Innholdsfortegnelse for Saturday, September 5, 2020 i Pretoria News Weekend

PUSH TO OPEN BORDERS Lockdown modelling, ‘second wave’ challenged SAKHILE NDLAZI sakhile.ndlazi@inl.co..za WHILE stakeholders in the tourism industry argue that there is no real evidence of a second wave of Covid-19 coming, and that international borders should be opened, the Department of Tourism is pushing “domestic travel” before international travel can resume. Speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the National Press Club (NPC) at the Maslow, Time Square, yesterday, Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane emphasised that local tourist attractions needed segmented marketing to attract citizens. She was speaking at the start of tourism month, and the road ahead after lockdown. She urged the local tourist industry to look into using segmented marketing (identifying and targeting a market segment), and creating attractive packages and specials to make up for their…

MEC assists conned woman JAMES MAHLOKWANE james.mahlokwane@inl.co.za THE MEC for Community Safety Faith Mazibuko stepped in to assist a traumatised woman who had been conned of her R40000 in savings. The Tshwane executive member was part of an anti-crime roadblock held by various law enforcement agencies in Mabopane on Thursday when she stopped a car which was taking the woman, 58-year-old Louisa Molopyane, to consult with a traditional healer. She described to Mazibuko how the men had blind-sided her when she was at a store in Hebron earlier in the week. “These guys were so quick, they didn’t give me time to process anything. They quickly showed me a badge that they were ‘police officers’, and, as quickly as I saw it, it was gone from my face and suddenly…

LAID BACK Just as despair takes wing, along comes Ramaphosa… JOUBERT MALHERBE I HAD a bit of a Monty Python moment at home the other day when a young dove flew into one of the window panes of my door. My feathered friend was knocked out and plopped to the ground. When I saw the state of the poor bird, its stunned condition reminded me of the Dead Parrot Sketch, featuring John Cleese and Michael Palin. This is where pet shopkeeper Palin is trying to convince the customer (Cleese) that the motionless state of the dead parrot, which he had sold to Cleese as a going concern a little earlier, was due to the fact that it was “stunned”. It is worth Googling the sketch; it’s hilarious. Anyway, I rushed…

Nato pressure in Navalny poison case BRUSSELS: Nato allies agreed yesterday that Russia must co-operate fully with an impartial investigation to be led by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the alliance’s chief said. “Any use of chemical weapons shows a total disrespect for human lives, and is an unacceptable breach of international norms and rules,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference. “Nato allies agree that Russia now has serious questions, it must answer, the Russian government must fully co-operate with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on an impartial international investigation,” he said, reporting back from a meeting of the alliance’s ambassadors. Reuters…

UNITED KINGDOM Homophobia, racism in football soar REPORTS of racist and homophobic abuse at football matches in Britain soared to a record high in the last year, despite the disruption to the season from the coronavirus pandemic. Recorded discrimination in the 2019/20 season at professional games rose 42% to 446, with homophobic abuse almost doubling and reports of racism increasing by 53%, according to Kick It Out, an advocacy group that collates incidents. The rise comes amid global pressure over racism sparked by the Black Lives Matters protests, though advocates and LGBT+ fan groups said it was partly due to fans being more willing to report abuse, even by their own team’s supporters. “There’s a lot less stigma about reporting – in some ways that’s very encouraging,” Rodney Kumar, a…

EDITOR’S CHOICE Champion for Africa Boseman paved way to world stage for creators of African heritage KAREN ATTIAH Washington Post AP Reuters IN AN emotional tribute to actor Chadwick Boseman, who died last Friday at the age of 43, director Ryan Coogler revealed the moment he knew he wanted to make Black Panther. It was while watching Boseman act in an unfinished cut of Captain America: Civil War, speaking his lines in Xhosa with South African actor John Kani. “Chad and John began conversing in a language I had never heard before,” Coogler said. “It sounded familiar, full of the same clicks and smacks that young black children would make in the States. The same clicks that we would often be chided for being disrespectful or improper. “But,…

