Pretoria News Weekend Saturday, April 10, 2021

CASE THAT INSPIRED THE RIGHT TO BURY A FOETUS Stillborn triplets’ remains saved from incubator eased parents’ closure ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za NEARLY 16 years ago, a kind-hearted hospital official scratched the remains of stillborn triplets out among medical waste in an incinerator moments before they were due to be burnt as mere waste. On the one hand was the woman who had set all in motion and scored a victory for millions of South African parents who will now be able to bury their stillborn children who were yet to reach the gestation age of 26 weeks. On the other hand were the parents of the triplets, who only recently became aware that they had sparked the legal victory. Sonja Smith, of Sonja Smith Funerals and founder of…

OBITUARY Prince Philip: gruff figure at heart of Britain’s monarchy MICHAEL HOLDEN A BLUNT-SPEAKING naval officer who as Queen Elizabeth’s dutiful consort helped modernise the British monarchy, Prince Philip might be best remembered for his gruff public persona. Outspoken and irascible, Philip lived in the shadow of the woman he married at Westminster Abbey in 1947 and always walked a step behind the queen at the thousands of ceremonial events they attended during her reign, the longest in British history. Though he had no official role, Philip, the duke of Edinburgh, was one of the most influential figures in the royal family for more than 70 years. He died aged 99 yesterday. While Philip was often criticised for his demeanour and sometimes brusque remarks, friends said that as Queen Elizabeth’s…

Mothers who abort do not want burial option GOITSEMANG TLHABYE goitsemang.tlhabye@inl.co.za WHILE the parents of babies miscarried at under 26 weeks can finally bury their foetus if they so wish, whether or not mothers who terminate pregnancy should be given the same right remains a heated debate. A mother who requested to remain anonymous said she opted to have an abortion at six weeks and didn’t want to have the option of burying the foetus as a funeral would result in a lot of questions from friends and family regarding her choice to abort. She said even if she were to be in a judgement-free zone, she still would not have wanted a funeral as it would have made her feel like it was murder. The decision to abort her…

COPYRIGHT ACT Blind SA wants rapid change to ‘discriminatory legislation’ ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE PLIGHT of the blind and visually impaired to access material, including books and textbooks on which there is copyright, will come under the spotlight in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. Blind SA will ask the court to declare the apartheid-era Copyright Act unconstitutional. It will be argued that the 1978 legislation infringes on the rights of persons with visual disabilities, in particular the rights to equality, dignity, basic and further education, freedom of expression, language and participation in the cultural life of one’s choice. Blind SA, challenging the act with the help of Section27, said one of the main problems with the current legislation was that it did not provide exceptions to copyrighted materials…

TSHWANE Mayor provides service delivery update JAMES MAHLOKWANE james.mahlokwane@inl.co.za TSHWANE mayor Randall Williams said the metro had successfully cut more than 34million square metres of grass since November. In the first of his monthly mayoral updates, Williams said this was the equivalent of more than 4000 soccer fields and included parks, cemeteries, pavements and various other open public spaces. Williams said as the City continued neatening Tshwane, it would also prioritise a sustainable level of service delivery to residents so that they never again reached the point where areas were neglected. He said: “We have also fixed over 7000 potholes in four months, with more work to come, as maintaining our roads is a core priority. We have accelerated the production of hot asphalt to ensure that we provide lasting…

ICYMI | IOL.CO.ZA REMOTE WORK HERE TO STAY? Work from home will relieve the pressure on urban infrastructure and land, which can be released for mass housing or public transport, and critical lung space.ROHINI NILEKANI One of the major legacies of the Covid-19 pandemic is an expectation by workers that they will be allowed to work remotely more often. Over 53% of South Africans said that they would prefer a job that allows them to work from home occasionally. Go to: www.iol.co.za/business-report/companies…