Innholdsfortegnelse for 2023-01-22 i Sunday Independent

Inside information at the Twitter headquarters suggests the company’s daily revenue is suffering after Elon Musk’s takeover of the social network last year resulted in its top advertisers pausing advertising spend on the platform. According to tech forum, The Information, more than 500 of the company’s top advertisers have paused spending on the platform since Musk’s October takeover. The social network has been struggling to attract advertisers and users for some time. According to The Information, its daily ad revenue has fallen 40%, from $263 million in Q4 2018 to just $141m in Q1 2019. The company also posted a net loss of $143m during the same period. It is speculated that advertisers are fleeing the platform after Musk’s controversial contact moderation policies, which include reinstating Donald Trump’s banned Twitter…

We know how busy and intense the transition from lazy summer days at the pool to adjusting back to the 5am wake-up calls can be, so we thought we would help out by sharing unique and easy lunchbox ideas that you and the family can try this year. For the kids Mini frittatas You can eat the frittata straight out of the oven, but part of its appeal is that it is delicious at room temperature. You can cut it into small cubes, separate with a toothpick, and it will be perfect for nibbling. Or you can slice it into wedges and pair it with a salad. Put most simply, a frittata is a jumble of vegetables and/or meat mixed into a bowlful of beaten eggs and cooked until done.…

LOCAL content is king in South Africa. And the proliferation of dramas, telenovelas, and reality TV shows supports this statement. Of course, Mzansi Magic’s much-hyped telenovela Ggeberha – The Empire has been making a lot of noise since it debuted on Monday. With it taking over the slot of The Queen, I was curious about how it measured up. As such, I caught up on the two episodes available on DStv Catch Up earlier in the week. (Side note: whoever is supposed to be uploading these episodes isn’t on the ball. It’s so hit-and-miss. Not just with this show as well.) Back to the telenovela, the first episode had a few jarring inconsistencies for me. But it isn’t all bad, there are positives too. Overall, the premise of this offering,…

BACKInG vocalists and session musicians will be honoured at the prestigious Backing Vocalists And Session Musicians Awards (BVSM Awards), set to take place at the Soweto Theatre on February 5. Music legend Yvonne Chaka Chaka told IOL Entertainment that the core of the BVSM Awards was a celebration of talent that is “neglected and unrecognised”. “I’m thrilled that the BVSM Awards are back this year and will carry on this noble task of honouring our legends while they are still alive. “We serve to remind music fans that in the ecosystem of hitmaking, there are musicians who contribute so much yet remain in the shadows because they are not frontline acts,” said Chaka Chaka. “Oftentimes, backing vocalists and session musicians have no recourse from frontliners and it’s important that we…

Say this much for Damien Chazelle: He shows his audience exactly what he’s giving them within the first few minutes of Babylon, his bruised, black-eyed valentine to Hollywood’s sybaritic heyday. In a whopper of an opening number, Chazelle films the delivery of an elephant to the estate of film producer Don Wallach (Jeff Garlin), a bravura scene of extravagance and excess that ends with not a few bit players covered in pachyderm waste. Asked why he doesn’t quit, he replies with incredulity: “What, and leave show business?” That’s the animating question of Babylon, Chazelle’s lavish, febrile, and ultimately ambiguous portrait of American cinema before the moralising censors and Wall Street moguls got their mitts on a once-glorious tribe of outlaws, reprobates, perverts and pirates. The lusty pioneers of Chazelle’s admiring…

A RURAL community uprooted and mercilessly scattered throughout the country is still nursing the pain of the apartheid government’s forced removal policy. They were booted from their land in Sporong along the platinum belt outside Rustenburg to make way for mining, and the government separated community members as they tried to see where they could resettle. As a result, 55 years after that fateful period, many Sporong community members had never seen each other again, nor were they aware of where others had ended up. To rub salt into their wounds, the platinum mine, now owned by Anglo American Platinum, erected a railway line over the graves of the displaced community for the delivery of mining equipment and other goods. However, some of the surviving Sporong community members have waged…

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga praised the 2022 matriculants as the absolute embodiment of true ambassadors of public schooling. Motshekga announced the National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate at 80.1%, written by 920 000 learners. At a breakfast event in Johannesburg to formally announce the final results, Motshekga said: “In the face of adversity, you stood firm. This is a group that showed high levels of resilience. “When the putrid smell of failure was intense, you people seemed unacquainted with the concept of failure. “The Class of 2022 has clearly demonstrated that with all requisite support and intervention programmes, we can make it,” she added. Her words highlighted the perseverance and difficulties that matriculants faced following the Covid-19 lockdown two years ago. Free State led the results with a pass…

