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NEW MOVIE UNRAVELS ASKARIS’ MERCILESS KILLINGS

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A man crosses a river at an informal settlement during flooding in Durban. (AP Photo/Str)

FLOODING, AN UNPREDICTABLE BEAST TO PIN DOWN! By Staff Reporters

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iven the huge costs to people and property when it floods, a question arises, can flooding be prevented or can we even know precisely when and where it will hit? European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme Hydrology Professor Hannah Cloke says despite the work of some of the brightest scientists, the world’s most advanced supercomputers and the commitment of hardworking people on the ground, floods are difficult to predict and prepare for. “They always have; and we know that as the global climate warms due to human activity, we are likely to see more of some types of floods. It’s hard to convince people who don’t know they are at risk that they should prepare for the worst. “This is where government must step in. To better prepare for floods, we need difficult, expensive, but

rational decision-making on flood defences,” she said. However, writing for theconversation.com, academics Garikai Martin Membele, Maheshvari Naidu and Onisimo Mutanga say local indigenous knowledge systems could be useful in prediction and better managing flood disasters. “A geographical information system creates, analyses and maps all types of data. This includes data on floods and areas vulnerable to flooding. It can be drawn on when engaging stakeholders and educating the public about how human and environmental systems interact. But a geographical information system on its own is not able to explain the human factors that cause flood vulnerability. Hence the need for local or indigenous knowledge,” the scholars say. They argue indigenous knowledge is strongly linked to local culture and past experiences, and therefore it can be a source of resilience to flooding

and other natural disasters. “South Africa’s laws and regulations make provision for using indigenous knowledge in reducing flood disaster. "But the use of this approach is still relatively low. In many cases it is non-existent, especially in urban areas,” they say. They attribute the severity of the flood disasters to marginalisation of the majority black poor communities, saying flooding is made more problematic by informal settlements because of the lack of planning by government. “Historically, the apartheid regime legally compelled people classified as black Africans to live in marginalised settlements and restricted their movements. Because housing wasn’t planned or provided, informal settlements emerged. “As in other sub-Saharan cities, the poorer communities in Durban mainly live in informal settlements. This is because local planning author-

ities are unable to keep up with the increasing demand for accommodation as people move to the city. “According to city reports, between 2016 and 2019, the local authority managed to build only an average of 4,000 houses a year. This means the city has a backlog of more than 440,000 houses. It could take decades to clear,” they said. The scholars say mapping or spatially visualising the patterns with the use of geographic information systems and levels of flood vulnerability can identify the people who need the most help. This can assist local government and other stakeholders to formulate policies and strategies that reduce the impact of floods on people. “Unfortunately, the reality is that flooding will increase in many parts of the world due to climate change. There is thus a need for stakeholders at various levels to come up with ways of reducing people’s vulnerability.

Increasing people’s coping and adaptive capacity is one of the key ways of promoting resilience,” the academics said. They say there is a need for a bottom-up approaches in dealing with potential flood disaster management in informal settlement areas. Knowledge based on familiarity with the place offers a number of advantages: ● it provides a culturally appropriate response ● is socially inclusive ● is cost-effective ● is a participatory way of reducing flood vulnerability, especially in informal settlements ● promotes community members’ participation in finding solutions that work where they live ● provides city planners with information on the spatial pattern as well as locally specific factors that cause flooding and damage in particular geographical areas.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

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GOVT MUST NOT SHIRK ITS RESPONSIBILITY IN THE KZN FLOOD DISASTER By Staff Reporters

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waZulu-Natal’s heavy downpours that left a trail of destruction and loss of life came as a surprise even to the country’s meteorological community. Commenting on the extreme rainfall and widespread flooding, the South African Weather Service (Saws) said the overnight rainfall reports from KZN have underscored the particularly heavy and extreme nature of the rainfall, with some 24-hour falls exceeding 200mm. Saws said this kind of rainfall “is of the order of values normally associated with tropical cyclones”. They stressed that this system “is not tropical in nature, nor is it a tropical cyclone”. The death toll from South Africa’s “unprecedented” floods climbed to over 400 as helicopters fanned out across the south-eastern city of Durban in an increasingly desperate search for survivors. With roads and bridges washed away, rescuers battled to deliver supplies across the city where some residents have been without power or water for days. “The level of devastation of human life, infrastructure and service delivery network in the province is unprecedented,” said Sihle Zikalala, premier of KwaZulu-Natal. “A total number of 40,723 people have been affected. Sadly, hundreds of fatalities have been recorded,” he told reporters. Meanwhile, the South African army said it had deployed 10,000 troops to help the nation's east coast recover from storms that have claimed 443 lives and ravaged infrastructure.

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Some of the troops include plumbers and electricians to help restore power and water, which have been cut off in some areas for a week. The troops are also providing field accommodation and water purification systems, the army said. The deadliest storm on record dumped apocalyptic levels of rain on the city of Durban and the surrounding areas. Some 40,000 people were left homeless and more than 550 schools and nearly 60 healthcare facilities have been damaged, according to government tallies. The government has announced an immediate R1 billion in emergency relief. Funerals are held across Durban even as grim tales of the catastrophe continue to emerge. One woman was found dead with her three grandchildren after their car was washed away, while rescuers reported finding bodies washed into dams, local media reported. President Cyril Ramaphosa visited flood-ravaged areas of KZN where he was briefed by Zikalala on the extent of damage and the disaster. Ramaphosa visited Clermont, Lindelani, eNtuzuma, eMawoti and uMzinyathi to assess the damage as well as interact with affected families and communities and convey his condolences. The devastation of the past week has not been seen in the modern history of South Africa. Images of houses, cars, infrastructure and people swept away left the nation in shock. Once the water subsides, the damage will be in the billions of rand, and the long-term toll on livelihoods, the economy and development even more. It will place a disproportionate strain on all our systems, especially in an economy struggling to come to terms with the Covid-19 pandemic. In this immediate aftermath, we want to know who is to blame. Climate change is widely cited for influencing weather patterns and exacerbating the frequency and intensity of hydro- and meteorological hazards. There is enough scientific evidence that supports this argument. Looking at the SADC region over the past 10 years gives us a clear indication of how severe weather phenomena have become. However, it could be ignorant to solely blame climate change. Government should take some of the blame, North-West University geography professor Dewald van Niekerk said. “Blaming nature is a convenient way of absconding any responsibility. Such a belief shows a narrow understanding of how disasters and disaster risks are created and leaves us powerless in the face of increasing natural phenomena. “Flooding and the subsequent loss of lives and property in KZN is also not something new. It has become an annual occurrence. Yet, we need to ask the question why this is so?” Van Niekerk said decades of research into disasters and risks by the academic fraternity clearly shows that in most, if not all, cases it is these underlying risk drivers which are to blame. And all these drivers are within the control of human beings. “It is primarily the poorest of the poor who are disproportionately affected. The South African government and the KZN province has failed in its obligation to ensure a healthy and secure environment for all our people, as promised in the Constitution. “The government has failed in implementing and monitoring its own development and disaster management laws and policies. “Unemployment, poverty, inequality, corruption, uncontrollable urbanisation, poor urban planning and haphazard development, inadequate robust public infrastructure, little to no maintenance of infrastructure, questionable housing construction and enforcing of building codes, absence of disaster risk reduction,

President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking to grieving families. Photo by Kopano Tlape/ GCIS/AP

Children walk on a damaged road at an informal settlement in Durban. Photo by AP/Str

The cost of the damage caused by floods is yet to be finalised. Photo by KZN-GOV settling on marginal land including slopes (because people have no other choice), destroying wetland and estuaries, removing vegetation in landslide prone areas, poor disaster preparedness, are some of these underlying drivers and risk creators,” said van Niekerk. He said until there is a realisation and acknowledgement that we are the creators of disaster risk and that disasters are the making of human

beings; we will continue to see disasters of this magnitude (and even worse) for years to come. Meanwhile, the government has declared a state of disaster in the area in the east of the country which was hit by severe flooding. President Ramaphosa claims the disaster "is part of climate change", but some locals have blamed poor infrastructure for the scale of the flooding.

This view is shared by some residents who have blamed the state of local infrastructure for the disaster, citing a lack of progress in improving drainage systems, as well as strengthening roads and poorly-built housing. Durban mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, has rejected suggestions the city's drainage infrastructure is to blame, but he confirmed that some houses were built on steep hills without solid foundations.

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CITY PRESS, 5 SEPTEMBER, 2021

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news: VBS LIQUIDATORS GUN FOR VENDA KING The liquidators of VBS Mutual Bank applied for a writ of execution at the Johannesburg High Court last month to recoup more than R10 million allegedly owned by a family trust whose sole trustees are Venda King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana and Portia Mphephu.

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PASTOR LUKAU’S R50M RENTAL

SCANDAL MDUDUZI NONYANE

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mduduzi.nonyane@citypress.co.za

PAY UP Alleluia Ministries International in Kramerville, Sandton. The church defended pastor Alph Lukau (inset) after he performed the so-called miracle resurrection of Elliot Moyo in 2019 PHOTO: LUBA LESOLLE / GALLO IMAGES

Companies linked to the controversial megachurch preacher evade debt collection as he and his business associates are said to be in Portugal

“The guard, who refused to provide me with his name, did not allow me access but told me to wait. He disappeared into the guard hut on the property and spoke to this supervisor, who came out to speak to me. “After explaining the purpose of my visit and the documentation that I had with me, the supervisor also refused to provide me access. “Similarly, he refused to provide me with his name. I could see that he had been speaking to someone over evicted from the premises early securities and/or members’ and his cellular phone from time to time ... After seeing the last year because it could no directors’ registers follows multiple letters attached to the gate, the supervisor said that I longer meet the R1 million monthly requests for access, and is such a should come [back] the next day,” they say. rental fee. clear interference with an Lukau shot to fame over the past two years by The company instituted, among unconditional statutory right. The performing so-called miracles during his church services, other things, arbitration applicant requests that a punitive including when he publicly “resurrected” a man. proceedings in which it claimed: cost award be made against each of Lukau claimed that the man, Elliot Moyo, had died . Arrear rentals and charges up the respondents.” and the latter’s body was brought to the pastor by his ACCORDING TO ARBITRATION to the date it cancelled the The applicants say this refusal has family a few days later. DOCUMENTS, TARSUS SHARED sublease; put a strain on the arbitration The incident angered some within the religious SERVICES HAS BEEN TRYING . Damages for the period the process, further delaying the community, who called for Lukau to be investigated by TO RECOVER THE DEBT defendant was in occupation after recovery of debts. the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the SINCE MARCH 2018, LEADING the cancellation; They further highlighted that their Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities TO THE PERIOD . Future loss of rentals and legal representative visited Lukau’s after tion a videothat of his visited purportedthe resurrection of Moyofarm went fighters was released in Ster-Kinekor notorious WHEN THE CHURCH WAS charges calculated from the date known place of business in June, viral. Theatres (SKT) cinemas on Friday, at Vlakplaas. I saw a lonely and quite EVICTED FROM THE PREMISES the defendant ceased to occupy but the representative was denied It also emerged in 2019 that Lukau’s church members farmhouse on an empty of land, EARLY LAST YEAR, the premises as a church until the entry. 22 April. The release of this stage-to-regarded him as being similar to Jesus, tract proclaiming that AFTER WHICH IT COULD NO screen film, directed by award-winsad outbuildings and the vengeful expiry date of the sublease; and “The premises has access control he was crucified for helping to heal others. LONGER MEET THE R1 MILLION ning Director and the . Restoration of the premises. and requires a security guard toSello Maseko, who Theinterrogation applicant’s lawyer, rooms Andrew Scarrott of ABtearful Scarrott MONTHLY RENTAL FEE The proceedings also reveal that allow access. I spoke to security declined to comment. co-wrote it the with Mdu Nhlapo, is hotAttorneys, graves of those who met their end church leaders, including Lukau, guard onon dutythe and asked received your enquiry, I have no heelsthatofI be two Naledi Theatre “I have in the hands of the[but] state-sponsored have blatantly refused to grant the applicants access to allowed into the property in Awards order to deliver the request make any comment nominations (Best Script &instructions deathtosquad," he saidat this time,” he said. information pertaining to company directors. to the respondents to inspect the securities and/or Efforts to source comment from Lukau and the Choreography) from its stage debutcompanies “Four decades ago, the farm housed “As the refusal to allow access to the respondents’ member registers of the respondents. were unsuccessful.

