Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-05-08 i Sunday Independent

The continent and the surrounding countries lack that unique product or service by which the region can be known, writes Wesley Diphoko Continents and countries that have dominated the technology landscape are known for producing one product or service very well. Japan has been known for producing electronic devices for decades. Think cameras, most of them came from Japan and mainly from Asia. Germany is well known for producing well-engineered products. Think about some of their car brands. Switzerland has been known for producing quality watches. As Africa becomes more active in the technology sector, there’s a silent debate about products that are coming out of these tech ecosystems. The dominating debate, however, tends to focus on the nature of the technology ecosystems. In South Africa, Cape Town is…

Happy Mother’s Day! Today is a special day for most mothers, while it’s a frantic day of last minute shenanigans for the children. Still not sorted for the big Mother’s Day lunch or dinner? We’ve got you. Whether you choose to have a festive alfresco lunch, a smart high tea, or a brunch with all the trimmings, this is one of those days where going all out is a must. We think dressing the table is as important as the food in setting the scene for a stylish and memorable get-together. So below, the head culinary artists at Granny Mouse Country House & Spa share a few tips on how to style the perfect Mother’s Day table. Keep it soft When setting the table, keep it soft. This is really…

HAS the Met Gala peaked? I ask this because it seems like no one actually cares about what the event is about. The whole point of the Met Gala, is to commemorate the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibition. It’s a time to celebrate the fashion industry’s contribution to the art world. And anyone who scores an invite – which is difficult to get – is expected to go all-out and deliver a fashion masterpiece that leaves everyone in awe. But let’s be honest, when was the last time your jaw dropped after seeing a celebrity alight the famous steps of the Met? For many, it was in 2015 when Rihanna wore that now unforgettable creation by Guo Pei. It brought new eyes to the Met Gala and…

Bling Empire (From Friday, May 13 on Netflix) We have been waiting for close to 18 months for Bling Empire to bless us with the lives of wealthy Asian- Americans and I hope it was worth the wait. The gang is back, joined by Rich Kids of Beverly Hills alum, Dorothy Wang. With her reality show experience (and her billionaire father’s wealth), she ruffles feathers in the group. There’s definitely drama we can look forward to. The Palace Papers by Tina Brown (From R250 on Loot.co.za) Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown has written another book about the Mountbatten-Windsors. It is an explosive inside story of the royal family over the last 20 years from Diana to William, Harry, Kate, Meghan, Andrew, Charles, Camilla, Diana … and Queen Elizabeth. Based…

The history of the black intellectual tradition is a record of the tenacity as well as the devastation of a people. The black intellectual seldom expresses views as an individual, but as part of a community; even if he or she may write in singular form. Hence, the black intellectual often expresses views about the community, with him or her also forming part of the story or analysis. This is how one young brilliant black writer – Daniel Candoise “Can” Themba – chronicled the stories of his people and lived his life. His story is our story. In this well-researched, deep, devastatingly brilliant, honest, and yet sensitive portrayal, Can Themba: The Making and Breaking of the Intellectual Tsotsi, Siphiwo Mahala set out to offer an academically sound but accessible portrayal…

The cry of “Mayibuye iAfrika” is a powerful and pointed expression of the ultimate objective of the struggles of the oppressed in Afrika. This cry encapsulates the message of the ideal of the freedom struggle as nothing less than the total liberation of the people from the clutches of colonialism and apartheid. It’s important that we avoid reducing this poignant expression to the level of mere political sloganeering and rhetoric. We must give an honest meaning and content to it. This is said in the context of the unofficial observance of May as Afrika Month. At a superficial level, one may say this is premised on the recognition of the historical reality of the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on May 25, 1963. It is, further, a…

