Innholdsfortegnelse for 2023-03-06 i Pretoria News

CONFIDENCE in South Africa’s private sector regarding the year ahead has declined for the fifth month running to the weakest level since May 2022, in spite of activity rebounding. The S&P Global on Friday released the South Africa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The PMI returned to growth territory in February, printing at 50.5 points after falling to a 13-month low of 48.7 points in January, signalling a slight pick-up in the health of the private sector economy. The latest reading showed that the improvement came as output levels stabilised in February, thereby ending a prior five-month sequence of contraction. S&P said some panellists saw an increase in activity linked to new contracts and higher sales, but others saw a decline amid demand weakness and load shedding. Upturns in the…

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) technology is making headlines all over the world, in particular the powerful chatbot, ChatGPT. The strategic importance of AI technology has been growing exponentially across industries and businesses and created numerous new opportunities. In addition to enhancing decision-making, AI has also increased the efficiency of businesses. Many businesses are exploring and investing in AI solutions, because AI has the ability to automate tasks and processes and achieve cost efficiencies, productivity advantages, and product or service quality that would otherwise not be possible. Currently AI business tools are rolled out at a pace never experienced before. Some of these can without doubt add value to a business. Jasper the writing assistant Writing is an important part of any business such as the writing of documents, blog posts, reports,…

A girl from Pietermaritzburg is now a Hollywood star who is reserved front-row seats at the biggest fashion shows, and we love to see it. The story of Thuso Mbedu brings tears of joy to our eyes because of how she rose against all odds, from being orphaned and not having a home to stay in Los Angeles. The multi-award-winning actress made two Fashion Week debuts. At Milan Fashion Week, she attended the Prada show was seated with the likes of Dua Lipa. For us, Paris Fashion Week was our favourite moment. For the Dior show she was captured by South African photographer Austin Malema in a Dior denim outfit. Mbedu is working hard, securing partnerships with big brands like Porsche, attending star-studded events and getting massive features. In an…

TECHNOLOGY investment Group, AYO Technology Solutions (AYO), will meet the country’s largest asset manager, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), in court this week, defending why it should not pay back the money the PIC invested in it. The PIC, which manages funds on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), issued summons to the South African ICT giant in May 2019, demanding that the subscription agreement entered into by the PIC with AYO, be declared unlawful and set aside, and that, “AYO be ordered to pay the PIC R4 290 654 165, with the interest of 10.25% per annum accrued from December 22, 2017 to the date of final payment”. AYO is opposing the PIC’s suit, according to papers we have seen. Despite taking AYO to court, the PIC…

A worker at an engineering firm got more than he had bargained for when he reported his boss for “peeking over the wall” of a toilet stall while he was relieving himself. As a result, he got fired after reporting his boss and failing to take a poly- graph test. The boss took the test and “no deception was detected”. The worker, who had agreed to the test but never pitched up, was subsequently fired following a disciplinary hearing. This was after the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing, who also represented the engineering firm, concluded that the polygraph tests proved the innocence of the boss. The worker took to arbitration the decision to fire him, and it was found that his dismissal was unfair. The arbitrator awarded him compensation of…

COUNCILLORS aligned to multi-party coalition partners in the City of Tshwane will not attend today’s special meeting for electing a council speaker owing to the fact that it would be “unlawfully” convened. Their absence from today’s council sitting was made known in a letter penned by DA caucus leader Cilliers Brink to city manager Johann Mettler. In the letter, seen by the Pretoria News, Mettler is accused of issuing an instruction to host a council meeting and, therefore, flouting a council resolution dictating that an acting speaker must preside over council meetings in the speaker’ absence. The speaker’s position became vacant last Tuesday after Cope councillor Dr Murunwa Makwarela resigned with immediate effect after he was elected as the new mayor to succeed the DA’s Randall Williams. Makwarela, who was…

WHILE the Covid-19 pandemic shone the spotlight on medical and government experts, it is homeless man who rose to celebrity status after a live TV mishap led to him being labelled Alostro. At the height of the pandemic, while the virus was novel on South African soil and politicians and health experts united under one mission to house and protect homeless people in Tshwane, Mahau Louis, 33, butchered the English language in an irresistibly funny fashion. Journalists gathered around a group of homeless people from Tshwane to find out if they were happy with the shelters the government had arranged for them. While one man was speaking, Alostro tried to chime in, but to this day, nobody can make out what he was trying to say. The video has gone…

