Innholdsfortegnelse for 2023-03-14 i Pretoria News

SENTIMENT in the building construction sector is expected to stay depressed for a prolonged period of time as it remained firmly in the contractionary territory in the first quarter of 2023. The FNB/BER Building Confidence Index released yesterday remained stagnant at 33 points in the first quarter of this year due to the negative prevailing economic climate. According to the FNB, this means that almost 70% of respondents were dissatisfied with prevailing business conditions. However, FNB said the downbeat building sentiment belied a noticeable improvement in activity this quarter. Regarding the sub-sectors, quantity surveyors declined by 2 points, main contractors by 3 points, hardware re- tailers by 4 points, architects by 8 points, and building material manufacturers 14 points, while sub-contractors increased by 27…

As babies, we know when we want to eat and when it's time to stop. But as we grow older, we often forget what it means to rely on our bodies. We are bombarded with advice on how and what to eat, struggle with our body image, try different diets, and often end up categorising foods into “good” and “bad”. By listening to our bodies, eating intuitively rather than emotionally, and practising common sense, we can relearn how to find balance in what and how we eat, says Kim Hofmann, a registered dietician with an Honours in Psychology and Virgin Active’s expert adviser on all things nutrition. “Our eating behaviours have been greatly impacted by diet culture and our busy lifestyles and have further deteriorated during the global pandemic. The…

‘Hard objects thrown from overhead bridges resulting in motorists losing control of their vehicles, being involved in unnecessary accidents and robbed of their belongings’ THE highway spikes gang is back in full force on Gauteng highways. In recent weeks, there have been numerous incidents reported of motorists complaining about spikes or other objects being placed on public roads by criminals to force motorists to stop to attend to their vehicles. They are subsequently robbed. On Sunday, anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee posted on Twitter about a car with damaged tyres captioned: “This happened on the N4 near Solomon Mahlangu Drive. The motorist immediately moved on to the middle lane and continued driving slowly after the tyres were damaged by spikes.” Mosa Hlatswayo wrote on Twitter: “I’ve experienced the same thing as…

HOME Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has welcomed the arrest of an immigration official, and his alleged accomplice, a police officer, at OR Tambo International Airport. Motsoaledi’s spokesperson Siya Qoza said the duo were arrested last week after the immigration official had been under observation over his “suspicious behaviour and lifestyle”. “On Wednesday he was caught red-handed, stamping nine passports of nationals from different countries as if those people had departed the country in February 2023 and returned on Wednesday. A runner brought the passports to the airport and handed them to a uniformed policeman, who went through security.” The police officer then linked up with the immigration official, who stamped the passports. An under- cover police officer arrested them. “It is believed the immigration officer charged R2 000 for…

LIMPOPO serial killer Prince Willard Themba Dube has been found guilty of seven counts of murder, kidnapping and robbery. Dube, a Zimbabwean national, was facing charges in the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane for the murder of seven women who were kidnapped, raped and extorted. He was also found to have contravened the Immigration Act because he was in the country illegally. The bodies of the victims were randomly found scattered around Polokwane between August and October 2021. It was found the 36-year-old lured these women to various locations by promising them employment. He would assault, rape and kill them and afterwards contact their families to ask for ransom. Dube will soon hear his fate when his sentence is handed down in the same court. The indictment seen by the…

FORMER Bosasa executive Angelo Agrizzi may not be in the good books of the National Prosecuting Authority, but he has a true fan and a shadow at home: his medical dog called Skye. Agrizzi, who is on bail and said to be severely ill, is spending his days at home alongside his trusted aid. Although the 3-year-old appeared to be a Great Dane, Agrizzi said she was merely a Dane, as she turned out to be a bit smaller. But nevertheless, she has a huge heart. “Skye is super special. She is my confidant and friend,” Agrizzi told the Pretoria News. “Skye arrived as a puppy, boisterous and with a character of note. But from the onset she displayed the unique ability to absorb whatever training you’d give her. Skye…