CONTENT creation has become a front-page profession as the digital age evolves. South Africa was quickly highlighted as one of the countries to watch. The rise of the social media influencer gave South Africans Trevor Stuurman, Pamela Mtanga, Lasizwe Dambuza, Sergio Ines and Sarah Langa a global platform to grow their careers. They use the world as their workplace. Influencer marketing came to fruition through the rise of the photo-sharing application Instagram and the video platform YouTube. Corporate marketing agencies didn’t wait long to jump on the wagon and enlist their services. If only their desire to work with influencers were reflected in their financial compensation. Several influencers have criticised brands and marketing firms for being delinquent in payments for completed campaigns. In 2022, influencer Mihlali Ndamase went on Instagram…

Just before Christmas came the shocking news that the Taliban in Afghanistan had imposed a ban on women students studying at public and private universities in the landlocked Asian country. With most of the world focused on festive celebrations, this ludicrous decision drew protests from the global organisations one would typically expect. Unfortunately, the Association of African Universities did not mention this disgraceful stance in its substantial end-of-year closing report. There are challenges in higher education on the continent. But we are also part of the wider world and must add our voices to the debates. Many other African, be they human rights or gender activists, opted to stay silent on the Afghan decision to suppress women. Perhaps, many believe it is a religious matter, and each country’s decisions should…

JUVENTUS manager Massimiliano Allegri urged his team to “do their duty” on the pitch after the Serie A side were deducted 15 points by an Italian soccer court on Friday, leaving them marooned in mid-table. The ruling, which deals a blow to the Turin club’s reputation, is tougher than the nine-point deduction a soccer prosecutor had requested during a hearing investigating Juve’s transfer dealings. With 20 league games left to play this season, Juventus were third in Serie A with 37 points, 10 behind leaders Napoli. The points deduction pushes them down to 10th place, outside the qualifying spots for lucrative European competition. Juve said it would appeal to the country’s Sport Guarantee Board once the reasons for the ruling were published. “After yesterday’s events we have to regroup and…

CRICKET has become a religion in India due to the impactful performances of many Indian players over the years. From Sachin Tendulkar to MS Dhoni, Indian cricket has produced players recognised as among the world’s greatest. Cricreads have covered the seven greatest Indian cricketers who have accomplished unique records over their illustrious careers. 1. Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar is often called the God of Cricket due to his legendary persona that has inspired a generation of cricketers. His great knocks over the years helped ignite the passion for cricket in India. Tendulkar holds various records, including 100 centuries in international cricket and the most runs by any player in Test and ODI cricket. 2. MS Dhoni He was the only captain in international cricket to win three different ICC trophies.…

Planning and organising a trip can be overwhelming. Booking flights, accommodation and organising activities can leave you stressed, especially if you’re travelling abroad. Travel agents and advisers can help lighten the load. They have information on tourism destinations, travel regulations, airlines and hotels, and safety and travel alerts at their fingertips. Travel advisers have relationships with suppliers to get you out of a bind and also understand the fine print to help you navigate travel supplier agreements while also having a duty of care to you to ensure you travel with peace of mind. According to Association Of Southern African Travel Agents (Asata) CEO, Otto de Vries, whether leisure or corporate travel, it pays to have an expert help you. He said you know that when you’re working with an…

Meta was reviewing a call by its oversight board to make its policies on adult nudity more inclusive, a spokesperson said on Thursday, after the tech giant removed two Instagram posts showing transgender and non-binary people with their chests bared. Neither post violated Meta’s policies on adult nudity, and earlier this week, the board said it had overturned the company's decision to remove them. On Thursday, a Meta spokesperson said the company welcomed the board's move and had restored the images, agreeing they should not have been taken down. But the board also seized the opportunity to call on Meta, which also owns Facebook, to make its broader policies on adult nudity more inclusive. The current policy “prohibits images containing female nipples other than in specified circumstances, such as breastfeeding…

DURING the Last Supper, Jesus said that before the cock crows for a third time, one of the disciples would have denied any knowledge of him. On this biblical note I am reminded that King Moshoeshoe transformed missionary monologue preaching by opening it into dialogue and debate where the likes of Casalis and Arbousset had to answer questions posed by chiefs, warriors and others, among them Mara and warrior Makoanyane. Through this Moshoeshoe trans- formed the sermon into an engagement and allowed no soliloquy. Professor Sampson Mamphweli, in his response to my interview regarding the apology President Cyril Ramaphosa made to the nation about load shedding, volunteered that Komati power station’s demise had gone past its “Methuselah moment”. The president of the Republic had to, once again, cancel his inter-…

