Innholdsfortegnelse for 2023-03-16 i Pretoria News

THE COMPETITION Tribunal yesterday heard public interest and unfair competition concerns around the merger of Manta Bidco and Mediclinic International, the two large medical industry firms. This after South African Competition Commission approved the merger with conditions. Bidco is incorporated in England and Wales and is a joint venture controlled by Remgro Healthcare Holdings and SAS Shipping Agencies Services, while Mediclinic, incorporated in the UK, has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listing on the JSE and Namibian Stock Exchanges. The deal was announced in 2022 with a £3.7 billion price tag (around R82bn currently), However, Section 27, a public interest law centre, and other interested parties, said yesterday that the Competition Tribunal should enforce conditions stipulated by the Competition Commission and ratified by the…

THE absence of a biological link is not a bar for a father figure to approach a court to apply for co-guardianship over the child. The best interests of the child should always prevail, the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, has said. The court upheld the appeal of a man who wanted joint guardianship over his now estranged girlfriend’s 6-year-old son. He moved in with the woman when the child was only 1-year-old and they lived together as a family for two years, before they broke up. The man, in his early fifties, said he had formed a bond with the child and would like to have access to the boy. His ultimate goal is to obtain joint custody of the boy, but agreed that a psychologist should first assess the…

FOUR police officers based in Limpopo have been arrested for robbing three foreign nationals after the on-duty law enforcement agents spotted them making a withdrawal at an ATM. Limpopo police spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said the incident of common robbery happened last week in Motetema policing area, outside Groblersdal, in the Sekhukhune District. “On Wednesday, 8 March, the four suspects (the police officers) were on duty, using a marked police minibus when they reportedly spotted three men withdrawing money from the ATM at the mall in Groblersdal,” Mojapelo said. The officers suspected the men at the ATM to be foreign nationals, and confronted them. “The members (officers) allegedly approached them and demanded passports. They thereafter arrested them when they failed to produce passports and put them into their motor vehicle,”…

THE COSATU-aligned South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) and other public service unions affiliated to the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) are considering a new wage increase offer of 7% by the government while Nehawu continues its protest with a demand of 10% for all public servants. Yesterday, Sadtu’s national executive committee was still discussing the new deal, and hoped to consult with members before signing a final agreement. If Sadtu accepts the deal, this would likely cause more of a rift between it and other Cosatu-affiliated unions who boycotted the salary negotiations and embarked on protests – some of which culminated in deaths at several public health institutions. Sadtu national spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said the teachers’ union was considering the new offer. Similarly, Fedusa unions are expected…

ASSISTING “invisible” people to become visible is no small task. However, this is one duty that gives the manager for Lawyers for Human Rights’ Statelessness Project, Thandeka Chauke, great pleasure. Her latest accomplishment was assisting a young man left in legal limbo because his parents never registered his birth. Chauke and her team fought his battle in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, which eventually 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. The Statelessness Project, which falls under the Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme, is literally a lifesaver to many. Chauke…

For any economist concerned about the impact of the world’s second largest economy on global economic growth, the “two sessions” in China provide a template as to how plans are turned into policies and actions. With development and reform priorities reviewed and discussed by over 5 000 national lawmakers and political advisers ranging from students and farmers to government officials, the annual meetings of China’s top legislature and political advisory body aim to build consensus and pool the intellectual resources of so many people. This year, the “two sessions” took place after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2022. Before the “two sessions”, there was speculation that China would aim to double 2022’s economic growth rate of 3%, but instead of 6%, the…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed discussed efforts to reach sustainable peace in Tigray yesterday, Blinken’s spokesperson said, as both sides seek to mend diplomatic ties damaged by the war there. During a two-and-a-half-hour meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Blinken and Abiy also talked about the importance of accountability for the atrocities perpetrated by all parties during the war, said spokesperson Ned Price. The Ethiopian government and forces from Tigray, a region in the north of the country, signed a peace deal in November, ending a two-year conflict that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions. “The secretary reiterated US support for efforts by the parties to achieve full implementation of the agreement in order to lay the groundwork for…

