Sunday Independent

FOLLOWING revelations of how State Security Agency (SSA) funds were abused for political purposes, a lawyer representing some of the implicated individuals says the Zondo Commission duped him into believing his clients wouldn’t be implicated while ca

Leah Nebenzahl was a baby when her parents, Pipha and Zvi Herschman, were murdered in Nazi-occupied Poland. The Jewish infant, rescued by a priest who placed her in an orphanage run by nuns, survived World War Two as the adopted daughter of a Christi

THE ANC has stuck to its guns and came to the defence of its new MP Xiaomei Havard after she was attacked on social media during the week. ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina said yesterday Havard was a long-standing member of the party and was on the nati

It sounds like the start of a parable: Investors stuck inside during a pandemic begin to bid up an asset until its price becomes untethered to reality. The value soars until one day the market runs out of buyers and freezes, causing prices to plummet

LIGHT POLLUTION COULD INCREASE PRETERM BIRTH Light pollution, based on a direct measure of skyglow, could increase the likelihood of preterm birth, a new study suggests. The study, published in the Southern Economic Journal, examined the fetal healt

STAFF at the Ingonyama Trust has accused the board chairperson Jerome Ngwenya of misusing his powers and running the organisation as a spaza shop. The workers wrote a letter to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Did

SIBONGILE Khumalo first made her debut as a recording artist in 1996, the year she released Ancient Evenings which had iconic songs, such as, Thula Mama, U Ea Kae, and Untold Stories, that saw her crowned with the title First Lady of Song. The album

Following a backlash over transphobic comments made on “Podcast & Chill”, MacG and his team released a statement and video to clear the air. In the statement the local podcast team acknowledge comments were “homophobic, transphobic, and very distaste

GAUTENG Judge President Dunstan Mlambo has given Freedom Under Law the green light to challenge the Judicial Services Commission’s (JSC’s) decision to find retired Judge Nkola Motata guilty of misconduct instead of gross misconduct. Freedom Under Law

A TOP official at the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) facing sexual harassment allegations has been put on precautionary suspension. The regional executive manager, Bandile Maqetuka, is in charge of three regions including the Western Ca

THE coffins of Covid-19 victims do not have to be wrapped after all, the Department of Health has said in its new directives ■

INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed author, renowned journalist and columnist Brent Meersman has come forth with a new offering titled Rattling the Cage, Reflections on Democratic South Africa. In the book, Meersman aims to take the reader on an informed tour

MANYANE MANYANE manyane.manyane@inl.co.za THE DA has lambasted the government’s decision to cut the Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Ters), saying this will come as a blow to cash-strapped workers who are affected by the Level 3 lockdown.

GRADUATE JOB-HUNT There’s no doubt that 2020 was a year of great uncertainty, chaos and disruptions. The traditional sense of learning is forever altered and while many students across South Africa anticipate a delayed graduation and plan on paying

A BUSINESSMAN who alleges his 20% shares in an entity he created were sold without his consent – and signature – to increase Kagiso Media’s shareholding in a Johannesburg-based radio station says he has not seen a cent of that money. Sibusiso Peter-P

THE fear of being admitted into a public healthcare facility during the Covid-19 pandemic is very real for some communities and is posing a problem for the health system as some patients wait until they are in a critical state or gravely ill before s

FROM offensive language to outright violence and murder, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and inter-sex (LGBTQI+) community in South Africa remains the worst and badly treated members of our society. Gender-based violence known to many

CRIME "WE ARE always encouraged to report any wrongdoings. Otherwise, we may become accomplices to that crime.” These are the words of Benjamin Sidu, a 48-year-old father, who said being a patriotic and responsible citizen backfired on him, badly.

THE US Army has revised its regulations and will now allow women to wear nail polish, lipstick, earrings as well as their hair in more natural hairstyles. ■

A MAID enslaved for decades was among dozens of slavery victims rescued in co-ordinated raids across Brazil, government officials said, hailing the operation as a “milestone” in anti-trafficking efforts. ■

A businessman who left millions of rands that had accrued in investments to his children and other family members, breached his marriage vows when he overlooked his wife. This was the ruling last week by the Durban High Court. The insurance company t

SHO MADJOZI RECREATES NETFLIX’S ‘BRIDGERTON’ It looks like rapper Sho Madjozi is a big fan of Netflix’s period drama, “Bridgerton”, just like the rest of the world right now. She recreated popular scenes from the series, and her fans are in awe of h

The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) revealed that persistent corruption has undermined health care systems and contributed to democratic backsliding amid the Covid-19 pandemic. | IOL ■

WHITE liberals have always made it a point that a serious race discourse in South Africa remains in the margins. This is the reason why the history and the contemporary political analysis of South Africa are dominated by concepts such as “non-raciali

YOU will not find anything more depressing to read than the report of the Health Ombudsman, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba into the June 2020 death of Shonisani Lethole at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital (TPTH) released on Wednesday. The 34-ye

President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the vaccine rollout will be the most ambitious programme in our country’s history. So, the last thing the world needs at the moment is fake news peddlers trying to convince people they shouldn’t get the vaccine. ■

OPEN letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa: In January 2020 I wrote to you in your capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force. The issue was about corruption within the Defence Force and, in particular, within Defence Intelligence, where certa

