Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-09-13 i Pretoria News

LIBSTAR, a food producer whose brands include Denny mushrooms and Lancewood cheeses, yesterday announced its co-founder and chief executive Andries van Rensburg is to retire with effect from December 31. Pegged to take over is Charl de Villiers, who is the chief financial officer (CFO) of the company, with effect from January 1, 2023. De Villiers will take over a company with a R3.8 billion market capitalisation and a share price that has tanked 29.99 percent in the past three years. This as Libstar faces supply chain disruptions, significant cost inflation and consumer pressures. The announcement comes as Libstar is set to release its interim results today. Last month, it said in a trading statement that for the six-months period ended June, it was likely to see headline…

EXTREME weather and climate change are undermining human health and safety, food and water security, and socio-economic development in Africa. Rising water demand combined with limited and unpredictable supplies also threatened to aggravate conflict and displacement, a new report from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warns. The State of the Climate in Africa 2021 report provides authoritative scientific information on temperature trends and other climate indicators. The report noted that water stress was estimated to affect about 250 million people in Africa, and expected to displace up to 700 million people by 2030. Four out of five African countries were unlikely to have sustainably managed water resources by 2030. “The worsening crisis and looming famine in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa shows how climate change can exacerbate water shocks, threatening…

THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has condemned the murder of ward 99 councillor in eThekwini, Mnqobi “Gaah” Molife. He was gunned down in the early hours of yesterday in Margate. While the councillor was named as Molife in official statements, his family yesterday confirmed his surname is Molefe and there had been a mistake in his ID. Molefe was ward councillor for areas including eMkhomazi, Magabheni, Malundi Township and Zawubhula. ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said it was with a deep sense of anger and sadness that they were bidding farewell yet again to another young leader whose life has been cut short. “The brutality and violent manner in which the councillor’s life has been taken away is something that can’t be easily erased from our minds. It is even worse…

THE Department of Water and Sanitation has disputed reports that the Vaal Dam is being turned into a sewerage settlement dam or that raw sewage is being dumped into the dam. Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau admitted to challenges which led the department to have a meeting with the community of Deneysville where they addressed the pollution of the Integrated Vaal River System. “There are sewage spillages in Deneysville and other towns in the catchment of the Vaal Dam because of Wastewater Treatment Works not operating properly.” He admitted that the Deneysville treatment works has not been operating optimally for a while, mainly due to a lack of operation and maintenance over time, as well as a growing demand that the works could not satisfy. To fix this issue, Ratau said,…

A SECOND fatal case of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) has been reported following vaccination with Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Covid-19 vaccine. The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) yesterday said it was recently informed of the second death as a result of GBS. “On August 4, Sahpra issued a media statement relating to the first fatal case of GBS following vaccination with Covid-19 vaccine Janssen. Recently, Sahpra has been informed of a second fatal case of GBS following vaccination with the Covid-19 vaccine Janssen. “Causality assessment of the reported case was conducted by the National Immunisation Safety Expert Committee using the World Health Organisation’s methodology. “The case was classified as a vaccine product-related event following investigations conducted and causality assessment,” Sahpra said. The events reported in the vaccine recipient were…

THERE will be a hive of activities during the SA National Parks (SanParks) Week, where nature lovers get to visit most national parks across the country, including the world-renowned Kruger National Park (KNP), without paying an entry fee. The 17th annual SanParks Week, which runs until Friday, grants free access to almost all of the 22 national parks for those wishing to visit during the day to explore nature. The pass, however, excludes access to accommodation facilities and other tourist activities. Under the theme, “Know Your National Parks”, the initiative, since its inception in 2006, has attracted more than 619 252 day visitors across all participating parks, and hopes to attract visitors from neighbouring communities too. Besides opportunities to see South Africa’s “Big Five” in the Kruger’s wilderness, activities for…

ALONE my dream is just a dream. Another false illusion, a shadow in the night. All I want is for our hearts to be beating just as one. If we, as the proverbial village, stand together, we are an undeniable force that will help every child reach their potential. We believe that everyone can start a business and that universities have a critical transformational role to play in supporting start-ups along the right pathway. Last month, Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni- Abrahams encouraged small businesses in townships and rural areas to apply to the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme for support, including funding. The support from the government is commendable, but South Africans are not familiar with all the skills needed, such as marketing or governance. Unfortunately, these skills…

