Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-07-25 i Sunday Independent

Vivian Warby vivian.warby@inl.co.za As more than 360 malls and shopping centres were burnt down and looted, a handful remained standing during South Africa’s recent week of unrest, violence and looting. The Maponya Mall – the biggest shopping mall in Soweto – was one of those saved. It was held guard by community members, led by Nhlanhla Lux Dlamini, a member of the Soweto Youth Parliament. Thanks to communities, there were those who, without a second thought, jumped in and protected properties against being accessed by vandals and looters when police and private security companies could not act. “This is not the ideal situation… but it does bring to light the role that communities can play beyond simply being one-way beneficiaries of ‘feel-good’ CSI initiatives,” says SA Institute of Black Property…

Protecting your business from riots and disaster Ben Bierman THE unrest that began in KwaZulu-Natal and spread to other parts of the country has come at a great cost to local businesses and the economy. EThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda estimated that the loss of stock and damaged infrastructure caused by the looting and riots, which started in early July, stands at around R160 billion. The South African Property Owners Association estimates that more than 45 000 businesses and 50 000 informal traders were affected. While no one could have predicted the scale of the riots and the effect it would have on businesses, there are some protective measures than can be taken against such events. Be Prepared For Any Eventuality South Africa has a high unemployment rate and remains…

Buhle Mbonambi buhle.mbonambi@inl.co.za I should have immediately guessed that Mine would not be like any other Korean drama I had watched before. The tone was different, as was the cinematography, set design and of course, the wardrobe. Minutes into the first episode, I paused it. Was that nun carrying a Hermes Birkin bag? I pressed play. The woman she was walking with was wearing what appeared to be a designer blazer, a Salvatore Ferragamo bag and a Fendi watch. And those were just the hors d’oeuvres. A whole decadent buffet, complete with all the trimmings and indulgent desserts, was waiting for me. Mine is a Korean drama about two women married into a powerful family, the Hans. Their world is rocked when two new women – a tutor and a…

Buhle Mbonambi IT was while listening to Kabomo Vilakazi's debut album, 2011’s All Things Grey, that I rediscovered and fell in love with Sankomota’s Papa. The musician, writer and actor covered the song, and I realised I hadn't heard it in years. He did it in a way that made you appreciate his take on the song, while reminding you how special Tsepo Tshola’s voice was. Papa was made for Tshola’s voice. And what a voice it was. After hearing Kabomo’s cover of Papa, I remember digging out my Sankomota CD and playing it non-stop for a few weeks. It took me back to the car rides with my grandfather, who was a fan of both Sankomota and its lead singer, Tshola. Tshola, affectionately known as the Village Pope, had…

Alyssia Birjalal alyssia.birjalal@inl.co.za ACTRESS Kim Engelbrecht is the talk of the town and she is about to set many more tongues wagging. Her upcoming crime drama Reyka, in which she stars as the lead, Reyka Gama, premieres on M-Net tonight at 8pm. She has also just bagged a role on the second season of Ridley Scott’s HBO series Raised by Wolves and was on set when I interviewed her. Many people may remember Engelbrecht from the popular soapie Isidingo, but after that international doors opened for her. It has been a decade of Engelbrecht actively courting and winning over Hollywood. She has starred in Dominion, which saw her build a cult following with her character Noma, The Flash and also bagged a role on the Gavin Hood directed thriller…

Manyane Manyane manyane.manyane@inl.co.za A raid to recover goods stolen during the rampant looting that characterised the recent civil unrest in parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal has left a 41-year-old man feeling robbed after the police allegedly confiscated things he had proof that he bought. Mkhambi Mthimkhulu, a resident of Boiketlong informal settlement in Sebokeng, had to rush home from work after receiving a call from his neighbours that police had broken into his house during a raid. This was after members of the SA Police Service and the SA National Defence Force were deployed in the informal settlement as part of the so-called “show me your receipt” campaign. Mthimkhulu's gate and burglar bars were broken, and the wardrobes and cupboards ransacked in the early morning operation on Thursday. “When I…