TELEVISION ‘Chef’s Table’ grills smoky spectrum of barbecues THE NEW season of Chef’s Table takes viewers out of the spotless, stainless-steel kitchens where the Netflix series has made its bones and leads them into more smoky environs where men and women are keeping the ancient flame of barbecue alive. Yet over four episodes, the show’s producers have done something else, too, even if they didn’t mean to. They’ve raised the age-old question of “What is barbecue?” The series doesn’t answer the question as much as it complicates it. Chef’s Table, which debuts on Wednesday, visits places that most folks would recognise as barbecue joints, including Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, Texas, and Rodney Scott’s BBQ in Charleston. But the producers also travel to Australia and Mexico to shadow two cooks on…

SPRING-CLEANING YOUR FINANCES – A GUIDE THE SEPTEMBER 2020 issue of our free digital MONEY magazine focuses on ways to give your household finances a thorough spring clean and put you on a steady course towards financial freedom. This is particularly relevant this year, as we face financial uncertainty stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. Financial experts provide guidance on reducing your debt, budgeting, reviewing your insurance, and using a financial adviser. The magazine also carries regular Money Basics, Planning Perspectives and Rands and Sense columns, as well as a useful information page with links to regulators, ombudsmen and financial data. For your free, easy, informative read on money matters, visit our digital publications platform, https://digital360.africa/latest-news/…

Make spring a time to review your financial plan RANDS & SENSE DEBRA SLABBER IN SOUTH Africa, September 1 is known as Spring Day, signalling a change in season. Many people have an annual spring-cleaning ritual – they get rid of old or unused items, deep clean the house and do some general reorganising. This year has proved to be anything but ordinary, and apart from performing this usual ritual, I challenge you to use this opportunity to take stock of, tidy up and spring clean your finances. Now more than ever, it is time to dust off your financial plan and reassess whether it requires some tidying-up. TAKE STOCK A good starting point is to take stock and make a list of all your assets, liabilities, monthly income and…

Eskom suspends bosses ESKOM has suspended the managers of two of its biggest generating plants, Kendal and Tutuka in Mpumalanga, as South Africa suffered record electricity outages this week. The power utility asked the acting managers of the plants to return to their original positions. “This action was taken because of sustained poor performance by these plants, which require investigation pending disciplinary action,” Eskom said. It said it was aware that the level of power failures were unacceptably high despite some of its units having returned to service. Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said that while it was true that ageing infrastructure and a lack of maintenance made it susceptible to unpredictable breakdowns, the situation had been exacerbated by “serious issues of apathetic behaviour by some management staff”. For that reason the…

GETAWAY Social distancing with the Big Five IF YOU’RE looking for luxury in the bush within a 200km radius of home, the five-star Ivory Tree Game Lodge on the rim of the Pilanesberg Game Reserve could be the answer. Ivory Tree prides itself on its old-school safari lodge experience, with game drives in the Big Five reserve a focal point of its activities. The lodge has 60 air-conditioned en-suite double suites, standard through to luxurious, decorated in earthy tones. The central facility includes the reception, a stunning feature pool, two lounges, a dining room, bar, boma, curio shop, conference facility, open boma and the Amani bush spa. The common guest areas have been planned to ensure easy flow but are also Covid-19 compliant with enough space for social distancing and…

SCREWS TIGHTEN ON LOOTERS FRIDAY, MARCH 27 Day 1 of lockdown level 5. FRIDAY, MAY 1 Day 1 of lockdown level 4. SUNDAY, MAY 24 President addresses the nation. MONDAY, JUNE 1 Day 1 of lockdown level 3. THURSDAY, JUNE 4 State of Disaster to July 15. MONDAY, JUNE 8 Grades 7 and 12 back to school; domestic business flights. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 Court case against tobacco ban. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17 President addresses the nation; announces changes to level 3. FRIDAY, JUNE 19 Personal-care services reopen. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24 Tito Mboweni’s extraordinary supplementary Budget. Monday, June 29 Restaurants reopen for sit-in. SATURDAY, JULY 4 Day 100 of lockdown. MONDAY, JULY 6 Grades R, 6 and 11 back at school. Nursery schools can reopen. SUNDAY, JULY 12 President addresses the nation,…

