Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-09-14 i Pretoria News

ARC INVESTMENTS (ARC), majority owned by the Ubuntu-Botho Investments Group, lifted net asset value 14.7 percent to R10.06 per share in the year to June 30 after good financial performances by many of its businesses. The net asset value growth was due to good performances by some of the businesses it has invested in, such as Rain, TymeBank in South Africa, Tyme Global in Singapore, Alexforbes, Fledge Capital and Capital Legacy, ARC said in a statement. Looking ahead, co-chief executive Johan van Zyl said they were likely to consider fewer major acquisitions, following a “good run” since listing five years ago. “We’ll enter a phase of reviewing our portfolio and consider some pruning over the short to medium term. We have received some unsolicited offers for our shareholdings in…

Hopes that country’s economy will rebound next year have been dashed SOUTH Africa’s ongoing energy crisis has dimmed hopes that the economy will rebound significantly next year as growth has already started shrinking. Eskom yesterday ramped up its rotational load shedding to Stage 4 until tomorrow morning after promising it would ease it to Stage 2 for the test of the week. Last month, Eskom warned that South Africa could face up to 27 days of load shedding in September, lasting all the way into September 2023, if unplanned breakdowns soar to 16 000MW. It currently has 5 446MW on planned maintenance, while another 16 985MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns. The South African Reserve Bank last month forecast that the economy will expand by…

MINING activity in South Africa will probably be depressed for the remainder of the year, and drag economic growth even lower as the lingering impact of intensified power cuts and industrial action saw output falling more than expected in July. Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday showed that mining output plunged by 8.4 percent in July year-on-year following a downwardly revised 7.1 percent decline in June. This was the sixth consecutive month of decline in mining production since February, with January being the only exception that saw a slight 0.1 percent increase in output. The July mining print, which was slightly ahead of consensus expectations of a 5 percent year-on-year decline, was also the second-largest single decline this year after April’s 15 percent fall.…

When it comes to fashion nothing says spring is here quite like floral prints, bold colours and crisp whites. While the days are not quite hot enough for those flowing frilly floral dresses or bottom-hugging cheeky shorts, it sure is time to pull out those funky sunnies. It’s not to say that we haven’t been rocking cool shades during winter when the sun came out to play, but it’s just not the same as sporting fab sunglasses in summer. While the classic black frames and aviators will never date and are must-haves in any sunglasses collection, white-framed sunglasses have become essential. They might not be the most popular choice but they undoubtedly attract attention. And the great thing about these trendy frames is that they come in all shapes. Whether…

A MAN who was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping an 11-year-old child and impregnating her claimed that he had consensual sex with her as she was his “child bride”. The man, who cannot be named to protect the child’s identity, appealed against his conviction and life imprisonment sentence before the Western Cape High Court. The court, however, confirmed both conviction and sentence. The excuse of the man, which was rejected by the court, was that he thought “his bride” was 15 at the time when her father “gave her to him”. The father, however, denied that she was given to his neighbour as a bride. He claimed that he simply asked the accused, who lived next door, whether his daughter could move in with him as he did not…

A GRADE 11 learner at Sir Pierre van Ryneveld High School in Kempton Park died in Tembisa Hospital following a fight at school. It is alleged learners from Sir Pierre van Ryneveld High School were involved in a fight with Sunrise Combined College learners which led to the teenager sustaining serious injuries. Sunrise Combined College is a secondary school in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, a few metres from Ryneveld High School. The fight broke out last Wednesday but the motive behind the fight is unclear. The Gauteng Department of Education said they were saddened to learn about the learner’s death. “We would like to convey our heartfelt condolences to the deceased’s families and the schools’ community,” said the department. “The Emergency Medical Services and the parents of the injured learner were…

HOW unfortunate it is that we only know about some of our heroes/heroines after they die. Something must be done otherwise we will look like a nation of hypocrites. In political circles the word imbokodo is transformed into a concept that symbolises strength. It emanated from a slogan used by the women who marched against the pass laws on August 9, 1956. The slogan was directed at then prime minister, JG Strijdom. “Wathint’Abafazi, Wathint’Imbokodo”, the women chanted. The reason for this explanation is because mama Rita Ndzanga came into the heat of politics before the 1956 women’s march. It is unfortunate that (like her) there are unknown or less known people who have contributed so much. In 1955 she worked as the secretary of the Railway Workers Union and was…

