Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-07-17 i Sunday Independent

The James Webb Space Telescope's first images aren’t just breathtaking – they contain a wealth of scientific insights and clues that researchers are eager to pursue. Here are some of the things scientists hope to learn. Into the deep Webb’s first image, released on Monday, delivered the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe, “Webb's First Deep Field”. The white circles and ellipses are from the galaxy cluster in the foreground called SMACS 0723, as it appeared more than 4.6 billion years ago – roughly when our sun formed too. The reddish arcs are from light from ancient galaxies that has travelled more than 13 billion years. Nasa astrophysicist Jane Rigby, said the image could teach us more about mysterious dark matter, thought to comprise 85% of matter…

Tomorrow the world will be celebrating Nelson Mandela’s birthday. Nelson Mandela Day is not a holiday but a day when one can lend a helping hand. To help those in need, here are some of the five things that you can do to give back to the community. Feed the poor You don’t have to cook a feast, but making sandwiches and soup or tea for those starving can go a long way. Clothe the children Most of us have clothes we no longer wear. Sort out your wardrobe space and give away clothes that no longer fit to those who need them the most. If you have children, perhaps they also have clothes they no longer wear. Wash those clothes and pack them nicely for those children who are…

Most of us have figured out that nuts make a pretty awesome healthy snack. But do you know the best uses and benefits of nuts in the kitchen? The challenge with using nuts in the kitchen is understanding where their unique flavours best suit which types of dishes. They add great texture to salads, can be blended and processed into all sorts of dips and sauces, and make wonderful additions to baked treats. While they are often seen in confectionery approaches and desserts, their savoury appeal is increasing. Nuts are appearing in many more products – and in forms not widely used in the past. They now appear as an ingredient in many recipes, not only for their nutritional role but also for the rich versatility that lets them adapt…

Streaming platforms were a lifesaver during the Covid-19 hard lockdown. But it’s now become a bit of a conundrum as viewers are spoilt for choice. Of course, that’s a problem we can live with. That said, my biggest takeaway from the exposure has been accessing content from around the world. Being able to stream Spanish thrillers, K-Dramas and so much more. What a joy, truly. I recently watched the prison break thriller The Longest Night. The six- episode series was intense, beautifully written with complex plots and subplots, and wonderfully cast. The premise centres on the extraction of a prisoner (Simón Lago, played by Luis Callejo) from the Prison of Monte Baruca on Christmas Eve. But there’s so much more to this. The villains are cops. And there is…

FESTIVAL and touring industries endured a nightmare as events were postponed and cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last year, since Covid-19 vaccines became widely available, organisers have grappled with decisions over whether to hold the events at all. The return of live music festivals and concerts last year was rocky, to say the least. One of the few major global success stories was the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, which ran at full capacity over four days last summer and saw 400 000 attendees. New York Times reported that according to data released by the city, “after the festival, infection rates among the concertgoers were low”. With vaccines and Covid-19 testing requirements successfully in place, it proved outdoor music events could resume with the right precautions, paving…

With the 16th South African Film and Television Awards (Safta) nominations announced this week, we take a look at what’s cooking on some of the show favourites under the public voting category. DiepCity airs weekdays at 8.30pm on Mzansi Magic, DStv Channel 161. DiepCity is a tale that not only has an explosive, gripping storyline, but one that exposes the lived realities of most South Africans – crime and poverty. It focuses on disillusioned young women forced into crime while in high school to make ends meet. The show was created by Gwydion Beynon, Phathu Makwarela, Mandla N and Mpumelelo Nhlapo and produced by Black Brain Pictures. The soapie earned 10 nominations at the Saftas. Suidooster airs Monday to Friday at 6.30pm on kykNET (DStv 144) and kykNET & kie…

FEARS are mounting in the Zulu royal family over what has been described as the “capture” of the incoming Zulu king, Misuzulu Sinqobile Hlomesakhishlangu kaZwelithini. According to royal family insiders, the incoming king has been captured by two individuals, Thami Zulu and Mthokozisi Mahlobo, who have allegedly ensured he no longer carries out his duties nor interacts with the elders. “The family doesn’t know or understand what is going on. It’s a very sad period for the royal family,” said an insider speaking on condition of anonymity. The family is said to be questioning why the prince only attends to business around Durban and Johannesburg and never arranges meetings about his traditional role in meetings with chiefs to discuss issues. “He’s met them for introductory purposes for them to present…

Watching this stage play evokes many memories, both sad and pleasant, among them the realisation that many people outside apartheid South Africa were friends of the freedom struggle. But pared down to its barest essence, it is a tour de force extolling the absolute beauty and magic of friendship. Bloke and His American Bantu, the play currently on circuit at the State Theatre in Pretoria, is a tale of friendship – brotherhood, in fact, between equals, former Drum scribe William Bloke Modisane and American poet Langston Hughes. It will get you thinking: with friends like these, who needs family? Their bond was thicker than blood. The friendship between these men of letters is struck on the back of their mutual respect for each other’s craft. On stage, Bloke is played…

