Latest news with #R2bn
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Gayton McKenzie names potential sponsors for South African F1 Grand Prix
Sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie has given the strongest indication yet that the country may be close to securing a round of the Formula One championship at Kyalami. Speaking to parliament on Tuesday, he said after meetings with the management of F1, the 'crucial one' would happen in the next two weeks and would be attended by potential sponsors ready to fund the event, which reputedly costs about R2bn. Expected to take place in 2027, it would be the first F1 race to be held in South Africa since 1993, a grand prix won by Alain Prost in a Williams. McKenzie's comments come after Kyalami was recently given the green light for upgrades by the FIA, the organisation that runs F1 racing. Kyalami owner Toby Venter revealed last month the FIA had accepted final design proposals to upgrade the 4.5km circuit from Grade 2 to Grade 1 status, the international standard required to host Formula One racing. The upgrade requires no change to the circuit layout and focuses on enhancing run-off areas, barrier systems, debris fencing, kerbs and drainage. 'When we hosted the Fifa World Cup, we put our country on the map to host big events, and we should not turn back now,' McKenzie told parliament on Tuesday. 'What will be different this time is that government will not be expected to pay. Companies such as MTN, MultiChoice, Heineken and many more have raised their hands and will be present with us in the meeting with Formula One management at the end of the month. 'We've even had patriots saying whenever you need help come to us, one of them being the richest man in the country, Johann Rupert.' In December McKenzie set up an F1 bid steering committee to consider submissions from local promoters and three were received: one from Kyalami and two from Cape Town. While no official announcement has been made about which bid was successful, it is all but certain that Kyalami, which hosted its first F1 race in 1967 and has long held a prominent place in local motorsport, is the preferred option. Several attempts to bring the Grand Prix back to the country were thwarted due to the high cost of hosting the event. As a motorsport fan, McKenzie has campaigned for the country to be on the F1 calendar since his appointment as sports minister in July 2024. He said F1 can't be considered a world championship if it misses an entire continent. Morocco and South Africa have hosted world championship grands prix in the past, Casablanca in 1958, South Africa in East London in the 1960s and Kyalami 20 times between 1967 and 1993. McKenzie kick-started the process when he met Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September. He said many laughed when he said Formula One should come back to South Africa. 'To those who say the country can't afford to host the F1, I'm saying the country can't afford not to host it,' he said, referring to the economic benefits he believed the event could bring in terms of tourism and temporary job creation. It is not known how much tickets would cost, but they are likely to be expensive. The cheapest adult ticket at this year's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne was about R2,000.
Eyewitness News
12-07-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
EFF says won't allow Starlink in SA, calls company a security threat
CAPE TOWN - The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) says it won't allow Starlink to enter the South African market, calling the satellite internet company a security threat. The party also repeated its objection to new regulations by Minister Solly Malatsi to allow equity equivalence for multinational information and communications technology (ICT) sector global players. Equity equivalence is investing in other forms of transformation, instead of companies offering a 30% stake to local black investors. READ: Starlink plans R2bn investment to bypass BEE regulations and switch on service in SA Parties again voiced their objection to Starlink during the communication and digital technologies budget debate following its tabling by Malatsi on Friday. EFF Member of Parliament Sinawo Thambo said amending BEE regulations on local ownership can't be done through a policy directive by the minister. Malatsi stated that the regulations are to align ICT sector codes and broader transformation laws. 'This is a proposal we've objected to because the so-called alignment would require an amendment to legislation and can't be achieved through a ministerial policy directive,' said Thambo. He added that the directive was designed to allow the likes of the Elon Musk-owned Starlink to operate in the country, and this can't be allowed. 'Even if Starlink were to meet equity equivalence requirements, there's a security threat that it poses that must never be allowed to operate in South Africa, and we will never allow it.' The African National Congress (ANC)'s Khusela Diko also added her opposition, saying multinational platforms like Starlink can't be allowed to dictate the country's digital reality.