THE nation continues to wait for President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce changes to the national executive. Yesterday, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed that the reconfiguration of Cabinet would happen tonight. While the rest of the changes are left to the public and political analysts to guess, what is certain is that Paul Mashatile, as the ANC’s number two, will succeed David Mabuza as deputy president. Mabuza, meanwhile, will go down in history as the only deputy president to not ascend to the highest office in the land. Another change that is guaranteed is that Fikile Mbalula will be removed as transport minister, because his new role as ANC secretary-general is a full time one. It had been reported that Ramaphosa met ANC officials last Thursday to finalise the changes, but…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought yesterday to soften international outcry over a call by a far-right member of his cabinet for a flashpoint Palestinian village to be “erased”, saying those remarks were “inappropriate”. But Netanyahu also pushed back against censure of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing foreign powers of playing down Palestinian violence like the February 26 killing of two Israeli brothers in Huwara village that sparked a settler rampage there. Smotrich said last week while he opposed vigilantism, he believed “that Huwara needs to be erased” by Israel. The US State Department called the comments “irresponsible”, “repugnant” and “disgusting” and said Netanyahu should reject them. The UN human rights chief said Smotrich had made “an unfathomable statement of incitement to violence”. With Israeli media speculating that Smotrich,…

South Korea and Japan may be near resolving a dispute over colonial-era forced labour that has overshadowed political and trade relations between the two neighbours, with media reports saying Seoul could announce plans today. The South Korean government plans to announce its solution to the historical and legal dispute over compensating people forced to work under Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of Korea, Japan’s Kyodo news reported, citing unnamed diplomatic sources. The labour dispute and one over women forced into Japanese military brothels have bedevilled ties between the two pivotal US allies for years. South Korea’s foreign ministry, asked about the reported agreement, said negotiations were ongoing. “The government is continuing to consult in various ways between diplomatic authorities at all levels in order to come up with a reasonable solution that…

Ouagadougou: Burkina Faso has put the North and parts of the Centre East region under curfew to aid the fight against jihadists, according to official documents seen by AFP. The long-running insurgency in the impoverished Sahel nation has left thousands of civilians, police and soldiers dead and forced more than two million people to flee their homes. “In the framework of the fight against terrorism, a curfew is established from 10pm to 5am across all the regional territory from Friday March 3 to Friday March 31,” said a note from the secretary general of the governorate for the North, Kouilga Albert Zongo. The curfews ban the movement overnight of people and the use of two and four-wheeled vehicles | AFP…

Lahore: Police in Pakistan said officers yesterday attempted to arrest former prime minister Imran Khan, who is battling several legal cases as he pressures the government for early elections. Officers arrived at Khan’s home in Lahore, which was surrounded by hundreds of his supporters, but were unable to find him. “A team of Islamabad police has arrived in Lahore to arrest Imran Khan to comply with the court orders,” Islamabad police said in a tweet. “Imran Khan is reluctant to surrender – the Superintendent of Police had gone into the room but Imran Khan was not present there.” The arrest warrant was issued after Khan failed to appear in court. | AFP…

THE Brumbies made a huge statement for Australian rugby by outfighting New Zealand powerhouse the Blues 25-20 in a bruising battle yesterday, the highlight of the second round of the Super Rugby Pacific season. Brumbies hooker Lachlan Lonergan broke a 20-20 tie with a try off the Canberra-based side’s trademark rolling maul in the 35th minute and neither side was able to score a single point for the remainder of a match played in stifling heat. The Blues lost only one regular season match and beat the Brumbies by a single point in the semi-finals last year, but their high-octane offence was shackled for much of a breathless contest at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. “It was good footy,” said Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White, who came off the bench for the Brumbies.…

