Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-10-23 i Sunday Independent

It hasn't been an easy journey for both Deloitte as a company and for Redfearn on a personal level as certain sacrifices had to be made to regain confidence SOUTH Africa’s big audit firms were plunged into chaos during the state capture years as unscrupulous partners signed off on misleading audits or turned a blind eye to corruption in order to line their pockets. Deloitte Africa is one of the audit firms that was not left unscathed by the malpractice, which eventually saw the company’s audit quality outcomes declining to 50% in 2019. One of the biggest scandals to hit the firm was signing off on irregularities in Tongaat Hulett financial statements from 2011 to 2018, which inflated the sugar giant’s financial position by almost R12 billion. This resulted in…

A proactive approach to your health makes it easier to manage or delay the onset of conditions and even prevent them from occurring by assisting in the early detection of potential health issues. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this awareness is aimed at men as well as women. Regular breast self-examination and breast screening with mammograms are essential to ensure the greatest chance of survival from breast cancer, which accounted for more than 25% of new cancer cases in South African women in 2020, and 8% of cancer deaths. Despite their relative rarity in men, they account for nearly 1% of all breast cancer cases. The Cancer Association of South Africa advises men to be proactive about their health and recognise warning signs. It encourages them to…

It can be challenging to decide which sort of exercise is ideal for you. You might be unsure about whether to add Low-Intensity Steady State (Liss) cardio or High-Intensity Interval Training (Hiit) to your strength training regimen if you're looking to gain muscle and burn fat. To make a decision, understand the difference between the two. “Liss is an aerobic activity. Your heart rate and oxygen consumption rise during cardio and aerobic exercise. While the terms aerobic and cardio are often used interchangeably, aerobic exercise uses oxygen, whereas cardio involves your heart pounding”, says Waynne Kilian, a personal trainer at Virgin Active. What distinguishes Hiit from Liss? Hiit is a high-intensity exercise that lasts 5 – 20 minutes. Liss lasts for a longer period of time (20 – 60 minutes)…

La reina (the queen) is back. The third season of Telemundo’s hit series Queen of the South (La Reina del Sur) premiered recently reuniting the world with Teresa Mendoza (Kate del Castillo), the antiheroine at the centre of a drug-trafficking empire she inherited amid tragedy in the show’s first episode. La Reina broke records for Telemundo when it premiered in 2011 (and led to an English-language adaptation that ended its five-season run last year). It also marked an international breakout for Del Castillo, a veteran Mexican American actress. Teresa, who went to prison in the US at the end of last season, travels across Latin America in the latest instalment, finding herself at Peru’s Machu Picchu; Bolivia’s sprawling salt flat, Salar de Uyuni; and Santa Marta in Colombia. Del Castillo…

LIKE Napoleon Bonaparte, President Cyril Ramaphosa faces his “Battle of Waterloo” in about seven weeks. The ANC’s elective conference in December comes at the most inopportune time for SA’s first citizen and the ruling party’s El Supremo. Ramaphosa’s rise to power was premised on a post-president Jacob Zuma “new dawn” – to use his own words. The Gupta family had been fingered by Ramaphosa et al as the root cause of the country’s evils. Throughout Ramaphosa’s tenure corruption, the evil that all the politically connected seem to master, continues to plague our society, described by the UN as the most unequal on the planet. Under his watch homelessness, impoverishment, and hopelessness have become the hallmarks of the “new dawn”. Thuma Mina (Send Me), that early-days exciting mantra aimed at rallying…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s woes continue to mount as the Office of the Public Protector confirms another complaint lodged against him. The DA has complained to the office, alleging Ramaphosa abused state resources for party-related activities. According to the DA, Ramaphosa used an SANDF Oryx helicopter to participate in the ANC’s Letsema campaign in Welkom on October 8, 2022. The DA in the Free State has written a letter to acting public protector advocate Kholeka Gcaleka urging her to investigate Ramaphosa for misusing state resources for party political purposes. The party provided pictures of Ramaphosa landing in the military helicopter in his ANC regalia. The letter was sent to Gcaleka on Tuesday. In the letter, the party’s George Michalakis said it was a gross abuse of state resources. Michalakis said although…