On the heels of the Enyobeni tragedy, where 21 teenagers died, more tavern deaths took place in various black communities last weekend. Two armed men are said to have rained 130 AK47 rounds on people who were drinking at the Mdlalose Tavern in Nomzamo settlement in Soweto. Sixteen people have since died. On the same weekend, four people were shot dead in Pietermaritzburg – plus two in Katlehong, two in Nanda and two in Duncan Village, East London. There are many theories about these tavern killings. One such theory is that the killings might be an act of “terrorist” reprisal after South Africa’s involvement in countries like Mozambique to help fight the so-called jihadists, who have suspected links with ISIL. It is difficult to be dismissive of theories like these…

JANNEMAN Malan has been waiting for eight years for a return to England. It’s been a frustrating period for the Proteas ODI opener with two deals with Leicestershire being cancelled over the past couple of seasons due to Covid-19 and a national team call-up. He finally got his opportunity to have a taste of English conditions on Tuesday, and rather seemed to enjoy it, striking 103 off 116 balls in the Proteas’ opening warm-up game against the England Lions at Taunton. “It was good to get some runs, a first middle scenario, and it was important for me to spend some time out there,” Malan said. “It is all part of our build-up, it was good for the batters to spend some time in the middle, get used to…

BAYERN Munich confirmed yesterday they have agreed a deal with Barcelona for the sale of Poland star Robert Lewandowski to the Spanish club. "We have a verbal agreement from Barcelona. It's good for both sides that we have clarity," Bayern president Herbert Hainer said on the club's Twitter account. "Robert is a very deserving player, he has won everything with us. We are incredibly grateful to him." Bayern did not give details, but Spanish and German media reported the two-time Fifa men's player of the year had agreed a four-year deal worth 50 million euros (R861m), including five million in potential add-ons. Forward Lewandowski told German television he would be joining the Barcelona squad on their tour of the United States from July 18-31. Media reported he would undergo his…

The cosmic cliffs of a stellar nursery and a quintet of galaxies bound in a celestial dance: Nasa released the next wave of images from the James Webb Space Telescope on Tuesday, heralding a new era of astronomy. “Every image is a new discovery,” said Nasa administrator Bill Nelson. “Each will give humanity a view of the universe that we’ve never seen before.” Released one by one starting from 10.30am Eastern (1430 GMT) at the Goddard Space Flight Centre, the new images demonstrated the full power of the $10 billion (R169.4 bn) observatory, which uses infra-red cameras to gaze into the distant universe with unprecedented clarity. “They’re beautiful, and they’re full of wonderful discoveries and science, and lots of things we haven’t identified are in there,” Nobel-winning cosmologist and Webb…

Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina have teamed up to launch a genderless skincare range. The actor’s partner has revealed the idea for the couple’s wellness brand S’Able Labs – which is Elbas spelled backwards – came about after they had a conversation about cosmetics in which The Wire star admitted he felt he couldn’t use products aimed at women. In an interview with Vogue, Sabrina said they decided to create a brand which includes all genders and ethnicities, saying: “We realised quickly there was no one doing it in the wellness space that looked like, spoke like or felt like us – there was no representation for people of colour who wanted to be into wellness and fit in. “Plus everything was gender-focused – I’d have conversations with my…

To mark Mandela Day 2022, on what would have been his 104th birthday, IOL Entertainment compiled a series of movies and books that celebrate the life and legacy of the iconic South African anti-apartheid activist and global icon. This annual international day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July, 2010, to honour Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s efforts to promote world peace, reconciliation and cultural diversity. With a long list of movies dedicated to the life of Madiba, we have picked the top 5 films to celebrate his legacy. Mandela (1996 film) Mandela, also known as Mandela: Son of Africa, Father of a Nation is a 1996 documentary film directed by Angus Gibson and Jo Menell. The film was…

ROCK band The Black Cat Bones is set to release its new album Book of Miriam, an ode to the women of South Africa. Set to be released on all digital platforms on July 29, the Book of Miriam is the band’s first project since signing to indie label Just Music in 2020. The album is a fresh take on the production effort in association with the label and producer Mathew Fink at Atomic Studios. Speaking to IOL Entertainment, guitarist André Kriel says the album was not a tribute record, but rather an ode to women. “I would be lying if I said that the album title was not influenced by the life and works of Miriam Makeba. “We obviously added some Bones flavour to it and gave it a…