MTN RWANDA, the biggest telecoms operator in the East African nation, on Friday said investment in its network and platforms remained a key priority supporting its strategy to achieve 100% population coverage in 2023. In its results for the year to December 31, 2022, the group, which is also known as MTN Rwandacell, said it planned to ensure connectivity across Rwanda’s rural communities to further drive digital inclusion, as well as to grow its subscriber base. Service revenue grew 19.9% to 221.7 billion Rwandan Francs (Rwf) (R3.68bn) last year, but profit fell 12.8%. Mobile subscribers increased by 5.9% year-on-year to 6.8 million, while MoMo subscribers were up by 16.3% to 4.3 million, and the number of merchants rose by 192.6% to 141 222 at period end.…

I remember when I was still in the early stages of pregnancy, and when I told my doctor about the morning sickness, which started around six weeks, he said I shouldn’t worry because it would go away after 12 weeks. It didn’t. I had it up until the last day of my pregnancy. And after birth, people would tell me that I shouldn’t worry about the colic and stuff. It gets better when the baby grows, and I said: “No, it doesn’t. It won’t get better because each phase comes with its challenges, and I was right.” At six months, my baby is exploring, and I love the milestones, but it’s the teething that gets to me. Below are five signs that your baby is teething and how to help…

Carnage on Limpopo roads has seen 46 people dead, all in less than three weeks. On Friday morning 16 people were killed in an accident on the R579 in Motetema, near Groblersdal. The accident involved several learners. Community Safety and Transport spokesperson Tidimalo Chuene said a minibus taxi collided head-on with a truck and another minibus taxi after allegedly overtaking unsafely. “One of the minibus taxis involved was transporting learners to school. Drivers of the two taxis and six learners are among the 16 who have died. “Four passengers with serious injuries were transported to a nearby health facility for medical attention.” She added that law-enforcement officers at the scene cited reckless driving as a possible cause of the crash. Also on Friday, in a separate accident, the lives of…

A COUPLE from Pretoria will be spending the next 14 years behind bars after beating their 6-month-old daughter to a pulp. The Gauteng High Court handed down the sentence last week. The baby was left with broken ribs, a broken collar bone and broken legs. The sentencing comes after AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit assisted doctors in opening a criminal case after the first case was closed due to lack of evidence. The parents, who denied the vicious attack on their child, were convicted of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and child neglect. Charges against them were made on July 24, 2020. According to information before the court, the child was first admitted to a hospital in Pretoria in April 2020 with injuries consistent with child…

THE contractor of Solomon Mahlangu Drive has been warned by the Gauteng government due to construction delays. The R300 million construction should have been completed last year. Gauteng MEC for Transport and Logistics, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, said although construction was interrupted by poor contractor performance, encroachment on road reserve and community activity, the completion of the road was moved to this year. The project was launched in 2019, and scheduled to be completed last year. The plan was to expand the number of the lanes of the carriageway, but challenges were experienced. This included Covid-19 restrictions which forced contractors to down tools. The road stretches almost 12km in the north-easterly direction, linking Lynnwood Road to the K54 in Mamelodi. It is considered one of the most important roads in Mamelodi…

More often than not, the instigators of political violence are insulated from the turmoil of their actions while ordinary people suffer from their self-centred interests masquerading as public interests. The same is true and can be said about the Russian-Ukraine war. Last year, a country in Europe, not particularly popular and not yielding global traction, made it to our TV screens with breaking news of being attacked by Russia. The Russia-Ukraine war could have been avoided had Volodymyr Zelensky not been apolitical and notwithstanding that Putin/Russia’s lack of diplomacy (was) justified. Russia attacked Ukraine for its intention of joining Nato. Russia justified the attack arguing that the West had deceived it for having the intention of expanding its military alliance eastward after the Cold War concluded. Nonetheless, it is important…

Iran has given sweeping assurances to the UN nuclear watchdog that it will finally assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and even re-install removed monitoring equipment, the watchdog said. The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran issued a joint statement on IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s return from a trip to Tehran just two days before a quarterly meeting of the agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors. The possibility of a marked improvement in relations between the two is likely to stave off a Western push for another resolution ordering Iran to cooperate, diplomats said. Iran has, however, made similar promises before that have yielded little or nothing. “Iran expressed its readiness to ... provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues,” the statement…

