Innholdsfortegnelse for 2023-02-27 i Pretoria News

“Jail TIME for me, nothing for you. I don’t have that kind of money anymore.” These were the words of a husband to his estranged wife shortly after the court in May last year ordered him to pay R75 000 interim maintenance to his wife and children, pending the outcome of the divorce. The husband was also ordered to contribute R150 000 towards his wife’s legal costs and foot the bill for his children’s expenses each month. The husband ignored the order and was twice held in contempt of court. He was first committed to 30 days in jail, suspended for two years, on condition he paid the maintenance. The husband pleaded with the court to vary the interim maintenance order and said he was no longer the…

RESIDENTS have called on the City of Tshwane to improve its reaction response time after a municipal official was hijacked and forced to reconnect electricity. Residents reacted to the City condemning their behaviour on Thursday, and continued to complain of prolonged power outages, some of which went on for days, unexplained either by the City or Eskom. On Thursday evening a City system operator from the Soshanguve depot was hijacked and held hostage. People drove around with him and tried to force him to power up their electricity. The City said: “The manager managed to escape and the City is grateful for a life spared. “The City strongly condemns this criminal behaviour in any part of the municipality. The perpetrators of this despicable behaviour should know that as a consequence…

UNIVERSITY of Pretoria students at the weekend delivered yet another successful Reach out And Give (Rag) initiative to raise funds to assist those in need of financial assistance. In what was the second Rag since the Covid-19 pandemic, students went all out to deliver various fun-filled activities to gain the financial muscle to reach out to those in need as they entered another academic year. Rag chairperson Kwanda Dweba said preparing an event for 2 000 people was not an easy task, but it was fulfilling as it enabled the development of students through their participation in community engagement activities. The Rag subcouncil – which comprises the residences, faculty houses and day houses – got together to create crafts out of recyclable material, to be sold at the crafts…

THE ANC’s attack on sacked Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter was rather surprising for a party that has defended him so fiercely even when his failures were there for all to see. It’s perhaps hypocritical that some senior ANC members went after him only after he spoke of alleged interference, suggesting malfeasance on the part of unnamed ANC ministers. What De Ruyter disclosed in an interview with news channel eNCA is hardly new; he merely confirmed what many knew was the case. Can the ANC genuinely think that its attacks on De Ruyter are legitimate when it turned a blind eye to his controversial comments that Eskom was “a dead horse”? The party needs to look no further to direct its anger. It was its current president, Cyril Ramaphosa,…

Jordan yesterday hosted a meeting between top Israeli and Palestinian officials aiming to halt surging violence, as Washington and its Arab allies seek to defuse tensions fuelling concern of a wider escalation. The discussions are part of stepped-up Jordanian diplomacy with Washington and Egypt to put the brakes on one of the worst surges in violence in years, with concern building of further escalation as the holy Muslim month of Ramadaan approaches. The meeting at the Red Sea port of Aqaba brought together top Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs for the first time in years, officials said, aiming to restore calm in Israel, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. US President Joe Biden’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk is attending, along with Jordanian and Egyptian officials. Underlining the…

Fans of Lewis Capaldi have spoken out in support of the Scottish singer, after he appeared to experience Tourette’s symptoms while in concert. Clips filmed at Capaldi’s performance in Frankfurt last week showed Capaldi turning away from the micro- phone as his head and shoulder twitched, while singing his 2019 hit Someone You Loved. The audience, continued with the song, and Capaldi resumed singing when the twitching stopped. Last year, Capaldi spoke out about his diagnosis with Tourette syndrome. A clip of his performance was viewed almost 32 million times on TikTok, with fans praising Capaldi. | The Washington Post…

HONG Kong police said yesterday they had charged three people in connection with the murder of 28-year-old model Abby Choi, whose legs were found in a refrigerator in a house on the city’s outskirts along with tools used for dismembering bodies. Police found some of Choi’s remains on Friday but have yet to locate her head and upper body. They also found a meat slicer and an electric saw at the scene in the financial hub’s rural Tai Po district, according to a police statement. The gruesome murder of local influencer Choi, who recently appeared on the digital cover of L’Officiel Monaco fashion magazine, has gripped local tabloids as authorities search for the remaining parts of her body. | Reuters…

Washington: A medical transport plane crashed in the western US state of Nevada, killing all five on board. The plane went off radar on Friday night outside the town of Stagecoach, near Nevada’s border with California, REMSA Health said. “We have received confirmation from Central Lyon County Fire Department that none of the people on board survived.” In addition to the pilot, the plane was carrying a nurse, a paramedic, a patient and a patient’s family member. The crash occurred as a major winter storm pummels the US west coast, delivering metres of snow. Almost 100 000 customers in California were without power on Saturday night. | AFP…

As the government relays its priorities for the financial year ahead in its national Budget speech, it is little different from our household budgets. Solutions manager Farzana Botha encourages South Africans to rethink their financial priorities. According to her, people have been feeling pressure on their wallets as their income hasn’t kept up with the increasing prices. In a recent survey by Sanlam, South Africans stated that paying off debt and making ends meet are their top two financial concerns. As a result of these short-term priorities, many struggle to save money for the future. “Not only do we need to save more to provide for our own future and our families, but with high debt levels and low savings levels, as a nation, we are consuming today what we…