Some people make the decision to stop bad behaviours, such as cursing or using social media excessively. Others want to improve their emotional well-being by journalling every day or working on their communication skills. However, a lot of resolutions are physically health-related, such as getting more sleep, drinking more water, eating more fruit and vegetables, and scheduling more exercise. Many people also notice their reflection in the mirror, decide they don’t like what they see, and make changes to better embrace self-love. One component of who you are is what you see in the mirror. Even if you don’t genuinely love your physique, you may embrace and accept who you are. You don’t even need to move throughout the talk. This particular idea is the foundation of the bodily neutrality…

Remember going gaga over the hunks in Magic Mike? Well, before them, the Chippendales were the in-thing. Interestingly, there is a true-life crime story behind the latter. And Disney+ is telling it with Welcome to Chippendales, based on the novel Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders by K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca. The eight-part series is set in LA in the 1970s. Indian immigrant Somen “Steve” Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani) makes a life-changing decision to become an entrepreneur. While he is financially savvy with a disruptor mentality, his business model goes through a few fails when he opens Destiny II as a backgammon club. His chance meeting with club promoter Paul Snider (Dan Stevens) and his bombshell Playboy Playmate wife, Dorothy Stratten (Nicola Peltz), helps him evolve the struggling business, which…

With his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, Elton John confirmed his latest plans for retirement. The final show of the tour in July will be his last. However, déjà vu suggests this might not be the last we see of him. The singer has announced plans to retire at least five times since 1984 but is still going strong. By the end of his current tour, John will have performed in over 300 concerts in the UK, the US and Europe and he shows no sign of slowing down. He’ll perform a headline slot at Glastonbury. John is not the only performer with a history of retiring and unretiring. He is in good company with Barbra Streisand, Justin Bieber, Jay-Z, Lily Allen and Phil Collins. Hip-hop star Nicki Minaj’s retirement…

ON JANUARY 21, the People’s Republic of China celebrated their Lunar New Year. The big celebration to usher in the New Year was hosted by Ambassador Chen Xiaodong, at the Chinese embassy in Pretoria on Thursday, two days earlier, due to logistical reasons. The Chinese dubbed their celebration a welcome of the “Year of the Rabbit”. They regarded 2022 as the year of the tiger. In the Chinese culture, “the rabbit symbolises kindness, beauty and peace”, Ambassador Chen said. President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a statement of good wishes. The Presidency statement released to the media read: “President Ramaphosa has, on behalf of the government and people of South Africa, expressed his wish that the advent of the Year of the Rabbit will indeed endow citizens of the People’s Republic of…

Universities in South Africa are finalising first-year applications, as on January 16 the quality assurance body Umalusi approved the results of the school-leaving examinations written at the end of 2022. The results were electronically and confidentially released to higher education institutions to move the process forward quickly. The individual results of the Class of 2022 – the largest cohort of matric pupils to date in South Africa – were released at examination centres on Friday. Umalusi said that, although there had been incidents of cheating, its evaluation had found no systemic irregularities that would compromise the credibility or integrity of the examination results. Umalusi chairperson Professor Yunus Ballim announced that the National Senior Certificate examinations administered by the SA Comprehensive Assessment Institute, the Independent Examinations Board, and the SA Department…

DURING this past festive season, thousands, if not millions, of young women overwhelmed salons in desperation to look beautiful and stylish, but this was not the case for a young teacher from Nongoma, Zululand. She opted for a dirty appearance and pungent smell just to grow her newly-established pig farming and pork trading businesses. At 29, Siphelele Siyaya does not even think of conforming to peer pressure by spending her money on fashion and fine-tuning her beauty. On weekends and holidays, when she is not teaching maths and geography at Esiqiwini High School in Mtubatuba, she spends her time taking care of her precious livestock or slaughtering them for sale at the local informal market. Her pig farming and pork trading operates under her Madlikivane Piggery company. Siyaya says she…

The main objective of township economic development is to enhance the economic activity taking place and enhance inclusivity in all spheres of life. Godiragetse Mogajane from Hammanskraal created the Delivery Ka Speed service in July 2021 to combat youth unemployment. Tsholofelo Lebelo, 27, head of marketing, took us into the world of Delivery Ka Speed. The company delivers food from outlets to the township. They deliver food from mainstream restaurants and local fast food establishments. The company strictly operates in the township vicinity and delivers food from KFC, McDonald’s and Nando’s, Chicken Licken and Kota Café, just to name a few. For deliveries, they have a variety of vehicles, namely electric three-wheelers, electric bikes, petrol private cars and scooter bicycles. When the company was established, Mogajane saw there was a…