NEW MOVIE UNRAVELS R1M KILLINGS ASKARIS’ MERCILESS

echnology distribution and warehousing giant Tarsus Shared Services is battling to recover a R50 million deficit allegedly owed by controversial pastor Alph Lukau and several of his business associates. The matter relates to a cancelled lease agreement pertaining to the premises of Alleluia Ministries International in Sandton, Johannesburg. The company lodged a court application this week at the Johannesburg High Court, flagging three companies linked to Lukau for failing to declare their company security registers in their arbitration process as prescribed by the Companies Act, citing that the information sought would enable it to track the intricate web of companies that operate the church in South Africa and throughout Africa. The court papers also indicate that attempts to serve Lukau and a close business partner, identified as John Ferguson, with a summons have failed, as they have allegedly taken up residence in Portugal and refuse to accept service through legal counsel. They emphasise that“Askari” “the appellant requirespart the he term became information in the registers in order to unravel the of the South African political relationship between Lukau and Ferguson, and the lexicon toHoldings, describe respondents [King Vision Alphfreedom Lukau Group fighters, mostly ANC and Al Resident Holdings] to recover theand debtsPAC due by members who, through severe torture Lukau and Ferguson”. to its defection, arbitration documents, Tarsus Shared orAccording voluntary switched over Services has been trying to recover the debt since and became the regime’s murderousMarch 2018, relating to the period when the church was

By Staff Reporters

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assassins, who fought against their former comrades. This was part of the National Party’s counterinsurgency campaign.

at the South African State Theatre, a group of people called ASKARI. Four where it was filmed last year. decades ago, the farm administered ASKARI tells the story of men and pain, fear, misery, uncertainty and women who infiltrated organised death. The film honours those heroes civic movements and student organ- and heroines whose lives perished in Vlakplaas isations for recruiting unsuspecting Vlakplaas’s torture chambers. Vlakplaas is a farm 20km west youth and influential leaders. The “As a historian and storyteller, I of Pretoria that served as the headstory interrogates the decisions that saw it fit to make my contribution attach Segapo’s assets after the designer allegedly JULIA MADIBOGO BUSINESS quarters of counterinsurgency unit led to their choice of turning from in the Truth and Reconciliation proIS SLOW moved out of his place of business. julia.madibogo@citypress.co.za C1 (later called C10) of the Security Fashion Segapo, who has styled celebrities including to Idols SA insurgencies counter-insurgencies, ject. The story of these foot soldiers Branch of Kabelo the apartheid-era Businessperson Ncholo has accusedSouth celebrity producer and host ProVerb, from award-winning musician activistsdesigner community to mass of apartheid, whose job description Paledi fashion designer Paledi Segapo of reneging on a Prince Kaybee, veteran actorkillers. Warren Masemola and US African Police. Though officially was to kill, needed to be told and I IN THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT, WHICH Segapo says repayment arrangement pair entered into also out of singer Tevin Campbell, was hired by Ncholo in 2018 to called Section C1,the the unit itself The movie delves deep into the had to be the one telling it. To deal CITY PRESS HAS SEEN AND WHICH IS DATED his business court after the latter allegedly failed to deliver the design attire for his wedding, which was scheduled to became known as Vlakplaas. Estabpersonal accounts of these individuwith souls that are roaming around NOVEMBER 2020, THE SEASONED DESIGNER has been wedding-related items that Ncholo had ordered and take place in 2019 at Sun City, North West. lished in 1979, by 1990 it had grown AGREED TO PAY BACK ABOUT R300 000 TO als who administered pain, fear and searching for peaceful rest is not an affected by paid for. The wedding did not take place that year and Ncholo NCHOLO BY THE END OF NOVEMBER from a small unit of five policemen death. easy task. This action-packed story is Covid-19 Ncholo dragged Segapo to the Johannesburg High got married in November last year after obtaining the and 15 to askaris a unitheofmade nine OUPA Court about in an effort recoup to payments to the services of other designers. These stories, of betrayal PHOTO: and death, part of the Truth and Reconciliation seasoned designer agreed to pay back about R300 000 Palse fashion label owner while preparing for his According to Ncholo, the popular designer was squads. redemption andalso forgiveness, BOPAPE/ are told programme to help communities IMAGES to Ncholo by the end of November. wedding. set to arrange a team that was meant to include a The unit functioned as a parathrough moving dance, GALLO music and heal and move on. “The defendant shall pay the plaintiff an amount of Segapo was scheduled to appear at the Randburg wedding planner, a photographer, a hair and make-up military hit squad, which captured powerful storytelling. ASKARI’s screening forms part R297 000 in a full and final settlement of the dispute, Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday on a separate criminal artist, and a booking for a segment in the lifestyle political opponents of the apartheid The production features actors: of a game-changing collaboration [an offer] which the plaintiff accepts on the terms and charge of fraud for the same transaction. television programme Top Billing. government and either “turning” Soyiso Ndaba, Abongile Matyutyu, between the SAST and SKT to exhibit conditions contained herein,” reads the settlement. That matter was not placed on the roll, however, due To secure his services, Segapo reportedly requested a (converting) executing them. Tiaan Slabbert, Monica Muller, Xolani theatre content in cinema which The conditions were that Segapo had to make the to the out-of-courtor settlement agreement that the pair R150 000 deposit of the R300 000 he had charged the Vlakplaas Farm was the site of first payment of R118 500 by the end of March, and the reached. businessperson for his suit, his bride’s gown and attire Nhlapo, Kagiso Matlala, Eutychia started in July last year. other payments were to be made in R20 000 monthly National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi for the entire bridal party. Rakaki, Tshepiso Madikoane, Gorata multiple executions of political oppoThe film will show from 22 April instalments until the end of November. due to Covid-19 – not so that he could avoid making Mjonondwane confirmed that thegovernment. matter was “not However, Segapo allegedly only created outfits for the nents of the apartheid siphoning off government funds to agents, informers, and intelligence Mathebula, Thembi Ngwenya and to 15 May in SKT cinemas includSegapo was also asked to pay Ncholo’s R30 000 legal payment to Ncholo. placedunit on thecarried roll, pending with the bride and the bridesmaids. The outconsultation the murders of pay agents or for their personal use. analysts for the infamous Vlakplaas ing Newtown, Rosebank Nouveau Muzi Masikane. It is produced by costs on or before December 31 this year. “Why would I discontinue my businesses while I complainant”. The settlement letter states that failure by the Griffiths Mxenge in 1981 and the during days of apartheid. It premiered (Joburg), Musgrave (Durban), Sterthe SAST in association with MantiHowever, says Ncholo, Segapo has only paid R85 000 have to [conduct] business? I am not the first person to Ncholo first opened a civil case against Segapo in seasoned designer to pay what is due to Ncholo per “Chesterville Four” in 1986, among ASKARI, the movie at the South African State Theatre makhulu PTY LTD. land, Brooklyn Nouveau (Pretoria), thus far and is expected to pay R45 000 by the end of close their store at the moment because we are going April 2019 and then opened a criminal case of fraud the settlement agreement will trigger pursuit of a many this month or Ncholo will to obtain as a judgment a difficult(Gqeberha), time. in Augustothers. of the same year to push the latter to pay ASKARI, is heart-wrenching talemove(SAST) a musicalcivil in case. 2021. Commenting on the creation ofthrough Baywest Boardwalk (Port him. who were they are doing is making me look like (Cape I am a himC1 back.officers were also notorious Yesterday, Segapothe said he ASKARI, couldn’t comment as therecalls: “In 2019, I “What about freedom against fighters Based on true events, ASKARI, Maseko Elizabeth) and Tygervallei But the businessperson says he is scared that, even if on the run when the truth is that I could not In the settlement agreement, whichthe City Press has turned to be deadly matter was sub judice. for routinely defrauding state, assassins, double new political thriller about freedom was invited to be part of the delega-thug Town).

TOP FASHION GURU MUST PAY BACK THE MONEY

R300 000

seen and which is dated November 2020, the

he obtains a judgment, there might be no way to

However, he said his store in Newtown was closed

afford to pay rent,” he said.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

NEWS

EASTER RAINS EXPOSE JOBURG’S RAPID SINKING INTO DECAY By David Webster

C Florence and Humphrey Mcunu have lived in Kliptown for more than 50 years and say they have experienced more floods than they care to remember. Photograph by Dennis Webster

ontinuous rain bucketed down during Johannesburg over the Easter weekend, a week after devastating floods began in KwaZulu-Natal. The wet weather brought fresh turmoil to many of the residents living in impoverished neighbourhoods to the south of the city. People in Kliptown, built in the oldest part of Soweto along the banks of a tributary of the Klip River, hurried to stack television sets, radios, clothes and documents on top of their beds. “You see what is happening in Natal?” asked Florence Mcunu, 60, referring to the floods that have by now claimed more than 440 lives and destroyed at least 4 000 homes in that province. “We saw it and became very scared. We live by the river. That is going to happen to us too.” Having lived in the low-lying areas of Kliptown – what residents refer to as Sdiki (lower part) – for over 50 years, Mcunu and her husband, Humphrey, 75, are veterans of more floods than they care to recall. They are near enough to the river that, during heavy rains, the water comes from all directions. It runs downhill, rises from the river banks and seeps up through the earth. On more than one occasion, they have been rescued from their home by boat. Winters on the highveld are ordinarily bone dry. But early forecasts suggest the script might be flipped this year with a wetter than usual winter on the cards. The La Niña weather pattern has already delivered a rain-soaked first third of 2022. Now a cut-off low pressure system – the same one that has since been named Subtropical Depression Issa and caused the KwaZulu-Natal flooding now thought to be the world’s deadliest natural disaster on record for the year so far – is adding to the wet conditions. Relentless cycle But if the floods in KwaZulu-Natal, which were precipitated by six months’ worth of rain falling in two

days, were brutally sudden, Johannesburg’s Easter rains slowly and steadily revealed vulnerabilities to natural disasters that have become all too familiar for many. In the wake of the KwaZulu-Natal floods, the Durban-based shack dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo condemned the long-standing living conditions in shack settlements as “dangerous as well as undignified”. One of the Kliptonians gathering his belongings in the face of Johannesburg’s rains was the Mcunus’ neighbour, Tebogo Nkadu, 39. For the recycler, one of three living in a building now almost entirely destroyed by regular flooding, it is nothing new. At least twice a year, said Nkadu, the flooding in the Sdiki area is bad enough that he loses most of his belongings and is forced to “start everything again”. On another Klip River tributary a little to the south of Kliptown, parts of Slovo Park, a shack settlement of more than 10 000 people, were made impassable by the rain. For Michael Veldman, 63, a blind man who has lived in Slovo Park for nearly two decades, the rains present unique challenges. Veldman has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Johannesburg’s geography. He is able to recall in unerring detail endless street corners, bus stops, or the first names of shop assistants. But when it rains, he is unable to make it two streets away from his home. With Slovo Park’s unpaved streets and sidewalks turned to marshes and rivers, the settlement’s geography changes subtly during the rain. And after each downpour, Veldman must learn it anew. The slow violence of Johannesburg’s Easter rains was nothing new to the people living in impoverished neighbourhoods. But early signs are that, in 2022, they will have to contend with it more regularly than ever before. – newframe.com ● This article was first published by New Frame.

