Table of contents for 2022-12-14 in Post

The Michael Jackson HIStory Tribute Concert returns to Durban for its first local staging in four years. The show will be held at The Globe at Suncoast Casino from December 21 to 24. In an interview with POST, Kristy Mathews, the COO for Showtime Australia Group which is bringing the concert to town, said that after a hiatus from international and local touring, the show would bring a revamped production to Durban audiences. “Showtime Australia has been wowing audiences in South Africa with the Michael Jackson HIStory Show for more than a decade. “The show is high energy and Michael Jackson has such an extensive back catalogue. We are able to perform an array of his most popular music and also touch on some of his most iconic moments from…

2 large eggs (room temperature) 1¼ cups castor sugar 115g butter or margarine (room temperature) 5ml vanilla essence 1¼ cups self-raising flour pinch of salt ¼ cup cocoa powder, sifted ½ cup milk Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and preheat the oven to 170ºC. Whisk together the eggs and sugar. Add the butter and vanilla. Mix until creamy. In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa and salt. Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients to the egg and sugar mixture. Do not over mix. Fill the batter into the lined muffin pan, ¾ way up. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. NOTE: Reduce the baking time accordingly for mini cupcakes. BUTTER CREAM: 500ml margarine or butter 4 cups icing sugar…

Aurets is a healer, psychic medium, intuitive mentor, masseuse and regression therapist who also teaches meditation and breath work. She practices in Upper Highway. Contact her at 079 356 4657 or email theeternalbreath @gmail.com ARIES (March 21 – April 19) Pay attention! Resonance with the signs around you, especially in nature, will guide you to where you need to be and what you need to do. The answers are right in front of you. Be willing to see them with an open mind. Magic number: 12. TAURUS (April 20 – May 20) Listen to and follow your heart. Find the joy in life to be enriched. Life is not about finance. Create your abundance around what brings you joy rather than making it all about the pennies. Happiness is found…

HINDI cinema’s Dilip Kumar drew full crowds at the nationwide celebrations of the late actor’s 100th birth anniversary marked on Sunday. At the two-day Dilip Kumar: Hero of Heroes celebrations at PVR Cinemas, Dilip Kumar’s Devdas (1955) and Shakti (1982), where the thespian appeared as DCP Ashwini Kumar in the Amitabh Bachchan-led film, were the favourites among cinemagoers. During the festival, the films screened were the ones famously associated with the Tragedy King who was also a pro at making comic turns. These included Aan (1952) and Ram Aur Shyam (1967). They were screened in more than 30 cinemas across 20 cities in India. Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, the joint managing director of PVR Ltd, said: “The two-day film festival, from December 10 to 11, featuring four critically acclaimed movies generated…

THIS December marked 231 years since Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died. Mozart, who was 35 years old at the time of his death, is regarded as one of the greatest Western music composers of all time. His father introduced him to music and, by the age of five, he had created his first composition. He was able to play a variety of musical instruments and was highly regarded as a piano and violin player. Exactly how Mozart died remains something of a mystery. Some believe he died as the result of an illness. Others speculate that he was poisoned. Some 200 years after his death Peter Shaffer, an English playwright, wrote Amadeus in which he provided a fictional account of the relationship between Mozart and his rival, Antonio Salieri. The story…

I HAVE sleepless nights concerning serious crime in South Africa, which has escalated to dangerous levels, especially in the past 30 years. I often read about or hear reports on TV news about gender-based violence. To be honest, there is no such thing. It is serious violence perpetrated by men or husbands against women and children, often resulting in serious injury or even death. South Africa had the death sentence by hanging many years ago – and serious crime was well controlled then. We then replaced it with life imprisonment in the name of civilisation. That was a mistake because we opened the floodgates for serious crimes. We have regretted it ever since. Criminals are looking at prisons as a home, which offers free food, clothes, health care and TV…

