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Students Bring JHB To A Standstill 19 March 2021 - www.tametimes.co.za
Students took to the streets of Johannesburg early on Monday morning to continue their protests against fees as 26 universities across SA braced for a national shutdown. Police were cleaning up after students from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) blockaded roads in Auckland Park. The senior executive team at Wits University called on “all parties to remain calm, to exercise maximum restraint, and to attempt to resolve issues through dialogue and engagement”. After deliberations with the student representative council (SRC) on Friday evening, the team met on Sunday to discuss a list of demands from students and planned to meet the SCR again on Monday afternoon. The Key demands presented to the
university included: • all students must be allowed to register, irrespective of the quantum of debt owing to the university; • all students must be allowed to graduate, irrespective of the quantum of debt owing to the university; • there should be no fee increases for 2021; • all students who receive residence offers must be allowed to occupy residences with immediate effect; • universities must pressurise government for a debt bailout for all institutions • all international students from the Southern African Development Community and broader diaspora regions must be allowed to register without having to effect payment of 75% of the tuition fee upfront; and
• all suspension orders must be uplifted with immediate effect. “A universities sa meeting will be held early on monday with the 26 vicechancellors of public universities at which some of these issues will be discussed. We will communicate the outcomes of this meeting to our various constituencies thereafter,” said wits university. Both sides agreed in principle that universities should not exclude students who owe historical debt from registering for the 2021 academic year on Monday. Violent protests last week is the cause for fears that the protests today could result in more violence, and clashes with police. The debt owed to the 26 institutions by students is about R10bn.
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IF Responds To Claim They Have ‘Run Out Of Money’ The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) on Thursday 11 March 2021 addressed a rumour about the fund is “running out of money”. It assured South Africans that this is not the case. “We would like to assure clients that our finances are sound and we are able to continue meeting all financial obligations”. Those obligations include the payment of UIF benefits. Here’s what you need to know. IS THE UIF OUT OF MONEY? We traced one of the links on Twitter to khumbe.co.za, however, the article has since been removed. From the Twitter post, we could see that the link (before it was taken down) had the following slug: uif-running-out-of-moneythe-citizen. Another tweet revealed that the link had initially been posted on 24 November 2020. Moreover, the site is known for republishing articles from other news sources. Following these reports, the UIF confirmed on social media that “all outstanding COVID-19 TERS benefit claims will be paid, including the extension period up to 15 march 2021”. “The latest actuarial report confirms the fund’s financial viability and its ability to meet its financial liabilities. Reports suggesting that the uif has ‘run out of money’ are, therefore, false and misleading”. The fund is currently accepting COVID-19 TERS applications for the period of 16 October to 31 December 2020. The online portal is open and can be accessed via this link. President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed back in February during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the Ters benefit would be extended from 16 October 2020 to 15 March 2021. At the time, granular details about the extension still had to be discussed and finalised by social partners at NEDLAC, but the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) gave clarity with regards to the extension. Following the SONA address, the fund said it anticipated sectors that were not fully operational since the beginning of the lockdown would require assistance. These include the tourism, hospitality and liquor sector, among others.
02
16 March 2021
Car Theft on the rise
What should you do if your car is stolen Multiple panic signals were received from a guarding company at a local shopping centre after spotting an unknown male tampering with a tenants vehicle. CPS’s reaction units were dispatched and on their arrival the suspects fled on foot and was apprehended shortly after. Car breaking implements were found in their possession. Alberton SAPS were contacted and the suspects were taken into custody. WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CAR GETS STOLEN Although we don’t hear about it on the news, car theft is quite common in South Africa. According to SAPS annual crime stats, almost 128 cars and motorcycles were stolen a day in 2019/2020. We like to think that we’ll never be part of a statistic like car theft, but the unfortunate reality is that it’s very possible. Knowing what to do when you find an empty parking spot where your car used to be can ease the panic, and help you navigate this stressful event calmly. Your car has just been stolen. Here’s what you need to do and know in order of importance: Immediately activate your tracking device Report your car stolen to the police Report your car stolen to your insurance company 1 . I M M E D I A T E LY A C T I V A T E Y O U R T R A C K I N G D E V IC E Depending on your type of device, you could
activate it yourself or you might need to call your tracking company to get it done. Either way, give them a call to make sure they are aware of the theft. Remember to also ask for regular updates so that you can let the police know the status of the search. 2 . R E P O R T YO U R C A R S T O L E N T O T H E P O L IC E Do this as soon as you can. The police will open a case and flag your car on their stolen vehicle database. Border crossings and roadblocks have access to this database and your insurance company should be able to access it as well. You’ll need to give the police specific details like your licence plate number, VIN (Vehicle Identification Number, which you can find on your vehicle registration documents), the make, model, colour of your car and details of your tracking company, if you have one. They will also ask where and when you last saw your car and whether it has scratches, dents, marks, or any other unique features that may help them identify your car on the road. 3 . R E P O R T YO U R C A R S T O L E N T O YO U R IN S U R A N C E C O M P A N Y The sooner you let your insurance company know about your car being stolen, the better. This will set the claims process into motion and get you back on the road as soon as possible.
