Innholdsfortegnelse for Sunday, August 23, 2020 i Sunday Independent

LABOUR SA UNDER FOREIGN CONTROL Bleak future on job front for many after lockdown as companies turn to exploiting foreign migrants KARABO NGOEPE and MZILIKAZI WA AFRIKA SOUTH Africans can look forward to a bleak future on the job front after Covid-19 decimated the local economy, condemning many to the ranks of the unemployed. Statistics SA shows an estimated 1.5 million people have lost their jobs in the past five months of lockdown. Unemployment has risen to 30.1%, from a high of 27.7% in February. Furthermore, the SA Reserve Bank and National Treasury expect the economy to shrink by about 7%, which means job opportunities will shrink further for locals. Some sectors of society have voiced dissatisfaction at the number of foreign nationals holding both unskilled and skilled…

BANKING Data breach warning NATHAN CRAIG CYBERSECURITY experts and banks have asked citizens to prepare for the worst following the theft of personal information in the country’s largest ever data breach. Some 24million people’s information and that of about 800000 businesses were acquired by a fraudster who allegedly impersonated a “legitimate” client, fraudulently requested the data from multinational consumer credit reporting company, Experian. Experian is the world’s biggest credit data firm that collects and aggregates information on over one billion people globally.Ferdie Pieterse, Experian Africa’s chief executive, has since apologised for the breach and said their first priority was to help and support the country’s consumers and businesses. The fraudster was identified and the Experian team successfully impounded the individual’s hardware and the misappropriated data was secured and deleted. Pieterse…

HEALTH Hospital putting our lives at risk, say guards ROLAND MPOFU FOUR security guards from the notorious Lindela Repatriation Centre have accused Leratong Hospital, in Mogale City, of putting their lives at risk by not providing them with personal protective equipment (PPE) when entering isolation wards where Covid-19-positive inmates are recovering. The security guards, employed by Enviromongz Security Company, allege that they are forced to enter isolation wards 19, 15 and 10 without PPE when they are checking on inmates. Two of the guards, Jabulani Modimoeng and Matsobane Tloubatla, said their woes started in June when one of the detainees was discharged from the hospital without their knowledge while the sister in charge reported that the inmate had escaped. “We never saw the patients when we got in at work.…

INSPECTION Mkhwebane slams treatment of nurses KARABO NGOEPE karabo.ngoepe@inl.co.za PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane lambasted management’s conduct and the treatment of nurses at the Dr George Mukhari Hospital in Tshwane following complaints about working conditions published in the Sunday Independent last week. Mkhwebane and her deputy visited the hospital this week following a report in the paper detailing complaints by the nurses working in the Covid-19 wards. According to sources at the hospital, Mkhwebane was baffled by advertisements of permanent posts at the facility while nurses were still waiting for their Covid-19 short-term contracts. “They were asked why they were advertising permanent posts instead of absorbing the nurses that were on the Covid contracts. “They also questioned why the hospital was not paying the nurses a risk allowance as they continue…

BAROMETER COMMENT Addressing gender equality, leadership across SA universities SUPPORT for the development of a barometer to measure and monitor change at varsities, call for a freeze on professorship promotions for male applicants, and the threat of legal action to enforce section nine of the Constitution on equality were among the proposals to transform South African universities at a gender transformation in higher education webinar. Academics also called for the Higher Education and Training Ministry to implement recommendations of the 2010/2015 higher education summits, as well as last year’s report containing recommendations on recruitment, retention and promotion of black academics. “We have been in this business as higher education since 1994, and the governance architecture of our institutions hasn’t really changed fundamentally since, including the issues of gender transformation,” said George…

PARLIAMENT Rule of law should not be for convenience’s sake MORRIS RODA A FEW weeks ago, a development that threatens to set a bad precedent unless it is attended to, took place. The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, submitted a list of beneficiaries of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) to Parliament subsequent to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry having obtained a legal opinion and war talk from the DA. My understanding is that the list was being disclosed to Parliament for oversight purposes only. Even before the relevant portfolio committee could examine the list, the DA opportunistically if not maliciously leaked the list probably for cheap political point-scoring. The question is, why release the list as a party rather than provide Parliament space to process…