THE ANC is caught between a rock and a hard place as it struggles to defend itself in court over its failure to pay salaries. The party’s employees are taking it to court over its failure to meet its financial obligations, including the payment of salaries and other statutory benefits. However, the ANC claims it is too broke to fight the legal action. In papers filed at the Labour Court in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, the ANC staff members complained about not being paid on time or at all. ANC workers belonging to Cosatu’s biggest affiliate, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), including staff attached to some of the party’s top leaders at its headquarters at Luthuli House in Joburg and provincial offices in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the…

RAND Water is racing against time to try to resolve the water crisis in Gauteng before dams run dry. The utility has set in motion plans to invest heavily in infrastructure development to the tune of R20 billion in a bid to avoid day zero. The province has been hit by water shedding on top of the load shedding crisis. Certain areas in the province have been struggling to access a steady flow of the precious liquid for the past three weeks. Many have been forced to dip into their pockets and buy water to quench their thirsts and be able to bathe. This is despite the tough economic climate that has seen the prices of basic goods skyrocketing. Studies show that the human body can only survive without water…

MONDLI Makhaye is a young man who wants to see many of his peers join the multibillion-rand film industry as he believes that this will take them off the streets, provide essential employment and potentially boost the country’s gross domestic product. And for him, this is not just a dream as he is doing something to achieve it through his companies Mondli Art Production and Mr Art Photography & Films. The 37 year old Pietermaritzburg-based film-maker, who is also a youth activist believes that in the eyes of the public, the industry is not seen as serious business despite the fact that it has the potential to create income for many people and also place the country on the world map. “The film industry can contribute to the economy and…

A MASSIVE court battle is looming as the organisers of the mega music festival Coachella are taking on Africa's Afrochella over alleged copyright infringements. Coachella, which is organised by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) has sued Afrochella under the management of Culture Management Group (CMG) for “intentionally trading on the goodwill of the well-known Coachella and Chella festivals and trademarks”. AEG is accusing CMG of “actively promoting music events in the United States and Ghana using the confusingly similar mark ‘Afrochella’ and by fraudulently attempting to register plaintiff’s actual trademark as their own”. According to the court document, Afrochella is not only deliberately trading on the goodwill of Coachella but also promotes music festivals in the US and Ghana using the almost identical Coachella stylised mark. The…

MORE than 28 years since the attainment of democracy, access to land with basic services enshrined in the constitution still eludes many. South Africans thought with the end of apartheid, black people would see their lives improve and get access to better services and even live in towns. Sadly, for many that has remained a pipe dream as residents of Protea South in the west of Johannesburg, Soweto, have come to realise. Heaps of rubbish lie all over the place on the main roads. Residents are now facing eviction threats from the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, with no guarantee that they will be allocated housing. According to the frustrated residents, in 2006 there was a resolution by the City of Joburg which confirmed that parts of the land in…

MENTAL Health is a serious challenge globally. Many people don’t even know they suffer from it and those who do feel like they have nowhere to turn to. Mental issues can manifest themselves in different ways. The most notable is depression, but bullying and violent outbursts are also signs of a mental health challenge. The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) says its helplines have received more than 466 400 calls since January 2021, with one in every five calls being suicide related. The organisation gets about 1 800 to 2 200 calls a day. World Mental Health Day is marked every year on October 10 to raise awareness about mental health and well-being around the world and to organise efforts to assist those experiencing mental health issues. Since…

ANGRY Diepsloot residents have called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to address them or face a total shutdown of the crime-ridden township north of Johannesburg. The community’s anger was sparked by the murder of Pastor Vincent Sikhakhane, 40, at the Holiness Christian Revival Ministries last Friday by armed robbers who also left two congregants injured after robbing churchgoers. There have been growing calls among community leaders for the national government to intervene. Loyiso Toyiya, one of the community leaders, told the Sunday Independent this week that in the past few weeks there had been 22 murders in Diepsloot. “This is beyond (Police Minister) Bheki Cele and (Gauteng Premier) Panyaza Lesufi. We want permanent solutions. Cele made promises in April and they only lasted three months,” he said. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya,…

Step aside, India and Pakistan, have a swim, Australia and New Zealand with your Trans-Tasman whatever, Monday is cricket’s biggest game, the “Limpopo River Dance”, “The SADC Derby” – South Africa vs Zimbabwe – a six pack of Castle Lager to the winner. It’s not as sexy as all that, unfortunately. However, it’s a quirky bit of fun that’s been provided to cricket aficionados in both countries, who for different reasons have been suffering about the relative lack of success of their respective men’s national teams lately. Zimbabwe have battled to get stability and thus earn spots at ICC tournaments recently, while South Africa can’t win them. But now, tomorrow, in Hobart, Tasmania, for a couple of hours they get to dominate world cricket talk. Zimbabwe earned their place in…

