Innholdsfortegnelse for 10/25/2020 i City Press

The internet erupted on Friday morning over a video that shows The Expresso Morning Show host and the face of insurance giant OUTsurance, Katlego Maboe, confessing to cheating on his wife, Monique Muller. In it, Muller sets Maboe an ultimatum to tell her who he slept with. It is unclear what the ultimatum is for. Maboe, dressed in a red shirt and blue bathrobe – which has now becomely widely spoofed on Twitter – tells her that he cheated on her with a certain Nikita Murray. Murray is said to be an OUTsurance employee and is also married. Murray tweeted late on Thursday night: “This video has caused nothing but pain to me and my family. An official statement will be released in the morning from my lawyers. I kindly…

Axed Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku has made an urgent court application to overturn Special Investigating Unit (SIU) findings against him, which led to Premier David Makhura removing him from his position. In the court papers, Masuku stated that the SIU findings lacked both factual and legal foundation and employed the wrong sections of the Public Finance Management Act and the Constitution to apportion blame to him for his handling of the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the province. The SIU found that Masuku had failed to exercise oversight on his department during the Covid-19 pandemic and that he had been alerted to irregularities in the procurement process, but had failed to act. Masuku first landed in trouble when it was discovered that one of the PPE tenders…

Crucial evidence related to the murder case of Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was overlooked, including a tip-off by his father that his son was the victim of a hit. In 2015, the soccer star’s father, Sam Meyiwa, gave police information about well-known assassins he believed were involved in the murder of his son. The alleged hitmen were from KwaNongoma in KwaZulu-Natal. City Press can reveal that Meyiwa’s father identified some of the five hitmen who were arrested by police in 2015. Meyiwa was gunned down on October 26 2014 at his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s mother’s house in Vosloorus on the East Rand. Two men allegedly stormed into the house and demanded cellphones and money, while others waited outside. One of the alleged hitmen, whose name is known to the…

In a dramatic twist to the amaXhosa kingdom battle, a rival faction appointed retired SA National Defence Force (SANDF) commander General Derrick Daliwonga Mgwebi as acting king on Thursday. This comes exactly a week after the Sigcawu royal family announced that South Africa’s ambassador to Malawi, Prince Ahlangene Vulikhaya Sigcawu, as the new king of the amaXhosa, following the death of King Zwelonke Sigcawu in November. On Tuesday, the Sigcawu royal family introduced Vulikhaya to the traditional leaders of the amaXhosa as the new monarch. On Friday, a traditional ceremony was conducted at the Nqadu Great Place in Willowvale to present Vulikhaya as the new Xhosa king before he was introduced to the media by the family. However, on Thursday, Mgwebi – who is also a traditional leader of the…

Bobby: I’m considering buying a 2015 2.2L Chevrolet Captiva. It’s diesel and automatic with 96 000km. It’s a great drive, but I’m concerned about automatic gearbox issues and spare parts, since the Captiva has been discontinued. Also, there is no motor or service plan, so am worried about big replacements coming up soon. I’ve heard these big components usually get replaced at about 100 000km. I can take one of those extended two-year warranties, but they don’t cover everything and have limits on the large components. At that mileage, the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system will probably require a clean-up – have a workshop dismantle the EGR system, intercooler assembly and boost pipes, and remove any signs of soot in any of the components. Failure to do so will eventually…

Thanks to technology, it is getting easier and cheaper for South Africans to get exposure to shares in listed global companies such as Apple, Facebook and Netflix. This month, FNB announced a new investment product that allows South Africans to get a slice of these global giants for as little as R10 a share. This has been made possible by the creation of an exchange-traded note (ETN), which is a JSE-listed instrument that tracks the returns – including dividends – of a specific share. You invest in rands and receive your money back in rands, but the FNB ETN tracks the performance of the actual share with or without a currency conversion. The ETN is a promise to pay the return profile, so the risk sits with FirstRand’s balance sheet.…

