A Lancet article reporting on children’s height and weight changes over the past thirty years makes for grim reading when it comes to South Africa.
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News24.com | Rapist who lured unemployed women with promise of work sentenced to 3 life terms plus 134 years
A rapist has been sentenced by a court.
- Kagiso resident Percy Matimba Chauke is believed to have lured his victims with the promise of job opportunities.
- He took pictures of their private parts, threatening to post it on social media if they reported him to the police.
- Acting Judge Johnson said the accused had no conscience.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg sentenced a serial rapist from Kagiso to three life terms and 134 years imprisonment.
Percy Matimba Chauke, 36, faced nine counts of rape, six of robbery and one of theft.
He targeted unemployed women between May 2016 and July 2017. He lured the women by promising job opportunities.
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, Chauke convinced victims he was taking them to prospective recruiters. He would direct the women to a veld, where he threatened them with a gun or knife. He then raped and robbed them of their cash and belongings.
“He would then leave them in the veld. The victims would get to the road for help. In some instances, he would innocently talk to women waiting for taxis on the side of the road in and around Krugersdorp.
“He would, thereafter, threatened them with a firearm or a knife, lead them to secluded areas or bushes, rape them and rob them of their belongings,” said Mjonondwane.
READ | Rape-accused Mpumalanga politician, step son, released on bail
During the trial, the State prosecutor, advocate Pakanyiswa Marasela, told the court the accused, after raping three victims, took pictures of their private parts and threatened to circulate it on social media if they reported him to the police.
Witnesses
The State brought forward 10 witnesses to take the stand.
It also called the victims to testify in aggravation of sentence.
Marasela asked the court not to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence of life imprisonment.
The prosecutor also argued that the accused committed the crimes over a protracted period, meaning it was not opportunistic but deliberate.
Mjonondwane said the court found that Chauke’s conduct was inhumane and stripped the women of their dignity.
“Acting Judge Johnson remarked that Chauke has no [conscience] at all, even in court he was trying by all means possible to delay the case, thereby also delaying the process of closure for the witnesses.”
News24.com | R10m a year spent on flights for ex cabinet ministers, MPs, says DA as it calls on AG to investigate
(Photo by Gallo Images/Jeffrey Abrahams)
- The DA has written to the Office of the Auditor-General requesting an investigation into Parliament’s expenditure on flights for former cabinet ministers.
- According to data the DA collated, Parliament has spent around R10 million annually to pay for the luxury flights.
- Opposition MPs who served in government were also found to be racking up high travel costs.
The DA has called on the Auditor-General to investigate Parliament for spending millions on jet-setting former cabinet ministers.
This followed reports of former ministers and their spouses who continue to fly business class at the expense of cash-strapped taxpayers.
According to data the DA collated, Parliament had spent around R10 million annually to pay for the luxury flights.
READ | R25 million to refurbish parliamentary kitchens? ‘Not in my name!’ says Speaker Modise
In a statement, DA spokesperson on public service and administration, Leon Schreiber, said Malusi Gigaba and his spouse, received R200 413 for flights.
He also said:
- Former energy minister Tina Joematt-Pettersson received R443 850 to finance her flights;
- Former finance minister Des van Rooyen got R242 015 for flights;
- Fikile Mbalula and his spouse received R183 920 in flight tickets; and
- Former ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman received R94 261, while former State Security Minister Bongani Bongo got R78 000 in flight tickets.
Bongo is currently facing charges of bribery and corruption after allegedly trying to bribe a parliamentary official.
These amounts were totals for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial years.
Schreiber said some ANC members who belatedly pretended to speak out against corruption to save their own skins also scored big.
“Enoch Godongwana, who got R240 442 from the people of South Africa over the last two years. Derek Hanekom, who had no qualms about wasting R114 432 of taxpayer money on luxury flight tickets last year. Roelf Meyer, who used R224 966 in taxpayer money for flights over the last two years. Trevor Manuel, who milked taxpayers to the tune of R312 135 over the last two years and Mcebisi Jonas and his spouse, who spent R378 290 on luxury flights in two years,” he said.
READ ALSO | MPs’ villages in for a massive R88 million upgrade, Patricia De Lille confirms
Schreiber said it was, however, not only ANC members flying around the country on taxpayer expense.
“Pieter Mulder, former leader of the Freedom Front Plus and an enthusiastic member of the Zuma government, and his spouse used R144 795 in taxpayer money for business class tickets. Mosiuoa Lekota, leader of Cope, gladly accepted R74 777 in business class flights and Mosibudi Mangena, former leader of Azapo, spent R344 231,” he said.
Screiber added:
Not only are these luxury flights an immoral and corrupt waste of money at a time when more South Africans than ever have been dumped into poverty by the policies of the very people who continue to live in luxury, but the DA also believes that the granting of these benefits is illegal.