Tebogo Nkadu stands outside his home, which has been almost entirely destroyed by constant flooding in Kliptown. Photograph by Dennis Webster

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

By Jonathan Paye-Layleh

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he 19-year-old, dressed in a school uniform of sky-blue shirt and navy shorts, looks incongruous in a class full of pupils at least six years younger than him. But the one-time primary school dropout is happy. Last year, he was struggling to earn a living as a motorbike taxi driver when he found $50,000 (R727,000.00) in a mix of US and Liberian notes, wrapped in a plastic bag by the side of the road. He could have easily pocketed this life-changing amount. But he gave it to his aunt to look after and when the rightful owner appealed on national radio for help in finding the cash, Emmanuel came forward. Mocked by some for his honesty - people laughed at him saying he would die poor - his act earned him generous rewards including a place at Ricks Institute, one of Liberia’s most prestigious schools. President George Weah handed him $10,000 (R145,000.00) and a local media owner also gave him cash, some of which was raised from viewers and listeners. And the owner of the money that was found donated $1,500 (R7,275)worth of goods. On top of those and perhaps most significantly, a college in the US reacted by offering him a full scholarship once he had completed his secondary education. Enjoying the academic discipline And that is what he is focused on at Ricks, a boarding school set up 135 years ago for the elite of Liberian society descended from the freed slaves who founded the country. Its two-storey buildings sit on a beautiful, lush campus 6 kilometres from the Atlantic coast. “I am enjoying the school, not because Ricks has a big name but because of the academic and moral disciplines,” Emmanuel said, chuckling and playing with the collar of his shirt as he spoke. Like many Liberian children from a poor rural background are forced to do, he dropped out of school at the age of nine in order to earn some money to help his family out. This was shortly after his father had died in a drowning accident and he went to live with his aunt. He became a motorbike taxi driver just a couple of years later. After such a long time out of education, he needs a lot of extra support at school. When Emmanuel first joined the sixth-grade class “he was feeling a bit inferior; he could not voice himself in the classroom, but day-by-day we worked on him”, his main class teacher Tamba Bangbeor explained to the BBC. “Academically, he came with a low foundation, so we tried to put him in the enrichment programme. That has been helping him.” He now has six years of secondary school ahead of him and will be 25 when he graduates. But he does not mind the age gap with his classmates and describes them as “friendly”. Emmanuel also enjoys boarding, saying that “dormitory life is good because this is a way of learning to live on your own someday”. Looking at the future, he wants to study accounting at university “to prepare myself to help guide the use of the country's money”. His prudence and honesty were seen as examples to follow in a country where allegations of corruption are rife and where officials are often accused of stealing state resources. Good to be honest Reflecting on the way that some people made fun of him for returning the money, he acknowledges that he could have used the funds to improve his material situation “but it was never going to get me the opportunity I now have”. Emmanuel thanked God for giving him the rewards and he was also “grateful to my parents for teaching me to be honest”. “And my message to all young people is: It's good to be honest; don't take what does not belong to you.” The teachers at Ricks appreciate Emmanuel being there. “Not only have we recently benefitted from his honesty as a school, he's the second-choice goalkeeper for

Seen above, President George Weah gave Emmanuel Tuloe $10,000 (R145,000.00). Photo by emansion.gov.lr

HOW RETURNING $50,000 CHANGED EMMANUEL TULOE'S LIFE Nineteen-year-old Emmanuel Tuloe of Liberia, dropped out of school at the age of 9 in order to earn money to help his family

The story of what happened to Emmanuel Tuloe has the quality of a modern fable. Photos by emansion.gov.lr the school's football team,” Bangbeor said of the die-hard Chelsea fan, who plays in the team alongside students closer to his age. Emmanuel's classmates also welcome him being there Bethlene Kelley, 11, called him “a

great friend that we like sharing with and caring for because he’s quiet and doesn’t talk too much. He is loyal, respectful and truthful”. Caleb Cooper, 12, appreciates Emmanuel for his conduct in class and in the dormitory. “He doesn't steal from friends,”

Caleb said laughing. “If Emmanuel finds something that does not belong to him, he reports it to the teacher. If the teacher is not around, he puts it on their desk,” he said. And from the life Emmanuel left behind, motorcycle taxi drivers do

not appear to begrudge his new prospects. One of them, Lawrence Fleming, 30, told the BBC he dropped out of school in the ninth grade as a teen and he had closely followed Emmanuel's story. “It’s a good thing that Emmanuel has gone back to school, we thank God for him,” he said. Standing by his Chinese-made Boxer motorcycle at the busy crossroads town of Brewerville, west of Monrovia, he passed on a word of advice. “Let him remain in school for his future and the future of his children… he now has an opportunity that some of us don't have.” – bbc.com

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

PHINDI SETS THE STAGE FOR YOUNG FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS TO THRIVE By Ndivhuwo Mukwevho

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easoned radio presenter, Phindi Gule, has in addition to her successful radio career, found a new purpose in life. And that is in the world of business. She is not only making inroads therein; she is also taking along young female business entrepreneurs into her eco-system as a mentor and business coach. Phindi started off at a commercial radio station, YFM, when it was still in its infancy in the late 1990s in their Bertrams studios, east of Joburg. The studio was a hive of activity which includes big dreams by young South Africans. Thandanani Dhlamini was news editor, Savita Mbuli deputy editor, Oskido transforming himself from a club DJ into a radio DJ, Fresh was still trying to find his way around, and so was DJ Ganyani and the list goes on and on. Phindi was part of a crop of would-be radio presenters, including Claire Mawisa, who dreamed big. They were groomed by the station and went on to make it on national radio. Having female business coaches, especially during these trying times, is important for young entrepreneurs. After all, the socio-economic repercussions of the pandemic hit young people the hardest. Young South Africans are facing multiple shocks, including disruptions to education, training and on-the-job learning, employment and income losses due to lay-offs and reduced working hours and difficulties finding jobs. It is in this context that the work Phindi, through Phindi Gule Marketing & Communications, chose to be part of the solution. She has designed YoungStar Entrepreneur Programme/Search – a women empowerment initiative aimed at arming women with business skills and to afford them access to mentors/coaches aligned to their respective field of work/businesses. The programme is open to South African women aged between 20 and 50, and all sectors of business. “YoungStar Entrepreneur’s approach to entrepreneurship is holistic. Physical and mental health are incorporated into the programme as they play an integral part in human development,” said Phindi.

Business women shared ideas on business growth at the Young Star Entrepreneur seminar. “The country needs to start investing in its women entrepreneurs because they have a critical role to play in its socio-economic recovery. YoungStar Entrepreneurs is set to contribute to producing exceptional women entrepreneurs who will play a critical role in jump-starting the economy, creating jobs and financial stability back on track after a tumultuous two years. At YoungStar Entrepreneur, we pride ourselves as enablers – we are here to support and ensure that women entrepreneurs succeed. “The programme does not only offer tools and development for aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners but gives them the incentive to succeed. The five-month programme is aimed at strengthening support for women entrepreneurs. At the end of the programme, YoungStar Entrepre-

neur will present the one woman who has shown significant growth (personally and in their business) throughout the programme with Prizes valued at over R500,000,” she said. The Grand Prize includes a brand-new car, R100,000 cash prize and more. YoungStar Entrepreneur is not only assisting with the development of entrepreneurs in the country but is also investing in their future to enable them to create jobs and build their communities, according to a statement from her company. – citylifearts.co.za ● Entries for the programme are still open and will close on 30 April. Visit the www.youngstarentrepreneur.co.za to register and for more information.

Phindi Gule's initiative is aimed at arming women with business skills to afford them access to mentors and coaches aligned to their respective field of work or business.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

NEWS

NCDS: ‘WORLD HAS LOST FOCUS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC’ The impact of losing sight of the fight against diseases like tuberculosis and cancers will be felt for years to come By Ndivhuwo Mukwevho

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global health advisor believes that the focus on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has lost ground as the world continues to grapple with COVID-19 two years on. Dr Chris van Straten, regional medical director of Clinical Governance for Africa at International SOS, said the world was on the right track before the pandemic kicked in. But since the novel coronavirus was detected in 2019, urgent attention is needed to refocus on NCDs and other infectious diseases. “We know about conditions like hypertension and diabetes before the pandemic. And we know that they are very much lifestyle related. For example, if you don’t exercise and sit in front of your TV or computer all day, you’re more likely to develop weight issues or diabetes. “Before the pandemic, there was a lot of attention placed on these conditions in some countries. It was all over the media, doctors checking and screening people for NCDs and we were making progress and winning. But then Covid-19 came along,” said Van Straten. Gloomy forecast The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that death from NCDs is likely to increase globally by 17% over the next 10 years. It is also likely that we will see a 27% increase, which includes 28 million additional deaths, by 2030. This number is way higher than the projected deaths due to communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional diseases combined. Van Straten said that all the focus and attention was shifted to COVID19 preventative measures such as the wearing of masks and lockdowns. It made sense that the virus was prioritised, but because of this, a lot of people couldn’t access regular screenings, go to clinics for follow-ups or even to the dentist. “We lost a lot of focus and momentum that we had with NCDs before COVID-19. But, it’s not a train smash, we just need to refocus and keep an eye on COVID-19. We also need to

The COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption to health services has seen an increase in tuberculosis cases. Photo by www.afro.who.int

gain ground with NCDs – like with screening, exercise and good nutrition,” said van Straten. TB concerns Van Straten added that the fight against TB has been overshadowed by COVID-19. He warned of a rise in infections and deaths since fewer people were screened and tested for the disease. “We work across many African countries and from what I am seeing, it worries me a lot. Before the pandemic, we were detecting and treating thousands of people successfully, including South Africans. The level of transmission dropped and less people were dying from TB,” he said.

Van Straten described the situation as concerning, having survived tuberculosis himself 10 years ago. “People couldn’t get tested and only got diagnosed when they started coughing blood and losing weight. If we don’t pick it up early enough, people can die or have permanent damage,” he explained. Malaria on the rise Malaria is another concern since cases have skyrocketed in several African countries. “Cases of malaria are spiking in the northern parts of the country towards the Zimbabwe and Botswana borders. It’s still a problem, especially during the rainy season. In Angola,

Mozambique, and the DRC, I’ve seen more cases and deaths in the last six months, than I’ve seen in a long time,” said Van Straten. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), confirmed that 90% of global deaths occur in Africa. This amounts to 440 000 annual deaths. And in the last few years, between 2015 and 2019, South Africa has had up to 30 000 notified cases per year. Van Straten said that the similarity of symptoms between Covid-19 and malaria has led to many people being tested and treated for the virus. “That is correct, but if you’re in Africa, you can get the same symp-

toms and if malaria isn’t detected, it can kill you quickly,” he stated. Cancer has remained the leading cause of deaths worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020. Van Straten said that the cancer burden is likely to increase due to a lack of screening. “People were too scared to go to clinics and some hospitals were overwhelmed. The number of cancers has escalated and there is not much we can do now. We need to get our eye back on the ball,” he said. Protecting the planet Van Straten also indicated that there is also an urgent need to protect the planet to curb diseases. “If the planet is healthy; temperatures are stable and we have clean air and water, then we as humans are going to be healthy. For this to happen, there shouldn’t be any air pollution or waste, chemicals and plastics in our seas,” he added. Van Straten also emphasised the importance of not contaminating soil with chemicals which will affect the nutritious value of food. “If we don’t look after the planet, the trees, rivers and animals, then we are going to suffer because we are all connected.” Covid-19 not going anywhere Speaking at an emergency committee meeting for Covid-19 on 12 April, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said COVID-19 transmission remains very high in many countries. “Transmission remains very high and vaccination coverage remains very low in too many countries. Social measures are allowing continued transmission with the risk of new variants emerging. COVID-19 is now affecting countries in different ways,” said Ghebreyesus. He added: “In countries with high population immunity, we have seen a decoupling of cases from hospitalisation and deaths. In other countries, the massive increase in cases has led to large numbers of hospitalisations and deaths compared to previous waves.” Ghebreyesus further stated that he is concerned that a high number of healthcare workers are yet to receive a COVID-19 jab. – Health-e News

All the focus and attention was shifted to COVID-19. Photo by Ayanda Ndamane/ African News Agency/Reuters

NEWS

FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

TECH

Photo by media.wired.com

DELETING FACEBOOK? FOLLOW THESE STEPS CAREFULLY

While difficult to figure out, deleting your Facebook account is actually a quick affair. By Jason Cipriani Photo by www.vpnmentor

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f you’re looking to delete your Facebook account, you might have any number of reasons for pulling the plug. Perhaps you’ve noticed social media usage taking a toll on your mental health. Maybe you take issue with the platform for reports of privacy violations, political brawling, damaging misinformation and other content that could be harmful to teens. Or you could be trying to wipe your personal info from the internet altogether. Either way, we’ll walk you through how to get rid of your Facebook account for good. It’s important to note that there’s a difference between deleting your Facebook account and deactivating it. Deactivating your Facebook account temporarily freezes it, which is useful if you want a brief hiatus. But that does nothing to prevent the company from tracking your online activity. To fully separate from Facebook, deleting your account is the only answer. Deleting it also severs ties to Facebook Messenger, the platform’s chat app. (If you want to also get rid of Instagram and WhatsApp, which are Facebook properties, you’ll have to do that separately.) We’ll explain some things you’ll need to consider before going through the process, which requires time and patience.

and disconnecting it from your Facebook account. To find a list of apps linked to your Facebook account: Sign in to Facebook. Go to Settings > Apps and websites. ● If you’re having trouble figuring out how to unlink your Facebook account from a service, contact the company’s customer service department for help. ● Once that’s done, request and download a copy of all your Facebook data by following these steps: ● Log in to Facebook on your computer. Go to Settings > Your Facebook Information. ● Click View next to Download Your Information. ● Leave all of the boxes checked under the Your Information section. ● Leave the date range to All of my data. ● Leave the format set to HTML - doing so puts your data in an easy-to-navigate format. ● In order to save high-resolution copies of photos and videos you’ve posted to Facebook, change the Media Quality drop-down from Medium to High. ● Finally, click Create File. Facebook will then gather all of your information and send you an email when it’s ready to be downloaded. It can take some time for this to happen - it’s not an instant process.

