Table of contents for 2023-02-08 in Post

Leona Dean and Jailoshini Naidoo will bring their latest production, Save the Date, to the iZulu Theatre at Sibaya Casino from February 24 to 26. Following the shows, Rumba goes to Bollywood and Rumba on the Dance Floor, the duo are back with a production on the ups and downs of an Indian wedding. Dean said: “Save the Date is a mixture of comedy, playback songs and dance. It is a masala musical with a storyline that brings all the different genres together. “The dysfunctional husband and wife, Selvan and Mumsy, played by Jardel Sai Govender and Shanice Janine Subbiah, will take you through the craziness of an Indian wedding while their nosy neighbour, Aunty Rumba, played by Jailoshini Naidoo, adds fuel to the fire.” Dean said the show was…

WHEN I look at the two of you, I see the purest love in this world. You have taught me what true love is. We have been through the good, the bad and the ugly times together and we have always made it through, not as a team but as a family, with a smile on our faces. I love and appreciate you both so much that I will never be able to explain it in words, but I can sure try. Count every single star in the sky, multiply it by 10 and then add a million. That would not even be half the amount of love I have for you both. Thank you for being my pillars of strength, for lifting me up when I’m feeling down, for…

MY PARENTS are my biggest and greatest blessing and I thank God for them daily. I am 34 years old but my parents still treat me like a baby. I am a mother of two children and they also do so much for my kids. Not everyone is as blessed as me to have a support system like my parents. I pray that they are blessed with many, many years with us. My husband and I both work. My parents try so hard to make our lives easier. When we come from work our supper is made daily, and there is hot roti for breakfast. Mom fetches my kids from school. They are always working and always willing to help. My parents are God’s greatest blessings upon me and I’m…

Given our history, we cannot abandon our attempts to help our people of Chatsworth. My question is, where are our councillors when our people need them most? To me this is an injustice. It seems they have no passion for their jobs. The councillors are all talk but no action. Most of the areas in Chatsworth have no service delivery. There are water and electricity outages, street lights are never repaired, refuse collection is unreliable and there are potholes. The list goes on. To me this is of great concern. The principles of Batho Pele have been thrown out of the window. The hope for a better life for all has faded. Our levels of inequality have widened and people are stifled by the many challenges they have…

The tax year ending February 28 is fast approaching. The South African Revenue Service (Sars) offers taxpayers several tax breaks, which you should consider taking advantage of. If you decide to skip these opportunities to build capital for yourself at the expense of the taxman, then blame yourself. The following tax breaks are available: Retirement savings You may contribute to a retirement fund (pension, provident and retirement annuity) and claim the amount as a deduction, within a certain formula, thereby paying less tax. The formula is based on your income and is computed as follows: 27.5% of your taxable income or remuneration, whichever is the higher but capped to a maximum contribution of R350 000 per year. So if you contributed less than the formula to the retirement fund then…

April 1, 2019 Hi Kiru Though we belonged to different political tendencies, Sonny and I got on very well. Maybe this spilled over from Sonny’s relationship with Phyllis. They were firm friends with a healthy mutual respect for their differences. Sonny argued that, after all, we were really in the same struggle. Sonny who was in the Unity Movement and we were ANC supporters. In 1959, I was in my first year of varsity and Sonny had completed or was completing his degree. While the likes of Kader Essack, Amanullah Khan, Mogam Moodliar and others in the Unity Movement never shied away from any theoretical sparring, Sonny chose “quiet diplomacy”, a name by which we in the Congress camp affectionately called him. I remember that in my first year I…

VISITING South Indian DJing couple, Deepika and Navs, will perform at a Valentine’s Day Dance Party 2.0 at Cuba Lounge BLK at Moses Mabhida Stadium. They will headline an event hosted by WoodMark Events SA, which recently launched its South African division. The company aims to promote South Indian culture among the country’s youth. Sagie Naidoo and Reagan Moodley are local entrepreneurs who head up WoodMark Events SA. The company was founded in 2018. It is based in Malaysia with offices in Chennai and now South Africa. There are plans to expand into the UK and Canada. Naidoo said their vision was to ignite a love of South Indian culture within the youth through music and dance. “We see a genuine disconnect among our youth when it comes to culture…