The coffin of Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth was taken along the Royal Mile in the Scottish capital Edinburgh yesterday in a silent and solemn procession watched by thousands of people lining the street to pay their respects to Britain’s longest serving monarch. The skirl of bagpipes was the only sound as kilted soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland bore the coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse and placed it in the hearse. A gun salute crashed out from a battery on Edinburgh Castle as the hearse began its journey. Then there was just silence. King Charles and his siblings, Anne, Andrew and Edward, walked behind the hearse up the historic street. The Royal Company of Archers provided the guard of honour. The coffin will lie in St Giles’ Cathedral…

Beijing: China’s President Xi Jinping will make state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan this week, Beijing said yesterday, his first trip abroad since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Xi will attend a leaders’ summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and “pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan” from tomorrow to Friday, the foreign ministry said in a statement. The SCO is made up of China, Russia, India, Pakistan, as well as four central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. It will be holding its next summit on September 15 and 16 in the Uzbek city of Samarkand. | AFP…

MANILA: A Philippines MP has submitted a bill seeking to scrap a commission tasked with recovering billions plundered during the rule of the president’s late father. The Presidential Commission on Good Government has since 1986 retrieved $5 billion from the family of incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, but $2.4 billion(R41bn) is still outstanding. The commission was set up after the elder Marcos fled an uprising against his two decades of kleptocratic rule. Marcos Sr died in Hawaii in 1989. His family returned to the Philippines and his son won the election in May. Abolishing the commission is unlikely to face resistance, with Marcos commanding a legislative super-majority. | Reuters…

ROME: Shrugging off old age, ill-health, sex scandals and a criminal conviction, Silvio Berlusconi is in the thick of yet another Italian election campaign as the four-times prime minister battles for a central role after the vote. Berlusconi, who will turn 86 four days after the September 25 ballot, looks sure to be on the winning side, even if he is now the junior partner in the rightist alliance he used to dominate. Opinion polls give his conservative Forza Italia party around 8% of the vote. That compares with 12% for Matteo Salvini’s League and 24% for Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, its two hard-right allies. The bloc should easily prevail over its divided leftist and centrist opponents, polls suggest. Berlusconi unsuccessfully bid to become head of state in January…

Miguel Timm was roped in as part of an attempt to bulk up Orlando Pirates’ squad this season, and provide excitement for what is a new project at the club. Timm arrived at the Sea Robbers in a dramatic turn of events as Pirates landed the services of the former Marumo Gallants midfielder from under the noses of Sekhukhune United and Kaizer Chiefs. The 30-year-old midfielder arrived alongside Thapelo Xoki, Nkosinathi Sibisi and Bienvenu Eva Nga, who have all spoken about the pressures of representing one of the biggest clubs in Africa. Timm, however, has revealed that he feels no pressure and in fact has channelled the expectations of donning the black and white of Pirates into a positive. “I understand that this is a big club, one of the…

Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan recently graced Instagram donning South African designer Thebe Magugu’s stylish blouse and skirt from the Thebe Magugu x AZ Factory collection. The queen was seen rocking a squid-ink skirt and ink-spill blouse, paired with deep blue stilettos at a recent event in Jordan. “15 years ago, the Children’s Museum opened its doors… Over three million children from all over the country have since walked through them!” shared the queen on her official Instagram page. “Proud of the team who made that possible and of the museum’s family of donors and supporters!#Jordan #LoveJO” Taking to his Instagram account, Magugu reposted the queen’s images with a caption: Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan (@queenrania) visits the country’s Children’s Museum wearing the Squid-Ink Skirt and Ink-Spill Blouse…

The issue of awaiting-trial accused who are not out on bail and often sit behind bars for years before they are sentenced, and then receive a life sentence, should be looked at by the Supreme Court of Appeal. This is according to a judge sitting in the Western Cape High Court who presided over an appeal by three men convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. They complained that they had been awaiting trial in prison for nearly six years before they were sentenced. This was because, for several reasons, the trial took a long time to conclude. According to them, it was unfair that they were each given a life sentence – 25 years in jail before they can be considered for parole – without the judge taking…

THE DA has asked the Public Service Commission to probe the Office of President Cyril Ramaphosa and that of Chief Justice Raymond Zondo for giving senior positions to officials with no requisite qualifications. The commission, under Professor Somadoda Fikeni, was also asked to conduct an internal investigation against three of its officials. The Presidency has 16 officials while Zondo’s office has seven. The probe followed Acting Public Service and Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi’s revelation that more than 2 000 senior officials did not have qualifications for the positions they occupied in the national and provincial governments. The SAPS under Police Minister Bheki Cele had the highest number at 214, while the Justice and Correctional Services Ministry headed by Ronald Lamola accounted for 144. The National Treasury has 63 officials. In…