Thor: Love and Thunder (Screening at cinemas, nationwide) Thor embarks on a journey, unlike anything he's ever faced – a quest for inner peace. However, his retirement gets interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods. The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page (R112 on Loot.co.za) When Janice starts cleaning for Mrs B – a shrewd and tricksy woman in her 90s – she finally meets someone who wants to hear her story. But Janice is clear: she is the keeper of stories, she doesn’t have a story to tell. At least, not one she can share. Mrs B is no fool and knows there is more to Janice than meets the eye. What is she hiding? After all, doesn’t everyone have…

POLICE Minister Bheki Cele allegedly blew R5.5 million on legal fees to prepare him after receiving a notice that someone might implicate him at the Zondo commission last year. Cele never testified at the commission. The Sunday Independent has seen a letter from the state attorney in the Pretoria office which reveals that the SAPS legal service appointed Strauss Daly Attorneys after Cele received notices from the Zondo commission. He was informed that Colonel Kobus Roelofse, a Hawks investigator, might implicate him in his testimony at the hearing. The letter states that the instructions sent to the law firm were handed over by Andile Khoza, a lawyer from Durban. Several years ago, he handled Cele’s review application of the Moloi Commission of Inquiry, which led to his firing as then-police…

IN the light of Standard Bank dropping its mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy recently, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) picketed outside the Sandton, Johannesburg, offices of the Discovery Group, yesterday. The ACDP said the picket was a demonstration of its solidarity with the employees that Discovery dismissed for their refusal to vaccinate against the Covid-19 virus and called for Discovery to reinstate them. ACDP president Reverend Kenneth Meshoe said it was unconstitutional for the Discovery Group to force employees to vaccinate. The party believes that the vaccine should only be taken by those who want to vaccinate and condemns mandatory vaccination policies. “We are very disappointed that Discovery has lagged behind companies that have come to realise that nobody should be forced to vaccinate because scientists have even accepted that…

South Africa is committed to investment in science and technology and has a formidable strategy to impact the greater good. However, increasingly, one senses that all initiatives may be a non-starter until the doomed foundation of matric as a school-leaving certificate and a key to a better future is dismantled. While the AU strategy is contrasted against high-levels of poverty on the continent, South Africa is by no means alone. In a few months, matric pupils will begin their national senior certificate (NSC) examinations that culminate in a public relations exercise early in the new year driven by long-serving Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga. Far from taking their place in the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) optimistically spearheaded on paper by the AU, in 2023, a large portion of…

AMBASSADOR Harold E Doley Jr, the founder of the oldest African-American investment banking firm in the US, has responded to the call for a social democratic movement in South Africa made by Sekunjalo Investment Holdings chairman Dr Iqbal Survé. Last month Dr Survé called for the formation of a social democratic movement for anyone that is interested in putting the country first. The businessman and philanthropist pledged his support for a youth-led movement to take South Africa in a completely different direction, saying that it was time to bring together young South Africans who had the brightest ideas to implement such a programme through a process of political power. “It is time that South Africans take control of their own destiny because if we fail to do that, then we…

AMID high tensions and a fight for regional rotation and fairness, Zimbabwean senator and chief, Fortune Charumbira, was elected unopposed as president of the Pan African Parliament in Midrand last month. I chatted to him about his vision for the Parliament as well as what is required to improve Africa. What does Pan-Africanism mean to you? Pan Africanism is a means of getting us, as a group of people in Africa, united. It is meant to help us understand who we are and rediscover ourselves. In Africa, there is often a tendency for one group to impose itself on the other and it is common knowledge that if we are not careful, we will eventually go extinct as black people. After all, our struggles emanate from the era of colonialism.…

BANYANA Banyana’s wastefulness in front of goal will have to come to an end in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final to increase their chances of reaching the final. Coach Desiree Ellis’ troops are in the semi-final of the Wafcon where they’ll face neighbours Zambia at the Stade Mohamed V tomorrow night in Casablanca. They achieved that feat after beating Tunisia 1-0 in the quarter-final on Thursday night, thanks to a solitary goal from Jermaine Seoposenwe in the 14th minute. In the bigger scheme of things, though, that win at Moulay Hassan ensured that Banyana qualified for the 2023 Fifa World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. On Thursday, Banyana were far from their best, especially in the second half. They missed clear cut chances in front of…

When Uber was making its debut in South Africa, the tech giant rented an office in the same building as a technology organisation with the responsibility to drive the technology agenda in the Western Cape. The US giant was welcomed with open arms by all and sundry. The attitude was that of excitement about the cool US solution that had finally arrived on our shores. The young Uber representative would host employment-hungry drivers in the building where they were promised heaven and earth, according to the Uber Files by ICIJ and other leading media organisations. According to recent reports, the leader of the e-hailing companies promised more money and benefits, which initially were delivered and some later withdrawn. The report indicates that Uber approached taxi drivers and offered them cash…