Tehran: Eleven people were killed and more than 3 500 injured during celebrations for Iran’s traditional fire festival ahead of the Persian New Year, state media said yesterday. The fire festival is celebrated on the night of the last Tuesday of the Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20. Since February 20, 26 people have died in incidents related to Chaharchanbe Suri, including at least 11 on the day of the event along with more than 3 550 injured, emergency services said. During the festival, participants jump over bonfires to purify themselves. The festival is part of Iran’s pre-Islamic heritage and frowned upon by the establishment. But it is popular with young people, many of whom make their own fireworks. | AFP…

BEIJING: A Chinese military doctor who exposed the full extent of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic when it ripped through Beijing in 2003 has died at the age of 91, according to reports. Jiang Yanyong accused the government of deliberately under-reporting the spread of Sars in an open letter in 2003. The disease killed nearly 800 people worldwide. After accusing authorities of covering up Sars in 2003, the Chinese government dismissed several officials and said it would be more transparent about the crisis. Sars infected 8 908 people worldwide after emerging in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, killing 774. | Reuters…

LAHORE: A Pakistan court ordered police yesterday to suspend an operation to arrest former prime minister Imran Khan, bringing a halt to pitched battles in which police baton-charged supporters of the former cricketer and fired water cannon and tear gas. Security forces withdrew from around Khan’s home in the eastern city of Lahore, easing political instability in the nuclear-armed nation which is struggling with an economic crisis and awaiting an International Monetary Fund bailout. The operation to arrest Khan came after a lower court in the capital Islamabad issued a warrant against him for defying orders to present himself in court over charges that he unlawfully sold state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries when he was prime minister from 2018 to 2022. Khan said he had signed a…

BAFANA Bafana coach Hugo Broos will have a tough time selecting his final squad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Liberia this month as most of his men are on form. After playing only one game in Group K, losing to log leaders Morocco, Bafana are second in the group, leading third-placed Liberia, who also lost to the Atlas Lions, on goal difference. The three teams are vying for a qualification berth for the continental finals in Ivory Coast next year as Zimbabwe are out of the running following a ban imposed by Fifa. The South Africans could all but secure their spot in the finals as early as this month if they beat Liberia at home, Orlando Stadium, on March 24 and away four days…

Uyinene Mrwetyana must be smiling in heaven seeing her baby sister doing wonders on the international stage. Hlonela and Uyinene are close cousins who called one another sisters because, in most African cultures, cousins don’t exist. If your parents are siblings, you are brothers and sisters. East London girl Hlonela Mrwetyana made South Africa proud when she was crowned second runner-up in Miss Preteen Universe 2023. The multi-talented young star made it to Madrid, Spain, three days after the six-day-long pageant had started. But due to her resilience, she made it to the top three. “I wish I could’ve won, but I wasn’t there for three days because my visa process was chaotic. The pageant was six days, and I missed three days because of my visa,” she told…

THE Department of Public Service and Administration has threatened essential workers with dismissal if they continued with their ongoing strike. The Labour Appeal Court issued an order preventing essential public service employees and members of the National Education, Health And Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) from participating in the strike action. Nehawu members have been engaged in strike action for about a week now. The court recently also dismissed an appeal by Nehawu seeking to continue with the strike. However, the union ignored the court ruling while the second appeal was also dismissed on Monday. The court ordered that strike action or any form of industrial action by Nehawu, its members and employees who were employed in an essential services, were interdicted from strike action. In a circular written by director-general…

THE National Consumer Commission has urged customers in possession of high-voltage Gizzu portable power station machines to return the products immediately due to possible combustion while charging. The commission’s Pheto Ndaba advised more than 3 000 customers in possession of the Gizzu 300Wh and 500Wh portable power stations to immediately stop use and return the products to their various suppliers. Ndaba said the call follows the importer and distributor of the portable power station, Syntech Distribution, issuing a precautionary recall of this particular batch of portable energy stations following reports of fire hazards, after they ‘combusted’ while charging. She said according to the importer, the product was from China and distributed and sold through companies and businesses such as Takealot, Builders Warehouse, Makro, Incredible Connection and HiFi Corporation. “The affected…