One of the board members who stepped down from the SABC board is someone with a deep understanding of and great appreciation for technology. His presence on the board was crucial for the survival of the broadcaster as it navigates the challenges presented to it by technology. The state broadcaster has made some improvements in terms of how it uses technology for content delivery. His influence was, however, limited as this can be seen in the extent to which the public broadcaster has used technology to transform itself. Among the new incoming board members of the SABC, there’s a need for a board member with a technology mindset. Here’s why: The SABC is in a serious technology predicament. On one hand, it’s trying to catch up to all the technological…

ALTHOUGH South Africa’s start-up sector has taken a knock over the past few years, the country has maintained its position as the only African country that ranks within the global top 50 start-up ecosystems. This is according to the 2022 Global Startup Ecosystem Index by StartupBlink. This finding is testament to the resilience of South Africa’s budding community of entrepreneurs, many of whom are finding creative ways to harness rapid technological advancements to enable good business. These three should be on everyone’s watch-list: 1. Valenture Institute Before the onset of Covid-19, home-schooling was viewed as an “outlier” – a deviation from the norm, best suited to unconventional families. Now, in the “new normal”, online home-schooling has taken off. As a pioneering social enterprise, Valenture Institute has hit the ground running,…

Pilates continues to draw a large following of practitioners because of its advantages, which include improved posture, flexibility and muscle strength, particularly in the abdomen. “Although classic Pilates apparatus, like Reformers, Cadillacs and Towers, are excellent for practising on, they are rather expensive to buy. “The Pilates Suspension Method, created in the US by Rebecca Beckler, grew so popular it is now a worldwide sensation following lockdown because access to this style of Pilates was restricted”, says the owner of The Pilates Difference Studio in Plettenberg Bay, instructor-trainer and former athlete-turned-entrepreneur, Colleen Tomlinson. Suspension Pilates, a modified version of the classic Pilates workout, is a style of exercise that involves moving your body while partially or entirely “suspended in the air”. The major instrument for challenging yourself is, therefore, your…

Brace yourself, Julia Anastasopoulos (aka SuzelleDIY) is back to tickle the funnybone in Tali’s Joburg Diary. This is the third instalment of the Safta award-winning comedy series. In the upcoming season, much has changed in Tali’s (Anastasopoulos) world, which homes in on the drawbacks of Covid-19. The series sees the return of familiar faces – Kate Normington, Glen Biderman-Pam, Anton Taylor and Kate Pinchuck – with Ndoni Kanyile and Sharon Spiegel Wagner among the newcomers. With her credit cards exhausted, Tali has no choice but to move back to Jozi. This time, much to her horror, it is via economy class. This franchise is the brainchild of Anastasopoulos and her husband Ari Kruger, who bagged Best Director for the first two seasons of the show, and they draw inspiration from…

Does the world need a hero, or someone less afraid to get their hands dirty? That’s the (moderately intriguing) question that infuses the otherwise formulaic comic-book movie Black Adam with a measure of … something. Gravitas? Grit? Grandiloquence? Whatever you call it, it does not lie at the heart of the film. What does is the same molten core of rock-’em, sock-’em hokum we’ve come to expect from almost every other film of this ilk. Rather, it hangs over the CGI-heavy proceedings like a brooding shadow, cooling and darkening the overheated action just enough to make things interesting. This being an origin story of the title character (Dwayne Johnson), a nearly 5 000-year-old former enslaved person with powers beyond those of any mortal, the film sets the stage with…

When delivering the report to the 20th congress of the Communist Party of China on October 17, General Secretary Xi Jinping said: “Our experience has taught us that … we owe the success of our party and socialism with Chinese characteristics to the fact that Marxism works, particularly when it is adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of our times.” The statement reaffirmed another made in a document released last year, by the CPC publicity department, which said: “The CPC’s successes can be attributed to its mastery of powerful theoretical weapons to correctly understand, scientifically analyse and effectively solve problems by applying the Marxist stance, viewpoint and methodology.” The statements are objectively correct despite the anti-Marxist and anti-Communist propaganda that has defined global political and economic discourse since…

