Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-04-24 i Sunday Independent

Touch by Tiffany Kagure Mugo and Kim Windvogel (R224 on Loot.co.za) Touch explores sex as a vast, yet intertwined experience with oneself and between people. It draws on the experiences of sex from people across genders, sexualities – even borders. It delves into the ways in which sex features in our lives. Sex can be fun, tricky, and heart-breaking, and this book covers all this and more. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Currently on circuit in cinemas) Nicolas Cage is back with a new comedy and has roped in Pedro Pascal and Tiffany Haddish. Things spiral out of control after Cage, playing a fictional version of himself, accepts a $1 million (R15m) offer to attend the birthday party of an eccentric billionaire super fan, and he’s forced to…

SOME ANC members have laid into President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing him of failing to implement the party’s economic policies aimed at creating jobs, reducing poverty and redistributing land. They also claimed that the president’s supporters in the Eastern Cape and North West had postponed elective provincial conferences in a bid to rig the election outcomes in favour of his second-term ambitions. This came as Tony Yengeni, a member of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), broke ranks on the succession debate this past week and denounced Ramaphosa’s bid for a second term as party leader. In an interview with Independent Media, Yengeni said he opposed Ramaphosa’s second-term bid because he had failed to implement ANC policies adopted at the Nasrec conference in 2017. Yengeni added that Ramaphosa also presided over…

IF YOU are looking for a job opportunity that provides you with the chance of working at sea, you may land a job through the hiring agency Cast-A-Way. The Covid-19 pandemic put a hold on the normalcy of life as we knew it, and millions of people in South Africa and around the world, lost their jobs. The hospitality industry has been one of the hardest hit by Covid-19, and thousands of companies didn’t survive the impact of the pandemic on the economy. This only worsened the rate of South Africa’s peaking unemployment rate, which currently stands at about 35%. With the lifting of the national state of disaster recently, life is heading into a new-found normal, and this gives hope that the economy can recover, along with a probable…

There are many books on mental illness and depression you may have come across. Some memorable and some forgettable. Well, if there’s a book that’ll let you in on what it feels like to live with a brain that is trying to sabotage you, Relebone Rirhandzu eAfrika’s offering may be one you’d like to give a look-see read. In her singular lyrical book, Broken Porcelain, Relebone Rirhandzu eAfrika covers such topics as social media’s role in how we view depression, generational trauma, what self-care really is, taking anti-depressant medication, and finding love when you are mentally ill. She writes with poignant honesty about the darkness of her mental illness and breaks down what mental illness is (and is not). Broken Porcelain is not just a book of essays describing one…

THE debate about the role of Operation Dudula raises questions about the state of affairs in this country. For example, whether one regards Operation Dudula as a vigilante group (as some individuals, including President Cyril Ramaphosa aver) or a group of vigilant citizens (as the founders of the movement claim), the movement does arise from a situation whereby ordinary citizens have lost confidence in the state’s ability to fulfil the claim of it representing the common interest of its citizens. Politically speaking, one would argue that the rising movements such as Operation Dudula are symptomatic of what happens in a failed state. Why a failed state? Because in areas where the action is operating, the state is doing a poor job of delivering essential services and seems to have lost…

AT THE time of writing, more than 445 deaths have been recorded in the rains and floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, with scores more people missing. The devastation wrought by the floods and the loss of livelihoods are tragic, coming less than a year after the losses from the July 2021 protest violence. People and enterprises are still struggling to come to terms with the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown. The continued load shedding by the electricity monopoly, Eskom, further contributes to a devastated existence for many, with the future just an anxious and bleak dystopia. While we have no control over the force of the new patterns of nature arising from climate change, we can and must recognise them for what they are. There are ways we…

