad side of the recession. He is an entrepreneur not by choice, but by circumstance. Khafula does not love his job – many people don’t – but he has become used to it. He wakes up in the morning, stocks up and makes sure that when the school kids come his stall is ready. But the children aren’t going to school, so they do not have any pocket money. “What do you mean, Kawza?” Mfene asks. “This Monnangagwa [Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa],” Khafula spits, “he has taken…

A company owned by the son of a deputy minister is among the new companies awarded contracts by the Limpopo health department to supply food to hospitals. Now other local suppliers are taking legal action, alleging that the supply chain guidelines were flouted, resulting in politically connected individuals benefiting at their expense. Themba Botshelo Magadzi, a co-director of Macheke Magadzi Services, landed his first contract with the department. He is the son of Deputy Transport Minister Dikeledi Magadzi. She is also the former MEC for health in Limpopo. Magadzi this week confirmed he was “celebrating getting a contract with the health department at last” to supply perishables to hospitals, but denied he was favoured because of his political connections. Last week, the provincial department was thrust into the spotlight after…

In bagging alumni Paul Treu as their head coach for the next three years, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) has won the lotto, as the man who laid the foundation for the Blitzboks as we know them is – no disrespect to them – a touch overqualified to be coaching at Varsity Cup level. Treu spoke to City Press this week about his new job. Taking on the UWC job with your CV is seen as several steps back, so why take it? First and foremost, there aren’t a lot of coaching opportunities in South Africa. Looking at SA Rugby’s new structures, there are fewer teams to coach and fewer coaching teams around, so it’s challenging for a professional coach to get into the system. It’s the same…

Now that you’re all gone, here is my last open letter to you as the Rivonia Trialists. I greet you all in the name of the continuing struggles of our people. It’s been almost eight years since I penned an open letter out of frustration to the remaining four of you at the time. That was long before it was acceptable in the eyes of ANC members to be publicly critical of our political home. I lamented then the rot under Jacob Zuma. The looting of state coffers was just too much, plus the slaughter of the Marikana mine workers by his trigger-happy police officers. Back then, I found it easier to write to you than any living ANC leaders because you represented an era in which you had sacrificed…

Inequality is a deep fissure in the social fabric of our country. At its core is race-based inequality, where, after 26 years of democracy, the white minority is still the primary beneficiary of economic activity and reward. Compounding this, and at the core of it, is the deeply entrenched privilege of South African men. That patriarchy underpins every facet of our lives cannot be disputed – from its most toxic expression in gender-based violence and femicide to the exclusion of women in the corporate boardroom. The economic exclusion of women and the gender pay gap prevalent in the workplace are just another aspect of patriarchal violence. The twelfth edition of PwC’s Executive Directors: Practices and remuneration trends report, which was released this week, is a tangible reflection of the lack…

We are into the fifth month since government declared a national state of disaster, followed by a national lockdown, after the first cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus were confirmed in March. Since then, government has continually asked citizens to do their bit to help curb the spread of the virus, which, judging by the number of infections and deaths reported daily, is currently at its peak. For its part, government has eased some of the lockdown restrictions to enable some freedom of movement and to preserve jobs so the economy can function. Judging by the recent outrage that people have directed at the governing ANC, it appears that South Africans have had enough. It started with the looting of food parcels meant for the indigent, which were taken by crooked…

Lebogang Rasepae is an auxiliary nurse at Amandelbult Hospital in Thabazimbi, Limpopo. Currently working in the emergency room, she’s been on staff at the hospital, which services the community around Anglo American’s Tumela Mine, since 2006. She qualified 15 years ago from the HealthNicon School of Nursing in Vereeniging and, over the years, has worked across disciplines “I would advise women that nursing as a profession is more about caring, loving and giving back to your community than any other expectation” You have been a nurse for 15 years; what have been the most difficult challenges to navigate during this time? Since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, our workload has increased as the infection rates have increased. It is also challenging dealing with the infections our colleagues develop, as well…