THE challenges faced by nurses in the country’s health system are many, one of them being skills development – which is scarce. Looking to bring change to this reality is Tshepiso Moitsheki, a professional nurse working at Netcare Alberton who teamed up with a friend in the IT space to develop a nursing application called Nurse’s Oasis App. According to him, there used to be in-service training that would take place once or twice a week depending on a hospital's policy but as time progressed, in-service training took place once or twice a month or it wouldn't take place at all for an entire month. Another challenge is that when there's in-service, only a few people would attend, for several reasons. To look into these, Moitsheki came up with the…

THERE are certain memories that simply don’t fade no matter how much time has passed by. It is so spectacular that it leaves an imprint that can never be erased. For me it was way back in 1989 at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). I was just seven years old. Back then UWC was the citadel of non-racial sport. It was the heartbeat of the South African Council of Sport (Sacos). Newlands, in the leafy southern suburbs, was reserved for whites. UWC was home. And a floodlit cricket ground was a novelty. I was at “Udubs” that evening to watch my late dad play in the “Battle of the Roses” for Primrose CC against the mighty Montrose CC. And if you knew anything about Western Province Cricket Board…

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with some friends. One of them pulled out his phone and asked me if I thought I had written more than 200 pieces or so at this stage of my career. “Probably,” I said. “Why?” “You know, the way things are going, artificial intelligence is going to be able to write articles and books just by analysing your writing style,” he replied. I was incredulous at first, maybe a bit dismissive. Then my friend went to a program on his phone and put in a query, asking it to write a 1 000-word Christmas story in the style of Charles Dickens. To my amazement, the program started churning out paragraphs within seconds – and not just a jumble of random words. The paragraphs…

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has put into the spotlight the role that developed countries should play in helping emerging economies mitigate against climate change, stabilise energy supply, and improve food security amid a looming global recession. The WEF Annual Meetings 2023 in Davos kicked off on Monday with a bleak global economic outlook for 2023, which showed that the recession in the developed world will be felt more severely in developing countries. A majority of the WEF’s Community of Chief Economists forecast geopolitical tensions to continue to shape the global economy, and anticipated further monetary tightening in the US and Europe. On inflation, the chief economists see significant variation across regions, with the proportion expecting high inflation in 2023, ranging from just 5% for China to 57% for Europe.…

Fairy tales aren’t just reserved for books anymore. In the past decade, we have witnessed William, the Prince of Wales, marrying his college sweetheart, Catherine Middleton, in 2011. Following suit, in his own pursuit of happiness, his younger brother, Prince Harry, married American actress Meghan Markle, known for her role in the law series Suits, at England's Windsor Castle in May 2018. The Prince of Wales was the best man. “But now the two brothers, who once stated they were ‘uniquely bonded because of everything we’ve been through’ after the passing of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997, look to be at a breaking point. There are reports of a physical attack and sibling rivalry, in Harry’s new memoir, Spare, reported the Washington Post. How did two of Britain’s royals,…

New year. New superhero movies. And the newly relevant question of who will be the champion of comic-book cinema in the near future. As Marvel Studios enters its fifth phase of connected-universe dominance, the renamed DC Studios and its new co-head James Gunn will be trying to get back in the game. And then there’s Sony, which continues to make Spider-Man villain movies that don’t feature Spider-Man in hopes of creating its own winning franchise. Will 2023 mark the last year of Marvel Studios not having a worthy challenger? Will any of the DC heroes on the big screen matter enough this year to survive the red pen of Gunn as he plans his future slate? Is a Kraven the Hunter movie really happening? We’ll be here covering it…

Eskom and the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) are facing legal action to force the troubled power utility to end load shedding and reverse the recently approved 18.65% tariff hike from April 1. The DA wants to interdict the implementation of the decision to effect the increase pending another application to challenge the government’s implementation of load shedding and its general response to the country’s energy crisis. In papers filed at the North Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg this week, DA leader John Steenhuisen states that part B of the official opposition’s application is a semi-urgent review of various decisions taken by the government in response to the ongoing energy crisis. “Nersa decided that Eskom is entitled to recover R318 billion from all its customers in the 2023/24 financial…