A man reportedly died at a tavern in Limpopo’s Mashamba Village after patrons allegedly engaged in what they called a “drinking competition” according to Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, a spokesperson for the local police force. “In the (competition), the winner who could consume the entire bottle of Jägermeister within a specified time would get R200 cash.” Mojapelo said one of the competitors “immediately collapsed” and was taken to the clinic where he was certified dead. Too much alcohol consumed too quickly can cause problems with your breathing, heart rate, body temperature, and gag reflex as well as possibly cause death. A major cause of alcohol poisoning is binge drinking. Your body can only process small amounts of alcohol at a time, said pharmacist Zenande Mangqalaza. “In most cases, excessive alcohol consumption,…

I didn’t plan on writing anything beyond what has already been written about the third season of Kelly Khumalo’s reality show on Showmax. I think the timing of it – especially with the interest around the ongoing Senzo Meyiwa trial – heightened its appeal. But the boredom of load shedding saw me stream the first two episodes of Life with Kelly Khumalo. Free time, as such, means I can binge-watch. And I find the Safta award-winning reality show entertaining. After all, being a fly on the wall in the life of a celebrity can be therapeutic sometimes. Not everything goes smoothly. And they, like us, have their good and bad days. So what changed my mind? Well, I took umbrage at her comment about journalists, to be honest. The disdain…

BEAUTY experts and skincare bloggers often advise you to add vitamin C to your skincare routine. So, we all turn to sources of vitamin C and the most easily and readily available is the humble lemon. You might come across various DIY treatments that include lemon juice, lemon zest, etc. There are a number of benefits to adding lemon to your skin routine, but in the past few years warnings of associated risks have become common. Let’s weigh in on the pros and cons. Benefits: Exfoliates dead skin – Lemon juice contains alpha-hydroxy acids (AHA) such as glycolic acid. Such acids are commonly used in skincare as they increase cell turnover and slough away dead skin cells. Reduces acne – Lemon juice has astringent qualities due to its acidity. Ingredients…

For some odd reason, in the past, I’ve predominantly followed women content creators. Blame it on male creators not catching my eye, especially when it comes to lifestyle content. However, of late, I’m happy to say this is changing. Through my strolls on the Twitter streets, I have come to discover that men are delivering some great content. The quality of the content is clean, classy and clearly not forced. If you haven’t come across videos of Sabelo the Kreator showing his soulful cleaning videos or him baking, or Bafana Mthembu’s (also known as Eezy Nkabi) “Asgqoke” moments, it may be time you refresh your timeline. These two are among the many men who are having fun creating content for the public to enjoy. Hailing from Newcastle, Sabelo began his…

If one considers that some former sports stars in South Africa – mostly ex-footballers – die as virtual paupers, those who prepare well for life after the game should be applauded. Former Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Brian Baloyi is one of the rare breed of ex-footies able to say they sleep well at night, happy with the financial decisions they made in their heyday. The man still popularly known as Spider-Man admits there have been bad money decisions aplenty in his life, “like going into businesses one didn’t understand”, but overall he is “comfortable with the decisions I’ve made”. Spider-Man says if he had been given the advice he has now when he was 15 – two years before he turned professional, he’d be telling a different story…

THE ANC 2022 policy document has been released and is supposed to set the stage for the forthcoming policy conference later this month, if held. It is commendable that the ANC has, post 1994, allowed non-ANC members to debate and put their two-cents worth into this process. Yet, the policy document scores a 3 out of 10 for actual policy ideas and its ability to give direction for a better South Africa. The Good The ANC acknowledges and is aware of the changing economic landscape and global economy in its articulation of the complex digital economy in Chapter 3, “Digital Communications and Battle of Idea”. Some of the discussions within this chapter are not new or nuanced, and have been seen in previous ANC policy documents. However, it was…

ZAMBIA and Namibia will go head to head in what is set to be a memorable Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup final today at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. The two sides have provided great entertainment in the knockout stages of this competition and are deservedly in the final showdown to determine Southern Africa’s champions. Following an anxiety-riddled penalty shootout victory against Botswana in the quarter-final, Zambia found their stride and shooting boots at just the right time as they scored four of seven goals against Senegal in the semis. In just two games, Chipolopolo have found the back of the net five times, signs of a team brimming with confidence in front of goal. The eleven-time winners of this competition did show frailties in defence and concentration, the kind of indications the…

A husband and wife had quite an interesting experience at a resort. They felt like they did what was needed to – checked out, paid the bill, and, well, left. However, things took an odd twist. “Our car was aggressively stopped by two security guards at the exit. They accused us of having stolen one towel,’’ says Linda Elin in her statement on Quora. “They told me that we could not leave until they searched our car and our luggage and if we didn’t comply they would call the police!’’ Linda adds, clearly in dismay. The couple did not take the accusations lightly. Her husband responded by saying he is a criminal defence attorney and would surely be suing them if they made any attempt to search their car and…