The queues formed early each morning outside the Russian embassy in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. Drawn by rumours on social media, young and old men, many with their military records in hand, arrived with hopes of fighting for Russia in Ukraine. What began as a trickle of volunteers swelled over two weeks to scores, two neighbourhood residents said. On Tuesday, Reuters reporters saw several hundred men registering with Ethiopian security guards outside the embassy. The guards recorded their names and asked for proof of military service. There is no evidence that any Ethiopians have been sent to Ukraine, nor is it clear if any will be. A man, who came out of the embassy and addressed the volunteers in Russian through an interpreter, said Russia had enough forces for now,…

Mattel has unveiled the Tribute Collection Barbie to celebrate Britain’s Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, which marks 70 years of service, and makes her the longest-reigning monarch in British history. A Queen Elizabeth doll is a tribute to the monarch’s influence as an “important historical female figure” who has made an impact along with other “leaders, creators and pioneers”, Mattel said The queen celebrated her 96th birthday on Thursday. She ascended the throne in 1952. | Bang ShowBiz…

Emirates Lions (8) 30 Tries: Maxwane, Van den Berg, Van der Merwe, Odendaal; Conversion: Hendrikse (2) Penalty: Hendrikse (2) Yellow Card: Dreyer Connacht (14) 33 Tries: Prendergast, Penalty Try, Daly; Conversion: Carty (2); Penalties: Carty (4) CONNACHT held on grimly, run ragged by the Lions, to claim a breathless victory at Emirates Airline Park yesterday in an exciting United Rugby Championship encounter. The Lions will probably realise on review that it was their game-management that ultimately lost them the game, as Connacht did just enough to slow down the pace, then up the tempo at will, while also disrupting the breakdown enough to stall the Lions ambitions. The hosts started with a layer of ring-rust to shake off with the Irish-outfit taking a well-deserved 14-0 lead within the first 15…

THE irony of Zola Budd pulling out just after the halfway mark of her 5000m masters race at the Athletics South Africa (ASA) National Track and Field Championships at Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium yesterday would not have been lost on the discerning running follower. Her DNF (did not finish) was somewhat symbolic of what transpired this week when ASA president James Moloi made an announcement concerning the famous athlete, only to retract it a few days later. It was pure comedy really, though it was no laughing matter but rather a sad case of a leader’s propensity for shooting his mouth. In a one-on-one interview with The Top Runner’s Thathe Msimango, Moloi disclosed that ASA would be hosting a series of 5km races in honour of Budd, the athlete…

With winter slowly creeping up on us, warm sunny days have become few and far between. Flip-flops and strappy sandals will soon be replaced with chunky socks and boots. Because our feet are always on display in summer, pedicures with pretty nail colours are an essential part of your beauty routine. You won’t dare slip dry feet with cracked heels into a fancy pair of sandals! Therefore people tend to take less care of their feet in winter, when they are all covered up and tucked away in comfy furry boots. Out of sight, out of mind, but they still need some TLC. Winter doesn’t last forever and the last thing you want when spring comes around is dry cracked heels, and toenails that need serious attention. Here’s how to…

From Page 1 “My greatest concern is health and safety. We are dealing with bodily fluid, we’re dripping in body fluid and no taps to wash up with. If we don’t work we won’t get paid. Patients have not stopped coming to the hospital, and water bottles or buckets are very scarce. We’re coming out of Covid-19 and now operating without water. For patients it’s worse, they cannot take a shower,” the medical practitioner said. Another medical practitioner based at the hospital, who also asked not to be named, said: “We cannot eat or drink while at the hospital, patients have no water. It is inhumane. “Elective operations are expected to be done but some had to be cancelled. We can’t clean instruments. Some minor operations weren’t done. We were…

As the country experiences crippling power cuts, the City of Cape Town is in talks with Eskom about an ambitious plan to take over supplying power to more residences and businesses in the metro. The City is engaging the power utility on how Eskom customers can be transferred to the City’s grid. This involves plans to purchase some of the utility’s infrastructure to enable such a move. The City is using its ability to mitigate scheduled power cuts for its customers by cutting the time the power is out as a selling point. A source with inside knowledge of the talks told Independent Media: “The City is considering taking over some of Eskom’s residential customers to bring the service standard in line with the City’s, and offer a similar level…

