Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-08-22 i Sunday Independent

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za ESKOM this week indicated that Northern Cape (NC), sought after for its wind and photovoltaic (PV) opportunities, has run out of grid capacity. Depleted capacity in the Northern Cape will see developers in South Africa’s budding renewable energy industry now needing to consider grid capacity more than access to resources, the company said. In its recently updated Generation Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA) report which tracks space available for new connections, Eskom said any new PV or wind projects will need to look at other provinces such as the Western Cape, North West, Free State or even Limpopo. According to the state owned power utility, the only available option would be to install a slightly more transformer capacity which would only add 150 megawatt (MW) in the short term,…

Ben Bierman EVEN before the outbreak of the coronavirus, some of South Africa’s biggest corporates and parastatals were struggling to break even. In a case that continues to make headlines, South African Airways (SAA) went into business rescue last year and was perhaps the most high profile case to date. Entertainment company, Ster Kinekor followed closely on the air carrier’s heels. And more recently, stationery franchise, CNA was placed under business rescue. Added to this, the effects of the pandemic as well as the recent unrest have highlighted the shortage of business rescue experts in the country. No business, whether large or small, is immune to the turbulent economic conditions we find ourselves in. Business rescue is a legal process that can take months, and even years to conclude –…

Where The Grass Is Green (Lauren Weisberger) The author of the best-selling novel, The Devil Wears Prada, is back with a new light, fun and scandalous read. Her protagonist this time is a morning TV anchor, Peyton Marcus, who lives the perfect life, with a family that’s just as perfect. She has a husband who adores her and a daughter who’s headed to one of the best Ivy League schools. But suddenly a lie unravels everything and their lives are in turmoil. A perfect read to distract from the crazy world we live in. Freedom (Ster Kinekor Theatres) The stage-to-screen trend has finally been realised with South African theatre productions. Freedom, which was staged at the State Theatre, is a musical about the #FeesMustFall movement. The life of Phindile, a…

The proponents of Covid-19 vaccines should always remember that those who refuse to take the vaccines have a right to say no to being injected with a substance that not even medical doctors are privy to its contents. If they are brave enough to take the vaccines, so be it. It’s their prerogative and their life and nobody has a right to question their decision, much as they have no right to push and goad others to take the jab. Who in their right mind can allow themselves to be injected with toxic material that even specialist doctors are refusing to administer to their patients because they say that the contents are kept a secret just like “Kentucky Fried Chicken spices”, as a local renowned heart surgeon has reportedly said.…

Staff Reporters LAW enforcement agencies in the country are on high alert to ensure they are not caught napping this time, as mumblings of a shutdown from tomorrow echo through social media, this week. Yesterday, the South African Police Service's (SAPS) management was in meetings deliberating on whispers of another possible shutdown, especially, in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal. This came as a picture of what is purportedly from Crime Intelligence details a planned "shut down from August 23, 2021 until President Cyril Ramaphosa is removed". The document further stated how people would be armed and in the process, disarm police officers, as well as private security personnel. Sources within the SAPS told the publication that management deliberated at length regarding the threat. "They don't want a similar situation with…

Samkelo Mtshali samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za WITH local government elections looming the DA has picked its candidates for the top positions in the metros, which are to become the key battlegrounds for the polls in the next few months. The official opposition met in Johannesburg yesterday where it decided on who to field to challenge for mayoral positions in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay and the City of Cape Town. Party MP Geordin Hill-Lewis is tipped to become the party’s preferred choice for mayor of Cape Town. The party is targeting to retain the City of Cape Town and Hill-Lewis, who is the party’s spokesperson on finance and serving in Parliament’s standing committee on finance, has been seen as the right man to lead the city post the local government elections. DA…

