Pretoria News Weekend Saturday, November 21, 2020

MTHETHWA CALLS FOR AUDIT OF ALL MONUMENTS AND STATUES COUNTRYWIDE Statues head into the sunset MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za MASI LOSI NEIL BAYNES THE SA Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) had been mandated by Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa to conduct an audit of all monuments and statues throughout the country. The inspection will consider which monuments and statues are not in line with the spirit and values of the new South African constitution, with the plan to remove some of them. This was revealed by Mthethwa in response to parliamentary questions from DA MP, Veronica van Dyk. Van Dyk asked about inputs made and feedback received on the removal of offending statues, symbols and monuments potentially to cultural “theme” parks. In his response, Mthethwa said SAHRA would conduct the…

Controversial symbols may go ◆Louis Botha (1862 – 1919) was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa (1910 – 19). ◆The son of a Voortrekker, he became politically active and held a number of posts before he was elected to the Volksraad (parliament) in 1897. ◆There he sided with the moderates against president Paul Kruger’s policy toward the Uitlanders (non-Boer, mostly English, settlers). ◆During the South African War in 1899, Botha rose rapidly to command the southern Boer force which besieged Ladysmith, and captured an armoured train with Winston Churchill among the prisoners. ◆After the war, Botha returned to politics and helped form a new party in the Transvaal, Het Volk (“The People”). When Het Volk won the Transvaal elections of February 1907, Botha became prime minister.…

No free lunches in Tshwane council meetings RAPULA MOATSHE There’s a popular adage that there is “no such thing as a free lunch” and this is the case for councillors in the City of Tshwane. Newly elected mayor, Randall Williams, has decided there will be no free lunches for councillors during future meetings, with the money that would have been spent redirected to early childhood development (ECD) centres. This was communicated by mayoral committee member for community and social development services, Thabisile Vilakazi, who was discussing with departmental officials the reprioritisation of money earmarked for catering. According to Vilakazi, the budget earmarked for internal catering and external events could be put to better use in funding safety and security programmes at ECD centres, including providing Covid-19 isolation rooms. She said…

Union calls for SABC blackout SIYABONGA MKHWANAZI siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za THE Communication Workers Union has called for a total blackout on the SABC from today as the fight over retrenchments continues. The SABC board announced yesterday it has suspended the retrenchment process for seven days. But, CWU general-secretary Aubrey Tshabalala said there should be a blackout from today. SABC CEO Madoda Mxakwe said they would be meeting with the board after receiving a memorandum from staff. Hundreds of SABC workers protested outside the headquarters of the company in Joburg, and other parts of the country. During the past week, staff have held lunchtime pickets, saying management should take responsibility for the financial troubles at the SABC, not staff. In a video which has been widely viewed, Chriselda Lewis can be seen in…

More weekend stormy weather AFTER servere thunderstorms yesterday, further rain can be expected for the rest of the weekend. Traffic was severely disrupted on all routes leading in and out of the city yesterday afternoon as the rain pelted down and visibility was poor. The weather service has issued warnings of heavy rain and strong winds today with the chance of flooding in low-lying areas. Temperatures will drop today with more rain forecast for the morning and afternoon, and further thunder and lightning late night, with rain on tomorrow afternoon. The sun should come out on Monday although further storms are expected during the week. | STAFF REPORTER…

Positive step for Covid-19 vaccine US pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced yesterday they plan to file for emergency authorisation of their Covid-19 vaccine. This is viewed as a landmark moment and a signal that a powerful tool to help control the pandemic could begin to be available by mid to late December. The filing is a significant step in the effort to develop a vaccine and will move the race to its next, deliberative phase - a weeks-long process in which career scientists at the Food and Drug Administration scrutinise the data and determine if the vaccine is safe and effective. Only after the agency has given the green light will a first, limited group of high-risk people be able to access the shots. A South…