The brief disappearance in Ukraine of renowned independent Chilean-American war correspondent Gonzalo Lira brought into sharp focus the hazards of news reporting in strife-torn locations. Lira, 54, who posts a regular feature on his social media handles, went missing on April 15 and nothing was heard from him in any shape or form. Thankfully, he surfaced on Friday, seven days later, confirming that Ukraine’s notorious security force, the SBU, had held him for interrogation. A resident of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Lira has been at the forefront of reporting – albeit controversially – on the war since it broke out in February. Prior to the war, the journalist had proved himself to be a thorn in the side of the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky, exposing state excesses and corrupt activities. When…

ONE of the most depressing phenomena of our time is the expectation to forget the brutal history of colonial conquest, land dispossession, the Struggle against settler colonialism, and the bitter price that black people in general and those who stood against the successive repressive racist governments endured for their beliefs. Preference to forget, or to suppress history, is understood by radical historiographers as an attempt by beneficiaries of settler colonialism to erase the fact that the post-1994 society still reflects the inequalities of the past. Forgetting suppresses any debate about privilege and deprivation, which manifest themselves in racial terms. Forgetting erases political traditions that questioned the 1994 settlement which left white privilege intact, opened the door for only a few black elites, while leaving the black working class under conditions…

With all due respect, those who celebrate the so-called Freedom Day on April 27 without giving it any critical reflection have been nutmegged, and sold the dummy in broad daylight. There is very little to celebrate. This is very much so for us whose land was dispossessed by force of arms and whose dehumanisation via the indignities of colonialism and imperialism led to an everlasting status of the wretched of the earth. As things change, they remain the same or even worse. This is largely because of not questioning the 1994-inspired changes and who they were intended to benefit. The political predicate of the new South Africa was a liberal constitutional democracy, built upon the relics of unworkable legalities. It started in the Act of Union of 1909, in the…

Many Chadians are looking to the capital of Qatar where almost 50 political- military movements and representatives of the Chadian transitional government have been engaged in talks since early last month. Qatar offered to facilitate negotiations, the so-called pre-dialogue, between the transitional government and the different rebel movements to give all parties the opportunity to participate. The meeting’s outcome could decide the country’s future. It will determine whether Chad will be peaceful or once again be torn apart by armed conflicts over its resources. One year ago the president of Chad, Idriss Déby Itno, died. The long-term ruler was killed under unexplained circumstances while visiting his troops as the Chadian rebel group Front pour l’Alternance et la Concorde au Tchad advanced towards the capital, N'Djamena. The Transitional Military Council, led…

Finally, with a devastating war on its doorstep, Europe called out Russia for committing crimes of “collective punishment” – a term it studiously avoids using against Israel. For Europe, America and the rest of the West, the war in Ukraine has not only been disastrous in terms of human suffering, but it has also unravelled and exposed conflicting conundrums in respect of policies underpinned by hypocrisy. Take the case of “collective punishment”. It is outlawed as a crime against humanity under international law. Most European countries led by Britain and France are signatories to legal conventions that denounce its practice, yet remain silent despite being complicit in a variety of ways in instances where surely criminal conduct is the order of the day. The foremost example is the in- humane…

Manqoba Mngqithi’s candid response to the allegations of ill-treatment that Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi levelled against Simba addressed the importance of taking African competitions seriously. Ncikazi held court at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium after their 1-0 loss to the Tanzanian giants in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final on Sunday, lamenting the club, media and country for the hostile treatment. But Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Mngqithi, a regular in the African safari for almost a decade, having also won the continental crown six years ago, gave his two cents’ worth on the matter this week. “To be honest, I wouldn’t want to dwell much on what coach Mandla said. I don’t know their experiences and what happened in Tanzania,” Mngqithi said. “With us, it’s a little bit…