Crowds of well-wishers greeted King Charles with handshakes and warm words when he visited Northern Ireland yesterday as part of a tour of the UK to lead mourning for his mother Queen Elizabeth. Enthusiasm for the new monarch and fond memories of the queen were evident during a visit laden with symbolism and significance given Britain’s historical record in Ireland and the more recent years of violence in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. In Scotland, Queen Elizabeth’s flag-draped coffin laid at rest in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, where thousands of people filed past it to pay their final respects. The casket will be flown to London later on Tuesday for four days of lying in state before a state funeral on Monday. Elizabeth died on Thursday in her…

Los Angeles: Franco-Swiss director and New Wave standard-bearer Jean-Luc Godard, who revolutionised world cinema with his ground-breaking debut, Breathless, died at 91. French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Godard on social media with a message describing the auteur as “the most iconoclastic of New Wave film-makers, who had invented a resolutely modern, intensely free art.” Godard presented his last film The Image Book at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 and was celebrated with the Special Palme d’Or. He was also planning to adapt the film into an exhibit in Paris, Madrid, New York and Singapore before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. | IANS…

London: Commonwealth nations could “rush for the door” of the bloc after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, an expert has warned, reports said. In addition to the UK, Charles III now rules in 14 Commonwealth countries which were former dominions of the British Empire. With republican movements gaining ground from Australia to the Bahamas, Charles faces a challenge keeping the Commonwealth realms in the royal fold, a report said. Several are to vote on becoming republics and replace him as head of state now that nostalgic ties to the late monarch are broken by her death. Barbados became a republic last year and Jamaica has indicated a desire to follow suit. | IANS…

TUNIS: The number of Tunisian migrants landing on Italian shores jumped by 23% to 13 500 in the first eight months of this year compared with the same period last year, a rights group said yesterday, adding that Tunisia’s political and economic crisis lay behind the exodus. The Tunisian Forum of Economic and Social Rights said that 2 600 minors, 640 women and 500 Tunisian families arrived on the Italian coasts in boats this year. The number of people who drowned off the Tunisian coast was about 570. Tunisia is in the throes of an economic and social crisis which threatens to bankrupt public finances, while inflation has reached its highest in three decades. | Reuters…

ORGANISED business has come out swinging against the proposed carbon tax increments which will see gradual increases in the carbon tax rate for the 2023 to 2025 tax periods. The increases are by a minimum of $1/tCO2e, increasing gradually to $20 in 2026 and at least to $30/tCO2e (per ton of carbon emissions equivalent) in 2030. The Energy Council of South Africa, Minerals Council South Africa, Business Leadership South Africa, Business Unity South Africa, South African Petroleum Industry Association and Energy Intensive Users Group jointly proposed that the annual carbon tax increases continue to be based on the Consumer Price Index (+2 percent) structure until at least 2030, to allow for the review and alignment of policies. “Business and the South African economy cannot accommodate the steepness of the…

ATTACQ, the JSE-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) developing Waterfall City, did well in its year to June 30 by lifting distributable income per share from 34.2 percent to 62.8 cents and resuming dividend payments with the 50c per share, representing an 80 percent payout ratio. The group’s performance was in the context of South Africa’s record unemployment levels and low-growth economic environment and reflected the underlying quality of the portfolio, which has been characterised by continued growth in the burgeoning mixed-use Waterfall City precinct – the precinct has continued to attract local and global blue chip clients. “We emerged from Covid-19 with an improved company culture and capital structure. Our focus is now on new opportunities, mainly through the implementation of our environmental plan and delivery…