AS OUR country faces sustained load shedding, Minister Patricia de Lille has revealed that her department has spent almost R800 000 on diesel to run generators at ministers’ houses. This is over and above the money spent on ostensibly replacing 13 redundant generators on behalf of said ministers, while a further four new generators are in the procurement stage. Nobody needs to be reminded of the dire impact of load shedding on the lives of ordinary South Africans. We hear daily of babies being born by candlelight at clinics, desperately ill people whose reliance on oxygen places them in life-threatening situations, and businesses that are becoming more financially constrained due to the impact of hours without electricity. And while taxpayers sit in the dark, their hard-earned taxes are being used…

Pothole claims are on the rise in South Africa. That is according to Dialdirect, which recently published a statement on the matter. The insurance company said it had noted a 15% increase in pothole-related accident claims compared with last year, and a 9% increase in tyre damage claims that were a direct result of a pothole. In 76% of these claims, it said the pothole damage rendered the car undriveable. Anneli Retief, the head of Dialdirect Insurance, said: “Potholes, a common sign that a road is deteriorating, are widespread throughout South Africa. “According to the South African Roads Federation, South Africa is home to 25 million potholes, 10 million more than there were five years ago. “In South Africa, the majority of pothole-related claims come from the cities of Pietermaritzburg…

A SUSPECT, who was under surveillance by members of the SAPS political task team, died in a shootout with police at a petrol station in Westham, Phoenix, on Tuesday. National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said members of the political task team were following up on intelligence information and drove past the suspect’s house. “It is reported that the suspect saw the police and followed them from a distance. “The police reportedly parked at a nearby garage, and the suspect approached and shot at the police. A shootout ensued, and the suspect was fatally wounded,” she said. Mathe said the deceased suspect was found in possession of a handgun and two magazines, one empty and the other loaded with 15 live rounds of ammunition. “A subsequent search at his house…

Durban Golf Club held the Sham Panel Beaters 40th Anniversary Golf Tournament recently. This tournament was also in memory of the late Sham Ramlochan. The club is the first non-white/Indian golf club in the county and the course is named Papwa Sewgolam Golf Course. The winner of the C division with a 27 handicap and 40 points, Bob Bahadur, was also the overall winner of the tournament and was presented with a trophy by the sponsor, who is a honourable life member of Durban Golf Club, Amar Ramlochan.…

SHE has travelled the world leaving audiences and celebrity judges alike stunned by her vocal talent belting out Whitney Houston hits. Now Belinda Davids will perform at The Globe, Suncoast Casino, from December 27 to 29, in The Greatest Love of All show. Davids has performed alongside the likes of Keri Hilson, Keyshia Cole and Monica. She has also featured on Britain’s Got Talent, Fox TV’s Showtime at the Apollo and BBC1 TV’s Even Better Than the Real Thing. The Greatest Love of All has already toured many countries including the US, UK, Europe, the Middle East, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. The show returns to South Africa for the first time in three years. Davids, born and raised in Port Elizabeth and now living in Cape Town, said…

SHASHIKA Mooruth recently marked 50 years in the music industry and says fans can look forward to more songs, and perhaps a book, from her. Mooruth, who was raised in Mobeni Heights in Durban, began singing at age eight at the Shri Luxmi Narayan Temple in Mobeni Heights. “I performed at a Janmasthami festival at the temple in 1972, where I sang a Krishna bhajan at midnight,” said Mooruth, who is now based in Mumbai, India. “I consider that performance as an auspicious beginning. It was the first time I performed alongside musicians and before such a huge audience.” Mooruth said her parents provided unwavering support during her career despite the challenges she had faced. “What kept me going was not just my love for music but my late dad’s…

I WAS in Gauteng two weeks ago and I saw this headline “Beaches fail poo test” splashed across the front page of a Sunday newspaper. My heart sank. Has my once proud, beautiful city come to this – a stinking city with raw sewage flowing all over it? In fact, Durban has been making headlines all over the country – in newspapers and on TV – not for any good reasons but for all the wrong reasons. Its prime attraction is the beaches polluted with raw sewage. So important are Durban beaches to holiday makers from Gauteng that the Sunday paper got an accredited independent testing company Talbot to test the water quality at six Durban beaches, which were declared safe by the municipality and found that two of them…

