Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-11-29 i Pretoria News

HUGE GROUP said yesterday that despite global and local economic conditions deteriorating significantly, it had grown value of its portfolio and was positioning itself to be a leading provider in the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market. In its results for the six months ended August 31, 2022, the JSE-listed technology investment group whose subsidiaries operate in the telecommunications, media, technology, and software industries, said its net asset value over the past six months had increased from 897 cents per share to 939c per share. Huge Group has nine principal investments, which contribute to the portfolio’s total value, which is in excess of R1.5 billion. “We believe that this value is realis- able, and although we are cognisant of calls to unlock this value through disposals,…

POLICE in Mahwelereng, outside Mokopane, have launched a manhunt for the suspect(s) who murdered a 20-year-old Grade 12 pupil. The pupil’s body was found with several stab wounds behind one of the blocks inside school premises at Ben Hlogwane Secondary School on Sunday morning. “Preliminary police investigations revealed the victim was part of a group of learners doing camping classes in preparation for the exams. He reportedly sneaked out yesterday, (Saturday), and guardians at school were looking for him but could not find him,” police spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said. “A further probe at the scene points to a possibility that the victim might have been stabbed somewhere and thereafter ran towards the school and collapsed behind one of the blocks in the school premises.” Police said the dead…

POLICE have confirmed that they are investigating the abuse of children as young as 1-year-old at a day-care centre in Bronkhorstspruit. Police said they would only be in a position to comment once the investigation had been completed. Gauteng Department of Social Development spokesperson, Motsamai Motlhaolwa, also said they would comment at a later stage. The children have allegedly been beaten by the owner of the day-care centre, which has since been closed down by the community. The mother of a child aged a year-and-a-half who attends the day-care centre said she had not been able to sleep after seeing a video of her child being beaten with a wooden plank by the founder of the centre. The owner, whose centre is reportedly not registered with the Gauteng Department of…

A MAN who worked as a packer is due to receive about R1.5 million in damages after he suffered injuries while returning from work and was accidentally pushed out of a train crowded with passengers. Sello Thaha suffered severe injuries to his back and neck, and as a result lost his job as he could no longer lift heavy crates. Thaha turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to claim damages from the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa). He said that the entity had a duty to ensure the safety of its passengers and not to allow trains to move while the doors were open. Prasa, however, argued that Thaha should also be held accountable because he should not have boarded an overcrowded train. The court earlier ruled that…

Black Friday marks the official start of the festive season shopping frenzy in South Africa, and consumers would do well to be cautious in their spending habits to ensure that they don’t go into the red. This year’s festive season period has come at a bad time for consumers. Interest rates went up last week, which is the worst news for home and vehicle owners. Inflation is at an all-time high and food prices, especially basic items consumed by the poor, have increased dramatically. The cost of basic municipal services such as water, electricity and refuse removal have become unaffordable, even for the middle class. According to the Pietermaritzburg economic justice and dignity (PMBEJD) household affordability index, “the average cost of core foods in a household basket (foods which are…

Police yesterday stopped and searched people at the sites of weekend protests in Shanghai and Beijing, after crowds there and in other Chinese cities demonstrated against stringent Covid-19 measures disrupting lives three years into the pandemic. From the streets of several Chinese cities to dozens of university campuses, protesters made a show of civil disobedience unprecedented since leader Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago. “What we object to is these restrictions on people’s rights in the name of virus prevention, and the restrictions on individual freedom and people’s livelihoods,” said Jason Sun, a university student in Shanghai. There was no sign of new protests yesterday in Beijing or Shanghai, but dozens of police were in the areas where the demonstrations took place. Police have been asking people for their…

Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, has erupted for the first time in nearly 40 years, US authorities said, as emergency crews went on alert yesterday. Flows of lava remained “contained” within the summit caldera of Mauna Loa, but the eruption could pose a threat to nearby residents should conditions change, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported yesterday after the eruption inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. While the eruption on the main island of the remote US state in the Pacific remains confined within the basin at the top of the volcano, called the caldera, “if the eruptive vents migrate outside its walls, lava flows may move rapidly downslope,” according to the USGS. Yesterday the USGS volcano monitoring office tweeted: “Lava does seem to have flowed…

