Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-11-17 i Pretoria News

Cosatu, Fedusa and Saftu planning a national stay-away next Tuesday PRESSURE is mounting on the government and the ANC to resolve the deadlock on wage negotiations with public sector unions. Cosatu, the Federation of Unions of South Africa and the South African Federation of Trade Unions are planning a nationwide shutdown on Tuesday. While the government is due to implement the disputed 3% salary hike for public servants today, the unions affiliated to the three federations met three days ago and agreed to mobilise all their members to stay away from their workplaces on Tuesday. The unions’ leaders are expected to address the media at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council offices in Centurion to announce their planned strike. The shutdown is expected to affect services at major hospitals and…

OPPOSITION parties have described the deadline extension of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala probe that was requested by the Section 89 independent panel as a delay tactic and unacceptable. The inquiry is focusing on whether Ramaphosa has a case to answer following a robbery that took place at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in 2020. In June, former Stae Security Agency boss Arthur Fraser claimed that Ramaphosa had concealed a crime. The affidavit claimed that $4 million had been placed in a couch on the farm. Fraser also opened a case of kidnapping and money laundering against Ramaphosa. The panel is assessing information that the ATM, EFF and UDM have submitted and to which Ramaphosa has responded. The assessment is being done in terms of National Assembly rule 129…

AS SOUTH Africa prepared for Stage 3 load shedding blackouts from 4pm yesterday, Eskom announced that a contractor at the Camden power station had been arrested on sabotage charges. The power utility said it had opened a case of sabotage against the contractor at the Ermelo police station after an internal probe led to the culprit being identified and questioned about the incident. “The evidence obtained and the confession made by the perpetrator revealed that the plug was intentionally removed to cause the trip,” said Eskom spokesperson Sikhonathi Mantshantsha. He said the suspect was arrested on Tuesday after he was apparently positively linked to an incident of sabotage following intensive investigative work by Eskom teams. “The perpetrator, who is employed by a maintenance company working at the power station, intentionally…

Israel blamed Iran yesterday after what it said was a drone strike hit a tanker operated by an Israeli-owned firm carrying gas oil off the coast of Oman. The Pacific Zircon was “hit by a projectile approximately 150 miles (240km) off the coast of Oman ,” said Singapore-based firm Eastern Pacific Shipping, which operates the vessel, adding that there were no reports of casualties or any leakage of the cargo. The company is owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer, one of two sons of shipping magnate Sammy Ofer, who died in 2011. The tanker was carrying 42 000 tons of gas oil and bound for Buenos Aires, according to TankerTrackers.com, an oil shipping online research firm. The Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet said it was “aware of the incident”. UK Maritime…

Sharm el Sheikh: A pledge by G20 leaders, whose countries account for most global CO₂ emissions, to pursue the most ambitious target against global warming breathed new life into fraught UN climate talks in Egypt yesterday. Analysts welcomed the final communique from the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, which comes as negotiators in Egypt are struggling to agree on key issues before COP27 is supposed to end tomorrow. The G20 text promises to “pursue efforts” to curb global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. It also urges all parties to “make progress on loss and damage at COP27, which is being held in Africa”. | AFP…

Monday provided the clearest illustration yet of what is more interesting, attractive and newsworthy in South African cricket. Spoiler - it isn’t the Proteas. Despite the novelty of the SA20 League, it was striking how different the scrutiny was between the launch event for that competition - hosted at The Deck hospitality venue adjacent to the Wanderers Stadium - and the announcement of the Proteas Test squad for the series against Australia next month. For the latter just a handful of media accepted the invitation to interview the chairman of selectors Victor Mpitsang and new interim coach Malibongwe Maketa at Cricket South Africa’s Centre of Excellence in Tshwane. In Illovo, meanwhile, the SA20’s commissioner Graeme Smith had to deal with a media scrum as he was backed up against a…

About 422 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, hence World Diabetes Day is observed each year on November 14. Sophie Ndaba has taken to Instagram to educate the masses on what it’s like to live with diabetes. Pictures of Ndaba, known as “Queen” to many South Africans, began circulating on the internet. Trolls immediately started ridiculing her drastic weight loss – going as far as suggesting she “gets tested for HIV”. The businesswoman, who is living with Type 1 diabetes and depression, has since been vocal about her health. The star shared on her Instagram this week: “I’d like non-diabetic people to know what diabetes is like 24/7. We feel it and see it almost constantly. It’s in the fridge, cupboards, diaries, apps, and appointments. It’s in our bags, pockets,…