A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef warns that there could be a significant increase in the number of measles cases around the world. More than 17 000 cases have already been reported globally in January and February, an increase of nearly 80% from the 9 665 cases reported in the same period last year. The report cites low global vaccination rates in the past few years as the main driver of this increase. Given measles is a preventable disease, it’s worrying to see cases rising. Measles is a disease caused by infection by the measles virus, which is spread through respiratory droplets when a person with the virus coughs or sneezes. Symptoms can include fever, cough, red eyes and a rash. Measles is extremely contagious, and…

THE Bergrivier region, which is right on Cape Town’s doorstep and includes small towns such as Velddrif, Aurora, Piketberg, and Porterville offers some great culinary adventures set in beautiful locations, offered by locals using some of the finest local produce. The Bergrivier region is known for its open spaces and dramatic landscapes, but it is also peppered with small towns that offer an array of culinary experiences to suit all ages, tastes and budgets. We spoke to the chief executive of Bergrivier Tourism, Nomonde Ndlangisa on where to find the best spots to satisfy your travelling taste buds. Velddrif The village of Velddrif, which hugs the banks of the Berg River, offers foodies a wealth of culinary experiences. In the historic and quaint dirt road of Bokkom Laan,…

SOUTH Africans love to travel but seldom do we hear about rural destinations being the main attraction. Mzansi has a wealth of cultural and breathtaking scenic destinations located outside the cities. Rural tourism in South Africa involves a wide variety of destinations and activities, with some seasonal and some available throughout the year. For example, as winter approaches, it’s a great opportunity to go back to our roots of storytelling around open fires. If you are looking for authentic tourism options this Africa Month, you don’t have to look further than our borders. Here are some of the top rural destinations in South Africa: Bakone Malapa Open-Air Museum, Limpopo Bakone Malapa Open-Air Museum is a reconstructed village in the style used by the Bapedi tribe, inspired by the lifestyle of…

Agenda 2063 is the AU’s long-term framework for socio-economic development, regional integration and the preservation of history and culture. The agenda has 15 flagship projects. These have been identified as necessary for meeting the continent’s aspirations. They are wide-ranging and include constructing a network of high-speed trains, ending violence and creating continental financial institutions. But, in my view, the core of Agenda 2063 is the Africa outer space programme. It has direct or indirect impacts on the other flagship programmes. The outer space programme seeks to enable Africa to obtain maximum benefits from space science, technology and applications. It focuses on Earth observation, meteorology, satellite communication, satellite navigation and astronomy. Outer space therefore needs the attention of the AU. However, at the executive council’s 40th session in February last year,…

SCRAP metal dealers are aghast that the state is even considering banning the export of scrap to curb the rampant theft of copper, rail and aluminium infrastructure, which is costing government-owned entities in the region of R7 billion and having an overall impact on the economy in excess of R187bn per year. Scrap dealers contacted this week said impositions on the industry by the state were a perfect recipe for disaster as most scrap collectors lived on the breadline and they would have little alternative, but to resort to crime if their main source of livelihood was cut off. This as South Africa suffers the worst unemployment rate in the world. “There are different types of copper: that from demolished houses, old motors, geysers, auctions of municipal properties, scrap cars…

In a he-said-he said situation involving two public figures, where one is relatively more famous than the other, who do you believe? Generally, you side with the one you like more. After all, it’s hearsay without concrete evidence. Last year, Mohale Motaung opened a can of worms when he made startling allegations of abuse against his estranged spouse, Somizi Mhlongo. At the time, the gender-based violence statistics were at an intolerable level and Mzansi was thin-skinned when it came to the subject. This, of course, didn’t bode well for Somizi or his career. He was not only vilified but ostracised, albeit briefly. Beyond releasing a statement, vetted by his legal counsel, the superstar kept mum as his radio and TV commitments, among others, ground to a halt. The threat of…

If you're Elon Musk, it's good to be technoking. While that title – Musk's preferred one at Tesla – may sound like a joke, it's an apt term considering the scale at which he's operating, most recently in his $44 billion (R694bn) takeover of Twitter. And it also explains why Musk gives so many people the jitters: He's a private individual, but he's acting like a government. Much of the conversation around Musk's wealth and that of his fellow centibillionaires focuses on ranking them in relation to one another. But in the case of Twitter, different comparisons are more revealing. Musk's $44 billion deal for the social media company is 55 times the value of one of the tranches of aid the Biden administration sent to Ukraine to help fend…