Abbey Makoe Within a space of one month, 15 lucky South Africans have been drawn markedly close to democratic South Africa’s founding father Nelson Mandela through an online competition that encourages healthy living as a philosophy of life. The popular competition, better known as Whatsinmyfood, is the brainchild of the Heala, acronym for Healthy Living Alliance together with the Centre for Communication Impact (CCI) and their partners. Non-profit organisations Heala and the CCI are part of a concerted global effort aimed at improving public awareness about what we eat and what ingredients the food we eat may contain. The competition kicked off exactly on the international Mandela Day – on July 18, a special date made more important when UN sanctioned it as a day during which the international community…

NOW that the CDC (US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) has announced it will withdraw the PCR test (used to determine Covid-19 status) after December 31 because it is unreliable, what happens next? This announcement opens a can of worms. Where does it leave those who relied upon and those who fought against the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test? More importantly, where does it leave the average person? Let’s begin at the beginning. Dr Kary Mullis, the Nobel Prize-winner in chemistry and inventor of PCR testing, said the PCR test should not be used to detect viruses and diagnose diseases; it was never meant for that. Sadly, he died on August 7, 2019 just before the outbreak of the “PCR pandemic”. PCR testing, nonetheless, continues to form the basis…

President Cyril Ramaphosa, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and the National Coronavirus Command Council face a legal challenge to force them to ease restrictions on gatherings before the local government elections. The EFF wants restrictions relaxed on the number of people allowed to attend gatherings to enable political parties to conclude nominations for candidate councillors. The Electoral Commission of SA has set Monday as the deadline for nominations to be submitted. |…

Chad Williams Chad.Williams@africannewsagency.com A South African chef is making waves as the head chef of a restaurant owned by the Saudi royal family. Leroy Halford, 34, started in the food and beverage industry as a commis (junior) chef working under a section chef. Halford, who graduated in 2005 from Grassdale High School in Grassy Park, Cape Town, went from the classroom to work at the Balducci’s restaurant in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. This is where he worked and learnt the ropes under the guidance of executive head chef Fernando Roman, and ended up working there for around three years. He went on to seek international experience and broaden his culinary horizons by joining the Celebrity Cruises, a cruise line with its headquarters in Miami, Florida, where he worked for…

Two of late football great Diego Maradona’s, pictured, daughters denied charges of alleged digital harassment this week in a case relating to a long-running feud with their father’s former lawyer. Dalma and Gianinna Maradona are accused of harassing Matias Morla with whom they are embroiled in an inheritance dispute. If found guilty of the online harassment, which relates to social media posts the sisters made about Morla, they could be fined, ordered to perform community service or even spend up to five days in jail.…

Mike Greenaway mike.greenaway@inl.co.za LIKE an anaconda enveloping its prey, the Springboks squeezed the life out of the Pumas at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha, their crushing 29-10 win propelling them to the top of the Rugby Championship, but there will be some disappointment that the bonus-point try was not secured. Just when the Boks will play again is anybody’s guess as the Championship hangs in the balance because New Zealand have closed their borders to travel, thrusting the competition into limbo. The Boks and the Pumas were due to board a flight together for Perth today but with that out of the window and the competition on pause, the South Africans can enjoy a break after playing five Test matches on consecutive weekends and winning four of them…

Pali Lehohla MUKONI Ratshitanga, the former chief of staff of erstwhile president Thabo Mbeki, called me towards the end of February asking for Gogo Nontsikelelo Qwelane’s contact details as he felt the urge to visit her after I informed him about this jewel of South Africa in December. I shared the numbers and let Qwelane’s daughter know Ratshitanga would be in touch who while concerned with the health of her mother, was excited about the visit. Ratshitanga tried both numbers but could not get through until it was too late and Qwelane’s breath left her body in late July. Ratshitanga was so impressed by what the centenarian had achieved and eagerly wanted to record her story as the basis for future action, particularly in education. This drive was captured by…

