Table of contents for DF-2021-04-16 in DFA News

Benida Phillips Staff reporter A R75-million fund to assist black-owned and managed small businesses in the Northern Cape has been established by the provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism (Dedat), in partnership with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF). Department spokesperson Ali Diteme said that the aim of the established “Northern Cape Blended SMME Fund” is to provide funding to local entrepreneurs across all sectors of the provincial economy. “The Department of Economic Development and Tourism has contributed R30 million to the partnership, which will be used for non-refundable grants of up to R4 million per transaction, with 60% comprising a refundable loan portion from the NEF's contribution of R45 million to the Blended Fund. A business must only pay back 60% of the loan", said Diteme. “Access to…

Benida Phillips Staff Reporter WORKERS at the Northern Cape Substance Abuse Treatment Centre embarked on pickets this week over grievances regarding their employment contracts, as well as employment conditions. The centre employees picketed during their lunch hour, calling for improved working conditions. The workers slammed the Northern Cape Department of Social Development for not appointing them on a permanent basis, despite the fact that they have been working at the centre for over three years. “We are still under probation and have not signed permanent employment contracts after three years. We have completed the necessary training in order for us to do the work, which was in line with the requirements of getting permanent contracts. We have, however, not been offered permanent contracts by management. The probation period is supposed…

IANS SINGAPORE – People who have recovered from Covid-19, especially those with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions, may be at risk of developing blood clots due to a lingering and overactive immune response, a study says. The study, led by researchers from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, found that recovered Covid-19 patients had twice the normal number of circulating endothelial cells (CECs) that had been shed from damaged blood vessel walls. The elevated levels of CECs indicate that blood vessel injury is still apparent after recovering from viral infection. The recovered Covid-19 patients also continued to produce high levels of cytokines – proteins produced by immune cells that activate the immune response against pathogens – even in the absence of the virus. Unusually high numbers of immune cells, known as T…

Lance Fredericks TEMPORARY booths in a mall’s walkway torment me as much as having a wasp nest inside my favourite fruit tree. Just like the wasps make darting forays around the tree so that you are afraid to go near it, young people at these kiosks swoop, and dive, and sting anyone who walks past their booth – making mall visits rather unpleasant for me. “Could I clean your shoes?” … “No!” “Could I massage your shoulders?” … “No! Go away!” “Would you like to buy a pot?” … “No! Go away and leave me alone!” “Would you like to listen to a presentation about this worthy cause?” … “No! Go away and leave me alone! I just came to the mall for bread and milk!” “Want to hear about…

Neville Motlhabakwe neville.motlhabakwe@inl.co.za ATHLETICS Griqualand West (AGW) will forgo a medal parade or a public display to show off the trophies that the association garnered at the national championships which were hosted by Boland Athletics in Paarl last weekend owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The team returned home on Monday and the Northern Cape athletes, among them junior short- and middle-distance runners with immense potential TJ van der Walt, Robyn Eland and Maricelle Kruger acquitted themselves commendably at the recent 2021 Twizza ASA Track and Field championships commented AGW president Theo Senekal snr. Van der Walt and Eland had between them brought home three medals while some of the other athletes came close to achieving personal improved times in some instances. This in itself was a huge achievement by…

Zaahier Adams Baroka FC: (0) 1 (Makgopa 81) Kaizer Chiefs: (0) 1 (Manyama 58) BAROKA FC produced a late equalizer to deny Kaizer Chiefs the chance to move into the top eight at the Peter Mokaba Stadium yesterday afternoon. Amakhosi, who are fresh off progressing through to the next round of the CAF Champions League, showed that confidence when they took the lead through Lebogang Manyama shortly after half-time. The former Cape Town City star combined brilliantly with Khama Billiat as the pair enjoyed a delightful interchange of passes inside the Baroka box before Manyama calmly finished off the move to put Chiefs ahead. The goal was actually against the run of play after the home team had a couple of near misses before the break. Richard Mbulu went close…

Benida Phillips Staff Reporter THE NORTHERN Cape Department of Health is awaiting guidance from its national office on the way forward in regards to the roll-out of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the Province. This follows after the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, on Tuesday night announced that the department would temporarily suspend the roll-out of the vaccine nationally due to concerns over blood clots. During a virtual media briefing, Mkhize announced that the roll-out will be temporarily suspended following recommendations from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on halting the issuing of the vaccine over "potentially dangerous" blood clotting concerns The briefing came just a few hours after the provincial department had announced that it had received 4,000 Johnson…

Boipelo Mere Staff Reporter AFTER living without water for nearly a week, frustrated city residents have now turned their anger towards Kimberley’s executive mayor and the Northern Cape’s premier. Claiming incompetence within local government, residents have given the premier, Dr Zamani Saul, 48 hours to meet with community representatives to address a list of demands that was handed over to him yesterday. The aggrieved city residents marched to the Office of the Premier and then to the Office of the Executive Mayor, after the So Plaatje Municipality failed to address previous memorandums. This follows after recent service delivery challenges, including city-wide water and electricity cuts, as well as the possibility of another electricity price hike. Residents who participated in yesterday’s march came from the greater Kimberley area, including Galeshewe, Roodepan,…

will bring its own unique challenges Reuters ITALY’S Imola circuit provides a fresh challenge for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and young pretender Max Verstappen as the pair prepare for round two of their Formula One battle this weekend. The circuit, with the Santerno river running alongside and a verdant backdrop of trees and parkland, is a marked contrast to Bahrain’s desert Sakhir track that hosted the opener won by Mercedes’ Hamilton. The fast and flowing anti-clockwise layout is also narrower and bumpier than Bahrain, and with fewer opportunities to overtake, which means track position and strategy will play a bigger part. Red Bull’s Verstappen has started the last two races – Abu Dhabi at the end of last season and then Bahrain in March – on pole position,…

