Daily news update: Covid-19 stats, SA’s decaying heritage sites, and hope for Chiefs in transfer ban saga

New infections for Thursday stand at 1861, with 18405 new tests having been conducted.

Lungisa is on thin ice, should retract comments

A legal expert has described convicted criminal and former ANC Youth League leader Andile Lungisa’s public claims that he got a raw deal in court because of undue interference, as an attempt “to
bring political pressure to bear to avoid the unavoidable” – prison time.

Advocate Paul Hoffman SC, who also heads up Accountability Now, said yesterday Lungisa would be well advised to heed the judiciary’s call and retract his claims.

‘There is no heritage to celebrate without land’ says EFF

The EFF say SA’s heritage is one of ‘dispossession and continued humiliation’ at the hands of a minority.

The Economic Freedom Fighters have reiterated their call for the removal of all colonial and apartheid statues.

The party also called for the removal of Die Stem from the national anthem. Spokesperson Vuyani Pambo said that the pre-democracy anthem was “a spit on the faces” of those who sang Nkosi Sikelela iAfrika, praying for the dignity and prosperity of all Africans.

While SA dances and celebrates heritage day, our heritage sites fall apart

Once testament to a rich history and heritage, the 1940s thatched Mamelodi Rondavels, where Archbishop Desmond Tutu studied, and the oldest known buildings in the Pretoria township, is now a monument of neglect, pillaging, and vandalism.

Madiba’s Alexandra House is pictured, 24 September 2020. The former international icon, Nelson Mandela’s house in Alexandra, a heritage site which the Gauteng Provincial Government promised to convert into a museum has been left to deteriorate. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark

The significance of the heritage site, defined by a small cluster of rondavel-styled buildings, is described in a paper published by the SA Journal of Cultural History in 2003 as a “visual local remnant of the history” of Bantu Education and struggle for a non-racial society.

There is now, however, little left, “except for a small brick wall,” local historian, Aubrey Mohase, laments.

Ramaphosa’s Heritage Day address: GBV not ‘tradition’ nor ‘custom’

President Cyril Ramaphosa used his Heritage Day address as a rallying cry, urging South Africans to stand resolute and to accept the country’s different cultures, customs and traditions, in order to celebrate our “Living Human Treasures”.

However, he spoke out strongly against Gender Based Violence, which has been in the spotlight for some time with several gruesome incidents making headlines in recent months.

“So long as this country’s women and children live in fear from violence, we cannot regard ourselves as totally free,” Ramaphosa said.

Beware WhatsApp stokvel groups: An old pyramid scheme in a new jacket

If you think the pandemic is the scariest thing you will ever see in your life, take a look at the many WhatsApp “stokvel” groups on Facebook where people invite others to join them in what are clearly pyramid schemes.

Some of these groups have around 3,000 to 11,000 members.

These schemes are stripping the most vulnerable people in the country from their last cash reserves in a time when millions are unemployed and the economy is in recession. You cannot help but wonder how many people will go to bed hungry tonight because they lost their last R50?

High hopes for success in Kaizer Chiefs’ transfer ban appeal

Kaizer Chiefs’ hopes of winning their appeal against a two-year transfer ban imposed by Fifa last year have been raised after Zambia’s Nkana FC won theirs and have been given the green light to sign new players.
Amakhosi lodged their appeal early this month and are now waiting on the outcome which is expected today or on Friday.

The Naturena based side were handed a two-year ban after they were found to have acted inappropriately in their dealings with Madagascar side Fosa Juniors, over the signing of Adriamirado Adrianarimanana in 2018.

Watch: Prison guards catch one of their own smuggling in contraband strapped to his body

Video footage of an “errant” correctional services officer is circulating on social media after he allegedly tried to smuggle contraband, strapped around his waist, into the Tswelopele Correctional Centre in Kimberley.

The incident took place on 9 September 2020, Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said.

A screenshot from the video of a Kimberley prison guard with what is allegedly dagga strapped to his body, while his colleagues detain him.

It’s the DStv Premiership! PSL announces new sponsor for SA top flight.

DStv replace Absa as the new sponsors of the top flight, starting from the 2020/21 season, which is expected to kick off in mid-October.

Premier Soccer League chairman Irvin Khoza on Thursday announced satellite broadcaster DStv as the new sponsors of South Africa’s top domestic league.

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