INNOVATE Children bridge gap in education SAMEER NAIK sameer.naik@inl.co.za WHILE world leaders are battling to come up with ideas on how to solve the education crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of youth think they have found the solution. Twelve children from across the globe, aged between 9 and 17, have developed a free-to-use digital access platform which allows youth everywhere to continue learning despite the shutdown of schools. The youngsters developed the platform through disaster charity relief organisation Humanitarian Operations (Hope). The international initiative, launched in London on Wednesday, seeks to allow children to learn at no cost at all. Louie Adler, 16, a year-11 student in London and chairperson of the youth board of directors at Hope, says he and his team decided to take matters into…

46 African states in line for vaccine aid CAPE TOWN: About 46 African countries are eligible for support from the financing instrument of Covax, a global initiative to secure at least 220 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine for the continent, once licensed and approved. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Covax Advance Market Commitment has raised almost $700 million (R12billion) against a target of $2bn from donor countries, the private sector and philanthropists, by the end of the year. Eight countries have agreed to self-finance their vaccine doses. WHO regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said Covax is a groundbreaking global initiative which will ensure African countries are not left at the back of the queue for Covid-19 vaccines. ANA…

FRANCE To be French is to defend the right to mock, Macron tells new citizens THE right to mock and caricature, even religion, is an essential part of being French, President Emmanuel Macron said at a naturalisation ceremony yesterday, days after the start of a trial of the accused accomplices in an attack by Islamist gunmen on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015. In the Paris Pantheon, a mausoleum to France’s heroes, Macron handed five new citizens their French papers in a solemn ceremony to mark the 150th anniversary of the Third Republic. “At the start of the trial of the attacks of January 2015, I say that to be French is to defend the right to laugh, jest, mock and caricature, of which Voltaire maintained that it is…

The People Sailors rescued TOKYO: Japan’s coast guard rescued a second survivor yesterday, hours after finding an unconscious crew member who later died, in waters where a ship carrying cows from New Zealand is believed to have sunk in the path of Typhoon Maysak in the East China Sea, officials said. Rescuers have been searching for the Gulf Livestock 1 ship and its missing crew since it sent a distress signal on Wednesday. The 11947-ton ship, its 43 crew and 5800 cows left New Zealand in mid-August heading to Tangshan on China’s eastern coast. | AP Portuguese hacker on trial for revelations LISBON: A Portuguese hacker, whose explosive financial revelations about European soccer embarrassed star players, clubs and influential agents, went on trial in Lisbon yesterday. Rui Pinto, 31, was…

ICYMI | IOL.CO.ZA WEST BARRED FROM BALLOT ARIZONA: A judge has barred Kanye West’s name from appearing on the November 3 ballot in Arizona, finding that the rapper failed to meet a requirement that 13 people pledge support for his campaign and ruled that 11 of the 13 “Elector Oaths” submitted were invalid, including some that were “obtained by improper, fraudulent and/or misleading means”. A politician should have three hats. One for throwing into the ring, one for talking through, and one for pulling rabbits out of if elected.CARL SANDBURG American poet, biographer, journalist and editor…

Oh horrors! Can you imagine 2020 as a movie? HOW the hell did we get to September? One day in March we were all at our desks, in the office, talking and phoning and chasing stories and deadlines; beefing about things that, now, would be mere irritants. The next we were banished, the IT department working its butt off to get most of us connected from home. Now it’s six months later and life as we knew it has ended. We’re in a world of masks, clean (but dry and chapped) hands, and with nary a human hug in sight. If there’s a scene on TV from the “olden days” with a crowd milling about and no masks, the first instinct is to yell “put on your masks?!”; “Two metres…