THE trustees of a retirement fund are not bound by the wishes of the holder as to who should receive the money – even if the holder stipulated those wishes on the beneficiary nomination form prior to death. This was once again confirmed by the High Court in Durban when the customary law wife of a deceased complained that she and her husband’s common law wife each received 40% of the pension payout of the deceased. To make matters worse, two of the deceased’s adult children from another relationship were each also earmarked by the fund to receive money, while a minor child from yet another relationship was due to also receive a portion. The parties are not identified as a minor child is involved. The customary wife turned to…

METEOROLOGISTS predicted last week that residents of Pretoria and Gauteng generally did not have to worry about the harsh effects of Cyclone Freddy over the weekend, and neither did those in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Cyclone Freddy lost its intensity as it hit the country, despite last week’s warning by the the South African Weather Service for residents and emergency and disaster departments to be on high alert in the two provinces. The natural disaster tore through neighbouring countries, among them Mozambique, and was expected to indirectly affect Mopani and Vhembe districts, Limpopo, and Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga. The prediction at the time was that although the cyclone would not hit South African land directly, these parts of the country would indirectly experience heavy rainfall, strong winds, flooding, the collapse of…

Eersterust mother of two, Coleen Swartz, is pinning her hopes on making Pretoria proud by bringing home the Mrs South Africa title. Swartz, 40, crossed the first hurdle when she was selected as a semi-finalist earlier this month. The semi-finalists were chosen at a national casting event held at Emperors Palace, in Johannesburg. They then took part in a jam-packed two-day conference filled with motivational talks, workshops, upskilling sessions, socialising and networking opportunities, and an introduction to the famous Mrs SA sisterhood. “I’m completely shocked and honoured,” Swartz said, after she made the cut. “I entered after researching and realising the competition is dedicated to empowering women and promoting a positive image of women in society.” She grew up in Eersterust and, according to Swartz, the close-knit community there is…

Given the important role of the media, it has become increasingly risky for journalists and media owners in an environment that is fuelled by propaganda and a penchant to suppress alternative viewpoints. This worrying trend cannot be allowed to continue. It poses an existential threat to the already frayed fibres of our democratic order. It is no secret that the media industry in South Africa remains largely untransformed. Many media owners in South Africa enjoy wealth and influence that was built on sturdy support from the apartheid state. Today they enjoy the benefits of their role in one of the most diabolical crimes against humanity. Of more concern, however, is the fact that many of these media houses are now funded by capitalist interests with frighteningly close proximity to the…

Nigeria was counting ballots yesterday, a day after a historically tight presidential election that has energised Africa’s most populous nation, where many long for change. The vote was mostly peaceful despite some cases of violence, delays and technical glitches, and citizens stayed up late at night in many locations to observe the count and “protect” the ballots. The slow uploading of results online was starting to stir up fears of electoral malpractice in a country with a history of vote rigging. Nearly 90 million voters were eligible to vote on Saturday for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is stepping down after two terms marked by worsening security and growing poverty. The election pits former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu, 70, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) against an…

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he would visit China in April and urged Beijing to pressure Russia to end the Ukraine war. China has sought to position itself as a neutral party on the conflict, even as it has maintained close ties with Russia and helped scuttle a joint statement condemning the war at a G20 gathering in India. It published a 12-point position paper on Friday that called for urgent peace talks and a “political settlement” to end the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday also expressed hopes to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, calling it “important for world security”. Macron said on Saturday that he would visit China in “early April” and urged Beijing to help “put pressure” on Russia to end the war. “The…

Multiple US newspapers have said they will stop publishing the popular Dilbert comic strip. This comes after its creator posted a video calling Black people a “hate group”. Scott Adams, who rose to fame in the 1990s with his satirical take on white-collar office life, has increasingly stoked controversy with his views on social issues. But a video posted on Wednesday – in which Adams referred to black people as a “hate group” – proved to be the last straw for many Dilbert publishers. “That’s a hate group and I don’t want anything to do with them,” he said. “Based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people.” His rant was prompted by…

At least four Yemeni soldiers have been killed in clashes with Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the war-torn country’s north. “Four soldiers were killed on Saturday evening in the south of Harib district in Marib province in a “surprise attack”, a military official said. Several other soldiers were wounded in the fighting, which ended hours after the initial Houthi attack on government positions in Harib. Flare-ups between Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces are common in Marib – the government’s last northern stronghold. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 to back the government after the Houthis seized control of the capital Sana’a and large swathes of the country. | AFP…

IT was a super weekend for the two Cape Town-based DStv Premiership sides who won on the road. Cape Town City walked away with all three points at the Peter Mokaba Stadium following their 1-0 win over Sekhukhune United. Stellenbosch recorded three consecutive wins in the Premiership for the first time this season after beating Richards Bay 2-1 at Umlazi’s King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium. Sekhukhune looked full of enterprise at the start and City seemed content to sit back and absorb the pressure. City managed to reverse the flow of the game with occasional counter-attacks but did not threaten the opposition’s defence. As the game wound towards half-time, play was largely restricted to the central areas of the field. Sekhukhune striker Victor Letsoalo enjoyed the best first-half scoring chance…

