Innholdsfortegnelse for Saturday, July 11, 2020 i Pretoria News Weekend

Lockdown measures harder to enforce CHELSEA NTULI chelsea.ntuli@inl.co.za A DECLINE in compliance with lock-down regulations will limit its effectiveness in curbing the Covid-19 spread. This is according to a study by a team led by academics from the University of Pretoria’s department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, who say it will become increasingly difficult to enforce the regulations more than 100 days into lockdown. Professor Ian Craig, Dr Laurentz Olivier and Stefan Botha published the findings of their study in the online open-access archive arXiv, based on an epidemiological model developed by Craig and Olivier, which they used to predict that South Africa’s coronavirus infections could exceed 570 000. The number of cases in South Africa has more than doubled over the past two weeks, bringing the number of…

Air conditioning may have spread disease MUENSTER: Scientists are to test a new air filtering system at a German slaughterhouse hit by a coronavirus outbreak after suggestions that the air conditioning system may have helped the virus spread. Hygiene experts from the University of Bonn plan to install the new filter this weekend at a plant belonging to the company Toennies before tests begin on Monday. German health authorities will use “smoke tests” at the plant in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia. Last month, 1 413 of 6 139 staff at the plant tested positive for Covid-19 in what has been called Germany’s worst localised outbreak. Air in the plant must be cooled to between 6ºC and 10ºC to protect the meat. It was likely that…

JAPAN More rain expected as death toll rises to 66, with 16 still missing TOKYO: Parts of Japan still searching for missing people and evacuating those stranded by deadly floods and mudslides were bracing for more pounding rains through the weekend. The death toll had risen to 66 as of yesterday morning, while 16 remained missing, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Most are in prefectures on Kyushu, Japan’s third-largest main island. The damage has spread into central Japan’s scenic mountain villages known for hot springs and hiking. Search-and-rescue work continued in Kuma village, where nine people were missing and the effort was delayed by deep floodwater and the risk of more mudslides. In the hot springs town of Yufuin in Oita prefecture, an innkeeper was found dead, and…

AFRICA Talks over controversial dam remain deadlocked CAPE TOWN: Negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the filling and operation of the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) have produced no results after seven straight days of talks, reported Daily News Egypt. According to the report, Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said on Thursday that the delegations of the three countries had agreed to send three separate reports on the talks and their viewpoints to South Africa, whose President Cyril Ramaphosa is the current chairperson of the AU. Egypt maintained that while Ethiopia stuck to its “inflexible” positions, Egypt had shown flexibility during the resumed tripartite talks, sponsored by the AU and other states’ representatives and observers, wrote news outlet Xinhua. For Ethiopia, the construction and filling of…

The importance of volunteer-funded research SIMON ELWEN CONSERVATION or biological research projects funded through fees from volunteers or students are common in many countries, especially in developing nations, and on projects working with charismatic mega-fauna. “Voluntourism” projects, as they are sometimes known, often have a bad reputation as little more than gap-year holidays for wealthy kids to pet lion cubs or engage in “white saviour” fantasies, although core concerns mainly pertain to projects working with humans and especially children (Smith & Font 2015, Freidus 2017). Although no industry is perfect, we argue that this approach to project funding wildlife research projects is valuable, reasonable, and for many projects essential. Although there is considerable scope within this sector, we focus our commentary on projects with a scientific biological research focus rather…

3 THINGS TO WATCH THIS WEEK TUESDAY, JULY 14 The Restaurant that Burns Calories: BBC Earth at 7pm Welcome to a restaurant like no other. Behind the scenes is a kitchen, gym and exercisers – aiming to burn off every calorie the diners eat. Combines humour with innovation to reveal the science of calories. THURSDAY, JULY 16 I Know This Much Is True: M-Net at 10pm A man recounts his relationship with his schizophrenic twin brother, who is in an asylum. This episode: Lisa Sheffer preps Dominick for a hearing with Hatch’s review board that could decide Thomas’s fate. THURSDAY, JULY 16 The Lowdown with Thomas Gumede: Mzansi Magic at 8pm Need your weekly dose of comic relief? Using social media memes and videos, Thomas Gumede hosts a humorous and…

RANDS & SENSE Vital to keep saving even while managing debt SIGRID MADONKO EARLIER this year, a client wanted to use emergency savings to settle some debt. The couple had not touched their emergency savings for several years and doubted whether they would need them soon. I remember pondering the option but cautioned them against not having emergency savings. Fortunately, the couple followed my advice, as a month later Covid-19 arrived on our shores, and they received no income for three months, forcing them to use their emergency savings. We have been lulled into complacency, thinking there will always be work, if not in our present jobs, then elsewhere. We also often overspend, thinking we will settle the overdraft or save more next month. We believe that even though things…

