Table of contents for 2023-08-08 in Post

Aurets is a healer, psychic medium, intuitive mentor, masseuse and regression therapist. She also teaches meditation and breath work. She is passionate about holistic care and offers a small range of holistic products. Aurets practises in the Upper Highway KZN. ARIES (March 21 – April 19) Reconnect consciously with your inner world for all your answers. There is no disconnection. No separateness. Be careful of creating complications when they need not be. Avoid negative situations. Magic number: 1. TAURUS (April 20 – May 20) Know that silence brings you closer to oneness with your divine. Embrace the wholeness of life, which will allow you to experience more. Opportunity knocks when you do this. Disciplines like meditation will benefit you. It is time for self-care. Magic number: 12. GEMINI (May 21…

PRINCE Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the founder and president emeritus of the IFP, is still receiving treatment in hospital. The 94-year-old underwent a procedure for back pain management. He was subsequently discharged but returned to hospital when the pain did not subside. In a statement, Dr Bhekuyise Ngqengelele Buthelezi, a family spokesperson, said he had since developed a complication and remained in hospitals to receive the necessary care. “The duration of his hospital stay will depend on how fast his body can recover from the complication,” said Ngqengelele Buthelezi. Politicians have since issued statements conveying their best wishes to Buthelezi, who turns 95 on August 27. Visvin Reddy, the leader of African Democratic Change, said: “Dr Buthelezi’s years of dedicated service to our country have made him a true veteran in the…

POST REPORTER DENNIS Pather, a journalist and editor, will launch his memoir, Copy Boy: A Journey from Newsroom Gofer to Award-winning Editor, at the Durban International Book Fair. The book is an account of Pather’s journey through journalism from his humble beginnings to his rise as an award- winning editor of the Daily News, The Mercury, POST and deputy editor of the Sunday Tribune. His career spans over four decades, during which he has been a witness to and chronicler of significant events in South Africa’s history. Pather’s memoir is a testament to his resilience and determination as he navigated the challenges of being a black journalist in a predominantly white news- room during apartheid South Africa. He recounts his experiences and the challenges he faced in his career, including…

I THANK the editor and the editorial staff of POST for introducing the puzzle page. Being a glutton for crossword puzzles, this new feature is most welcomed. While not everyone’s cup of tea, crossword puzzles can be both light relief or, at times, a daunting nightmare as one grapples for answers. But what is certain is that they increase one’s word power as I have learnt since I was a child, when my dad introduced me to the world of the cryptic crosswords. I would like to encourage parents and teachers to introduce children to this different, but exciting world of education. It is incredible how, if bitten by the bug of crossword puzzles, one can develop skills such as writing, comprehending, speaking – and it will be an added…

IGNOMINY floats on the horizon, blocking the majestic African sun. Behind it the sins of indolence, greed and corruption hide. Watchful eyes carry a deep awareness of an impending catastrophe, and daily black intellectuals and academics are rising up and questioning the state of our country’s leadership, our global position and the trajectory we are heading in. There is indeed much pondering and rumination on whether we are leading to a failed state status. It all can be traced back to 1987, when progressives Frederick van Zyl Slabbert and Alex Boraine led a group of South African Afrikaners to talks with the ANC in exile in Dakar, Senegal. The ANC delegation was led by Thabo Mbeki. After years of frozen hostilities an unstoppable thaw set in and this was warmed…

AT LAST, cinemas have something to celebrate. Movie fans are flocking to see Barbie and Oppenheimer, two films on the opposite sides of cinematic spectrum: the former a famous plastic doll and the latter, the father of the atom bomb. But it is Barbie which has become a sensation. After it premiered in Paris and Los Angeles, it was released in America and Great Britain and was an instant hit. Cinemas in the US grossed $310 million (R5.6m) during the opening weekend, all just to see a plastic doll in action. Ever since Barbie entered the world in 1959, the plastic doll has remained a timeless beauty, an adorable sweet 19. While Barbie is a harmless toy giving fun and pleasure to its owners, the atom bomb is a lethal…

THERE has been a mixed reaction from smaller political parties regarding the newly announced proposals on coalition governments. The proposals formed part of a two-day National Dialogue on coalition governments, hosted by Paul Mashatile, the deputy president, in Cape Town last Friday and Saturday. The aim of the talks was to provide a framework for how coalition governments could be done more constructively; in a way that benefited the citizens of the country. Some smaller parties are concerned with the proposals, particularly the need for parties to garner 1% of votes to gain a seat in council or parliament. They said this would be problematic as most of them have less than 1% of votes in their constituency. Another draft proposal stipulates that parties in a coalition with the most…

