Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-11-06 i Sunday Independent

If Elon Musk manages to turn Twitter into a platform that has mostly verified users, he will have a weapon to create the most important platform on the internet, writes Wesley Diphoko Fake accounts and the need to create an online identity fuelled the need for verified accounts on Twitter. One of the first celebrities to be impersonated on Twitter was Shaquille O’Neal, who joined the platform in November 2008 and said he had created an account in part because someone else had been impersonating him. At the time, a Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone, told The New York Times the company was looking for a way to certify accounts, and the fake Shaq account was the first celebrity impersonation he had heard of on the site. Elon Musk wants to…

BLACK Friday, to be held on Friday, November 25, has progressed to take its place among the leading shopping events on the retail calendar. While Covid-19 put a dampener on consumer spend in 2020, sales rebounded the year after, with research by Payfast putting the average basket size at just over R1 200. Of particular interest was the high volume of online sales during Black Friday last year. According to online payments platform, Peach Payments, online shopping increased by more than 103%. By Cyber Monday (the Monday following Black Friday), Peach Payments had processed more than R250 million. Retail was the overwhelming winner in the Black Friday e-commerce race, followed by food and beverages, beauty, and finally, travel and accommodation. Experts predict that the full potential of Black Friday 2022…

Whether for philosophical or health reasons, some people are opting to stop consuming animals and are adopting a vegan diet. Making the switch can be a challenge for people who are accustomed to incorporating dairy and meat in their diet, but it could offer some health benefits. With November 1 being World Vegan Day, and the whole of November being Vegan Month, we ask ourselves, what are the essential foods items every vegan or new vegan should have in their kitchen? This list will come in handy to stock up on your kitchen essentials. Before we reveal some of the essential food items, let us quickly define the diet and its health benefits. A vegan diet omits all animal products, including dairy and eggs, unlike vegetarians, who despite not eating…

In 2020, Bonang Matheba moved to New York to expand her career. Many people couldn’t understand her move, but little did they know what was in the pipeline. After months of holding her cards close to her chest, the Being Bonang star revealed she had partnered with New York fashion accessory brand Steve Madden to launch a shoe range. “Two years ago, on a very Bonang year, I was talking about designing a shoe collection. I met with a shoe designer in New York, we spoke, and I had dreams and aspirations, but obviously, covid happened. “Then at the beginning of this year, I got a call from Steve Madden while I was in New York. I met with the team there, then I came home and started discussions with…

An important question which needs to be addressed is: should one fast if you are pregnant? Answering this, Shwetha Vijan, senior health coach at Mylo, an ITC-backed leading full-stack platform for new and expecting mothers, says, “Pregnancy is a very vulnerable state. The answer to ‘can you fast’ depends on your pregnancy stage. If you fall under the first and the early second trimester, fasting can be taken up but only after your doctor’s suggestion and recommendations. “Rather than taking up the traditional way of fasting, include an early morning balanced meal with good sources of protein and yes, do have some coconut water along with your meals. “Also, try including some portions of fruit to keep hyperacidity at bay. “If you’re in the third trimester, the recommendation is not…

No debut feature better reflects the trending tastes of many audiences right now than a small film not even intended for theatrical release. The dark thriller Smile was set to head straight to streaming. That is, until the reported $17 million (about R310m) movie from writer-director Parker Finn scored “crazy well” with test audiences, Paramount Pictures chief Brian Robbins said last month, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Redirected to theatres and boosted by savvy marketing campaigns, Smile – about a therapist’s seemingly supernatural experiences – recently won three-consecutive weekends across North America and has grossed more than $165m worldwide. In the ramp-up to Halloween, horror films have won five weekends since September began, holding their own while squeezed between the blockbuster contrails of Top Gun: Maverick and next month’s massive…

SELF-serving geopolitical interests of key protagonists in the Ukraine conflict who shamelessly use Kyiv to wage a proxy war against Russia stood out during desperate intervention to persuade Russia to rescind its decision after quitting the “grain deal”. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has often been the lone man in his noble attempts to broker a peace deal between the warring parties in the Ukraine war. The powerful players in the Ukraine war – the makers or breakers – led by the US ably supported by the EU, have been steadfast in their indifference to bring about an armistice. But this week, following Russia’s unexpected withdrawal from the grain deal and the dire implications thereof, the West rallied behind the UN and Turkey to pursue Russia to resume co-operation with the…

