Table of contents for Wednesday, August 19, 2020 in Post

Olympiad challenge looms NADIA KHAN TWO Grade 11 pupils, Alok More and Jaedon Naidu, are among 11 finalists to compete in the Applications Computer Olympiad final on Saturday. The annual competition is part of the South African Computer Olympiad and is sponsored by the Institute of IT Professionals in South Africa. Alok, at Glenwood High School, and Jaedon, at Eden College, both 16, are information technology fundis. Faran Steenkamp, a Grade 12 pupil at Thomas More College in Durban, will also represent KwaZulu-Natal. The Applications Computer Olympiad is one of three competitions sponsored by the institute. The others are a talent search and a programming olympiad. Michael Cameron, the manager of the South African Computer Olympiad, said the aim was to identify, encourage and reward computer aptitude. “It is also…

‘Happy’ mom’s life cut short Shot dead in an alleged murder-suicide in her Lenasia home NADIA KHAN A LENASIA mother who had just moved into her own home and planned to get married was shot and killed, allegedly by her partner, in a murder-suicide on Saturday. Jayshree Singh, 26, an administrator, was shot in the head allegedly by Reshaad Moosa, 37, who turned the gun on himself. A week earlier the couple moved into their home in Nirvana Drive, Extension 13. Singh’s sister, Manisha Govender, said her sister appeared happy. “She is a private person, especially with her love life, but she was in a happy place as far as we saw,” said Govender. “They had just moved into their own place. She said she was going to convert to…

THE FAMILY POST REPORTER Facebook Facebook and wikibious.com • Kamala Harris’s maternal grandfather, PV Gopalan, according to www.mentalfloss.com, was active in the Indian independence movement and became a high-ranking civil servant. He fought corruption and acted as an adviser to newly-independent nations, including Zambia. Her grandmother, Rajam Gopalan, had been betrothed at 12 and married at 16. She grew into a self-assured woman who used her position as an upper-caste wife to advocate for less advantaged women. • Their daughter, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was raised in southern India and she completed her undergraduate education at the University of Delhi at just 19. According to www.mentalfloss.com,she then went to the US to pursue a doctorate in endocrinology at the University of California. She was to complete her studies and return to…

Live in the present but don’t forget the past YOGIN DEVAN Supplied WHY do we yearn for the good old days whenever we look at pictures from yesteryear that make their rounds on social media? There are scenes of old Durban when the streets and beaches were clean and less crowded. Double-decker buses in West Street. Long queues outside cinemas screening blockbuster movies. Yo-yos, hopscotch and hula hoops. Fountain pens. Ice-cream trucks. Shiny, big Chevy cars that guzzled petrol but it did not matter at 9 cents a litre in 1970 – or R4.50 to fill the tank. Lucky dips. Chappies bubblegum. Cobra floor polish. Welcome Dover coal stove. The typewriter. Psychologists say that the belief that things are worse than they used to be is a delusion. If you…

Incessant looting of public money must end THE perpetual looting without impunity of the public fiscus may just be pushing the country to a point where recovery may be impossible. As a nation, we will continue to haemorrhage if the president does not intensify his stance to bring the criminals in his government to book. Corruption has been eminent for the past 26 years without any substantive convictions that have resulted in state officials being jailed. The Covid-19 funding for personal protective equipment (PPE) intended for front-line workers such as nurses and doctors have been looted. As the president mentioned, this was staged by scavengers with no respect for human life. In the midst of a pandemic where lives are being snuffed out daily, who would have expected that vultures…

Your Stars Aries (March 21 – April 19) It is okay to ask for help – we know your star sign can be stubborn. You may feel separated or not in tune with your family or loved ones at this time. Hang in there. Things are about to change for you. Lucky number: 3. Taurus (April 20 – May 20) It is all about new starts and new beginnings, so if you are changing jobs or looking to relocate now is the time to plan. Your plans will happen much faster than in the past. Helping a partner achieve his or her goal is all part of your work this week. Lucky number: 7. Gemini (May 21 – June 20) You will try to make sense of your emotions this…

MY SPORTING MEMORY Enver Mall always on the (cricket) ball ESHLIN VEDAN CRICKET has always been an essential component in the life of Durban-based attorney Enver Mall. Mall, a former first-class player and current coach and administrator, is the son of the late Judge Hassen Mall who captained the Western Province cricket team in the 1940s. “When I was growing up in the 1960s, my father’s brothers played club cricket for Sastri College Old Boys Cricket Club, and my cousin, Professor Ahmed Bawa, captained Natal Schools and went on to represent Natal in the 1970s. Ever since I was a toddler, my weekends were spent at the old Springfield Cricket grounds during the cricket season,” said Mall, who was an opening batsman. A product of Reservoir Hills and Gandhi Desai…