THE Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has made recommendations on the Protected Disclosures Act and has opened those recommendations for public comment. The aim of the act is to protect whistle-blowers. The recommendations came after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s response to the commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector in October 2022. Ramaphosa said the commission identified whistle-blowing as an essential weapon in the fight against corruption. In August 2021, Babita Deokaran, 53, a whistle-blower, was shot outside her home in Mondeor, south of Joburg. She was the chief director of financial accounting at the Gauteng Department of Health. Deokaran was a witness in the Special Investigation Unit’s probe into the department for corruption and fraud pertaining to the procurement of personal…

TREY Caterina Naidoo has been living with Addison’s disease – an uncommon, incurable illness that occurs when the body does not make enough of certain hormones. Despite this, she works to generate an income to provide for her family. Having experienced many challenges, Naidoo was motivated to establish an organisation to help others in her community of Chatsworth. In October last year, she established the Women’s Action for New Direction, known as W. A. N. D. “I created W.A.N.D with the vision to upskill the impoverished, to create an opportunity for change and to initiate a change for the better. Despite living with an incurable and deadly disease, I still wanted to impart knowledge and empower women, men and youth using skills,” she said. “We are a registered non-profit organisation,…

MILLIONS of WWE fans are outraged about two top women’s bouts being pulled from this past weekend’s prestigious SummerSlam in Detroit Becky Lynch’s catfight against Hall of Famer Trish Stratus was ditched from SummerSlam as well as Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley’s encounter against Raquel Rodriguez. Only two women’s bouts took place in the three hour event, and to say they rocked would be an understatement. Asuka defended her WWE Women’s Title against Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair in a three-way bout while the Baddest woman on the Planet, Ronda Rousey, faced off against Shayna Baszler. Lynch and Ripley have reacted to their bouts not making the bill Taking to Instagram, Lynch posted several pictures from a photoshoot she did, captioned: “This was the shoot I did for Summerslam …”…

DASRATH Vinesh Maniram, right, honours and celebrates his 100-year family history in his book Made in Merebank: Life After Indenture. The book will be launched at the Durban International Book Fair. Maniram, 54, is a businessman who now lives on the Bluff, in Durban. He is married to Rashie Maniram, has a son, Nashendra Krishna Maniram, and two grandchildren. Maniram said he started writing his memoir in 2020, using a mix of references from family documents, national archives on indentured history and stories told to him by his grandmother. “My cousin Ravindra and his daughter Chanelle Lutchman wanted to do a family tree. They searched the archives of the UKZN documentary centre with indentured numbers and uncovered a string of valuable information. They completed the family tree and this inspired…

NOT many people can say they have a 5.2 million-year-old sabre tooth cat named after them. But Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan can. She is a palaeontologist who studies prehistoric life forms like dinosaurs, and is employed at the Department of Biological Sciences at UCT. Chinsamy-Turan grew up in Laudium, Pretoria, where she attended Laudium Primary and Laudium Highschool. “My father was a teacher and became a principal of a school. My mother stayed at home to care for me and my two sisters. My parents both instilled a love of learning in me and my siblings,” said Chinsamy-Turan. After she matriculated, Chinsamy-Turan attended Wits University to study for a BSc degree. “I had to get ministerial permission to attend the university due to apartheid. I had no idea I would be…

“There is a widespread political will to make the country work,” remarks a hotelier as he details his plans for expansion and shows me an in-progress borehole for a second swimming pool. “Opportunities here are vast … for those who know where to look,” he adds. What a contrast to the doom- mongering headlines on South Africa. Zimbabwe-esque comparisons of the country’s downfall are tempting. But this country has an answer for every setback. I am going to stick my neck out and say South Africa will not go the way of Zimbabwe. South Africa is a far cry from its northern neighbour breadbasket-turned basket-case-turned dictatorship. South Africa ranks 7.05/10 on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index. Zimbabwe ranks 2.92. That South Africa is in a worse state now than…

THERE are far too many lies, distortions and selective quotes in Azad Essa’s book, Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel. Long before Savarkar Chandranath Basu, Ahmad al-Faruqi al-Sirhindi (1564-1624) came out with the Islamic apartheid concept of the “distance theory”, for Muslims to keep their distance from the K*****s of India. There were several Muslim scholars in the centuries that followed. One needs a book devoted to this subject of Muslims being a superior race to the K*****s of India. The term Hindutva has nothing to do with Hindu nationalism or anything Essa alludes to. It is a Sanskrit suffix added to the word Hindu. Long before Savarkar Chandranath Basu (1844-1910), a Bengali writer had used the term. The Supreme Court of India has made clear, more…