The ANC in Joburg wants the City of Joburg to take over electricity provision to residents of the city and cut ties with Eskom. This is according to a statement issued by the Greater Johannesburg region in the midst of a blame game between the DA-led administration and the ANC, which lost the city following the November 2021 local government elections. The ANC has also called for Joburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse to implement some of the resolutions taken by former Joburg mayor Mpho Moerane. The party in a statement said Phalatse had been “running away from residents” since she assumed office. Phalatse did eventually address the people of Soweto on Saturday when she put the blame squarely on the shoulders of Eskom and ministers Pravin Gordhan and Gwede Mantashe, who…

North West Education MEC Mmaphefo Matsemela is gunning for underperforming schools in the province before the start of the matric exams this year. Grade 12 learners are expected to sit for their final exams in the next few weeks, and Matsemela is working on improving the results for the Class of 2022. As a starting point, the MEC is targeting underperforming schools to jack up their performances. This week, Matsemela is expected to visit underperforming schools in the Bojanala district. This comes after she visited similar schools in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district in Vryburg on Thursday and Friday. The provincial Department of Education in North West said there were 30 underperforming schools that the MEC had targeted, and these were schools that obtained less than 70% during…

ANOTHER local adaptation of international reality TV show “The Real Housewives” is on the way, and this local iteration will be the first Afrikaans version as the franchise heads to Pretoria. In August, kykNET announced the exciting news that “Die Real Housewives van Pretoria” would be coming to screens this October. The channel has now revealed the names of the six wives who will be giving Mzansi a glimpse of their luxurious lives. From October 13, Renske Lammerding, Marié Bosman, Talana Kuhn, Kiki La Coco, Mel Viljoen and Rhona Erasmus will be on the small screen serving plenty of drama. Renske is well known in Silver Lakes for her boutique in the estate and, of course, her husband, Heinrich’s, wealth. This means there is a lot of gossip about Renske’s…

THE media frenzy and international interest that greeted the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II should serve as a clear reminder that all traditional institutions should be accorded the same level of respect and dignity. Since the death of the queen at Balmoral Castle in north-east Scotland last week, the international media coverage of the British royal family has been on overdrive. On Friday morning, every newspaper around the world had, on its front page, the breaking news about the death of the queen of England. All major TV news stations in every corner of the globe dedicated several hours to the story. They will subject their viewers to this historical content until Monday, when the queen is laid to rest. All that is good and well. The British royal…

The international community yesterday urged warring sides in Ethiopia to seize the moment for peace after Tigrayan rebels said they were ready for talks led by the AU to end almost two years of warfare. There has been a flurry of diplomatic efforts to push for negotiations after fighting flared in northern Ethiopia in late August for the first time in several months, torpedoing a humanitarian truce and cutting off aid deliveries to war-stricken Tigray. Tigrayan authorities said on Sunday they were “prepared to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the AU”, after previously rejecting AU mediation and saying they wanted Kenya to lead any talks. “We are ready to abide by an immediate and mutually agreed cessation of hostilities,” Tigray’s regional government said in a…

PARIS: An appeal trial began in a Paris court yesterday as two men found guilty of helping Islamist militants prepare the 2015 deadly attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris seek to overturn their convictions. The two men, Ali Riza Polat and Amar Ramdani, are among 14 convicted in December 2020 as accomplices of the attackers, who were themselves killed by police soon after the killings. Polat and Ramdani have denied involvement in the attacks and are the only convicted accomplices to appeal. They received the heaviest sentences. | Reuters…

WASHINGTON: Former US president Donald Trump’s attorneys say they oppose the US Justice Department’s request to continue to review classified documents seized by the FBI from his Florida estate. In a court filing, his lawyers asked the judge to require an independent arbiter – a special master – to include the 100 documents with classification markings in its review of more than 11 000 records recovered during the court-approved August 8 search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. In the document storage dispute, the government wrongfully seeks to criminalise the possession by Trump of his own presidential and personal records, the lawyers wrote. | Reuters…

Ukraine said yesterday its forces recaptured 500km2 in the southern Kherson region after claiming huge gains in the east over the weekend. The Ukrainian army has been progressing more slowly on the southern front than in the northeastern region of Kharkiv that is almost fully back under its control. “We have liberated around 500km2,” said Ukrainian south command spokesperson Natalya Gumenyuk, in the first estimate of the southern counter-offensive gains over the past two weeks. She added that the settlements of Vysokopillia, Biloguirka, Soukhy Stavok and Myrolioubivka were “fully under Ukrainian flag”. Kirill Stremousov, a pro-Moscow official in the southern capital of Kherson, said yesterday that the situation in his city was “under control”. “Right now, a repeat of the situation in Kharkiv is simply not possible,” Stremousov said, “there…

