Innholdsfortegnelse for 2023-03-10 i Pretoria News

A PUBLIC Investment Corporation (PIC) senior investment committee in May 2018 approved a R4.3 billion share for cash transaction with AYO Technology Solutions (AYO) in a report that was signed by the PIC chairperson, five of its senior directors and most of its executive team, the Western Cape High Court heard yesterday. AYO legal representative Nazeer Cassim, (SC), yesterday, during his continued cross-examination of PIC witness Victor Seanie, a dismissed assistant portfolio manager of the PIC, read out documents showing that PIC policies allowed for transactions of less than R10bn to be ratified by the PIC, and then subjected to normal PIC transaction approval processes at a later stage. This contradicted Seanie’s former claims, which he reiterated yesterday, that he believed the transaction was corrupt as it had bypassed…

NORTHAM Platinum said yesterday that it would proceed with its bid to take over Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) as it forecast strong interims ahead. In a trading update for the six months ended December 31, 2022, the miner said it expects its headline earnings per share to increase between 62.3% and 72.3% per share. The group also flagged that it was likely to see a 54.5% increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebidta) to R10 billion. Northam said the period under review saw continued production growth as the group strategy unfolded. “Challenges remain, particularly in respect of mining inflation, and the potential for further and more severe Eskom load curtailment events, however, our capital growth programs remain on track and demonstrate the power of our counter-cyclical…

We’re all trying to find ways to cut costs these days, especially when it comes to beauty products because we know they cost a small fortune. While you might think you need the most expensive products out there in order to get the best results, it’s not necessarily the case. And you certainly don’t need all the products you see influencers pushing on social media. While there are some beauty products worth splurging on, there are some items you can go for the cheaper option. Here’s a list of products. Save on cleansers and make-up remover The basic function of these products is to remove dirt, make-up and impurities from your skin. When shopping for a cleanser, look for one that removes everything but will not leave your skin feeling…

Movie star Sharon Stone has admitted her custody battle was harmed by Basic Instinct. The 64-year-old actress has reflected on her role in the racy 1992 movie was part of the reason she lost custody of her son Roan, now 22, whom she adopted with her ex, Phil Bronstein. Appearing on iHeart’s Table for Two With Bruce Bozzi podcast, she said: “I lost custody of my child. When the judge asked my child – my tiny little, tiny boy, ‘Do you know your mother makes sex movies?’” She alleged it was a “kind of abuse by the system”, noting that her role in the film made them question what she was like as a parent. “I was considered what kind of parent I was, because I made that movie. “People…

A YOUNG man left in legal limbo because his parents never registered his birth is elated after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, ordered Home Affairs to register him as a South African citizen. Now Tebogo Khoza can register his child under his name and fulfil his wish of marrying the mother. He can also get a job, open a bank account and live the life of an ordinary citizen. All these things were denied to him, simply because the department refused to accept that he was South African. For a decade the department threw every argument in the book at him to deny him citizenship. It was only with the help of Lawyers for Human Rights that Khoza was able to go to court in a bid to no longer…

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL Jabulani Sydney Mbuli yesterday bade farewell and handed over command of the SANDF’s Logistics Division to Lieutenant-General Xolani Brian Ndlovu. Mbuli served as the chief of the Logistics Division from July 2017 until January this year. Yesterday, the SANDF hosted a parade to mark the handover and to bid him farewell. Born in Springs, Gauteng, on November 10, 1963, Mbuli joined Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1981 and began his military career as a section commander in Angola. He rose through the ranks in the military over the years. After his return to South Africa in 1995, he was integrated into the SANDF, and later appointed chief of logistics. At the event, held at the Logistics Support Formation sportsground in Lyttelton, men and women of the army divisions paraded and…

During working hours they wear high heels, lipstick and linen suits, but during their leisure time they don hiking boots, wetsuits, safety harnesses. They don’t care if their hair gets wet, their mascara is smudged or their acrylic nails take a beating. During the week they rule the boardroom; on weekends they tame the wilderness. From zip-lining, skydiving, rock climbing, white-water rafting and abseiling to bungee jumping – for these women, it’s a case of “have the gear, take the plunge”. These are the new breed of Power- puff Girls – black executive women of all ages who choose to leave the city whenever they can; single moms who take their kids on adventures, or women in relationships who join up with friends or colleagues and leave their partners to…