Pamplona: Three people have been arrested over the murder of a Philippine provincial governor and eight others, authorities said yesterday. A fourth suspect died in a shoot-out. Another 17 people were wounded in the brazen attack in the Philippines. At least six gunmen armed with rifles and wearing military-style uniforms opened fire in the governor’s home in Pamplona municipality. Governor Roel Degamo, 56, became the latest victim of a recent string of assaults on Philippine politicians. Two of the three suspects arrested were former soldiers. Degamo, 56, was the third politician to be shot since last year’s general election. | afp…

Sydney: Tens of thousands of people marched over Sydney Harbour Bridge yesterday as part of the WorldPride festival advocating global LGBTQ equality. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined about 50 000 marchers for the event on the last day of the international festival, which Sydney hosted for the first time. Marchers in festive gear carried LGBTQ flags across the bridge, which was closed to traffic for several hours. The bumper crowd then moved to a city centre park where a concert brought down the curtain on the 17-day festival, which partnered with Sydney’s famed annual Mardi Gras parade this year. | AFP…

Paris: French trade unions are heading for what is expected to be a decisive showdown with President Emmanuel Macron over pension reform, with massive strikes from tomorrow aiming to bring the country “to a standstill”. After five separate days of protests so far this year, this week’s stoppages herald a new phase in the battle between the centrist government and opponents of the changes. These opponents include an overwhelmingly majority of French voters. “We always said that we would go into a higher gear if necessary,” the head of the influential hard-left CGT union, Philippe Martinez, told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper yesterday. | AFP…

Marizanne Kapp was pivotal in her Delhi Capitals side scoring 223 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their 60-run win yesterday. The opening pair of Shafali Verma and skipper Meg Lanning put on a partnership of 162 runs for the first wicket with Verma hitting 10 fours and four sixes on her way to 84 runs off 45 balls. Lanning also came to the party with a 43-ball 72, which included 14 fours. Heather Knight struck twice in the same over to dismiss both openers and in came South Africa’s Kapp and Jemimah Rodrigues for DC. Kapp quickly took on the role of aggressor while India’s Rodrigues seamlessly became the accumulator in the partnership. Kapp amassed three sixes and as many fours in her 17-ball stay at the wicket. The experienced…

The victorious Cape Town City FC coach Eric Tinkler said his team's intensity was the decisive factor as his side laboured to a 2-1 win over hosts Maritzburg United in their DStv Premiership match at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Saturday evening. "It was another resilient performance by the boys and it was not pretty," said Tinkler after the match. "The most important factor was our intensity. We needed to match them in terms of our intensity and in terms of our aggression. We knew we had to win our duels. "It (the performance) was not pretty, but it was a resilient display and we needed to put our foot on the ball a bit better. " Maritzburg coach Fadlu Davids felt his team dominated from start to finish but…

Richards Bay co-coach Pitso Dladla has rubbished suggestions of his side being satisfied with their debut season achievements after suffering their fifth defeat in a row. The Natal Rich Boyz were their own worst enemies as they went down to 10 men in the first half and never recovered, letting Kaizer Chiefs, 1-0 winners on Saturday, complete the double over them this season. Richards Bay announced their arrival into the top flight in emphatic fashion, surging up to the second place on the DStv Premiership log, a position they rotated with SuperSport United, Chiefs and Orlando Pirates throughout the first round. The KwaZulu-Natal-based side had amassed 30 points from 17 league matches this season, matching the record for the earliest a newly-promoted side has reached the 30-point mark in the…

MARKETS were stronger last week, with the JSE all share index ending 1.7% higher, while the rand gained more than 51 cents on Friday alone and was at R17.74c against the dollar in the evening, up 67c on the previous week. The gold price also surged by $53 an ounce over the last five days, to close in New York on $1 856.50 (R33 657) on Friday. It appears that markets had discounted the greylisting decision by the Financial Action Task Force the previous week and foreign portfolio investment capital seems to return to share and bond markets. South Africa now awaits the StatsSA’s announcement this week of the economic growth rate during the fourth quarter of 2022, as well as for the whole of that year.…