COMMENT Still no political accountability for Marikana massacre KENNETH MOKGATLHE EXACTLY eight years since the Marikana massacre, we have not seen any high profile prosecution despite allegations that politicians ordered the killings which left 34 miners dead with more than 200 injured. The state has not been held to account for its leading role in the brutal killings of poor workers who were only protesting for decent wages and improved working conditions. There is no doubt that the families of the slain miners and those who were injured were denied justice like many other South Africans because they cannot afford good lawyers. The history of all commissions appointed by successive presidents of the Republic does not augur well for the future and accountability in this country. Unarmed black South Africans…

MALI West African leaders to meet with junta MEDIATORS from West Africa’s regional bloc flew to Mali yesterday for talks aimed at reversing a coup that has been condemned, but celebrated by many in a country battling an Islamist insurgency and simmering political unrest. Leaders from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) have taken a hard line on Tuesday’s ousting of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. They quickly shut borders and ended financial flows – a move diplomats said was as much about dissuading opponents at home as stabilising Mali. “They cannot tolerate this taking place. They are taking it very personally. It is on their doorstep and they think they are next,” one regional diplomat said of the West African leaders. The presidents of Ivory Coast and…

WHO urges masks for children older than 11 GENEVA: Starting at age 12, children should wear masks wherever adults wear them, such as in crowded settings, as a tool against the coronavirus, the UN health and children’s agencies say in a guidance document for decision makers. The World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund did not generally recommend children between ages 6 and 11 wear masks, but that they should be considered in areas with intense virus transmission or in special settings such as schools. According to the document that was published on Friday, younger children, especially those under 5 years, should not wear masks unsupervised, mainly because they cannot put them on and take them off correctly by themselves. dpa Reuters…

French WWII memorial defaced PARIS: Vandals have scrawled graffiti denying the Holocaust on a wall in the village that was the site of France’s biggest massacre of civilians by the Nazis during World War II. France’s justice minister vowed yesterday that those responsible would be brought to justice. The graffiti was found on Friday on the wall at the entrance to the Centre for Remembrance in Oradour-Sur-Glane, near Limoges in France. The word “lie” was scrawled on the wall, along with other graffiti, the regional paper Le Populaire du Centre reported. Prime Minister Jean Castex said the graffiti “dirties the memory of our martyrs”. Troops from the SS “Das Reich” division killed 642 villagers on June 10, 1944, herding them into barns and a church and setting the town on…

BOOK ‘Sermons of Soul’ to motivate LESEGO MAKGATHO lesego.makgatho@inl.co.za BROADCASTER Iman Rappetti has come forth with her second book titled Sermons of Soul. The book is a compendium of daily love letters, reflections, meditations and calls to action to the citizens of South Africa, shared on her daily show on Power987 – PowerTalk. And she had no idea it would form the tapestry of a book, she says. With each daily sermon, Rappetti sought to reach out to her listeners and give them something special before the day’s tough subjects unfolded on the programme. She wanted to create a moment for them to feel appreciated, thought of or cared for. Some days the sermon was a motivational letter, encouraging listeners to stay strong and confident, to have hope for themselves…

REAL NUMBERS Measuring poverty to establish progress THE MULTIDIMENTIONAL Poverty Index (MPI) is the official measure of the proportion of men, women and children living in poverty according to national definitions. Nobel Laurette Amarty Sen once wrote that human lives are battered and diminished in different ways. Sen said the first task is to acknowledge that such deprivations have to be accommodated within a general overarching framework. The drive to formalise measurement of poverty was given a significant boost by the Alkire-Foster method. This cutting-edge methodology caught the attention of mostly Latin American governments which started using it in their policy design, planning, programme execution and impact assessment. Former Costa Rican president Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera issued a presidential decree that MPI must be part of the future allocation formulae…

TV HIGHLIGHTS DIRTY JOHN 2: THE BETTY BRODERICK STORY NETFLIX THE second instalment of the Dirty John anthology series; this season is based on another epic true tale of love gone wrong, a story that spans the 1960s to the 1980s, through the breakdown of a marriage that Oprah Winfrey deemed one of “America’s messiest divorces” even before it ended in double homicide. AGAINST THE ODDS SATURDAY, 1.30PM, SABC 1 THE feature-length documentary follows one of the most talked about Cinderella stories in the history of e-Sports– Red Bull OG’s road to winning The International 2018. In 2018, OG were at rock bottom, hit by painful departures and their scrapping in qualifiers for Dota 2’s TI8. Against The Odds is the fairy-tale story of this broken team’s shot at gaming’s…