WASHINGTON: Two seriously injured people trapped inside a small plane that crashed into high-voltage power lines near Washington, DC and caused mass outages have been rescued, authorities said yesterday. The aircraft crashed in misty and wet conditions in Montgomery Village, Maryland, on Sunday. It became caught up in live power lines about 30m from the ground. Crews had been able to electrically ground the plane and it had been secured nearly 45 minutes later, with both patients coming down. Most power in the county had been restored. Crews were still working to remove the plane from the power lines, the officials said. | Reuters…

SAN FRANCISCO: Spending on Cyber Monday, the biggest US online shopping day, is set to hit a record $11.2 billion (R191.6bn), says a report, as discounts on everything from clothes to TVs drive shoppers to click “add to cart” even amid high inflation. The Adobe Analytics report predicts spending on Cyber Monday to rise 5.2%. Cyber Monday sales fell 1.4% last year as retailers spread out promotional deals from early October. But big single day shopping events appear to be back in vogue. US shoppers spent a record $9.1bn online on Black Friday. Amid rain, brick-and-mortar stores and malls saw thinner crowds. | Reuters…

Dean Elgar hopes that Lungi Ngidi’s recent outing for his province, the Multiply Titans, will stand him in good stead for the series against Australia, despite Ngidi looking far from his best. The 26-year-old fast bowler got through 22 overs of work across two innings at the Wanderers, 17 of which were delivered in the first innings, in the Titans’ 10-wicket victory over their provincial neighbours the DP World Lions. Ngidi, who took one wicket in the match, looked very rusty in the first innings, bowling his overs across five different spells in which he struggled with his consistency in terms of line and length. “He’s had a long lay-off from the (T20) World Cup,” said Elgar, who spent much of the time watching Ngidi bowl from his fielding position…

INVICTA Holdings, the investment holding and management company, lifted headline earnings per share 43% for the six months to September 30, but withheld the dividend because of the share buybacks through the period. Chief executive Steven Joffe said they were “very pleased as the group had produced a solid performance in all our operations”. He said in a telephone interview that with much of the group now focused on parts sales, and after having made sufficient provisions for unforeseen challenges, and considering the business now derived more than 40% of profit from outside Africa, they were in a good position for the second half. The group had also traded well since the end of the interim reporting period. He said they planned to declare a dividend for the second half…

MEDIA reporting under the apartheid system had gaps because of bias. Same applies to the recording and teaching of history at that time. Unless an issue hit the headlines, it took the progressive newspapers like The World and the international community for society in general to know. This is why the likes of Sydney Kentridge are not really known. He was one of the many white people who sacrificed their privileges of being white and risked their lives against the injustice prevailing in South Africa. Whether South Africans, especially the former oppressed and freedom fighters, honoured him or not, the world would honour him in one way or another. When he started to be involved in fighting for justice for people who were not given it, it was when it…

Somali security forces yesterday ended an hours-long siege by al-Qaeda- linked insurgents who killed at least eight civilians after storming a hotel in the capital Mogadishu, the police said. Al-Shabaab militants attacked the Villa Rose, a hotel popular with politicians and government officials, in a hail of bullets and explosions on Sunday. Around 21 hours later, police spokesperson Sadik Dudishe told reporters that “the clearance operation in the Villa Rose hotel has ended”. The jihadists “killed eight civilians who stayed in the hotel and the security forces succeeded in rescuing about 60 civilians, no one among the civilians was wounded,” he added. One member of the security forces also died in the attack, he said. “There were about six attackers involved, five were shot and killed by the security forces…

