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The late Umhlobo Wenene FM popular sports presenter Loyiso Sitsheke. Image:   FACEBOOK/Loyiso Sitsheke Umhlobo Wenene  FM listeners have been plunged into mourning after the shock death of popular sports anchor and news producer Loyiso Sitsheke on Wednesday. Stunned Umhlobo Wenene  station manager Phumzile Mnci  said he had not come to terms with the sudden death of the popular  presenter. “Where do I start?” he said.“We received the news of Loyd’s passing this afternoon (on Wednesday afternoon)….. we are shocked.“It is with great shock and sadness…..”Sitsheke was on air on Umhlobo Wenene FM on Tuesday and stunned listeners took to social media to communicate their shock after the news broke on Wednesday. Mnci paid tribute to Sitsheke  and said his death is a huge loss to the nation and not just to the radio station’s listeners. He described him as an extremely talented presenter who is leaving behind a powerful legacy afte...

"You can cycle, you can run, you can walk."   This is according to cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Wednesday night, as she detailed what movements were allowed under level 4 lockdown restrictions, which kick in from Friday. "You can leave and go and exercise," said Dlamini-Zuma, adding that this was said by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week. "Under these regulations, you can cycle, you can run, you can walk - but it will have to be within your neighbourhood, within 5km radius of your home. And it will not be under organised groups - you can't run as  a club or a group. You can ... do it between 6am and 9am," she said. She said that social distancing was still paramount. Earlier in the briefing, Dlamini-Zuma said South Africans made more than 70,000 submissions to government over the proposed regulations under level 4 of the nationwide lockdown, Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Ove...

Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma explained the conditions of level 4 lockdown on Wednesday night. Image:   GCIS Alcohol and cigarettes would not be allowed under level 4 restrictions, the government said on Wednesday night. "Alcohol is not allowed yet on level 4," said Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. On top of this, for "health reasons", cigarettes, tobacco and related products - including vaping - would also not be allowed. Dlamini-Zuma said there were about 2,000 public comments against a proposal to allow the sale of cigarettes. There was also discussion within the government. "Government took that into consideration and debated the merits and looked at it and decided that we must continue as we are when it comes to cigarettes and tobacco products and related, that we should not open up the sale," she said. "The reasons are health-related. It hasn't been allowed, it's still not allowed - just like...

Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa. His union has approached the labour court to force the department of mineral resources & energy to set minimum standards for health and safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. Image:   REUTERS The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has not tendered any evidence to prove that employers are not protecting miners from Covid-19, the government told the labour court. Amcu has approached the labour court to force the department of mineral resources & energy to set minimum standards for health and safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. The application follows a decision by the government to allow mines to operate at 50% capacity during the lockdown. Mark Wesley, a lawyer representing the ministers of minerals and energy and co-operative governance & traditional affairs, on Wednesday submitted that the government was not opposed to putting interim measures in place. However, the ministers, he said, were o...

More than half of South Africa's youth is unemployed. Image:   123RF Stock Banking details, proof of residence and identity number will be required for South Africans applying for the monthly R350 coronavirus social relief distress fund. The government on Wednesday released the criteria to qualify for the monthly unemployment stipend during the lockdown which will be administered by the South African Social Security Agency [Sassa]. This comes after the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week that  R500bn had been set aside towards assisting South Africans negatively impacted by the lockdown which he said would see an increase in social welfare grants as well as payment to those who are unemployed. Ramaphosa said for the child grant would be increased by R300 for May, and by an additional R500  for each child caregiver for five months thereafter, an additional R250 towards all other grant recipients and R350 for those not receiving any for...

A law academic from the University of Pretoria has been appointed to serve on the Institut de Droit International's commission on pandemics and international law. With this appointment Professor Dire Tladi joins the crème de la crème of leading international lawyers such as former president of the International Criminal Tribunal Theodore Meron and judge of the International Court of Justice Xue Hanqin. “I am honoured. There are some really excellent international lawyers on the commission, and I hope to make my little contribution to what is an important topic,”  Tladi said. “The commission will be responsible for preparing draft articles for the IDI. As a member of the commission, I hope to use my experience and knowledge to contribute to drafting suggestions, proposals as well as legal positions for the draft articles and commentaries,” he said. Tladi's appointment comes at the height of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. He said he hopes to make a difference in the ...

Petrol is set to drop by about R1.74 a litre in May, with diesel falling by R1.56 and illuminating paraffin a whopping R2.18. Image:   scyther5 / 123rf May 2020 will soon join April in setting back-to-back records for monthly fuel price drops. This is according to the Automobile Association (AA), which was commenting on unaudited month-end data released by the Central Energy Fund. Against the backdrop of the international oil picture, even the disastrous performance of the rand vs the US dollar in April barely moved the needle on local fuel prices. The local currency's average value against the dollar plunged from R16.45 on March 26 to R18.45 on April 28, with daily peaks in excess of R19 to the dollar. “The rand has been pummelled by Covid-19 and the Moody's downgrade to junk status, and yet we are still able to predict record-territory fuel price drops. This goes to show just how severely the world oil price has collapsed.” Petrol is set to drop by...

KZN education MEC Kwazi Mshengu visited Mzuvele High school in KwaMashu, north of Durban. The school was set on fire on Saturday Image:   Sandile Ndlovu KwaZulu-Natal education MEC Kwazi Mshengu says the continued burning and burgling of schools in the province is part of a ploy to get the government to hire private security. “What is clear in our minds is that we are dealing with a criminal syndicate which is trying to communicate a particular message to the government. We suspect that this syndicate is not far from the economic interests and demands we continue to get from people who say until you hire private security to guard your school, we will continue to have these burglaries and burning of schools,” said Mshengu. He was speaking at Mzuvele High School in KwaMashu, north of Durban, on Wednesday, after a classroom was set on fire at the weekend. Since the start of the lockdown, more than 225 schools in the province have either been set on fire or burgled....