3 THINGS TO WATCH THIS WEEK SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 Line of Duty: M-Net at 8.05pm Aaron Eckhart is a disgraced cop looking for a shot at redemption. When the police chief’s daughter is abducted, Frank goes rogue to save her. But to find the girl, Frank will need the help of Ava Brooks, whose live-streaming news channel is broadcasting his every move. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 Surviving Jeffrey Epstein: History at 8.05pm Sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein was found hanged in his jail cell, now survivors reveal the horrifying truth of his three-decade reign of abuse. The documentary divulges the full extent of the international sex trafficking network devised by the reclusive billionaire to feed his sexual cravings. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Around the World by Train S2: BBC Earth at 7pm Tony…

Financial vulnerability index at an all-time low WORDS ON WEALTH MARTIN HESSE | martin.hesse@inl.co.za THIS WEEK, Momentum released the second-quarter 2020 report of the Momentum/Unisa Consumer Financial Vulnerability Index and, not unexpectedly, it makes for depressing reading. At the end of June, the index, at 35.4 points out of 100, was at an all-time low in its 11-year history, having dropped a record 11.8 points, from 47.2 in the first quarter. The historical high point was in the first quarter of 2012, when it reached 58.87 points. The index relies not on direct responses from consumers, but on the input of 75 “key informants” from relevant industries, such as banks, insurers, credit bureaus, retailers, municipalities and consumer research agencies. The report was compiled by Professor Carel van Aardt and Jacolize…

GOLF By George it’s Coetzee once again GEORGE Coetzee added yet another title to the many he has won at Pretoria Country Club over the years, claiming the Sunshine Tour’s Titleist Championship by four shots yesteday. There was a sense of inevitability to Coetzee’s triumph on a golf course he has known and loved since he first played it and won a tournament here at the age of 10, and where he’s also won two European Tour titles in the 2015 and 2018 Tshwane Opens. And now he can add the Titleist Championship to that list as he closed with a 66 to win this Rise-Up Series tournament on 13-under-par 203. “It’s a very special victory because Pretoria Country Club and Titleist have supported me my whole career, so to…

PREMIERSHIP Plenty at stake for basement dwellers MIHLALI BALEKA THE day when you are guaranteed to have palpitations merely because you are a die-hard supporter of one of the Limpopo-based sides has arrived. It is well documented that most of the top-flight clubs, if not all, from the uppermost province in the country are bound to endure the doldrums of relegation come the end of the season. And this season hasn’t been different. Depressingly enough for their fans, one of their teams already has one-and-half foot in the GladAfrica Championship next season. And that’s Polokwane City who are rock-bottom on the standings with 25 points. Given Rise and Shine may be three points adrift from neighbours Baroka FC but such is their overwhelming eight-goal deficit that any chances of even…

AG urges law to move on looters AUDITOR-GENERAL Kimi Makwetu wants law enforcement agencies to go after people implicated in the looting of Covid-19 funds after his team made damning findings on the looting of the funds. Makwetu told the standing committee on the auditor-general in Parliament yesterday it was now up to the National Prosecuting Authority, the Special Investigating Unit and the Hawks to follow up on some of the cases. He said out of the R500 billion set aside to deal with Covid-19, they were looking at the use of R147bn. In one investigation the auditor-general found that R800 000 of the Unemployment Insurance Fund was paid out to people who were dead, underage people or prisoners. This required action from law enforcement agencies, he said. “On the…

Sun City set to bounce back ANYONE who saw Sun International’s interim results for the period ending June 30 would know in detail the impact Covid-19 has had. But now the organisation, like others in the tourism and hospitality sector, is hoping to bounce back. This week saw the first local guests check into Sun City’s Palace and Soho hotels and the Vacation Club after the entire resort was closed five months ago, when the national lockdown was imposed. It has been a happy few days for Sun City general manager hospitality Julius Ramotse and all the resort managers who worked tirelessly across the property to introduce Covid-19 compliance measures and prepare for reopening. “It is the first time in the 40-year history of Sun City that we…