AFRICA’s largest law firm ENSafrica has been lambasted for allowing businessmen Hector Kunene to illegally collect information on private property. Lawyers representing ANC stalwarts Mathews Phosa and his business partner, Luda Roytblat, said this shows that ENSafrica has assured Kunene that he could proceed with unlawful actions without facing consequences. The attorneys, Hammond-Smith (HS Legal), said this also gave the impression that Kunene was above the law because the ENSafrica has encouraged his unlawful actions. This was after Kunene visited Malonjeni coal mining and illegally flew a drone into the premises to collect information to use against Phosa and Roytblat. This happened on July 26, 2022.Kunene visited the mine in KwaZulu-Natal despite being released on bail conditions after he allegedly stole R14 million from Transasia – which is owned by…

From Page 1 Before his death, he had complained that he was getting death threats, and that his phone had been pinged 2 116 times. The report states two Hawks bosses in Gauteng, including Lebeya, were supposed to investigate who was pinging Kinnear’s phone, but failed to do so. Kinnear’s protection at his house was removed. The report states that a senior officer, known by Independent Media, was “entirely responsible for the withdrawal of the late Colonel Kinnear’s protection”. He resigned from the SAPS last November before any of the Ipid recommendations had been implemented. The senior officer is not the only officer implicated in the report who has so far resigned from the SAPS. Two implicated brigadiers also resigned before any action had been taken against them. The report…

A BILL aimed at establishing a new state-owned enterprise (SOE) to operate as a cargo shipping company has been described as a risk to taxpayers as the already existing public entities are struggling to service their debts worth hundreds of billions of rands. These were the reactions to the first draft South African Shipping Company (Sasco) Bill 2022, which Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula released recently. The fear is that the new company will be an additional burden to the state. Mbalula released the document soon after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the state would take over a lion’s share of R400 billion debt which Eskom is failing to service. In its 2020/21 budget review, the Treasury revealed that SOEs combined owed a total of R692.9bn, of which R415.5bn was…

Vallery Horing, the managing director of Loading Techniques from the mining town of Postmasburg in the Northern Cape, is paving the way for women in the transport industry after winning a lucrative contract with Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore. Kumba Iron Ore, operating primarily in South Africa, is a business unit of Anglo American and the leading supplier of high-quality iron ore to the global steel industry. Horing started Loading Techniques in 2017 after searching for a business model that would benefit Postmasburg’s community members. “The purpose of the company back then was the provision of training within the local community of Postmasburg. Training, unfortunately, did not work out, and we ultimately branched out into transportation and mining supplies,” she said. When entering the transport and mining industry she noticed…

HE IS one of South Africa’s most loved sportscasters with a wealth of know-ledge and experience in broadcasting. Robert Marawa is one of the most recognisable voices and faces in the country’s media landscape. Recently, he launched his memoir, Gqimm Shelele: The Robert Marawa Story. It began when the young him listened to football commentary on a radio at home. Marawa would go on to imitate the commentary and record family functions. Today, we have an offering based on his life journey. Titled after his famous sign-off phrase and written by award-winning journalist and author, Mandy Wiener, Gqimm Shelele is an account of a man who came to fame as a soccer sportscaster and who, recently, has been the respected moderator of in-depth cultural conversations on YouTube. As a young,…

MOTHERS across the country say they feel let down by the court system as they fight for the upkeep of their children in the maintenance courts. Liezel Cronje, a single parent of a minor from Cape Town, is one of the thousands of mothers who have to fight and endure the traumas of the maintenance courts for the maintenance of their children. Cronje has been in a maintenance battle since 2016. “My son was born in 2014 and I’ve been trying to get maintenance since 2016. The father of my child and I were never married. Whenever he was summoned to come to court, he would never pitch. And every time I would go to court, the matter would always be postponed. I am not getting any money for my…

DEPUTY Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Obed Bapela, is in a bitter battle to safeguard funds meant for Struggle stalwarts who died in exile. Bapela has taken a businessman to court over the alleged siphoning of funds from the Zonkizizwe Investment Trust, in which he is a trustee. According to Bapela, the businessman, Reuben Gladstone, introduced himself as a new trustee after the passing of members, who were appointed as trustees of the fund. Allegations of corruption, criminal complaints and legal action ensued after money disappeared. Zonkizizwe Investment Trust was established in 2002 by Zonkizizwe Investments, a company formed by the ANC. Bapela was appointed as the first trustee, along with the late Hermanus Loots and Henry Makgothi. Makgothi died in 2011 and Loots in 2016. Bapela said…