Renowned media personality and businesswoman Bonang Matheba has attained recognition as one of Africa’s 100 most impactful women entrepreneurs with visions for re-imagining Africa’s future. This major recognition came as the world marked International Women’s Day under the theme, DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality. Matheba, who launched her popular alcoholic beverage, The House of BNG, has been on an upward trajectory with many accolades. Her celebratory drink has been used at most premium lifestyle and entertainment events in the country and is reported as one of South Africa’s top-selling MCCs. She recently shared that she sold 500 000 cans and further expressed gratitude to her supporters. “We sold 500 000 cans in January alone. Ya’ll love some @houseofbng, huh?!! Insane. I’m so happy. Thank you, thank you,” she…

PARIS Saint-Germain were convinced that persuading Kylian Mbappe to stay would finally deliver them Champions League glory, but the failure to build a strong enough team around the France superstar has contributed to another early European exit. Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich in Germany saw the Qatar-owned club lose their last-16 tie 3-0 on aggregate and go out in the first knockout round for the fifth time in seven years. PSG’s run to the 2020 final now looks even more like an anomaly, coming in a pandemic-hit season when the Champions League was reduced to a mini-tournament behind closed doors. There were celebrations last May when Mbappe agreed a new three-year contract to stay with Lionel Messi and Neymar in the French capital rather than join Real Madrid. The…

SOUTH Africa’s economic indicators are currently all pointing towards an impending recessionary period following the latest credit ratings downgrade, and shrinking gross domestic product (GDP), while the country has recently been greylisted. The SA Reserve Bank (SARB) said yesterday that the country’s terms of trade (including gold) deteriorated further in the fourth quarter of 2022 as the rand price of imported goods and services increased while that of exports decreased. The SARB said the country’s current account balance switched to a deficit of R174 billion, or 2.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the final quarter of 2022 from a revised surplus of R3.1bn in the third quarter. This was the largest current account gap since the third quarter of 2019, as the goods surplus narrowed further to R12.2bn…

PAN-AFRICAN financial services group Sanlam stood firm as it navigated a tough 2022 of “extreme turbulence” amid high insurance claims and investment volatility. Challenges it faced last year included significant volatility in global equity, credit and interest rate markets as well as flooding in KwaZulu-Natal. In its results for the year ended December 2022, life insurance new business volumes slid 10% to R64.8 billion, while the value of new covered business fell 14% to R2.4bn. This as the group increased its divi- dend by 8% to 360 cents per share, while its headline earnings increased by 2.8% to R 9.3bn. Its general insurance net result from financial services declined by 32%, impacted by several factors including significant claims inflation, adverse weather conditions as well as investment market volatility.…

CONSTRUCTION can finally begin on the Msenge Wind Farm, located near Bedford in the Eastern Cape, which signed a deal with Sasol in January to supply 69MW of renewable energy to the company’s Sasolburg site. It is the first utility-scale private wind farm in South Africa with its power wheeled or transmitted across the national electricity grid. In a statement yesterday, African Clean Energy Developments (Aced) said that the Aced-Ideas-Reatile Consortium has reached financial close with its lender Rand Merchant Bank on the 69MW wind farm and begun construction. “The project will supply renewable energy to power Sasol’s Sasolburg site, which will be used for green hydrogen production. This comes at a time when South Africa is experiencing the worst load shedding in its history due to a generation gap…

Most of us know the main pillars of good health, such as eating a balanced diet, getting enough exercise, staying hydrated, and managing stress. However, each person’s body is different, so understanding someone’s unique strengths and weaknessesis key to successful treatment outcomes. While most health systems are designed to be reactive – that is, they respond only after disease has been detected – precision medicine is a medical revolution that is making health care proactive instead. Fedhealth, in partnership with local medical biotech company Intelligene, is one of the first open medical aid schemes in South Africa to offer precision-medicine-based genetic testing. Many studies looking into the use of genetic and genomic testing have concentrated on people who have a particular disease such as cancer or undiagnosed or rare…

Cope’s sole councillor Dr Murunwa Makwarela was yesterday reinstated with immediate effect A DAY, not a week, is a long time in Tshwane politics – and in just a day, the capital city has a mayor yet again. Cope’s sole councillor in council Dr Murunwa Makwarela was yesterday reinstated as mayor with immediate effect. On Tuesday, Makwarela was disqualified by city manager Johann Mettler as a councillor after it surfaced that in 2016 the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, declared him insolvent. Then on Wednesday, he indicated he would be taking legal action in a bid to return to the highest office in the metro. His return to office comes after he submitted a certificate of solvency rehabilitation to Mettler in keeping with a promise he had made this week.…