Edwin Naidu edwin.naidu@live.co.za Council members at UCT have finally approved a bullying policy. This comes after repeated calls for rules to hold accountable staff members through proper procedures and processes when addressing such complaints. Spokesperson for UCT, Elijah Moholola, confirmed that the university council had approved the bullying policy in June. Although no longer at the university, the adoption of the policy is a major victory for former Ombud Zetu Makamandela-Mguqulwa, whose decade at UCT ended on December 31 as the university controversially ran down the clock on her term without addressing 37 complaints of bullying by academics and staff against the vice-chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng in her 2019 Ombud report. Moholola did not say what had become of the complaints against Phakeng. The university also muzzled the Ombud via…

Prashirwin Naidu VETERAN actress and producer Ayanda Borotho is a confident, bold, unapologetic and an independent woman. Her craft is rooted in love and words. “It is ministry to me, this is a responsibility and privilege to be in a position not only where you have such a huge audience but have the credibility to speak and for people to listen. “It is a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. This was gifted to me by God, so I have to be responsible for that gift,” she says. As creator and executive producer of Nqobile, along with Adze Ugah and Nobuntu Webster, which premiered last Monday on DStv’s Mzansi Magic on channel 161 at 8pm, Borotho and her team have created a buzz with the new 13-part series. It tells…

Manyane Manyane manyane.manyane@inl.co.za Government officials are not singing from the same hymn sheet on the root cause of the violent scenes that played out in the country over the past two weeks. This follows the demonstrations calling for former president Jacob Zuma to be released from prison morphing into civil unrest, largely taking the shape of rampant looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. President Cyril Ramaphosa initially pointed to the state of chaos as being driven by ethnic mobilisation and later described it as a “failed insurrection”. However, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula disagreed, saying the military had no evidence to that effect. Meanwhile, State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo said her department had compiled a dossier warning of the unrest, and handed it over to the Police Ministry. But…

“Tell no lies, and don’t spin it.” These words spun in my head this past week as I was replaying the recent mayhem whereby the country literally went into flames after the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma. The act of jailing Zuma is something that no one would have expected, especially for the crime of contempt of court following his failure to appear before the Zondo Commission. The fact is that before this conviction by the Constitutional Court, Zuma had never been convicted of any crime. However, the court of public opinion has already convicted him of corruption, state capture, theft and so forth. His detractors continue to sponsor the narrative that he and his allies are thieves and that “the ANC has never sent anyone to steal”, and…

Chad Williams Chad.Williams@africannewsagency.com WEST Africa has been identified as a climate-change hot spot, with climate change expected to lessen crop yields and production and impact food security, says the UN. Largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture, the Sahel is regularly hit by droughts and floods have led to conflicts between crop farmers and cattle herders over the past few years. Who better to talk about the issues facing farmers in West Africa than a farmer himself? Meet Art Melody, a farmer-turned rapper from Burkina Faso. During the day, he works the land that feeds him and by night, he raps about the adverse effects of climate change. The rapper who works on his farm on the outskirts of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, hopes to inspire the younger generation and give them…

Uganda has begun the construction of a 6.6-billion Ugandan shillings (about $1.8-million) water and sanitation facility aimed at ending the water crisis in seven villages. Restrooms for schools are included, as well as consumer yard connections, storage and treatment facilities, pump stations and pipe networks. The facility, located in Amuru District, will serve more than 23 000 people. The area lacks access to clean water as it has been prone to flooding and drought. |…

AT last, the time has arrived. Tatjana Schoenmaker has been preparing for the Olympic stage for the last four years, and now her dream is about to become reality. The South African swimming star will take to the pool today in the 100m breaststroke heat five (12.45pm) in the first of her two events at the Tokyo Olympics, with the 200m breaststroke starting on Wednesday (heat four at 12.45pm). She is in great form, having set new national and African records in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events at the SA championships in April – 30.42 seconds, 1:05.74 and 2:20.17 respectively. Schoenmaker has worked hard in training over the last month or two, and is one of the favourites for the 200m title, where she is ranked…