ALL ABOUT TRUSTS Case highlights key issues when creating a testamentary trust PHIA VAN DER SPUY IN A recent court case, Van Rensburg v Van Rensburg NO and Others (March 24) issues around a testamentary trust were highlighted. As the will of a deceased person forms the trust instrument, no further trust instrument is required to be lodged with the Master of the High Court. A will typically does not provide detailed provisions of how a trust should be administered. This often leads to issues arising at a later stage. In this case, the joint will of the mother and father provided that on the death of the father a testamentary trust had to be established for the benefit of the mother. The trustees had to apply the income and…

TV GUIDE TODAY Cricket: Test Series: England v Windies, First Test, Day 4, 11.30am, SS2 Golf: PGA Tour: Workday Charity Open, Muirfield Village Golf Club, Day 3, 7pm, SS1, SS5, CSN Motorsport: Formula 1: Styrian Grand Prix, Practice 3, 11.45am, SS6; Qualifying, 2.30pm, SS1, SS6; FIA Formula 2 Championship, Round 2: Race 1, 4.45pm, SS6; IndyCar Series: REV Group GP at Road America, Race 1, 11pm, SS6 Rugby: Aotearoa: Crusaders v Blues, 9am, SS1, CSN; Rugby Australia: Waratahs v Western Force, 11.10am, SS1, CSN Soccer: Premier League: Norwich v West Ham United, 12.30pm, SS3; Watford v Newcastle United, 1.20pm, SS4; Liverpool v Burnley, 3.30pm, SS3, CSN; Sheffield United v Chelsea, 6pm, SS3; Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester City, 8.30pm, SS3; Premier League Wrap, 11pm, SS3; Premier League TV: Matchday…

Warning against school boycotts BONGANI HANS THE Council of Education Ministers (CEM), led by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, has threatened to take legal action if politicians and organisations arrange boycotts against the reopening of schools. Former DA leader Mmusi Maimane and his One SA Movement are among those who had called for a stay away by teachers and learners yesterday. He made the call in view of the increased number of coronavirus cases countrywide, and with reports that many schools have to shut down for deep cleaning when staff and children become infected. He wants schools closed until after the peak of infections and winter has passed. Exams should be rescheduled for three months after the disease had plateaued, he said in a memorandum. “The CEM has not ruled…

By the power of the sun... GARMIN International has launched a new collection of multisport smartwatches that use solar power. The solar charging technology has been brought to the Instinct, fenix 6 and 6S and tactix Delta devices and allows those with an active lifestyle to do what they love for longer without worrying about the battery going flat In certain modes the Instinct Solar can last more than 50 days with sufficient sun exposure and in battery saver mode, Garmin promises an unlimited battery life. The fenix 6S Pro Solar (pictured) can last 10.5 days with sufficient solar exposure, while battery performance in smartwatch mode is up to 14 days indoors and 16 days with sufficient solar exposure. These popular watches have modes for running, road cycling and swimming…

GET TESTED City drive to prevent spreading disease RAPULA MOATSHE rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za OUPA MOKOENA African News Agency (ANA) DON’T take your symptoms lightly because you may be a Covid-19 carrier and end up infecting other people unknowingly. This was the primary message conveyed to scores of people, who came through for Covid-19 screening and testing conducted by the City of Tshwane’s health services at Ga-Rankuwa shopping centre yesterday. Johan Human, municipal health services’ acting deputy director in Region 1, said the City targeted shopping malls because they had a bigger concentration of people. Ga-Rankuwa was part of region 1, which accounted for the third highest cases of coronavirus in Tshwane. The region with the highest number of cases was region 3, which included the CBD and parts of the Pretoria West.…

CRIME Residents urged to be vigilant SAKHILE NDLAZI sakhile.ndlazi@inl.co.za SINCE the national lockdown regulations were relaxed, Centurion residents have seen a spike in crime, especially vehicle-related. With the recent increase in crime, ranging from petty to more serious forms, Lyttelton police have urged the community to take precautions and actively join the fight against crime. Spokesperson Captain David Miller said that in the past two months a large number of vehicles had been stolen and broken into at various shopping centres. He said police had stepped up visible patrols across all areas. “Unfortunately, we cannot be everywhere all the time and as such, we are requesting the community to work together with us by not leaving valuables visible in vehicles,” said Miller. Lyttelton police issued safety tips regarding vehicle-related crimes,…