TV GUIDE TODAY Athletics: Wanda Diamond League, Stockholm, 4pm, SS8 Cricket: Test Series: England v Pakistan, Third Test, Day 3, 11.30am, SS2, SS13; Caribbean Premier League: Trinbago Knight Riders v Barbados Tridents, 3.30pm, SS11Guyana Amazon Warriors v St Lucia Zouks, 11.15pm, SS2, SS1 Golf: European Tour: ISPS Handa Wales Open, Day 4, 12.30pm, SS5, CSN; AIG Women’s British Open, Day 4, 2pm, SS12; PGA Tour: The Northern Trust, Day 4, 6.30pm, SS5, SS12 (7pm), SS1 (7.25pm), CSN (7.25pm) Motorsport: MotoGP: Grand Prix von Styria, Moto3, 10.45am, SS6; Moto2, 12.050pm, SS6; MotoGP, 1.30, SS6; Supercars Championship: CoreStaff Darwin SuperSprint, Race 17, 4.15am, SS6; Supercars Championship: CoreStaff Darwin SuperSprint, Race 18, 6.40am, SS6; DTM: Lausitzring, Qualifying 2, 10.40am, SS11; DTM: Lausitzring, Race 2, 1.15pm, SS11; FIA World Rallycross Championship, Round 2: Sweden,…

INJURY TIME STUART HESS TWO CEOS, FOUR INDEPENDENT, ONE PRESIDENT…. ARE you battling to keep up with the comings and goings (mostly goings) at Cricket South Africa? Let’s try and sum up: That’s four independent directors from the Board who have now resigned (Prof. Steve Cornelius joined Dawn Makhobo, Iqbal Khan and Shirley Zinn who quit last December), two non-independent directors (Chris Nenzani and Jack Madiseng), a chief executive suspended, an acting chief executive who quit and three senior management officials first suspended, then two of them got fired and they are now taking CSA through legal avenues to have their dismissals, erm, dismissed. All of this has taken place in nine months. How can anyone; players, sponsors, the government, the birds flying over cricket grounds around South Africa, trust…

SOCCER Mix right for PSL pressure cookers Two Mother City combatents could derail Soweto giants MIHLALI BALEKA mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za THE Cape Town versus Soweto double header in top-flight football this afternoon is blended with all the ingredients of having a strong say in the championship race - top three and top eight finish. It’s been two weeks since the domestic season resumed in the Premier Soccer League (PSL). And to the delight of all stakeholders, “project restart” which commenced on August 8 has had an element of surprise on every match-day. Today, there may be two league matches, but do expect some fireworks as Cape Town City and Orlando Pirates will serve the curtain-raiser at Loftus Versfeld Stadium (3:30pm kick-off). Both teams still have a lot to play for…

COVIDPRENEURS Limpopo ANC leader’s daughter scores PPE contract PIET MAHASHA RAMPEDI LIMPOPO ANC deputy chairperson Florence Radzilani’s daughter and the wife of a senior official in Premier Stan Mathabatha’s office are among the beneficiaries of the province’s irregularly awarded Covid-19 PPE contracts. Ndivhuwo Radzilani’s construction company, Ndia Business Trading, was awarded a R1.1 million contract to supply PPE to the Limpopo Department of Health. Her mother, who is a former Vhembe District Municipality mayor and current MPL, serves on the provincial ANC executive committee (PEC). Another notable beneficiary is Susan Managa, the wife of deputy director general for institutional support in the Premier’s Office, Eddie Managa, who scored R2.2m contracts, according to official records. This came as health sector union Nehawu revealed this week that sub-standard PPE were supplied to…

TRAINING Gauteng pays for KZN interns At least 748 recruits placed at Home Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal paid stipends using Gauteng taxpayers’ money MANYANE MANYANE manyane.manyane@inl.co.za THE Gauteng government allegedly paid for the training and skilling of unemployed youths from Kwazulu-Natal. Sources said a company appointed by the Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA) chief executive officer, Percy Moleke, allegedly recruited Kwazulu-Natal youths for internship opportunities and skills development programmes funded by the provincial government. The GCRA is a branch of the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) responsible for promoting skills development through the facilitation and coordination of learnerships, internships, bursaries and career guidance programmes in the province. Edge Field Marketing was appointed in December last year to source at least 748 young recruits. However, according to insiders, the company placed the…