THE Convention on the Suppression of the Crime of Apartheid has its roots in the opposition of the United Nations to discriminatory racial policies of the South African government – known as apartheid – which lasted from 1948 to 1990, writes Dr Wallace Mgoqi. If we consider how life was made difficult for black children from birth to old age through tight regulation, we can certainly state that all those born after 1948, like myself, in 1949, were born into a furnace of fire and sorrow. The Nationalist Party immediately passed the Population Registration Act and the Group Zones Act to ensure that white, coloured, African, and Indian people lived in separate areas. Legislation was passed to forcibly remove any of the other three groups from white areas. When we…

INDIAN engineer Stephen Wesley was puzzled when he was asked to take a typing test during an interview for a graphic design job in Thailand – but put it out of his mind when he got the role. Hours after landing in Bangkok to start work in July, Wesley and seven other new recruits were instead ferried over the border into Myanmar, where their phones and passports were taken, and they were put to work on online cryptocurrency scams. “I spent up to 18 hours a day researching, typing messages, chatting with people on social media platforms, gaining their trust and encouraging them to invest in cryptocurrency,” said Wesley, 29, in a telephone interview. Thousands of people, many with tech skills, have been lured by social media advertisements promising…

I watch a lot of TV series and movies. And I do mean a lot. As a critic, it can either be a blessing or a curse, depending on what you are watching. On Thursday, after a particularly gruelling day of deadlines, I was restless. Despite my weary state of mind, I was unable to switch off and saunter into dreamland. I was convinced that watching something would do the trick. After a painful few minutes of Dubai Bling (sorry, I just couldn’t get past the narcissism, bitchiness and woe-is-me drama), I switched to From Scratch. This series should have come with a warning label as it starts off as a deceptively innocuous rom-com. Before you know it, you are bawling your eyes for several hours and you are trying…

Tyla’s break-out single, Getting Late, was the most ubiquitous hit of summer 2019. Just days after its release, no matter where you turned, clips from the music video for the viral amapiano hit were on every WhatsApp and Instagram Story and all over TikTok. Then, with an international breakthrough at the tip of her fingers, the coronavirus pandemic reared its ugly head and ground everything to a halt. The timing couldn’t have been worse for Tyla as she wasn’t able to perform and promote the single on the road. Now, with the music industry back at full tilt, the fresh-faced 20-year-old is finally preparing to release her long-awaited debut project. When we spoke, she sounded upbeat and excited about the new chapter. “It’s all been amazing, it’s been a movie,”…

The first time Matthew Perry went through detox, he was already as famous as a Beatle, thanks to his role as Chandler Bing on the culture-shifting 1990s sitcom Friends. He was also an addict, tormented by a long list of demons that eventually included the painkiller Vicodin (55 pills a day, at his low point), alcohol, cocaine, the tranquilliser Xanax, and Suboxone, which was used to treat opioid addiction. He went on to detox 65 more times, he estimates, spending millions of dollars and half of his ruined life in treatment facilities. Friends lasted 10 seasons, and Perry was spiralling for most of them, according to his new memoir, the grimly funny, mostly unvarnished and frequently proctological Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. His struggles played out in front…

THERE’S a recurring lament about the aim of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to strip the state-owned enterprises and hand them over to his pals on a silver platter. The much-maligned acquisition of a 51% stake in SAA by Takatso Consortium for R51 earlier this year is a case in point. Noam Chomsky puts it better in his elucidation of the standard technique of privatisation: defund, make sure things don’t work, let people get angry, and then hand it over to private capital. Gordhan is a well-read man, and there’s little doubt he’s sampled Chomsky’s literature. But the sad part is that Gordhan seems to want to read Chomsky for his gain, and that of his close coterie of friends. And South Africa Inc seems to be helpless to stop…

POLICE Minister Bheki Cele has been advised to look into the conduct of the head of the country's elite crime-busting unit, the Hawks, over “his conduct” leading up to the murder of Lieutenant-General Charl Kinnear. The Sunday Independent has seen a top-secret Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) report which recommends that Cele look into the conduct of Hawks head Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya before Kinnear was assassinated in Cape Town. The explosive report – which will remain classified for now, as it implicates senior police officers – says Cele must consider whether Lebeya’s conduct was in line with the SAPS Act. The report by the police watchdog also adds that Lebeya “failed to ensure that the (Hawks) members implicated investigated the threat against the state, and therefore failed to protect the…