FILM: Downton Abbey: A New Era STARRING: Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Tuppence Middleton, Hugh Bonneville DIRECTOR: Simon Curtis From award-winning creator Julian Fellowes comes the much-anticipated motion picture event, which reunites the beloved cast as they go on a grand journey to the South of France to uncover the mystery of the Dowager Countess’S newly inherited villa. Downton Abbey: A New Era tells a dramatic, emotional and moving story that fans cannot afford to miss. We see our favourite characters evolve and also learn more about how the family has adapted to the ever-changing times. Sharing the experience of watching Downton Abbey: A New Era with others in a cinema was wonderfully joyous. It is very difficult to review Downton Abbey: A New Era as a standalone or even as…

THE Department of Correctional Services this week failed to explain how the notorious “Facebook rapist” mysteriously set himself alight and burned to death while he was locked in a solitary cell at Mangaung Correctional Centre, one of the two private prisons in South Africa. Sources from the Bloemfontein prison told the Sunday Independent this week that Thabo Bester was put into solitary confinement against his will on April 29. And four days later, Bester, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of Johannesburg model and car saleswoman Nomfundo Tyhulu, was found burned to death in the early hours of Tuesday morning. “Thabo complained to the prison management that there was a hit on him after he failed to pay a protection fee to the members of the 26…

The insurance and risk management sector, which forms part of the financial services industry, contributes to the South African economy. Yet, risk management studies may well not be common among young job seekers. A survey conducted by KPMG looking into the South African insurance sector in 2021 indicated that the non-life insurance sector was worth R128 billion in 2020, despite having lost a profit of R2.6bn in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) reportedly found that black-owned insurance companies made up 2% of the multibillion-rand sector in 2017. Siyanda Kunene and his business partner, Dumi Makopo, established Kunene Makopo Risk Solutions (KMRS), a black-owned insurance and risk solutions company, in 2006, because they noticed that there was a dearth of risk management companies representing black…

A SIGNIFICANT number of public servants are suspected to have been unlawfully benefiting from social grants, including staff in the offices of President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the National Treasury and law enforcement agencies. Employees of the SAPS, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Public Service Commission, the National School of Government and several national and provincial government departments have been identified as recipients of social grants. Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has revealed that nearly 178 000 public servants have been receiving social grants. The figure excludes public servants who have been paid the R350 per month social relief of distress (SRD) grant, which was introduced in May 2020 to counter the unprecedented social and economic challenges resulting from the hard lockdown regulations under the Disaster Management Act,…

South African artist Vusimuzi Nongxa, known as Vusi Nova, has been accused of allegedly stealing a song called Ndincede believed to be made up and sung by a woman named Tenki-tenki Mabutho, 64, from Langa, Cape Town. In a video shared on social media, an inebriated Tenki-tenki was seen singing a song that the family believes she made up called Ndincede, and it went viral on Tik Tok. The lyrics to her song go: “ndincede nkosiyam ndiyeke obutywala ngoba ndinxila umvulo necawe” (Help me quit alcohol, oh Lord, because I drink from Monday to Sunday), and are taken from a traditional Xhosa hymn called Ndincede that’s been in existence for years. Madoda Mabutho, who is Tenki-tenki’s brother, said on March 11 the family had a traditional ceremony, and that was…

THE government has touted entrepreneurship as one of its biggest economic transformation policies to improve job creation and economic recovery. In this year’s State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government would undertake many measures to untether the potential of small, micro and informal businesses. In a country battling an unemployment rate of 35.3%, Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has urged South Africans to re-think themselves as job creators rather than just job seekers. This message is echoed by entrepreneur and business coach Bulelani Balabala, who believes that anyone who wishes to start a business should just get up and do it. “Many black people are waiting for that opportunity to start, particularly if it’s a financial opportunity. Most of us want the financial capital…