Government silence is met with public silence and a growing sense of resignation Amid the various threats faced by our beleaguered country, there is one many people seem oblivious to but which has the potential to speedily and decisively send us over the precipice: civil society’s attitude of accepting rampant corruption, crime, and economic degradation as if it is something inevitable and unavoidable. The culture needs to be urgently exposed and addressed. And higher education institutions have a definite role to play in preventing its destructive potential. References to a “culture of acceptance” most often conjure up a positive connotation, especially in our South African context with its unfortunate history of “non-acceptance”, prejudice, and discrimination. The term usually refers to an attitude of embracing a diversity of views, backgrounds, and…

Cyclone Freddy, packing powerful winds and torrential rain, killed at least 70 people in Malawi and Mozambique on its return to southern Africa’s mainland, authorities said yesterday. More than 60 bodies were found during the day in southern Malawi where heavy downpours triggered flooding, according to the Red Cross. “Sixty-six people have died in Malawi, 93 injured and 16 people are missing due to Tropical Cyclone Freddy,” tweeted the humanitarian organisation, which is helping with search and rescue operations. Four more died in neighbouring Mozambique, local authorities said. An assessment of the damage was still underway, with the Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD) saying the fallout from the storm’s second landfall in the country was worse than expected. “The number of affected people was above the forecast,” INGD…

Fierce fighting is raging for control of the centre of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the longest-running and bloodiest battle of Moscow’s invasion, Russian and Ukrainian forces said yesterday. Ukraine said Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, which has claimed to be leading Moscow’s charge for the industrial city, was pushing forward in the city that has been the epicentre of fighting for months. Analysts are divided over the strategic significance of Bakhmut as a military prize but the city has gained important political stature, with both sides pouring significant resources into the fight. Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin also acknowledged that his forces were coming up against determined resistance as they sought to wrest control of the city’s centre. Ukraine has said its strategy with the defence of Bakhmut is to degrade…

LONDON: Britain’s BBC reinstated its highest-paid presenter Gary Lineker yesterday after a move to take the sports host off air over his criticism of the government sparked a near mutiny at the public broadcaster. The corporation was forced to axe much of its sports coverage over the weekend after presenters, pundits and commentators refused to work in a show of solidarity with Lineker, who had criticised the government’s immigration policy. The decision to suspend Lineker led to accusations from staff, opposition politicians and commentators that the politically neutral BBC had bowed to pressure from the government. It also renewed the focus on the chairperson of the corporation, Richard Sharp, who failed to previously declare that he had facilitated a loan for former prime minister Boris Johnson before he was appointed…

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has executed a Jordanian man who activists say was tortured before he signed a document confessing to smuggling narcotics, in what his sister had called an “unfair trial”. Hussein Abo al-Kheir, a driver in his late 50s, was put to death in the northwest province of Tabuk. Saudi Arabia has carried out 11 executions in the past two weeks. Rights group Amnesty International identified Abo al-Kheir as a father of eight and said his family had not been notified before the execution. He was arrested in 2014 while crossing into Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a driver. Rights group Reprieve said he did not have access to a lawyer. | AFP…

Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks should do everything in their power to convince Welsh refereeing legend Nigel Owens to join their camp in preparation for the Rugby World Cup in France later this year. Erasmus last week revealed that he’s been in contact with Owens about joining the Bok camp with the process still ongoing. The Springboks, though, look set to get the green light for this appointment as Erasmus places a high value on getting the best help for the national team ahead of defending their world title. Owens appeared in four World Cup tournaments as a referee from 2007 to 2019 and officiated in the final in the 2015 edition. Few teams in world rugby can say that they’ve had problems with him over the years and that’s…

They received a punch to the nose against the Pumas and things can hopefully only get better from here on for the Blue Bulls. That was the reaction of the Pretoria side's Currie Cup coach Edgar Marutlulle after his team was comprehensively beaten by the defending champions as they sealed a 63-15 win in their opener at Loftus on Sunday. According to Marutlulle, his team lost the contest at the breakdown and the Pumas wanted the win more. The visitors ran in nine tries in the crushing win with the backs turning on the magic, while the big units of the Pumas dominated up front over a hapless Bulls team. Former Bulls flyhalf and now Pumas general Tinus de Beer was the architect for his team, marshalling his backline that…

The Currie Cup started with a bang this past weekend, which saw three teams score convincing wins away against tough opposition and only one home side claiming a victory. The competition is set to go up a notch this weekend, starting with two action-packed clashes in Mbombela and Pretoria, respectively. Reigning champions the Pumas are set to welcome the Lions for a catfight at Mbombela Stadium. After thrashing the Bulls away from home, winning 63-15, Jimmy Stonehouse’s team, will be looking to kick on from that performance. Being in front of their home crowd for the first time will only motivate the team more. And playing their natural brand of rugby - with big forwards and a backline full of running - it will be a tough ask for the…