IT IS mind-boggling that a state-owned enterprise (SOE) like Telkom, which made a loss of R10 billion in the last financial year according to its recently released financial reports, rewarded its top management an average of R7m each. This is apart from their exorbitant salaries. For what? If this was a private company, these executives would have been dismissed or asked to resign. This is a slap in the face for taxpayers and the poor. About 55% is still controlled by government, that is about 40% directly owned by government and indirectly 15% is owned by the PIC. All of this is public money but this SOE does not care because there is no accountability. The majority shareholder is still government and therefore it is still an SOE of the…

THE DA calls on Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, the MEC for Cogta in KZN, to get her act together and ensure the gazetting of the province’s Property Valuation Appeal Boards. The move comes after the DA established that many boards in the province are not in place. This as a result of the MEC’s tardiness in ensuring that the gazetting process is completed. The DA is extremely concerned by the MEC’s lack of urgency. It is only making the lives of KZN’s ratepayers harder. The purpose of the Property Valuation Appeal Boards is to hear appeals from residents who disagree with local municipality valuations on their properties. Many KZN municipalities, including eThekwini, have had massive rates increases, with the result that there are numerous complaints from residents regarding one-sided and unfair valuations.…

MOHAMMAD Akoonjee will be remembered by his family for his kindness and service to humanity. Akoonjee, 28, a businessman from La Lucia, was killed in a crash involving three vehicles on the N2 northbound near King Shaka International Airport on Saturday. Akoonjee was driving a Toyota Fortuner. He was travelling to Ballito with his wife and two children aged 2 and 3. Moulana Mohammed Vanker, the family spokesperson, said: “They lived in La Lucia but they also had another home in Ballito. “The accident occurred near the airport and we are not sure how it happened. Mohammad sustained multiple injuries and died at the scene. His family was not injured.” Vanker said Akoonjee’s wife notified the family about the incident. “It is difficult for his family and for parents to…

JOHN Steenhuisen, the DA’s federal leader, is on a national campaign to rally support against the recently published Employment Equity Amendment Act. He was scheduled to meet residents from Phoenix on Monday night following a march in Cape Town last week where DA supporters protested against the proposed regulations in the act. From Durban, Steenhuisen will travel to the Free State and then to Gauteng to drum up support against the act. The act will come into effect on September 1. It gives the minister of labour the power to set specific sector targets by occupational level, province and by race. In Cape Town, Steenhuisen said the act would have dire consequences on unemployment and citizens’ ability to survive. He said the act would affect the Indian and coloured communities;…

RITA Abraham had a dream almost five decades ago – to empower South African women in business or on the home front. When she founded South African Woman’s Forte (SAWF) in 1977, launching it at the Royal Hotel in 1999, she wanted to help women with their daily challenges and empower them. Abraham, the honorary president of the organisation, said it was registered as a non-profit organisation. “While we rely on donations, our members and their families assist from time to time when the need arises, like during the Covid-19 pandemic and the floods in KwaZulu-Natal. “By volunteering their time, our members get the opportunity to talk to new people, sharpen their social skills, expand their network and connect with the community to make it a better place. The forte’s…

WHEN Simone Biles returned to training less than a year ago, she wanted to have fun and get back into shape. That’s it. She popped in and out of the gym, sometimes taking off for long stretches. She had speaking engagements in the fall, then became busy with the holiday season and wedding planning. The Paris Olympics weren’t part of the agenda. Meanwhile, her coach, Laurent Landi, looked towards the future. Biles would arrive at the gym – back when an upcoming competitive slate didn’t exist – and he’d have ideas for possible routines. Biles began practising twice a day, and eventually Landi mentioned competing at the US Classic. Biles remembers thinking: “Oh, I am. Okay, got it.” When her black-and-white leotard arrived, Biles said she thought: “Oh, good. This…

THE cold has made waking up early a bit difficult but those that have made some awesome catches this past week. The offshore fishing has been dominated by snoek, garrick and some good bottom fishing. The North Coast has seen some good snoek and couta for the smaller boats and skis. The deeper reefs and wrecks have seen some very good bottom fishing with big trawl soldiers and a host of other species being caught. Squid and sardines have been the baits of choice for the deeper fishing. Much like the north, the tuna have been around the central coast. Guys continue having great success with the surface lures and the poppers have been the winner. Splash and profile have been the most important factors when choosing the poppers. Colour…

The Equality Court does not believe the Struggle-era song, “Kill the boer, kill the farmer,” constitutes hate speech, but farmers are feeling threatened. Julius Malema, the leader of the EFF, led the singing of the song during the party’s recent 10th-anniversary celebration at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. Close to 100 000 people were in the stadium while millions more viewed it online. Fruit and vegetable farmers in KwaZulu-Natal said they were already vulnerable to attacks and such songs put their lives at greater risk. POST interviewed some farmers who wished to remain anonymous. One said: “Farm attacks are on the rise in South Africa and Malema’s comments will lead to a further increase. A political party like the EFF, with thousands following it, has an influence on people. It…

