Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-06-13 i Sunday Independent

Ben Bierman JUNE 16 will this year mark the 45th anniversary of one of the most pivotal events in South African history when thousands of students took to the streets to protest against an unequal and unjust schooling system. While 1976 brought many realities to light, the most poignant reality – one which I have been reflecting on recently – is that the opinions, words and actions of our youth matter. What the youth believe, say and do plays a central role in what the future of this country will look like. Despite challenges, the youth still offer hope. We reached a concerning milestone in our democracy as the youth unemployment rose to 46.3 percent in the first quarter, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. We have to acknowledge that…

Kelly Jane Turner kelly.turner@africannewsagency.com The goal to end Aids by 2030 could be achievable, according to the latest UN Programme on HIV/Aids (UNaids) report, and while many countries have taken great strides to end their HIV epidemics, some countries and entire regions may have stalled their progress. A total of 38 million people are living with the virus to date. In eastern and southern Africa, there are 20.6 million people living with HIV, but only 16 million people are currently accessing treatment. Southern Africa has the heaviest burden of HIV, according to the report, and the most vulnerable groups are often the most-affected by recurrent crises, facing increased poverty, food insecurity and vulnerability to HIV. Young women in sub-Saharan Africa continue to be the most- affected by the…

Nosipho Nyide nosipho.nyide@inl.co.za THE year 2000 can be compared to the last year when many thought the world was coming to an end, thanks to the global pandemic. Even though things are slowly going back to normal, there is no promise that the future is going to be any better. This may be why Gen Zs have been gravitating back to fashion trends from the year 2000 (Y2K), which was a simpler time, full of promise, if you did not believe the world was going to end, of course. The Y2K aesthetic started around the late 1990s, when people were both terrified and excited about the rise of technology. While some were looking forward to the new era, others feared that 2000 would be the end of the world due…

From P1 This means the power producers would be able to produce power without going through a long process with the energy regulator. Ramaphosa said the IPPs would be allowed to generate up to 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity as part of dealing with the energy crisis crippling the economy, and said this would relieve Eskom from the current pressure. Shaku said the IPPs were a gradual introduction of privatised energy production and supply without having to go the traditional way of privatising Eskom, because they wanted to avoid the resistance from trade unions. “The introduction of IPPs and the subsequent reduction of Eskom’s energy supply will mean energy production and supply is dominated by private corporations whose insatiable desires to maximise profit means they will cut costs of production…

Mzilikazi Wa Afrika SOUTH Africa is expected to expel over 200 diplomats, from more than 10 different African countries – including Lesotho, Malawi, Burundi, Guinea, and Rwanda – over the next weeks, over a multimillion-rand duty-free booze scandal. Last week, about 17 diplomats were shown the door, including the expulsion last Thursday of Duwa Mutharika, daughter of the late Malawi president Bingu Wa Mutharika and the niece of the former president Peter Mutharika, who was defeated during the 2020 elections reruns. The Malawian government issued a press statement on Friday, where it acknowledged that it had been informed that some of its diplomats “abused their diplomatic privileges” and declared persona non grata. The statement added that the Malawian government “has since conveyed its regrets to the Republic of South…

The front page article (Sunday May 30) by Roland Mpofu states India's healthcare facilities ran out of oxygen supply which led to a loss of “millions of lives”. My emphasis. This is shamefully inaccurate, consequently inaccurate and undermines your newspaper's integrity. Figures on May 30 cite around 326 000 fatalities from Covid-19 in India – each one a tragedy yet hardly “millions of lives”. The world figure is around 3.35 million. If the figure quoted is a misprint or some sort of typo, it needs to be corrected urgently, prominently and with a suitable apology – including from whoever edits material. Who checks material prior to publication? It was glaringly obvious to me at first sight. My confidence in your reporting has been shaken. – Christine Kuch, Senderwood. I agree…

Five-star Amanda Maliba amanda.maliba@inl.co.ca After a year-long pause due to the lockdown and other Covid-19 restrictions, the Laid Back Sessions – a lifestyle event, is making its return next month. Dubbed as the “Kasi edition”, the upcoming get-together will make its debut showcase to the township market, as opposed to its usual five-star graded venues, and taking the brand back to the people. The quarterly event, launched in 2012, aims to give an entire lifestyle experience that is customised to suit the four seasons in the year with music at its core and pairing the experience with food and fashion. The sessions are co-founded by Sandile Nhlapo and DJ Sipho Mzimela, born and bred in Daveyton, who both wanted to bring an usual cultural experience to enjoying music. An experience…