The 2024 Tour de France will finish with a taxing time-trial from Monaco to Nice, a far cry from the traditional champagne procession and sprint up the Champs-Elysees, organisers revealed yesterday. Due to the Paris Olympics, next year's edition ends on the Cote d'Azur, the first time since 1905 that it will not reach its conclusion on the streets of the capital. ASO, who run the event, had already unveiled the new look to the cycling spectacular in December. Yesterday they released the route for the closing 35.2km race against the clock which promises to serve up a rattling climax to the Tour that starts for the first time in Italy. It features an 8.1km climb at a gradient of 5.6% to La Turbie, followed by the short but sharp…

A DECEASED estate which Eskom owed about R116 000 in overpaid electricity accounts has applied for the winding- up of the power utility for failing to cough up. The executor of the estate of Christopher Kingsley turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, after Eskom simply did not pay the money back. It asked for the winding up of Eskom in terms of the Companies Act. Acting Judge Stefan Maritz was told that Eskom, in spite of numerous demands for payment, failed to do so. According to the executor, Eskom is thus “deemed unable to pay its debts”. The court was told that Kingsley held two electricity accounts with Eskom. On the one he had a credit balance of slightly more than R10 400 and on the other a…

GREED for money has ended in a life sentence for Phumaphi “Gwebu” Dimba for the murder of her husband, Sipho Shadrack Dimba. The Mpumalanga High Court convicted Dimba, 47. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Mpumalanga spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said Gwebu and Sipho Dimba, 52, were married and were living together at Msogwaba Trust with their children. The accused pleaded guilty, Nyuswa said. In her plea explanation, the wife said she took out five insurance policies for the deceased, one of which was to pay R530 000 upon the death of her husband. Nyuswa said Gwebu waited until the policies matured before making arrangements with hit men a few weeks before they killed the victim. On December 12, 2019, the hit men came to the house during the night, as arranged, and…

The DA has proposed that the Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, must engage with the Gauteng MEC for Community Safety and Security, Faith Mazibuko, to ensure that school safety is prioritised and violent incidents are investigated to ensure justice for the victims and their families. The province’s schools have been under siege for the last five years, with the safety of learners and teachers continuing to be threatened almost daily, and eight learners and a principal have been killed on school premises reported in Gauteng. There have been 40 stabbings, 10 shootings, and 16 violent crimes on school premises. Khume Ramulifho, the DA’s Gauteng spokesperson on education, said that these incidents were shocking and a clear indication that the lives of innocent people were in danger. And yet…

The dawn of democracy raised hope for many previously disadvantaged South Africans. However, the status quo we see today is contrary to what was anticipated. People believed doors of opportunity were going to open to alleviate the burden for many households that lived below the poverty line. What we see today is huge youth unemployment, and this has become our biggest threat and challenge. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (by Statistics South Africa) for the first quarter of 2022, the graduate unemployment rate was relatively low in South Africa compared with those of other educational levels, while youth unemployment continues to be a burden, irrespective of educational attainment, and is seemingly a dangerous threat to democracy. Covid-19 made matters worse, weighing down the levels of employment opportunities even…

Pope Francis marked 10 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church yesterday, celebrating mass with cardinals in the chapel of the Vatican’s Santa Marta Hotel where he has lived since his election. The Argentina-born Francis, 86, became the first Latin American pontiff on March 13, 2013, succeeding Benedict XVI who had become the first pope in six centuries to resign. “It seems like yesterday,” he said in a podcast by Vatican News broadcast yesterday. “Time flies. When you gather up today, it is already tomorrow.” When it was recorded at his residence on Sunday, he asked, “What’s a podcast?” according to Vatican News reporter Salvatore Cernuzio. When it was explained to him, he said, “Nice. Let’s do it.” Former cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has sought to project simplicity into…