Debashine Thangevelo debashine.thangevelo@inl.co.za A reality TV show can be a hit or a miss, depending on what the viewer is looking to take away from it. Keeping Up with the Kardashians (KUWTK) sold beauty, entrepreneurship, fame and success as a glamorous family unit. And for 20 glorious seasons, viewers lapped up every melodramatic moment as the royal family of reality TV navigated their way through triumphs and failures in their personal and professional lives. Scandals were a double-edged sword. It made them more popular but also easy targets. I loved that it also explored their Armenian roots along the way. The exposure to different cultures, especially in the lives of the rich and famous, have manifested in a plethora of offerings including The Real Housewives franchise, Bling Empire, Selling Sunsets,…

Clubhouse is open for all Just a year after launching, the audio-only app has announced that it would no longer require users to have an invite to join the app, as it is now available to everyone on iOS and Android. The University of Cape Town has partnered with Valenture Institute, an edtech start-up to start an online high school. Valenture's proprietary learning technology, analytics, and learner-support model will be used in delivering the UCT Online High school platform. Sipho Maseko will step down as group chief executive and executive director of Telkom and its subsidiaries on June 30 next year. The process to appoint a successor is under w​​ay and a designate group chief executive will be announced in the not-too-distant future. The national transport operator says it…

Government’s plan to destroy looted goods is devoid of moral logic Pali Lehohla ACTING Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni’s statement regarding the treatment of looted goods bears no political, economic, social or moral logic. That perhaps the government has decided to destroy the goods is devoid of any comparator and the circumstances pertinent in South Africa. The statement said the goods, if left to circulate, will collapse the price of marketable goods. The stolen goods are as though they are equivalent to the gold that the 14th century Mansa Musa of Mali distributed and thus collapsed the price of gold. His Mali empire was the largest producer of gold in the world. Ntshavheni, argues that the quantum of the loot will collapse the prices of goods and services…

In 2016 Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu delivered the Bantu Biko Memorial Lecture which still rings with truths uttered by this wise man. In his speech Tutu bemoaned the state of the black person, exasperated that the black person’s life was not where it should be. He postulated that he did not believe Biko’s Black Consciousness finished what it was set out to do. According to the archbishop, the apartheid past damaged communities. He did not understand why people would trash the streets and break shop windows when registering disdain for authority. Yet he supported assertiveness, saying black people needed to love themselves so as to be liberated internally. His words reverberated in my mind as I observed the plunder last week in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, grateful the other seven provinces…

Edwin Naidu South Africans are staring down the barrel of another massive fuel price increase next month. But, there’s a long way to go before motorists opt for environmentally-friendly electric vehicles. Petrol is expected to rise by 87c per litre, next month, meaning that, one could pay as much as R18.26 per litre of 95 Octane in Gauteng and inland provinces and R17.54 in coastal areas in the Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal. Unleaded Octane 93 may spike to R17.55 a litre on the coast and R18.07 inland. Diesel is expected to rise by 58c. It is forecast to cost R15.66 in Gauteng and inland areas, while on the coast one may pay R15.05 a litre. With petrol edging towards R20 a litre, the AA’s Layton Beard, said there are…

Tshepiso Tshabalala Communities affected by the recent civil unrest are leading from the front in cleaning up shopping centres that were looted and burnt. Almost 200 of these establishments were affected countrywide, leaving 800 stores with damage that could cost billions of rand to repair. Disheartened community members in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng this week joined forces with the cleaning companies and employees of these shops to assist them to restore the buildings to their former state. Nokuhle Dladla, the secretary of the Makgetha community forum in Senaoane, Soweto, was among the several volunteers participating in the clean-up operation. She said she was heartbroken with what had transpired and wished that the malls were spared the wrath of the looters as this would only come back to haunt…