HUNDREDS of unclaimed and unidentified bodies in state mortuaries in Gauteng will be given pauper’s burials in 30 days if not collected. The Gauteng Department of Health’s Motalatale Modiba said relatives or friends of persons suspected to be dead were urged to look for them at Forensic Pathology Service facilities. Dr Mathabo Mathebula, the CEO of Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, said their mortuaries had 15 bodies which had been there for less than a month. Mathebula said four were women’s bodies and 11 the remains of males who died following admission to the hospital. She said all the males in their mortuaries were believed to be the bodies of foreign nationals. Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa has a total of 47 bodies – 18 children and…

A HUSBAND who started his married life by making sexual advances to one of the bridesmaids on their wedding day – his wife’s cousin – and continued on this path during their 12-year marriage got a rude awakening when the court ruled he forfeit half of their joint estate. “It strikes me to be exceedingly unfair that the defendant (husband), having shown no regard for his role as husband and father, and having made no contribution of any kind to the common home, neither financially nor emotionally, should benefit from the plaintiff’s (wife) work. Consequently, the claim for forfeiture should succeed,” Gauteng High Court Judge Jan Swanepoel ruled. The parties were married in April 2011 in terms of the accrual system by virtue of an ante-nuptial contract in which…

Shift to national interest-based foreign policy could undermine constitutional values The year 2023 is fast becoming a defining year for democratic South Africa’s foreign policy and the future direction of its international relations. In February, South Africa, in its capacity as chair of BRICS for 2023, hosted the first meeting of the group in Bela Bela, while on March 2 the country assumed its seat on the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva for the period 2023 to 2025. Whether by choice or forced geopolitical circumstances or driven by the ideological factionalism and contradictions within the governing ANC government’s stance, especially relating to the US, EU, Russia and China, it is too early to say whether this is merely the product of a confused and perceived aberrant foreign policy or…

China said yesterday that its military spending would rise at the fastest pace in four years, warning of “escalating” threats from abroad at a meeting of its parliament that will hand Xi Jinping a third term as president. The increase in the world’s second-largest defence budget came as Beijing announced an economic growth goal of around 5% for this year – one of its lowest in decades. The country’s planned budgets for the year put defence spending at 1.55 trillion yuan (R4 082 trillion), a 7.2% rise and the quickest rate of increase since 2019. It officially rose 7.1% last year. Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang told delegates to the National People’s Congress (NPC) that “external attempts to suppress and contain China are escalating”. “The armed forces should intensify…

The Greek prime minister yesterday asked for forgiveness from the families of the 57 dead in the nation’s worst rail disaster ahead of a major rally by students and rail workers in Athens. “As prime minister, I owe it to everyone, but especially to the victims’ relatives, (to ask for) forgiveness,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote in a message addressed to the nation. The crash between passenger and freight trains has sparked widespread outrage across Greece. “For the Greece of 2023, two trains heading in different directions cannot run on the same line and no one notice,” Mitsotakis said in the message posted on his Facebook page. Relatives and loved ones of those killed in Tuesday’s devastating crash were expected to gather yesterday for a memorial outside Larissa station, central Greece, near…

Kuwait’s crown prince re-appointed Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah as prime minister and asked him to nominate a cabinet, state news agency KUNA reported yesterday, more than a month after the government resigned due to renewed friction with Parliament. A long-running stand-off between the government and the elected Parliament has hampered efforts by the wealthy Gulf Arab oil producer to push through fiscal reforms, including a debt law allowing Kuwait to tap international markets. Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah moved last year to end feuding by naming Sheikh Ahmad as premier, dissolving Parliament and calling early polls, in which opposition members made gains. Tensions resurfaced when lawmakers pressed the government sworn in last October for a debt relief bill, under which the state would buy Kuwaiti citizens’ personal loans, and…

TUNIS: Hundreds of opposition supporters defied an official ban on their protest against Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday after some of their leaders were arrested, breaking through a police barrier in central Tunis to rally in the city’s main street. Earlier, police warned them that their demonstration was illegal but added that they would not stop them by force. Up to a thousand protesters then pushed through the cordon, chanting “Shut down the coup” and “We want the release of the arrested”. The National Salvation Front coalition combines Tunisia’s biggest party, the Islamist Ennahda, the Stop the Coup protest movement and some other political parties who demand that Saied step down. | Reuters…