1. Delete the Facebook app from your phone and tablet The first step is to delete the app from your smartphone or tablet. Remember that deleting the Facebook app doesn’t delete your account - you can still access it from the browser and other apps might still use Facebook as a login. Removing the icon from your phone gets it out of sight and mind, but it doesn’t do anything to your overall account. You’ll need to make sure to do all these other steps or Facebook can still track your online activity.

4. Finally, it’s time to delete your Facebook account Facebook will give you a list of tasks and things to consider before deleting your account. For example, you’ll be advised to download all of your information, or if you’re the sole admin of a Facebook Page, you’ll be asked to grant another account admin privileges. Otherwise, the page will be deleted alongside your account. All right, you ready? Click Delete Account, enter your password and click Continue. Finally, click Delete Account again and you’re done.

2. Choose a messaging or social media alternative Remember, when you delete your Facebook account, your Messenger access goes with it. Meaning, if you have people you frequently talk to on Messenger, you’ll need to let them know your plans and figure out another app or messaging service to use to stay in touch. Take the same approach with your Facebook friends in general. Post a status a few days before you plan on deleting your account, and ask that

5. You have 30 days to change your mind about Facebook Facebook will take up to 90 days to delete all of your account data from its servers. For the first 30 days of that period, you can still sign in and cancel your deletion request. Your account will be restored and it’ll be like you never left. For better or worse. To cancel your deletion request, visit Facebook.com, log in to your account, and click the Cancel Deletion button. – cnet.com

anyone who wants to keep in touch send a message with their contact info. Facebook also gives you the option to transfer your photos, videos, notes and posts to other sites like Google Photos and Dropbox.

3. Disconnect your Facebook account from other apps and logins Third-party developers such as Spotify and DoorDash have long offered the option of using your Facebook account as a way to sign up and log in to their services. It’s convenient

because it keeps you from having to remember yet another password. That is, until you don’t have a Facebook account anymore. You’ll need to address those outside accounts that rely on your Facebook info by logging in to each account

YOUR TAKE

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

Are African migrants the real problem in South Africa? Photo by www.dw.com

DON’T STOKE THE [XENOPHOBIA] FIRE! South African activists and politicians have recently converged under an anti-migrant social media campaign called Operation Dudula.

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he world has just commemorated the 1994 Rwanda genocide – that fateful day when Rwandans hunted down other Rwandans that they believed to be different. Parallel to these global commemorative events, in South Africa, groups of our people were also in the streets, armed to the teeth, hunting down fellow Africans that they believe to be undocumented and therefore illegal in the country. Some Cabinet ministers were as engaged in this hunting expedition through a well-staged and highly organised media campaign. Images of black South Africans in the streets, ready to kill fellow Africans, and senior government leaders being cheered on social media for finally taking action, and ridding our country of these ‘unwanted, illegal lot’, is disquieting. It is a concern that could lead our country in an undesirably precarious direction. It’s absolutely normal in this era of state sovereignty for countries to have borders and people they recognise as “citizens”, as opposed to others they consider as “foreigners”. Moreover, crime is crime and should be eradicated, whether it is committed by local or foreign nationals. There is also absolutely nothing inherently wrong with a government protecting some of its industries or the labour market from foreign competition. This happens all the time, and probably in all countries. What is different in our case is for these measures to be accompanied by political, mass mobilisation and the incitement of disconcerted mobs against foreign nationals. South Africa has been grappling with this xenophobia phenomenon since Thabo Mbeki’s presidency. During Jacob Zuma’s time, we had to on several occasions respond to

YOUR TAKE EDDY MALOKA

this challenge in African Union and SADC meetings. What is however new about the current wave is the emergence of an identifiable, violent xenophobic social movement. Its leaders are no longer faceless people we don’t know, but individuals we see on TV proudly expressing their hatred for foreign nationals and calling for violence against them. We now even have political parties established expressly for xenophobic purpose. Their leaders may not be as violent as those at the head of the social movement, but they also go about telling South Africans that the foreigner is a problem that must be pushed out of the country. At the top, including in the ruling party, the ANC, it is no longer considered an embarrassment to openly espouse xenophobic views and campaign for policies targeting foreigners. What we once believed to be a false narrative is now widely accepted

– that our country’s key problems – unemployment and crime – are caused by foreigner nationals and we complain that foreigners do in South Africa what they can’t or don’t do in other countries. We are projecting our own failures on the OTHER – the foreigner. We conveniently confuse the cause and the effect, and make them swap roles in our inverted logic, in our effort to cover up for our own inadequacies. For politicians who have lost connection with their mass base and are suffering electoral defeats on the ground, the foreigner has become an issue to use opportunistically to reconnect with this eroding base. This presents South Africa with a new problem. During Zuma’s time we used to explain this problem away by simply stating that xenophobia was not government policy. We could get support, solidarity and even sympathy from our African Union and SADC colleagues. Now, this argument will no longer hold because of the prominent and visible role played by some MPs in the current wave. We could face unintended consequences that may be more difficult to handle. Unintended consequences are when far away, in an insignificant place, a tiny butterfly flaps its wings, and this leads to an unexpected storm in a big city like Joburg. They are unavoidable and inseparable from the intended consequences. They can be an irritation and even invasive to a point of turning the tables around and stealing the show from their intended opposite. An example is when a soccer player hurts his foot while trying to score a goal and has to be substituted, or when you accidentally spill a drink on your favourite dress and you then have to abandon your plans for the day. These mass hunting campaigns

of African migrants will have their own unintended consequences. In Rwanda, the unintended consequences took over and turned what began as isolated incidents into a mass movement of genocidaires. When this thinking is applied to statecraft, it means government leaders should always think about the possible unintended consequences of their actions, and not be carried away, concerned exclusively with their noble intentions. By the way, how do you identify an undocumented migrant among a crowd in the streets of Joburg? Do they bear a mark of Cain on their forehead? Or maybe they are Kaizer Chiefs fans with their golden jerseys? Must we resuscitate the apartheid-era “Black Jacks” who used to enforce influx control measures by breaking down our doors in their search for the illegals of that time who did not have the “dompass” to live in the cities? I feel for South African diplomats. Our ambassador to the AU will be summoned by the Peace and Security Council to explain himself, AGAIN! Our expatriates on the African continent will now have to lock themselves indoors, because their compatriots back home have turned them into soft targets. When our streets are tense like this, I can only think of my colleagues at the Nepad, APRM, and Pan African Parliament offices in Midrand. Like South African expatriates, they live in fear, for themselves, their children who are in our schools, or relatives they married away to our children. Our AU security teams will issue alerts to staff. Our offices may have to be temporarily closed. I’ll have to swallow my shame and send my report to the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. The “we” and “them” divide is not

helpful. If anything, it exaggerates differences and creates more tension and animosity. It’s easy to say “these people should go back to their homes” or “this is our country”. It’s the easy way out, with potentially dangerous unintended consequences. An alternative option is to learn from Singapore or Dubai that when your country is so sought after by others, when it is a preferred destination for international migrants, use this for your benefit. Turn this mass movement of migrants heading your way into an opportunity for developing your nation. Trying to stop this wave is as futile as standing in front of a flood to attempt to block it. We know that even steel walls don’t work. The Mediterranean Sea has also failed as a barrier. Instead, what you’ll get is hatred and more hatred, and xenophobia and more xenophobia. But the migrants will keep knocking on your door and won’t go away. Modern South Africa is a colonial creation that began as a refreshment station and a point of intersection between the East and the West. There’s a reason why the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet on our shores, at the Cape Point. We shouldn’t fear this role placed on us by our history and geography. It’s an opportunity. All we need is to dig deep into our imagination to unleash the creativity we require to harness our country’s location in this global flow of international migration, to our advantage. The gun, burning tyre around the neck, spear and machete are tools used by barbarians, not the children of Nelson Mandela. ● Eddy Maloka is a Visiting Professor at the Wits School of Governance

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

Editorial

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Poverty levels are rising. Photo by borgenproject.org

The 1994 dream has turned into a nightmare On 27 April 1994, millions of people who had been disenfranchised and reduced to sub-humans, patiently stood in long queues to cast their first vote. For the multitudes, who had been systematically reduced to menial drudges, 27 April marked the end of serfdom, colonialism, apartheid and ushered in a democratic dispensation. It was on that day when many of us were overcome with emotions as we made our first cross on a ballot paper. The day is celebrated as Freedom Day. A celebration of the end of hundreds of years during which blacks were pariahs in their country of birth. It is the day that supposedly marks the end of subjugation and degradation of the indigenous people who had lost land and lives. The entire world celebrated the outcomes of the negotiations and our country was held up as the beacon for hope. We enjoyed a status as the poster child for Africa. Our Constitution, which was approved by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996 and took effect on 4 February 1997 and hailed as one of the most progressive in the world, states the following in its preamble: We, the people of South Africa, recognise the injustices of our past; Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to: Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights; Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law; Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations. This made the dream born in 1994 seem achievable. This document gave impetus to the hopes of the poor that life would be better. Regrettably, our victory has yielded nothing of the sort. Ownership of land and economic power is still predominantly in white hands. It’s been 28 years and we are yet to see a solid foundation for meaningful

economic participation by black people. Not even a morbidly pessimistic detractor could have predicted the dark and perilous depth of the disintegration, deterioration and corruption which is so rife under the ANC government. Of all the liberation movements in Southern African, the ANC was the last to secure power and, as thunder follows lightning, it has dramatically spent its liberation dividend extravagantly and foolishly. The ANC has spectacularly failed to learn any lessons from what occurred in other post-liberation states. The mind boggles as to why the heart-wrenching lessons were ignored. The past 28 years have revealed that we placed our hopes in the hands of an organisation that has no power and the ability to serve and better the lives of the majority which subsists beyond the feeble, ignorant grasp and constricted sensitivities of the well-off. The poverty-stricken and seething majority is of lesser importance to the elite. The governing party seems to be callously unaware that there is a ticking time bomb because the 1994 dream has become a nightmare. The thieving bullies, at all levels of government, carry on as if there is no clear and present danger. These heartless and shameless grovellers, who only have concern for their own welfare and interests before those of the citizens, will be trotting across the country giving condescending liberation lectures and mindless speeches that we are crassly subjected to every 27 April. People want real transformation not mind-numbing speeches. The speeches no longer have any appeal to the vast majority, especially the youth who form a huge chunk of the unemployed and unemployable. They are fed-up with the governing party’s flimsy excuses and its defence of the hard-to-defend failures. They are tired of the high-minded mouthings that have turned our freedom into an illusion. No single politician paid attention to the late Professor Es’kia Mphahlele in 1998 when he said: “We should stop showing off to the world as a unique democracy fashioned out of incomparable racial harmony and reconciliation. This posturing from a high moral ground can easily make us overlook the domestic task ahead of us.”