FUN THINGS TO DO IN (AND AROUND) THE AREA SUN City offers a winning variety of activities: FOR THE ADVENTUROUS ● Race towards the earth on the fastest zip slide in the world. ● Take in the views with a hot-air balloon ride. ● Get lost in The Maze of the Lost City ● Wheel yourself through the Lost City golf course on a Segway. FOR THE ADULTS: ● Golf: Spoilt for choice – play a round on either of two world-class golf courses. ● Casino: Take your chances at the tables or on the slot machines. ● Cocktails: Enjoy a cool drink poolside. FOR THE KIDS: ● The newly added outdoor trampoline will keep the kids bouncing busy for hours. ● And don’t forget the firm summer favourites –…

ICYMI | IOL.CO.ZA 24-YEAR-OLD BURGER, FRIES I tried for modelling work but it was a bit slow and that’s when I took a part-time job at McDonalds. It gave me income while I was waiting for my big break and at the very least I could eat.SHARON STONE WE ALL know that fast food is best consumed quickly, however, there is one TikTok user who decided to put this idea to the test and held onto a McDonald’s burger and fries meal for 24 years and shockingly it does not look too bad. Go to: www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/food-drink…

Battle to control fire on drifting oil tanker COLOMBO: Indian coastguards, backed by the Sri Lankan navy, were fighting a major fire on an oil tanker drifting near Sri Lanka, a navy spokesman said yesterday more than 30 hours after the blaze broke out. The tanker was heading from Kuwait to India with 270000 tons of crude oil when an explosion and fire broke out near the engine room on Thursday morning. The ship was 38 nautical miles (70km) off the south-eastern coast of Sri Lanka at the time, and is now 25nautical miles from shore, Sri Lanka’s director of naval operations Admiral YN Jayaratna said. “Due to the intense heat there have been cracks reported in the vessel.” One of the 23 crew members is feared to have been…

UNITED STATES Start of US presidential elections North Carolina kicks off voting by mail MAIL balloting in the presidential election began yesterday as North Carolina started sending out more than 600000 ballots to voters — responding to a massive spike in requests that has played out across the US as voters look for a safer way to cast votes during the pandemic. The 618000 ballots requested in the initial wave in North Carolina were more than 16 times the number the state sent out at the same time four years ago. The requests came overwhelmingly from Democratic and independent voters, a reflection of a new partisan divide over mail voting. The North Carolina numbers were one more bit of evidence backing up what experts have been predicting for…

THE VATICAN Post-pandemic economic models must change, says Pope POPE Francis said yesterday that the coronavirus pandemic had “toppled the shaky pillars” of a world economic model built on the idolatry of money and domination by the rich and powerful. In a message to participants of the annual European House-Ambrosetti Workshop, which gathers some 200 top managers, economists, and politicians from around the world, he called for new models that would be more inclusive and reduce social inequality. He also urged “an ecological retooling” of the economy to save the environment and reduce wasteful consumption. “It (the pandemic) has called into question the scale of values that sets money and power over all else,” he said. “It has toppled the shaky pillars that supported a certain model of development,” he…

CARPING POINT Baying for justice for Nathaniel KEVIN RITCHIE @RitchKev NATHANIEL Julies should have been looking forward to spending what is forecast to be a warm Highveld spring day today – instead his family will be burying him. He was shot and killed by police 10days ago. His crime? He didn’t answer a police officer’s questions apparently. That’s what we’ve come to. Let’s forget for a moment that Nathaniel had Downs Syndrome and probably couldn’t communicate either clearly or confidently. Let’s rather look at the facts that haven’t been contested: there were at least two police officers present. Nathaniel was unarmed. There’s only one question really, what threat did he pose? Sadly, it’s rhetorical. We are South Africans. We know the answer. Many of our police have become a law…

