SHIFT LEADER (WESTVILLE) in Kwazulu-Natal | Retail Wholesale | Job Mail | 4289867
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The Constitutional Court is expected to rule on Thursday whether former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini should be held personally liable for legal costs incurred in the social grants debacle.
This, after the court ordered in March last year that Dlamini should explain why she should not personally pay the legal costs of the social grants case.
Justice Johan Froneman also made another order three months later – that further investigation be conducted into why Dlamini could be held personally liable.
The dark cloud hanging over Dlamini’s head dates back to 2014, when the court ruled that the contract the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) had signed with social grants distributor Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) two years prior was illegal and invalid.
The court then suspended the order of invalidity until March 31, 2018 to allow the social development department and Sassa time to find a new provider, which it found in the South African Post Office (SAPO).
The court also ordered that CPS continue paying social grants for 12 months from April 1.
Dlamini previously said she felt that one individual should not be singled out for the situation in which Sassa had found itself in.
Sassa has until September 30 to transfer more than three million beneficiaries, who are still dependent on the old CPS infrastructure, to the SAPO’s new system. It also needs to swap out old Sassa-Grindrod cards for new Sassa-SAPO cards.
After making slow progress in April, the agency has posted better numbers, successfully transferring roughly 1.5 million beneficiaries in May and June, and a further 300 000 in July.
in ROSENEATH, UMKOMASS, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA
3.0 BEDROOM HOUSE TO LET IN ROSENEATH
Listing Features
Listing Description
Bedrooms: 3.0
Bathrooms: 1.0
Building Size:
Erf Size 0
Garages: 0.0
Carports/Parking Bays: 1.0
Pool: No
Exterior Wall:
Domestic Accommodation: 0.0
Flatlet: 0.0
Comfortable family home situated in Roseneath for rent. This home consists of 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. Enjoy a fitted kitchen and open plan lounge / dining area. Has a yard for kids and pets. Ample parking in the fenced yard. Semi detached. Available on request. Electricity and water is excluded. Contact me today to view this property!
in CRAIGIEBURN, UMKOMASS, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA
3.0 BEDROOM HOUSE FOR SALE IN CRAIGIEBURN
Listing Features
Listing Description
Bedrooms: 3.0
Bathrooms: 2.0
Building Size: 0
Erf Size 39000
Garages: 0.0
Carports/Parking Bays: 1.0
Pool: No
Exterior Wall:
Domestic Accommodation: 0.0
Flatlet: 0.0
Well maintained home and business for sale. Has 3 bedrooms with a lovely tiled kitchen and 2 bathrooms set on 39 000 sqm property. Has a huge office to do your own business work and a big roofing factory. House has burglar bars. Kitchen has full built in cupboard. Both bathrooms are well kept and neat. Has neat garden, which is well kept by the owner. Phone today to view this new listing, owner will be looking at offers.
Cape Town – Springbok flank Jaco Kriel believes that there will be a massive exodus of South African players moving to Europe after next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Kriel signed a deal with Gloucester where he will link up with his former provincial coach Johan Ackermann and will be alongside former Lions team-mates Ruan Dreyer, Franco Mostert and Ruan Ackermann.
In an interview with the Rugby Passwebsite, Kriel predicted top South African talent will follow his lead by making the move abroad.
“I looked at whole situation and my own career and made the decision to come before the World Cup because I believe that after the Cup tournament in Japan everybody is going to want to come to the UK or France,” Kriel told the publication.
“… At the moment the Rand cannot compete with the Pound and that is a huge factor and if they are interested then a player will get in touch with his agent.”
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus stated in April that he has been given license from SA Rugby to select whichever overseas-based players he wants this year, even if they have less than 30 Test caps, as long as he can justify his reasoning.
However, Kriel revealed that this ‘license’ does not send a good message for South African teams back home.
“The fact that Faf (de Klerk) and Willie (le Roux) have been able to play in England and come back to play for the Springbok is not a good message for South Africa because it shows that you can come here, have great fun, enjoy your rugby and still play Test rugby. It means the last hold that teams backs home in South Africa, who want to keep their best players, had was the fact they couldn’t continue playing for the Boks,” continued Kriel, who boasts 11 Test caps for the Springboks.
“Now that rule has gone I really believe the guys wants to come over to Europe because everyone who comes here then, when they go back, talks about how amazing it is…”
The ANC has slammed the DA’s call for President Cyril Ramaphosa to be called to testify at the state capture commission of inquiry.
DA chief Whip John Steenhuisen said in a statement that Ramaphosa and former president Jacob Zuma should be called to testify about their roles.
“Ultimately, the former and current president of the ANC, Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa, were in charge of the government the party led during the height of state capture,” Steenhuisen said.
“There can be no holy cows,” he added.
But head of ANC presidency Zizi Kodwa, said the DA’s call for Ramaphosa to the testify was “reckless, irresponsible and undermines the commission”.
“It is irresponsible of everybody and an organisation at this stage to make reckless statements about the testimony in the commission,” he said.
