/ 16 August 2018

Marikana widows ‘are suffering’

(Gemma Ritchie/M&G)
(Gemma Ritchie/M&G)

In your local headlines:

The Star

  • Widows ‘are suffering’

The widows of Marikana have complained of living in abject poverty while they wait or compensation following the police massacre of 34 breadwinners six years ago.

  • Hospital not to blame, Sobukwe’s family say

Struggle icon Robert Sobukwe’s family refuse to blame the Midland Hospital for the death of his widow Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe a few days after being discharged from the facility in Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape. 

Business Day

  • Transnet CEO in departure lounge

Transnet moved to suspend CEO Siyabonga Gama and two other senior officials, accelerating the cleanup at the state-owned enterprise after the appointment of a new board in May.

  • ‘Perfect storm’ pummels the rand

The rand had another torrid day, slumping more than 3% at one point, after Moody’s Investors Service sounded a warning about the country’s finances and Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago said he is expecting a weak economy.

  • Naspers sheds R12bn in market value

Nasper’s valuation fell by more than Aspen Pharmacare’s entire market capitalisation on Wednesday after its main asset, Hong Kong-listed Tencent, reported a surprise decline in earnings.

  • Gordhan: Denel, SA Express the most cash-strapped

Banks have not yet restored lending to several state-owned enterprises, underlining the urgency of talks between the government and financial institutions to establish a loan facility through which credit can be channelled. 

The Citizen

  • I don’t want that job

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela has no interest in the vacant national director of public prosecutions post, preferring to do ‘much more; a wider variety of things’, says her daughter, Wenzile.

  • Marikana’s hidden tragedy

Some of the police officers involved in the Marikana massacre shot and killed 17 miners because they mistakenly believed they were being fired at … but the bullets flying around them were those fired by their own colleagues.

Sowetan

  • ‘I had thoughts of raping my 2-year-old’

UCT suspends a lecturer after his outrageous Facebook posts in gender violence debate.

  • ‘Marikana was no murder’

Police officers implicated in the Marikana massacre could face attempted murder charges not murder. 

In your global headlines:

The death toll from a bridge collapse in the city of Genoa rose to 39, prompting Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to allocate government aid for the region and name a commissioner who would streamline reconstruction efforts.

But as rescue workers searched through piles of rubble and as people gathered at the city’s morgue to hear of the fate of missing family members and friends, it became increasingly clear that while the collapse was horrific, it wasn’t surprising. (The New York Times)

Qatar pledged to invest $15 billion to help Turkey shore up its faltering economy.

The news came on the same day that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan further strained relations with the US by rejecting a second appeal to release the American pastor Andrew Brunson, above, and raising tariffs on American goods. (The New York Times)