Russia sued over Flight MH17 disaster MOSCOW: The Netherlands announced yesterday that it was suing Russia in the European Court of Human Rights over the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over war-torn eastern Ukraine. Nearly 300 people on board Flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, were killed when the passenger jet was shot down by a missile that a Dutch-led investigative team has determined came from Russia. Most of the victims were Dutch. Russia has rejected the allegation that it provided the missile to a pro-Russian rebel group fighting the Ukrainian military for control of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, near the Russian border. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin has represented such rebel groups in international peace talks, the Russian government has repeatedly denied direct involvement…

COVID-19 Experts in China for virus inquiry WHO advance team sent on scoping mission AN ADVANCE team from the World Health Organization (WHO) was headed to China to organise an investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus which sparked the global pandemic, a spokeswoman said yesterday. The virus is believed to have emerged in a wholesale market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, since then closed, after jumping the species barrier from the animal kingdom to infect humans. The two WHO experts, specialists in animal health and epidemiology, will work with Chinese scientists to determine the scope and itinerary of the investigation, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said, declining to name them. “They have gone, they are in the air now, they are the advance…

AUSTRALIA State locked down as coronavirus spreads AUSTRALIA’S coronavirus hot spot Victoria recorded 288 new cases yesterday, the largest number of any state since the pandemic began, and authorities warned the spread could worsen. Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state after neighbouring New South Wales (NSW), has been cut off with border closures by other states. All states and territories but NSW had eradicated community transmission of the virus, but Victoria-linked infections are spreading. Victoria hopes a second lockdown in Melbourne, the nation’s second most populous city with 5 million people, will curb the spread, imposed on Wednesday and will last six weeks. The Victoria tally reflected a new record of more than 37500 tests in a day, state Premier Daniel Andrews said. Australian states have banned people crossing borders if…

CARPING POINT ‘Keep the canary alive in the coal mine’ KEVIN RITCHIE @RitchKev IT WAS brutal this week. Our economy, already suffering a nauseating number of unemployed people, seems to be developing the same horrible momentum of the Covid-19 infection rate. The difference is most of us will get through the pandemic, not all of us will survive the economic contagion. Media24’s announcement of newspaper and magazine closures and the cannibalisation of other editorial functions provoked the typical clamour of digital distress. But all those beating their breasts should be ashamed of themselves. Their messages of condolence should stick in their craw. Nothing will happen, this is social media after all: next week will roll around with a new outrage on the diary to virtue signal. Our media is in…

EDITORIAL White privilege needs to be addressed IF THERE was one thing South Africa might have been expected to do over the last 107 days of lockdown was to think deeply on the harsh inequality that Covid-19 has brutally exposed in this country. We have many problems, after more than quarter of a century as a politically free society, many of which have their roots in our fractured and deeply dysfunctional past. There is no overlooking this, getting over it or wishing it away. Whether it be police brutality in Alex, the looting of VBS or state capture as a whole, Black Lives obviously don’t Matter. It’s a phenomenon that permeates beyond there to every aspect of our society, from the classroom to the boardroom and the locker room. This…

All (lavish) style, no substance Kevin Kwan moves on with ‘Sex and Vanity’, but the characters are still crazy rich ANGELA HAUPT  The Washington Post THE wedding of the summer is still on – and you’d have to be crazy rich not to squeal in vicarious wonder at its opulence. Custom-made Givenchy gowns. White truffle and caviar pizza. Millions of rose petals turned into a decadent carpet at a secluded villa. Kevin Kwan’s new stand-alone novel, Sex and Vanity – following his wildly popular Crazy Rich Asians trilogy – opens at this over-the-top affair in Capri, Italy, before whisking readers off to the Hamptons. That’s a change of scenery for the author, whose previous books were largely set in Singapore and Hong Kong. But Kwan again delivers a set of…

WORDS ON WEALTH Reputation of insurance industry is on the line MARTIN HESSE | martin.hesse@inl.co.za African News Agency (ANA) “We’re paying the highest tribute you can pay a man. We trust him to do right. It’s that simple.” – Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird ALTHOUGH laws and regulations are essential for the smooth running of the financial system, it is on trust that it stands or falls. We trust banks, for example, to be the custodians of our money. If all banks were to behave like VBS and simply steal our savings, there would be no banks; we’d all be stuffing our cash under the mattress. Insurance companies are in a more delicate situation. You pay a regular premium in return for a promise: that if you suffer a…