EVEN though it has been more than a week since the search for the lion spotted on the R511 in Pretoria began, authorities are still searching for it. Arthur Crewe of the Strategic Response Rescue Unit said although rescue teams were yet to capture the animal, the search for it remained in full swing. He said the last time the lion was spotted was on Monday, after the initial sighting of it at about 2am last Wednesday by a security guard on duty near the Hennops trail area. “There’s no luck with the lion yet. We did have a sighting two days ago but we haven’t had anything since then. Search teams are still doing fine searching and we do have a possible location, same as the first sighting, but…

TRIBUTES are pouring in for award-winning vocalist and instrumentalist Gloria Bosman, 50, who died after a short illness. The family confirmed in a statement that Bosman died at home, surrounded by loved ones, on Tuesday. “It is with profound sadness that we share that in the early hours, we lost the rock of our family; a beloved mother, grandmother, and sister, Gloria Bosman, who came to fame for her soulful and soothing voice,” read the family statement. Saddened and shocked by Bosman’s sudden death, music lovers, fans and fellow musicians took to social media to share their messages of condolence to the family while also paying their respects to the music icon. Actor Sello Maake kaNcube wrote: “We are allowed to allow words to fail us at times! What a…

IF PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to KwaZulu-Natal to launch the ANC’s election campaign was anything to go by, he and his party must brace themselves for what already appears to be a long and bumpy road to next year’s polls. Listening to him addressing the crowds, one was left with the impression that he was repeating a song many have heard for nearly 30 years. It now sounds like a broken record, as it has been repeated so many times with little to no results over the years. In fact, he faced a blockade of burning tyres in Dambuza, Pietermaritzburg, at the weekend, with one protester saying: “What is it he is going to do for us because we have had these promises before?” Ramaphosa, who has previously faced hostile…

Rescuers scrambled yesterday to reach survivors in Malawi’s battered city of Blantyre after Cyclone Freddy struck southern Africa for a second time, triggering floods and landslides that have killed more than 270 people across two countries. Weather conditions were expected to improve as the storm dissipated over land after days of torrential rains, but localised thunderstorms would persist, and flood levels remained high in some areas, hampering emergency efforts. “The death toll has risen from 190 to 225 with 707 injured and 41 reported missing,” the Malawi disaster management agency said. Red Cross Malawi spokesperson Felix Washon said they had been hoisting people from trees and rooftops. “It’s a challenge to reach them, water is high, and bridges are broken.” Freddy returned to south-eastern Africa at the weekend for a…

Concerned about China’s shrinking population, political advisers to the government have come up with more than 20 recommendations to boost birth rates, but experts say the best they can do is to slow the population’s decline. China dug itself into a demographic hole largely through its one-child policy imposed between 1980 and 2015. Authorities raised the limit to three in 2021, but even during the stay at home Covid-19 times couples have been reluctant to have babies. Young people cite high childcare and education costs, low incomes, a feeble social safety net and gender inequalities, as discouraging factors. The proposals to boost the birth rate, made at the annual meeting of China’s People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) this month, range from subsidies for families raising their first child, rather than…

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s veteran central bank head, Riad Salameh, did not attend a hearing yesterday into accusations of embezzling public money after his lawyer objected to the presence of European investigators, two sources said. The 72-year-old, who has run the bank for six terms spanning 30 years, is being investigated alongside his brother in Lebanon and at least five European countries over accusations of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars. He denies that and says he is being made a scapegoat for Lebanon’s financial crisis. Last year, prosecutors said Salameh was a suspect in a case that led to the freezing of 120 million euros of Lebanese assets abroad. | Reuters…

Brasilia: At least 14 cities in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte state have suffered shooting or arson attacks that left one person dead, local authorities said. An organised crime ring known as the Crime Syndicate, which operates widely in the state, were allegedly behind the attacks. The victim died in a clash with security forces, police said, adding that the attacks occurred in the state capital Natal, and more than 10 other cities in the state. The state’s security forces responded to the attacks on a court, two military police stations, a city hall and a bank. Police also reported damage to a motorcycle shop, and vehicles parked on the street and in public lots. | IANS…