Tail Piece TIKTOK TO CHALLENGE US ORDER BANNING THE VIDEO APP TIKTOK is preparing to mount a legal challenge tomorrow to President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting transactions with the popular short video app and its Chinese parent ByteDance, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump issued an executive order on August 14 that gave ByteDance 90 days to divest the US operations of TikTok. It was not immediately clear which court TikTok plans to use to file its lawsuit. Reuters…

TRANSPORT Double blow to passengers as taxi fares increase MANYANE MANYANE manyane.manyane@inl.co.za TAXI fare increases have added further financial strain on cash-strapped commuters who are reeling as a result of salary cuts and job losses caused by various stages of the lockdown that have also had a negative impact on economic growth. Consumers say they now spend more on transport than on household necessities including food and electricity. Last month several taxi associations in Gauteng increased their prices by between 5% and 40%. The associations said the price hikes were the result of losses suffered by the industry due to the lockdown. Taxis were permitted to carry only 70% of their capacity to ensure physical distancing during lockdown levels 4 and 5. As a result, the industry suffered major losses…

FACT BOX THE preamble of the Constitution asserts that the people of South Africa recognise the injustices of the past and are, therefore, committed to the attainment of social justice for all who live in it. Section 8(1) of the Employment Services Act 4 of 2014 states that an employer may not employ a foreign national within the territory of the Republic of South Africa prior to such foreign national producing an applicable and valid work permit, issued in terms of the Immigration Act. (2) The Minister may, after consulting the Board, make regulations to facilitate the employment of foreign nationals, which regulations may include the following measures: (a) The employers must satisfy themselves that there are no other persons in the Republic with suitable skills to fill a vacancy,…

PANDEMIC Helpline aimed at flattening violence curve set up ROLAND MPOFU “HE told me that there will be moments when men do get angry and I must understand that men get angry and when men get angry they beat up women. He said it was what he had experienced in his own household. And I lived in that space for almost eight years.” These were the painful words shared by Nthabiseng Montsho-Mngoma a gender-based violence (GBV) survivor speaking during the City of Joburg launch of Ithemba 24-hour Substance Abuse and Gender-Based Violence Crisis Line in Marshalltown on Friday. This was part of the city’s Women’s Month programme, which aims to address GBV and femicide. Montsho-Mngoma, the founder and director of Soul Inspiration SA and a TV host on Moja Love…

COMMENT PRIORITISING CLEAN WATER, GOOD HYGIENE ROBERT KAMPALA LACK OF universal access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene should keep us awake at night. At no time in modern history has access to water, sanitation and hygiene, collectively known as WASH, been more profound than now. The Covid-19 pandemic threatens to decimate all aspects of our way of life. Although most African countries have reported fewer cases of infections and deaths compared with parts of Europe, Asia and the Americas, there remains concern that Africa’s economic and infrastructural capacity is not equipped to cope with the magnitude of the pandemic. As a result of Covid19, the economic growth of sub-Saharan Africa was expected to shrink to between -5.1% and -2.1% from 2.4% in 2019. (source: African Development Bank).…

ICYMI | IOL.CO.ZA COVID TENDER SCANDAL: BANK ACCOUNTS FREEZED There needs to be successful prosecution as a deterrence to the discourse of financial management. What needs to happen is that the wrongs of the past need to be punished MKHULEKO HLENGWA Scopa chairperson on Covid-19 corruption THE Special Investigating Unit said it had obtained an interim court order freezing the bank accounts of 40 companies involved in suspect tenders to supply personal protective equipment to the Gauteng Department of Health.…

OPINION TIME FOR MEN TO STOP TAKING FROM WOMEN SIXOLISE GCILISHE WHEN the commander-in-chief Julius Malema told Parliament that the sitting government was not in charge but the people are, the ANC “sleepists” howled in defence. I wonder what their reaction was when their president finally confirmed it. That he wasn’t in charge and neither was his Cabinet. But the matter is now in our hands, we, the people are in charge. It’s not the first time South Africans have had to fend for themselves but I doubt any of us expected a democratic government to wash its hands off its people without any justifiable reason. I don’t know if there was an outbreak of another pandemic in our country during the early 90s, apart from the cancer that was…