‘Money can’t guarantee victory,” former US president Barack Obama wrote in his book, The Audacity of Hope, “but without money, and the television ads that consume all the money, you are pretty much guaranteed to lose.” Presidential races all over the world have become very expensive. Understandably, the prize is big, because whoever wins gets to be in the pound seats, literally. The size of the US economy is $21 trillion (R341 trillion) a year and gives the people who are close to the president enormous influence around the world. It is a gamble worth taking for most people. But, as Obama said, the investment does not guarantee success. Hillary Clinton spent almost double what Donald Trump spent in the 2016 presidential race, but she still lost. She burnt $768…

Hospitals are institutions where people who feel unwell or are suffering from ailments go for healing. Patients go to hospitals hoping to come out healed and feeling better. They are not places of murder and rape, or, at least, they should not be. However, a recent spate of rapes in Gauteng hospitals have caused hurt, humiliation and fear. As we report elsewhere in the paper, four rape cases have been opened. Predictably, there is buck passing among those who run these hospitals. At the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto, there have been 11 violent incidents reported this year alone, mostly involving psychiatric patients either being attacked by other patients or attacking staff and security personnel. Staff blame this on, among other things, the improper handling of mental health patients and…

We are used to terms such as “trial by media”, “give me my day in court” and similar refrains from politicians each time they are caught with their hand in the cookie jar. On Friday morning, I felt that if ever there was a person who deserved to make such a comment, it must be Kelly Khumalo. The singer was on eNCA promoting one of her songs. She sat for an interview and later performed. While I was watching the interview, I heard someone say: “I’m sorry, but I can’t stand this woman. I can’t even listen to anything she sings.” Later, I came across the eNCA’s Facebook page, and I have never seen so much anger and so many insults directed at an individual. There were more than 2…

The Americans blame the Russians for Donald Trump, the British blame Jeremy Corbyn for Boris Johnson, and South Africans want to blame the intra-African ANC fighting for the dream deferred. Perhaps we could realise that we are witnessing a global spectacle. Whether you want to speak about the public display of demagogic behaviour by some leaders in the ANC or the brazen looting of the public purse, one thing is clear – our democracy had bred demagogues. Demagogues have become a natural product of our form of government, which depends on elections. The most one can rationally hope for is that a majority of the (participating) electorate will identify the demagogue and reject his or her message. But history has taught us that such a reaction is unlikely. With the…

I think that if the video assistant referee (VAR) was a human being, it would have committed suicide by now, or at least been in an asylum for the mentally ill. It was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread or, as a former boss of mine at Western Deep Levels Gold Mine once said, since Pa fell off the bus. So many people are getting so worked up about it and by it. Remember, the VAR doesn’t make mistakes; the humans who are operating it make the mistakes. Machines, in whatever form, only do what they are told to by us human beings. It was introduced to try to eliminate the alleged mistakes being made by the referees and their assistants; hence they introduced a nonhuman assistant…

“We started training under level 4 ... we did things we never do when we’re racing” Stephen Mokoka’s improvement of the national half marathon record at the world championships in Poland last weekend came as a surprise for most observers in a year disrupted by Covid-19, but it didn’t exactly come out of left field for the athlete himself. In finishing seventh at the World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland – in a time of 59 minutes and 36 seconds – Mokoka bettered his own South African record by 15 seconds. This should have been unlikely for an athlete from a country whose athletics federation decided to close shop on competing altogether due to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. But Mokoka explained why he wasn’t surprised by the positive result:…

Members of the board of Cricket SA (CSA) appear to be getting ready for a fight after the members’ council passed a resolution for the board to step down on Thursday. Board members Marius Schoeman, an independent director, and Eastern Province’s Donovan May are known to be reluctant to step down, with their obstinacy plunging the sport into a weekend of confusion ahead of possible ministerial intervention by close of business of Tuesday. Welsh Gwaza, CSA’s company secretary, also appears to be offering board members legal advice to stay put, understands City Press sister paper, Rapport. “I don’t think the board is going anywhere anytime soon,” said an insider. “It’s an unholy mess.” Adding credence to the idea that the board members are digging trenches and fixing proverbial bayonets was…