A FORMER ANC Youth League leader accused of being the middleman in the looting of the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank has to pay Sars R61.5 million in tax. Businessman Kabelo Matsepe challenged a final sequestration order by the North Gauteng High Court that was granted in April after Sars established that he was insolvent. Judge Mandla Mbongwe granted Sars the order it sought, but did not provide reasons then and Matsepe applied to the court to provide the written reasons for its ruling. Matsepe’s individual income tax and VAT assessments issued between 2015 and 2018 were over R61.5m and Sars issued summons to recover the amount. Sars also established that Matsepe was incapable of paying the debt and that he was insolvent. According to the revenue service, Matsepe listed…

From Page 1 The Sunday Independent learnt that in total Ntsihlele had filed four employee grievances concerning Hlakoane, whose term of office ended in August. Company policy required that employee grievances be attended to within five days, the publication heard. Last week Denel spokesperson Pam Malinda told City Press the company could not comment on the merits of Ntsihlele’s grievances, and that the matter was still subject to internal processes. Public Enterprises spokesperson Richard Mantu told the publication that Gordhan refuted Ntsihlele’s allegations with the contempt they deserved, adding: “Denel was one of the SOEs impacted by state capture, as evidenced in the Zondo Commission report. The minister and the department won’t be deterred or distracted from confronting corruption and maladministration at Denel.” A person sympathetic to Gordhan said the…

THE government has warned its essential services employees, including teachers, police and maintenance workers, against joining the ongoing strike and pickets by public servants. The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has also notified state workers that they will not be paid if they join the strike. On Thursday, the Public Servants Association (PSA) commenced its indefinite strike over the government’s failure to increase its workers’ salaries. Wage negotiations have deadlocked at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) over the government’s offer of a 3% pay hike and a non-pensionable cash allowance of at least R1 000 a month, which Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana described as in the best interest of the fiscus and public service workers. Godongwana maintained that the government’s decision to unilaterally implement the increase…

The chief of a mineral-rich North West community has opened a criminal case with the Hawks’ commercial crimes unit over the R28 million in royalties from mining giant Glencore that has been spent improperly. Bakwena-ba-Mogopa Kgosikgolo (chief) Tebogo Motheo Mamogale told the Sunday Independent this week that he had no choice but to report the matter after his subjects in Bethanie, Jericho and Hebron publicly questioned him about the millions. The North West High Court has already found that between 2011 and 2014 more than R28m was paid into the Bakwena-ba-Mogopa Community Trust’s account by Glencore, but since June 2018 the company has paid the community’s share into the trust account of Werksmans Attorneys after allegations surfaced that the monies had been dealt with improperly. Mamogale undertook to co-operate fully…

A stoppage-time penalty from substitute Erling Haaland earned 10-man Manchester City a dramatic 2-1 win over Fulham on Saturday, a victory that sent the champions back to the top of the Premier League. With leading goalscorer Haaland deemed fit enough only for the bench after missing the previous two City games through injury, Argentinian forward Julian Alvarez fired the home side into a 17th-minute lead. The champions thought they had quickly doubled their lead through John Stones but Rodri was offside in the build-up, and Fulham capitalised on that reprieve, going straight down the other end and winning a 26th-minute penalty. City defender Joao Cancelo was given a straight red card for bundling Harry Wilson to the floor, with former Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira making no mistake from the…

Stress and anxiety levels are at an all-time high, and statistics show that South Africa is the lowest ranked country based on mental well-being, according to the recent Mental State of the World report. Minimising your stress levels is crucial for your mental well-being. We’ve just finished Mental Health Awareness Month and applying a few tips on how to reduce stress won’t do you any harm. In addition, travel is one way to take care of yourself: it has been found to boost physical and psychological well-being, contributing to a happier and more fulfilling life. In addition, taking time off to go on a holiday is an essential part of living a good life. According to a UAB Medicine report, studies illustrate that travel reduces depression and the risk of…

When it comes to money, most of us can do with some advice on how to save and still have a good time. We are facing issues such as soaring flight prices and spiked fuel prices which could make you question whether it’s worth it to travel. However, there are ways to save money. Here’s how families can save money when going on holiday this summer. Day hotelling and rewards There are ways to enjoy a hotel without having to stay the night. You can enjoy a lovely meal or date night at the restaurant at the hotel of your choice. And if you really want to wind down, hotels have spas too, and a massage doesn’t sound like a bad idea. “When choosing a hotel for breakfast, brunch, lunch…