LETTERS Email: scribe@inl.co.za (no attachments). All letters must contain the writer’s full name, physical address and telephone number. No pen names. Draft laws on digital platforms draconian THE draft Films and Publications Amendment Regulations for digital media platforms are unconstitutional and violate South Africans’ right to freedom of speech and expression. The application of the regulations is extensive and far reaching and affords the Film and Publications Board broad discretionary powers over what may be published on internet platforms. The proposed amendments are vague, impractical and vulnerable to exploitation so the government will be able to control speech. The regulations are completely out of touch with the international approach to regulating content on the internet and other global platforms. The Films and Publications Amendment Act (known as the Internet Censorship…

UNITED STATES ‘Golden State Killer’ shocks court, says he’s ‘truly sorry’ A FORMER California police officer who lived a double life as the murderous sociopath “Golden State Killer” was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for a string of 1970s and 1980s murders and rapes that were solved through the use of public genealogy websites. Just before receiving multiple consecutive life sentences, Joseph James DeAngelo, told a hushed courtroom filled with victims and their family members that he was “truly sorry” for the crimes. It was such an unexpected moment that it brought gasps from those in the gallery. It also reinforced that nobody ever seemed to know what DeAngelo would do and who he was, which helps explain how he eluded detection for four decades while committing at…

COVID-19 ‘I have never in my life seen so many deaths’ THEIR final breaths are tormented. Rublas Ruiz has seen too many of them – the last gasps of 17 men and women who died of the coronavirus. A 41-year-old ICU nurse in Miami’s Kendall Regional Medical Center, Ruiz has witnessed the desperate, pleading, wide-eyed, barely there gasps. “The fear in their eyes when they can’t get enough air. They are so scared,” he said, quietly. “Their eyes are big, desperate to get the oxygen and that makes me so sad.” He sits on their bed, grasps their hand, strokes their cheek and prays. Anything to soothe them. Often, he ducks away to sob in the bathroom. Then he splashes water on his face and returns to the floor that…

Israel urges ban on Jewish pilgrimage JERUSALEM: The head of Israel’s Covid-19 task force has asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to ban an annual pilgrimage in which Hasidic Jews visit the Ukrainian town of Uman over concerns the site may become a virus hot spot. Tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews descend on Uman every Jewish New Year to visit the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who revived the Hasidic movement and died in 1810. This year, Jewish New Year celebrations run from September18-20. The Ukrainian and Israeli governments have issued a joint statement pleading with pilgrims to cancel their trips, but huge crowds are still planning to fly. Reuters…

STEM ‘Reaching ears of our girls’ Focus on attracting more females to physics AMANDA MALIBA IN SPITE of the great noise around gender parity, there is still an under-representation of women in STEM careers – science, technology, engineering and maths – and physics. Dr Sylia Ledwaba, the chairperson of the Women in Physics in SA (WiPiSA), believes the disproportion stems from various factors, including the demands of balancing a woman’s life and responsibilities, and relentless issues of sexism, harassment and a general institutional culture that does not support the growth of women. WiPiSA is an organisation that works to support women to consider careers in physics. “The conversations of the empowerment and the inclusion of women has largely happened amongst us and now is the time that we shift the…

AFRICA THIS WEEK ABUSE OF JUSTICE SYSTEM FOR VENDETTAS VICTOR KGOMOESWANA @VictorAfrica JUST how powerful should any person be to be able to steal money equivalent to 60% of a country’s GDP? Botswana – one of Africa’s foremost countries by many accounts – has famously accused Bridgette Motsepe-Radebe and its former president Ian Khama of plotting to overthrow President Mokgweetsi Masisi. It has linked Motsepe-Radebe to the laundering of $10 billion (R172.2 billion) out of the country, something many banks refuted. Somehow, the public accusations have persisted, mainly because of the stature of the two people. But these claims are beginning to lose credibility because of the slowness of the government of Botswana in charging its suspects and recent findings of a private investigation. Botswana is the envy of the…