Tshepiso Tshabalala tshepiso.tshabalala@inl.co.za The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says it is ready to hold the 2021 local government elections in October despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last few weeks, the IEC was caught between a rock and a hard place after political parties called for the polls’ postponement. To assess the readiness for the elections, the commission appointed retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke to conduct a review of what constitutes a free and fair election under Covid-19 circumstances. IEC chairperson Glen Mashinini said this week: “Based on the Constitution, the law, operational readiness for the elections and a thorough assessment of the current pandemic conditions, the commission is of the view that we are technically ready to deliver the elections. Therefore, we believe the 2021…

Tshepiso Tshabalala tshepiso.tshabalala@inl.co.za An art and photographic exhibition aptly themed Fees Must Fall is set to take place in Orlando East, Soweto in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the Soweto uprisings. The exhibition will showcase pictures and artwork from two seasoned photographic journalists and two artists and will take place at Café Bohemia on Wednesday, June 16. Phiri Mtsamai, the owner of Café Bohemia, and art curator Kumayl Molantoa, the people behind the concept, say they are on a mission to take the June 16 commemorations to new heights with their upcoming art exhibition and that the plan was to turn this into an annual event that would attract local and overseas tourists. Says Molantoa: “The youth of 1976 took the struggle to the streets against apartheid education. When…

Shannon Ebrahim shannon.ebrahim@inl.co.za The coming meeting on June 16 between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a moment of critical importance which will determine the trajectory of relations between the two countries. Although it is unlikely that any major breakthrough will take place, the meeting is the first between the heads of state of the two countries in recent years, following relations that have been severely strained. Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its ongoing tensions with Ukraine, and the subsequent imposition of US sanctions, there has been little room for meaningful collaboration on matters of international importance. If anything, US sanctions have failed to alter Russia’s actions in any way. If the tone of the meeting replicates that between US Secretary of…

DEBORAH CURTIS-SETCHELL ONE would be forgiven for thinking that Roland Garros was hosting Euro 2020 on Friday night, such was the extent of the bipartisan howls, emanating from the raucous crowd glued to the riveting semi-final, between reigning “King of Clay”, Rafael Nadal and World No 1 Novak Djokovic, the victor, in a match he described as “the most beautiful I have ever played in Paris”. Nadal has been finally and convincingly dethroned and I think that it is not good for any king to rule for over a decade. A fourteenth coronation would be verging on ‘nepotism'. It is only the second time in the Open era, all four female contenders reached a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time in their collective careers. Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (who…

Pali Lehohla THE Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (Ophi), jointly with the Rockefeller Foundation, released a report, The Interlinkages Between Multidimensional Poverty and Electricity: A study using the global Multidimensional Poverty Index, this month. It is as if this were meant for South Africa, given the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week regarding electricity. The deepening energy crisis in South Africa will sabotage any initiative at socio-economic development. In Davos at the beginning of 2017, then deputy president Ramaphosa, wooing investors to South Africa, made a bold statement that load shedding in South Africa was history. Whatever Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko, the much maligned for corruption duo at Eskom, did under their leadership to bring load shedding under control by August 2016 remains a technical, leadership and…

Unleashing Africa’s potential requires bold and transformative reforms that first begin with mindsets. Just imagine that glorious day when every African excitedly wakes up to live their African dream in Africa and for Africa in the world. Imagine when the positive energy is pounding through their veins, our veins, at the realisation that as a people we have the infinite potential to unlock the true value of Africa for the world. Currently, Africa’s population is almost the same as that of China. Yet, the Chinese economy and GDP is more than six times larger than the GDP of the entire continent of Africa. As one of the most resource-rich continent’s in the world, it is perplexing to try to understand why Africa is still seen as a destitute continent waiting…

Buhle Mbonambi NOMZAMO Mbatha is wearing her philanthropist hat, and has been roped in by the UN Children’s Fund and the Cotton On Foundation to help with a global vaccine fund-raising campaign. The campaign has been launched by Cotton On. Proceeds from the sale of some of their products, including masks and tote bags, are aimed at helping deliver a million Covid-19 vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable people. We spoke to the Coming 2 America star about her philanthropic work and the role the youth can play in doing their bit to curb infections. How did you get into philanthropy? I started in high school. My Grade 8 teacher got me involved in a lot of societies, including Interact, where we visited old-age homes in Sydenham, Durban, bringing them…