Park Village Auctions will be auctioning a spacious family home in Waterkloof Ridge, Pretoria, on Tuesday at 11am. The insolvent estate will be auctioned on-site at 171 Raymond Avenue. The property comprises a spacious master bedroom with en-suite bathroom; three bedrooms; two en-suite bathrooms; a guest toilet; a large balcony; a lounge; a dining room; a closed patio with a built-in braai; a kitchen with a scullery; an outside storage area; a double garage; a swimming pool; a tennis court; and a study/office with a small filing room. The property is vacant. For more information, contact Debbie at 011 789 4375 or email auctions@parkvillage.co.za. |…

ONE of the murder accused in the deadly Rosettenville shooting was reprimanded during court proceedings after he asked people in attendance at the Johannesburg High Court to sing Happy Birthday to him. Andrew Thobolo, this week, celebrated his 68th birthday. During proceedings, Thobolo, the oldest of the 10 accused, stood up to tell the judge that while he understood that he could not have cake, he wanted to know if the court could sing for him. According to EWN, Judge William Karam wished him happy birthday, but turned down his song request. The accused appeared in court to establish where Legal Aid could represent four of the accused, Thobolo, Khulekani Nkosi, Phendulani Mvubu and Mike Ngwadi following their application. They are charged with murder, possession of unlicensed firearms and conspiracy…

GLOBAL soccer players’ union Fifpro said the World Cup should never again be squeezed into a November to December window, and that Raphael Varane’s international retirement should ring alarm bells about the sport’s smothering schedule. Fifpro released their World Cup 2022 Post-Tournament Review and Player Survey yesterday, and said the results confirmed their fears around players’ mental and physical fatigue and injury risk. Varane helped France reach the World Cup Final, but then announced on February 3 he was ending his international career over a “suffocating” schedule. “(Varane’s) decision should really, really make competition organisers nervous, because it’s ultimately those players who are on the field creating the game – they’re creating the product that is being sold by everybody… and they’re the players the fans come to see,” Fifpro…

AL Ahly’s winless record against Mamelodi Sundowns away from home doesn’t faze Rhulani Mokwena who’s impressed by the Egyptians’the experience in CAF Champions League. After returning to the core of continental football almost a decade ago, Sundowns have formed a fierce rivalry with Al Ahly in recent years. But in nine meetings since 2019, Al Ahly have never beaten Sundowns away, while the latter ran riot 5-0 in the Egyptians’ first visit to South Africa in 2019. The two teams have blown hot and cold in the competition in recent years, especially after Pitso Mosimane swopped allegiance between them. Mosimane won the African crown with Sundowns in 2016 before moving up north to guide the Egyptian giants to back-to-back championships in 2020 and 2021. But a lot has changed…

SIM TSHABALALA, the CEO of Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets, delivering bumper annual results, said yesterday that the South African economy looked run down, with pessimism about a quicker turnaround become more entrenched amid unprecedented electricity supply and other structural constraints further straining the continent’s most sophisticated country. Standard Bank is anticipating interest rates in South Africa to increase by an additional 25 basis points in the first half of the current year, although the lender believes a pause in rate hikes is possible beyond that. It also anticipates inflation to moderate to 5.9% in the year ahead, while economic growth will likely come in at 1.2%, held back by “severe electricity shortages and structural constraints” to the economy. “The level of electricity disruptions experienced this year…

THE SOUTH African Poultry Association (Sapa) has extolled growth in the local industry despite challenges, including load shedding, which has necessitated investments that adds amounts ranging from 75 cents to R2 to the cost of production as well as higher grain and other input costs. Sapa CEO Izaak Breitenbach has said the industry had been able to hold its own despite extensive culls in Janu- ary and February as a result of power cuts. This put pressure on farmers to not pile the increases on the consumer. Daily power cuts disrupt 24-hour production schedules and necessitate expensive investment in diesel generators. Sapa estimates that load shedding adds 75c/kg to the cost of producing a chicken. In addition, production was reduced in January and February by 13 million…