As we approach he final days of 2022, we reflect on the past 12 months – a year in which greater demands were placed on the resources and expertise of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha (Sahms), compounded by post-pandemic uncertainty and political and social instability. According to our scriptures, people turn to the Lord when faced with adversities. It has been tough but, nonetheless, a rewarding period for the Sahms. Notwithstanding the challenges of Kaliyuga, our future is pregnant with promise, and according to the Bhagvad Gita we must continue to serve selflessly, without any expectation of reward (Nishkam Karma). The Maha Sabha’s flagship welfare project, Initiative 108, has exceeded all expectations. We commend our affiliates and associates for their support and willingness to assist at short notice. We…

PLACARD demonstrations were held throughout the country to mark the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign (which runs) from November 25 to December 10. This was to show support for gender-based violence (GBV) victims and survivors during the commemoration. Congratulations to all organisations that took part in the campaign. It is important to educate and raise awareness about GBV. It is time to give women the respect they deserve. It is sad to see the increasing number of women who suffer abuse and violence, and in some cases are killed by spouses or partners. The recently-released crime statistics show that the crimes committed against women and children have increased. To me, this is worrying, sickening and shameful. What possesses any man to behave with…

The Verulam Regional Court has sentenced Shailendra Samath to life imprisonment for killing his mother. In July 2021, Samath, 38, stabbed Ormilla Samath, 62, multiple times at her home in Everest Heights, Verulam, and robbed her of an undisclosed amount of cash. He then fled the scene. That day, a relative tried to contact Ormilla telephonically. When she did not answer, the relative contacted Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa), a private security company. The security company found Ormilla dead on the kitchen floor. Police arrested Samath shortly thereafter and he was charged and later convicted of the murder. Colonel Robert Netshiunda, provincial police spokesperson, said Samath was jailed for life for the killing and given another 15 years for robbery. “Samath remained in police custody until his sentencing. Violence…

SHAHEED Cajee was expected to apply for bail in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday this week for allegedly killing his wife. Nazreen Cajee, 40, was stabbed several times in the couple’s home in Greenside, Johannesburg, last week. The couple have three children, one of whom allegedly notified a neighbour about the incident. The neighbour entered the home and found Nazreen dead. Shaheed, also 40, was seated in the lounge, allegedly covered in blood. Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo, a Gauteng police spokesperson, said police arrested Shaheed. “Police received a call from a neighbour about a woman who was suspected to be killed in Emmarentia. Upon arrival, police found the woman with stab wounds on the upper body. She was certified dead by the paramedics at the scene. A preliminary investigation led…

Ferrari appointed Frenchman Frederic Vasseur as Formula One team principal and general manager yesterday, replacing Mattia Binotto whose resignation was announced last month. Vasseur’s departure from Swiss-based Sauber, which runs the Alfa Romeo team, had been announced earlier. Ferrari said he would join them on January 9. “We are delighted to welcome Fred Vasseur to Ferrari as our team principal,” said the Italian sportscar maker’s chief executive Benedetto Vigna in a statement. “Throughout his career he has successfully combined his technical strengths as a trained engineer with a consistent ability to bring out the best in his drivers and teams. “This approach and his leadership are what we need to push Ferrari forward with renewed energy.” Vasseur, 54, will be Ferrari’s fifth principal in less than a decade. His arrival…

1 tub (230g) full fat cream cheese 200g chopped pecans 200g dried cranberries finely chopped biltong slices 1 chopped chilli (optional) finely chopped fresh herbs (coriander and thyme) freshly ground black pepper (optional) Scoop out balls of cream cheese and freeze for an hour or two. Place all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Remove the cream cheese balls from the freezer and roll in the chopped ingredients. Keeping the form, place them in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to serve. Serve with crackers. Drizzle with honey.…

RUBENDRA Govender, the author of Sugar Cane Boy, is taking his book to the big screen. After five years of writing and editing, Sugar Cane Boy was published in 2008. Govender, 56, a retired teacher from Reservoir Hills, said the book became a school set work in 2009, and thereafter a local best-selling novel from 2008 to 2014. “More than 17 000 copies were sold in South Africa, more than any other local book,” said Govender. “It was the natural progression for me to eventually make a movie. I had thought about doing it when I came to the end of my teaching career. ‘I always planned to go into the movie business." Govender said the book was inspired by his upbringing on his family’s sugar cane farm in Inanda…