BITCOIN TO BECOME A LEGAL CURRENCY IN EL SALVADOR EL SALVADOR has passed a resolution to make Bitcoin a legal currency, which makes it the first country to do so. Under the law, citizens will be able to use Bitcoin to do everything from paying taxes and debts to buying goods and services. The move was championed by President Nayib Bukele. FACEBOOK SMARTWATCH FACEBOOK confirmed on Wednesday that it was working on a smartwatch that might one day connect with augmented reality glasses being developed by the leading social network. Facebook Reality Labs is investing in ways to make AR glasses more useful, unit head Andrew “Boz” Bosworth said in a tweet. He was responding to a Verge report that the social network is aiming to unveil a smartwatch…

FALMOUTH, England: The head of the World Trade Organisation said there was a pathway for a global deal to get more Covid-19 vaccines to developing countries, despite a split over whether drugs firms should be stripped of their intellectual property rights. WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, speaking before joining discussions among leaders of the Group of Seven nations, said she was hopeful there would be more clarity on the way ahead for the IP waiver issue by July. “It may be difficult because some of the positions, maybe, are a little bit far apart, but there is a pathway,” she said. “I would very much like to see some form of progress by July.” WTO members agreed on Wednesday to start formal talks on a plan to boost Covid-19 vaccine supply…

Karabo Ngoepe karabo.ngoepe@inl.co.za THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe into the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) has uncovered that most companies awarded contracts were not accredited or certified to handle or distribute the equipment. Last year, at least R2 billion went to such companies, but the figure is expected to double if not triple after the completion of the SIU probe. PPE contracts have drawn the ire of South Africans as politically connected people have been exposed to have made a killing from the Covid-19 pandemic. In the latest scandal, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has been put on special leave pending an SIU investigation into the R150 million contract awarded to Digital Vibes, a company run by his associates Tahera Mather and Naadhira Mitha. The owner of the company,…

Amanda Maliba amanda.maliba@inl.co.za Twenty-FIVE days since the gruesome mob attack that took place at Honeydew’s Zandspruit informal settlement, members of the community say although the mood in the area is still sombre – there is a sudden drop in the violent crimes that used to be the order of the day. Zandspruit was thrust into the spotlight over three weeks ago when a group of locals tortured and burnt nine young men at the local soccer grounds, accusing them of being behind a spate of rapes, muggings, assaults and housebreakings plaguing the area. Eight of the young men lost their lives. Meanwhile, criminal activity is said to have subsided since May 19. But the big question on everyone’s lips is how long the peace will last. The overcrowded community –…

A response to the concluding paragraph of the review of my latest book, The Great Pretenders: Race & Class under ANC Rule, by Don Makatile, in last week’s edition. In it Makatile states that what he did not like in the book was that “Harvey wants to portray the coloured people as a special-needs category of South Africans who need to be handled with extra velvet kid gloves. This is dangerous – and a false alarm”. I was honestly even more alarmed at these remarks by Makatile than he claims he was, especially when as a journalist I would have expected that he would know what has happened in coloured working-class townships, especially in Cape Town, over the past few years. After all sister newspapers, the Cape Argus and Cape…

Amanda Maliba amanda.maliba@inl.co.ca It is often said that education is the key to success and in a country where unemployment among the youth is at its all-time high, at 63.3% in the first quarter of 2021, getting an education gives one a fighting chance in South Africa’s unstable economy. And while the statement holds true for many who hunger for education, the pupils at Tshepo Ya Rona Secondary School who feel abandoned by the education system. So much so that a group of disgruntled students interrupted classes two weeks ago, before taking to the streets where they further disrupted their neighbouring school, Zakariyya Park Combined School. According to the group of matriculants who spoke to Sunday Independent on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, countless requests had been made…

ON WEDNESDAY, June 16, the country will mark 45 years since June 16, 1976. We do so again, like last year, amid a pandemic, and now as a third wave of Covid-19 looms over the country. The damage done by Covid-19 to the economy cannot be understated. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 1 of 2021, reveals that a million fewer people are employed compared to this time last year, highlighting the sheer scale of the economic crisis. Yet, as South Africa and the world face their greatest crises in recent memory, there are reasons to be hopeful. The SA Revenue Service has reported collecting more taxes than anticipated for the past two quarters, indicating that the economic recovery may be occurring faster than expected. Salary levels for many employees…