Springbok forwards coach Deon Davids and hooker Malcolm Marx were on press conference duty from Buenos Aries yesterday, and a tense media engagement it was as they did their best to not answer questions on the Elton Jantjies drama. What Davids did say was that the Boks were determined to focus on beating Argentina and would do their best not to be distracted by a scandal making headlines across the world. “We have dealt with the situation in a professional manner (Jantjies and Bok dietician Zeenat Simjee were sent home in disgrace) and our focus is completely on the task at hand,” Davids said. “They are a tough team to beat, especially at home, and that needs all our focus.” Moving on to the rugby, Davids said the Boks had…

Bayern Munich will welcome Robert Lewandowski's Barcelona to the Allianz Arena tonight, hoping to jolt themselves out of a poor run of Bundesliga form. Despite Wednesday's impressive 2-0 win at Inter Milan, Bayern have drawn three games in a row and sit in the unfamiliar position of third place after six matches in their league. While Bayern have not struggled to find the back of the net this season with 31 goals in nine games, they have missed Lewandowski's penetration at crucial moments in recent weeks. Lewandowski has had a dominant start to life in Spain, scoring six times in five La Liga matches for Barcelona to sit in his usual spot atop the goalscoring charts. With four wins and a draw, Barcelona are unbeaten in the league and sit…

Royal AM began their first continental campaign with a dull, scoreless stalemate against Mbabane Highlanders at the Somhlolo National Stadium in Eswatini on Sunday afternoon. The two sides clashed in the preliminary play-off stage to determine which club enters the group phase of the continent's second tier competition, the CAF Confederation Cup. Thwihli Thwahla struggled throughout to establish any control over proceedings and have placed themselves in danger of a potential early exit from the competition. Royal AM co-coach Abram Nteo, who was the only one out of the three coaches to sit on the bench on the day, opted to offer a positive perspective on the day's events. The visitors struggled to adjust to the artificial grass used at the stadium but Nteo claimed he was happy his side…

The Queen wore many hats. According to ABC News, Queen Elizabeth II in fact wore over 5 000 different hats during her years on the throne. One of the milliners best know for creating some of the Queen’s most outstanding hats is Rachel Trevor-Morgan. Trevor-Morgan began making hats for the Queen in 2006. Since then, she became one of the Queen’s preferred milliners and created 60 hats for her. Trevor-Morgan used to work closely with the Queen's design team, including fashion designer Stewart Parvin and the Queen's senior dresser and assistant Angela Kelly. Freddy Fox is another of the queen’s milliners. “She wears what she feels comfortable in and she looks good in. It’s, after all, a working uniform for a very, very energetic, working lady,” Fox said. Fox’s first…

ADELE Senekal, 46, will spend eight years in prison after she was convicted of fraud and money laundering in Bloemfontein. The Free State spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), Captain Christopher Singo, said Senekal appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday, where she was convicted and sentenced. “During January 2022, the owner of Mystic Blue Trading received information from Absa Bank where they had noticed apparent fraudulent activities with regards to specific beneficiaries’ details that did not match the banking profiles. “The victim then gave the bank permission to proceed with an internal investigation,” said Singo. Preliminary investigations revealed Senekal was defrauding the company by capturing the beneficiaries’ names before altering the bank account details to her own. Payments would then be made to her.…

A FIFTH suspect accused of the murder of Collins Chabane local municipality mayor Moses Maluleke, 56, appeared in the Malamulele Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Tshianeo Munyai is facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, attempted murder, and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. The case was postponed to September 19 for the accused to secure a legal representative. According to Limpopo police, the 30-year old was arrested with three other suspects during an operation after a tip-off following a spate of business robberies, car hijackings, murders, rape and burglaries committed in Thohoyandou, Mphephu, Siloam, Vuwani and Levubu in the Vhembe region. Police had initially arrested four people in connection with the murder of Maluleke, bringing the arrests to five in total. Munyai will be joined…