YOUNGSTER Sinesipho Dambile caused a major upset at the South African championships yesterday by beating Clarence Munyai and Luxolo Adams to clinch the men’s 200m title. The 20-year-old Dambile claimed a bronze medal at the world juniors in Nairobi last year, but would have been considered an outside bet for the gold at the Green Point Stadium. It was supposed to be a duel between SA record-holder Munyai and defending champion Adams on a windy Cape evening. Munyai went out fast and led at the bend, with Adams off the pace. First 18-year-old Benjamin Richardson challenged Munyai, and then over the last 30m, Dambile roared to the front to win in 20.55 seconds – which was not a bad time into a headwind of -1.7m per second. Munyai, who ran…

It’s been 13 years since Drake burst onto the scene with his moody and eccentric EP, So Far Gone. Shortly after that project started to gain steam, Lil Wayne, the best rapper in the world at the time, signed Drake, immediately took him along for his tour and punted him as the next big thing. This nod had the effect of validating Drake, enhancing his visibility and adding fuel to his fire. Drake has since gone on to take over from his esteemed mentor, and establish himself as an even bigger global star than Lil Wayne. Almost as if trying to replicate what Lil Wayne did for him, Drake has become the music industry’s most potent co-sign over the past decade by lifting up several of the rap game’s most…

Since its unbanning in February 1990, the ANC has had presidents from three groups of freedom fighters, namely Robben Island, exile, and underground. Nelson Mandela, who belonged to the Robben Island group, was sentenced to life imprisonment for sabotage in what is known as the Rivonia Trial. By the time of his release from prison in February 1990, he had served 27 years, the bulk of which was at Robben Island. Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Mandela, belongs to the group from exile. Two-and-half years after its banning, in 1962 to be precise, the ANC sent him to the UK to study. Mbeki, who holds an economics degree from England’s Sussex University, returned to the country in 1990. Jacob Zuma, who succeeded him at a watershed 52nd National Conference, belongs to…

From Page 1 Mabuyane and Eastern Cape PWTT spokesperson Loyiso Magqashela did not respond to requests for comment. The North West, Gauteng and Free State are expected to hold their provincial conferences between May and June. Former ANC secretary in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District, Lopang Rothman, accused the interim provincial committee (IPC) and the interim regional committee (IRC) of interfering in the branch nomination processes. “Some branches were forced to nominate a particular line-up for it to qualify. I can assure you that most branches still believe in cadre Supra Mahumapelo’s leadership,” said Rothman. He criticised Ramaphosa’s leadership, saying: “How do we support him for a second term when the NEC under his leadership did not implement a single conference resolution?” IPC member Faith Lesoba directed questions to provincial co-ordinator…

MUSICIAN and songwriter Zoë Modiga gears up for her upcoming live show titled Ukubonga (Gratitude) at the Bassline Live, to be held at The Lyric Theatre in Joburg. Modiga will share the stage with Banda Banda and The Crocodile on the night. With Freedom Day – April 27 – coming up, the holiday played a role in the show being themed on thankfulness. Modiga said this was done to show appreciation for the heroes and heroines who laid down their lives for the country’s freedom. Modiga said she and Banda Banda came up with the concept while reflecting on their respective musical journeys. “There are heroes and heroines that we came from as black people, and they have allowed us to have opportunities that never existed. The first part…

Actor Bonko Khoza and TV presenter Motshidisi Mohono have been nominated for the DStv Mzansi Viewers’ Choice Awards post-Covid-19. Mohono is up for best TV personality alongside Morning Live host Leanne Manas, actor (and host of the awards ceremony) Lawrence Maleka, Thembekile Mrototo and radio presenter Thuso Motaung. Mohono said: “It’s really a wonderful honour to be nominated again. “Working in SuperSport, you learn so much from the different characters,” she added. “Watching teams stumble and fall, watching players return after being injured… “That is what sports is all about. It’s the kind of reality TV because every day unfolds differently.” For Mohono, the growth has been all round. Since losing out in SuperSport’s 2011 Lady Rugga competition, the TV presenter has now become a popular face for rugby fans…