Sports Reporter BOXING gets under way again this coming weekend when the Northern Cape Open Boxing Organisation (NCOBO) hosts a “novice championship” tournament at the Jules Katz gymnasium in Beaconsfield, Kimberley tomorrow. NCOBO president, occasional referee and club coach Raymond Kgang Mothobi confirmed that the association will host a “novice championship” at the former business premises of the Katz family. The association is an affiliate of the South African National Boxing Organisation (Sanabo). The event will be open to all grades of boxers from all clubs and associations from around the province, he said. The tournament will start at 2pm tomorrow, but there will be no spectators in keeping with the present Covid-19 protocols imposed by the Government. Mothobi said at the tournament itself the technical teams of all clubs…

Caster cruises to 5 000m win, while Akani’s 100m record hopes are ‘blown away’ Ashfak Mohamed THE OPENING day of the South African athletics championships was always going to be about Caster Semenya’s return to the track, but Akani Simbine very nearly made it an historic one for himself too. The 800m Olympic champion Semenya had an early start, lining up at 8.20am at Tuks Athletics Stadium for the unfamiliar 5 000m, in an attempt to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. She is still fighting her case at the European Court for Human Rights to overturn World Athletics’ ruling for athletes with differences of sexual development – to be allowed to participate in distances from 400m to the mile without having to take medication or undergo surgery to lower…

Boipelo Mere Staff reporter REPAIRS on the leaking 600mm pipe between Roodepan and Kamfers Dam was halted last night and is expected to continue early this morning. The water has already been drained from the pipe while workers worked throughout the night on Wednesday. Engineers were shocked to discover a major hole in the rotten pipe underground. The leak has been blamed as a major contributor to the low water levels at the Newton Reservoir in Kimberley, which has seen the city experiencing major water cuts for an entire week. By Thursday afternoon a valve was already closed as part of the isolation process. Last night the water supply to Roodepan and surrounding areas remained cut off and supply should hopefully be restored at 6pm today after repairs have been…

Samkelo Mtshali Staff Writer ANC SECRETARY-general Ace Magashule has sought divine intervention from the church as he continues to mull over the resolution of the party’s national executive committee (NEC) for leaders charged with corruption to step aside by the end of the month, or face suspension. Magashule, who earlier this month indicated that he would be consulting senior figures of the party including former presidents Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma, and former ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa, was speaking following talks with Zuma in Nkandla. The embattled secretary-general made Zuma’s sprawling KwaDakwunuse homestead in the KwaNxamalala village of Nkandla the second visit of his consultation whistle-stop tour, which began with talks with Phosa on Tuesday. Addressing the media outside the gates of the R246 million compound, Magashule said…

Reuters NEW YORK – Moderna said this week that its Covid-19 vaccine still showed strong protection against the illness six months after people received their second shot, with efficacy of more than 90 percent against all cases of Covid-19 and more than 95 percent against severe Covid-19. The vaccine maker, which will be updating investors on the progress of its vaccines at an event on Wednesday, said the six-month follow-up of its original late-stage study of the vaccine showed that vaccine efficacy remained consistent with its previous updates. The company has also started testing new versions of the vaccine that target a concerning new variant of the coronavirus, which was first identified in South Africa and is known as B.1.351. It said both versions of the vaccine that it is…

Sports Reporter THREE innovative law variations have been approved by World Rugby for use in the the inaugural Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup – red card replacements, captain’s challenge and goal-line drop-outs. The law trials have been approved by World Rugby for a competition which involves Irish, Italian, South African, Scottish and Welsh sides and starts on April 23. Replacement for a red carded player will be allowed after 20 minutes, while each team is allowed one captain’s challenge in the match. These can be used for try-scoring and foul play incidents, or to challenge any refereeing decision in the last five minutes of a match. The Captain’s Challenge is aimed at enhancing the accuracy of decisions already under the remit of the match officials. The challenge will be referred to…

Stuart Hess THE ONE area in which the Proteas have been consistent this season has been fielding – whatever the format, whoever the players, South Africa’s fielding has been consistently bad. They know it too. As does the coaching staff. “We try not to be so bad in the field,” remarked stand-in captain Heinrich Klaasen following Wednesday’s third T20 international defeat against Pakistan. “At training we are brilliant. I think it's guys maybe trying too hard and not being calm enough in the field. “It is something we will address again. It’s been a trend that we have to get rid of.” In a historical context, it is incredible that Pakistan would be deemed a better fielding unit than the Proteas, but that has been the case both in Pakistan…