A MAMMOTH R7.7 billion expansion and environmental upgrade project at the Sappi Saiccor mill was officially opened by President Cyril Ramaphosa in Umkomaas, KwaZulu-Natal yesterday. The project was first officially announced at the Presidential Investment Conference in 2018. The project would strengthen the country’s role as a global supplier of Lyocell, the fibre of the future for sustainable textiles. Sappi Global board chairperson Sir Nigel Rudd said: “The board believes that the South African forestry industry is globally competitive and can make further substantial contributions to the South African economy. This investment reflects our confidence in our South African operations.” Chief executive Steve Binnie said there was growing global demand for renewable textiles derived from sustainable wood fibre. Sappi supplies more than 50 percent of the…

THE Sekunjalo Group of Companies’ bank accounts at Nedbank will continue to remain open after the Western Cape High Court reserved judgment in Nedbank’s appeal against the interim interdict granted to Sekunjalo in June preventing the bank from closing its bank accounts. Reserving judgment in yesterday morning’s matter, Judge Mokgoatji Dolamo said that because the issues raised in arguments by both sides were weighty and would require in-depth scrutiny, it would probably take about “a week or two” before he could return a ruling. “Parties will be aware that this matter will call for an in-depth interrogation of the matters raised. “It is not your run-of-the-mill kind of application.” Nedbank had sought leave to appeal against the judgment passed in June by Judge Dolamo and had argued that the matter…

EVIDENCE Msibi, 47, of Siyanqoba township in Witbank, has accused an assistant and junior nurse of Klarinet community clinic of attempting to bribe her with R5 000 after a case of medical negligence. On July 22, Msibi went to the clinic for a routine check up. She enquired about the availability of a prevention injection or pill and was subsequently given the injection. But the next day at work, Msibi said she began feeling dizzy and requested to go home. She was given the rest of the week off from work. For days she could not sit or walk due to the swelling of her backside and she requested more time off to deal with the pain and other complications. A few days later, she went back to the clinic…

ESKOM has made a U-turn in reducing power outages. Instead, the power utility yesterday increased load shedding from a planned Stage 2 to Stage 4, leaving South Africans in the dark. Eskom said due to the sudden loss of three generating units at the Kendal power station in the morning, load shedding had been increased to Stage 4 until 5am tomorrow. It said load shedding would then be reduced to Stage 2 until midnight on Friday. Eskom apologised for the sudden changes in the load shedding profile and urged the public to continue using electricity sparingly. “In the early hours of Tuesday, a conveyor belt feeding coal into Kendal power station failed. “To conserve coal, the power output of the generators was reduced, but this required fuel oil to be…

PRINCE Simakade has finally filed his court papers where he is challenging the recognition of Misuzulu kaZwelithini as the king of the Zulu nation, starting his long journey to dethrone his half-brother – a battle that could drag on for some time. The first-born son of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini also wants President Cyril Ramaphosa’s gazette that announced and certified the recognition of the king to be declared invalid and set aside. In his papers before the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, he said if all those cited (and those with interest in the matter) do not respond by December 15, the application should be made an order of the court – an uncontested victory for him. The court papers were filed with the court on Monday…

William Ruto was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth president yesterday, a week after the Supreme Court rejected a challenge by his defeated opponent in a close-fought election that he won by portraying himself as an underdog “hustler” battling the elite. Deputy president for the past decade, Ruto must now confront an economic crisis in East Africa’s wealthiest and most stable nation, where food and fuel prices are surging, unemployment is high and public debt rising. “A village boy has become the president of Kenya,” Ruto said at the ceremony, as the crowd erupted in cheers. As severe drought exacerbates a major food crisis in East Africa, he promised to make 40 million half-price bags of fertiliser available next week. The 55-year-old won last month’s election despite a public repudiation by…

Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray was hit by an air strike yesterday local officials said, two days after rebel authorities there said they were ready for a ceasefire. The reported drone strike on the regional capital Mekele left at least one person injured, said Kibrom Gebreselassie, a senior official at Ayder Referral Hospital, the biggest in Tigray. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been at war with Ethiopia’s army and its allies for nearly two years, said a military drone “bombed” Mekele University in the early hours of yesterday, causing injuries and property damage. Dimtsi Weyane, a TPLF-affiliated TV network broadcasting in Tigray, said its station was also hit, forcing it off air and “causing heavy human and material damage”. Tigray has been hit by several air strikes…