The Sunday Independent can today exclusively reveal that the Phala Phala farm manager mysteriously went to the Bela-Bela police station in August this year and opened a case of housebreaking and robbery, more than two years after the theft occurred. The move piqued the interest of senior police officers, who questioned the timing and the conduct of colleagues at the station. A senior police officer yesterday told the publication that police at Bela-Bela should have charged the person who opened the case for defeating the ends of justice. “They failed to report the case to the police for more than two years and now, out of the blue, when everything is in the public domain, someone goes to the police station and opens a case. That person should have been…

SOUTH Africans have a challenging time ahead of them economically. The country has been experiencing a consumer inflation rate of 7.8%, the highest it’s been in over 13 years. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) revealed that food prices in South Africa increased by 11.9% in September 2022, a 0.7% rise from August. Stats SA said the increase was the highest reading the country had experienced since January 2009. When President Cyril Ramaphosa first addressed South Africans as head of state, he aimed to usher South Africans into a new era by prioritising SA’s economic recovery, implementing economic reforms to create sustainable jobs, continuing to fight corruption and strengthening the state. That was when the April 2018 consumer price index for food was 4.5%. It was when the petrol…

MANY years ago, in the 1950s and 1960s, there was a good South African boxer who turned professional. His name was Jake Tuli. More years later, the swimming pool in Orlando East, Soweto, was named after him. That is where the story of swimming in the townships ends. It almost gives credence to the negative truism that suggests blacks and water are like chalk and cheese; they do not mix. A visit to the Tuli swimming pool is enough to induce tears. The pool is closed. None of the swimming pools in the townships, wherever there’s one to be found, has ever produced any credible black swimmer worth a mention. Any chance of a Penny Heyns or Natalie du Toit coming out of the townships is doubtful. If you go…

The SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) has issued a stern warning to the country’s 257 municipalities against three trade unions in the sector it does not recognise. The SALGBC has told municipalities that two SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) affiliates, the Municipal and Allied Trade Union of SA (Matusa) and the Democratic Municipal and Allied Workers Union of SA (Demawusa) as well as the Municipal Employees and Civil Servants Union (Mecsu), should not be allowed to bargain on behalf of workers in local government. SALGBC general secretary Bill Govender informed municipalities last week that they should not enter into separate recognition agreements or any other agreement on organisational rights with any unrecognised minority trade union. He said the main collective agreement regulates such matters in local government. According…

IF YOU have been to a public clinic or hospital lately, you will have likely noticed how few nurses there are attending to a large number of people. According to a World Health Organization report, every country should be training more nurses than they do each year. This is to avoid a global shortfall of nurses. According to the South African Nursing Council, the nurse-to-patient ratio is 1:218. Although it was observed in 2010 that South Africa has a shortage of more than 44 700 professionals, nursing was added to the critical skills list only late in 2022. The supply of qualified personnel in all nursing categories has decreased by almost 40% since 2013. Director at Allmed Healthcare Professionals, Sandra Sampson, believes many factors have contributed. They include inadequate training…

Ramahlwe Mphahlele, now in the colours of AmaZulu, is set to come up against Kaizer Chiefs for the third time this season when the two teams collide at the Moses Mabhida Stadium today. AmaZulu are looking to make their second-ever cup final in the Premier Soccer League era, and will have to beat off the challenge of Chiefs when the pair meet in their second leg of an MTN8 cup duel. The 32-year-old Mphahlele has made a startling claim ahead of Usuthu’s next battle with Amakhosi as he named former teammate Khama Billiat as the best player in the league. “For me, without fear of anything, he’s still the best player in the PSL. Honestly, show me a better player than him and then maybe we can talk. You know…

LIVERPOOL’S Premier League title challenge suffered another massive blow in a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest as Erling Haaland returned Manchester City to winning ways in a 3-1 victory over Brighton. City's first defeat of the season to Liverpool last weekend looked to have kick-started the Reds' season, but Jurgen Klopp's depleted side slumped to a shock defeat at the City Ground. Forest began the day bottom of the table, but their first win since August lifted Steve Cooper's men to within one point of safety. Taiwo Awoniyi, who spent six years at Liverpool without making an appearance, scored the only goal 10 minutes into the second half. "To score against Liverpool is a day I will never forget," said Awoniyi. Without the injured Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Luis…