Renewed calls for reform on pay inequality in South Africa and across the world have been pushed to the fore by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. There is now talk of “the great reset”, emphasising executive pay, gender pay gaps and racial income inequality. In April, the Prudential Authority announced regulatory relief measures and guidelines to the banking sector in response to Covid-19. The authority acknowledged that the impact of the pandemic would most likely have a lasting and detrimental effect on the economy. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa asked CEOs and Cabinet ministers to forgo a portion of their salaries, which they donated to the Solidarity Fund to mitigate the impact of the virus on employees and companies. It is against this backdrop that financial…

Deputy President David Mabuza gave the ANC integrity commission a tongue-lashing last year when he was called in to answer to allegations that were levelled against him. This resulted in the postponement of his swearing-in as an MP. Mabuza warned the integrity commission against suggesting that there were leaders who had been found guilty of certain misdemeanours and therefore had to be blacklisted from participating in certain deployments. The backdrop to Mabuza’s stinging submission was a City Press story in April last year, in which we reported that the integrity commission had “red-flagged” 22 individuals – including Mabuza and ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe – as being problematic candidates to serve in the National Assembly. Mabuza had then declined to be sworn in to Parliament until any doubt over his suitability…

At least four women, current and former staffers at Gauteng’s adult contemporary radio station Kaya FM, have accused station boss Greg Maloka of sexual harassment. Maloka voluntarily stepped down yesterday to allow for “a smooth and uninterrupted internal process and investigation” after the allegations surfaced. The station’s managing director has also been accused of “fiduciary negligence, unethical governance practices, financial misconduct and mismanagement of company resources”. An anonymous letter containing the allegations against Maloka has been doing the rounds after it was leaked on social media. It was also sent to the board of Kaya FM, chaired by Sizwe Mncwango, who is also the chief executive officer of its parent company, Thebe Investment Corporation. The letter addresses the station’s alleged internal issues, which include “fiduciary negligence, unethical governance practices, financial…

Mentors: I look up to my gobela. She introduced the aspect of love in healing to me. I realised that, even when she reprimands me, it comes from a place of love. She taught me how to be passionate about my journey. She shows love through other acts, including praying for me and my child. She is my biggest inspiration. Favourite book: I am more of a listener than a visual person. At the moment, I am listening to Vusi Ngxande. I also listen to a lot of Sarah Jakes Roberts and I religiously listen to Dr Velaphi Mkhize, a poet, an author and an African healer/spiritualist. Inspiration: Together with my gobela, I admire Gugu Ndabezitha. She has been my friend for years and she constantly pulls me out of…

A Gauteng hospital’s Covid-19 prevention and control measures are being questioned by a family that believe their loved one contracted the virus while he was a patient there. The family of the late Shupi Peter Mosupi from Brits, North West, want to know why the Mabopane, Gauteng-based Mediclinic Legae hospital has also kept mum regarding changes to his health status. “It’s because of the trust we have in hospitals that Covid-19 was the least of our worries when we left him there, but look at where we are now. We’re asking ourselves so many questions about how this could have happened in hospital,” said Mosupi’s daughter, Tsholofelo. “We want to know why we weren’t contacted immediately after he tested positive for Covid-19. We don’t know when exactly that was and…

Moja Love and DStv channel 157 (arguably the satellite service’s most provocative channel) have unveiled a new show, which sees the network try its hand at a drama for the first time. We have come to expect a risky and at times problematic brand of reality TV from Moja Love, but Erased seems poised to prove that the channel is not a one-trick pony. The show’s announcement trended on Twitter, and so we decided to take a look at six things we have been able to find out about the show so far. 1 The show revolves around a group of women who are struggling to attain financial security and so they turn to sex work. An older woman sees an opportunity and converts her house into a brothel for…