HE may be hanging up his playing boots in June, but Morne Steyn’s kicking boots are going nowhere. In fact, they are likely to remain at Loftus, as the veteran flyhalf says he is in talks with the Bulls to become a kicking coach. The 38-year-old former Springbok pivot announced this week that while he is busy establishing his own MS10 kicking academy, he is hoping to remain involved in the game at the highest level once he retires at the end of the season. And his work will entail much more than just taking shots at goal. “I am in talks to remain involved at the Bulls, specifically as a kicking coach. I’ve often seen with teams that when it gets difficult in matches, you can always see a…

THE MANGEMENT at Growthpoint Properties presenting South Africa’s largest primary listed real estate investment trust’s (Reit’s) interims yesterday adopted a tone of caution and defensive stance for the year ahead with muted growth on the horizon. Looking ahead, Growthpoint said, its diversified portfolio, strong balance sheet and stable hard currency dividend income streams position the company defensively for the rest of financial year 2023. “However, with elevated uncertainty in the local and global macroeconomic environment and rising interest rates and inflation, Growthpoint still expects to deliver muted full-year distributable income per share (Dips) growth,” it said. CEO Norbert Sasse, talking about the firm’s interim results for the period ended December 31, 2022, said that it would take about a three- to five-year period for property values to recover. This…

In the pre-pandemic era, we took food as a luxury and a means of satiating our palate. However, in the post-pandemic era, people have become more aware of the adage “you are what you eat”, and we now eat for health instead of flavour. The Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the globe, but if there’s anything that we can take away from the madness is that it also gave us a valuable lesson about the value of establishing healthy food habits, which not only nourishes the body but also guarantee long-term wellness. Just as we’ve seen the countless blogs that feature foods to build immunity, foods to beat Covid-19, foods to improve metabolism, food to gut health, and more. IWG conducted research on more than 2 000 hybrid workers and…

Public Investment Corporation (PIC) listed equities General Manager Lebogang Molebatsi has told the High Court in the Western Cape that he considered the ICT investment Group, AYO Technology Solutions (AYO), to be a good investment and advised the PIC to buy shares. Molebatsi, who was testifying at the case in which the PIC is looking to dissolve and recoup its R4.3 billion subscription agreement in the listed technology firm, admitted saying on several separate occasions that he considered AYO to be a good investment. Molebatsi, who was being questioned about his role in the deal, admitted under cross-examination by AYO senior counsel Nazeer Cassim, to having signed memos supporting the transaction several months later. Molebatsi was part of the PIC transaction team, which also included the then PIC executive head…

THE Department of Health buildings in Limpopo have been plunged into darkness after Polokwane Municipality cut off their lights on Monday. Others that were cut off include the provincial Department of Public Works, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and bus utility Great North Transport. Municipal officials backed by the municipal police descended one by one to cut off supply to these departments this week. According to Polokwane Municipality, 10 departments, including Great North Transport, owe the municipality more than R250 million in service fees combined. Great North Transport, under the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, even owes some employees millions of their pension monies. Municipal spokesperson Thipa Selala said: “This is part of the debt recovery measure to recover millions that the government departments, entities, businesses and…

GAUTENG Premier Panyaza Lesufi wants action taken against the DA councillors in Tshwane for breaking the law by using numbers instead of crosses to vote during the election of new council speaker on Monday through a secret ballot. This comes after the DA had indicated it was seeking legal advice on whether to take legal action or not after 69 ballots of party councillors were disqualified during the election. Lesufi said he asked Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Mzi Khumalo to see if there was action that could be taken against the implicated councillors, because “they have broken the law” in trying to bypass the new voting format by the Electoral Commission of SA. “It is a serious misconduct and we can’t leave it hanging,” Lesufi said.…