ANY woman can be a mother, but it takes a strong woman to be both a mom and a dad. You have been our real life superhero since dad passed away. You are a parent, a friend, a punching bag, a teacher and a shoulder to cry on. You never fail, you never give up and you never back down. You make parenthood seem like a walk in the park. I don’t know how you managed to raise four children and now you’re helping raise four grandchildren, yet you do it with so much ease. Personally, I owe you the world. You have always been there for me: When we lost dad, even though you were also grieving. When I was depressed from having to drop out of college. When…

I consider myself lucky to be your daughter. More so, your last born who has the opportunity of doing life with you every day. You are the epitome of simplicity and determination. You have the power to remain strong and make life decisions no matter how difficult the situation is. You have shown me that despite having your own challenges in life, nothing is impossible and for that I am and will always be grateful. Thank you mom for being you, for being my rock during my hard days, for motivating me when I am ready to give up, and for keeping the faith even when I didn’t believe. It is never easy, but you make it easy. Despite suffering two strokes in your early life, you push through, from…

To my king and queen, thank you for your love, time, and energy. Thank you for educating and disciplining me. Thank you for always believing in me and helping me reach for the stars. Thank you for the wonderful gifts that you give me. Thank you for giving me the best care when I am feeling under the weather. Thank you for always asking about how my day was at school and if I didn’t understand anything or if I want to tell you anything. I know that you work hard to give me the best, and I appreciate it. I also know that you only want the best for me and that is why you always push me to reach goals I couldn’t even think possible. Sometimes, we do…

Aurets is a healer, psychic medium, intuitive mentor, masseuse and regression therapist who also teaches meditation and breath work. She practises in Upper Highway. Contact her at 079 356 4657 or email theeternalbreath @gmail.com ARIES (March 21 – April 19) Trust and faith go hand in hand. Have faith that what you are placing your trust in will manifest. Answers are on their way. Trust your intuition. Believe in yourself to acknowledge the warning signs, while embracing opportunities. Follow your inner guidance. Magic number: 3. TAURUS (April 20 – May 20) It is good to question beliefs in self regarding spirituality or religion. In life, not all is as it appears. Understanding “what is” removes ignorance. It educates and gives you the wings to be more of who you are…

The search continues for oThongathi resident, Dhramalingum (Dan) Pillay. It is now more than a week since the 69-year-old disappeared from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai. The North Coast grandfather went missing while waiting to board a flight back to South Africa via Nairobi. He was with his 34-year-old daughter, Rabecca Pillay. She fell asleep after a long flight delay. When she woke up, her father was nowhere to be seen. His disappearance sparked a nation-wide search. Samantha Pillay, who lives with her dad in oThongathi, said he suffered from short term memory loss after a stroke in 2018. “The stroke damaged part of the brain responsible for short term memory. He knows who he is, he knows his family and his home but gets confused by…

HOW do I even begin to express my love and gratitude for my parents? What comes to mind is a scripture taken from the Bible. It's an accurate comparison and I could easily replace the word “love” with “mom and dad”: Love is patient, love is kind ... It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. I am blessed to experience this kind of love. All that I am and everything I have accomplished are all because of God and my parents. My father has made the greatest sacrifices to ensure I had a good education and he did his best to give me the best life. He's the type of person that would go beyond the extra mile. This quality is rare. My mum has been my greatest…

WITH it being the month of love, I can understand and experience the feeling of love through both of you. This was not only the love you have shown my brother, Davikh, and me but the various forms of love – between mom and dad, between husband and wife, and between two friends. You have shown me tough love by not allowing me to go out late at night. You showed supportive love whenever I felt I could not do it. You showed sweet love when you gave us the last pieces of chocolate by saying you don't like sweet stuff. You showed us love means sacrifices when you gave up on your dreams in order to fund ours. Growing up, you gave us everything you could, and more. While…

A presentation by the office of the Auditor-General (AG) to the eThekwini Municipality painted a bleak picture of poor management in place and confirmed that the council is on the verge of collapse. African Democratic Change (ADeC) has repeatedly raised concerns about poor service delivery and declining standards in the city. The AG has exonerated those of us who have been critical of this leadership. Irregular expenditure exceeded R1.5 billion. The root cause of this disclaimer is the fact that controls were not implemented and monitored to ensure that appropriate procurement processes are adhered to. The AG also identified a lack of understanding of the supply chain management regulations by senior staff as well as ineffective consequence management procedures. Of particular concern to us is the fact that 56.2% of…