In his letter to the AG, Schreiber said he believed the flights costs amounted to grossly irregular expenditure by Parliament.
“It thus appears that this benefit has been paid out throughout the 26 years of our democracy despite the fact that there is no legal basis for it whatsoever, while also flagrantly violating the constitutionally-mandated separation between the legislature and the executive,” he said.
Parliament was yet to respond to a request for comment.
Senior Web Developer (Pretoria)
Are you passionate about software development? Do you want to be apart of a passionate, honest, and dynamic development team? Vibrant, successful and values orientated financial services company are looking for a senior web developer to join their dynamic team of passionate developers who live and breathe software.
You will be required to design, develop, implement, and support web and Windows-based applications.
Requirements:
- Minimum seven years or more experience in software development
- Good knowledge of the .Net platform, and C# or Angular
- Deep knowledge of .Net Core
- Excellent software design skills
- Experience with agile process and technical practices
- Automated testing experience
Advantageous:
- Xamarin/native mobile experience JS framework experience (Angular, Flux, React)
- F# experience
- JS framework experience (Angular, Flux, React)
- Azure/AWS experience
Reference number for this position is KH51676 which is a permanent position based in Centurion offering a cost to company salary of R1m per annum negotiable on experience and ability. Contact Kayleigh on az.oc.egrem-e@HhgielyaK or call her on 011 463 3633 to discuss this and other opportunities.
Are you ready for a change of scenery? E-Merge IT Recruitment is a specialist niche recruitment agency. We offer our candidates options so that we can successfully place the right developers with the right companies in the right roles. Check out the E-Merge website www.e-merge.co.za for more great positions.
Do you have a friend who is a developer or technology specialist? We pay cash for successful referrals!
https://www.e-merge.co.za/careers/referralprogramme/
Posted on 24 Nov 16:34
News24.com | Covid-hit Sharks to field depleted side against Pumas
Sharks coach Sean Everitt. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images)
As a result of the recent Covid-19 outbreak within the team, the Sharks will be missing a lot of first-choice players when they host the Pumas in the Currie Cup this weekend.
The Sharks are missing as many as 10 players who have been sidelined with Covid-19, or are in isolation because of contact with infected players, ahead of their Currie Cup opener in Durban on Friday night.
They did at least receive some good news this week after Springbok prop Thomas du Toit was declared fit again, but Sharks CEO Eduard Coetzee knows they will still be up against this weekend.
“We were able to get the squad tested on Sunday and while we have no new cases, we are still without the 10 players from last week,” Coetzee said. “Sometimes you can take all possible precautions but nothing is full proof.
“You will see when the team is announced that we are heavily hit in the front row and at loose forward, but we will have to make a plan and carry on. We must play. We can’t afford to lose more points on the log.”
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak amongst the Sharks players, last weekend’s clash with the Stormers was called off and both teams received two points instead. It not only allowed the Bulls to beat the Pumas on Saturday and clinch the Super Rugby Unlocked crown, but it also allowed Jake White’s side to stretch their lead at the top of the table, as Super Rugby log points are carried forward into the Currie Cup competition.
Weakened side or now, Coetzee said the show must go on for the Sharks.
“We have no reason not to play,” he said. “Our side will be re-jigged and that means opportunities for the guys who have been on the fringes.”
Kick-off at Kings Park is at 19:00 on Friday.
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Health24.com | Heavy birth weight may increase risk of heart problems
- There is a risk of atrial fibrillation in adulthood for babies who were born with a higher body weight
- Maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle early on can, however, prevent the onset of AF later in life
- Pregnant mothers should also pay more attention to diet control and have regular check-ups
Research presented at the 31st Great Wall International Congress of Cardiology (GW-ICC) indicates that elevated birth weight can be associated with atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rate) in adulthood.
Previous studies have indicated that a high BMI during pregnancy is linked to atrial fibrillation in offspring, and advised that preventing maternal obesity can lessen the likelihood of the condition.
Now a study authored by Dr Songzan Chen of Zhejiang University suggests that there is a risk of atrial fibrillation in adulthood for babies who were born with a higher body weight (over 4 000 grams). Researchers conducted a trial using data from 321 223 individuals “to identify 132 genetic variants associated with birth weight”.
The relationship between birth weight and atrial fibrillation
Dr Chen found that there is a causal relationship between birth weight and atrial fibrillation. Also, birth weight presents an indication of adult height, and the risk of atrial fibrillation is higher in tall people.
However, maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle early on can prevent the onset of AF later in life.
Elevated birth weight preventable
According to Professor Guosheng Fu of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, ”reducing the number of newborns with elevated birth weight is probably considered as a feasible prevention to ease the burden of atrial fibrillation. Therefore, pregnant women should pay more attention to diet control and regular check-ups, especially for those with obesity or diabetes.”