Thobile Mazibuko thobile.mazibuko@inl.co.za The month of August is all about commemorating women and the extraordinary work they do to uplift other women and bring change within their communities. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to celebrate when women and children continue to be the victims of abuse with no justice in the end. And it is because of this that, activists and gender-based violence (GBV) survivors Mbali Shongwe, Tshianzi Tshinaba, Ashlee Abrahams-Fitzgerald, and Tayla Johnson have launched the #MyVoiceForJustice campaign. Through this campaign, they share their survivor stories to highlight how they have been let down by the South African justice system. And with their stories, they hope to empower other women who went through the same fate to let them know that they are not alone. “All South Africans need…

It would appear that the adage “once bitten, twice shy” has no meaning inside the governing ANC – they learn nothing from history. One would have thought that with the acrimonious departure from office of Supra Mahumapelo as Premier of the North West Province in 2018, the ANC would be better prepared to see his successor Job Mokgoro vacate his seat. But alas, it was not to be. If there was a guard on sentry tasked with monitoring Mokgoro’s exit from office over the past three days, he’d inevitably report today that he was none the wiser. Thanks to our deep-throats, we’re in a position to report that Mokgoro is digging in his heels, placing a proviso – that is hitherto not met – before he leaves office. Otherwise, like…

Samkelo Mtshali samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za POLITICAL parties have expressed grave concern over the first-quarter crime stastics announced by Police Minister Bheki Cele, raising the alarm over the spiralling murder rate following the killing of 5 760 people in three months. In shocking statistics, Cele revealed that in the period from April 1 to June 30, the 5 760 murdered people made for a 66.2 % increase in the country’s murder rate, a statistic that has left political parties worried. Cele also said 10 000 women were raped during the same period. Zandile Majozi, the IFP MP and its spokesperson on police, said that the increase in violent and contact crimes, together with the attacks on private property, vehicles, businesses, and individuals, was proof that the country’s police service was unable to…

Lesego Makgatho lesego.makgatho@inl.co.za IF YOU are looking for a slight take on the strides made since the inception of a democratic order in South Africa, you may want to pick up this short autobiography that could easily be read in one sitting. Tales of a Rural Traveller, written by Collen Serite, is an autobiographical novel following the life of Mosupatsela, a young man born into a poverty-stricken family, who rises to make a name for himself in the various circles of life he becomes exposed to. He was born to a father who worked as a truck driver and a mother who was a domestic worker. The story begins in a small village in Limpopo, Ga-Mashashane, where Mosupatsela was raised by his grandparents. It is a tale of childhood aspirations…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has denied that government is using the financial crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to reduce the headcount in the public service. Godongwana told the Constitutional Court that the public servants’ claim is inconsistent with the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, the rule of law, the principle of legality, the doctrine of separation of powers and competing claims to scarce fiscal resources during the Covid-19 circumstances. The apex court will hear arguments in an application for leave to appeal by a number of labour unions representing government employees challenging the Labour Appeal Court’s December 2020 judgment that found the last leg of the three-year wage deal signed in 2018 unlawful and unconstitutional. Godongwana, who replaced Tito Mboweni, earlier this month, following a Cabinet…

UNTIL recently, most of the scholarly work on leadership was focused on male leaders. As a result, male behaviours and characteristics in leadership roles have been the standard against which female leaders are assessed, according to Masentle Lengane, employment equity director at Unisa. She said male-centric leadership models and norms have limited women’s aspirations regarding leadership, as well as their access to leadership roles. The under-representation of women in academic administration suggests that masculine practices and leadership norms function to exclude women. Lengane made her comments in an address on Thursday during a Women’s Month webinar organised by the Higher Education Resource Services South Africa (HERS-SA) and Universities South Africa’s (USAf) transformation managers forum as part of its series on gender transformation in higher education. A qualified teacher, Lengane has…