I EXTEND my appreciation to columnist Yogan Devan for a concise and crisply penned opinion column “Time to end religious bigotry” (POST, February 1-5). I know that most non-resident Indians are decent and honourable, but it’s their silence I find collusive and worrying. It is causing a well resourced minority among them to spread religious bigotry in South Africa. Yogan and I engaged on this toxic issue and I applaud him for this opinion piece. He is spot on that there are those who, with tacit support from New Delhi, continue to spread hate against inter-alia a Muslim minority in India. They are committed to punish people of foreign faiths for the excesses of their ancestors who might have invaded the Asian sub-continent at different periods. I found the column…

Extracted from a 1992 interview with N Ntsodi and D Shongwe for the Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre Oral History Project. 1. I was born on the 27th July 1935. And I was born in Sea View, which was on the banks of the Umbilo River. A very rural kind of setting and growing up, you know, the world was only the horizon ... Stellawood cemetery was my horizon. And we lived on the riverbank, and (had) no running water, no electricity. 2. My parents were first-generation Indians, and both my parents were born in South Africa. My grandparents came from India, in Bazakpatnam, and they were indentured labourers. My paternal grandparents, after their indenture, 10 years or something, they went back to India and died there. But my paternal grandmother lived…

A YEAR ago, Dhanashree Samsity submitted a profile of herself to a POST Valentine’s Day callout. Shortly after that she found her true love. On Thursday Samsity and her boyfriend, Trevor Moonsamy, will celebrate their first anniversary. Samsity, 38, of Pietermaritzburg, an attorney, said she had not dated previously as she was focused on her career, and wanted to establish herself as a lawyer before looking for love. “I wrote to POST Valentine in the hope that the person meeting my requirements would be out there. I thought that even though the person himself may not read my profile, his parents or family might do so and alert him. “I believe in embracing opportunities and this was an opportunity to put my requirements out to the universe. I do not…

WE ALL have parents and they are special to us in every way. There is only one way to describe mine. They are amazingly incredible beyond words. They are my parents, friends, confidants and superheroes; from cooking us dinners, to sacrificing their wishes to make ours come true. They took care of my daughter so that I could have a stress-free work-life balance. I love them with all my heart and thank God for them every day. In all my lifetimes, I wish they will be my parents. Happy Valentine’s Day to my superheroes. Be happy always.…

THE world has many heroes, most of them we know by name. Among all those heroes are my mom and dad, the epitome of strength, compassion, selflessness and love. Every home needs its elders to function properly, guided by their endless wisdom and experience. This is exactly what you have been to us, an endless source of wisdom to guide us through the difficulties of life. You are the strength, inspiration and guide to every step of my life. You have always been the pillars that held our lives. You inspire me every day to be the best version of myself. I received the greatest blessing from God the minute I took my first breath. He blessed me with the absolute best parents. We didn’t have a lot of worldly…

Australian men’s Twenty20 captain Aaron Finch retired from international cricket on Tuesday, ending his 12-year career as one of the most prolific run scorers in limited-overs formats. A destructive opening batter at his peak, Finch’s position had been under a cloud since Australia failed to make the knock-out stage of last year’s T20 World Cup at home. It was not immediately clear who would replace the Victoria-born batter, who has captained the team in 76 of the 103 T20s he has played since debuting against England in 2011. “Realising that I won’t be playing on until the next T20 World Cup in 2024, now is the right moment to step down and give the team time to plan and build towards that event,” he told reporters at the Melbourne Cricket…

INDIA will host Australia in their spin-friendly backyard over four highly anticipated Tests starting tomorrow, with Steve Smith saying winning the crunch series would be “bigger than the Ashes”. Australia have struggled to overcome conditions in India, with their last series win there coming in 2004 while their opponents have claimed the past three encounters, including twice Down Under. Smith admitted that India is “a difficult place to win a Test match, let alone a series”. “If we are able to topple that mountain, that would be huge. I think if we can win in India, that would be bigger than an Ashes series,” he said ahead of the first Test in Nagpur. The visitors are reeling from a spate of injuries – including to key pace-bowlers Mitchell Starc and…

A CHATSWORTH woman has warned those holidaying in the south coast to be cautious of crime in the area. Mogie Singh, 53, of Welbedacht, said people had a false sense of security while on holiday and, as a result, were not as cautious as they should be. Singh said her family had a brush with criminals while staying at the Palm Beach Chalets in Port Edward during the week after Christmas. “On the night of the incident, the sliding door to our unit was closed but we were unable to lock it. “We were not too concerned as we thought we would be safe. We did not lock the gate. “There was load shedding from 1am to 3am and it was dark. I was sleeping in the lounge with my…