IN his first legal victory leading to his future as part of the legal fraternity, a student took on Walter Sisulu University after it accepted him into its Bachelor of Laws degree programme, but later told him it was already full. Milela Mbana, however, didn’t let this stumbling block stand in the way of his chosen career. He took on the university in the Eastern Cape High Court, sitting in Mthatha, and won. The court ordered the university to register him for this degree within two days of this order. It said the conduct of the university “stands in the way of the applicant exercising his right to further education”. Mbana turned to court on an urgent basis to set aside the university’s decision to allocate his space to another…

Research conducted in 2019 by a medical practice network, BodyLogicMD, revealed that 51% of respondents experienced “dead bedrooms” as a result of work stress. Affinity Health, a leading provider of high-quality healthcare said stress can negatively influence one’s sexual drive. “It is important to talk to your healthcare provider if you’re experiencing sexual dysfunction. “Your doctor may recommend a sex therapist or mental health experts who specialise in treating diminished libido and sex drive due to stress," says Murray Hewlett, CEO of Affinity Health. In the bedroom, a lack of communication between couples can raise tension, and many people get more worried if their self-esteem is low. The health provider notes that the relationship between stress and sexual dysfunction is complex, but it is thought to be related to hormonal…

South African women of all hues protested against racial oppression When Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Nomusa Dube-Ncube wrote last week (March 10) in Independent Media that women played an important role in the liberation of South Africa, she was absolutely correct. However, in largely acknowledging the role that African women played in the Struggle, she tended to overlook the fact that South African women of all hues had come together at various points in our history of this country to protest against racial oppression. In my research on Indian women from indenture to democracy, I found that the contribution of South African Indian women in the Struggle against apartheid was not well known. Little is known of their role in the Indian resistance movements as they fought alongside men to…

Uncollected rubbish clogged streets in France’s capital yesterday as unions made an 11th-hour bid to stop a deeply unpopular pensions reform from being passed. Opinion polls show about two-thirds of French people are against the legislation to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64; extend contributions for a full pension and scrap some special privileges for public sector employees. But despite two months of protests and cross-sector strikes, the bill championed by President Emmanuel Macron appears to be on the verge of being pushed through parliament. Several demonstrations kicked off across France yesterday, including in the northern city of Calais and southwestern city of Bordeaux, in a new day of strikes and protests. Police were expecting between 650 000 and 850 000 demonstrators nationwide,…

The geology of Brazil’s volcanic Trindade Island has fascinated scientists for years, but the discovery of rocks made from plastic debris in this remote turtle refuge is sparking alarm. Melted plastic has become intertwined with rocks on the island, located 1 140km from the south-eastern state of Espirito Santo, which researchers say is evidence of humans’ influence over the Earth’s geological cycles. Fernanda Avelar Santos, a geologist at the Federal University of Parana, ran chemical tests to find out what kind of plastics are in the rocks. “We identified the pollution mainly comes from fishing nets,” she said. “When the temperature rises, this plastic melts and becomes embedded with the beach’s natural material.” Thousands of green turtles arrive on the island each year to lay their eggs. The only human…

BOGOTA: An explosion caused by accumulated gas in six adjoining coal mines in central Colombia had killed at least 11 workers and trapped 10 below ground, authorities said yesterday. The explosion took place in a rural area of Sutatausa, about 75km north of Bogota. “People are trapped between 700m and 900m,” Cundinamarca provincial governor Nicola Garcia said, adding that more than 100 rescue workers had joined the search. Two people had already been rescued and seven escaped. The mines were authorised to operate, the national mining agency said. Serious accidents are common at open pit, and subterranean coal and gold mines in Colombia. | Reuters…

Helsinki: Finnish president Sauli Niinisto will travel to Türkiye to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tomorrow, with Ankara signalling readiness to approve Finland’s Nato bid. Niinisto will discuss reconstruction efforts after the devastating earthquakes in February, and Finland’s and Sweden’s Nato memberships, the president’s office said. Finland and Sweden applied to join the Western alliance last year in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Ankara suspended talks with Sweden after protests in January where a Qur’an was burnt outside Türkiye’s embassy in Stockholm. | AFP…