Cyril ‘not losing sleep’ over EFF’s Sona threat
President Cyril Ramaphosa is unfazed by the EFF’s threats to disrupt his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday. It will be Ramaphosa’s fourth Sona - and the first to be disrupted, if the EFF makes good on its threat should he not fire public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan. “I can assure you the president is not losing any sleep over the threat of a disruption. He fully believes in free political expression. It would be a lot more ideal though if such political expression would yield some sort of results. We don’t understand what disrupting Sona is going to achieve,” said Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko on Wednesday.
Zuma won’t attend Sona: parliament
Parliament made an abrupt U-turn on Wednesday, saying that former president Jacob Zuma would not attend Sona after all. Zuma’s lawyers also indicated he would not be attending, as did the JGZ Foundation. Parliament’s announcement, made on Twitter, came not long after it had tweeted that Zuma would attend the event. The initial announcement caused shock, with many questioning how Zuma would attend when, just over a week and a -half earlier, he was said to be too sick to stand trial in Pietermaritzburg. But just after 2pm parliament released a second statement saying it “erroneously” included Zuma in the list of former heads of state attending Thursday's address.
Violent protests cost SA R61m since 2013: Salga
Violent protests in SA - mostly related to service delivery - have cost R61m over five consecutive financial years, the SA Local Government Association (Salga) has revealed. Salga’s national executive council convened a media briefing in Durban on Wednesday to report back on various issues affecting municipalities. It said SA was experiencing a rise in political violence directed at local government, specifically councillors and municipal officials, noting that service-delivery protests accounted for R57m of the R61m lost.
Police search for gang who stole 8 state vehicles
Police in KZN are offering a R50,000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest of a gang of men who allegedly stole eight vehicles belonging to the provincial agriculture department. Col Thembeka Mbele said eight men allegedly held up security guards at the department’s office in Ndwedwe, north of Durban, on Monday. “They threatened the guards and held them in an office. They then gained entry into an administration office and obtained the keys for the vehicles which were locked in a safe.” The vehicles, all white, are three Nissan Hardbody bakkies, three Toyota Hiluxes, an Isuzu single cab and a Ford Ranger.
Virgin reinstates CT-London flights after 5 years
Virgin Atlantic is launching a daily London to Cape Town service. The airline’s chief commercial officer, Juha Jarvinen, said on Wednesday that the service would start on October 25 and use a 264-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The new route will complement the airline’s Airbus A350 daily flights between Heathrow and OR Tambo. Return economy fares will start at £713 (about R13,690) and bookings will open on February 18. Virgin scrapped its direct London to Cape Town flights in April 2015, saying it wanted to focus on key markets in the UK and US. It operated the route for two years.
Driver killed, 9 hurt as falling tree crushes minibus
A man was killed and nine other people were injured when a large tree fell onto a minibus in Isando, Ekurhuleni, on Wednesday. Medics found passengers trapped in the minibus, which had been crushed by the tree, just after 6am. “Three men were found lying trapped inside the front of the vehicle, while seven others were found either standing or seated near the vehicle,” ER24 said. “Medics assessed the patients and found that the entrapped driver had sustained numerous injuries and showed no signs of life. Unfortunately, nothing more could be done by paramedics.” Rescue personnel worked for about two hours, removing parts of the fallen tree until they were able to free the trapped men.
Thursday, February 13 2020
THE BIG ISSUES
LEADING THE AGENDA
Mind the gaps: the real message of Sona will be in what Cyril doesn’t say
Ramaphosa is facing more problems than solutions, and is likely to focus on what’s happened in the past year
Truth is, there are no genes for race
Why won’t this dangerous thinking go away? Well, one reason is that many in SA really do believe there are four races
Fifty-plus minutes, a house on fire and a whole lot of smoke from the City
Joburg’s fire department is still a mess and we pay the price, as I witnessed first-hand last week
SMART NEWS
IN ONE TAKE
Tracking the ‘Table Mountain killer’, step by step
A master tracker recounts how he used his rare, sharp skills to find a murder suspect
22 years and counting, and still no land for community
Community leader says after claim was gazetted, they thought they would get the land, but that didn’t happen
Cops pay the price for jailing innocent men in a hellish cell
They were visiting a flat that was raided by cops. Next thing, they were jailed with ‘severely distressing’ cellmates
Spekboom: climate saviour or just another succulent?
The indigenous plant has been hailed as the planet’s saviour. But is it? Let’s separate fact from fiction
Spare the scolding, praise them instead, teachers told
As SA teachers increasingly come under attack by pupils, praise may be a powerful tool in their arsenal
SNAPSHOT
Image: Esa Alexander
Six things about SA you need to know
Cyril ‘not losing sleep’ over EFF’s Sona threat
Zuma won’t attend Sona: parliament
Violent protests cost SA R61m since 2013: Salga
Police search for gang who stole 8 state vehicles
Virgin reinstates CT-London flights after 5 years
Driver killed, 9 hurt as falling tree crushes minibus
THE VISUAL SIDE
Cape Town schoolgirl Karabo Tau was released on R2,000 bail on Wednesday. The Claremont High matric pupil was arrested for allegedly kidnapping a two-month-old baby from Khayelitsha on January 16. After being in custody for more than two weeks, she was allowed to go home.
CROSSWORDS
GIVE YOUR BRAIN SOME EXERCISE
Today’s cryptic crossword
It's time to put your brain to work
Today’s quick crossword
How fast can you get it done?
WORLD
THE NEWS YOU DON'T NORMALLY GET TO HEAR
Ship gets turned away over virus fears as ...
Passengers stranded on the cruise ship lose patience as country after country won’t let them disembark
The fires may turn out to be just what Australia ...
The disaster has focused minds on reducing emissions, but do they have the will to cut their carbon-belching ways?
SNAPSHOT
6 things you need to know about the world
You say yuck, Indonesians say yum
‘Parasite’ investors are anything but suckers
So they do this stuff in Europe too?
Sorry kids, no ice cream adverts for you
Church of England is sorry for being so racist
Big thirst in Taiwan and India for Scotch
Image: Reuters/Manaure Quintero
THE BUSINESS
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Phew, there sure have been some stinkers on the JSE
Pity the poor folks who bought into the overblown promises of investment company Ecsponent
A last wave of the hankie as AngloGold says ta-ta to SA
Purchase of its assets will make Harmony SA’s largest gold producer at more than 1.8 million ounces a year
The only things doing well in SA shops are ... tumbleweeds
SA retail as a whole is looking bleak – and some analysts say their investment funds barely touch it
LIFESTYLE
CULTURE COMES ALIVE
Design Indaba: The sharp end of the cutting edge
Here’s what you should be looking out for
The versatile leather handbag that changes young ...
Locally made leather goods feature unique designs by needy youngsters in Joburg’s Lalela arts programme
SPORT
FINISH LINE ESSENTIALS
SPORTS DAY: Vietnam Grand Prix now also in doubt
Your roundup of the sporting news of the day
Blasts from the past: Rebel tourists bombed back ...
Today in SA sports history: February 13