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to translate some of the world’s rare languages, mainly spoken instead of written, in real-time. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to teach AI to translate scores of spoken and written languages in real-time. However, Meta recently announced the first speech-to-speech translation system powered by AI for Hokkien, a primarily oral language in the Chinese diaspora. The new translation system forms part of Meta’s Universal Speech Translator project, which has been developing new AI methods to allow real-time speech-to-speech translation across many languages eventually. The project is set to play a major role in the Metaverse and across Meta-owned social networks, including Facebook and Instagram. However, until the inclusion of the new translation tool, the Universal Speech…

The peace agreement between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray forces, in South Africa this week, is a clear demonstration that Africa’s challenges can be solved by Africans. After a gruelling three years of restricted travel, I was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last week. The effects of the war between the government forces and the Tigray guerrillas was pronounced by the silence of the streets and the closure of many a watering hole that had made Addis’s hospitality unique. The prime sport Concord was no more. Despite all that, our host, Dr Beker Shale, the incoming chief statistician of Ethiopia, and Biratu Yigezu, Ethiopia’s chief statistician, took the multitudes of delegates out for dinner. True to Ethiopian edutainment, we were taken down to the seductive body gyrations that characterise…

TIKTOK challenges are popular because they’re a lot of fun and everyone can participate. They can be undertaken by the entire family. Parents and children have been addicted to watching and trying out these humorous scenes, challenges or dance routines since TikTok first appeared on the App Store. Re-enacting these trials can also be a wonderful method to promote family unity, in the post-lockdown era when everyone is no longer spending as much time at home. Like you, we enjoy a good TikTok challenge, so we’ve put up a list of all the greatest suggestions for you and the kids to recreate at home. When the recording is ready for playback, you’ll be watching what you and your co-workers just completed while giggling uncontrollably. Something New Challenge This challenge…

Best-selling novels make for successful adaptations. In fact, especially in Hollywood, it’s almost a given that a critically-acclaiming offering will be bought for a big or small-screen adaptation. Shantaram is one such offering. This 12-episode series is based on Gregory David Roberts’s 2003 novel of the same name. In it, he documents his struggles after his prison breakout from Pentridge Prison to fleeing to Bombay (now Mumbai), India. When you think of the well-worn cliché “Life happens”, that is Dale Conti/Lindsay “Linbaba” Ford’s story. Played magnificently by Charlie Hunnam, who lives and breathes his down-on-his-luck character. An aspiring Australian paramedic, life took an ugly turn when he was arrested and imprisoned for the death of an officer while fleeing the scene of a robbery. The series opened with Lin arriving…

The Invitation (Cinemas nationwide) Directed by Jessica M Thompson and written by Blair Butler, the film stars Nathalie Emmanuel and Thomas Doherty. Inspired by the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the film follows a young woman who, after her mother’s death, meets long-lost family members for the first time, only to discover the dark secrets they carry with them. @dinewithneo – My Insta Feast by Neo Nontso (R289 on loot.co.za) Let’s ban boring! Neo Nontso, Instagram sensation and queen of having fun in the kitchen, will take you through the basics and show you how cooking for the whole family can be budget-friendly and lip-smacking good. Filled with Nontso’s most requested recipes and her top tricks and treats, @dinewithneo also features her go-to grocery list, bake versus grill option, perks…

l Another top executive claims he is the latest victim of the minister PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan allegedly has a well-orchestrated plan to frustrate and elbow out top government executives and officials to weaken state-owned enterprises so they can be sold for a song to his cronies. Gordhan’s latest verbal tirade against a top executive, in the government-owned arms manufacturing company Denel Dynamics, was caught on tape and was heard by the Sunday Independent this week. Denel Dynamics CEO Sello Ntsihlele believes he is Gordhan’s next target in the bid to weaken the state-owned arms manufacturer so it can be sold piece by piece. Ntshihlele has submitted four grievance claims in a matter of one month, and one of them is against Gordhan. Ntshihlele claims Gordhan verbally attacked him…

FOLLOWING the announcement that Eskom will be leasing land to four independent power producers (IPPs) at its Majuba and Tutuka power stations, experts say that obtaining funding for such projects is not necessarily the challenge, but rather low-cost funding that would be hard to obtain. The successful bidders are HDF Energy South Africa, Red Rocket SA, Sola Group and Mainstream Renewable Power Developments South Africa. HDF Energy South Africa is a French company originally named Hydrogen De France. Established in 2012, the company, founded by Damien Havard, has locations across Africa and in the Middle East. Red Rocket Group has been headquartered in Cape Town since 2012 and over the years has become one of the most innovative IPPs in Africa. The company says its growth strategy is based on…