THE world has seen how Cyclone Eloise ravaged some parts of southern Africa, particularly in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Madagascar and left thousands of people, homeless due to the floods. These harrowing events have shocked us and brought fear that th

Editor Zingisa Mkhuma 011 633 2265 ■

THREE Turkish crew members who survived a pirate attack on their ship off the Nigerian coast landed in Istanbul yesterday and recounted the hours of fear experienced during the armed assault. Fifteen of their fellow crew members were taken away and r

LONDON: Duchess Meghan is not expected to accompany Britain’s Prince Harry to the UK later this year. The couple quit as senior royals last year and moved to California with their son Archie and although Harry is expected back in the UK to attend key

MORE than 200000 people have fled fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR) since violence erupted over election result last month, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday, with nearly half of the refugees crossing into the Democratic Repub

NEW YORK: In his first days in office, US President Joe Biden issued a wave of executive orders and proclamations aimed at dismantling some of former President Donald Trump’s agenda and bolstering the nation’s COVID-19 response. ■

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin, pictured, signed a bill into law ratifying a five-year extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the US on Friday, one of the last major arms reduction treaties signed since the en

HONG KONG: Secretary of Justice Teresa Cheng of Hong Kong reiterated yesterday that Britain had no rights over the city under the joint declaration that laid the blueprint for how the city would be ruled after its 1997 reunification with China. Cheng

A CAPE Town surfing academy has been running their programmes on dry land as the beach ban prevents them from taking children into the ocean during lockdown. The Local Surf Lounge Academy is involved with training surfers from Vrygrond. Founder Shuan

VIOLA Davis has shared a touching tribute to the late Cicely Tyson and thanked her for “shifting” her life and making her realise her potential. ■

A NEW speculative fiction anthology, Upshot, explores fascinating finance stories of algorithm-controlled lives to impossible retirement choices where people are forced to retire at 80, but live to 125. The anthology was curated by internationally-ac

AMANDA MALIBA THE end of popular Mzansi Magic telenovela Isibaya, announced early this month, was met with mixed reactions from loyal viewers who have watched the show, through its highs and lows, since its inception in 2013. The show will be termi

CANBERRA: Australian health authorities said that traces of the novel coronavirus were detected in the wastewater at a suburb of the country’s capital Canberra. According to information provided by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government, t

VEHICLE dealers have called on the government to review taxes on vehicles in order to help the industry to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic-related sales slump. The National Automobile Dealers Association (Nada) said the government needed to make v

THE START of 2021 has coincided with the peak of South Africa’s second wave of Covid-19 infections. The government has called on businesses to continue following all required safety measures and protocols. Herewith is a simple checklist to ensure com

A reboot of this updated version follows four women who investigate and take down terrorist threats. When a young engineer blows the whistle on a dangerous technology, the Angels are called to action. Style expert Clinton Kelly combines his passion

ALTHOUGH crime dramas remain one of the most successful genres, medical dramas are slowly but surely tapping into that fan base. Yes, the worlds may be poles apart but there is a shared similarity born from the intriguing medical cases, conflicted sc

Unexpected visitors or friends could become the bane of your life. Although you might feel you can cope with whoever turns up, a certain blast from the past may still have the power to blindside. Not a problem. Simply charm, and then disarm. The more

CAPE Town-based remittance and money transfer business, Mukuru, has said that more customers joined its platform after informal platforms took a knock during the Covid-19 lockdown. Mukuru chief executive Andy Jury said Mukuru has now partnered with W

FROM tea, to solar panels, cars and tyres, Pakistan’s sponsors do get bang for their buck on the TV coverage of a match. We’re still not sure, who won the solar panel sponsored ‘tictac-toe’ but we know they got really sexy leather bound notebooks - D

FOR MORE than three centuries, Africa has turned many of her human capital to refugees through successive government and political regimes. Most of the continent’s best minds are today found in far- flung countries as asylum seekers fleeing dictators

CRICKET is not just an occupation for Tazmin Britz. It’s a second chance at life. The Proteas Women’s team T20 opening batsman knows all about disappointment. It was just about a decade ago that her Olympic dreams went tumbling down a dirt road en-ro

NICK Kyrgios is good for tennis and for sport in general. His outspokenness would be even better if he won more tournaments but the 25-year-old is unlikely to ever rule the rankings because of his on-court performances. It isn’t that Kyrgios isn’t gi

Athletics: IAAF World Indoor Tour: Silver Meeting - ISTAF Indoor, Düsseldorf, 1.15pm, VR3 Boxing: IBF World Super-Middleweight Title: Caleb Plant v Caleb Truax, 3am, SSM, ACT Cricket: ANZ Bank Women’s Super Smash: Wellington Blaze v Central Hinds,

ANOTHER Soweto derby, another win for Orlando Pirates. Much has been Pirates’ success story over Kaizer Chiefs that they’ve been victorious over their nemesis in the last three meetings this season, twice in the MTN8 and yesterday in their 99th DStv

IN some ways, Jake White believed it was destiny that his Bulls team would win yesterday's Currie Cup final against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld. In a dramatic finish, replacement loose forward Arno Botha scored his second try in the last minute of

AFTER they’ve reflected on why they suffered two more batting collapses in the first Test against Pakistan, South Africa also need to consider how they can present more of a threat with the ball. In doing so the Proteas will have to ensure they don’t