NUR-SULTAN: Pope Francis said yesterday he was willing to go to China at any time but had “no news” to offer over speculation he might meet Chinese President Xi Jinping while both are in Kazakhstan. Francis arrived in Kazakhstan at the start of a three-day trip to attend a peace meeting of world religious leaders. Francis, who suffers from a knee ailment, for the first time on his trips used a finger ramp to exit the plane and enter the terminal on a wheelchair. Francis used a cane to walk around the plane greeting reporters as he usually does on such trips. He appeared in pain by the time he returned to his own seat in the front section of the aircraft. The pope has tried to ease the historically…

Kabul: Taliban authorities yesterday condemned UN accusations that they are violating the rights of women to work in Afghanistan, insisting thousands are employed in the country’s public sector. Sharafuddin Sharaf, chief of staff at the ministry of labour, said many women were being paid despite not attending work, as offices were not set up for segregation of the sexes. A UN rights expert earlier said there had been a “staggering regression” in women’s rights since the Taliban’s return to power. Sharaf said “not a single female employee has been fired” from the public service. But there have been protests by women over losing their jobs, some force- fully put down by the Taliban. | AFP…

THE BENCH Marks Foundation said yesterday it had been calling on the government to put exclusion zones around tailings of about 500 to 1 500 metres and not to allow any development near them as this is dangerous. This follows the collapse of a mine tailings dam in Jagersfontein on Sunday, in the Kopanong Local Muni- cipality in the Free State, which led to the death of one person, and the displacement of many others. The cause of the collapse has yet to be determined. The dam collapsed at about 6am on Sunday. The flow of water had stopped by Sunday afternoon. In an interview, Bench Marks Foundation spokesperson David van Wyk said the mining companies should also have known that it was wrong to have its tailings in…

LIBSTAR, a food producer whose brands include Denny mushrooms and Lancewood cheeses, said yesterday it had delivered a resilient interim performance despite supply chain disruptions, particularly in import and export shipment delays. Its results for the six months to June 30 showed that its largest category, Perishables, delivered revenue growth of 14.6 percent and an increase in normalised earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of 27.8 percent, supported by strong volume sales of pre-packed hard cheese by Lancewood and efficiencies in the value-added meat processing division, Finlar. The second-largest category, groceries, grew revenue by 2.2 percent and normalised Ebitda fell 17.7 percent due to supply chain disruptions and increased logistics costs in the Cape Herb & Spice export division. Libstar group revenue increased…

BUILDING and construction group Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon’s (WBHO) headline earnings per share decreased by 19 percent during the year to the end of June after revenues slid 11 percent due to a slump in civil construction and roadworks. Revenue for the year was 11 percent lower at R17 billion, while the headline earnings per share score sagged to almost R13 per share. The WBHO share price closed 0.45 percent down at R76.65 on the JSE yesterday. “Activity within both the building and civil engineering and roads and earthworks divisions slowed during the current reporting period,” the company said. Its international market also reported a “subdued procurement environment” especially in the UK, where the number of available bidding projects “reduced substantially”. The Manchester construction market was…

FREE State police are looking for relatives and suspects involved in the death of a woman who was found with her throat slit in K10 section, Kutloanong. Odendaalsrus police said they are offering R50 000 reward for information regarding the suspects. Police spokesperson Captain Stephen Thakeng said Odendaalsrus police were informed on August 31, at around 2pm about a body of a woman lying on a farm next to K10 section. “The body was found by a resident of Kutloanong who was busy cutting wood,” said Thakeng. “On their arrival, they found the body of an unknown African woman with a slit throat. She is estimated to be 28 years old, she had a wedding ring on her finger …” Thakeng said a case of murder has been registered…