IOL News
10-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
How can we expect senior citizens to survive on such a paltry pension
High-stakes living does have its price Death or disappearance by design? Assassination or assisted suicide? It is my suspicion that Markus Jooste, the former CEO of Steinhoff International, never committed suicide. It was a grand scheme orchestrated to simply disappear and escape accountability, with the assistance of corrupt police and high-powered politicians. Your sister newspaper in Johannesburg, The Star, corroborates that by reporting on a recent police-source disclosure that there has not been a post-mortem or morgue number. Jooste was fined R475 million by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority for accounting fraud whereby he manipulated and systematically siphoned millions from the government's pension fund. A day before a warrant for his arrest was issued, he was said to have committed suicide by gunshot at Hermanus on March 21, 2024. Gavin Watson, the former CEO of African Global Operations (Bosasa), apparently died in a car accident in Johannesburg on August 20, 2019. The same modus operandi could have played out here. The accident happened when Watson's car collided with a concrete pillar. A case of culpable homicide was opened by SAPS. Watson's death was shrouded in controversy with some speculating about the circumstances surrounding the accident. A private pathology report hinted that Watson may have been dead before the accident. Former president Jacob Zuma, who delivered the eulogy at his funeral, hinted at the possibility of an assassination. A big-league benefactor of the ANC and Cyril Ramaphosa's presidential campaign, Watson was fingered in state-capture allegations, including bribery and money laundering, during judicial hearings in January 2019. Between 2003 and 2018, his company notched up government tenders worth R12 billion. Poised on the brink of unpredictability and careful to conceal whatever troubled thoughts lurk behind their public façade, how does one accommodate his self-concept to the reality of imminent death? You've had so many victories in life until you met someone or something you can't beat. Convicted murderer and a rape fugitive, Thabo Bester staged his own death in a jail-cell fire before escaping from prison in 2022. He was recaptured in Tanzania and currently is languishing in prison.A classic case of assisted-suicide was that of Brett Kebble, the mining magnate who was shot seven times on the night of September 27, 2005. The circumstances surrounding his death are complex and shrouded in controversy. Investigations revealed that Kebble's death was an assisted-suicide orchestrated by himself. His security chief, Clinton Nassif, reportedly hired hitmen Micky Schultz, Nigel McGurk and Faizel Smith to put Kebble in an early flight. The reasons behind Kebble's death were linked to his financial troubles and alleged corporate fraud, including the misappropriation of R2bn worth of shares from one of his companies. As a nation, we need to believe in the necessity for truth. Whether it was a 'mares nest' or not, only time will tell. For now innuendo and conjecture will continue to fan the flames of scuttlebutt around the fire, while we warm ourselves to paranoid perceptions. From the above brief accounts, we can deduce that these were individuals whose modus vivendi (way of living)was the pursuit of power and pelf, and that they were politically connected and ruthlessly embraced the lure of greed and self-aggrandisement by engaging in graft, bribery, corruption, racketeering and money laundering. | KEVIN GOVENDER uMhlatazana Our senior citizens really deserve better The more our country's people read, think and understand our so-called Government of National Unity's (GNU) support for our pensioners the more the government's insensitivity and care-not-a-damn attitude are revealed. In a survey of 90 countries where elderly people can live comfortably South Africa ranks 84th. Because of the poor support and care of government ministers, the life expectancy among our pensioners is 64, contrasting with Switzerland's 84. Even with their tested glasses and cataracts removed these ministers cannot see that they are making our senior citizens suffer. A disgraceful set of ministers who are showing no mercy are destroying the life of our poor, old age citizens. In South Africa pensioners receive a piddling R2 200 per month. Zambia provides a pension equivalent to R3 830 per month. What has gone wrong in this country? How can these old people live when they face innumerable challenges almost daily in their twilight years? They have to look for money to pay rent, pay for services, buy food, pay for medical expenses, pay school fees, and take care of university education, attend to different kinds of sickness and have a whole lot of other worries. Yet the 'kings' of this country, that is ministers and parliamentarians, are living in the lap of luxury at the expense of the taxpayer. You and I are being robbed. Ministers earn in excess of R300 000 per month, pensioners get R2 200. How do these ministers sleep at night? Knowing how corrupt some of these so-called 'leaders' sitting in Cape Town are, is it possible that they are taking heavy drugs?These drugs have an effect on their thinking capacity because some come to parliament to sleep. Incidentally many sleep with their eyes open. I want to offer two pieces of advice to our lawmakers: ■ Increase old-age pension to a minimum of