Covid And Fraud Destroy Businesses South Africa may have received global praise for its ability to flatten the COVID-19 curve for the first and second waves without access to vaccines, but it has come at a great cost for small- and medium-sized enterprises. One year since the lockdown began, thousands of small businesses have been closed permanently and its owners and staff have joined the ranks of the unemployed. The enforcement of lockdown restrictions and the up and down movement between lockdown levels have simply been to much for many businesses. “We just thought, close for three weeks, we closed and then we’ll open with a bang. Six, eight months later, and now since 23 march [2020], i lost my restaurant and we never opened again. I couldn’t pay my march and april rent, so my landlord locked the doors,” said nolene potgieter, owner of a 400-seater franchise restaurant in polokwane. Nolene had 60 employees and was well on her way to living a debt-free life. Then the pandemic hit South Africa and everything changed overnight. Today Nolene has R3 million debt. In an effort so survive the lockdown, Nolene partnered with an independent restaurant, but this only lasted for three months between October and December. With the increased lockdown over December, her business earned only 15% of its income. “It’s something that i don’t want anybody else to go through. Oh my goodness, i’m already getting so emotional and i haven’t been like this for the last year. Oh my goodness, i didn’t want this to happen…” Meanwhile, the country’s economy declined by 7% last year. While the figure attached to negative growth is alarming and has broken records that date as far back as the 1920s, economic experts say
it could have been much worse. Johann de lange, the founder and director of business valuation company worth.Business, said: “i think when you look at the 7% there was an expectation that it will be worse. So it is a little bit better and also businesses are bouncing back, they are adapting to the new normal. If you look at households, the same will apply. A lot of people lost their jobs, it is incredibly sad and disruptive but there needs to be an adaptation to the new normal whether it would be to be more entrepreneurial or need to be a little bit more flexible in terms of employment maybe take on some freelancing work and contract work, you do what you need to do to survive”. Reabetswe Mabotja, owner of an Events company, said that she followed the advice of experts and became innovative when she could no longer host weddings and events of 250 people and more. Unfortunately, this was not enough to see her through the economic storm that was brought on by COVID-19. The Department of Small Business Development introduced a R500 million SMME support intervention for six months from April last year with the intention of assisting businesses with soft loan funding. But both Reabetswe and Nolen said that despite applying, the service was not availed to them.
Your insurance company will usually need: Details of the time and place you last saw your car Any unique features it might have A picture of the police report The police case number A copy of the vehicle registration documents Certified copy of your ID A consent form that gives them permission to access the police records and border movements for your car The notification of change of ownership form Photos of the full set of keys for your car Tracking information (if you have a device installed) Details of the last service Mileage of your vehicle Description of any marks, dents or scratches After your insurer has received all of the information about your car they will start processing the claim. Unfortunately, without a tracker installed, the chances of getting your car back are pretty slim. The current recovery rate of stolen vehicles without trackers in South Africa sits at 5-10%, according to Tracker’s Ron KnottCraig, whereas 80% of cars with trackers are recovered. Either way, getting these three steps done as soon as you can will improve your chances of getting back on the road ASAP. Remember: if you have car hire added to your policy, your insurer will set you up with a hired car to help you get around for the time being.
T H E N E X T S T E P IS F O R YO U R IN S U R E R T O S E T T L E T H E O U T S T A N D IN G A M O U N T O N YO U R C A R LO A N Once your claim has been given the all clear, your insurer will ask you if you have an outstanding loan with a finance house. If you do, you will need to request a settlement letter from your bank and forward it to your insurer. From there, your insurer will prepare the agreement of loss document which tells you how much will be paid to you and/or your bank. You’ll need to sign the agreement of loss document and send it back to your insurer along with your car keys and the original registration documents. Please bear in mind that your insurer legally has to settle the loan first before paying any remaining amount to you. The amount paid out will be the value of your car minus your excess. The amount you receive will depend on whether your insurer has insured your vehicle for trade, market or retail value. TIP: It’s important to know what value your car is insured for. If the amount you owe the bank is more than what your car is insured for, you will need to pay the difference if your car gets stolen. This can easily be avoided with shortfall cover. When first insuring your car, you should always check if you might have a shortfall. Luckily, if you’re insured with Naked, all you have to do is hop on the app and click, “Add shortfall” under your car’s asset card.
INTERPOL issues global warning on fake vaccines
SAPS has advised the public to be wary of unscrupulous people who are selling vaccines for Covid-19 online. Spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili says there is currently no approved vaccine available to be sold by private individuals. She says if you purchase such vaccines you will be putting your health at risk and your money will go to crime syndicates. She says police have already arrested several suspects for the contravention of the Counterfeit Goods Act and the contravention of the Medicines and Related Substances Act. Colonel Muridili says in November already they raided a warehouse in Germiston, Gauteng where fake masks and thousands of doses of fake vaccines worth over R6 million were seized. She says police will continue to investigate
anyone involved in the organized syndicates trying to enrich themselves by smuggling and distributing unregistered and illicit medicine. Police urged anyone with knowledge of individuals or companies selling vaccines to urgently report them. INTERPOL issued a Global alert in March, warning that vaccines would be a prime target for criminal networks. In China, police successfully identified a network selling counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines. Interpol assisted in raiding the premises where the vaccines were manufactured and arrested 80 suspects and seized thousands of fake vaccines. The Secretary-General for INTERPOL General Jürgen Stock says these arrests are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to vaccine-related crime.