Axed SA Post Office board member Colleen Makhubele is challenging the decision to remove her from the board, and has instructed her legal team to apply for an urgent court application to set aside the decision. “I have been instructed to file an urgent application to have the decision to have her removed challenged. The decision to have my client removed from the board is flawed in many ways,” said Makhubele’s lawyer Victor Nkhwashu. Makhubele was removed on Friday and sources close to her alleged that she only learnt through the media that she was no longer a board member. In a letter addressed to SA Post Office group company secretary Dawood Dada on Thursday – a day before the board held a special general board meeting to discuss Makhubele’s…

• HPV is extremely common. It is estimated that every person who is sexually active will get HPV at some point in their life if they don’t get the HPV vaccine. • You should ideally go to your gynaecologist to check once a year for HPV or if you have been having unprotected sex. Your doctor, local clinic, the Marie Stopes centres and some Dis-Chem pharmacies can perform a pap smear test if you cannot afford specialist care. • According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s website: “HPV can cause cervical and other cancers, including cancer of the vulva, vagina, penis, or anus ... Cancer often takes years, even decades, to develop after a person gets HPV. “The types of HPV that can cause genital warts are…

Instead of clearing the air regarding the termination of Gauteng member of the provincial legislature Nkele Molapo’s DA membership, a leaked preliminary report (seen by City Press) compiled by investigating officer Anton Coetzee on Molapo’s alleged sharing of confidential information and strategies with the EFF is raising further questions about the DA’s handling of the matter. Molapo was expelled from the DA after being found guilty of the offence. She also recently lost an appeal against the ruling. The preliminary report, sent by Coetzee via email in January last year to Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach, the chairperson of the DA’s federal legal commission – conceded that the investigation could not ascertain a clear nexus between the screenshot that Molapo allegedly shared with the EFF and her electronic device. Providing the nexus,…

Rihanna, Kanye West and Nicki Minaj are among the many celebrities who have come out to support protests against police brutality in Nigeria. But protesters hit out when Beyoncé spoke up. Protesters say that on Tuesday night in Lagos, men in army fatigues closed in and shot at them while they sang the national anthem, something the army denies as fake news. The irony struck a chord across the world. South African comedian Trevor Noah said: “Just like we’ve seen in the US, the police in Nigeria are responding to protests about police brutality with more police brutality.” A host of international A-list celebrities showed their support for the protesters. Rihanna tweeted a picture of a blood-soaked Nigerian flag. Minaj talked directly to protesters in her tweet in solidarity, saying:…

As emphatic warnings were sounded by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize about increasing new daily cases of Covid-19, igniting fears of a second wave of infections in the country, a recent survey has shown that the population is not only experiencing pandemic fatigue, but lapsing into complacency. The survey found that people are adhering less to safety measures such as wearing masks, observing social distancing and sanitising because they fear losing their incomes and going to bed hungry more than they fear contracting the virus. As of Friday, the country had recorded 712 412 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 18 891 deaths. On Wednesday, Mkhize – who also contracted the virus – emerged from his own recovery process to issue a warning that the threat of a resurgence remained high. While…

A housewife from Gauteng’s East Rand, who moved out of her matrimonial home in 2007 because of her husband’s infidelity, is set to get half of his living annuity, even though the money was invested years after she left. The couple were married for 22 years in community of property. Their divorce was only granted in the Kempton Park Magistrates’ Court in 2018. The court ruled then that she was not entitled to the proceeds of the joint estate as this had lapsed on June 20 2007, when she left their home. The husband had argued that she had contributed nothing to the estate from that point on. He also argued that, as a housewife, she had made no contribution to the estate during the marriage – from 1985 to…

Ingane Yam Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161) Tuesday, 8pm Mzansi Magic’s new half-hour reality show, created by the producers that gave us I Blew It, is all about spouses who want to disclose that they have fathered or mothered a child outside marriage or a relationship. Hosted by The Real Housewives of Johannesburg star Lethabo LeJoy Mathatho and directed by Kopano Molokoane, the show is nothing special in terms of format or production value, but the salacious concept is sure to get viewers tuning in. “My aim as host is to understand the story fully,” Lethabo told #Trending. “Every story came with its own developments and somehow, somewhere you are touched and can relate.” Molokoane says that he created the show because he felt the children who were born into…