R3 830 per month. ■ Give every pensioner a bonus cheque during Christmas – that is give them a double payment in December. However, if these so-called 'leaders' feel guilty, they could ask treasury to pay all parliamentarians and ministers only 10% of what they get. Since I am still an IFP member, I would ask all ministers and the deputy ministers of the IFP to move a motion in parliament according to my proposal. If Dr Mangosutho Buthelezi were alive were alive today, he would fire all of them. | KAMAL PANDAY Reservoir Hills Great idea. Let's roll back climate change Last Thursday's image of high-rise buildings towering into the sky is very significant. It was like trees in a jungle competing with one another for sunlight. But only here it seems the high-rise buildings in China's Chongqing municipality were reaching up into the sky for fresh air! It looks so dense it could be suffocating. How dreary the picture looks! All over the world there's an influx of people from rural villages into the cities because they are seeking the comforts of the modern world. As this trend gains momentum, there's a proliferation of man- made concrete jungles, like the one in Chongqing. Modern man does not plant trees, instead he builds concrete jungles, but they come at a heavy price. The globe's population explosion has seen the rapid spread of urban life with disastrous consequences for the environment, ecosystems and wild life. If you want to know why so many natural disasters – from droughts to wildfires to floods, among other – are occurring around the world, look no further than our smog-filled cities. It is unchecked human activity that's at the root of climate change. Temperatures in Europe are soaring because it is heavily urbanised. There were record-breaking temperatures in June. Of course, there are others who will dispute this, but how blind could they be? Concern is mounting worldwide about the ever-increasing temperatures. Our country has joined the growing chorus of voices calling for measures to halt climate change and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has an ambitious plan to plant a million trees on Heritage Day. Wonderful idea! I hope this initiative gains ground and we can roll back climate change. | T Markandan Kloof DAILY NEWS
IOL News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
News you should know tonight: Top 5 stories you may have missed on July 7, 2025
Questions are mounting over the likelihood and sincerity of any investigation into allegations raised by KZN police head General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, amid concerns about political bias and systemic corruption. Good evening, IOL News family! It's Monday, July 7, 2025, and it's time for a wrap of the biggest headlines making waves in South Africa and beyond. Don't forget to join the IOL WhatsApp Channel to stay in tune, informed, and in the know. Doubts surround potential probe into allegations of police corruption Questions are mounting over the likelihood and sincerity of any investigation into allegations raised by KZN police head General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, amid concerns about political bias and systemic corruption. To read on, click here. Murder of Ekurhuleni auditor tied to probe into R2bn electricity billing scandal The murder of Mpho Mafole, the group divisional head for corporate and forensic audits at the City of Ekurhuleni municipality, has sent shockwaves through the city. To read on, click here. Ramaphosa urged to make the allegations against Mchunu his top priority upon return from Brazil President Cyril Ramaphosa has been urged to make the allegations lobbied against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi his top priority when he returns to the country. To read on, click here. Bottom of the bottle: SAPS vows action after drunk-on-duty allegation goes viral The South African Police Service (SAPS) has confirmed that an urgent investigation is under way following the circulation of a widely viewed video on TikTok, which appears to show a uniformed police officer allegedly under the influence of alcohol while on read on, click here. Analysts warn of a policing crisis as Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi claims of corruption rock SAPS Analysts warn that South Africa stands at a perilous crossroads as shocking revelations of police sabotage and corruption threaten to unravel the very fabric of the policing system. To read on, click here. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. IOL News
TimesLIVE
06-07-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Ekurhuleni mayor Xhakaza hints at corruption link to auditor's killing
Speaking during Mafole's funeral in Kempton Park on Sunday, Xhakaza referenced the city's controversial R190m project to refurbish a building in Germiston that has so far cost more than R300m. 'It is such things that auditors like Mpho would help us determine where the funds went when I have to account as the mayor,' Xhakaza said. Mafole was more than a government employee. He was an activist who believed in accountability and clean governance, he said. 'The city and country have lost a man of integrity. We will continue to fight and make sure justice is served.' Mafole's killing comes amid the R2bn revenue shortfall that has exposed the city's financial mismanagement. Calls are growing for a full probe into irregular expenditure and contracts. No arrests have been made in connection with Mafole's murder. Police are investigating.