A trailblazer in an industry dominated by males Malani Padayachee-Saman wants to remain at the forefront of empowering women as the business she founded in 1997 was the first female-owned consulting company SIPHELELE DLUDLA siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za MALANI Padayachee-Saman enjoys a quiet weekend retreat to be one with nature. Padayachee-Saman says the retreats give her a sanctuary away from the busy life of running a civil engineering consulting firm. She says they involve early-morning game drives and dabbles in painting – not to just get away but to draw inspiration to dream up new engineering structures. “I love the bushveld,” she says. “And I also love painting. I love weekend painting retreats. I find that very therapeutic and very stimulating.” Padayachee-Saman is a trailblazer in the engineering field. This month, her company,…

DANCE JOMBA! transitions to d igital stage ALYSSIA BIRJALAL Picture: Supplied LIGHTS, camera, action! It’s time for a digital JOMBA! experience of a lifetime. Feast your eyes on an explosion of dance that will leave you clapping your hands and stomping your feet – from the comfort of your home. The 22nd JOMBA! takes place between Tuesday from 7pm and Sunday, September 6. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience will be held digitally but the audience will be able to watch their favourite dancers strut their stuff – for free. Artistic director Dr Lliane Loots said Covid-19 has shifted the arts world significantly but dancers and choreographers had made the move to digital with ease. “In this fragile environment the somatic, visceral body is absent…

SOCCER Fortune favours Sevilla ANTONIO Conte said he has no intention of quitting Inter Milan following his side’s 3-2 defeat to Sevilla in a pulsating Europa League final Friday. The head coach’s occasional angry outbursts have seen him clash with Inter’s senior executives since taking over the reins in 2019 but the 51-year-old maintained that he would be staying with the club. “There is no rancour, from me nor the club. There are people I already worked with, so that’s not the issue,” Conte said in a post-match interview. “It’s about points of view, some situations that I faced this year and didn’t like, with all due respect for everyone. “We’ll clarify the situation, without rancour, because I will always be grateful for having the chance to spend a great…

RUGBY Six of the best as Brumbies tame Waratahs and go top THE ACT Brumbies ran in six tries to storm back to the top of the Super Rugby AU standings with an emphatic 38-11 bonus point victory over the New South Wales Waratahs at a chilly Canberra Stadium yesterday. Winger Tom Wright and number eight Pete Samu scored two tries apiece in the second half and Andy Muirhead and Ryan Lonergan crossed in the first as the twice Super Rugby champions got back to winning ways after a loss to the Melbourne Rebels. The 16 changes coach Dan McKellar made to his matchday squad had the desired effect and a fifth win in six matches gave the Brumbies a two-point advantage over the Queensland Reds with two rounds remaining…

PSL Polokwane move off the bottom with Highlands stalemate HERMAN GIBBS POLOKWANE City lifted themselves off the bottom of the log following their 1-1 draw with Highlands Park in the Absa Premiership at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium yesterday. The draw meant that Polokwane changed places with Ama-Zulu who now find themselves rock bottom. Highlands moved to seventh. Both teams fielded vastly changed line-ups for the match. Highlands Park coach Owen Da Gama made six changes and his Polokwane City counterpart Clinton Larsen went one better with seven. The unfamiliar combinations resulted in numerous passes going astray for most of the first half, and neither side could strike up cohesion to create goalscoring chances. Polokwane, a side that usually sits deep and tight and then pounces when counter-attack opportunities arise, took…

SA coach leaves Bangladesh post NEIL McKenzie has stepped down as Bangladesh’s batting coach, citing the need to stay with his family amid the Covid-19 crisis, the country’s cricket board said. The former South Africa Test player accepted the job in July 2018 and is credited with the team’s confident white-ball batting. “Neil has informed us that he was unable to continue as the Bangladesh batting coach, as in the changed world scenario it was important for him to stay close to the family in South Africa,” Bangladesh Cricket Board chief executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said in a statement on Friday. “He has been a much admired coach here and I wish to thank him for the work he has put in with the Bangladeshi batsmen, especially in white-ball cricket…

PROBE Sexist language, derogatory comments by renowned surgeon EDWIN NAIDU AS THE country celebrates National Women’s Month, UCT has thrown a ring of silence around racism claims amid allegations of a crude email from celebrated spinal surgeon Professor Robert Dunn in the orthopaedic department at world-renowned Groote Schuur Hospital, in which he referred to postgraduate students in the plastic surgery department as the “clinic bitch”. While not referring to anyone specifically, Dunn sent the message to staff referring to the person who rotates between departments providing general clinic duties as the “clinic bitch”, according to the orthopaedic roster which also contains surgeons from surgical sub-divisions. Some members have complained to the university which is investigating the use of sexist language. Dunn, head of orthopaedic surgery at UCT and Groote Schuur,…