THE Department of Basic Education said it was disappointed with the continued media reports about plans to introduce unisex toilets in schools. These are based on an initial draft discussion document from the consultations under way on the Guidelines for the Socio-Educational Inclusion of Diverse Sexual Orientations, Gender Identity, Expression, and Sex Characteristics in Schools, following consultation before it is published for public comment. The plans have faced heavy criticism. The department said this was a matter blown out of proportion. “The narrow focus on ‘unisex toilets’ is unfortunate as it misses the bigger debate on the elimination of gender discrimination in all spheres of society and specifically creating a socially conducive and welcoming environment in schools.” The department added that it was not entirely true that it was proposing…

THE Road Accident Fund (RAF) is unhappy with the judgment issued last month in which the court put an end to a payout ban for members of medical aids. The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria declared the directive by the RAF not to pay for past hospital and medical claims issued by members of medical aid schemes unlawful. The RAF was as a result interdicted from implementing the directive. But the RAF said in a notice filed in court that it was in the public interest to appeal this judgment. It will ask the court for leave to appeal the judgment before the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. Lawyers acting for the RAF said in the notice that Judge Mandla Mbongwe made several mistakes in law in the judgment. The…

IT’S been a while since we’ve had so much fun driving a car. And that’s exactly the point Toyota had in mind when they launched the new GR86 with the apt pay-off line of an “analogue car for the digital age” that sticks to the “Waku Doki” fun-to-drive brief. With a lower centre of gravity than its GT86 predecessor, tweaked Subaru-sourced horizontally opposed boxer engine powering the rear wheels and enhanced dynamics, the GR86 takes all the Toyota Gazoo Racing bits and bobs into a stylish well balanced sportscar car aimed at unadulterated driving pleasure. It’s also Toyota’s third global GR model alongside the GR Supra and GR Yaris. Its short overhangs, wide and low stance, individually accentuated front and rear wings and functional aerodynamic features such as front air…

Thousands of world leaders, corporate elites, and civil society activists provided different visions of the future at the UNs Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFFFC) held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Known as “COP27”, the climate summit follows 26 prior failures, including Durban’s 2011 COP17 hosted by Jacob Zuma. Egypt’s goal is to become a major natural gas exporter. Therefore one strikingly discordant note was the oppression of democrats, human rights activists and other critics of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s dictatorship. He arranged the COP in a way that served the interests of nearly 700 coal, oil and methane gas lobbyists. That fact alone illustrates how little chance there was to solve humanity’s worst-ever crisis. The goal of civil society – especially the climate justice movement –is always to dramatically lower carbon…

A missile that hit Poland was probably a stray fired by Ukraine’s air defences and not a Russian strike, Poland and Nato said yesterday, easing global concern that the war in Ukraine could spill across the border. Nevertheless, Nato’s chief said that Moscow, not Kyiv was ultimately to blame, for starting the war in the first place and launching the attack that triggered Ukraine’s defences. “This is not Ukraine’s fault. Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine,” Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels. Nato ambassadors were holding emergency talks to respond to Tuesday’s blast that killed two people at a grain facility in Poland near the Ukrainian border, the war’s first deadly spillover onto the territory of the Western military alliance. “From the…

Wellington: New Zealand’s Firearms Prohibition Orders came into force yesterday to reduce gun crime in the country. Firearms Prohibition Orders would improve public safety by stopping people whose behaviour and actions represent a high risk of violence from accessing firearms or restricted weapons, the Police Ministry said. The law targets any violent offenders, including gang members. The new legislation gives a judge the power to impose an order lasting 10 years. A gunman killed 51 worshippers in two mosques in Christchurch in 2019, which was the worst terrorist attack in New Zealand history. | AFP…

Japan forward Daichi Kamada says his team’s large contingent of Bundesliga players can draw mental strength from knowing they “share the same stage” as first-up World Cup opponents Germany. Japan’s squad for the finals in Qatar includes eight Germany-based players, more than any other national league - including Japan’s first-division J1 League. Nine Japanese players play in the first division of the Bundesliga, seven of whom have been selected in the squad for Qatar. Qatar-bound midfielder Ao Tanaka also plays in Germany, for Fortuna Duesseldorf in the second division. Kamada (26), who has 12 goals in all competitions for Eintracht Frankfurt this season, will be one of Japan’s most important players in Qatar. “There are a lot of Japanese players in the Bundesliga now and I think we’re on an…

