Category Archives: South African News

News24.com | Dog found with necklace, ‘engagement’ ring stumps Capetonians – but there’s a ‘pretty’ simple explanation

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It’s not every day that you come across a dog adorned with seemingly valuable jewellery on the street.

So when a puppy was found tied to a pole in Milnerton this week, wearing a pendant necklace and an engagement ring attached to its  collar, Capetonians scratched their heads in wonder.

It was not long before they came up with all sorts of theories on Cheryl-Lyn’s Rescue Organisation Facebook page, where photos of the well looked-after pooch were posted.

Many thought that it was the sign of a relationship hitting the rocks.

“Maybe they broke up and she gave the ring back… And he’s dumped her dog and the ring… Who knows… very sad this,” said one woman.

Another said: “So strange. Maybe a relationship squabble and girlfriend wanted to make a statement to bf by dumping his dog with jewellery he gave her . Really wierd [sic].”

A few thought it was a proposal gone wrong.

Someone suggested a man had perhaps tried to propose using their beloved dog but “something happened to them en route”, while another said: “Gosh. All I can picture is a dude bringing his girlfriend to that spot to surprise her with a puppy and a proposal and pupper is gone!”

On the back of depressing news about the GDP shrinking, it was inevitable that some would think the economy was to blame.

“I must be honest – I won’t be surprised if this doggie comes from a very loving home, but they are unable to care for it. So instead of taking it to a shelter, they tie it up hoping a good person will cross its path,” one woman said. “So the jewelry was placed on the dog, that whom ever finds the dog will take care of it. Jewelry can be sold in order to buy dog food… Sjoe… It’s so sad what ever the story might be.”

Other wild theories included themes of crime and even suicide.

But the truth turned out to be far simpler.

(Cheryl-Lin's Rescue Organisation)

(Supplied)

Rescue organisation owner Cheryl-Lyn Potgieter told News24 that it subsequently emerged the dog belonged to a woman living on the street.

While it looked valuable, the items were costume jewellery.

“She said she just wanted her dog to look pretty.”

Potgieter said one man had phoned to claim that it was his wife’s ring that was stolen in Milnerton but he couldn’t produce photos.

She hoped that people would pay as much attention, or even more, to the many cases of animal cruelty that she dealt with every day in the Table View area.

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News24.com | Farmer’s chilling words to his wife before robbery: ‘They’re coming’

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“They’re coming!”

These were the chilling words that a Stellenbosch protea farmer shouted to his wife while doing a security check after hearing that a farmer in the region had been shot dead.

“It’s devastating,” an emotional Gerald Knight told News24 about being robbed hours after Louiesenhof vintner Stefan Smit was murdered.

“We’ve lived here for 25 years and right now, I feel like just leaving,” said Knight.

However, he has his protea plantation to look after, even if he is in terrible pain from the broken ribs he sustained during the robbery.

The Knights were ambushed by three robbers on Sunday night while doing a safety check following an alarming WhatsApp group message about Smit’s murder.

“The WhatsApp message told us to just close everything,” said Knight.

He then went to check if the back door was closed, and as he rounded a corner, he caught sight of somebody through the window.

“I screamed at Marie. I said, ‘They’re coming.'”

Horror

Taking deep breaths in between relating the horror that unfolded, Knight said two men broke their burglar bars with a crowbar and attempted to enter the house.

“I actually stopped them from coming in because I didn’t know where in the house my wife was.

“Then, he [one of the robbers] entered with a gun. And as he came in, he knocked me across the room into the kitchen cupboard. That’s when I broke my ribs.”

He was hit on the leg by one of the men who was demanding to know where his watch was.

“I have not worn a watch for 25 years,” he continued.

The second robber ran through the house to find his wife who had by then locked herself and their dogs in the “panic room”.

The couple used to breed Dobermanns.

Knight is convinced that their dogs would have been shot dead if they had let them out.

His wife activated the panic button just as a third robber tried to get in.

Knight said they took a 32-inch television set, a camera lens that was on the kitchen counter, cellphones and his wallet.

“They were literally in and out in five minutes. It was absolutely horrible.”

Their security company and the police arrived shortly afterward.

“The police were fantastic,” said Knight.