YouTube has ended a test that required Premium subscription for 4K resolution videos. In the experiment, the Google-owned streaming platform asked some users to pay for a Premium account in order to view videos in 4K resolution. Because of users’ outrage, it has now stopped this test, reports TechCrunch. “We have fully turned off this experiment. Viewers should now be able to access 4K quality resolutions without Premium membership,” YouTube said in a tweet. The streaming platform conducted the experiment to know how users would respond if a certain function was moved to the Premium tier. “It is a part of our experiment to know better the feature preferences of Premium and non-Premium viewers,” it had said in a now-deleted tweet. The company claims to have more than 50 million…

Superstition and science suggests that when a significant figure on earth departs, big things also happen. In a paper presented at the International Union of the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) in 1997, an interesting paper studying the patterns of mortality amongst the elderly pointed to a pattern where after a significant year, such as the Year of the Tiger, an outlier death pattern amongst the elderly occurs. The phenomena of mortality of long life was also observed amongst cars, whereby some automobiles would run for years and years while others and most experienced premature demise relative to the antics, even if these were driven more or less under similar conditions. The study of death looms large, and what that beholds is very relevant as we go through one of…

When warmer spring weather arrives, South Africans fire up their barbecues to grill juicy burgers, head out to their neighbourhood ice cream shop for a double-scoop or cool off with an iced cappuccino at their local coffee shop. While these foods may seem like ideal warm weather treats, they are almost always higher in unhealthy saturated fat, sugar, salt, and calories. This spring why not consider turning over a new leaf and indulging in a heart-healthy diet instead? Not sure where to begin? Embrace these simple steps and you will be on the right track to spring-cleaning your eating habits. Clean out your fridge While you are cleaning the fridge and cupboards, go over everything you have hidden on the shelves. Read the labels and examine the ingredient list. Throw…

Argentina, 1985 Despite a tone that’s tidier and more deliberate than the average courtroom drama, Santiago Mitre’s fact-based drama Argentina, 1985 – which relates the civilian trial of the leaders of Argentina’s military junta – manages to be a rousing crowd-pleaser. Ricardo Darín plays Julio Strassera, the federal prosecutor whose methodical ways belie his nickname: Loco. Maybe Strassera was considered crazy for taking the case, not to mention prosecuting it with a staff of young and untested assistants. And who would blame him for hesitating? There were bomb and death threats at the time, and many in the conservative Catholic country were initially on the side of the defendants. But slowly, over the course of the film, Strassera prevails in holding the officers to account for crimes that include extrajudicial…

“I believe that men are here to grow themselves into the best good that they can be,” the iconic saxophonist John Coltrane once said. Anthony Robert McMillan chose his stage name as a homage to the jazz great and, as the actor Robbie Coltrane, went on to grow into the best good that he could be. Both Coltranes possessed notes that had a unique flavour and could be delivered with singular skill. Robbie Coltrane, who died on October 14, leaves behind a rich legacy on stage and on screen that audiences will continue to admire and enjoy for decades to come. Much of the world will remember him for his performance as Rubeus Hagrid, full of warmth and humour as the benevolent groundskeeper at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.…

Detective Knight: Rogue (Cinemas nationwide) As Los Angeles prepares for Halloween, mask-wearing armed robbers wound Detective James Knight’s partner in a shootout during a heist. With Knight in hot pursuit, the bandits flee to New York City, where the detective’s dark past collides with his present case and threatens to tear his world apart unless redemption can claim Knight first. Blood and Silver by Jan Glazewski (R275 on loot.co.za) When Jan Glazewski was born in Paarl in 1953, he nearly died of severe haemophilia. He survived – only to discover, at the start of his career, he is HIV-positive from receiving contaminated blood products. Despite this, Jan goes on to have a remarkable career but it is only after retirement that he has the opportunity to indulge his lifelong obsession:…

A SENIOR leader has described the ANC’s failure to elect a female president, deputy president, secretary-general or treasurer-general in its 110-year history as scandalous and unacceptable. Women among the ANC’s top six national officials have only been elected as deputy secretary-general and national chairperson. Former North West ANC deputy chairperson and MP, China Dodovu said it was unacceptable that women were meant to fill positions such as deputy secretary-general. He said since 1994, this position has been filled by women and warned that it appeared as if the trend would continue: “It is scandalous that 110 years since the ANC was founded in 1912, no woman has ever occupied the positions of president, deputy president, secretary-general or treasurer-general,” Dodovu stated. At its last national conference in 2017, the ANC only…