FORMULA 1 Ferrari’s home venue for 1000th Grand Prix THE Ferrari-owned Mugello circuit will debut on the Formula One calendar in September to host the Italian team’s 1000th championship Grand Prix, with Russia’s race in Sochi also confirmed yesterday. The September 13 race, to be called the Grand Prix of Tuscany Ferrari 1 000, will follow on from the September 6 Italian Grand Prix at Monza as the ninth round of a season that has been heavily revised due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia will be the 10th race on September 27. Formula One said in a statement it still expected to stage between 15-18 rounds in a championship that started at Austria’s Red Bull Ring last weekend, with more announcements in coming weeks. “We are increasingly confident in our…

Christmas early as players get to share in Wimbledon prize money THE prize money set aside for the Wimbledon Championships will be distributed to 620 players who were set to take part at this year’s cancelled tournament, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) said yesterday. Wimbledon, initially scheduled for June 29-July 12, was cancelled for the first time since World War Two due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has killed more than 44 000 people in the United Kingdom. “We are now in a position to allocate prize money to the 620 players whose world ranking would have enabled them to gain entry into The Championships 2020 by direct acceptance into the main draw or qualifying event,” AELTC said in a statement. From an agreed total of 10 million…

PROTEST Call to speed up child abuse probe #NotInMyName activists slam police for ‘dragging their feet’, hospital for poor security after attack on toddler JAMES MAHLOKWANE james.mahlokwane@inl.co.za CASTRATION is the fitting punishment for the alleged rapist of a Ga-Rankuwa toddler, social activists say, as demands for urgent action by the hospital where she was in care and the police continue. The call was made by a group of young people who gathered outside the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital where the 2-year old had been admitted. She was admitted when she showed signs of respiratory distress and was apparently in isolation. Yesterday’s action was led by #NotInMyName who, together with others, descended on the hospital just a day after the EFF held a demonstration. #NotInMyName general secretary Themba Masango told…

TOURISM SA celebrity chef brings a world of flavour to Kruger SANPARKS is waiting for provincial borders to reopen before it will open its accommodation in the Kruger National Park to visitors, but work continues on the latest addition to the park, the Kruger Shalati: Train on the Bridge hotel and Kruger Station. The boutique hotel, which will open post-lockdown, is built out of old train carriages and sits high on Selati Bridge, above the Sabie River in the Selati concession of Skukuza. It has 31 rooms; 24 in glass-walled carriages and seven “bridge house” rooms next to the tracks. Some may remember the Kruger Station, site of the old Selati Train Grill house which operated until 2014, and which is being transformed into a lifestyle space that will appeal…

LAID BACK SCOUNDRELS DUCK AS ALARM BELLS RING FOR US ALL JOUBERT MALHERBE BEING naturally suspicious of authority, I didn’t ever think I’d say that I am sometimes glad that Big Brother is keeping an eye on me. But so it was that I returned from Brooklyn the other day to an empty house. My wife had gone out and she had set the alarm, as we have been doing for over the more than 20 years that we have been living in funky Doringkloof. I had gone to the CD shop to see if I could get hold of the new Bob Dylan CD, Rough and Rowdy Ways, some of which I’ve heard and which is superb. Rightly said to be his best work since 2001’s Love and Theft.…

Dutch bank to probe role in slave trade AMSTERDAM: The Dutch central bank (DNB) said yesterday it would launch an investigation into its own role in the 19th-century slave trade. Following a similar move by the Bank of England, DNB said it would ask independent researchers to determine what its involvement with slavery was at the time. “The investigation will examine DNB’s role as an institution in the first years of its existence and presidents and board members from that period,” the bank said. The DNB, which was founded in 1814 by Dutch King Willem I, said it would decide on further steps once the inquiry was complete. The Dutch played a major role in the global slave trade from the 17th century until the Netherlands abolished slavery in 1863.…

CHINA Macau’s casino king buried as gambling hub faces new era HONG Kong’s highest-profile officials and business people paid their respects yesterday to Macau’s gambling king, Stanley Ho, who built a business empire from scratch in the former Portuguese colony and became one of Asia’s richest men. Ho, who died at age 98 on May 26, presided over the transformation of Macau into the world’s biggest casino centre, outpacing the US’s Las Vegas strip. Shielded from challengers by a four-decade monopoly on gambling, Ho grew his operations into one of the most lucrative gaming businesses through his firm SJM Holdings, valued at about $6 billion (R101bn). His privately held company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, or STDM, has stakes in everything from luxury hotels to helicopters and horse…