Earlier, Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel André Traut said investigations were ongoing into the Louiesenhof murder as well as a robbery at the Glen Gall Farm in Klapmuts outside Stellenbosch on Tuesday morning.

In that incident, a woman and children were robbed.

At Louiesenhof, the Smit family trust recently concluded the sale of a portion of land on Watergang to the Stellenbosch municipality for R45m after it was occupied by a group of backyarders who renamed it Azania. The deal is still in the transfer stage.

Farmers in the region are jittery after the murder and robberies, which happened soon after Bonnievale wine farmer Tool Wessels was killed and his wife, Liezel, was seriously injured in May.

READ: ‘There is heartache’ – cleric says Bonnievale rallying around family of farm attack victims

Condemnation of the attacks and sympathy for the victims have come from all quarters, ranging from farmers associations and political parties to farmworkers’ association.

Vinpro and AgriSA have appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa to take strong action against attacks on the agricultural sector and improve rural safety.

Louiesenhof is ironically next door to Beyerskloof, which has hosted meetings between presidents and farmers, most recently Ramaphosa.

Vinpro spokesperson Wanda Augustyn said: “As can be expected, the mood following the attacks is sombre.

“From Vinpro’s side, we are calling on wine-farming communities to be vigilant with regards to their own security and work together by becoming involved in policing or safety initiatives in their areas.”

Western Cape safety and agriculture MECs Albert Fritz and Ivan Meyer said they would urgently take up the matter with the police and the National Prosecuting Authority, adding that they would also start working on extra rural safety measures.

In the meantime, Knight said they had not gone for trauma counselling, adding that he would prefer to work through it himself. However, they are receiving good support from their family.

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Africa, a world of investment opportunity

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Africa boasts some of the fastest growing regions, supported by strong population growth, technological innovation and infrastructure deficit. However despite the wealth of opportunity across the continent it comes with its fair share of Africa specific risk.

According to Gyongyi King, chief investment officer at Alexander Forbes Investments, Africa presents the following opportunities for investors:

  • Long-term growth
  • Africa has attractive demographics in an ageing global economy. Africa is set to have a larger working population than both China and India by 2034;
  • Infrastructure
  • Africa requires material infrastructure investment to service its growing population. Sustainable infrastructure development across road, rail, energy will drive the growth of private enterprise in Africa. Infrastructure transactions dominate the private markets landscape in Africa, accounting for $12bn (R18bn), according to the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA). Despite this material private sector investment, the infrastructure deficit remains huge, requiring the continued mobilisation of both local (public and private sector) coupled with international investment in order to ensure its rapidly urbanising population have the means by which to realise the embedded growth potential of the continent;
  • Unlisted credit
  • African corporates are underbanked relative to development markets. Greater institutional investment in unlisted credit across the continent will enable private enterprise to grow and scale in a cost effective manner so as to better meet the needs of its growing population;
  • Private equity
  • Private equity (PE) in Africa remains a pivotal asset class in funding the economic growth of the continent. In a study by AVCA over $24bn (R250bn) of new funding was raised over 2012–2017 for PE in Africa – almost double the size of the South African PE industry, an indication of size of the investable opportunity in Africa. International development finance institutions dominate the fundraising landscape across Africa. These and other institutions need to assist in mobilising greater pension fund and institutional investments across the region;
  • Direct property
  • The deficit in available quality retail and office space across the continent is notable with current infrastructure unable to support the demands of a rapidly urbanising population and foreign corporate and retail entrants across the continent;
  • Technology
  • In Africa, even more than elsewhere in the world, technology is improving people’s lives. A telecommunications company brings an increased focus on internet penetration across West Africa with applications ranging from voice communication to internet-based learning and price discovery platforms, to mention a few.

Mobile money offering

Moving to East Africa, a company’s leapfrog technology has transformed local communities through a mobile money offering. It has allowed the local community to advance from the formal banking model to transacting and making payments on their mobiles with ease. In turn, mobile-based products provide a platform where large corporate customers can place orders for agricultural crops from the farmers without the intervention of agricultural traders.

Collectively, these technological advancements have benefits which promote a cross-pollination of growth opportunities across sectors.

Unlisted assets

Despite the listed exchanges in Africa having made progress in deepening their coverage of local economies through improved corporate representation, the real untapped opportunity from a South African investor perspective are unlisted assets in Africa, says David Moore, head of alternatives at Alexander Forbes Investments.