105-year-old temple bulldozed to the ground CHANELLE LUTCHMAN Supplied A DAMAGED brass prayer lamp, a clay lamp and a broken murthi of Hanuman were all that remained after a 105-year-old temple was demolished in Umbango, Port Shepstone, on Monday. Devotees watched as the Muthu Mariamman Kovil, which dates back to 1915, was demolished by a local businessman. It is believed that a shopping centre will be built on the site. Vanessa Pillay, whose grandparents built the temple, said: “They broke our temple. That’s our family legacy.” She said her grandparents, Yankama and Munusamy Reddy, originally built the temple in Albersville, in Port Shepstone, and that many devotees arrived daily to pray. “It was the Amman (Mother goddess) temple and they believed it was powerful.” In 1952, Pillay’s grandfather died. She…

Testing time for matric pupils Release of exam timetable sparks fears and concerns NADIA KHAN AND THANDEKA MGQIBI THERE were mixed reactions from pupils and teacher unions after the Grade 12 exam timetable was released last Wednesday. More than 1 million matric pupils are expected to write the 2020 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams. Elijah Mhlanga, the head of communications for the Department of Basic Education, said because of the closure of schools on March 18, Angie Motshekga, the Minister of Basic Education, decided to combine the exams for May/June and the final year. The exams will start on November 5 with English (first additional language) and will end on December 15 with visual arts and agricultural management. “The late commencement of the Grade 12 examinations will allow schools and…

OPINION Paul David: the once-in-a lifetime type of guy PROFESSOR YOUSUF A VAWDA THIS is an obituary, a personal tribute to, and a reflection on the life and contribution of Devadas Paul David (1940-2020) Devadas Paul David was born in Pietermaritzburg in 1940 and passed on last week. He is survived by his siblings Sinthi Qono, Vassie (Joan) Singh and Ben David; his daughters Jolene, Jasmine and Lisa, sons-in-law and several grandchildren. Five siblings predeceased him: Romesh David, Ronnie Peter David, Phyllis Naidoo, John (AJ) David and Matron Regina Maharaj. In his almost 80 years on Earth, Paul accomplished an enormous amount, more than most ordinary mortals would. He worked hard, played hard, gave generously, loved life abundantly and never once wavered in his commitment to the liberation of the…

Humble businessman was hands-on and a thinker NADIA KHAN RABICHAND Harriram, the owner of popular Cha Cha’s Restaurant, in uMgeni Road died in hospital last Tuesday of kidney failure. He was 73. Harriram, of Effingham Heights, also had a lodge and a bottle store on the premises. In 1975, he took over the long-standing eatery, Cha Cha’s Café. His wife, Manee-Devi, 65, said the father of two had always dreamt of opening his own business. “At the time, he was a manager for a supermarket chain. He found out that the building’s owner wanted a tenant to rent the café. “My husband retained the name but changed the word café to restaurant and he rebuilt the business as it was abandoned by the previous tenant. “My sister, Shanthi, who was…

‘HISTORIC MOMENT’ • Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Indian-born actress): This is a historical, transformational and proud moment for all women. All women of colour, all black women, and all South Asian women. Congratulations @kamalaharris on becoming the first black woman and FIRST PERSON of Indian descent to compete on a major US party’s presidential ticket. #representationmatters? PS: To my younger self – look how far we have come! • Mindy Kailing (American actress, writer, producer and comedian): Was there ever more of an exciting day? For our entire country of course, but especially for my black and Indian sisters, many of us who have gone our entire lives thinking that someone who looks like us may never hold high office? We work so hard and contribute to the fabric of our…

EDITOR’S VIEW Many lessons to be learnt from the virus THE history of South Africa can be told through the many wars that were fought on this southern-most tip of Africa. The list of men and women who fought for the country is long. And in the past few months it got longer. The numbers show that as a nation we have won the first round of the battle against Covid-19. And while the war continues, we can take confidence in the fact that we now know a lot more about this enemy than we did before. We also know how to defeat it. In March, when the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, the situation looked dire. We were dealing with an enemy we knew little about…