THE Youth Business Chain (YBC) has congratulated black-owned Sekunjalo, its chairman, Dr Iqbal Survé, and others for having obtained a major victory against the banks which, they said, was also a victory for ordinary citizens who had suffered the same fate in the past. In a statement this week, YBC said this major victory was also a sign of relief for ordinary citizens and black-owned business who did not have the wherewithal to fight the behemoths of the financial services sector. “This is a first in South Africa to curtail the powers of the banks, who are the real power behind the scenes, and this is more significant as it means finally a victory for the ordinary man in the street, who otherwise would not have had the means to…

THE countdown has begun to Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) new tournament, the country’s T20 League. On September 19, the country witnessed an IPL-style auction featuring players from across the active styles (Test and T20) who signed up to be bought by the six franchise teams created for the league. The six teams in the inaugural league are owned by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners and will play 33 matches in total. Each squad consists of 17 players, with a maximum of seven internationals. The teams are MI Cape Town (owned by Mumbai Indians), Johannesburg Super Kings (Chennai Super Kings), Paarl Royals (Rajasthan Royals), Pretoria Capitals (Delhi Capitals), Sunrisers Eastern Cape (Sunrisers Hyderabad), and Durban Super Giants (Lucknow Super Giants). The tournament is the brainchild of the CSA, who have…

A LONG time ago in Africa, music was used to tell the African folk tales that we still hear about today. Young children would gather around a fire pit at night and listen to their grandparents as they sang and narrated the tales. As time went by, musicians who were also political activists adopted the culture of storytelling through song to compose music that was used as secret communication codes during the liberation Struggle. These songs carried strong messages of resistance and the people’s liberation. Today, Africa is enriched with great tunes that paint a picture of life before democracy, allowing today’s youth to see life through the eyes of those who came before them. Legends such as Brenda Fassie, Fela Kuti, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela played a significant…

EXTENDED blackouts, shops closed for days on end, and parents having to put burglar doors inside their kitchens; this has become life for many communities as a consequence of the R46-billion industry that is scrap-metal dealing. Illegal scrap metal theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the country. Copper, aluminium, nickel, stainless steel and scrap iron have become the desired target of thieves looking to make quick cash. It has become a serious concern for the police, businesses, public entities, railroad companies, and the community at large. The theft of scrap metal, including copper, has crippled power supplies, left trains unable to operate, and damaged public facilities in many parts of the country. The cost of copper theft from agencies like Transnet, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa…

“Catch them young” seems to be the best strategy, as was evinced at an awards ceremony where high school pupils with innovative solutions for environmental challenges were handed around R4 million in prizes in Sandton, north of Joburg. Now in their eighth year, and punted as a platform where “the ideas of school teams are heard, tested and supported”, the Step Up 2 A Green Start Up National Youth Entrepreneurship Awards celebrated the winning ideas of high school pupils and the overall winners had a sponsored trip to Silicon Valley as part of their prize. The bright sparks rose to the top of over 12 500 young people who entered from schools across the country and were flown to Joburg for a week-long boot camp, some enjoying their first aeroplane…

WHAT OCCURRED to me recently is that history tells us that Africans have suffered numerous and countless indignities in the Western Cape and elsewhere, not only in the past but sadly, even under the present so-called democratic dispensation. As far back as 1900, the outbreak of the bubonic plague was blamed on the presence of Africans living under squalid conditions at the time, near the present dock area of the Foreshore. It is recorded that a council resolution was taken to move all Africans to a place then called Uitvlugt, near Maitland later named Ndabeni.This was a name given by ANC activists at the time to a white superintendent, who was seen to be rather “nosey”, always wanting to know what people of influence were thinking and planning, so that…

Wherever you are, summer is peak travel season. From staycations to Sho’t Left, one of this year’s most popular trends is taking the road less travelled aka a solocation. If you’re an introvert, solocations are an excellent way to build a personalised itinerary and invest in your self-discovery. It’s your chance to be free and connect with yourself without the worry of cancelled group plans or people fighting on the trip. According to Marc Wachsberger, CEO of The Capital Hotels and Apartments, travelling alone is becoming extremely popular, with more people choosing to take time to learn about themselves, explore something new on their own, and avoid the drawbacks of travelling in larger groups. “Solocations allow travellers to experience the full breadth of a destination at their own pace. Whether…