Nelson Mandela voting on 27 April, 1994. Photo by Wikipedia

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TRUE DEMOCRACY IN SOUTH AFRICA REMAINS A PIPE DREAM

egotiating the end to the apartheid era, Nelson Mandela’s ANC engaged in talks with sincerity, benevolence and goodwill. That’s exactly what a country ravaged by centuries of racial oppression and a protracted struggle for freedom needed. The masses were crying for peace and national co-operation. That act of kindness worked like a charm, albeit for a short time. The world hailed it as “a miracle breakthrough”. From then on, South Africans envisioned a new society based on democratic values and equality. The country became a constitutional democracy, based on the rule of law. The powers of government at all levels kept a tight rein by a constitution that has some of the world’s strongest protections of human rights. The majority of the oppressed black poor, not only yearned for this prosperity but believed in it completely. Nothing, it seemed, would stop the new nation on its march toward “a better life for all”. Except one obscure detail. A dominant white section of society, those who own the land and means of production, did not buy into the creation of a truly non-racial and equal South African society. In fact, they did not trust the process. They insisted on the status quo that entailed the protection of white minority rights and private property to remain intact. Without their support, the dream of the rainbow nation became a doomed flight at takeoff. So, throughout the talks and for the past 28 years, South Africa’s focus has always been on harnessing white fears. On 23 May, 1990, months after his historic release from Victor Vester prison, Nelson Mandela warned white captains of industry of the dangers that lay ahead. “If we are genuinely interested in ending the old social order and bringing in a new one, characterised by notions of justice and equity, it is quite obvious that the economic power relations represented by the reality of the excessive concentration of power in a few white hands has to change.” They didn’t budge. Now, 28 years into South Africa’s democracy, Mandela’s words are haunting the nation like a vicious ghost. Let me assure you, besides the government's fanfare, there will be no widespread national jubilation come 27 April to celebrate Freedom Day. Besides the waning political power, nothing has changed. People are disillusioned and hopeless. Unlike any other time since 1994, they don’t even have a promise for jobs, let alone a better life. It is crystal clear that, like Mandela cautioned, without meaningful economic participation, the 1994 breakthrough has turned into a vanity freedom. If anything, economic privilege enjoyed by the minority – the white beneficiaries of apartheid - is at its dreadful pinnacle. South Africa is the globe’s most unequal society. This situation is the outcome of the long simmering confrontation between the ideals of democracy, the yearning for a people-centred,

MY TAKE

MBANGWA XABA grassroots people’s power and racist economic greed. When these two collided, society imploded. Nothing makes this point more poignantly than the devastation of the global Covid-19 pandemic. It has but hastened the inevitable crisis that South Africa finds herself in. Since the pandemic, South Africa’s economy contracted to 6.4% in 2020. The pandemic has devastated our society so hard it has stripped bare our precarious social inequality. Poverty levels among the black poor have shot through the roof hitting even the middle strata. For all intents and purposes, South Africa is in a political and economic crisis. According to government statistics, control of the economy remains in white hands with the exclusion of black Africans. The annual data released by the B-BBEEC last July reveals that black ownership in reporting companies across the economy was 29% in 2019, compared to 25% in 2018 and 32% in 2016. Since the dawn of democracy, the country has been at the mercy of white greed. Their insatiability has created a new plague that has obliterated the otherwise well-functioning institutions of democracy and parastatals. Using fronting, exploiting B-BBEE, white capitalism, has managed to recruit lumpen African elites as tools. In turn, these lumpen tools use political power to access wealth. Once they taste wealth, these halfwits turn into crooks who raid state coffers without any shame. They have ransacked the public purse at every level of government. A more polished elite few has been used to consolidate white supremacy. Some stooges who run the state, its parastatal and institutions of funding and financial institutions. At every level, with every major transaction, effort is made to ensure white business interest is entrenched. Hopes were high after the December 2017 ANC National Conference. Elected as leader of the ANC and his subsequent accession to the country’s presidency, Cyril Ramaphosa was said to herald a new era. Four years later, he seeks another term, but the country’s situation has only wors-

ened under his watch. “Most South Africans would agree this has been a deep disappointment, putting it mildly. The transformation project is a disaster,” says Duma Gqubule, an economist and founding director at the Centre for Economic Development and Transformation. “With this Covid-19 crisis it (transformation) is not a priority right now, I don’t think, there are bigger problems relating to mass unemployment, poverty and inequality… There isn’t the political will under the new president. It’s completely lost momentum. It’s almost the end of the transformation project now,” says Gqubule. Experts say South Africa’s economy is expected to shrink by 7.2% this year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This situation could be worse if we take the Ukraine war into consideration. Even with these threats, President Ramaphosa’s attention has turned elsewhere. The need for increased participation in the economy has shrunk in his to-do list. He and the business community are not even keen on giving lip-service to transformation. If you were expecting that the government will be more forceful to compel big business to quicken the pace of black inclusion, don’t waste your time. There is a forbidden word in the South African political lexicon. It’s time for radical economic transformation. Not the political point-scoring slogans of populist revolutionaries or ANC factional splinters. I mean real socio-economic transformation of ownership and management of the means of production, increased black control of the banking and financial sectors, access for blacks to arable land and mass agricultural production. A more robust system to compel companies to empower more Africans in the economy to ensure effective change. If we are to move toward a united, non-racial and democratic South Africa, let's heed Mandela’s advice. Restructure the economic system. Real radical change not the current laissez-faire approach. South Africa needs an honest empowerment and corporate governance transformation to achieve meaningful economic equality. This transformation must be deliberate in tackling the reality of white racism. This can be attained through the eradication of white control in the banking sector. It is beyond guileless to expect white supremacists to act against their own interests. The same goes for corruption. Remove the equation between political power and access to resources. For as long as big business funds politicians and their businesses, the current anti-corruption and election funding laws will remain a joke. There is a need to eliminate white monopoly to capital and half the battle toward the eradication of political opportunism and corruption will be won. Corruption is a product of envy. The current political hyenas admire privileges of the white economic elite. Remove them, you would have removed corruption. That way, South Africa will be back on track toward reconstruction and development, a better life for all as Mandela had anticipated.

OPINION & ANALYSIS

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

THE ANC HAS IGNORED THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: LAND DISPOSSESSION

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ne hundred and nine years ago, one chilly Friday morning, black people woke up to a country that not only treated them as captives and bottom feeders, but a people who would be landless. It was the enactment of the Native Land Act which resulted in the dispossession of land and pushed the black majority into overcrowded townships and rural reserves. Africans could no longer own land, save for the barren patches that brought untold suffering. Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje, an intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator and writer, and a fierce opponent of the Act, said: “Its major portion is intended to reduce natives to serfs.” Writing in his book, Native Life in South Africa, Plaatje remarked: “Awaking on Friday morning, 20 June, 1913, the South African Native found himself, not actually a slave, but a pariah in the land of his birth.” This is in the opening chapter. The book unpacks the torturous story of how the colonial and racist state, white farmers and mine owners ganged up to dispossess blacks of their land and leave them in abject poverty. In her foreword to the 1982 edition of Native Life in South Africa, Bessie Head wrote: “It is possible that no other legislation has so deeply affected the lives of black people in South Africa as the Natives’ Land Act of 1913. It created overnight a floating landless proletariat whose labour could be used and manipulated at will, and ensured that ownership of the land had finally and securely passed into the hands of the ruling white race. “On it rest pass laws, the migratory labour system, influx control and a thousand other evils which affect the lives of black people in South Africa today. The passing of the Natives’ Land Act was devastating enough to evoke, for the first time, organised

Photo by Nic Bothma/EPA-EFE

black protest of an intellectual kind.” The Natives Land Act (NLA), which came into effect three years after the establishment, under British dominion of the Union of South Africa, gave a measly 7% of arable land to Africans and gave the more fertile land to white people. In fact, land dispossession predates the NLA. It began with the criminal expansion of Dutch colonial settlements in the Cape. The colonial settlers robbed Africans of their land and livestock, an act that resulted in deadly wars against the colonialists. Although the early stages of land dispossession started with the seizure and splitting up of territories, over time laws and decrees were passed by the British, together with the Afrikaners, to remove Africans from their lands to consolidate areas for white settlement. In the midst of the ever-increasing brutalisation and subjugation of Africans, the colonialists were then faced with the issue of how to effectively deal with Africans, which the violent government of the time called the ‘native question’. The so-called native question had transfixed white settlers since the time of the Dutch colonial period. It was not until the Intercolonial Conference in 1903, that the term got a new definition as “embracing the present and future status of all aboriginal natives of South Africa, and the relation in which they stand towards the European population”. The answer to the ‘native question’ came in the form of the immoral 1913 Natives Land Act. The British and Afrikaner stolen-land owners and industrialists put into motion processes that would consolidate their power and wealth while pushing Africans, through legislative and violent means, to the reserves where they could be picked up as cheap labourers. This was way before the woof and

warp of apartheid was fully spun. The NLA provided the tools for the likes of Verwoed in later years to put together a poisoned fabric that further dehumanised Africans. When apartheid was pushed to the unlit backroom in 1994, the new establishment gave its word to redistribute land that was stolen from blacks through abominable legislations. We are now nearing 30 years and the promise has come to naught. The pace of radical land reform has moved slower than a snail since the first democratic elections 28 years ago. The ANC has fundamentally failed to properly address the land issue. They blow hot and cold while the patience of the dispossessed is turning into a bomb that will be impossible to defuse. As the ANC confusedly kicks the tin down the road, the issue of land ownership remains an explosive one. The governing party’s plan to amend the constitution to enable the state to appropriate land without compensation, has unravelled. The amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution has unravelled not because the ANC no longer enjoys the huge majority in parliament like before, it is because they used it as a strategy to deflate the Economic Freedom Fighter’s radical pronouncements on appropriation of land without compensation. It would not be way off base to posit that the big kahunas in the governing party probably suffer from some amnesia of sorts. The lack of political will, paints a picture of leaders who are blind to the fact that the 1913 Act moved way past disinheriting millions of Africans of their ancestral land. It robbed people of the right not only to own, but work the land on which they relied for their livelihood. This heinous crime practically orchestrated abject poverty for blacks, something that has made South Africa

one of the most unequal countries in the world. Government’s commitment to the land-restitution agenda remains an unfished sentence on the drawing board. There is no form of sophistry that can hide the endless concatenation of unimpressive and imprecise government plans and lack of political will. A while back, I read some gobbledegook on a government website. It said: “Government has enacted several pieces of supporting legislation as part of a comprehensive land reform programme to redress inequity in land ownership and transform the spatial landscape.” Absolute twaddle. To this very day, the racial and spatial divide of our country, as initially enacted by the NLA, are still with us. The socio-economic consequences of this painful past that has stretched its hand to the 21st century South Africa, will take a long time to rectify as long as we are led by charlatans who speak with forked tongues and cower at the sight of white capital. We need men and women of principle…leaders who have the testicular fortitude to face up to greedy capital and defuse the time bomb that will obliterate whatever little progress we have made since 1994. The time for pie-crumbs promises must end and end now. Talk less and act more. At some point in October 2020, the first citizen, President Cyril Ramaphosa, wrote something that made me realise that all we will ever receive are gold-plated excuses and admissions…no action. “At the most fundamental of levels, it (the NLA) destroyed our ability to feed ourselves. With land ownership still concentrated in the hands of a few, and agriculture primary production and value chains mainly owned by white commercial farmers, the effects of our past remain with us today.