CHRISTMAS is around the corner, and many South Africans are planning their family celebrations which are usually beautiful and meaningful, simultaneously stressful, expensive and pressurising. Planning social gatherings and activities, as well as meals for Christmas Day and the holidays, are challenging enough without the additional stresses of sustaining old traditions of exchanging gifts with family members and friends. Pursuing gifts for the entire family can be tedious and difficult for many, especially if there is no means to leave children at home with childminders, while the adults are at the mall window shopping and deciding on their purchases. Children can nag or make demands on parents for specific toys, sugary treats, fast foods and other items, especially when they are out at malls during the holidays. This type of…

AS 2022 draws to an end, the blood letting in many parts of the world continues to flow. Millions of refugees are fleeing from their places of birth as warmongers seize their lands. Drone warfare dominates the global headlines as lethal combat enters a new dimension. Future historians will record and remember 2022 when man ceased to be the supremo of planet Earth. Artificial intelligence will direct world affairs. Cyber-warfare will become the ultimate weapon of destruction. Trade wars and sanctions have become instruments of war, displacing diplomacy. The shameless display of military might has become a weapon of intimidation as nations and weaker people are bludgeoned into submission. Hurricanes are lashing and mutilating global coastlines and tornadoes are ripping apart our earthly habitats. Earthquakes are toppling our homes and…

THE IFP calls on all road users to exercise caution and put safety first this festive season. The holidays have barely begun, yet we are already seeing almost daily reports of horror crashes across the country. Just last week, a horrific crash in Mpumalanga, between Morgenzon and Amersfoort, resulted in the loss of nine lives. This past weekend, reports revealed that a pedestrian was struck down by a car on the R21 north in Gauteng, and died at the scene. A family of four were also involved in a head-on collision near Bloemfontein, but thankfully all survived, but with injuries. In addition, on the N2 near Mandini, a driver had to have a leg amputated due to a single-vehicle accident into a guardrail. These are just a few of the…

THE parents of Donovan Bradley Govender are satisfied that justice has been served for his killing. Govender, 29, a truck driver from Phoenix, was stabbed in his arm and thigh, and assaulted with a hockey stick during a dispute in December 2020. The father of two was taken to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital where he died. Hours after his death police arrested brothers Elijah, 21, and Mathew Chetty, 22; and their aunt Rangini Pillay, 41; at their home in Phoenix. They were charged with murder. The matter went to trial in January at the Verulam Magistrate’s Court. The accused all pleaded not guilty. In October, Magistrate Betty Rawheath found them guilty of murder. On Tuesday, she sentenced Elijah and Mathew to 12 years’ imprisonment with three years being suspended. Pillay…

World Cup holders France face Africa’s first-ever semi-finalists Morocco in tonight’s last-four clash. AFP Sport looks at some of the keys to the game. Rock-solid Morocco: Morocco have conceded just one goal in the entire tournament – an own goal in their 2-1 win over Canada in the group stage – with Croatia, Belgium, Spain and Portugal all failing to breach a rock-solid back line. But France boast multiple goal threats. Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud have scored nine goals between them and Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann will also ask plenty of questions. Morocco have a number of fitness concerns in their defence – centre-back Nayef Aguerd missed the Portugal game with a muscle injury and his regular partner, Romain Saiss, was substituted with a repeat of a hamstring…

THE festive season is here and the summer heat has started in KZN. The fishing has been good and the living is easy … For all those guys who are getting ready for their holidays, make sure you check your tackle before you go away. There is nothing worse than getting to your destination and having gear that is not working. Getting reels serviced and rod guides checked is vital. Also, maybe it’s time to replace that nylon/braid on your reel ... The South African rock and surf teams are currently fishing against Namibia. Let us hope our boys can pull it off! The rock and surf fishing has been very productive along the KZN coast and the opening of the shad season has helped. The North Coast has seen…