The death toll in Türkiye from last month’s major earthquakes has risen to 48 448, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said yesterday, as authorities rush to set up container cities to house those left homeless by the disaster. The combined death toll including those killed in Syria has climbed to more than 54 000. Soylu said the toll in Türkiye included 6 660 foreign nationals, mostly Syrians, and authorities were still trying to identify 1 615 victims. The quake and powerful tremors injured more than 115 000 in Türkiye and left millions sheltering in tents or seeking to move to other cities. Soylu said the government planned to set up 115 585 containers for families in 239 sites in the affected region. Already 23 sites had been established…

LONDON: Thousands of junior doctors in Britain walked out yesterday in a three-day strike that will disrupt patient care, as they protest over pay they say can work out at less per hour than a barista. The strike is the latest involving staff at Britain’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS), following walkouts by nurses, paramedics and other workers demanding a pay rise. The NHS said it would prioritise emergency care during the strike, which could come at the cost of routine appointments, surgeries and even some urgent cancer treatments. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under pressure to help end walkouts by health workers. | Reuters…

NAIROBI: Rwandan President Paul Kagame yesterday said there were discussions about “resolving” the fate of Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed as a hero in the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda and is serving a 25-year sentence in Rwanda on terrorism charges. Rusesabagina was sentenced in September 2021 over his ties to an organisation opposed to Kagame’s rule. He denied all the charges and refused to take part in the trial. Washington has designated him as “wrongly detained”. Rusesabagina has US permanent residency rights. Kagame said his country would not be bullied over Rusesabagina, but suggested that there was room for compromise. | Reuters…

Marcel Koller, whose job is hanging by a thread at Al Ahly, has predicted that Mamelodi Sundowns will win this season’s Caf Champions League. After the 10-time Champions League winners suffered a comprehensive 5-2 defeat at Loftus on Saturday, Al Ahly’s fate is now in the hands of Sundowns, who head the Group B with 10 points. In second place is Al Hilal who are on nine points. The Sudanese club need a minimum of two more points to join Sundowns in the knock-out stage. “Yes, Sundowns with this coach and this team, can go all the way in this season’s tournament," said Koller. “They have a very good team. The coach prepared them very well and they earned the victory. I think if they focus and keep their concentration,…

Simone Inzaghi is in the firing line as his Inter Milan side travel to Porto trying to make the last eight of the Champions League and turn around a depressing tide of bad results away from home. Friday's 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Spezia was the latest poor effort away from the San Siro and left Inter 18 points behind champions-elect Napoli. Inzaghi and his team were booed and insulted by the Inter fans present at the Stadio Picco, who had to watch the son of AC Milan icon Paolo Maldini slot home the opening goal. Inter have only held on to second place in Italy's top flight thanks to Lazio failing to win at Bologna on Saturday, but their bid to qualify for next season's Champions League is being damaged…

SOUTH African stocks traded lower for the fifth consecutive day yesterday, weighed down by choppy global risk sentiment and domestic weak economic outcomes triggered by intensified load shedding. The JSE All Share Index fell by 1.7% to more than a two-month low of 75 126 points, the fifth consecutive session of losses in line with major bourses. Contagion fears in the financial sector remain after US authorities stepped in to cap the fallout from the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), while traders reduced bets that the Federal Reserve will take a less aggressive monetary path. SVB is the largest US bank to have failed in over a decade. Its collapse added to worries that the already tighter lending environment and the upwards interest rate cycle could cause…

AYO Technology Solutions’ (AYO) partnership with British Telecom South Africa (BTSA), and their different interpretations of the agreement between them in 2017, fell under the spotlight on the third day of the Public Investment Corporations’ (PIC) legal action against AYO yesterday. The PIC, the state-owned asset manager that invests mainly the Government Employee Pension Scheme funds, is attempting through the Western Cape High Court to recover about R4.3 billion it invested for a 29% stake in AYO, as part of a private placement prior to AYO listing on the JSE in December 2017. The PIC led the evidence about the BTSA relationship through most of yesterday, about the transfer of customers and shareholdings between the parties, as it sought to prove that AYO had overstated its relationship with BTSA, thereby…