The Durban International Book Fair will take place at The Globe at Suncoast from August 9 to 13. Book launches, author meet-and-greets, panel discussions and presentations covering various genres, writing techniques and the trends in the publishing industry have been planned. Festival directors Anivesh Singh and Kiru Naidoo said this year’s event was the biggest book fair in the country. “Last year more than 3 500 people came through the doors over three days in a smaller venue. This year, The Globe offers us 2 400 square metres of stage and exhibition space for over 200 writers,” said Naidoo. “From the time the Durban Book Fair started five years ago, we wanted to democratise literature to take the book to the people and beyond. Most book fairs charge an…

WHAT started as a vision to compile a community-created book to commemorate and celebrate Merebank, has turned into a movement. The Merebank Book Project has evolved into a broader initiative, now incorporating the motto, “revitalising the community of Merebank”. The project was being undertaken by community activists from the late 1970s, early 1980s and onward, said Jeveen Padayachee, organising secretary for the project. “In 1991, we had the Merebank Ratepayers Association and our chairperson at the time, the late Govindin Ramsamy, was an iconic figure who was involved in the anti-apartheid Struggle. Civic organisations were basically a front to mobilise people because organisations of a political nature were banned. “We had an idea to compile a book to document the colourful history and development of Merebank. There were a lot…

NO ONE knows the author, or the full meaning of the song Shosholoza, but it has continued to be loved and sung by many South Africans over the years. The melody and the main call-and-answer chorus are well known and loved, but not the full lyrics. And, perhaps, it does not matter much since this infectious and powerful song is only our informal or “second national anthem”. To “shosholoza” means to move, go or weave forward, much like that stimela (steam train) would do moving migrant miners and other workers to and from Zimbabwe and other neighbouring states those many decades ago after the discovery of gold in Johannesburg. Thanks to the song, many gangs of workers in the mines would find the back-breaking work and harsh conditions more bearable.…

EBRAHIM Essa’s letter “Book checked for authenticity” (POST, July 26-30) refers. The letter, like the book he lauds, is awash with half-truths and fabrications. First, he says “we Indians”. What protean ability transformed him into being part of “we Indians”? Has he forgotten how aggrieved he was when he wrote to POST to bemoan the fact that the Consul General of India on Heritage Day in September 2021 failed to separate Muslim from Indian and greet his community specifically on that day? Addressing the Indian community generally didn’t satisfy him. He went on to claim that the consul general forgot that all the freedom fighters against apartheid were Muslims (sic). Now he claims the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants non-Brahmins out of the way. Unfortunately for him, the mainstay of…

PEOPLE Against Petroleum Price Increases (Pappi) condemns the latest fuel increases. The astronomical fuel pricing will ultimately lead to a rise in the cost of living, causing people to bear sudden added expenses they had no chance to prepare for. The worst affected will be the poor, considering that millions of people depend on a meagre R350 grant, and when the unemployment rate in the country is at an all-time high. Other governments across the world have put in place measures to mitigate factors that would lead to higher fuel costs. They know they will be removed from power if they cannot curtail high fuel costs. But, in South Africa, the government seems unashamedly careless in implementing fuel price increases without understanding the consequences. The apartheid government invested in fuel…

REPORTS from a clinical psychologist and social worker could determine the fate of brothers Dylan and Ned Govender. They appeared in the Durban High Court on Friday for their sentencing. However, the matter was adjourned. Dylan, 29, a graphic designer, and Ned, 30, a mechanical engineer, were charged with crimes related to the July 2021 unrest. They were charged with the murder of Mondli Majola, 19, from Zwelisha township near Phoenix. He was shot while walking along Desertpalm Gardens in Palmview to Cornubia during the unrest. He died at the scene. The brothers were also charged with the attempted murder of Mxolisi Putuzo, Nkululeko Mangwe and Qaphelani Mkhovu, who were walking with Majola. They pleaded not guilty to all the charges. During the trial, the attempted murder charge relating to…

MOMENTUM continues to grow for the Westville Ratepayers Association’s (WRA) boycott of the eThekwini municipality’s tariff increases. The tariffs, which came into effect on July 1, were imposed despite concerns by ratepayer groups that they were too costly. Rates went up by 7.9% as opposed to the initial proposal of 8.9%. Water increased by 14.9 % for residential customers and 15.9% for businesses. Sanitation went up by 10.9% for households and 11.9% for business. Refuse now costs 6.9% more. The city had initially budgeted to increase electricity by 18.49%, but last month, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) ruled the city should stick to the 15.1% increase that was recommended. The WRA is leading a campaign to boycott the payment of tariffs. Asad Gaffar, its chairperson, said ratepayers…