The South African energy supply industry is changing dramatically, with increasing numbers of alternatives to the Eskom monopoly. This will greatly aid the recovery of business confidence, economic growth and job creation, says Dr Roelof Botha, economic adviser to the Optimum Investment Group. Mike Levington, a renewable energy expert, agrees that the energy turnaround in South Africa is on course. This is because government has begun implementing a series of decisions that the industry has been awaiting for some time. These include the following: • The process of acquiring 2 000MW of emergency power has begun. • A similar process for commissioning 11 800MW of electricity-generating capacity from independent power suppliers will kick off in December or January. • Intensive electricity consumers such as mines will now be permitted to…

Comparisons have been made between the FNB ETN range and the EasyEquities EasyFX platform, which allows you to purchase shares directly offshore for a low minimum. It is like comparing apples and oranges – both are fruit, but they are vastly different. Both products solve the problem of accessing expensive shares for a lower minimum investment. Considering that Apple is currently trading at $124, it would cost you R2 100 to buy just one Apple share. The FNB ETN solves this by tracking share performance rather than owning the share, while EasyEquities uses a Fractional Share Right, which allows investors to buy a fraction of the shares they want to invest in. Through the EasyFX platform, you convert rands into US dollars and Australian dollars, and you can buy and…

Capitec Bank, South Africa’s leading digital bank, announced the launch of the Live Better Academy – a free financial education platform – this week. The courses offer practical tips and strategies to help people make smart financial decisions and achieve their goals – whether that’s repaying debt more quickly, reducing spending and sticking to a budget, or saving more for the future. The series can be completed on a smartphone, tablet or PC and requires less than 200MB to complete. Each course is broken down into 16 to 20 modules that take between five to 10 minutes to finish. To keep the learning entertaining, the platform is gamified. Users earn points and badges as they engage, complete courses and answer questions. A leader board ranks users according to their total…

A COMPASS TO UNDERSTAND HOW MARKETS HAVE CHANGED AS A RESULT OF COVID-19 In the unique and colourful South African landscape, it is important for brands and advertisers to understand consumer behaviour concerning their brands and products, along with consumer media behaviour and attitudes. Reaching consumers effectively requires this in-depth knowledge. This is especially true during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has impacted global markets in an unprecedented manner. This is no different in the South African market, which has experienced a shift in consumer beliefs and behaviour. More than ever, brands need insightful and comprehensive data that touches the pulse of consumer needs and behaviour in South Africa, so that they can make strategic decisions that are direct and effective. The Target Group Index (TGI) survey, which Ask Afrika owns…

Every year between November and January, South Africa experiences a spike in retail sales, predominantly due to the payment of bonuses that coincide with the December holiday break and, in recent years, the rise of the Black Friday phenomenon, which originated in the US. Last year, 66% of South Africans spent an average of R1 600 on Black Friday bargains. But spending your hard-earned cash should be about more than just buying goods on special – you should make sure you buy products made or grown in this country. Here’s why: 1 Help create and retain jobs, and grow the economy When you buy local, it stays local. More jobs will be created in your town, the community will prosper and people will be more connected than ever. Your money…

Last week (City Press, October 18 2020), we reported on the tussle over the instrumentals for the song titled Intombi Yesgebengu by Babes Wodumo. The ongoing battle over authorisation to use the instrumental is between music production duo Demolition Boiz, and not Distruction Boyz as published. We apologise for the inconvenience the mix-up may have caused. The singer’s stable, West Ink Records’ manager Sbu Ncube was happy to announced that the singer reached multiplatinum status for accumulating more than 28 million streams on YouTube for her album Gqom Queen. One half of Distruction Boyz, Thobani “Que” Mgobhozi, released a solo EP on Friday titled We Don’t Play the Same Gqom. Demolition Boiz co-producer and manager, Magnificent Tshabalala, said the duo was still seeking legal advice regarding the disputed instrumental.…