“The continued monopolisation of a key means of production like land is not just an obstacle to advancing a more egalitarian society, it is also a recipe for social unrest. The hunger for land to farm is growing, especially among the rural poor. And for a number of reasons, the pace of land reform in this particular sector has been slow and unsatisfactory. “Transforming patterns of agricultural land ownership is vital not just to address the historical injustices of the past, but safeguard our nation’s food security,” wrote the President. Unfortunately, we have heard this for the past 28 years and nothing has come off it. If it could be of any meaning to the slumbering factionistas, in 2019 the World Bank said: “Many countries do not legally recognise indigenous peoples’ land rights, even though they have lived on their ancestral land for many generations, often predating the establishment of the modern state and even the modern recording of rights. “Recognising indigenous peoples’ land rights is not only a human rights issue, but it also makes economic and environmental sense. Once their land rights are recognised, indigenous peoples will be able to use the resources on their land more sustainably, thus improving their economic and social status as a constructive force in society.” I rest my case… The prevalent and unending pain we carry in our so-called free country is that black South Africans remain marginalised because the ANC has been captured by private interests and has failed us. People did not fight and die for the right to cast a vote…they did it for the return of our stolen land. Our freedom is hollow as long as the black majority remains landless. Land represents economic, political and social power.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

SHOWBIZ

GUT-WRENCHING STORY OF FARMER AND FARM WORKER RACIAL TENSION

By Edward Tsumele

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n recent years, South Africa’s foundation was rattled and the dream of a Rainbow Nation where everyone is equal before the law and all racial groups would live in peaceful co-existence was shattered. To some, it increasingly felt like a dream suddenly turned into a nightmare as the reality of racial divisions that still exist dawned. It is a terrible event that shook the nation’s belief in unity and harmony. The myth of a Rainbow Nation was exposed as its influence suddenly became a fading concept that no one hardly remembered as events unfolded in North West. The fractured nature of the country was elevated by the tragic event and racial polarisation amplified. After what had happened, only the optimistic still hold onto the myth of a country united in its diversity. That event was the murder of a farm worker by the son of a farmer who was helped by his friends (they were found guilty and later acquitted on appeal). The farm worker was allegedly found stealing maize from a farm that belonged to his father. After this incident, many asked the relevant question of whether a few maize cobs were worth someone’s life, and that is if it was even true that the farm worker indeed did steal. Maize can be planted the next season, but life once lost cannot be brought back. The fact that the person who committed the murder was white, and the person who was murdered black, enraged people even more. After all, the relationship between farm workers who are almost always predominantly black and poor, and the farm bosses, who are almost always predominantly

white, is not a balanced one. Farmers are antagonistic, wealthy and powerful. Since the days of colonialism and land dispossession, the relationship between a farm worker and a farm owner has always been fraught with the risk of an explosion going off at some point. That story of violence and murder is now captured in a stage play, written recently and has received impressive critical acclaim by those who have seen it, both here in South Africa and in Europe where it enjoyed a reading session. Of course, we all know that the past two years have been difficult for the arts sector in general and theatre in particular due to Covid-19 restrictions. The point is, although this play found its way onto the stages of two theatres and a number of other places, including festivals, in South Africa the past two years, it did not enjoy full public attendance. Now that the restrictions have been eased, allowing venues to fill up audiences up to 50% of their capacity, this play will hopefully find decent patronage, especially for those seeking to understand the complexities of racial relationships in post-apartheid South Africa. This is especially so when you cast your gaze on race relations in this country, 28 years after democracy and the Rainbow Nation phrase was coined by the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and embodied and embedded in former President Nelson Mandela’s reconciliation project. However, because of the problematic character of race relations in contemporary South Africa, the Rainbow Nation idea is increasingly questioned by some and incidents such as this farm murder are not helping the situa-

tion. The Red on the Rainbow is written and directed by Monageng Vice Motshabi. The play raises questions on how far have we come in recognising the humanity of black people in this country since 1994. The Coligny ‘sunflower’ case tells us that white lives matter more than black lives in small farm towns in South Africa. These gruesome events routinely remind us of the abundant violence that has come to characterise our society. Monageng is the Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winner for Theatre 2017. The Red on the Rainbow was adapted into a short film by Label Noir, which was screened with a reading of sections of the play at the Maxim Gorky Theatre, Berlin, in 2020. The experience was supported by the Literarisches Colloquium of Berlin, which also supported the writing process. The play, The Red on the Rainbow, had its South African premiere at the Soweto Theatre, as part of the Arts Alive Joburg International Arts Festival 2021. It was then presented at the South African State Theatre’s Jika Performing Arts College, in Botshabelo and at the Northern Cape Theatre. The Red on the Rainbow follows the aftermath of the death of a young man on a maize farm at the hands of a farmer’s son and his friends. It explores how time seems to remain frozen, picture style, in an unending apartheid-ghost dance. How with each dreary step into the future, reality seems to loop, stoop and re-loop, forever trapping the people of these towns in a cartoonish and feverish attempt to leap into the much-lauded blissful change that our country’s simunye moment is said to have unleashed for all. Starring in this gut-wrenching

and masterful production is a talented ensemble featuring, Barileng Thato Malebye, Dambuza Nqumashe, Thapelo Mohapi, Tshireletso Nkoane and Xolile Gama supported by award winning musicians in Sydney Mavundla and Volley Nchabeleng. The Red on the Rainbow is a powerful vehicle that encourages people everywhere to strengthen and consolidate their voices against racism, mobilise against all forms and manifestations of racial discrimination and injustice, as well as ensure a safe environment through artistic excellence. South Africa is born out of a painful

past of racial segregation under apartheid. Unfortunately, it has not successfully transitioned into the dream of a Rainbow Nation! The Market Theatre remains at the forefront of South African theatre, actively encouraging new works that continue to reach international stages and promote riveting dialogue for audiences. – citylifearts.co.za ● The Red on the Rainbow opened on Wednesday 20 April and will run till Sunday 1 May, in the Mannie Manim Theatre at the Market Theatre complex in Newtown, Joburg.

FEATURE

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

ALL-WOMEN WINEMAKING TEAM BREAKING BARRIERS By Nicole Ludolph

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rowing up in Wellington in the Western Cape, viticulturist Ruth Faro had always wanted to be a social worker. She tried following her dreams in 2011, but missed the college application deadline. Three years later, she found her career careening in a totally different direction and found her passion in viticulture. “I really had a passion to go into something like social work but I actually applied a bit late at Huguenot College. I applied for their four-year course. So, in that time, I did a course through Unisa called ‘community development’, just to assess if I really want to go in the social work direction.” Faro completed her Unisa course and ended up working as a facilitator at a nearby company. Her role was to help peer educators with their programmes at different schools. After her stint as a facilitator ended, she found herself unemployed. “In 2013, a friend of mine told me there was an advert in the newspaper about a place in Stellenbosch called the Pinotage Youth Development Academy. It’s an academy that helps disadvantaged students to get [work] within the wine industry. So, I applied in 2013 and in May 2014, I got accepted. It was a year-long course, and what they did is educate us on the whole sector within the wine industry.” It was during her time at the academy that Faro found her true passion. The course covered topics from viticulture, to wine cellars, to tasting rooms. Faro’s natural affinity for being outdoors drew her to viticulture straight away. “When the lecturer was busy teaching us about the soil and he was talking about the plants, and about how you actually get grapes from a vine that’s standing there, [I needed]

to know more. I’m a nature person. I like outdoors so I can’t be in a tasting room for seven days a week.” Faro says she appreciates working in cellars because that is where the wine making actually takes place, but by her very nature, viticulture is her primary interest. “In the vineyards, you get to see how everything looks and you have to do different things. When you plant the root stock, you see how will it develop and how that young vine is going to have to bear fruit for 15 years. So, that is actually where my passion is.” Journey into viticulture After finishing her course with the Pinotage Youth Development Academy in 2015, Faro spent some time working on farms on weekends. As part of her course, she did her pruning practical at Bosman Adama and her cellar practical at popular wine brand KWV. While doing her pruning course, she decided to apply for an internship at the company. “That is actually where it all started. I just wanted to get a bit more exposure to viticulture. They informed me that my learnership has been approved and they gave me a one-year internship at a time. So, I worked in different departments in the Bosman company.” Faro’s internship was followed by another six-month stint as a contract worker before she was permanently hired in 2018 as a technical assistant in the viticulture team. “I assisted with different things like admin and monitoring the vines. In 2018, Petrus Bosman, the CEO of Bosman Adama, had the idea to develop Adama wines.” Journeying into Adama Wines On the Adama Wines website, the word “trailblazers” is defined as “persons who make new track in wild

country”. The wine brand is fully controlled and managed by nine women, and women have a 30% ownership share in it. Faro, as a founding member of the team, is immensely proud of how far the brand has come. “We started off with only two ladies in 2018. It was just me and another lady. I was doing the viticulture and she was doing the winemaking. About a year after that, they did the whole value chain, with someone to do the logistics, someone to do the quality, [and someone who can do the finance. So, we built that structure within Adama Wines.” As the viticulturalist on the team, Faro’s role is to make sure that the grapes going into the wine is of an excellent quality. Part of her duties include going to their producers to check the grape quality, assess the canopy management, and assist where necessary. “My job is actually to make sure that the farmers are doing the right job within the vineyards before we actually get to the cellar. So, I have to purchase the grapes from the different farmers and then I also have to deal with the contracts as well of the different farmers. I also have to communicate with the winemaker and with the whole team and then take it from there.” Faro works with winemaker Praisy Dhlamini, and when they started initially, the products they made under Adama Wines were bulk orders for private clients. This changed in 2020 when Dhlamini has the idea to establish their own brand, Faro says. “That is actually where the HER wine collection started. In 2020, we started with two red wines, which were shiraz and pinotage. Last year, we were making our two whites, which was a sauvignon blanc and a chenin. So, it was during that time of Covid19, where we had to be innovative, we had to start thinking big, we had

At only 29, Ruth Faro’s skills are sometimes met with scepticism. Photo by Adama Wines/Food for Mzansi

to start testing how the market was out there.” ‘The colour of my skin is a big barrier’ At only 29, Faro says she often has to communicate with farmers who do not really respect her knowledge or skills. She says that many farmers have been in the industry for long, and they are not happy with having to take instruction from her. “I have to tell them at what time they must come deliver their grapes, and how much they must use, etc. For me, it is like they see [me] as this young woman and they feel challenged a bit. "So, that is for me the biggest challenge, the communication with these farmers sometimes and how they see me. But I put my head down and say my decisions are for the team and for the company.” She says, amongst viticulturists, she often stands out and sometimes she has difficulty being taken seriously. “The colour of my skin as well. It’s a big barrier sometimes, and then now

I have to go out there and converse with all these different men who still are dominant in this industry. That is a challenge for me.” Despite these challenges, Faro is still incredibly enthusiastic about viticulture and the wine industry in general. She explains that she wants more black people to join the industry, but she also urges them only to join if they are passionate about it. “For me, it’s about the passion that you have. You really have to have a passion for what you do.” She believes the industry is ripe with opportunity, which is why she hopes more black people and more women will enter the industry. “I actually want to be one of the voices who help young people out there to enter the industry and to learn more because the opportunities in it are so big and there’s so much room to grow as an individual as well. For the past almost six years that I have been within the industry, I’ve grown tremendously, and I really think it’s all about what you do and how you do it.” – foodformzansi.co.za

16

FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

LABOUR MATTERS

HOURS OF WORK AND OVERTIME By Nicolene Erasmus and Jan du Toit

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orking time including overtime is regulated by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act in Chapter two. Chapter two of the Act is however not applicable to the following employees: senior managerial employees; employees engaged as sales staff who travel to the premises of customers and who regulate their own hours of work; employees who work less than 24 hours a month for an employer. Every employer must regulate the working time of each employee: ● in accordance with the provisions of any Act governing occupational health and safety; ● with due regard to the health and safety of employees; ● with due regard to the Code of Good Practice on the Regulation of Working Time issued under section 87(1)(a) of the Act; and ● with due regard to the family responsibilities of employees. As per section 9 of the basic conditions of employment Act, the maximum normal working time for an employee below the threshold is 45 hours per week. This would mean a maximum of nine hours in any day if the employee works for five days or fewer in a week and eight hours in any day if the employee works on more than five days in a week. This does not mean that the employee must work 45 hours per week normal time. The amount of normal time worked is a matter of contractual agreement between employer and employee. Some employees for instance only work a 40-hour week. The statutory limitation of 45 hours per week means that the employee may not work more than 45 hours per week normal time. Employees who earn above the determined threshold amount must negotiate the normal number of working hours per day or per week with the employer. The employee may therefore be expected to work more than 45 hours per week. It must be taken into consideration that meal and tea breaks are not included in the calculation of working hours and will therefore be unpaid. As meal breaks are unpaid the employee can for instance read a book or go and do some shopping. An employee must be remunerated for a meal breaks that the employee was required to work or