THE reaction of Dr Joseph Phaahla, the Minister of Health, to the Covid variant (POST, January 11-15) provides clear evidence that science is being ignored and sovereign control of our health system is subservient to the dictates of Big Pharma and the World Health Organization (WHO). When Omnicron was identified by Dr Angelique Coetzee, a South African scientist, she categorised it as being “mild, scarcely perceptible”. She saw no need for any medication, such as boosters. Yet, now that a sublineage of Omnicron called X.BB 1.5 has been detected, Phaahla urges people to have booster shots. Mounting evidence emerging worldwide, corroborated by eminent medical scientists like Drs Aseem Malhotra, Robert Malone and Martin Kulldorf and the European Medicines Agency, proves that booster shots weaken immune systems without deterring the virus.…

With reference to the column, “Time to end religious bigotry”, by Yogin Devan (POST, February 1-5). I mention at the outset that the writer has contradicted himself in many paragraphs. His mention that “tacit support from New Delhi” implies that the policies which are thousands of years old and which are as old as the temples themselves are tacitly and actively supported by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP party is false in the extreme. May I remind him that Modi was not born when these policies were formulated. May I further request that he provide us with proof of how these minorities are being discriminated against because of these policies. It boggles my mind as to how he reached such ridiculous conclusions. May I humbly and respectfully…

IT IS easy to get despondent when you consider our reality in South Africa. But, in this, the month of love, it is worth reflecting on the opening lines from the movie, Love Actually: Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinions starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems, to me, that love is everywhere. Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were…

3/3/72 “My dear Sunny, Got yours of the 27/2 on the 2/3/72. Many thanks. For the next few years you will learn to preface your post like I have, and this should turn out to be an important feature. You will find that the vagaries of mail are manifold – in fact you should bear this in mind for the future - that such problems that may arise have no immediate relief – they have to be done at ox-wagon pace. This means planning. You all I notice are applying your minds to the inevitable. This is good – for if something less obtains the joy would make up for the past. In a way you are fortunate in numbers and yet again not. It is now March and looks…

POST doesn’t just keep you informed, educated and entertained – it has also helped readers find love. Over the years, its Lonely Hearts column played Cupid to a number of people, including Mogie Singh, 53, who is self-employed. In 1997 when she was 27 years old, Mogie wrote in looking for a companion. She met and eventually married her husband, Colin Singh, thanks to the column. He was three years older and a single dad also looking for love. In December last year they celebrated 22 years of marriage. Mogie said: “I used to read POST and the Lonely Hearts section. I was in a broken relationship and a single parent to a 4-year-old daughter, Maxine. I waited a while before I contemplated a new relationship. “Before I wrote…

THEY say Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to honour those you love, and who better to honour than my two forever loves, mom and dad. To my right is my gorgeous mom and on my left is my dashing dad. Although words can never express how grateful I am to both, I will surely try. Thank you for all the tough love, for pushing me to believe in myself, for opening my eyes and for always encouraging and supporting me. Thank you for loving me and showing me what unconditional love truly means. But most importantly, thank you for being you. You have given me the world. I am forever grateful for all the sacrifices you have made for me. I may not always express my love or gratitude…

WITH all the warm water, the offshore fishing has been a bit slow. Luckily the pockets of colder water have held a lot of couta which the skis have taken full advantage of. The area from Umhlanga north has been the most productive section of coast for the offshore anglers. The sheer variety of species and the number of bites one can get make the trip up north worth it. Sodwana and Vidal are both fishing very well with very few anglers coming back disappointed. There have been quite a few billfish around, so if long fights and jumping giants are your things ... better get all the tackle ready for work. The more conventional tactics have been producing plenty of gamefish up north. Tuna have continued to be the…

India host Australia in a hotly anticipated four-match Test series starting in Nagpur on Thursday. AFP Sport looks at three key battles that could decide who comes out on top in a clash between the world’s two top cricket teams. Kohli v Cummins Virat Kohli has triumphed over his extended lean patch from last year and his match-up with fast bowler Pat Cummins, the Australia skipper, could light up the series. The batting maestro has hit four tons since breaking his 1 020-day century drought in last year’s T20 Asia Cup, but hasn’t been able to bring his white-ball form into Tests. An exemplary leader, Cummins has, on the other hand, been in the best Test form of his career, claiming 29 wickets in nine Tests over the past 12…