The Tshwane Metro city council. Picture: THAPELO MOREBUDI The high court in Pretoria has set aside the dissolution of the Tshwane council, saying the move was inappropriate, unlawful and drastic. The council was dissolved by the Gauteng provincial government in March after council meetings constantly collapsed. The municipality had no mayor, no mayoral committee and no municipal manager at the time that it was dissolved.  The DA brought the court application to challenge the decision by the ANC-led provincial government that dissolved the council. The municipality was governed by a DA-led coalition after the 2016 local government elections until mayor Stevens Mokgalapa was voted out of office.  In a significant victory for the DA, the high court said the decision by the provincial government was too drastic. It said there were less intrusive measures that could have been taken by the provincial executive to address the root cause of the cou...

The post-lockdown back to school date is yet to be finalised. Image:   123RF/olegdudko The department of basic education appeared to backtrack on Wednesday from the announcement that schools would partially reopen for certain pupils next week. “We can't say we are presenting a cast-in-stone plan. Yesterday, after presenting to the social cluster, they indicated that the date of May 6 is not realistic and we need to change it. “In the presentation that I have now, that date is changed,” said basic education deputy minister Makgabo Reginah Mhaule on Wednesday. This came just more than an hour after the department's director-general Mathanzima Mweli told MPs that schools would partially reopen on May 6 for Grade 12 and Grade 7 pupils. It was also after MPs raised concerns about the plan to reopen schools next week, questioning the readiness of the department, with one going as far as saying the department was risking lives to save the school year. Mhaule ...

There is no indication yet of what practical protective measures schools and other education institutions would be required to take when schools reopen, the writer says. Image:   Pixabay This week, cabinet ministers responsible for education are expected to tell us when and how schools and universities are likely to re-open. On Monday, basic education minister Angie Motshekga and her higher education counterpart Blade Nzimande postponed a scheduled briefing, saying they needed more time to align with other interventions that were to be taken by the National Command Council later this week. Presumably the postponement is also to give time for further consultations with teacher unions in particular, who have raised questions about safety measures to be taken in schools. A leaked draft plan by the basic education department indicated that the government was considering to resume schooling in a phased approach with matric pupils going back first, fol...

Dineo Ranaka Image:   Instagram/ Dineo Ranaka Dineo Ranaka will host the SA Film and Television Awards (Saftas) today - the first time in their 14-year history that the awards are going virtual. Sowetan first reported three weeks ago about the move by organisers, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), to rework the big budget red carpet ceremony into something smaller after the national lockdown was announced. The winners of the awards - that were originally scheduled to take place on March 27 and 28 in Sandton, Johannesburg - will be announced by Ranaka on Twitter from 5pm. The announcement on social media will incorporate visual effects and video clips that Ranaka has pre-recorded from her home. "I'm excited; I'm always open to doing things a little different than the norm, so this is another one of those seldom opportunities to share my talents uniquely," Ranaka said. "The only major difference is that the production has no phys...

Just R21,16. This is how much a driver of a major bus company took home last week after being put on unpaid leave since the lockdown began last month. His payslip - which Sowetan has seen - shows that the man earns a weekly salary of R2,416. His company deducted 37 hours-worth of income which he was told to claim from the Unemployed Insurance Fund (UIF) as per government's Covid-19 relief benefits. The man, who would not be named, is one of at least 22,000 bus company employees nationwide who are in limbo, as their bargaining council waits for the UIF to settle their claim after their industry was forced to reduce operations due to the national lockdown. Another quarter of a million workers in SA will also not be getting their salaries this month. Employment and labour minister Thulas Nxesi announced in Pretoria yesterday that employers of the 220,000 workers who are entitled to UIF benefits had not applied and made claims to the fund for the benefits. "There...

Disgruntled community members from Booysens squatter camp have blocked Eloff Street. Image:   JMPD Protesters have taken to the streets on Tuesday morning blocking several roads with burning tyres and rocks, Johannesburg metro police department said. JMPD spokesman Wayne Minnaar said disgruntled community members from Booysens squatter camp have blocked Eloff Street. Minnaar said Selby and Rosettenville were also affected. “This community is complaining about food, they have not received food parcels since the lockdown has been in progress.” Law enforcement is currently on the scene. Smuggling between South Africa and Zimbabwe is rife in Musina, Limpopo. Zimbabweans, facing a dire food security situation, can no longer buy food in the town as the coronavirus pandemic has led to the closure of the border to South Africa. Despite the erection of a R37 million fence, which was completed on April 20 2020, food is still regularly being smuggled into Zim...

Patrik Berger of Liverpool passes the ball from Ntsie Maphike during the Legends match between Liverpool FC Legends and Kaizer Chiefs Legends at Moses Mabhida Stadium on November 16, 2013 in Durban, South Africa. Image:   Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images Kaizer Chiefs legend Ntsie Maphike has warned football players to plan beyond their playing years and invest in education. Maphike described a footballer’s life as 'a vicious circle that can only be broken by education' and advised players to invest their time in studying. The former Amakhosi left-back has followed his own advice and is preparing for his examinations in June. The man affectionately known as 'Teargas' said he took advantage of an opportunity he had back in his playing days to build a solid academic fountain for life after football. "Football then was not a full-time [job]‚ this afforded me the opportunity to study and play at the same time‚" said the UNISA law student. "...