to be available for work. Further to this the employee must be paid for any portion of a meal interval that is in excess of 75 minutes, unless the employee lives on the premises at which the workplace is situated. Therefore, an employee who works a 5-day week and who receives a meal break of one hour per day will actually be at the workplace for 50 hours weekly (45 hours normal working time plus 5 hours daily meal breaks). The meal break is to be provided after five hours continuous working time. Tea breaks do not qualify as a break in working time. The statutory meal break is 1 hour, but by agreement between the employee and employer this may be reduced to 30 minutes. The maximum permissible overtime as per section 10 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act is 10 hours in any 1 week. As per the definitions of the Act a week means the period of seven days within which the working week of that employee ordinarily falls and a day a period of 24 hours measured from the time when the employee normally commences work. Employees earning below the threshold must be paid 1.5 times the normal wage rate for overtime worked except for Sundays. Overtime on a Sunday must be remunerated a double the normal wage rate. In Maneche & others v CCMA & others [2008] 1 BLLR 52 (LC) the employees left work one day on the

ground that they had already worked the maximum number of hours overtime permitted by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997. They were charged with insubordination, and dismissed. The dispute was referred for arbitration by the CCMA. The respondent commissioner reasoned that the employees had, for many years, worked overtime in excess of the permitted three hours per day when the respondent’s peculiar operational requirements called for packing of freshly picked mushrooms and that, on the day in question, the packing would have taken only about 15 to 30 minutes’ more overtime work to complete. The commissioner upheld the applicant’s dismissals. On review the Labour Court found that the Act takes precedence over any agreement or practice, and that applicants should not have been prejudiced for refusing to return to work after the daily limit on overtime work had been reached. For that reason, the award is reviewable and should be set aside. The Labour Court ordered that the dismissal of the employees was substantively unfair and they were to be reinstated, without loss of benefit, from the date of their dismissal. By agreement the employer may allow an employee paid time off for overtime worked instead of paying the employee. The employee will then be entitled to 90 minutes paid

time off for every 60 minutes overtime worked. The referred paid time off must be granted to the employee within one month after working the overtime, but by agreement this period may be extended to 12 months. Employers must also take into consideration that an agreement by the employee to work overtime that was reached during the first three months of employment, lapses after one year. The onus will therefore be on the employer to reconfirm the commitment of the employee to work overtime after a period of 12 months. Employees who earn in excess of the present threshold amount are not subject to the provisions of section 10 (overtime) of The Basic Conditions of Employment Act. This means that such employees cannot demand to be paid for overtime worked, nor can they demand to be granted paid time off. However contrary to popular belief, the employer also cannot force such employees to work overtime and cannot demand that they work overtime without compensation, unless the employee agreed to this. All forced labour is prohibited in terms of section 48 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and should the employer require such employees to work overtime, then the hours to be worked and the basis of compensation will have to be negotiated between the two parties.

What is "overtime worked"? As per the Basic Conditions of Employment Act all hours worked in excess of the employee's normal daily or weekly hours of work will be regarded as overtime hours. Therefore, if an employee is contracted to work 45 hours per week normal time, then any hours in excess of that is overtime. Similarly, if an employee is contracted to work 40 hours per week normal time, then any hours in excess of the 40 hours is overtime. Overtime is not compulsory and employees can refuse to work overtime on short notice, unless the employee contractually agreed to be available to work overtime on short notice. In circumstances we overtime work on short notice is required by the employer, fairness towards the employee must be taken into consideration. Despite the aforementioned an employee cannot refuse to work overtime if the work which is required to be done must be done without delay owing to circumstances for which the employer could not reasonably have been expected to make provision for, such as for instance the sudden breakdown of equipment. An employee that works on a Sunday must be remunerated at double his normal wage rate for each hour worked, unless he ordinarily works on a Sunday, in which case he must be remunerated at 1, 5 times his normal wage rate for each our worked. Work on a public holiday is by agreement only and an employee must be paid double his normal daily rate for work on a public holiday if the employee would've ordinarily worked on that public holiday. Should an employee be expected to work on a public holiday on which he / she would not normally work on, then the employee must be paid at least his normal daily wage plus the normal wage rate for the hours worked. The Earnings Threshold Explained Section 6 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act makes provision for the Minister of Labour to publish a determination on the advice of the Commission that will exclude employees earning above a certain amount per year from sections of chapter 2 of the Act. Chapter 2 primarily deals with the regulation of working hours of employees. The current threshold is R205 433.30 per year. Employees earning under the threshold amount: These employees have the full protection of every section of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). The Act entitles such persons to certain things such as: ● Overtime may only be worked by agreement between employer and employee. ● The employee has the legal right and entitlement to demand payment for overtime worked at the rate of 1,5 times his normal wage rate, or at whatever rate is applicable (not less favourable than the minimum set in the Act). ● The employee can also enter into an agreement with the employer whereby he can be given time off work instead of payment for overtime worked. ● Generally, the employee can legally refuse to work more than 45 hours per week normal time and he can legally refuse to work more than 10 hours per week overtime and he can legally refuse to work more than 12 hours in any one day, consisting of nine hours normal time and three hours overtime. There are some circumstances where the employee may not be able to refuse, such as in emergency overtime. ● From the above you will note that persons earning under the threshold have a legal right to demand overtime payment. – labourguide.co.za

MOTORING

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

AN SUV BUILT LIKE A WAR TANK! W RIDE ON DUMI XABA

ith the heavens opening up and regularly pouring blessings and disasters in the form of rains countrywide, our road technology can’t keep up. What is regarded as a blessing for the farmer, is a curse for the municipal, provincial and national road agencies. Transnet, which used to be the bloodline of our economy, has been crippled by thugs during the lockdown. As such, most of our country’s freight is transported by road. The Tarmacadam technology can’t keep up with mother nature. It seems the heavens always have the upper hand. There are deep potholes on every road. This leaves motorists stranded with at least two tyres flat and severe immobilising CV joint damage. Even SUV’s and bakkies are not spared. But all is not lost, there is a technology that can keep up with this urban jungle that is turning

unfriendly on all of us. Besides the natural hazards, there are also manmade ones like spikes planted on the road. Bricks thrown from bridges and window smashing as well as smashand-grabs. There is a beast that can handle all these hazards, it’s called The Rezvani tank X. It has the looks and is powered to be enjoyed as a daily drive. Here are some of its features: ● You get one specked to handle an AK47’s fire power. ● Underside explosives in case that dynamite is thrown your way. ● Military grade run flat tyres will turn those potholes into a joke. ● You are treated to a first aid kit in case you break a nail while navigating those potholes. ● A loud PA system at a push of a button to scream the fear of God deep into the hearts of hard-core minibus taxi drivers without opening your window.

● In case they follow you, a push of a button will release thick smoke that allows you to disappear into the urban jungle without a trace. ● The exterior is military grade. ● With night time thermal night vision system, you can see those thugs guarding their spike from tree tops even tall grass on the side of the road can’t hide them. ● Electrified door handles ensure that no one uses a crowbar to get your laptop laying on the back seat of your luxury interior. ● Customised leather interior will make a G wagon face turn green with envy. ● Pepper spray dispenses with the push of a button. ● The electronics can even handle nuclear radiation. You are treated to military grade gas musk, just in case. Don’t be fooled by this six-tone equipment. This monster is fitted with the most comfortable shock absorbers to give you the most luxurious ride.

For an extra penny, you may ask for the 3.0 fox racing bypass shocks. This is one of the most grounded SUVs to keep it on all four under all extremes. Inside, you are treated to full leather interior. 7.9-inch touchscreen infotainment and apple car play. All this is hurled along by the Dodge Demon 6.4L as an option. You can pull this monster at sport car speeds. Thanks to the dynotrac pro grip braking system, stopping is never a problem as seen in most current Jeep models. In case there are obstacles on road that you can’t navigate, you just drive right though them as this beauty is fitted with ram bumper to ram over any obstacle. Obviously, due some South African laws, you will have to get a police clearance certificate, just in case. This beast can be serviced at any Dodge or Jeep dealership. The waiting list is only two to three months. You get all these benefits for an average price of your normal G wagon, which is around R4,8million.

The toughest and most powerful road going Extreme Utility Vehicle on Earth. The Rezvani has a bullet proof glass and body with thermal night vision and a luxury interior.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

FEATURE

L- R - Hortgro chairman Nic Dicey, Dibesho Serage, Minister Thoko Didiza, and DFDC-SA Chairman Ismail Motala. Photo by twitter.com/Hortgro

DIBESHO STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM, NOW HE’S ON TOP! Hip-hop star Drake might as well have rapped about Dibesho Serage, a Limpopo fruit farmer, when he released his hit Started From The Bottom. Though the last decade was challenging, Serage received top honours at this year’s Deciduous Fruit Industry Transformation Awards. By Tiisetso Manoko

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erage says the Limpopo Leadership Award bestowed on him is testimony to the hard work he put in to build the Groundstone Group. The company, of which he is the managing director, grows 25 000 stone fruit trees, made up of yellow cling and dessert peaches as well as low chill nectarines. “We started from the very bottom in 2012 with bush clearing of the farm and planting our first batch in 2013,” Serage tells Food For Mzansi. “Many jobs were created since inception to date. I am honoured to receive the leadership award. I am earnestly grateful for the recognition I have received for my work in the fruit production space.” Serage, who hails from Zebediela, a village south-east of Polokwane, holds degrees in operations management and industrial engineering from the Nelson Mandela University and Vaal University of Technology, respectively. Before venturing into farming, he held a number of top jobs at different corporates. The value of true mentorship Through his farming operation on 50 hectares of tribal land, he is able to employ more than 40 people. Earlier this year, he was also elected as the Limpopo director of the Deciduous

Dibesho supplies first-class produce to leading retailers. Photo by hortgro.co.za Fruit Development Chamber (DFDC). Serage credits the support of his mentor, Michael Oosthuizen, a stone fruit expert who held his hand throughout his journey in farming. He says: “Without fail, he shared his skills and expertise with me and my team.” Winning this award would not have been possible without the inspiration he received from seniors in the industry, adds Serage. “This includes but is not limited to the DFDC board members, who are also deciduous fruits producers. I have the deepest respect for these people. From them, I have derived so much strength and courage to challenge myself and perform better at each

stage.” Serage describes transformation in the deciduous fruit sector as “a work in progress” which needs all hands-on deck to ensure that it is fully realised. Support towards black farmers is crucial to ensure development and growth in the sector does not remain just talk. “Most black professionals have the skills and appetite to go into [deciduous fruit] production. However, the bottleneck remains access to funding with favourable terms because the fruit industry is a long-term investment. This means money is spent for a few years before the farmer can start picking fruits,” he explains. Today, he supplies first-class produce to leading retailers, and he dreams of one days also exporting to overseas markets. “This will be realised through meaningful networks with solid financial support,” he pledges. And his message to young people who want to venture into farming? Start with the little you might have, but get to truly know the industry, he says. “This will allow them to learn more about crop selection, climate condition, soils etc. I found the best approach to be planning test trees while one is seeking financial support. At the time when the support is secured, the selection of cultivar would have been covered by the test trees.” – www.foodformzansi.co.za

Nonhlanhla Mokoena-Chimhandamba and Simbarashe (Simba) Chimhandamba established Urban Grown in 2015.

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT! By Staff Reporter Nonhlanhla Mokoena-Chimhandamba and Simbarashe “Simba” Chimhandamba are the brains behind a Gauteng-based fresh produce company called Urban Grown. It was established in the 2015. after the couple-cum-business partners were concerned by food wastage in their community. “When Urban Grown was founded, the focus was mainly to do hospitality and agro-processing. Nonhlanhla read some stats on the shocking amounts of food that go to waste on a daily basis,” said Simba. Six years later, Urban Grown has secured a significant contract with the Shoprite Group to supply a variety of fresh vegetables. “Urban Grown continues to be a reputable quality supplier of fruit and vegetables in Gauteng. Our aim is to curb food wastage and establish a profitable business.” Nonhlanhla and Simba’s experience in the corporate, agriculture and marketing spheres gave them the urge which they used to establish and build their business. Initially, Urban Grown supplied fresh vegetables to a leading hotel group. Later, they added other outlets to their portfolio. “To date,

we supply both retail and hospitality outlets with fresh produce, including spinach, baby marrows, patty pans, baby cabbages, kales and herbs. We fully own our value chain - from production to distribution,” Simba explained. In February, the company signed a three-year deal with Shoprite, which Simba describes as “priceless”. A 100% black-female owned company, Urban Grown now employs 35 people, many of whom are women. It also focuses on empowering a new generation of emerging farmers in Diepsloot and Hammanskraal and 26 of their employees are young people. “We did not stop knocking.” Simba told The Telegram. “With hindsight, the past three years have also allowed us to engage with other retailers and hospitality clients. This has resulted in the company getting accredited for Food Safety and Global Best Practice. “Today, Urban Grown supplies both whole and value-added lines to Freshmark. The absorption of brands such as Massfresh into Freshmark also presents a new approach and a new market for us. “We regard ourselves as custodians of the black farmers’ reputation.”