SINCE 1994, the government’s strategies and plans have included many plans, often unrealised because we have not focused on the action plans necessary to ensure development and growth. When asked what should the government do to stimulate the economy, the common response is that we need to invest in infrastructure. However, the details are vague and non-specific on what infrastructure should be prioritised, who should be responsible to implement, and where we should focus. And all the while we continue to live in a country where poverty, unemployment and inequality continue to dominate and these are reinforced as a result of our racist and colonial history. Sadly, we continue to allow apartheid settlement patterns to persist, or to be exacerbated with more segregated development. While the unguided investment continues, workers…

Sudanese artist Mutaz al-Fateh creates vibrant pictures with special ingredients – the paint he uses is made with colours derived from coffee grounds, tea leaves and shavings of fruit peel. “I have a special vision in art,” the 39-year-old said, surrounded by his eclectic art hung on the walls of his gallery in the capital Khartoum. “I am particularly interested in using natural materials.” Many of his paintings feature colours derived from the fruits of the doum palm tree, and ground up fruit from the bulbous baobab tree. Fateh has spent his career crafting everything from everyday life images of Sudanese men and women in traditional dress to abstract drawings. He takes pride in extracting pigments of blue, purple and red from hibiscus leaves, shades of brown, beige and gold…

French presidential hopefuls Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen kicked off a final flurry of campaigning on Friday, hoping to mobilise millions of hesitant voters before a weekend media blackout was imposed at midnight for today’s contest. Both candidates launched attacks in interviews before walkabouts, with Le Pen insisting that opinion polls giving her rival the lead would be proved wrong. “He calls millions of French voters the ‘far right’ ... and for him it’s an insult. “Never have I expressed even the slightest bit of hostility toward Emmanuel Macron’s voters,” she said, accusing the centrist incumbent of failing to appreciate the need for tougher measures to protect low-income households from rising prices. Macron said Le Pen was trying to mask an “extreme right” platform that stigmatises Muslims, with a…

AmaZulu’s interim coach Brandon Truter is aware that his side faces a tough challenge as they make a short trip to the Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday afternoon to play against Royal AM. The game will mark Usuthu’s second Kwa-Zulu-Natal derby in a week after they downed Maritzburg United 1-0 last Saturday. On paper, Royal AM will be the favourites to win the clash. They have home advantage and are also in solid contention to finish second which will grant them the right to play in next season’s CAF Champions League. However, AmaZulu will not be pushovers for John Maduka’s side. Truter’s side have won their last two consecutive league games against Baroka FC and Maritzburg and have moved back into the top eight as they currently occupy seventh position. AmaZulu…

THE youthful Stellenbosch FC side held out for a 1-0 win over beleaguered Kaizer Chiefs in their DStv Premiership clash at the Danie Craven Stadium yesterday. The outcome saw Stellenbosch move up to sixth place on the standings with 39 points. They join Chiefs (4th) and Orlando Pirates (5th) who are also on 39 points but separated by goal difference. It is the second time this season that a team have defeated Chiefs twice in Premiership fixtures. The other team to achieve this feat is Royal AM. Chiefs’ interim co-coaches Dillon Sheppard and Arthur Zwane who took over after the departure of Stuart Baxter, made five changes to the side that lost to SuperSport last week. Keagan Dolly returned from suspension and joined the famous ‘CBD’ triumvirate alongside Khama Billiat…

I RECALL being in Beijing, China, a few years ago and my colleagues asking if it was safe to go for a walk outside the hotel. It was just after dinner and we didn’t have anything to do. I texted a friend who was studying in the Chinese capital at the time. His response: “You’re not in South Africa. Please explore.” The “you’re not in South Africa” quip was in jest, but it stung because that’s partly why my colleagues had asked if it was safe for us to take a walk in the evening. Their being women added to their stress. After all, coming from South Africa, it is rare to feel safe while walking in a city at night. We laughed, bitterly I might add, about it. Had…