Responsible investment is no longer a niche offering by financial service providers. It is now an exigency for sound investments, if we are committed to achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. Recent data shows that at the current levels of progress, the UN Sustainable Development Goals will not be met until at least 2082. The UN Principles for Responsible Investment offers the financial sector actions it can take to secure responsible investment that contributes to achieving sustainable growth and development. The question then arises: Do the five BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) need to formulate an ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) standard for member-countries and partners? Climate change is here. The prolonged drought and increasing temperatures in 2019 saw the worst bushfires in Australia’s…

The Helen Suzman Foundation, one of eight parties which the Constitutional Court had asked to file papers in the Jacob Zuma rescission application, says no international law on detaining people was violated in his jailing. The foundation’s submissions seem to concur with the submission of the Zondo Commission and that of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution. The foundation was the last to file its papers on Wednesday and it laid out why it believes Zuma’s application should be dismissed. |…

Molaole Montsho molaole.montsho@africannewsagency.com Africans have a duty to refuse to be treated as second-class citizens, Malawian President Lazarus Chak- wera told the 41st Ordinary Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government in Lilongwe, Malawi. “We, as Africans, have a moral duty to refuse second-class status in the rules of engagement for participating in the global economy. “So, the time has come for us to work together to put the ratified African Free Trade Area to full use until the economic rules that disadvantage our nations are rewritten. “We, as Africans, have a moral duty to refuse second-class status in the restrictions we accept from outsiders for managing our own finances and resources,” said Chakwera. He said African countries were full members of the global…

Shannon Ebrahim shannon.ebrahim@inl.co.za CHINA and Russia have particular strategic interests in Afghanistan that do not involve military intervention and occupation, but rather ensuring stability in the country. Stability would enable the powers to reduce terrorist threats in their backyard, further economic co-operation and, one day, allow them to exploit the country’s vast mineral resources. The lessons from past occupations of Afghanistan are clear – the country has been the “graveyard of empires”, and neither of the powers is going to repeat the mistakes of history. For many years, Russia has been cultivating good relations with the Taliban as it was clear that the US was fighting a losing battle, and it was only a matter of time before the Taliban controlled most, if not all, of the country. Russia…

Kanye West has reportedly bought a £1 million (R15m) Damien Hirst sculpture. The 44-year-old rapper now has the piece of art which was previously owned by late singer George Michael. According to The Sun newspaper, Kanye shared a picture of The Incomplete Truth on Instagram, showing the sculpture of a white dove on a turquoise background. The piece was sold by auctioneers Christie’s following Michael’s death in 2016. Some fans have been speculating that the artwork could be used for the cover of West’s highly anticipated Donda album.…

Morgan Bolton morgan.bolton@inl.co.za Sharks (28) 56 Tries: Louw, Abrahams (3), Buthelezi, Volmink (2), Nohamba; Conversions: Cronje (5), Chamberlain (3) Lions (0) 14 Tries: E Tshituka, Visagie; Conversions: Hendrikse (2) Yellow Cards: Botha (24), Pienaar (42) THERE will perhaps be a piddling amount of relief amongst the Lions that their Currie Cup season has finally ended, such has been their dispirited performances in the tournament this year and especially after this defeat. Make no mistake, the Sharks were brilliant and full value for their crushing victory, playing beautiful attacking rugby, and grinding it out when necessary. It was, nevertheless, a final insult after a long season yesterday at Emirates Airline Park as the Sharks consigned the home team to their seventh loss of the season, beating the…

TESLA TO BUILD ITS OWN ROBOT Tesla is working on a humanoid robot which it will build as a prototype “sometime next year. The humanoid robot will leverage Tesla’s experience with automated machines in its factories, as well as some of the hardware and software that powers the company’s Autopilot driver assistance software. FACEBOOK BANS TALIBAN Less than 48 hours after the Taliban gained control of Kabul, and with it, control over most of Afghanistan, Facebook announced it would ban — to the extent that it could — content related to the Taliban on all its platforms. The social media giant confirmed both the Taliban group itself and user-posted Taliban content would not be allowed on Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. CHINA DATA POLICY PASSED…