SPORT

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FRIDAY, APRIL 22/MAY 6

Young players train with Cameroon star striker Vincent Aboubakar who plays for Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr. Photo by Daniel Beloumou Olomo/AFP via Getty Images

THE FIGHTING SPIRIT OF YOUNG AFRICAN FOOTBALLERS WHO MIGRATE OVERSEAS By Paul Darby

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African Football Migration illustrates that the ability to navigate an unpredictable, highly competitive and commercialised industry is a key asset for African players.

Story Continued from Page 20 Charles Ngah has been living in Tunisia since 2013. He left his country, Cameroon, alongside six other aspiring footballers. After paying 750,000 francs ($1,500) each to an apparently legitimate agency in Yaoundé, they were dumped in Tunis. “I was playing in a division two club in Cameroon when the agents approached me and invited me to their office. I met other young footballers there, too,” he tells VICE. “The agency looked very authentic. They had a licence, framed and hung on the wall. We were told we would have trials with Esperance Tunis [Tunisia’s biggest football club].” “We travelled, arrived and lodged in a good hotel for one week before we were asked to leave for an apart-

hen Sadio Mané scored the decisive penalty to secure Senegal’s triumph over Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, Isaak, a professional Ghanaian footballer in his late 20s, could not have been further away from the action. Watching the final online in his room in eastern Thailand, Isaak’s thoughts most likely turned to what might have been had he managed to better navigate some critical forks in the road of his football career. Isaak is one of several dozen African players we interviewed for our new book African Football Migration. Their experiences and trajectories reflect the reality of life for the majority of African footballers who aspire to successful careers overseas – but frequently labour far beyond the bright lights of the elite game enjoyed by icons like Mané.

chances. This trend is a consequence of multiple intersecting factors, ranging from economic precarity, a declining faith in education and a weak local football industry. The commercialisation of football economies in Europe and some Asian countries over the last 30 years has made them prized destinations for aspiring African migrant footballers. Thousands of African talents have tried to follow in the footsteps of iconic footballers such as Michael Essien, Samuel Eto’o, Mané and Mohamed Salah. However, for most the chance of succeeding is minimal.

Football migration Migration has long been an important livelihood strategy in many African countries. Migrating through football has more recently come to be viewed by increasing numbers of young people as a viable route to significantly improving their life

Isaak’s story Isaak’s prospects looked hopeful at first. In 2012, he was a talented midfielder playing for Ghana’s national U-17 team, the Black Starlets. This enhanced his visibility and the chance of a contract with a club abroad. Through the Black Starlets he encountered a Ghanaian footballer and player agent based in Thailand, who promised him trials with professional clubs in the South-East Asian country. Isaak believed this would be a stepping stone to a prestigious league in Europe, despite having no prior knowledge of Thailand or its football industry. He was reassured by his agent that necessary arrangements

ment building. There I met some Nigerians and Ghanaians, who all claimed they paid 400,000 Naira ($1,000) and 7500 Cedis ($1,200) to get here. We waited for trials for months in vain and eventually realised we had been duped.” After being kicked out of the apartment for owed rents, Ngah said the group dispersed, in search of any means of survival. “Some of us got jobs at restaurants, others as cleaners while some were still jobless. We rented rooms in groups. You can find a little room accommodating seven or eight boys,” he says. “The biggest problem was papers and how to return home. In Tunisia, if you overstay your visa or entry permit you must pay fines for the extra days or months or years before being allowed to leave the country.” According to officials, there are thousands of people from sub-Saharan African countries – including disillusioned footballers – stuck in

the North African region, unable to return home because they cannot raise the fines which keep accumulating as their stay prolongs. “Cote D’Ivoire embassy in Tunisia had to organise several repatriation trips for those in that category. Yet, the boys keep going every month and every year,” says Tohe. As their dreams of playing professional football drift further away with time, some players are often sorely tempted to seek other purpose and meaning in their lives. “I have fathered two children here in Tunisia, like many of my peers. Some are studying bricks and tiles fabrication and placement. And now, you find yourself in a more complicated situation that forces you to maybe abandon your dream. That’s the life we are all living here,” laments Ngah. The harrowing tales are about the same in the Gulf, where immigration regulations appear more flexible than some places in North Africa.

and logistics had been taken care of. All that was required was for him to reimburse the agent for his initial financial outlay and services once he signed for a Thai club. Isaak’s parents and elder brother were supportive, seeing an opportunity to secure the family’s livelihood. Shortly after the Thai authorities issued a three-month tourist visa, Isaak boarded a plane to Bangkok with six other Ghanaian players promised similar deals. The agent picked them up from the airport and brought them to their rented accommodation. It soon became clear the promised trials had not been organised. As Isaak saw it: “Everything was a lie … Seven players in a small room. No windows, no air condition(ing), nothing. I was the youngest, so I had to sleep on the floor … There was nowhere to go, so we stayed in the room all day. At times, no food for me for the whole day … I was really suffering.” Precarious trajectories This sort of experience is not uncommon among migrating African footballers. Many encounter fraud, disillusionment, racism and economic hardship as they pursue a professional contract in South-East Asia, Europe or elsewhere. A litany of media reports detailing instances of trafficking and

However, getting a club or even a trial without a regular invitation is near impossible, says Stephan Kimani of Kenya, who spent ten months in Qatar without success. “Even if you are the next Lionel Messi, no club would listen to you. They all insist on coming through the right channel, which is being transferred by a local club to their team. The fake invitations organised by crook agents could get you in trouble there.” Officials like Tohe believe that aggressive awareness campaigns are needed to effectively tackle football trafficking. But as long as the promise of a huge salary in Europe beckons, there will always be those who seek to prey on those who dream of following in the footsteps of Africa’s finest players. -– vice.com Foot Solidaire says over 6,000 young African footballers arrive in Europe in the hope of securing a contract and launching a professional career.

exploitation attests to this. However, despite their struggles, African migrant players, including Isaak, rarely give up on their dream. Rather, they retain a belief that hard work, talent, luck, persistence and for some, divine intervention, will secure their and their family’s futures. Ten years after his move to Thailand, Isaak remained in the game. He had established himself in the lower reaches of the Thai game, playing for various clubs in third- and fourth-tier divisions. His career continued to be highly precarious and uncertain. Contracts were always short-term and his salary just enough to get by and occasionally send some money home. In 2020/21 Covid-19 resulted in the termination of his contract. Nonetheless, Isaak continued to view his career as a launching pad for Europe. A route to social mobility was restored with a new contract after the recommencement of Thailand’s third division. Like so many other African migrant footballers, Isaak will likely continue to labour and invest his physical capital in pursuit of a dream that’s unlikely to be realised. – theconversation.com ● For more on this story, visit theconversation.com where it was first published.

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YOUNG FOOTBALLERS ARE GETTING SCAMMED AND TRAFFICKED OVERSEAS

Fake football agents are preying on hopeful African players with the promise of trying out for the top clubs in Europe. Photo by blog.lboro.ac.uk

By Will Magee

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very year, more than 6,000 young African footballers arrive in Europe in the hope of securing a contract and launching a professional career. The figures, released by Francebased charity Foot Solidaire, are only a fraction of Africa’s total number of footballing emigrants if we take into account those travelling to other parts of the world for the same purpose. Talented and ambitious, the young men – generally aged between 14 and 21 – are mostly unaware of the risks involved in their adventure. For many of them, their dreams of becoming the next Samuel Eto’o or Didier Drogba eventually turn to nightmares. Authorities across Africa hold fake football agents responsible for the trafficking of these vulnerable young people. These shadowy figures are often part of a vast network of people in the football sphere who operate in the underworld. Without any valid licence, they nonetheless appear authentic. They sell success stories to the families and guardians of aspiring footballers, who often dazzled against their better judgment – like Cheikhou Ndiaye from Dakar, Senegal, whose young son was lured to Portugal and is yet to return. “I received a call asking for an appointment about my son, Bouba,” Ndiaye tells VICE. “The man on the other end said he watched my boy and that he was very good and had a bright future. I accepted and he came to my house accompanied by another man. They were both in their mid-30s. They looked refined. They were Senegalese but claimed they were based in Europe.” The men showed Ndiaye, his wife and his brother compelling evidence

Migrants and refugees staging a protest outside the UNHRC building in Tunisia demanding better life conditions and accommodation rights in Europe. Photo by Tassnim Nasri/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

of their son’s potential success – papers, ID cards, photos and videos of young African players already based in Europe. “After two other meetings I was made to pay 2.8 million francs CFA ($5,600), which I raised by selling my only plot of land,” Ndiaye says. “They went to the embassy with my son and came back with a visa on his passport. I was shocked and impressed because it was so swift. Getting an EU visa in Senegal is not easy. “And then they travelled to Portugal. My son called me after a month complaining that he was yet to have any trials with a club and that he was living with an old man in a small house. He said his agents handed

him some papers and left three days after their arrival. That was in 2019. We are yet to hear from our son. We don’t know if he is still alive. We are praying.” There are hundreds of similar cases each year from Senegal, according to the country’s Football Association, which claims the body is growing increasingly concerned about the safety of these young victims. Some, like Bouba, eventually lose contact with their worried families, raising questions about their survival. Others eventually return to their homeland to restart their lives, like Seydou Kabore from Burkina Faso, who was sponsored by his family to go to Marseille in France through another shadow agent. “We paid the agent 2.5 million francs ($5,000). He secured a sixmonth visa for me but did not travel with me,” he tells VICE. “I was 18 years old then. When I got to Marseille, a young white man came to take

me to a big house where I met other young Black aspiring footballers like me. Some came from central Africa, others from west and east Africa. They all said they paid money too.” The men were given food only once a day. French police raided the house twice and took those without valid visas away; Kabore heard that they were eventually deported. After a month passed and the promised trials failed to materialise, he called the phone number on the invitation letter from his agent. “The club asked me to quote the reference number on top of the letter and when I did, they said the letter was not from them,” he says. “With two weeks to the expiration of my visa I decided to return to my country. It was a gut-wrenching experience that forced me to abandon my football dream. I am now 25 and jobless. What I realised finally was that we were as naïve as our families.” Observers and experts keep blaming African football associations for not doing enough to educate and protect young players, and say that parents and guardians must do their homework before letting loved ones abscond with shady agents. But it’s not always that straightforward. Bassirou Sakho, a Fifa agent registered with the English Football Association and co-founder of Playmaker Sport Agency, urges African FAs to make the names of accredited agents available on their respective websites to allow easy verification. “Most parents of these young boys are illiterate and therefore cannot easily do the necessary research,” he says. “If the names of affiliated agents are available on the FAs websites it would help the families check and see whether the person coming after their boy is authentic or not. But what I would like to say to parents is never give any money to an agent.

Agents get paid when the player signs a contract and not before.” Some FAs claim they are doing their best to curb player trafficking, but parents and guardians don’t make the task easy. Fifa regulations do not encourage international transfers of players under the age of 18, save for some conditions. Yet, these prospects keep travelling “with the blessings of their families”, says Augustin Senghor, Senegal FA president. “Nobody likes the phenomenon. We are all against it. But how do they secure visas? They get parental authorisation, duly legalised. Some even alter their age so that they don’t look too young. Families never come to us to seek assistance. The only thing they see is the future success of their boy in a big club in Europe. We have organised several awareness campaigns, ‘stop giving money to agents’, yet money still changes hands. It’s a pity.” Another FA official compares the football trafficking situation to human capital flight or brain drain, which he says could ultimately affect domestic leagues in Africa. “No young player wants to play or remain in the local leagues. They all want to hit Europe as soon as possible and that is why they easily fall victim to criminals,” says Malick Tohe of Cote D’Ivoire football federation. There are a growing number of complaints about football trafficking in other destinations and territories other than Europe, such as North Africa and Gulf countries. Some players from sub-Saharan Africa end their journeys in Tunisia, Morocco or Egypt. Some get as far as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and even Bahrain, ending up stranded and in danger.

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