Last week, the military junta in Guinea said its transition back to civilian rule would probably take more than three years, a proposal likely to upset West Africa’s political bloc that has called for a swift return to constitutional order. Military leaders have snatched power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea over the past two years, raising concerns of a backslide in democracy in West Africa that over the past decade had begun to shed its reputation as a “coup belt”, a Reuters report revealed. The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has imposed sanctions on Mali after military leaders proposed holding on to power until 2025, hammering its economy by shutting it off from regional trade and financial markets. Ecowas has given Mali 12-16 months to arrange democratic…

IN THE mix of debates that consider the viability of Eskom as a state-owned enterprise should be the role of administered prices. Administered prices are prices that, in the consumer basket, are determined and under the control of state institutions, such as a regula- tory authority. For example, the National Energy Regulator as in the case of Eskom. Centrally planned states like the erstwhile communist Soviet Union, which followed the Marxist-Leninist philosophy at the time, relied on administered pricing mechanisms. However, administered prices are not confined to socialist countries. They are also prevalent in capitalist market economies like the US or in Europe. In these countries, rent and food items fall under the rubric of administered prices. Administered prices serve an important role of ensuring that they cushion society against…

Many people woke up to the long weekend with an unusual topic trending on Twitter. Those brave enough to click on the various links to Dubai Porta Potty instantly regretted their decision. Without going into too much detail, the disgusting viral trend refers to a phenomenon where female influencers and Instagram models receive messages from wealthy men in Dubai who want to pay them thousands of dollars to defecate on their faces. This is according to various media reports. Although the videos, which have now been removed from social media, haven’t been verified, they prompted a Dubai native to come forward and express his misgivings about the explicit content. In his TikTok post, @ebrahim_ka quoted an Instagram model: “All rich men in Dubai fly girls out to do this.…

There are two reasons to watch Shining Girls: it is based on the novel by South African author Lauren Beukes and it boasts incredibly intense and nuanced performances by Elisabeth Moss, Wagner Moura and Jamie Bell. This murky thriller looks into an investigation of a serial killer by hard-nosed journalist Dan (Moura). Aside from the fact that his gut instinct is telling him there’s a huge story here, Dan also needs to redeem himself with his editor after falling off the wagon on the job. He believes that there is more to the death of a young woman after her body is discovered in the city’s sewer. And he knows he’s on the right track when the Sun Times’s archivist Kirby Mazrachi (Moss) admits to being a survivor of the…

SOUTH African jazz musician Nduduzo Makhathini has dropped Amathongo, the second single off his most anticipated new album, In the Spirit of Ntu. In the Spirit of Ntu is Makhathini’s 10th studio album, set for release on May 27. It is also his second album to be released with Blue Note Records, in partnership with Universal Music Group Africa, and the very first release on the newly formed imprint Blue Note Africa. Commenting on the album, Makathini said: “Nguni people or even Bantu tribes take dreams seriously. “This is, of course, due to their Ntu cosmology that views the world in a triangle: the living, the living-dead (ancestors) and the ones not yet born. “Thus dreams and rituals become a site for parallel existence in all three planes all at…

With an A-list cast, a gripping narrative and a stellar Quizzical Pictures creative team, Netflix’s African series, Savage Beauty has “hit” written all over it. And I have no doubt that the show will be trending when it debuts on the streaming platform on Thursday. Ahead of the premiere, I scored an interview with Rosemary Zimu, Nthati Moshesh and John Ncamane, who shed light on their characters’ conflicts. To provide some context, the premise centres on Zinhle Manzini (Zimu), who is introduced as the new face of Bhengu Beauty in a PR campaign that goes horribly wrong. But the influential Bhengus are nothing if not resourceful. And Grace Bhengu (Moshesh) is a matriarch who detests negative publicity. She is all about maintaining the perfect public image. And Don Bhengu (Dumisani…

ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe has warned Eastern Cape delegates against electing “dwarfs” attached to slates, saying their choices at the elective conference would determine the future of the province and the governing party. Delivering his opening address to the 9th provincial conference in East London yesterday, the mineral resources minister urged the ANC’s rank-and-file to unite rather than fight because a factional victory would be “hollow” and “self-deceit”. Mantashe’s warning came amid rising tension between supporters of Premier Oscar Mabuyane and his challenger, former provincial treasurer Babalo Madikizela, at the high-stakes conference held at the East London International Convention Centre (ICC). The conference, which started on Friday, is expected to end today with the announcement of new leaders. So high were the stakes that Madikizela’s supporters filed an…

The life of iconic Drum journalist and writer Can Themba has finally been penned, thanks to novelist and playwright Siphiwo Mahala, who’s written a biography, Can Themba: The Making and Breaking of the Intellectual Tsotsi. Thursday night last week saw attendees gather at Book Circle Capital in Melville, Johannesburg for the launch, at which Mahala spoke with owner Sewela Langeni and explained that working on the book had been a long journey. “It’s a journey of twenty years. In 2002, I wrote a story called The Suit Continued, which was a re-imagination of Can Themba’s most famous story, The Suit. Since that moment, there have been a number of studies that compared my work to Can Themba’s. I felt like I had an obligation to know more about this man,…

The son of a butcher from eMndeni, Soweto, Robert Dumile Badela could have easily climbed the corporate ladder at Eskom, Unilever, SAB and a few other places his tertiary qualifications secured him a cushy job at, but he eschewed the fat salary to return home to revive the family business. With degrees in commerce from the then Turfloop, the University of Pretoria and Unisa’s School of Business Leadership, Badela had prepared well for life as an employee, until he recalled his purpose – that he was better as an employer. With the family butchery back on its feet, he looked elsewhere to expand and that’s when he chanced upon two disused general dealer stores in Orlando West, next to which was a space used as a car park. “A friend…

The race to the 2023 elections in Nigeria is becoming fiercer and tense. It has become the battle of the titans. The political gladiators are back on their familiar turf. The two major political parties: the governing All Progressive Congress (APC) and the People Democratic Party (PDP), parade an array of individuals seeking to secure their party’s nomination in the contest for the position of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigerian citizens have little to no expectations, given the failed promises of the APC-led government since 2015, with excruciating pains. The populist “change” slogan of the APC that dislodged the 16-year rule of the PDP did not eventuate into any meaningful change but chains. Hence, the herculean task faced by those jostling for the Aso Rock Presidential…

South African Football Association president Dr Danny Jordaan has congratulated Kaizer Chiefs’ marketing and commercial director Jessica Motaung following her appointment to CAF’s women football standing committee. The appointment runs from 2022 to 2024. Motaung’s appointment was confirmed this week, and she visited the Safa president on Thursday to get her blessings. Jordaan said Motaung’s appointment came at a time when both CAF and Fifa were focusing on taking women’s football forward. “We are here on a wonderful day where we acknowledge and celebrate your appointment at the continental level, and we hope that from there you will achieve even greater achievement,” Jordaan said. “The president of CAF (Patrice Motsepe) is clear that women’s football and schools’ football are the key focus areas of this CAF administration under his watch.”…

THE Department of Health has gazetted limited Covid-19 regulations, with effect from Thursday, making it compulsory to wear masks indoors except for children in schools. The regulations also affect passengers on all airlines, who are required to wear masks on flights, which are considered a form of public transport. This comes as South Africa experiences another rise in Covid-19 cases. The mask mandate was set to lapse after midnight on May 4. However, the Department of Health released its amendments late on Wednesday evening, stating that the mandate for masks would remain in place. “As per the minister of health, Joe Phaahla’s recent update to the Covid-19 regulations, FlySafair will continue to ensure that our staff, crew and passengers wear their masks at all times,” said Kirby Gordon, the chief…