FOLLOWING days of industrial action, the public utility bus company Putco has agreed to the demands of workers wanting a 6% wage increase. Unions and Putco have been locked in negotiations since Monday morning. A source close to the matter informed Independent Media that the bus company had tabled an offer of 6% and also committed to pay worker bonuses. It is understood that workers were also demanding that the 105 workers who were dismissed be reinstated as part of the agreement. Putco spokesperson Lindokuhle Xulu confirmed that Putco had made an offer and unions were expected to report to their members and come back to the management of Putco with a response. “The latest is that we held marathon meetings on Sunday facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation…

SA entering period that could turn grave, but president, protector’s offices seem empty As the curtain slowly comes down early on suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, it is interesting to reflect on how she has been holding on to her job by a thread lately. This transformation of the public protector’s once excellent and stable office over the past five years by the divisive, populist parasite agenda of factionalism in the ANC will be one of Mkhwebane’s lasting influences. Mkhwebane is heading to court today to attempt to enforce the rare victory she scored last week. A full Bench of the Western Cape High Court ruled that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to suspend her was invalid and “improper” – after she sent him questions about the Phala Phala break-in. The…

Frantic appeals for food and medical care are spreading across China in a grim deja vu, as tens of millions of people are put under weeks-long coronavirus lockdowns ahead of a key meeting of the ruling Communist Party. While much of the world is moving past the pandemic, China remains stuck, with leader Xi Jinping continuing orders to maintain “zero Covid.” These lockdowns are keeping localised outbreaks from spreading, but are taking an enormous economic and psychological toll on the population. Xi is set to begin a third five-year term next month, breaking the precedent of stepping down after two terms. Lockdowns are expected to continue at least through that meeting, the 20th National Chinese Communist Party Congress. Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan said on Friday that some sweeping Covid controls should…

There are 10 million more people in slavery across the world today than in 2016 after the Covid-19 pandemic pulled multitudes into poverty and extreme working conditions. The number of people in either forced labour or marriages totalled 50 million last year, the equivalent of almost one in every 150 people across the globe, according to research published yesterday by the International Labour Organization, Walk Free and the International Organisation for Migration. The pandemic and lockdowns led to a rapid deterioration of conditions for many workers, pushing them into debt bondage and in the worst cases, forced labour, as extreme poverty rose for the first time in two decades. Climate change and armed conflicts have also pushed more people into uncertainty, according to the report. The private sector accounts for…

Kinshasa: Uganda has made the first payment towards a $325 million bill (about R5.5 billion) it was ordered to pay by a UN court for invading eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during the Second Congo War, the Congolese government said. Uganda transferred $65m to its western neighbour on September 1, according to minutes of a cabinet meeting released at the weekend. The sum is the first of five annual payments Kinshasa was awarded in damages and interest by the International Court of Justice in February, Justice Minister Rose Mutombo told ministers on Friday. The decision was issued after a years-long legal battle. | AFP…

Los Angeles: Singer Britney Spears has claimed that she “probably won’t perform again” because she’s “pretty traumatised for life”. “I’d rather quit s*** in my pool and shoot photos of myself in studios over working with the most offensive people in my life,” she said. “I’m pretty traumatised for life and yes I’m p***** as f*** and no I won’t probably perform again just because I’m stubborn and I will make my point.” The Lucky singer’s last tour was in 2018. Spears has been adjusting to her freedom since her conservatorship came to an end last year, while she has been feuding with her sons, who she had not seen for nearly six months. | IANS…

According to Sunday news reports, it was a 12-year-old boy who first rumbled Elton Jantjies at a guest house in Nelspruit where he had gone for a night of passion with the Springboks’ dietician, with whom he is allegedly conducting an extra-marital liaison with. The child wanted an autograph and reportedly commented to his father something along these lines: “I have got his autograph before when he was with his wife, but this is not her,” when referring to Zeenat Simjee; and a Google search of Elton Jantjies wife did the rest ... Another guest recorded “noises of passion” from Jantjies’ room, mostly because he was annoyed that he could not sleep; and then later that night when the couple was allegedly having an argument and this fellow objected to…

Kaizer Motaung, the founder of the Kaizer Chiefs empire, can no longer stand by idly and watch the club plumb the depths of despair. For many years, Chiefs earned the title of aristocrats of South African football, but its relevance pales into insignificance these days because the club has not won a trophy in seven years. Currently, Amakhosi are hovering above the relegation zone in 14th place on the Premiership standings. Arthur Zwane was handed the coach’s position by the Chiefs hierarchy, which includes team manager Bobby Motaung and Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr. They are not occupying those positions because they emerged from a list of qualified candidates who applied after the posts were advertised. Rather, those key positions were award due to pure nepotism as the incumbents…