PROBE COMMENT There is no honour among thieves Top Limpopo politician tries and fails to bribe this journalist I USED to believe there is honour among thieves. Put simply, there was a time when I thought even criminals had minimum standards of behaviour which they respected. I was wrong. That benefit of doubt proved futile at a hastily convened meeting with a top Limpopo politician and businessman in Tshwane on Tuesday. It started on Saturday afternoon, a day after I sent questions to the Limpopo Department of Health about irregularities, fraud and nepotism in the procurement of R932million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE). After fielding endless and desperate calls from several implicated parties – including politicians, officials and service providers – requesting “meetings” and asking me “not…

PROBE Emfuleni CFO accused of graft Official says opponents are against his anti-corruption drive KARABO NGOEPE karabo.ngoepe@inl.co.za THE chief financial officer (CFO) of embattled Emfuleni Local Municipality, Andile Dyakala, has been accused of corruption and bypassing the Municipal Finance Management Act and ruling with an iron fist. Sources within the municipality have told the Sunday Independent that Dyakala has been using his position to try and remove the municipality’s supply chain manager (SCM) who has been raising complaints against him. In a letter seen by the publication, SCM manager Jason Mkhwane wrote a letter in April to the municipal manager requesting an investigation into the conduct of Dyakala. In the complaint, Mkhwane claimed that Dyakala was sitting on documents that implicate the CFO in possible financial misconduct but still had…

ICYMI | IOL.CO.ZA 3 THINGS TO DO IN GAUTENG THIS WEEKEND Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it RONALD REAGAN 40th president of the United States With level 2 lockdown allowing inter-provincial travel, domestic travellers can venture out and explore. Here are some places to visit in Gauteng this weekend: Dinokeng Game Reserve, Hennops Hiking Trail and Modderfontein Reserve. | IOL…

MYTH Men are not superior to women HOSIA SITHOLE THE discovery of the bodies of five women in Mtwalume on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, two during Women’s Month, is a microcosm of a disquieting picture of moral degeneration and highlights a persistence in the blood-curdling acts of violence directed towards women. Daily we hear stories of women subjected to atrocious experiences at the hands of their partners. This has especially been the case during the lockdown period due to the spread of Covid-19, with women left open to domestic violence. Sadly, most of these acts of gender-based violence go unnoticed or unreported, making the family a tool for dehumanising women. Women are of the view that rampant cases of rape and murder occurring with increasing frequency permeate every sector of…

POLITICS Debunking the Gordhan myth Give credit where it’s due, the EFF is right about Gordhanism and the hypocrisy MOLIFI TSHABALALA Pictures: African News Agency (ANA) Graphic: Mallory Munien “LET us not lose the class perspective and ideological analysis when (we are) dealing with issues of development,” urged EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, delivering his maiden speech in Parliament, “because once we lose proper revolutionary theory and tools of analysis, any revolution is going to fail.” This must be a guiding principle of his seven-year-old party. Representing a vibrant re-emergence of Pan-African intelligentsia, the EFF is good at perusing, analysing, and contextualising intra-ANC factional dynamics in its pursuit of black economic freedom, particularly for the Africans, largely owing to the fact that it is born of the liberation movement. Along with…

EDITORIAL ANC’s reason for new Gumede gig is quite weak “WHEN plunder becomes a way of life, men create for themselves a legal system that authorises it and a moral code that glorifies it.” These words are credited to the 19th century philosopher Frederic Bastiat. They still ring true today and are quite relevant in assessing political developments of this week. Around this time last year, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal recalled eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede after she was arrested on corruption charges related to the multi-million rand Durban Solid Waste tender. This week Gumede, who is out on R50000 bail, was sworn in as a member of the provincial legislature in KZN, a move that has shocked and angered many. KwaZulu-Natal’s ANC has defended the Luthuli House-approved deployment and listed…