“It’s not for us as the public to begin to analyse the character of witnesses including their testimony,” Kodwa said.
Zuma has a legal team at the commission, but he was yet to formally apply to cross-examine any of the witnesses that have implicated him. The commission is investigating allegations of undue influence by the Guptas on Zuma and his administration.
Zuma was implicated by former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor who told the commission that he was at the Guptas’ Saxonwold mansion when the eldest of the brothers, Ajay, offered her a public enterprises minister job. She said she told him about the offer.
Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas said Ajay offered him the finance minister job.
Both Jonas and Mentor said Ajay was aware of a pending Cabinet reshuffle and Zuma fired the incumbents in those positions weeks after the job offers were made.
The commission, headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, is in its fifth day and four witnesses have already been called to testify.
“It has taken an enormous amount of time and work to get to this point and we cannot allow the Zondo commission to leave any stones unturned,” Steenhuisen said.
But Kodwa said it was too early for any conclusions to be reached.
“We are only in the second week of two years of the commission concluding its work. Therefore, we must allow the commission to do its work without fear or favour,” he said.
In its statement, the DA provided a list of former ANC ministers who it believed should also be called to testify.
The list includes former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane, who allegedly helped the Guptas defraud the Estina dairy project in the Free State, former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba, who allegedly facilitated the early naturalisation of the Guptas, former finance minister Des van Rooyen, who was appointed when Nhlanhla Nene was allegedly axed for blocking the nuclear build deal, and former SA Revenue Service commissioner Tom Moyane.
Kodwa distanced the party from those who have been implicated.
“If individuals of the ANC are implicated, it does not mean the ANC is implicated…therefore those individuals can be invited to come before it,” he said.
Kids are spending more time than ever in front of screens, making it more likely they’ll become overweight or obese, a new review claims. The average 8- to 18-year-old spends more than seven hours a day fixated on a screen, whether it’s a computer, smartphone, tablet, video game or TV, the latest evidence shows.
Two hours a day max
Teenagers who exceed two hours daily of recreational screen time are nearly twice as likely to be overweight or obese, the review showed. Excess weight increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other health problems.
“Total media use increased by about 20% from 1999 to 2009, with most of that jump happening since 2004, and driven mainly by increases in computer use,” said study lead author Tracie Barnett. She’s a researcher at the INRS-Institut Armand Frappier and Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center in Montreal.
This and other evidence supports the American Heart Association’s longstanding recommendation that children and teens get no more than two hours a day of recreational screen time, Barnett and her colleagues concluded.
‘Square eyes’
“The more time you spent on these screen-based devices, the greater the odds of being overweight or obese,” Barnett said.
The percentage of obese kids in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s to include nearly one in five school-age children, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the TV is no longer the main creator of childhood couch potatoes.
Traditional television viewing has decreased over the past 10 years, while time spent with other screen-based devices has surged, the researchers found.
“Although kids seem to be spending less time watching television, they’re still viewing TV content. They’re just doing it on these new devices,” Barnett explained. “It means they are still sedentary with these other types of screen-based recreational devices.”
Kids are being exposed to screens at an incredibly young age, the researchers discovered. One recent study found that average daily television time among children under two ranged from a half-hour to more than three hours.
“That’s shocking to me,” said Dr Martha Gulati, cardiology division chief for the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. “I don’t know if the screen had become their babysitter, but I don’t think that is what children are really meant to interact with.”
Couch potatoes
Further, there’s still a link between time spent on a screen and the likelihood of excess weight.
The percentage of kids who spend more than two hours a day with a screen has increased by about a third in recent years, Barnett said – from about 16.4% in 2003 to 21.7% in 2007.
It makes sense that screen time will be sedentary, said Gulati, who is editor-in-chief of CardioSmart.org, the American College of Cardiology’s patient information website.
“If they’re texting their friends, most of the time they’re sitting down to text. If they’re on Instagram or Snapchat or whatever, they’re usually sitting,” she said.
But Barnett and Gulati both admit that limiting screen time to two hours will be tough for most parents.
“Two hours is a great goal,” Gulati said. “I don’t think people should be sitting for so much of their time, either children or adults. Realistically, I think that’s going to be a very hard goal for parents to hold their children to.”
Limiting screen time
Barnett suggested that parents who want to limit their kids’ screen time might do better to focus on other things that the children could be doing.
“Getting face-to-face time, getting time outdoors, making sure there are pursuits that are free of devices – I think that will necessarily reduce and control screen time,” Barnett said.
Gulati added that parents can also help by setting a good example and limiting their own use of screen devices. The review was published online in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
The heart association recommends banning screen devices from the dinner table and from bedrooms. Other possible ideas include:
Setting aside time for physical activity as a family, preferably on a daily basis.
Planning TV watching in advance, picking select shows you want to watch and avoiding channel-surfing.
Avoiding use of TV or devices as a reward or a punishment for good or bad behaviour.