FOUR years ago, President Cyril Ramaphosa asked the country to join him in pledging to work together and end the violence that men perpetrate against women and children in South Africa. He then hosted the first Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF). This past week, the second Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide was held in Midrand. The theme for the summit was Accountability, Acceleration and Amplification, NOW!’, holding government officials accountable for the progress of the National Strategic Plan. The voices of GBV survivors were not amplified by the panellists or the ministers but by non-profit organisations (NPOs) and activists on the ground. Their voices were very prominent as they criticised the business sector, the faith-based sector, the Department of Social Development, the Presidency, and the…

SOUTH Africa has been experiencing an acute housing crisis. Its faced with the growing challenge of providing its populace with sufficient housing in spite of the Constitution stating “everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing”. The provision of sufficient housing ensures the quality of life is enhanced, thereby upholding the dignity and worth of every individual. Thandi Mkhonza, 39, founder and managing director of Prospero SA, innovatively addresses the housing crisis. Prospero SA manufactures precast concrete slabs and posts and then uses these products to construct temporary structures, that can look and feel like normal brick houses at low costs. Mkhonza says what sets Prospero SA apart from its competitors is that they manufacture their products using SABS-approved materials. Their products are lab tested and they also…

AFTER 21 exciting years as the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) director, Billy Domingo, the highly respected music impresario, hangs up his hat, in favour of a golf club (or two). The festival’s organising company, espAfrika, announced his retirement last Wednesday when revealing the date for the 2023 jazz fest. Domingo’s involvement with the festival began two years before the event’s inception when the then espAfrika board approached him to join the team. Domingo’s vast experience in the music industry was of great appeal, as too his expertise such as being part of the tour management team of the late reggae star Lucky Dube (1964-2007) for 30 years. “I had just retired as the head of entertainment at Sun City Resort after 20 years. I was in limbo when…

While non-profit organisations (NPOs) play an integral role in addressing social ills, sometimes they are used for insidious activities such as corruption and theft for personal gain. Corruption has been threatening the sector, and this has become a concern for the public and the government. There have been more complaints from the public about conflicts with the board and office bearers of non-profits and poor financial management of non-profit organisations. In November 2018 the National Lottery Commission (NLC) approved funding for two projects to provide proper sanitation at schools in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape. This came at a time when the problem of learners using dangerous pit toilets was receiving lots of media coverage. The NLC identified two non-profit companies (NPCs) to handle the Limpopo and Eastern Cape sanitation…

. Monnapule Saleng scored the only goal of the match as Orlando Pirates edged AmaZulu 1-0 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban last night. The Buccaneers won their second MTN8 Cup in the last three years and it was a first for new coach Jose Riveiro. This latest victory for Pirates means they have now won the competition a record four times (2010, 2011, 2020 and 2022), the most since MTN took over sponsorship of the competition in 2008. Saleng, who has had an MTN8 campaign to remember, scored an incredible free kick to put his side ahead in the 26th minute. The 24 year old capitalised on the poor positioning of AmaZulu goalkeeper Veli Mothwa and curled his effort into the top right hand corner, giving the Bafana…

South Africa is home to nine beautiful provinces and with that comes competitiveness between the provinces; people from Johannesburg will tell you why the City of Gold is better than Slaapstad, while those from Cape Town will insist the Mother City has the best beaches and that it’s better than the warm Indian Ocean of KwaZulu-Natal. But there’s no need to compare – South Africa has something to discover and experience in every province. Here are some of the top things to discover at SA’s top destinations this summer. Jacarandas in Johannesburg During the spring and summer seasons, the Jacaranda trees in Johannesburg are a sight to behold. It is noted that it looks like a rainforest if viewed from the air, so if you’re lucky enough to experience a…

This year has been a heavy one for South African travellers when it comes to domestic flight ticket prices. The aviation industry suffered a blow when it lost two low-cost carriers, Mango and Comair’s Kulula, as both airlines became grounded due to financial constraints brought on by the negative effects of Covid-19. The liquidation of the airlines left a huge gap in the industry, leaving FlySafair as the dominant domestic carrier in the industry for months. In December 2020, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, another domestic airline joined the industry when most airlines were struggling. With its headquarters in Cape Town, LIFT began offering a route between Johannesburg and Cape Town, and more recently a Durban to Johannesburg route, with plans of a Durban to Cape Town route…