INDIA Political parties vow to fight for Kashmir’s self-rule SRINAGAR: Half a dozen political parties vowed yesterday to fight for restoration of the special status that was stripped last year from Indian-administered Kashmir, setting off widespread anger and economic ruin amid a harsh security clampdown. Four pro-India Kashmiri political parties and two Indian political parties, including the main opposition Congress Party, said in a joint statement that India’s move “unrecognisably changed the relationship” between the region and New Delhi. It called the changes “spitefully shortsighted and unconstitutional” and sought to “collectively fight” them. On August 5, last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government passed legislation in Parliament that stripped Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, scrapped its separate constitution and removed inherited protections on land and jobs. The region was also…

Double storm threat to US Gulf Coast SAN JUAN: Two tropical storms advanced across the Caribbean yesterday as potentially historic threats to the US Gulf Coast, one dumping rain on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands while the other was pushing towards the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Tropical storms Laura and Marco were both projected to approach the US Gulf Coast at or near hurricane force and could take them to Texas or Louisiana. Two hurricanes have never appeared in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time, according to records going back to at least 1900, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. AP…

APPOINTMENT Marketing success for women, diversity LESEGO MAKGATHO lesego.makgatho@inl.co.za “IT MAKES me think the industry I’m in has been waiting and wanting for moves like this to be made within – where women and black people are given the opportunity to lead, and meaningfully so,” said Uyanda Manana, on her new appointment as MD of digital marketing agency Conversation Lab. The appointment will see Manana manage the agency in and out of Johannesburg. She is also looking to set up a permanent office in Soweto. Manana describes hers as a credible appointment – one based on experience and a proven track record. And she says she is looking for black female strategy and creative talent to take up shares in the business and help flesh out a new leadership team.…

National debt a threat to service delivery SIPHELELE DLUDLA siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za HOUSEHOLD consumer debt owed to the government is getting worse as struggling consumers fail to honour their bills, a move that could hamper the government’s efforts to deliver services. The National Treasury this week said that South African households held R133.9 billion of outstanding debt to the country’s 257 municipalities during the year ended in 2020. The Treasury’s local government revenue and expenditure report showed that the aggregate municipal consumer debts amounted to R191.5bn for the period July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Government agencies accounted only for 7.7 percent or R14.8bn of the total outstanding debtors while the largest component of this debt, 69.9 percent, related to households. The Treasury admitted that the outstanding municipal debts by households…

BIZ 101 Measuring employee performance remotely ASPECTS of our new normal are likely to stay indefinitely, even as the country moves to level 2 of the national Covid-19 lockdown. Among these would be working from home, with many businesses opting to allow employees to continue with the principle. Like any other workplace practice, remote working has pros and cons for both employers and employees alike. It is important to address any apprehensions as early as possible in order to ensure everything continues running smoothly, regardless of where staff are based. A common concern that many businesses have with remote working is performance measurement – especially for those who have hired new staff over the past five months. It is indeed difficult to manage the performance of a person you have…

STARS TANYA OBREZA ARIES (MARCH 21 - APRIL 20) You feel ambushed and perhaps being forced in directions you don’t want to go. Yet through all this, you’ll end up the winner. Romantically, there’s plenty to hope for. TAURUS (APRIL 21 - MAY 20) This week keeps you on your toes. Stay calm and in control, and there’s precious little you can’t manage. Love plays its dizzy game. GEMINI (MAY 21 - JUNE 21) Encouraged by stronger ambition, your desire for independence and success is even greater than usual. Stop talking about what you would like to do – instead, get busy, and do it. CANCER (JUNE 22 - JULY 22) If I say there’s change on the way, don’t run. While things may be flowing a tad too swiftly…

MOTOGP Red hot Espargaro burns up track for pole SPANISH rider Pol Espargaro claimed a first MotoGP pole position for KTM at the Styrian Grand Prix in Spielberg yesterday, while Valentino Rossi finished 15th after a crash. Espargaro will be starting at the front of the grid for the first time in the premier class after producing a blistering lap of one minute 23.580 seconds at the Red Bull Ring. KTM have already impressed with their pace this season as they claimed their first-ever MotoGP victory, courtesy of rookie Brad Binder in Brno earlier this month. LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami put Espargaro’s lap under serious threat on his final run but his effort was chalked off for exceeding track limits as he settled for a career-best second spot. Avintia Ducati’s…