PROBLEMS keep mounting for South Africa’s largest law firm, ENSafrica, after the court found it responsible for failing to prevent a cyber attack that led to a property buyer losing millions. This was after the Johannesburg High Court ordered ENSafrica to pay R5.5 million to a victim of a syndicate that hacked her email when she was buying a house in Forest Town, Johannesburg, in 2019. Judge Phanuel Mudau ruled that ENSafrica should compensate the victim, Judith Hawarden, to the amount of R5.5 million, plus interest. He also ordered the firm to pay the legal costs of the lawsuit on a punitive scale. Judge Mudau found that ENSafrica neglected to warn Hawarden of the known risk of business email compromise (BEC), known as hacking. He also found the law firm…

SOUTH African-born, US-certified life mastery coach, published author and global HR leader, Thuleleni “Thule” Gcanga, today launches her book, emPOWERed: Transmuting Limiting Beliefs into Stepping Stones to Build the Life I Love. Her belief is that within each one of us is the same seed of greatness that grows from an acorn into a massive oak tree. She is passionate about elevating others’ success, which is evident from the book. With this read, Gcanga aims to inspire and empower humanity to disentangle themselves from their past and focus on bettering themselves and being intentional in creating the life they want. The book emanates from her life mastery coaching principles and uses her own life experiences to demonstrate how these can typically shape the trajectory of one’s life. She provides tools…

ORLANDO Pirates, still high on confidence from their previous result, will look to make it back-to-back victories when they host Stellenbosch at the Orlando Stadium today at 3.30pm. The Buccaneers seemed to have put their recent troubles in goal-scoring behind them as they hit the target against Golden Arrows. Pirates coach Jose Riveiro will hope his side will use the arrival of new striker Souaibou Marou as a boost to finish off the chances they create. The Cameroonian’s presence is sure to put pressure on the Buccaneers’ marksmen as competition for places will now increase. For a team that harbours ambitions of featuring regularly in the CAF Champions League, Pirates have been below par. Before last night’s action, the Sea Robbers were seventh, over 20 points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.…

LIVERPOOL and Chelsea’s poor seasons were summed up in a 0-0 draw at Anfield yesterday that did little to aid their chances of climbing into the Premier League’s top four. A point apiece leaves both clubs nine points adrift of the Champions League places and there was little to suggest either can rekindle their former glories to make a charge up the table. Chelsea had a goal scored by Kai Havertz ruled out for offside early on and there were promising flashes from new €100 million (about R1.8 billion) Ukrainian signing Mykhailo Mudryk off the bench. But the Blues remain in 10th without an away league win since October. Liverpool edge up to eighth, above Brentford on goal difference. Jurgen Klopp described Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton last weekend as…

AMID all the gloom and doom that comes with a 31-7 bonus-point defeat to Lyon, Bulls assistant coach Chris Rossouw actually spoke about the “positives” that his team can take away from the Stade Gerland. And, more than anything that happened on the pitch on Friday night, it is going through the experience of a high-octane Champions Cup showdown against a desperate French side, with the snow falling and on an artificial surface, that will be of great value to the Pretoria outfit. The heavy defeat forced the Bulls to wait on the Bordeaux-Gloucester game in France last evening to confirm if they are through to the play-offs – that result was not yet determined at the time of going to press, but it was highly unlikely that Gloucester would…

The changes, announced on Tuesday, followed months – even years – of ire from fans who have complained that the company was nickel-and-diming 7its customers with fees and increases to the price of admission. When former CEO Bob Chapek was ousted in November and replaced by predecessor Bob Iger, the Disney faithful inundated the new top boss with a list of requests. Leaders have been listening, they said this week. In a note to staff published online, Josh D’Amaro, chairperson of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, said he spends time in the company’s theme parks and listens carefully to employees and guests about what’s working, and not. The changes announced have been requested by staff and visitors. “And while this doesn’t address everyone’s feedback, these changes will increase flexibility and…

Men from across the world are apparently making their way to a penis-shaped rock in Indonesia, hoping that it would help them find their soulmate or to help them perform better in bed. A New York Post article said women visit to find the partner of their dreams and men visit for physical reasons. The uniquely shaped rock is located on an islet in the Ciletuh Palabuhanratu Unesco Global Geopark near Cikepuh Beach. If you look closely you’ll be able to see the hard rock pointing out. This is a rock that clearly wanted to stand out and grab the attention of our dirty minds. Andri Hidayana, a member of the Sukabumi District legislature, said: “There are myths surrounding it. Maybe [once] a week or once a month, many visitors…