Table of contents for 2022-04-29 in DFA News

THE OWNER of a bed and breakfast in Ritchie, Gunther Schwalb, 68, was killed after he was struck with a rock against the head by intruders yesterday morning. Schwalb, who owned the guesthouse for several years, had placed the bed and breakfast on the market and was planning to return to Germany. Residents in the area believe that it was not an accident because death threats were previously made against him. His wife, Felicity Schwalb, said she noticed that the lights of her car were still burning early yesterday morning. “I never leave the lights on and woke my husband to go and investigate. We saw two men inside the yard and it appeared as if they were trying to steal the car. They started throwing rocks at us. I…

FOR A moment last week, we felt like a country in free-fall. Like the bottom just dropped out of our world. It wasn't the floods in KZN or the rising Covid numbers, the rising costs of fuel and basic foodstuffs or even the lack-lustre performances by the president on live television. It was the overwhelming sense of acknowledgement that, as an entire country, we seemed to have moved in the wrong direction. And have been doing so for a very long time. Most successful countries have three things that work for them: Good policy, good governance and goodwill. The successful interplay between these three spheres of well-being is what makes for a good country. It is that basic. Despite its great Constitution, South Africa has been bad at policy setting,…

DESPITE being held to a 0-0 draw by a stubborn Cape Town City outfit at Loftus on Wednesday, Mamelodi Sundowns secured a fifth consecutive Premiership title with four games left to play. After 26 games, there is broad daylight between Sundowns (58 points) and second-placed Royal AM, who after the same number of games are 13 points adrift on 45. In every aspect, Sundowns were runaway winners. They scored 50 goals, which is 13 more than the next best team Royal AM. They have a goal difference of 36, with the next best again being Royal AM’s 14. ‘Magical 70’ There is every prospect of Sundowns finishing the season with that magical 70 points if they win their four remaining games. However, it will not be good enough to break…

WHILE civil organisations continue to pile pressure on the Department of Social Development (DSD) over the decision not to reopen the applications for the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, the department has defended the move, saying it had stayed within the budget and ensured only those eligible received the grant. This comes as MPs were given little to no details about the new criteria to apply for the grant despite Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu publishing the regulations last Friday, stating that anyone with an income more than R350 would be ineligible to receive the grant. None of the MPs insisted on the criteria when told Zulu would hold a press briefing to explain the new criteria for reapplication, and that the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa)…

KZN PREMIER Sihle Zikalala was caught out when eagle-eyed residents at the upmarket La Mercy suburb outside Durban spotted a municipal bowser offloading its full tank of water at his private residence. His excuse was that his wife needed it to cook food for the communities who had been hit the hardest by the catastrophic flooding that ravaged the Durban and surrounds before Easter. As Jonathan Jansen noted on Twitter, “I’m more inclined to believe the dog ate my homework”. We are lucky though. In Durban, the effect of local government misrule is clear from the devastation of the floods; exacerbated by under maintained infrastructure and the brazen arrogance of local politicians – including helping themselves to donations meant for those in need. In other areas, the dysfunction isn’t as…

THE MERCEDES Formula One team could have new parts available to improve its bouncing car in time for next week's Miami Grand Prix, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said on Wednesday. Mercedes has been wrestling with the ‘porpoising’ problem since the start of the season, with seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton already 58 points behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after four races. Hamilton finished 13th in last Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. Shovlin said in a debrief on the team’s YouTube channel that the problem posed new engineering challenges that Mercedes needed to understand. “Hopefully soon, maybe as soon as Miami, we can start to bring some parts to the car that will hopefully give us an indication on whether we are moving in the right direction,”…

Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila are still on course to defend their Nedbank Cup trophy as they host rivals Marumo Gallants at the Thohoyandou Stadium in tonight’s semi-final (7pm kick-off). TTM head coach Lucky Nelukau expressed his optimism about facing his former employers Gallants as his players look sharp and motivated, plus with the added boost of him knowing the playing personnel of their opponents. “We are ready for Gallants, so I hope they’re ready for us as well. I see the looks on my players’ faces at training, and I can tell they’re really positive and want to bring this cup back home,” he said. “I’m very aware of their playing style. As you may know, I signed 95% of the players at Gallants, so their style of play is very…

TAXI commuters in Kimberley will have to dig deeper into their pockets as the taxi fare will increase from May 3. Taxi prices for the Kimberley Taxi Association will increase from R12 to R15. Scholars will, from next week, pay R12 whereas they previously paid R10. The R12 only applies when scholars are dressed in their uniform, if not they would have to pay the same price as adult commuters. A taxi ride from Roodepan will now cost commuters R18 and a trip from the Central Business District (CBD) to the mall will cost R10. Children older than three years will pay R15. Commuters have indicated that they will have no other choice but to pay the new fare. “Everything in life is expensive. We have to pay a lot…

THERE was always that one laaitie who only enjoyed playing with the other children if they were winning the game. Whatever game it was, whether it was cowboys and Indians or hide and seek, if this youngster wasn’t winning, the game was, in their opinion, ‘no fun’. Being on the losing side would result in them pouting, throwing tantrums, or using the ultimate antidote to losing; the one word that would reset everything and give you an opportunity to start again and hopefully do better. That word was “nix”. In the English language, nix means “to refuse to accept something”, and if that laaitie refused to accept the fact that he or she was losing, the nix was hauled out and we’d all have to – reluctantly – go…

Sports personalities eager to help participants make the most of Absa Wildeklawer tournament THE ABSA Wildklawer Schools Sports tournament wrapped up its junior section for boys and girls yesterday making way for a three-day fest featuring the first teams in rugby, netball and soccer at three local schools. Diamantveld High and Newton Primary this week hosted the bulk of the boys’ and girls’ netball and rugby matches for mostly the Under-16 age groups. Yesterday, the tournament held invitational rugby matches only at Diamantveld High between Prieska and Keimoes high schools as a warm-up before the tournament proper starts. To spice things up this year, the organisers have invited South African rugby great Victor Matfield and Proteas Netball assistant coach Dumisane Chauke. The pair will be on hand to meet and…

SIR LEWIS Hamilton is having a tough time of it right now, but at least things are looking up for the seven-time world champion on the home front. The great Brit this week won a dispute with his neighbours at his R360-million London mansion in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, after the council granted him permission to chop down a “beautiful” sugarplum tree outside his home, as reported by the BBC. Apparently, Hamilton’s tree surgeon insists that the offending fern is “mostly dead and dying”. I know, slow news day, right? At my much more modest domicile, there is a rather destructive Morus alba – a silkworm mulberry – whose taxonomy I just learnt this week, that grows just on the border of my property and that of…