16 March 2021
03
16 March 2021
Duane Vermeulen and the Bulls make clean sweep at SA Rugby Awards Rugged Springbok and Bulls No 8 Duane Vermeuelen is South Africa’s 2020 Player of the Year while the Bulls cleaned up in just about every other department to cap a fruitful season for the Pretoria team.
The 34-year-old Vermeulen, who led the Bulls to The Super Rugby Unlocked and Currie Cup titles, also won the Super Rugby/Unlocked Player of the Year Award for 2020 while the Bulls, predictably, were the Team of the Year and their Director of Rugby, Jake White, was named Coach of the Year. Stedman Gans, who made a successful transition from the Blitzboks to star for the Bulls after the World Rugby Sevens Series was canceled, was named Springbok Sevens Player of the Year, for his role as the Blitzboks’ won two tournaments out of six to finish second overall on the standings. Wandisile Simelane, a former Junior Springbok star who got his first taste of senior rugby in green and gold in the successful Springbok Showdown, before going on to star for the Lions in the local competitions, was named Young Player of the Year. Bulls centre Cornal Hendricks capped a brilliant season by walking away with the Currie Cup Player of the Year Award and Jaco Peyper was named the Referee of the Year. SA Rugby president Mark Alexander congratulated the country’s players
and management teams for making an incredibly difficult season happen. “The pandemic has been disruptive to people from all walks of life and apart from the hard work done in training, first at home and later back at their team bases, it was heartening to see our players rolling up their sleeves and also helping fellow South Africans who are not as fortunate,” Alexander said. “We saw yet again that we are stronger, together.” The winners and finalists for 2020 are: SA Rugby Player of the Year: Duane Vermeulen Finalists: Curwin Bosch, Cornal Hendricks, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Steyn SA Rugby Young Player of the Year:
Wandisile Simelane Finalists: Curwin Bosch, Stedman Gans, Ruan Nortje, Dylan Richardson Springbok Sevens Player of the Year: Stedman Gans Finalists: Angelo Davids, Selvyn Davids Team of the Year: Bulls Finalists: Sharks, Springbok Sevens Coach of the Year: Jake White Finalists: Sean Everitt, Neil Powell Super Rugby and Unlocked Player of Year: Duane Vermeulen Finalists: Frans Steyn, Marco van Staden Currie Cup Player of the Year: Cornal Hendricks Finalists: Marco van Staden, Duane Vermeulen Referee of the Year: Jaco Peyper
I’ve learnt from the ‘big dogs’, says Kyle Verreynne That’s Kyle Verreynne’s clear message to the national selectors after striking a career-best 216 not out against the Warriors at Newlands on Monday. The Cape Cobras wicket-keeper has been former Proteas captain and gloveman Quinton de Kock’s understudy in the Test squad the past 12 months. And the communication to Verreynne has been crystal clear from Proteas coach Mark Boucher during this period. “It’s pretty straightforward forward: Quinny is the Test keeper and I am his backup.” However, Verreynne is certainly now creating a situation where convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang and the rest of his panel may have to rethink the structure of the Test XI with the diminutive right-hander pushing for inclusion solely as a specialist batsman. He has already amassed 571 runs in just four First-Class games this season at an average of 95.16. Furthermore, Verreynne is not simply enjoying a single golden summer as his overall average is 51.16. “I’ve said it in the past I would like to make the team as a batsman alone or as a keeper alone. I don’t have to keep,” Verreynne said. “I’ve put a lot of emphasis on my batting because if I can get into the team as a batsman alone that would be perfect. I just have to keep going and let them make the decision.” There is unfortunately no clarity when the Proteas Test side will be action again after Australia pulled out of their tour to South Africa scheduled for this month due to Covid-19 concerns. There is talk about a possible tour to the Caribbean during the winter. But one thing for certain is that there will be at least be one change to the line-up that lost to Pakistan in Karachi after the retirement of Faf du Plessis. Mpitsang and Co. have a number of options to consider with Dolphins’ Keegan Petersen and Knights youngster Raynard van Tonder also banging on the Test door. Verreynne, though, doesn’t want to focus on that for the moment and prefers to utilize the time spent around the national team to his benefit. “When you training with the best you have to lift your game. It forces you to elevate your game and figure out things that you need to do against better bowlers,” he said. “Watching the guys in the Test side go about their preparation, you also pick up a few small things that you can take into your preparation. So that’s what I have done, just watched the big dogs go about their business and see if there is anything l can learn or implement.”
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