Regulatory certainty needed for dope exports to gain momentum Banele Ginindza THE fast-growing cannabis industry in South Africa needs better regulatory clarity with the respective government departments able to talk to each other for it to dominate the potential R56 billion a year potential by 2025. Leading the pack in South Africa is Highlands Investments, which last week successfully exported an 8.5 ton harvest to Europe through Macedonia, where it is to be used for medicinal purposes. Managing director Mark Corbett said the co-ordination between the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), Agriculture and Fisheries and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) was not where it needed to be. “It makes much more sense to extract the product, but growth will be hampered by the regulatory…

From Page 1 “They present to the public a premier-elect when he is not a member of the legislature, and therefore, could not become a (provincial) premier, and is also not on the list. There is no way that he can become premier, and now they are trying to force people to resign, myself included, so space is created for the individual. They are struggling because no one has agreed to resign. It’s a huge embarrassment to the ANC. I can’t understand why our leadership at national (office) was so gullible when this was recommended to them,” he said. Mokgoro and his supporters believe the national ANC was swayed by a report submitted earlier this month. The report was sent to Luthuli House on August 14, complaining about Mokgoro’s conduct.…

Amanda Maliba amanda.maliba@inl.co.ca WHILE many parents feel a lot of conversations like sex, HIV/Aids, and even pregnancy are discussions for “a later stage”, access to information and our current reality as a country has shown us that it is never too early. This week the Gauteng MEC for Health Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi revealed a staggering 23 226 girls fell pregnant between April 2020 and March this year, with a further 934 girls aged between 10 and 14 having given birth. These shocking stats further prove the need for the protection of children and also the importance of extensive conversations on these sensitive topics. Activist Nozibele Qamngana Mayaba has broken into this market by initiating a conversation among children through her latest children’s book I am Still Zuri. The book aims…

Karabo Ngoepe karabo.ngoepe@inl.co.za FOLLOWING the closure of mines in the Middelburg area, the municipality has had to be innovative in responding to job losses and the financial impact on its residents. Apart from mining, a few other sectors generally can overhaul a rural province like Mpumalanga. These include tourism, factories and infrastructure development. The province has already ticked the box with tourism but it only benefits towns that are close to attractions. The Steve Tshwete Municipality has had to go back to the drawing board to seek innovative ways to attract investors. Municipal manager Bheki Khenisa said due to the closure of mines, they decided to focus on infrastructure development as a counter-strategy and become the dominant driver to assist with labour absorption. “One of the things we have done…

Edwin Naidu edwin.naidu@live.co.za UNIVERSITY of Fort Hare vice-chancellor Sakhela Buhlungu will today meet with the family of final-year law student Nosicelo Mtebeni, who was allegedly cut to pieces with a chainsaw, to discuss funeral arrangements so she can be given a dignified burial. In what Buhlungu described as a brutal and horrific death, the dismembered body of the 23-year-old, from Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, was found on Wednesday in a suitcase on a pavement outside a residence in Quigney, East London. A black refuse bag next to the suitcase carried some body parts. Buhlungu described the murder as a dark day in the history of the university. “And the remains found yesterday morning on the streets of East London, have left the university in mourning, utter shock. “I have…

Images of scores of desperate Afghan men, women and children – some clinging to a slowly moving US plane in a bid to sneak in, painted a horrific picture of America’s gross foreign policy failure. Twenty years after the US stormed Afghanistan and toppled a Taliban government, the world watched in utter disbelief as the landlocked country at the crossroads of central and south Asia drifted back to square one. Two decades later and thousands of fatalities from all sides of the battlefield, the US has reached a point where the agonising sight of its service personnel returning home in body bags need to come to an end. During the 20 years of running Afghanistan like their own backyard, at a cost of a whopping $3.7 trillion (more than R50…