Iskhathi sama popayi siphelile. So goes the popular township saying, which, loosely translated, means “talk is cheap, now for the real deal”. Before the PSL declared the resumption of its programme, there were too many heated debates about the title race and relegation. Local football fans were also at each other’s throats – teasing and mocking one another. Obviously, the Amakhosi faithful were insisting that Kaizer Chiefs should be declared league champions if the season was cancelled. Mamelodi Sundowns fans were against Chiefs being given the championship on a silver platter. There was no consensus on what should happen. The heated debates were also about the fate of the Premiership sides facing the drop to the GladAfrica Championship, as well as who should gain automatic promotion from the NFD to…

40 players – 11 will start the match, with nine reserves on the bench 14 technical staff members (seven per team) plus additional 8 club officials (four per team), including Covid-19 compliance officers 19 members of TV crews made up of two presenters‚ a floor manager‚ 12 camera operators‚ two cable-bashers and two static board personnel 8 medical personnel, who will double up as stretcher bearers 5 match officials in charge of the match 6 ball retrievers (commonly known as ball boys). This is two per team‚ plus one each from both benches acting as additional retrievers • A stadium doctor and a PSL media officer, as well as unspecified “other officials”, will also be allowed pitch side…

‘Andrew Mlangeni is dead,” announced a member of my family without a preamble. It was 11am on July 22. I stood motionless, like a robot suddenly cut off from its power supply. It must have been a minute later when the same family member asked: “Did you hear what I said? I thought you were fond of him.” The voice was louder. I could not make out if it was irritation or bewilderment that I sensed. I found myself saying: “You mean passed on? Thanks. I didn’t know.” I knew I was being pedantic. The reality is that I was masking the fact that I was not just saddened by the news of Bab’ Mlangeni’s passing, I was disappointed in myself. For my Mandela Day acts of goodness, my Tiptat…

The call for the removal of statues and for visual redress in public spaces has had a resurgence during the #BlackLivesMatter movement, leading to the removal of statues in the US and the UK. This brought with it debates about what should stay and what should go, who should do the replacement and whether we should be “wasting our time” with this process at all. A few years ago, I would have argued that the money spent on visual redress could be put to better use, but now I contend that we should look at each of our visual symbols and ask what they represent and what we are commemorating by honouring those people. The names of places and memorials evoke within us feelings and memories, and affect how we…

Today we pay tribute to the gallant women who marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria 64 years ago to protest against the apartheid regime’s pass laws. As we celebrate Women’s Day, we remember that their sacrifices laid the foundation for the progress made in empowering women and achieving gender equality. We remember their commitment and resilience that led to the freedoms and democracy we enjoy today. There is much we can learn from these stalwarts by following in their footsteps. Women’s Month provides an opportunity to pay tribute to our forebears (though we should celebrate the women of our country every day). It is also time to take stock of how we’ve done in achieving true gender equality. Notwithstanding the progress made in empowering women over the past 26…

Policymakers, broad-based BEE practitioners and verification agencies all agree that the ownership element of broad-based BEE remains one of the most important pillars for measuring black participation in the economy. However, these experts have spent years grappling with the measurement and methodology of that pillar, whose miscalculations have led to fronting, misrepresentation and intermediaries taking advantage of the transformation agenda. In an interview with City Press, founding director of the Centre for Economic Development and Transformation, Duma Gqubule, said broad-based BEE ratings weren’t a true reflection of black ownership. “They lack transparency because they don’t provide individual company ownership statistics. They don’t explain the measurement principles and methodologies that were used to arrive at conclusions,” said Gqubule, adding that reporting on black ownership had lost all credibility. “In April 2019,…

Online property listing portals saw a decline in activity at the start of the lockdown, but it has been increasing steadily, almost back to pre-lockdown levels. Without denying the reality of the current global recession, markets do recover over time. And as property prices have come down, it definitely is a buyer’s market. Shameer Chothia, a consultant at Momentum Consultants and Actuaries, says that, as with any big purchase, few of us have the reserves for a cash deposit and need to look at other possible avenues to access a loan. “One area many people overlook is a ‘pension-backed home loan’,” explains Chothia. “If you have made the decision to buy, found a property and made an offer to purchase, the next step will be to submit a home loan…