ROBERTO Mancini might be laughing now, but the Italy coach will not find it so easy to play down his team’s chances of winning Euro 2020 if they continue like they started. The Azzurri put in a swashbuckling display as they flattened Turkey 3-0 in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Friday to start their campaign in style. The victory marked their 28th consecutive game without defeat, leaving Mancini two games away from equalling double World Cup winning manager Vittorio Pozzo’s all-time unbeaten record from the 1930s. But when asked if his side were now among the tournament favourites, Mancini laughed. “It was important to start well here in Rome and I think we satisfied everyone, for the fans and all the Italians watching. (But) there are six games to go and…

Staff Reporter Nigerian pastor TB Joshua was not your ordinary televangelist. The hugely popular pastor, who died last week, rose to become one of the most influential evangelists on the continent and in the world. Joshua, 57, was the leader of the Synagogue Church of All Nations. Born Temitope Balogun Joshua, the man who started from humble beginnings in Nigeria amassed a huge number of followers who claimed he was a prophet. However, despite his popularity, he was not immune from controversy. Joshua rose to prominence in the 1990s and was known for his claims to cure various diseases and perform miracles. Controversy around him erupted in 2014 when one of his churches collapsed, killing 116 people, of whom 84 were South Africans who had travelled to Lagos to…

Nosipho Nyide nosipho.nyide@inl.co.za A SUGAR baby is a young person who is financially cared for by an older, wealthy sugar daddy or sugar mama in exchange for companionship. Sugar dating or sugaring is the term used to describe the transactional dating practice between two individuals. With over 500 million views under the hashtag #sugarbabies and over 600 million under #sugarbaby, this lavish lifestyle has sparked a lot of attention online. Dubbed the “Sugar Baby School of TikTok”, the content published under the hashtags is not just of people showing off their extravagant lifestyle, but rather, it has become an educational tool for people who want to successfully and safely get into rich people’s hearts and wallets. Whether you end up on sugar baby TikTok through the unpredictable “For You Page”…

Wesley Diphoko South Africa’s unemployment rate reached 32.6% in the first three months of 2021, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) said. It was revealed in Stats SA’s Quarter Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released by Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke on June 1. The data shows that the number of employed persons remained almost unchanged at 15 million. A majority of those unemployed are young people. There’s a group of young people however, who are tackling unemployment head-on. They are creating work for others by setting up companies that are changing the status quo. One of them is Vutlharhi Donald Valoyi who founded Zulzi, an online grocery delivery start-up. His app had more than 80 000 users before lockdown. Since the beginning of April, it has signed up 75 000 new users and employed…

Hannah Good After decades of marginalisation from mainstream publishing, transgender literature is having a moment in the spotlight. Trans literature defies definition, but scholars like LaVelle Ridley, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan, define it as work that thinks critically about gender as a way to process the world. Often, it’s work by trans people, for trans people – but that may be changing, says historian Jules Gill-Peterson. This shift has been signalled by the success of novels like Torrey Peters’ Detransition, Baby, which was among the first by a trans woman to be published by a major house. “We’re often pushed to consider visibility as progress, when in reality, for trans women – especially trans women of colour – our hyper-visibility has not improved our lives,” said…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za THE government may be aiding and assisting the commission of an internationally wrongful act by selling millions of weapons worth billions of rands to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) and Open Secrets have accused President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration of contributing to the killing and suffering of civilians in war-torn Yemen by selling millions of conventional arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Weapons from South Africa have been found at scenes of civilian attacks, according to the two non-profit organisations. In one scene of mass civilian killings in 2018, 120mm mortar rounds produced by Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) or its German parent company Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH were found, according to a United Nations report. RDM was set…

Manyane Manyane manyane.manyane@inl.co.za The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) spokesperson Trevor Shaku has charged that the Eskom energy production crisis was engineered in order to create opportunities for looting and restructuring, which were allegedly contemplated by Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan. “Just like SAA, Eskom’s consciously engineered woes are a premise for privatisation,” said Shaku. “Restructuring spells two things: job losses and higher prices. Restructuring and retrenchments have become synonymous, because labour is a disposable factor of production. They will rather have fewer, overworked labourers than minimise profits,” he said. He was reacting to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement this week that he has authorised amendments to the Electricity Regulation Act to allow the IPPs to increase electricity supply to the national grid. Turn to Page 2…