Mayor found dead after sex crime case filed SEOUL: The mayor of South Korea’s capital was found dead yesterday after he was reported missing amid a criminal probe and media reports of alleged sexual harassment. Mayor Park Won-soon’s body was found at Mount Bugak, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said. There was no sign of foul play and police did not give a cause of death. The apparent suicide came after one of Park’s former secretaries filed a complaint on Wednesday alleging the 64-year-old had sexually harassed her. The police confirmed the complaint filed against him. “I apologise to everyone,” Park wrote in a note released by the city and his family. The long-time mayor was considered to be a possible 2022 presidential contender. Reuters…

MOVIES The Fast & Furious art of the car chase IN THE movies, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of the car chase. The best ones create the same adrenaline rush in their audiences as they do in their characters. Generating that heightened you-are-there energy is a feat that involves meticulous preparation, including dozens of decisions about camera placement, vehicle speed and so much more. So how to get it all just right? We went to a Hollywood expert for answers. With five Fast & Furious films to his credit, director Justin Lin has helped craft some of the most elaborate and exciting chases in recent cinema. We asked him to break down five chases from movie history and explain what makes them so effective. Here are edited excerpts. —…

The Brief GOLD ETFs DRIVE EXCHANGE-TRADED PRODUCT MARKET GOLD bought in the form of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has been key to the growth of the exchange-traded product (ETP) market this year, reports Mike Brown, managing director of etfSA.co.za. The total market capitalisation of all ETPs on the JSE rose from R100.8 billion at the end of 2019 to R106.5bn at the end of June 2020. Brown says this 5.7% increase in the size of the local ETP industry was noteworthy given the market turmoil over this period. The single biggest contributor to growth was the NewGold ETF, which increased its shares in issue by 11.7 million, effectively raising R9.3bn in new capital over the past six months. Investing in gold ETFs, which are backed 100% by physical gold bullion, has…

SHAREHOLDER ACTIVIST GROUP HITS OUT AT SANTAM THE SHAREHOLDER activist organisation Just Share put out a blistering press release this week after attending Santam’s annual general meeting on Tuesday. An edited version of the statement reads: “When asked by Just Share whether it would reconsider its position in light of a recent judgment against insurer Guardrisk, Santam stood firm in its position that it will ‘seek clarity from the courts of South Africa’. The board also would not commit to a binding arbitration process to expedite the matter. This is surprising, given that the Western Cape High Court has provided legal clarity already, finding unequivocally in Café Chameleon v Guardrisk Insurance Company Ltd that the Covid-19 outbreak – not the lockdown – is the legal and factual cause of the…

FOOTBALL Champions League nightmare for Man City THE road ahead is a nightmare for Manchester City with Juventus and Bayern Munich or Barcelona blocking their path to the final … and Chelsea also have the tough side of the Lisbon draw in the Champions League. City will face either Juventus or Lyon, should they progress to the Champions League quarter-finals, while Chelsea will face either Napoli or Barcelona if they stage an almighty comeback against Bayern Munich. City look set to reach the quarter-finals after a brilliant 2-1 last-16 first-leg win at Real Madrid on February 26. The two teams will meet again at the Etihad Stadium on August 7 to conclude that tie. Meanwhile, Chelsea face an uphill battle to reach the last eight after losing 3-0 at home…

Hope for starved live action German soccer fans to cheer heroes as plans are underway for return to stadiums GERMAN soccer fans may be able to return to stadiums to cheer on their heroes in national team and Bundesliga matches soon, the German Football Association (DFB) and the German football league (DFL) said yesterday. The two bodies are working with health authorities on ways to reduce the risk of infection from Covid-19 at matches as well as on the way to and from the stadium. DFB Secretary General Friedrich Curtius said in a statement that he expects that the association will develop a concept that will allow the German national team to play in front of spectators at home games this autumn. Most sporting events were shut down earlier this…

South Africa’s Frittelli in swing of things after testing positive for Covid-19 DYLAN Frittelli, Nick Watney and Denny McCarthy completed the first round of the PGA Tour’s Workday Charity Open on Thursday after all three spent 10 days in quarantine following positive COVID-19 tests. The trio were allowed to play after the Tour updated its return-to-work protocols on Wednesday and were grouped together at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio. Under the revised protocols, a player who tests positive can return after spending 10 days in self-isolation from the point the symptoms originated and has not shown symptoms, such as a fever or cough, for three days. Frittelli he was happy to be back on the course after testing positive during the Travelers Championship last month. He tested positive…