Nigeria’s electoral authority said one of its offices and its voting materials were torched on Sunday in the country’s volatile south-east, in a fresh attack occurring ahead of a presidential ballot several months away. In February, Nigerians will elect a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is stepping down after two terms in office. Concerns have grown over recent attacks on the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), particularly in the south-east. Inec said the commision’s office for the Izzi area in Ebonyi state was set on fire. The losses included 340 ballot boxes, 130 voting cubicles, 14 electric power generators, and also quantities of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs). It was the third attack on an Inec office in three weeks following similar attacks in south-western Ogun and…

Yaoundé: At least 15 people died when a landslide engulfed members of a funeral party in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde, the local governor said yesterday. The victims had gathered in marquees at the top of a hill for a memorial service on Sunday when the ground collapsed. At least one of the tents and the people beneath it were swept away. A dozen members of the fire brigade were shovelling away a huge mound of reddish soil at the foot of the hill to search for victims. The disaster took place in Yaounde’s working-class district of Damas, on its eastern outskirts. Landslides occur frequently in Cameroon. | AFP…

Seoul: South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said yesterday that his country would land a spacecraft on the moon in 2032 and begin exploring lunar resources under its plan for a “future space economy”. South Korea aims to land a spacecraft on Mars in 2045, when the nation will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Liberation Day, Yoon said. South Korea would develop a home-grown rocket within five years for the moon mission, Yoon said. An aerospace agency similar to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration would be established, Yoon’s office said. | IANS…

ABOUT a third of South African children under 17 are abused or neglected, resulting in invisible scars that increase their risk of mental illness and limit their ability to function as adults. The Australian NGO Kidshelpline describes emotional abuse as repeated acts of mistreatment that accumulate over time and have long-lasting effects. The development and well-being of a child are typically negatively impacted by a pattern of maltreatment that continues. The following are instances of emotional abuse: rejecting or dismissing; exposure to domestic violence, blaming, shaming, or criticising a child nonstop; withholding love, support, praise, or attention from a child; and bullying, teasing, insulting or belittling a child. The most frequent perpetrators of psychological abuse and neglect of children’s emotional needs for love and support are those who are closest…

POLICE in Gauteng have vowed to trace and bring to book gunmen who robbed congregants inside the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the Joburg CBD during a service on Saturday. Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Noxolo Kweza said a case of business robbery was opened. “Congregants in a church in the Johannesburg CBD were robbed of their belongings,” Kweza said. “A group of six armed suspects walked into the church at midday and demanded personal items from the church-goers. “They threatened the worshippers with firearms.” The attackers later walked out of the church. Kweza said no one was injured and none of the perpetrators have been arrested yet. Meanwhile, Gauteng acting provincial commissioner Major-General Tommy Mthombeni has condemned the attack on the church. Mthombeni pledged that police in Gauteng “will do everything…

THE Embrace Project is challenging what it calls "problematic" definitions of consent and rape in the Sexual Offences Act, as recently amended. The non-profit organisation(NPO) filed papers in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria against the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and the Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities as respondents. The second applicant in the application is a rape survivor, whose attacker was acquitted based on the amended Act. The organisation said in court papers that as the law stood, it was insufficient to prove that an accused person committed an act of sexual penetration without the complainant's consent. It must further be proved that, in the accused's subjective state of mind, he/she/they intended to rape the complainant regardless of the complainant…

TODAY the face of HIV in Africa is a young girl with a baby on her back, who, when faced with the difficult choice of self-care versus child-care, will always sacrifice her health for her child. This is according to Thanduxolo Doro from People Living with HIV Civil Society Leader and project management specialist for US Agency for International Development, who joined a group of experts who believe Africa could overcome HIV by 2030 if it focused on the most vulnerable groups. With South Africa also recording worrying new infections among young people aged 15-19, experts believe to achieve epidemic control, priority must be given to key populations, including men who avoid seeking medical help. The focus must be on identifying the remaining “last mile” barriers and vulnerable populations, including…