COUNCIL, sitting in Tshwane to elect a Speaker yesterday, was preoccupied with a legal wrangle between axed ActionSA councillor Nkele Molapo and her party. Molapo launched legal action against her party to be reinstated as a councillor after her membership was terminated on Sunday night by ActionSA’s Senate. City manager Johann Mettler, who presided over the sitting, had to adjourn the proceedings for hours owing to legal correspondence he received in the morning from Molapo’s attorneys, who disputed her expulsion from ActionSA. After five hours Mettler reconvened the meeting, saying he had received legal advice that the council meeting should proceed and that Molapo should not be part of it because her membership has been terminated. The speaker’s position was expected to be contested by African Transformation Movement councillor Mncedi…

A MEDICAL doctor who was shot during a robbery at his practice in Standerton, Mpumalanga, and had his one leg amputated will now be able to prove the damages he had suffered. He got the go-ahead after one of the doctors “liable for the amputation” lost his appeal. Dr Abdus Patel instituted an R11.4 million claim against his colleagues for the amputation of his leg. He said if Dr Aboo Baker Joosub and Dr Frederick Louw had acted with haste after he was shot, he would have had his leg today. The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, earlier found Patel’s colleagues could not be blamed and turned down the claim. Patel subsequently appealed to a full Bench, which found Louw should be held accountable. Louw turned to the Supreme Court of…

FORMER Limpopo head of the Heath Department, Dr Thokozani Mhlongo, has lost her bid to have a tribunal unlock her pension. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) froze her pension benefits after her resignation following the personal protective equipment scandal that rocked the province in 2022. It prompted Mhlongo to resign but she remains under investigation. Last year, the public protector investigated allegations of maladministration and procurement irregularities in the awarding of tenders for the supply of equipment at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing the department had not followed due processes in the awarding of the tender. It was also revealed that Mhlongo’s conduct was in contravention of the Public Finance Management Act and constituted maladministration. Last year, the SIU obtained a preservation order from the Special Tribunal…

THE failure of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health to interdict striking workers is a political move that prioritises the needs of the ANC above those of poor patients desperate for medical care. The national strike organised by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) started last week and has been marred by incidents of violence, intimidation, the blocking of access to health facilities and widespread disruptions. Nehawu is demanding a 10% wage increase, a R2 500 housing allowance and a bursary scheme for members’ child- ren. However, the government is offering a 4% pay hike and the two parties are no closer to breaking the stalemate. We believe government employees deserve the 10% increase they are demanding. It must be noted that public servants did not receive any…

US President Joe Biden declared the US banking system “safe” and vowed stiffer bank regulation, after US regulators were forced to step in with a series of emergency measures after the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapse, threatening to trigger a broader crisis. “Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe. Your deposits will be there when you need them,” Biden said. The managers of the banks will be fired, Biden noted, and investors will lose money. “They knowingly took a risk, and when the risk didn’t pay off, his adjusters lose their money. That’s how capitalism works,” he said. Biden also promised new regulation after the biggest US bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. Some of the Dodd Frank law passed after that crisis to…

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said yesterday that the award of an Oscar to a documentary about jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny showed “a certain element of politicisation” by Hollywood. Navalny, which won the Academy Award for best feature documentary, shows the Kremlin critic recovering in Germany from being poisoned with a nerve agent in Siberia in 2020, and working with the investigative news outlet Bellingcat to unmask those responsible. In the film, Navalny pinned responsibility for the poisoning episode on a team of agents from the state security service. Russia denied this. | Reuters…

Ciudad Juárez: Hundreds of people tried to storm the US-Mexico border at the weekend, after a rumour that migrants would be allowed to cross into the US. A large crowd of mainly Venezuelans began to gather near the entrance of a bridge connecting Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, Texas in the southern US. The Biden administration has been hoping to stem the record tide of migrants and asylum seekers undertaking often dangerous journeys organised by human smugglers to get to the US. In January, the White House proposed expanding a rule to allow border guards to turn away more would-be migrants if they arrive by land. | AFP…

TUNIS: Tunisia yesterday inaugurated a new parliament largely stripped of its powers, after a vote that saw a paltry turnout amid boycotts following President Kais Saied’s July 2021 power grab. The new assembly, elected in two rounds in December and January that saw a voter turnout of just over 11%, held its first session at the legislature’s traditional home in Bardo, a suburb of the capital Tunis. Under the new constitution, it is almost impossible for parliament to hold the government to account, and the president cannot be impeached under any circumstances. Ten MPs will be needed to propose bills, and those put forward by the president will be given priority. | AFP…