Roland Mpofu roland.mpofu@inl.co.za Justice delayed is justice denied. That’s the sentiment of the families of the Life Esidimeni patients who died during the marathon relocation project as the inquest stumbles from postponement to postponement. “Why is it such a tortuous process to get justice?” a frustrated relative asked this week after hearing that Judge Mmonoa Teffo, who is chairing the virtual hearing into the 144 deaths of psychiatric patients, postponed the inquest for the second time to next month. Teffo postponed the hearing, which was set to continue on Friday at the North Gauteng High Court, after it had been postponed on Wednesday due to concerns about legal representation for potentially implicated government officials who had dealt with the transfer of patients. Those implicated, including the former director of mental…

This bitter cold winter has engulfed all parts of the country, including KwaZulu-Natal, which used to be warm throughout the year. The warm and fuzzy climes have changed – extremes of the weather – are taking place. But change they still do. Spring and summer will soon be beckoning. Similarly, the recent failed insurrection and counter-revolutionary activity has had a terrible impact – more than 300 people are dead. Unlike the weather, and the destruction of property which may be repaired, these people are permanently gone. Their families and neighbourhoods are distraught, and will be mourning them for a long time to come. Yet, these communities and others elsewhere have taken things in their own hands, stopping some of the attempted destructive activity. People, rightly said: “not in our neighbourhood”.…

“WE must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” Martin Luther King, Jr’s words came to mind when I saw the damage done to people’s lives in Phoenix in particular. In Phoenix, we are not counting the damage of property and burnt buildings during looting but the damage of racism and hatred that erupted in the name of protecting property. Black African brothers and sisters were shot and clubbed to death, just because they were walking around the area at the time the looting was taking place. Indeed, what happened was not only in Phoenix and Chatsworth but even in Lotus Park. It was evidence of the back-seated tension that has not been spoken about openly, for fear that it would raise tension. Historically, we know…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za THINGS do not get much easier for the South African Under-23 football team as they prepare to play against France in their second Group A fixture in Saitama, Japan this morning. Both sides are not at full strength and low in confidence. David Notoane’s side heads into the game on the back of a 1-0 defeat to hosts Japan while the French were mauled 4-1 by Mexico in their tournament opener. The South Africans have been hit by several withdrawals due to the pandemic while the France team is hardly inspiring, made up mainly of untested youth and veterans who are well past their prime. While France will go into the contest as favourites, South Africa have nothing to lose and can fancy their chances. France may…

Clinton Moodley THE DEMAND for second residency and citizenship programmes has risen significantly within the South African market, following this month’s unrest in most parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng and the country’s snail-paced vaccine roll-out. The founder and chief executive of LIO Global, Nadia Read Thaele, explained that dual citizenship provides the safety and peace of mind that many look for and secures their investment into politically and economically stable countries. She explained that Citizenship By Investment (CBI) programmes, whether into property or by way of a government donation, allow for dual citizenship. “These programmes are ideal for South Africans who do not want to leave the country but seek a Plan B option. People are feeling nervous, and dual citizenship offers easier travel despite lockdown conditions.The number of families…

Clinton Moodley People are having copious amounts of sex on holiday, with some ditching the hotel for some steamy romps in places you may never think they would at a new destination. The Vacationer's Sex Travel 2021 Survey takes a closer look at American travellers and their sexcapades during their travels. The survey participants delve into whether holiday sex was better than at home, their sex standards, one-night stands and who was getting down and dirty on public transport like buses, trains, planes and even on rideshare. The Vacationer surveyed 500 American adults over the age of 18 in June. According to the survey, around 29% experienced a one-night stand on vacation, with 17.80% having done it more than once. Nearly 23% stated they had sex on public transport…

Clinton Moodley South Africa’s once-thriving travel and tourism sector has been dealt a bad hand this past year and a half. In between the countless lockdown restrictions due to Covid-19, travel bans, recent violence and looting and travellers’ negative perceptions of crime, the industry has encountered some of its greatest adversities. Now in its third wave, the travel and tourism industry has constantly battled the odds, with some sadly bowing out due to the heavy impositions. The wine tourism industry, for example, had to shut their businesses for months due to alcohol restrictions, and top tier hotels, once the talk of the town with celebrity check-ins, temporarily halted operations. Jobs hung in the balance. Despite this, the industry hung on, leapt forward with innovative ideas and ensured that the world…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za The impact of last week’s looting and violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng on consumer confidence would determine the outcome on the residential property market, industry analysts say. The looting and unrest did not appear to have had a massive impact on KwaZulu-Natal’s middle-income residential property market, although the top end of the market was probably dented, Harcourts chief executive Richard Gray said. He said agents at the 36 offices in KwaZulu-Natal did not expect the middle-income market in the province to be severely affected by the rioting. The dent in security and investor confidence, however, might have a bigger impact on the higher end of the property market, said Gray. He said he was more concerned about the effects on the market amid the weak economy. Seeff…