THE HAWKISH stance of all the members of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) had a devastating effect on global stock markets and currencies last Thursday and Friday. “Almost all participants agreed that it was appropriate to raise the target range of the federal funds rate 25 basis points,” said the minutes of the Fed, which were released last Wednesday. The minutes also indicated that “participants generally noted that upside risks to the inflation outlook remained a key factor shaping the policy outlook, and that interest rates would need to move higher and stay elevated until inflation is clearly on a path to 2%”. The US annual inflation rate slowed only slightly to 6.4% in January from 6.5% in December, against market forecasts of 6.2%. The minutes effected equity markets negatively…

JANUARY 23, 2023 is a date permanently etched in the memory of Elie Challita. Challita, 34, was driving home to Mulbarton, Johannesburg, after he had been house hunting in Polokwane. He was praying his live-in girlfriend, Amber Hughes, 23, a preschool teacher at his daughter’s crèche, would not make good on her threat: “You broke my heart, I am going to burn yours”. Challita, who had been unemployed for a while, was recently offered a job in Polokwane and was planning to move there with his daughter, 4. But on that Monday, his life changed “I was freaked out while driving back to Johannesburg. I kept begging Amber not to hurt my baby. After a while she stopped replying to my messages. She just blue-ticked me (on WhatsApp). In her…

Godongwana’s playbook frugal in problem solving; laced with aspirations of delivery IT’S official! Budget 2023 presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana last Wednesday is “not an austerity budget”. South Africans can breathe a sigh of relief or agree to disagree with the minister. But it either reflects the disconnect between the Ramaphosa administration and vast swathes of the electorate, or it marks the transformation of the minister from a frustrated technocrat and pragmatist largely in tune with the prevailing market economic orthodoxy and fiscal discipline to a trapeze artist on the highwire in Circus ANC’s dysfunctional economic stewardship desperately feigning a balancing act trying to mitigate crises and promising hope. Millions of compatriots – whether individuals or businesses – know the reality of their daily lives exacerbated by…

Three hostages were freed in Papua New Guinea yesterday after a tense week of negotiations between police and armed kidnappers in the country’s rugged highlands. New Zealand archaeologist Professor Bryce Barker and his two Papua New Guinean colleagues were seen walking across the tarmac alongside police at Port Moresby’s airport after officials announced their safe release. Barker – a professor at Australia’s University of Southern Queensland – and the two women were taken hostage at gunpoint last Sunday in a remote and densely forested region. Earlier last week, the captors released another woman who was also part of the group of academics working in the area when they were kidnapped. Police had been negotiating with the hostage takers, who initially demanded a ransom of $1 million (about 18m). Australian Foreign…

More than 50 people have died and more than 80 have survived a migrant boat wreck in southern Italy, a spokesperson for the Italian firefighters’ service said yesterday. The tragedy took place near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria, the region that forms the tip of Italy’s boot. The death toll “has surpassed 50”, Danilo Maida, spokesperson for the firefighters’ service in Calabria said, adding that the count was provisional. Firefighters and other emergency services were looking for more survivors at sea, but conditions were harsh, making the search difficult, he added. Earlier, Italian news agency Ansa reported that 27 bodies were found on the beach, and that more bodies were spotted at sea. “It is a huge tragedy which shows the absolute need…

LONDON: Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab yesterday said he was hopeful for good news within days, not weeks, on a deal with the EU to resolve problems with post-Brexit trading rules that are applied to Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Sunday Times he was “giving it everything” to get a deal done. As part of Brexit, Britain reached an accord with Brussels known as the Northern Ireland Protocol to avoid imposing checks along the 500km land border with Ireland. But this created a border in the Irish Sea for some goods moving from Britain because it kept Northern Ireland in the EU, disrupting trade and exposing fault lines in Sunak’s Conservative Party. | Reuters…

PARIS: French defence and technology group Thales plans to hire 12 000 new staff this year as there is strong demand across its product range, CEO Patrice Caine told French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche. He said that over the past eight years Thales, which has total staff of 80 000 of which 40 000 in France, had recruited 5 000 to 8 000 people a year . Last year it had hired 11 500 new staff. Caine said that all the firm’s activities – defence and security, aeronautics and space, identity and digital security, were growing strongly. Caine said France would deliver its Ground Master 200 radar air defence system to Ukraine in May. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, shares of…

TOTTENHAM Hotspur heaped more pressure on under-fire Chelsea manager Graham Potter as goals from Oliver Skipp and Harry Kane earned Spurs a 2-0 win yesterday. Victory consolidates Tottenham’s place in the Premier League top four as they opened up a four-point lead over fifth-placed Newcastle United, although the Magpies have two games in hand. Chelsea remain 10th with their chances of Champions League football next season now seemingly dependent on an unlikely run to win the European Cup for a third time. Despite splashing over £500million on new players this season, Potter’s team have now won just twice in 15 games in all competitions. The former Brighton & Hove Albion boss spoke last week of the mental toll that run has taken as he has had to deal with abuse…