Unlisted assets in Africa which can be categorised into several sub-asset classes namely unlisted credit, infrastructure, direct property and private equity:

  • have attractive US dollar-linked return profiles;
  • are lowly correlated with conventional South African asset classes; and
  • can create sustainable impact in the jurisdictions in which they operate.

Private equity

The Pensions Fund Act, has increased the Africa investment allocation from 5% to 10%, now allowing SA investors greater access to these alternative sources of investment return.

“It is important for investors to be mindful of the nuances that frame African markets. Characteristics such as illiquidity, regulation and political uncertainty make investing in Africa something that requires patience on behalf of investors. However, we still believe that opportunity exists, with access to some of the fastest-growing regions and rapid urbanisation. This gives rise to untapped investment opportunity, supported by policy reform and political improvements,” says King.

Report on stakeholder feedback on the reform of interest rate benchmarks in South Africa – May 2019

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Publish Date: 2019-06-05
Category: Markets Consultation Paper
Author: Financial Markets

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) published a ‘Consultation paper on selected interest rate benchmarks in South Africa’ on 30 August 2018. The paper contains proposals on the reform of key interest rate benchmarks used in South Africa as well as proposals on a suite of new benchmarks that could potentially be used as alternative reference interest rates. The paper was published to solicit input from the public on the proposals contained therein…

​

Attachments:

News24.com | Flooding hit parts of Cape Town as winter’s first heavy downpour wreaks havoc

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Steady downpours on Tuesday has left parts of Cape Town flooded and many roads inaccessible.

The City of Cape Town’s JP Smith said they have received numerous complaints of flooding from various areas.

Smith said he assisted a ward councillor at the Backstage area near Walter Sisulu Road in Khayelitsha to drain water.

He was in the area attending a neighbourhood watch event with the councillor when they received reports of flooding in Khayelitsha.

“Walter Sisulu Road was badly flooded and we may need to activate emergency overnight accommodation,” he said.

Emergency personnel assisted to clear part of the N2 outgoing under the railway bridge before Liesbeek Parkway. The freeway was down to a single lane which has caused a major tailback along the hospital bend and Nelson Mandela Boulevard, stretching into the city.

He said central mobile emergency units managed to clear a blocked drain on the N2 outbound before Liesbeeck Parkway.

Several roads in Manenberg were also flooded, with some residents tweeting pictures of people standing waist-high in water, with some images showing a flooded home.

Roads in Eversdal, Bellville, Cravenby, Green Point, Elsies River, Salt River, Durbanville, Rondebosch, Maitland, Brackenfell and Heideveld also remain blocked at the time of publishing.

Isolated showers and rain will continue in the Western Cape as the cold front moves across the country on Wednesday, according to the South African Weather Service.

Gale force westerly to south-westerly winds of 60-75km/h are expected along the coastal regions between Cape Point and Plettenberg Bay in the morning, spreading to Cannon Rocks by the afternoon.

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News24.com | World’s biggest YouTuber PewDiePie roasts Zuma, says numbers are his ‘number 1 enemy’

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Hardly a day after it was released, a YouTube video by PewDiePie mocking former president Jacob Zuma has attracted over 400 000 viewers.

Swedish-born Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, who has over 96 million subscribers released a 11:59 minute long music video titled “He can’t count” where he teases Msholozi, as Zuma is popularly known.

“Have you heard about this guy? Does his face ring a bell,” he asks, before struggling to announce Zuma’s other name, Gedleyihlekisa.

“Jacob Zuma,” screams PewDiePie when he introduces Zuma followed by an image of Zuma seated next to former first lady Graça Machel.

“Now you understand? This man is the former president of South Africa. And here you can find him breaking it down…” he says while showing a video of Zuma doing his signature dance moves at what looks like an ANC event.

He then goes on to say “if there’s one thing about Jacob Zuma, and that’s one thing, numbers is Jacob Zuma’s number 1 enemy,” he said before showing Zuma struggling to announce the ANC number of its membership.

He continues mocking Zuma on various events where he struggled to count numbers.

The 29-year-old YouTube star then goes on to say a five-year-old can count better than Zuma. He goes as far as showing a little boy counting numbers from board held by comedian and TV show host Steve Harvey.