MANY don’t know but South Korean culture or K-culture trends began in the 1980s. Today, South Korea is considered a major exporter of popular culture. It started with the K-dramas then the K-pop which spread like a wildfire all across East, Southeast, South Asia and the rest of the world. The development of social networking services and online video sharing platforms, especially YouTube, played a big role in the K-culture explosion worldwide. This heavily impacted contemporary cultures, such as the music industry, film industry, television industry, and behavioural aspects of people throughout the world. Today these are the five most popular K-culture trends among the global youths. Webtoons It originated in South Korea, but now it has gained immense traction among those between 15 – 24 years old. This new…

Alyssia Birjalal alyssia.birjalal@inl.co.za Salt your popcorn and turn down the lights, South Africa’s longest-running film festival, the Durban International Film Festival has started and runs until August 1. For the second year, the festival is taking place virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it still boasts a programme of close to 140 feature films, documentaries and shorts. The festival opened with the action-thriller The Eagle’s Nest, a migration and poverty story by award-winning Cameroonian-born, British-based Olivier Assoua. The closing film is Threshold, an autobiographical documentary made by Brazilian director Coraci Ruiz. It tells the story of a mother who follows the gender transition of her adolescent son between 2016 and 2019. At the same time, the mother also goes through a process of transformation by breaking old paradigms, facing…

Buhle Mbonambi buhle.mbonambi@inl.co.za IT’S the 17th season of Idols South Africa and I, once again, decided to give it a chance and tune in. Part of me did it to understand why, after so many years, the show remains so popular and ranks as one of the most watched on Mzansi Magic. Other times it’s to remind myself why I should check out – permanently. I always go in with a clean slate, ready to dine on what the producers, Gavin Wratten and Proverb (who also hosts the show) have served to make the show feel fresh. With the pandemic making shows like Idols SA challenging, I wanted to see how they would tackle the limitations when it came to the auditions. This year’s entries were uploaded online, with only…

KARABO NGOEPE and MZILIKAZI WA AFRIKA AS SOUTH Africa’s third-largest political party turns eight years tomorrow, it is now looking to cement itself as a challenger to the ANC and take over government. This week, the party’s deputy president Floyd Shivambu sat down with the Sunday Independent to reflect on the past eight years and share plans for the future. Shivambu believes that the party will be in government in the next ten years. “With the consistency that defines the party and strengthening internal systems, it looks like we are going to be in power within the next ten years. We are going to be an outright winner of elections. “If not in the 2024 general elections, most definitely in 2029, the EFF will be in government alone. Our growth…

Edwin Naidu edwin.naidu@live.co.za Former broadcaster Kieno Kammies is going back to school. Born in Elsies River, Cape Town, Kammies, has been announced as the head of culture at the newly-launched University of Cape Town’s online school, which seeks to disrupt private education with a budget-beating offering for grades 8 to 12 pupils from 2022. “A big part of my role entails making sure the overall culture is welcoming, empowering and uplifting. This essentially allows the strategic imperatives to be realised,” said Kammies, whose career as a broadcaster began with him making coffee in the Reuters newsroom three decades ago, and learning from news legend Jimi Matthews. He is hoping that his “can-do” attitude, which propelled him through life, would rub off on pupils at the university’s school. The UCT Online…