TWO elderly women who allegedly cashed in on the government’s old-age grants while also directors of companies which received more than R140 million in police tenders, appeared in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges of fraud. Sarathamoney Sigamoney, 66, and Salamina Khoza, 68, are also facing charges of perjury, theft and contravening of the Social Assistance Act, said Sindisiwe Seboka, spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate. It is claimed the accused received the older pensioners’ indigent grant while being sole directors of companies that were awarded tenders worth millions from the SAPS. Sigamoney is accused of having defrauded the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) of more than R123 000 and Khoza R152 000. Sigamoney was arrested yesterday morning, while Khoza was summoned to appear in court as…

MPUMALANGA Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane has embarked on a week-long mission to the Russian Federation to address issues involving more than 200 university students who continue to face adversity in the transcontinental country. The students, who are studying at 11 institutions of higher learning, have been sending messages of distress on social media, sparking an outcry among South African citizens who believed Russia was a country close to South Africa. According to Education MEC Bonakele Majuba, the students are government-funded and specialise in different disciplines including aviation, engineering, medicine, and information technology. The students were no longer receiving their stipends, and expressed fears of being expelled, evicted and deported. They also said they faced a lack of food and accommodation due to delayed payments to the relevant institutions following the expiry…

A LEGAL opinion has dashed Presidency Minister Mondli Gungubele’s hopes of the State Security Agency (SSA) skipping a standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) appearance over a standing Cabinet resolution to vet government officials. Gungubele recently snubbed a Scopa sitting where the SSA were supposed to account for the vetting process of state-owned entities’ executives and their supply chain management officials, particularly at troubled Eskom. At the time the resolution was issued in 2014, the SSA fell under the State Security Ministry, which now falls in the ambit of the Presidency. The Cabinet resolved that the SSA vet officials, but after back and forth exchanges over the years between Scopa and SSA’s political heads, Gungubele’s department snubbed a Scopa appearance at the 11th hour last week. SSA spokesperson Mava Scott…

Creating a better world in which a just cause is pursued for the common good ON THE afternoon of November 15, local time, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Bali Summit, the first physical meeting between the two heads of state in three years since the outbreak of Covid-19. President Xi noted that, “China and South Africa enjoy a special friendship of ‘comradeship plus brotherhood’. Both being major developing countries, China and South Africa firmly uphold international fairness and justice and the common interests of developing countries”. The two heads of state had an in-depth exchange of views and reached a broad consensus on the development of bilateral relations and co-operation in various fields, as well…

NASA launched the most powerful rocket built on a journey to the moon yesterday, in a spectacular blaze of light and sound that marked the start of the space agency’s new flagship programme, Artemis. The 32-storey tall Space Launch System blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, producing a record 39 meganewtons of thrust. “What you have done today will inspire generations to come, thank you!” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Nasa’s first female launch director, told cheering teammates. Fixed to the rocket’s top was the uncrewed Orion spaceship that will orbit Earth’s nearest neighbour, in a test run for later flights that should see the first woman and first person of colour touch down on lunar soil by the mid-2020s. About two hours after launch, Nasa said the spacecraft…

Istanbul: Turkey has launched a legal investigation into Italian company Ferrero on charges of monopolising the hazelnut market, a local official said yesterday. Ferrero employs more than 1 000 people in Turkey, where it has been sourcing hazelnuts across the country’s Black Sea regions for over three decades. But the company, Turkey’s top hazelnut buyer especially for its Nutella spread, has angered Turkish farmers, who accuse it of paying meagre sums to them for hazelnuts and then selling its products at much higher prices. Turkey accounts for 70% of the world’s hazelnut supply. | AFP…

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar kicks off on Sunday when the host nation plays Ecuador in Group A. Twenty-eight days and 63 games later, one of 32 nations will lift the Jules Rimet Trophy. But who should you bet on to win it all? And what are some other smart wagers along the way? We take a look. The Contenders BRAZIL The Selecao are the world’s only five-time World Cup champions, although they haven’t won since 2002. Four of Brazil’s five previous championships have come in tournaments played in neither Europe nor Brazil. That’s a 50% win rate within that sample. And this is one of the deeper Brazilian rosters, built largely with the same players who as Under-23s helped win the 2016 Olympic soccer title in Rio…