Indians are obsessed with skin tones LUPITA Nyong’o, an Oscar-winning actress, refers to colourism as “the daughter of racism”. Colourism is the discrimination against a person based solely on skin colour, usually displayed within the same racial group. The Black Lives Matter revolution has given rise to the colourism debate around the world. Among Indians, colourism is evident in our obsession with our skin tones. Some of the terms we find ourselves using more often than not are dark, fair and dusky, and we do not realise that we are guilty of colourism. • Growing up South African: South Africa is a rainbow nation. I grew up among many different races, religions and skin colours. Colour-ism was always around. My white friends wanted to suntan, and my black and Indian…

There is more to the Beirut chemical explosion THE Beirut chemical explosion was the third most powerful eruption in recorded history, only to be superseded by the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Only an international investigation conducted by impeccable investigators can unravel the chain of events. Ammonium nitrate is a dangerous material. It is a powerful oxidiser and it is used for producing explosives. But it’s not like gunpowder where you can just light a match and it will immediately go off like pyrotechnics. It’s a lot more stable. Lebanon has had a history of violent upheavals over the past 70 years. Every power on Earth has tried to influence its destiny. It remains at the vortex of the region’s power struggle for supremacy. The intriguing question is, how…

ENTERTAINMENT Ever wondered what happened to the stars of hit TV shows of the past?… SOAPS A legacy of legendary fights THE soap opera that was broadcast from January 1981 to May 1989 revolved around oil tycoon Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) and two women who fought for his affection. The programme was set in Denver, Colorado. The antics between Blake’s new demure wife and former secretary Krystle Jennings (Linda Evans) and his cunning former wife Alexis Carrington Colby (Joan Collins) contributed to Dynasty becoming the number one show in the US by the spring of 1985. Their physical altercations were legendary. They hurled mud at each other, fought at a fashion studio and in a lily pond. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? • Collins, 87, continues to make headlines. Earlier this…

Barca eye Koeman after firing Setien BARCELONA sacked coach Quique Setien on Monday, after the club’s historic 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Directors met at the Camp Nou to discuss the fallout from their humiliating exit from Europe last Friday. A four-hour meeting followed and the club issued a statement on Monday evening confirming that 61-year-old Setien would not continue as Barcelona coach. Media in Barcelona have reported that Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu is negotiating with Ronald Koeman, pictured, to replace Setien. The 57-year-old won the European Cup with Barcelona as a player. He is the current Netherlands coach. Bartomeu also announced elections to choose his replacement as president will take place next March. Setien was hired in January with Barcelona top of La Liga but…

Grinding their way to ascend Bayern Munich’s 8-2 thrashing of Barcelona was proof of the remarkable job Hansi Flick has done at the club in the past nine months since taking over the team. Now his fancied side face a Champions League semi-final against Olympique Lyon IT will never be known whether Bayern Munich already had something more for him in mind when they appointed Hansi Flick as assistant coach last year. Club bosses were not fully satisfied with the work of Niko Kovac, although he had led Bayern to a German league and cup double in 2019, and the appointment of Flick was to strengthen his coaching staff. Flick was named caretaker in early November, when Bayern and Kovac parted ways after a 5-1 Bundesliga debacle, at Eintracht Frankfurt.…

Indian wicketkeeping in good hands – Saha KL RAHUL has adjusted well to his role as India’s white-ball wicketkeeper, feels Wriddhiman Saha. The Indian team management has been relying on Rahul to do the job behind the stumps in limited-overs cricket of late and with MS Dhoni, pictured, calling time on his international career last Saturday, it is likely that the Karnataka cricketer will continue doing the job, with Rishabh Pant also in the fray along with Sanju Samson. “He (Rahul) is not doing a bad job. He is doing well with the bat and behind the stumps. He is adjusting well, we have seen it in New Zealand,” Saha, 35, told IANS in an exclusive interview here. “He is such a good batsman too and he has worked hard…

Messi eyes Man City, Inter Milan ESHLIN VEDAN THE transfer season is upon us. Clubs will have less time than usual to improve their sides with the Premier League due to start in less than a month. Due to Covid-19 having taken a financial toll on most clubs, there are likely to be fewer big transfers this off-season. The two big rumours at this stage surround Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Barcelona star Lionel Messi. Messi has been linked with moves away from Barcelona in the past. However, the current Blaugrana team looks to be a work in progress. Messi only has about two to three years left in his career. If there was a time when he could really leave the Camp Nou, it is now. He has been…