Women scientists are grossly under-represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) fields yet they have great potential to positively impact equitable global progress and sustainability. The inclusion of women in the Stem fields, among other advantages, can: Lead to more gender-sensitive and inclusive research and outcomes. Lead to inclusion of unique and broader perspectives from such gender diversity. Can increase the number of Stem professionals. Continuing concerted efforts have identified gender-specific barriers that either hinder the uptake of careers in the Stem fields by women, barriers that impede advancement of careers in this field. While it is key to have ongoing efforts to crystallise the disparities and identify such barriers, it is equally important to come up with quick easily implementable and sustainable solutions to some of the…

Reflections on unrest and violence For more than a decade, the Kingdom of eSwatini saw continuous and persistent pro-democracy activism taking place in the country. Political parties, trade unions and civil society groups consistently called for democratic reforms due to political restrictions and other human right violations. These pro-democracy protests over the years have been largely peaceful. However, the protests that emerged in the second quarter of this year were less peaceful, causing heightened tensions between the citizens and security agencies, resulting in several incidents of violence, all of which posed a serious threat to eSwatini’s stability. This article reflects on the unrest that unfolded in the country and responses at the national and regional level to mitigate the crisis, and thus possibly restore order. eSwatini’s current political crisis stems…

Charles Matseke and Koffi Kouakou WHILE the eyes of the world are turned towards the Taliban’s swift capture of Afghanistan, the crisis in Mozambique remains relevant. However, the relevance of the insurgency crisis in Cabo Delgado is displaying peculiar signs of a new geopolitical and mercenary intricacy. Seemingly Rwanda, Mozambique, France and the French multinational Total are the connecting dots of a peculiar partnership. A few weeks ago, in this newspaper, we extolled the swift and successful deployment of Rwandan troops to quell the insurgency in Mozambique. The connecting dots lead to the Afungi peninsula and surroundings, where the $20 billion (about R300 billion) oil and gas investments of Total reside. To be specific, while Rwanda, Mozambique and their coalition partners have dealt a blow to the insurgency, they have…

A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the evacuation of 300 vulnerable Afghans fleeing the Taliban has raised more than $6 million (R92m), according to figures published this week. The creator of the fundraising page, Tommy Marcus, asked for funds for flights out of the country for Afghans who risk being targeted by the Taliban. They include men and women who worked as human rights lawyers, LGBTQ activists, journalists, government liaisons and others,at risk along with their families, the statement on the page read.…

MIHLALI BALEKA ORLANDO PIRATES (1)(2) Hotto 18’, Mosele 49’ STELLENBOSCH (1)(2) Isaacs 2’, Moseamedi 55' ORLANDO Pirates’ misfortunes during the start of the season continued after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Stellenbosch FC in the opening game of their DStv Premiership campaign at the Orlando Stadium, Soweto yesterday. Pirates may have kept their record of being unbeaten in the opening day of the last five seasons after this draw, but their defence is nowhere near the required levels for a team hoping to challenge for the title. Their defeat to Swallows FC in the MTN8 quarter-final also came from their defensive mistakes as they were punished by Ruzaigh Gamildien. In the midfield, they looked stable, albeit being without regulars Ben Motshwari and Thabang Monare. The resignation of Josef Zinnnbauer…

| afp LIVERPOOL coach Jurgen Klopp said all his dreams came true with the atmosphere he witnessed at Anfield, full for the first time in 17 months, yesterday as the German’s side cruised past Burnley in the Premier League. The 2-0 victory, Liverpool's second in as many games this season, took place in front of a capacity crowd at Anfield for the first time since March last year, when the Reds lost to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. “Obviously, everybody was really looking forward to this," Klopp said. ”Nobody leaves this place today with any disappointment. Our dreams were fulfilled atmosphere-wise and that was the best 12.30 (kick-off) atmosphere we have ever had. It was special, really special. “The game was pretty special too, as Burnley caused us…