As the 45th commemoration of the June 16, 1976, student uprisings approaches on Wednesday, those still in school find themselves confronted with a new enemy – Covid-19. Unlike their forebears of 1976, modern-day pupils do not have to run the gauntlet of a bloodthirsty ogre bent on imposing his language on them. But, the new foe is just as ferocious. It is numbing to keep up with Covid-19 infections. By Friday, the country posted 8 020 new cases over a 24-hour cycle, tallying a seven-day average of 6 295 new infections. This is as deadly as the apartheid bullets that the likes of Tsietsi Mashinini, Kgotso Seatlholo, Sibongile Mkhabela, et al, had to run from under the past racist regime. What compounds the problem even more is Minister of Basic…

Lesego Makgatho lesego.makgatho@inl.co.za IF you’ve followed Gugulethu Mhlungu’s work, you’ll know she has contributed to the South African media landscape for nearly a decade. Popularly known as Gugs, she was the deputy editor of Bona Magazine and before then a host of a weekday morning news programme and former talk radio presenter. Her new book, You Have Struck a Rock: Women Fighting for Their Power in South Africa, has been released. In it, Mhlungu looks to answer the question why black women are the most impoverished and vulnerable South Africans to this day, and what can be learned by exploring the lives of women – in the past and the present. Drawing on the experiences of women ranging from political activists to domestic workers, sex workers and students, commentator and…

Roland Mpofu roland.mpofu@inl.co.za One of the bereaved Life Esidimeni beneficiaries, who were awarded R1 million in damages for the loss of a loved one during the infamous relocation of mentally-ill patients to other health facilities across Gauteng, has nothing to show for the money. Tamara van der Merwe* (not her real name) from Johannesburg says she was provided with a lawyer by the Master’s Court to administer her funds, and the lawyer charged her a R40 000 administration fee. Van der Merwe was the sole beneficiary of her elder brother, who died in 2016 after he was transferred to the Cullinan Care and Rehabilitation Centre in Pretoria during the marathon relocation. She was one of the aggrieved family members, who attended daily, the Arbitration Dispute Resolution (ADR) hearings chaired by…

BARELY out of an embarrassingly long quarantine, India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, flew to the US to convince President Joe Biden’s administration to direct some of the 80 million vaccines to India, to fight the surging coronavirus, and allow it to meet its global commitments. India, which was seen as the pharmacy of the world, had to stop promised supplies to various countries after it was devastated by a murderous second surge. Disappointingly, the foreign minister got no firm commitment about the supplies of unused AstraZeneca vaccines. The US clubbed India with other Asian neighbours and was given barely a day’s worth of supplies. India desperately needs the unused AstraZeneca vaccines from the US, to quickly give jabs to its vulnerable population. Up until now, India has vaccinated only 3%…

The June 16 generation crafted its own role in society by mounting a sustained and heroic defiance of the Bantu Education Act no 74 of 1953. Of all the conceivable impediments that stood in their way, this was their main and imponderable foe. They vowed to confront it and paid the ultimate human sacrifice. Before the June 16 uprising occurred, Onkgopotse Tiro blazed a trail with his Turfloop speech at the University of the North’s (now University of Limpopo) graduation ceremony in 1972. He rattled the feeble foundations of a racist educational system and brought the entire system not just into question but to public and unrelenting rebuke. Unable to deal with his truth, the system resorted to its callous nature and suspended and, ultimately, kicked him out. His suspension…

SAMKELO MTSHALI samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za A common rule of thumb in football, for players and managers alike, is that you never go back for a second spell at a football club or national team that you previously enjoyed success with. The game is littered with examples of coaches and managers who ruined their reputations by returning to teams that they previously led to various degrees of success, only for things to go awry in the second spell, all but ruining the romanticism of the first. Earlier this week, former Bafana Bafana mentor Stuart Baxter threw caution to the wind and officially sealed a two-year deal to rejoin a struggling Kaizer Chiefs side that last tasted silverware during Baxter’s first, three-season long spell in charge of the club from 2012 to 2015. On his…

Clinton Moodley Former Miss Universe and current SA IT girl Zozibini Tunzi, 27, is back in South Africa and hopes to spend the next few weeks enjoying some much-needed rest. Earlier this week, Tunzi basked in the KwaZulu-Natal sunshine when she spent time in St Lucia. “When I got to KZN, I was actually panicked at first when I lost my internet connection. And then, when I found out about the wildlife, I was a little scared. But, it really has been so refreshing and one of the most calming times that I’ve had. I came to enjoy not having the internet and a strong phone connection. It forces you to relax. I love the scenery. “The weather is fantastic. I wish I could take it everywhere. I enjoyed the…