Indian musical legend Pandit Jasraj, 90, dies POST REPORTER PANDIT Jasraj, a doyen of Indian classical music, died yesterday in the US. He was 90. According to reports, his career spanned more than 80 years and led to numerous major awards. Ndtv.com reported that Jasraj, who belonged to the Mewati Gharana (musical lineage), was in the US when the Covid-19 lockdown was enforced in India. The family’s statement read: “With profound grief we inform that Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj ji breathed his last this morning due to a cardiac arrest at his home in New Jersey. May Lord Krishna welcome him lovingly through the doors of heaven, where Pandit ji will now sing Om Namo Bhagwate Vasudevaya exclusively just for his beloved Lord. We pray that his soul rests in…

Historical achievements are nothing new to candidate LUBNA NADVI If elected, she will become the first woman of colour to hold the position of vice president in history. THE selection of senator Kamala Harris as the vice presidential candidate for the Democratic party ticket in the coming US presidential elections on November 3 has once again firmly placed the global spotlight on women in politics and the journey they have undertaken to get to that point. While Harris’s nomination is historic for various reasons, her record in politics and public office is, however, arguably a very complex one and open to further critical scrutiny. As the daughter of a South Asian mother from India and father from Jamaica, she has a biracial background and roots which ideally gives her an…

World is changing but it seems one race isn’t liking it Tragic death of a child used to fuel conflict between groups KIREN THATHIAH FRANK AUGSTEIN AP A FEW days ago, 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant was shot and killed by his neighbour in North Carolina, US. Cannon was riding his bicycle when he was shot in front of his young sisters in front of their house. The shooter, Darius Sessoms, has been arrested and charged with murder. The event is heartbreaking and tragic to the extreme. The boy’s father cannot understand what happened and said he had invited Sessoms over for dinner the previous evening. He said he and Sessoms had a beer earlier and Sessoms was sitting alone in his car and “looked troubled”. Any person would be shocked at…

Woman… a superhuman being A WOMAN is an adult female human being. A woman is a member of a workforce. A woman is a female person associated with a particular place, activity or occupation. A woman is a female person who is paid to clean someone’s house and carry out other domestic duties. A woman is a person’s wife, girlfriend or female lover. A woman is a person’s mother, sister or friend. In the current day, a woman is a superhuman being trying to keep the world in one piece. Not so long ago, my employer communicated to us that in the future we would be able to work remotely, and this was in the planning phase. There was talk of us not having a standard desk in the office,…

SA has become a nation of rogues EVERY so often, humanity is punctuated by acts – or omissions – that sculpt the landscape of our humanism, either giving us hope or despair. The Covid-19 pandemic has taken South Africa into a deeper abyss than one could have ever imagined. Not so much for the devastating effects of the virus, but because of the conduct, or rather the misconduct of so-called “fellow South Africans”, who in the guise of being patriots sought to knowingly plunder and rape a desperate situation only because of greed. The debacle that has become the “PPE tenders”, which reeks of an undercurrent of utter and despicable corruption, should not surprise us. South Africa has truly become a nation of rogues. Sadly, our government, past and present,…

getting HOOKED THE offshore anglers have been very happy. The waters off Durban have been producing some amazing bottom fish. The lucky few have managed to land the bigger yellowtail on the reefs. These are beasts to wrestle off the bottom and have accounted for many broken KP handles and hearts. These fish are fairly greedy in terms of what they eat but a live bait will get gobbled first. The tuna have been around for the game fishermen. Poppers have been the most exciting way to hook these fish while a trap stick with a live bait under a balloon has been the most consistent. The rock and surf fishing has been on the edible front with plenty of grey sharks around for those who prefer the fight…

TV GUIDE FOR THE WEEK TODAY Soccer GladAfrica Championship: Mbombela United v Uthongathi, 12.45pm, SS4; Absa Premiership: SuperSport United v Polokwane City, 3pm, SS4; Bloemfontein Celtic v Kaizer Chiefs, 5.30pm, SS4; Uefa Champions League, Semi-final 2: Olympique Lyon v Bayern Munich, 8pm, SS3 THURSDAY Golf Ladies European Tour: British Open, Day 1, 11.30am/4pm, SS12, SS12; European Tour: Wales Open, Day 1, 2.30pm, CSN, SS1, SS5; PGA Tour: The Northern Trust, Day 1, 9pm, SS1, CSN, SS5 Soccer Absa Premiership: Stellenbosch FC v Cape Town City, 5.30pm, SS4 FRIDAY Cricket Test Series: England v Pakistan, Third Test, Day 1, 11.30am, SS2 Golf Ladies European Tour: British Open, Day 2, 11.30am, SS12; European Tour: Wales Open, Day 2, 2.30pm, CSN, SS5, SS1; PGA Tour: The Northern Trust, Day 2, 9pm, SS5,…