Don Makatile don.makatile@inl.co.za At THE Brixton Cemetery in Joburg, men, women and their children live among the dead. Cheek by jowl. What was originally intended as a tombstone in memory of the dead is now a bed for the living. At 12 degrees Celsius, Friday was among the coldest days in Joburg, and the folks of Brixton Cemetery, those who can still walk and feel the chill in their bones, were gathered around an open fire. Like a normal place anywhere else that people call home, a myriad activities were playing themselves out on the day. A man was taking a bath, another was washing his clothes, while others were out in the streets, eking out a semblance of a living. There’s a common thread that runs through the…

Manyane Manyane manyane.manyane@inl.co.za Leaders of the 1976 Soweto uprising believe the recent civil unrest, which saw shopping centres and warehouses being looted and public infrastructure destroyed in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, was caused by government’s empty promises to the people who voted them into power. Protests broke out over a week ago, a day after former president Jacob Zuma began serving his 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court for his refusal to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. The protests quickly turned into looting as crowds raided shopping malls and warehouses, hauling anything and everything they could lay their hands on, including food, clothes and furniture, as the police stood by, seemingly powerless to act. This sparked an uproar from many sectors of society…

AS SOUTH Africa’s feel-good stories trickle in in the aftermath of the recent violent unrest, the government would be wise to appreciate what social scientists often refer to as the “compression of time and space”, or the vitality of time and speed. South Africa experienced its worst social turmoil in the democratic era, leaving in its wake fatalities thus far said to be 215 and still rising as the Phoenix racial saga unravels. As it never rains but pours for the Ramaphosa administration, the onslaught of Covid-19’s third wave seems to be a cruel turn of fate. But, thankfully, every cloud has a silver lining. For us South Africans, it comes in the form of China’s undertaking to supply the country with no fewer than 10 million doses of Sinovac…

I WAS 9 years old when I witnessed the horrific 1949 riots. At that time, I was gripped with fear, disbelief and anger. We lived at the Phoenix Settlement, in then eNanda, established by Mahatma Gandhi and over the nine years of my life, I had only seen friendship, love and mutual respect among the local African and Indian communities. Suddenly what happened? My little mind could not fathom. My parents and friends from the neighbourhood explained to me that this was orchestrated to sow division in the community. My friends assured me that Phoenix Settlement would never be attacked as it was reputed to be a holy site in the community. I witnessed a coming together of our leaders such as Chief Albert Luthuli, Dr Monty Naicker and others.…

Tanzania will become the first East African country to operate electric trains. Forty-two electric trains are expected to arrive in the country by November from Germany and South Korea, Kenyan digital news platform Tuko reported. Once the electric trains have arrived, a section of the country’s Standard Gauge Railway, a 184km stretch from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro which is now more than 90% complete, will be tested. |…

Debashine Thangevelo Aside from South Africa producing world-class shows, actors are shining in roles where they have gone against the grain. Nthati Moshesh bagged the role of her career when she was cast as the Mary Ndlovu (aka Mother Mary), the Machiavellian protagonist in BET’s first telenovela, Isono. Let’s not forget about Shannon Esra’s magnificent performance in M-Net’s Double Jeopardy-esque drama, Lioness, where, circumstances transformed her from a suburban housewife to a lethal seeker of justice. Vusi Kunene, who built a career playing the baddie, has traded his menacing ways to play the lead as a fashionista, founder and owner of a fashion label in e.tv’s new telenovela, House of Zwide. More recently, Sonia Mbele has joined the bandwagon. The seasoned actress and producer is known for gravitating…

Slanghoek Mountain Resort in the Western Cape boasts family camping, safari tents, log cabins, chalets and luxury eco units. Ideally situated just a stone’s throw away from the N1 and one hour away from Cape Town, the resort is close to some of the finest wine farms, hiking spots and MTB trails. The famed attraction will introduce six luxury mountain cottages that showcase spectacular views of the valley and mountains. Each self-catering unit accommodates four people. Visit www.slanghoekresort.co.za/. Grimaldi’s Cucina & Sushi Bar is set within the picturesque and historic Durban Country Club, with views of the Indian Ocean. Grimaldi’s Cucina & Sushi Bar offers both al fresco and indoor dining. Whether you settle on the open veranda or relax indoors, the Amalfi Coast-inspired design and décor will make you…