Pretoria News Weekend Saturday, May 8, 2021

GROUNDBREAKING GREEN PAPER TWO HUBBIES FOR WOMEN? NTANDO MAKHUBU AND BONGANI NKOSI WHILE the country’s marriage laws could in the near future allow women to marry more than one husband, just as polygamous men can have many wives, there is still uncertainty surrounding the concept. Legalisation of polyandry is one of the wide-ranging proposals in the Green Paper on Marriages. Home Affairs published the landmark 67-page policy document this week. The department stressed in the document that it sought to create a new marriage act that will allow all in the country to conclude recognised, legal marriages. A range of types of marriages in the country were not recognised; and on the other hand, marriage legislation was deemed to not promote equality. Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Rastafarian marriages…

FUR FLIES OVER CATTERY STAY Buffy the cat at centre of ‘custody’ row ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za BUFFY, the 12-year-old chinchilla cat, not only has an airplane named after her, but she also has a “dad” who buys her favourite food in Europe. He even turned to the court to prevent her from spending a few “stressful” days in a cattery. Mark Leathers, a Durban attorney, sees Buffy as the child he and his now former wife never had. So when he got wind that his former wife, Lisa Vissers-Leathers, wanted to take Buffy to a cattery to see how she would cope in the event she had to go away for work, Leathers refused point blank. He turned to the Durban High Court to interdict his former wife from sending…

HEALTH Limpopo suspends winter initiation over Covid-19 spread fears MASHUDU SADIKE THE LIMPOPO House of Traditional Leaders has suspended the winter initiation season to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Chairperson Kgoshi Malesela Dikgale said the decision to suspend initiation was informed by the threat of the spread of Covid-19 and thus save the lives of the initiates. He said: “Covid-19 is still with us even though we are on level 1 of the lockdown. It is also speculated that we might enter the third wave and more people are going to be affected.” The season has been postponed for the second year running due to the pandemic that continues to wreak havoc across the world. However, this decision has not come without backlash from some traditional leaders and parents of…

Blind woman, 79, raped JONISAYI MAROMO THE SAPS in Mpumalanga yesterday condemned the rape of a 79-year-old blind woman at Vosman earlier this week. The 48-year-old man accused of the crime has been arrested, but is nursing injuries in hospital after being assaulted by community members, Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said in a statement. “The 48-year-old alleged rapist was swiftly arrested with the help of the community, and appeared in absentia before the Emalahleni Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday,” Hlathi said. “The suspect, regarded as a neighbour, residing a few houses away from the elderly woman’s house, allegedly went to her house, found her there alone and raped her. She then ran towards the street as her daughter arrived home with her male friend.” According to police, the elderly…

VIOLENCE Call for police to probe Msimanga attack over R1.4m ‘debt’ NTANDO MAKHUBU ntando.makhubu@inl.co.za THE ANC has called for a thorough investigation into the viral video showing former Tshwane mayor and DA provincial leader Solly Msimanga being assaulted. The ANC caucus in the provincial legislature, while condemning “in the strongest terms” the violent scenes captured in video footage”, called on law enforcement to investigate the scuffle. It involved the unknown man accusing Msimanga of owing him R1.4 million and calling him a thief. However, the DA said in a statement Msimanga did not owe the attacker and that the incident was due to a misunderstanding. ANC caucus spokesperson Lesego Makhubela said: “We call upon law enforcement agencies to properly investigate this incident despite claims that the perpetrator and Msimanga have…

‘SHE COULD BE ALIVE, COULD BE DEAD’ No sign of missing cheetah NTANDO MAKHUBU ntando.makhubu@inl.co.za IT REMAINED unclear yesterday if Njozi the cheetah escaped from the Rietvlei Nature Reserve or is roaming the vast acres of land. Questions have also been raised as to whether the animal may have died. These questions have boggled the minds of wildlife experts and other interested parties after they lost contact with the animal’s tracking device. Vincent van der Merwe of the Endangered Wildlife Trust said, as things stood, they did not know if she was inside or outside the nature reserve. On Tuesday, reports emerged that Njozi had escaped under a fence, possibly in pursuit of a waterbuck, whose carcass was found outside, not too far from the perimeters of the…