THE City of Ekurhuleni has strongly condemned vandalism at the Chris Hani Memorial Site at the Thomas Nkobi Cemetery in Boksburg. The City said vandalism to the “Four Pillars of the ANC Struggle” portion of the facility and the information centre and kiosk was discovered by municipal officials when they reported for duty yesterday morning. Metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, said the lighting system of the facility had been removed and one of the pillars was badly damaged. There was also a break-in at the information centre along the Walk of Remembrance linking the Wall of Remembrance to the Chris Hani Memorial. The facility was officially opened by former president Jacob Zuma in 2015. The City said what makes the the incident more puzzling is the timing of it, considering the…

Despite their silence and the lip-service of men in Africa, patriarchy reigns A DAY before the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, African education experts spoke about the critical challenge of keeping girls in the sciences and getting more women into academia. Over the next two weeks, one will be implored to empower and uplift girls and women to bring about a more equitable world. Yet in higher education, throughout Africa, men still call the shots. This global campaign kicks off on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until December 10, Human Rights Day. That this message comes ceaselessly, year in and year out, suggests that the campaign has failed. Men in power don’t seem to want…

Palestinian flags are flying everywhere in Qatar but Israeli fans are staying low-key as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict makes its presence felt at the first World Cup on Arab soil. Despite moves by some Arab countries, not including Qatar, to normalise relations with Israel, the Palestinian cause is being embraced by many Arab fans and some officials. Terse interactions between Arab supporters and Israeli media have gone viral, including footage of a Saudi fan berating an Israeli TV reporter – viewed more than 5.2 million times on Twitter. “There is only Palestine, there is no Israel … you are not welcome here,” the fan shouts at Moav Vardi, a reporter for Israel’s public broadcaster Kan. The Arab fans flooding Qatar have been refusing to speak with Israel media, while some yell…

Geneva: Monkeypox is to be renamed mpox in English, the World Health Organization said yesterday in a bid to avoid stigmatisation stemming from the existing name. Monkeypox received its name because the virus was originally identified in monkeys kept for research in Denmark in 1958, but the disease is found in a number of animals and mostly in rodents. The disease was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the spread among humans since then mainly limited to certain West and Central African countries where it is endemic. But in May, cases of the disease, which causes fever, muscular aches and skin lesions, began spreading around the world. | AFP…

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Taliban said yesterday they had called off a shaky ceasefire agreed with the government and ordered fighters to stage attacks across the country. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a separate entity to the Taliban in Afghanistan, have been behind violent attacks and hundreds of deaths across Pakistan since 2007. The TTP held sway over vast tracts of Pakistan’s tribal belt, imposing a radical version of Islamic law. Its fighters were driven out of Pakistan into Afghanistan from 2010 but have been emboldened by the Afghan Taliban’s return to power. The TTP agreed a ceasefire with the Pakistan government in June but both sides claim the truce was ignored. | AFP…

LOS ANGELES: Bob Dylan has offered his “deepest regrets” to fans over an “error in judgement” in using a machine to sign copies of his new book. The 81-year-old star was caught up in a furore after $600 (R10 277) limited edition copies of his tome The Philosophy of Modern Song were advertised as “hand-signed” but were later found to have been autographed using an “autopen” which replicated his scrawl. Publishing company Simon and Schuster have offered a refund. Dylan said: “In 2019 I had a bad case of vertigo and it continued into the pandemic years … we could not find a safe and workable way to complete what I needed to do while the virus was raging. So, during the pandemic, it was impossible to sign anything…

Mohammed Kudus netted twice as Ghana edged out South Korea 3-2 in a dramatic and fluctuating World Cup Group H game yesterday to stay in contention for the next round. Ghana led 2-0 at halftime but allowed South Korea back into the match as Cho Gue-sung netted twice in three minutes to level at 2-2, only for Kudus to earn Ghana victory in a heart-stopping contest at the Education City Stadium. Ghana, who lost their opening group game 3-2 to Portugal, moved on to three points in the group, with the Koreans on one after two games. Ghana saw off early Korean pressure to go 2-0 ahead as centre back Mohammed Salisu’s scrambled goal in the 24th minute was followed 10 minutes later by a glancing header from Kudus. Both…