Local rapper Shane Eagle took time to sit down with City Press a few weeks ahead of the release of his latest project, a performance you can stream called Xenergy. Crafted using some of the work from his latest album Dark Moon Flower, Xenergy is a slick repackaging of seven songs performed in a large studio that makes the set seem like it’s taking place in the subconscious, untouched mind space. Projections appear behind him as he stands on a platform surrounded by dark waters. It feels like a window to his id, all on your screen. We met at a secret location in Johannesburg. The 24-year-old rapper from Rabie Ridge in Midrand is quite choosy about who he speaks to and even more discerning about who he lets into…

LINDOKUHLE NKOSI, ARTS24 Firstly, how has your year been? This year has been tricky at best. I think I, like many other people, channelled the majority of my energy into surviving ... into getting to the other side alive and unscathed. I’m not really thinking like that any more. I’ve lost friends. I’ve lost family. I’ve been in various stages of passive mourning and ambiguous loss. I’m becoming more and more aware that there is no other side, no return to normal, no life like it was before. Everything we emerge into – those of us who will be lucky enough to – will be altered. So this year has been a difficult initiation, with many hard lessons. An initiation into what? I don’t know yet. All I know is…

If you are looking to buy or sell a property, or even just find out what the properties in your area are worth, Lightstone Property has introduced an easy, low-cost valuation service for individuals. Having provided the service to estate agents and lenders, the company has now made it available directly to homeowners or potential buyers for just R90. The valuation confirms the legal description of the property and the owner’s name. Using a combination of recent sales in the area, the suburb trends over the past 10 years and the municipality valuation, the service provides insight into what the property would potentially be worth. Apart from knowing how much your neighbours actually sold their house for, it is useful for a seller to understand what other properties are selling…

If you wondered why Nigeria has been on fire this week, it is best you get the story from Fola Ojo, one of that country’s leading columnists. Writing in Punch magazine, Ojo described Nigeria as a “nation roiling, boiling and burning” as youngsters take over the streets of major cities. “They have come to a realistic conclusion that if true change will be etched in the spines of their country, it will come only through ordinary folks like them in concert with older fellows with gritty experiences and hearts of service; and never from incognisant and mythomaniac men in power whose gods are their bellies.” Ojo wrote that “Nigeria exists only for a greedy and gluttonous few who are less than 1% of the population”, who then dish out soiled…

Irrelevant force Ekhurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina tried for relevance this week when he said black people must unite against arrests by the Hawks because they are targeting black professionals and black business. But he got a smackdown from the Black Management Forum (BMF), which knows a thing or two about protecting black professionals. The BMF said: “Mzwandile must have been high on something when he made the comments.” But what must have hurt the most was a thumbs-down from radical economic transformation force Phapano Phasha, who said: “We also can’t unite with black people who eat alone, chair. Asizi, but siyeva.” Fancy new title A storm erupted after South Africans caught a glimpse of former Jacob Zuma spin doctor Ranjeni Munusamy, who now works for National Treasury. The info came…

Years ago, while walking along the esplanade in Durban, I heard a voice randomly insult me from the dark. On closer inspection, said voice came from one of two youngsters in one of the many dark alleys around that promenade. After working out that the point was to goad me into getting worked up enough to go into the alley looking for retribution so the two youngsters, whose confidence suggested they were armed, would mug me, I carried on walking to my hotel. Listening to Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan say he and his organisation “were perplexed” that Sanzaar counterparts SA Rugby had withdrawn the world champion Springboks from defending the Rugby Championship this year reminded me of that time. Apart from genuinely wanting to attain the relative miracle of…

Billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett once said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation, and five minutes to ruin it.” This is what newcomers Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila’s (TTM) lack of professionalism and amateurish behaviour has done to the PSL’s reputation. One game into the new season, and TTM are the laughing stock of football fans after they went into last week’s MTN8 clash with SuperSport United unprepared – with only three substitutes on the bench. Not only was the club attacked, the league’s image was also dented. Just four months after Bidvest Wits sold its status to TTM, the club behaved an unspeakable way that cannot be condoned in football. The PSL is not a Mickey Mouse league where you can just pitch up without players. If you…