THE decisions made at branch general meetings of the ANC in coming weeks will be crucial in the build-up to the December elective conference. The nominations process, originally scheduled to have started on September 7, only began on Sunday after a special national executive committee meeting essentially rubber-stamped the step-aside resolution. Provincial leaders of the party from Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal wasted no time and met on Monday to discuss policy positions and leadership preferences. Mpumalanga is asking for support in its nomination of current president Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term and Ronald Lamola as deputy president. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Dr Zweli Mkhize are also being mentioned as candidates for party president. The KZN ANC wants to take its time in making a decision and will wait for…

THE African Transformation Movement (ATM) has decided to join Public Protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane in her application to have the Western Cape High Court’s ruling to set aside her suspension put into immediate effect. ATM national spokesperson Sibusiso Mncwabe said the party took the decision after learning that President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka had joined the DA’s court bid to keep her suspension in effect. “It is now clear that there is a collective effort on the part of the DA, Ramaphosa and the deputy public protector to do anything to shield Ramaphosa from accountability over the Phala Phala scandal. The ATM is therefore instructing its lawyers to file court papers to fight this unholy alliance. “The evident incompetence of the deputy public protector is…

Modernity and traditional ways need to co-exist but on Africa’s evolutionary terms VAMPIRIC predatory western European colonialism that destroyed the lives of the hundreds of millions of indigenous people on continents around the world, including in Europe, followed by a violent anti-Earth, anti-life capitalism that was foisted on the vast majority of peoples, ecologies, and environments, lingers on 530 years later from the genocidal Columbian invasion of the Americas and Africa, accompanied by chattel and sexual slavery, including of 9 year-old girls, persistent in this pathological world today. The saddest and most depressing part in South Africa is the manner in which Steve Biko has been suppressed and marginalised in school textbooks, political, social, educational, and media circles. He is dismissed as “outdated” and “irrelevant” to the South African nation…

Russia said yesterday it was carrying out “massive strikes” across the Ukrainian front line and accused Ukrainian soldiers of abusing civilians in territories recaptured in a dramatic counter-offensive. Moscow’s retaliation came after it was forced to pull back its troops from swathes of the north-east, particularly in the Kharkiv region, following Kyiv’s lightning assault to wrest back terrain. The territorial shifts marked one of Russia’s biggest setbacks since its troops were repelled from Kyiv in the earliest days of the nearly seven-month war, yet Moscow signalled it was no closer to agreeing to a negotiated peace. “Air, rocket and artillery forces are carrying out massive strikes on units of the Ukrainian armed forces in all operational directions,” the Russian defence ministry said in its daily briefing on the conflict. “High-precision”…

Armenia said yesterday that nearly 50 of its soldiers had been killed in the worst clashes with Azerbaijan since their war two years ago, but Russia said it had convinced the historic rivals to agree to a rapid ceasefire. After several hours of fierce border fighting overnight, Armenia appealed to world leaders for help, saying Azerbaijani forces were trying to advance on its territory. The fighting was the worst since the end of a 2020 war between the ex-Soviet republics over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region that left more than 6 500 killed on both sides. Russia said it had succeeded in bringing the clashes to a halt. Armenia’s defence ministry said that clashes had subsided but that the situation on the border “remains tense”. | AFP…

LONDON: Climate change impacts are “heading into uncharted territories of destruction”, UN secretary-general António Guterres warned yesterday on the release of a multi-agency scientific report reviewing the latest research on the problem. The report, led by the World Meteorological Organization, warns that the world is “going in the wrong direction” on climate change. As greenhouse gas concentrations increase in the atmosphere and world leaders fail to adopt strategies to hold warming below 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures, the Earth is inching closer toward dangerous climate tipping points, the United in Science report says. | Reuters…

Islamabad: The number of polio cases detected in Pakistan this year has increased to 18 after a three-month-old infant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district was paralysed by the virus, the health ministry announced. It said yesterday that the child, suffering from polio-induced disabilities, had an onset of paralysis on August 25. The humanitarian crisis in the wake of unprecedented floods will pose graver challenges to Pakistan in future, as millions of people are displaced and move to urban centres for refuge. Large-scale movement of people and high transmission season for the poliovirus escalates the risk of wild poliovirus spreading. | IANS…