BOOZE behemoth Heineken can raise a glass, and say “Cheers” after it passed the final hurdle and got the green light from the South African Competition Tribunal to acquire control of Distell in a €2.4 billion (R47.4bn) deal. JSE-listed Distell’s shares rose 1.69% to close at R180 on the JSE yesterday. Heineken said in a statement on yesterday: “The decision marks the final regulatory approval, following those received from the Namibia Competition Commission, the Common Market of Eastern & Southern Africa and all other relevant jurisdictions. It paves the way for the creation of a regional African beverage champion”. In November 2021, Heineken announced its intention to acquire control of Distell and Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL), which were to be combined with Heineken South Africa (HSA) into a new…

These days, more and more people are seeking the health benefits of a diet rich in plant-based foods. With March being a “meat-free” month, we look at ways in which you can ease into meatless eating and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Find foods you enjoy A good first step is to review your current diet. Make a list of foods you regularly eat, paying special attention to vegetarian or plant-based foods that you like. Next, aim to incorporate these foods – along with a variety of wholegrains, fruits, vegetables and beans – into your eating plan. A way to include vegetables, for example, is to add them to the foods you already enjoy, such as pasta or rice dishes. If you’re going vegan and eliminating all animal-based food products, look…

Instead of celebrating baby Kutlwano Kganyago’s 9-month birthday today, his family is hoping for a miracle. Everyday the residents from Ga-Rankuwa extension 25 live in fear that the latest addition to their family may not live to see another day, as the baby has been diagnosed with biliary atresia and liver cirrhosis. Biliary atresia is a condition in infants in which the bile ducts outside and inside the liver are scarred and blocked. As a result, bile cannot flow into the intestine, and ends up building up in the liver and damaging it. This eventually leads to liver failure. Yesterday, baby Kutlwano, who had an engorged abdomen, was visibly uncomfortable and lethargic. His mother Ofentse Kganyago said that just like her previous pregnancies, with her 9- and 4-year-old boys, she…

TWO learners were killed this morning in a horrific crash involving three vehicles on the N4 toll road between Vosman and Emalahleni in Mpumalanga. Moeti Mmusi, spokesperson for the provincial Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison, said that several learners sustained injuries ranging from mild to moderate. “This happened when two minibus taxis and an articulated truck collided.It is alleged that one of the minibuses may have stopped or slowed down on the road while the truck was already too close. “The truck subsequently hit the taxi in the rear, and the taxi then went on to collide with the rear of the minibus that was in front,” said Mmusi. All three vehicles involved in the crash were travelling in the same direction. The injured passengers have been transported…

TALKS between the Student Representative Council (SRC) and the management of the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) are reportedly making progress. By yesterday afternoon, student leaders said they were in talks with management in a bid to resolve the issues raised with them since Tuesday. The academic programme remains suspended pending the outcome of the talks. By yesterday afternoon SRC member Musa Maringa said the talks were moving in a positive direction. The university’s Phaphama Tshisi- khawe said: “We are having a meeting with the SRC as we speak.” Tshisikhawe said the university would provide an update when the meeting concluded, and hopefully provide details on plans to resume the academic programme. Student protests at TUT and Wits University in Joburg have been thrust into the spotlight in recent days,…

IT’S not often that a head coach of a senior professional rugby team is younger than some of the players, but that will be the case for Edgar Marutlulle at the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. Having been the scrum coach last season, Marutlulle has been promoted to take charge in the new campaign, which kicks off on Sunday with a tough encounter against defending champions the Pumas at Loftus. A former SA Schools hooker, Marutlulle – who attended Potchefstroom High School for Boys – represented several provincial and franchise teams, including the Lions, Leopards, Southern Kings, Eastern Province and the Bulls and Blue Bulls. In fact, he has not actually retired as a player. He arrived at Loftus in 2016, and was selected for South Africa A against…

Second Test, Day 2, Stumps SA: 320 & 4/0 West Indies: 251 (Holder 81*, Coetzee 3/41, Harmer 2/63, Rabada 2/19) South Africa lead by 73 runs MUCH of the talk before the final Test of the summer at the Wanderers concerned whether it would survive long enough to see the weekend. It all seemed to be going to script after the first day-and-a-half’s proceedings, with the West Indies requiring just 18 minutes to end South Africa’s first innings at 320 before the tourists were reduced to 193/9 in response on the second day. But now barring any major batting catastrophes today, the Johannesburg locals could still come streaming in tomorrow - customarily the best supported day up on the Highveld - to consume some Test match cricket. That has as…