People who were born with higher weight should also try to avoid other triggers of AF, such as drinking alcohol, obesity, smoking and drinking caffeinated drinks, as these increase the risk. Dr Chen emphasised that these individuals should adopt a healthy lifestyle to lower their chances of developing AF.
Image credit: Unsplash
Designer (Ballito)
| Remuneration: | R8000 – R12000 per month Basic salary |
| Location: | Ballito |
| Job level: | Junior/Mid |
| Company: | The Media Shack |
Job description
We are looking for a young, creative designer to join us working from a home office on e-commerce product designs, social media management and interaction with online clients, as well as the maintenance of several e-commerce store products
- Preparing and presenting designs for an e-commerce store sales
- Proof artwork for initial and final approval
- Upload and maintenance of e-commerce products
- Social media management, posting in interaction
Requirements
- Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
- Creative Conceptual Design
- Design and development of visual elements
- Finished Art
- Attention to detail
- Key visual roll-out
- Image retouching
- Design for print and digital
- HTML and CSS
- WordPress experience
- Shopify experience
Posted on 24 Nov 13:05
C# Developer – Razor (Johannesburg)
| Remuneration: | R650000 – R700000 per year |
| Location: | Johannesburg |
| Education level: | Degree |
| Job level: | Senior |
| Type: | Permanent |
| Reference: | #SP51051 |
| Company: | E-Merge IT Recruitment |
Are you a skilled C# developer with Razor experience? One of South Africa’s top Insurance Groups is looking for a highly skilled software developer to join their collaborative team. This role is perfect for a software developer with extensive coding skills and an understanding of deep software engineering.
You will be working on an ongoing project using cutting edge tech including Blazor.
What you will need to join the team:
- Five+ years of coding experience C#
- Extensive experience Razor
- Experience with JavaScript, TypeScript, and REST
- OO Design and solid Principals
- Blazor experience is a plus
Take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and become an industry innovator. Don’t wait. Apply now.
Reference number for this position is SP51051 which is a permanent position based in Johannesburg offering R700,000 per annum cost to company salary negotiable on experience and ability. Contact Sanchia Penny on az.oc.egrem-e@paihcnas call her on 011 463 3633 to discuss this and other opportunities.
Are you ready for a change of scenery? E-Merge IT Recruitment is a specialist niche recruitment agency. We offer our candidates options so that we can successfully place the right developers with the right companies in the right roles. Check out the E-Merge website www.e-merge.co.za for more great positions.
Do you have a friend who is a developer or technology specialist? We pay cash for successful referrals!
https://www.e-merge.co.za/careers/referralprogramme/
Posted on 24 Nov 12:30
SQL DBA/Developer (Durban)
| Location: | Durban |
| Education level: | Degree |
| Job level: | Mid/Senior |
| Type: | Permanent |
| Company: | Goldman |
We have an amazing opportunity for SQL DBA/Developer in Durban!
We require a candidate with:
- Degree or Diploma
- 5-7 years’ experience in a commercial environment.
- 5+ years’ experience in MSSQL – all aspects.
- Optimization and fine tuning all aspects of MSSQL.
- Advanced SQL skills and query writing skills.
- Experience in designing/optimizing MSSQL Databases.
Should you meet the requirements for this position, please email your CV to it.careers@goldmantech.co.za. You can also contact the IT team on 031 350 4019 or alternatively you can visit our website www.goldmantech.co.za
Should you not hear from us within 3 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.
Posted on 24 Nov 08:48
DevOps Engineer (Durban)
| Location: | Durban |
| Education level: | Degree |
| Job level: | Mid/Senior |
| Type: | Permanent |
| Company: | Goldman |
We have an amazing opportunity for a DevOps Engineer in Durban!
We require a candidate with:
Required Qualifications/Certifications:
- Completed or studying towards a relevant Degree or Diploma.
- Microsoft Office – Word, Excel, PowerPoint (Intermediate to Advanced)
- DevOps or Related
Required Experience and Skills:
- Minimum 3 years’ experience working as a developer and/or DevOps Engineer.
- Intermediate technical experience with SQL, C#, .NET, Windows Server, PowerShell, and web-based systems.
- Practical experience with CI/CD technologies, automated deployments, and source control.
- Strong understanding of setting up and managing Production and UAT environments.
- Good understanding of Agile and scrum processes.
- Good understanding of any of the following Build Servers (TFS, Jenkins, Team City).
- Solid understanding of IIS.
- Knowledge of Windows Servers, SQL Server and Docker.
Should you meet the requirements for this position, please email your CV to it.careers@goldmantech.co.za. You can also contact the IT team on 031 350 4019 or alternatively you can visit our website www.goldmantech.co.za . Should you not hear from us within 3 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.
Posted on 24 Nov 08:46