PewDiePie includes the famous clip where Zuma mocks the opposition in Parliament, accusing them of failing to correctly pronounce his homestead Nkandla properly.

See the video below:

A number of his South African subscribers have responded to his latest post. 

Kamogelomaile replied on the clip saying: “As a South African, I enjoyed this a lot And everything you thought was probably not true, is 100% true“.

“As a South African I love this,” said Hazel Nicholson.

SnowFox replied: “Lmao. I live in South Africa. This is a dream come true. Also… He has caused massive issues in SA…”

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News24.com | ‘Krugersdorp killings’: Mastermind guilty of 16 counts of murder

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Cecilia Steyn, the mastermind behind the “Krugersdorp killings”, has been found guilty of 32 charges, including 16 counts of murder, in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Monday.

Her co-accused, Zak Valentine and Marcel Steyn, were also found guilty of charges linked to the crime spree, which took place in and around Krugersdorp between 2012 and 2016.

Valentine was found guilty of committing seven murders, while Steyn was found to have committed 14.

Judge Jacob Francis handed down judgment on Monday afternoon.

In delivering his ruling, Francis pointed out that the group’s murder spree was carefully planned and executed.

“These were not random acts of violence,” he said.

Prosecutor Gerrit Roberts SC told the court that 11 people had been killed on Cecilia’s instructions.

‘Religious scam’

Cecilia, Valentine and Marcel (who is not related to Cecilia) had pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. Steyn was accused of being the mastermind behind the group dubbed Electus per Deus (Chosen by God).

“This is a case of religious manipulation and lies.

“It was a religious scam like the ones we are seeing across the country,” said Francis, before adding that accused number two, Cecilia, had “lied to and manipulated” the people she had worked with.

“It is evident that accused number two is a pathological liar and skilled manipulator. She was an evasive witness and came across as argumentative.”

Francis described Electus per Deus as being akin to a business, which had a modus operandi and was professionally managed.

He found all three of the accused guilty of most of the 32 counts which included murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, fraud and intimidation. 

‘Failed dismally’

On 12 of the 32 counts, all three were found guilty; on 10 of the counts, Valentine and Cecilia were found guilty; and on nine, Cecilia and Marcel were found guilty, while Valentine – being the sole accused – was found not guilty on a single count.

Francis said it was clear that Marcel’s mother, Marinda Steyn, had attempted to clear Cecilia with her testimony, but that this had “failed dismally” as Marcel decided to come clean in court, implicating Cecilia. 

Marcel’s older brother, Le Roux Steyn, was also a part of the group, but had entered into a plea bargain with the State in May last year. He was found guilty of committing seven murders and sentenced to 35 years for each of them. Ten years of his sentence were suspended on condition that he testified at the trial.

Marinda is currently serving 11 life terms and 115 years in prison after pleading guilty.

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Sport24.co.za | Caster free to run as Swiss Supreme Court suspends IAAF ruling

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Geneva – Switzerland’s top court said Monday it had temporarily suspended IAAF rules that oblige athletes including double Olympic champion Caster Semenya to lower her testosterone levels in order to compete in certain events. 

Swiss Federal Tribunal spokesman Peter Josi told AFP that the court had issued a “super-provisional order,” barring the application of the IAAF rules until a further hearing can take place concerning the rules that were previously approved by the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). 

“I am thankful to the Swiss judges for this decision,” Semenya, the South African who won the women’s 800 metres at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, said in a statement issued by her legal team.  

“I hope that following my appeal I will once again be able to run free,” she added. 

The new IAAF rules require women with higher than normal male hormone levels to artificially lower the amount of testosterone in their bodies if they are to compete in races over distances of 400m to the mile.

Semenya and Athletics South Africa lost their CAS appeal against the measures. In a split decision, arbitrators at the sports court acknowledged however that the rules were “discriminatory.”

Semenya last week announced plans to appeal to Switzerland’s highest court. 

“This is an important case that will have fundamental implications for the human rights of female athletes,” Semenya’s Swiss lawyer, Dorothee Schramm, said in the statement. 

The reprieve granted by the court in Bern also applies to the two women who finished behind her in the 800m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba and Margaret Wambui of Kenya.