EDITORIAL Consequence of having no consequence NOMVULA Mokonyane has had a starring role, a sequel if you like, at the Zondo Commission into State Capture this week. For commission watchers it has been a fascinating excursion into half-truths and contradictions as the evidence leaders navigate the most banal yet incredibly stomach-churning allegations of crass acts of bribery corruption. The commission has inexorably trundled forward, whether it be food parcels for the poor, which include the finest liquors, or an ostrich-head-in-the-sand approach to largesse, which is doubly terrifying when displayed by someone supposedly appointed to as important a post as a Cabinet minister and before that a premier. Since August 2018, we, as a nation, have been transfixed by the raft of allegations aired and the seeming mass of prima facie…

The legend of King Arthur, reimagined VIVIAN SHAW The Washington Post THERE are no parfit gentil knights in Lavie Tidhar’s Arthurian epic fantasy By Force Alone. It is a vicious, beautiful, profane and wickedly funny reimagining of the rise and fall of King Arthur without the chivalry, divine right or holy quests. No one is pure of heart, no one is destined by God to rule; the right of kings is determined solely by the might of kings. Arthur begins his career in a world that has moved on, a Londinium rebuilding itself from the wreck of Roman retreat, by establishing himself as a precocious gang leader and cornering the drug market; the sword in the stone is a publicity stunt. Guinevere, so far from the shy and delicate “white…

CYCLING Pogacar loses time as trap is sprung THE Tour de France burst into life when a fast start and crosswinds blew the peloton apart in the seventh stage, leaving dark horse Tadej Pogacar with a lot of catching-up to do ahead of the Pyrenees today. Yesterday’s 68-km ride from Millau was dominated by Belgian Wout van Aert, who won his second Tour stage this year. This followed a after a brutal start by Peter Sagan’s Bora-Hansgrohe team and crosswinds had split the pack. A sudden acceleration by champion Egan Bernal’s Ineos Grenadiers team split the leading pack again with Slovenian Pogacar, one of the most fancied underdogs of the race, finding himself trapped behind and losing 1:21 on the line. The 21-year-old UAE Emirates rider is now expected to…

PREMIERSHIP What lifting trophy means to Chiefs MIHLALI BALEKA BackpagePix A win for Kaizer Chiefs over Baroka FC this afternoon will crown them this season’s Absa Premiership champions. And here’s a handful of reasons what that triumph would mean for Amakhosi. CELEBRATE CLUB’S 50TH Early this year, Chiefs celebrated their 50th anniversary. And such was the beauty of their commemoration that they included the old and current generation of players, supporters, administrators and staff in their celebration. But everyone associated with the club will know that the most astute way to add the topping to their half-a-century milestone would be seeing the club return to the pinnacle of South African football. END TROPHY DROUGHT It’s been five seasons since a trophy entered the cabinet of Naturena Village. And that is…

TODAY’S TV GUIDE SATURDAY 5 SEPTEMBER Cricket: Vitality T20 Blast: Essex Eagles v Kent Spitfires, 2pm, VR2; Surrey CCC v Middlesex, 7.30pm, VR2; Caribbean Premier League: Trinbago Knight Riders v St Lucia Zouks, 3.30pm, CRI; Barbados Tridents v Jamaica Tallawahs, 8pm, CRI Cycling: Tour De France, Stage 8: Cazères-sur-Garonne-Loudenvielle, 140km, 1.20pm, VR1, SSM2 Golf: European Tour: Estrella Damm NA Andalucia Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation, Day 3, 1.30pm, GOL; PGA Tour: Tour Championship, Day 2, 7pm, GOL Motorsport: FIM Superbike World Championship, Teruel SBK Superpole, 10.50am, ACT; FIM Superbike World Championship, Teruel SSP Superpole, 11.35am, ACT; FIM Superbike World Championship, Teruel SSP300 Superpole, 12.15pm, ACT; FIM Superbike World Championship, Teruel, Race 1, 1.30pm, ACT; FIM Superbike World Championship, Teruel, SSP Race, 3.10pm, ACT; FIM Superbike World Championship, Teruel,…