IN BRIEF
Seventh bride cries ‘fake’
Former president Jacob Zuma took a leaf from the books of US President Donald Trump and Economic Freedom Fighters chief Julius Malema when he recently joined Twitter. One issue that raised his ire this past week was the Twitter account of his 24-year-old bride-to-be (his seventh bride), Nonkanyiso Conco — which was shown to be fake after it had been reported on by News24. Conco herself, by means of her Instagram account, denied that the Twitter account was hers. She reproduced some parts of it, including a picture of her husband-to-be, with the word “FAKE” in red letters superimposed on the image. Oh, the wonders of technology!
SA’S Mount Rushmore courts trouble
In Durban, Zuma was among South Africa’s former presidents to be honoured by having statues of them erected, if that is the right word, along the M14 highway near the city. The Democratic Alliance has objected to state funds (R20-million) being spent on ANC propaganda, and the safety issues of statues on a highway have been discussed. But what has caused most consternation is whether the presidents are recognisable: the figure assumed to be Thabo Mbeki does not look like him at all, and it seems possible that the sculptor (Lungelo Gumede) mistook Zuma for energy minister Jeff Radebe. For some, that’s an improvement.
Habitable planet found — maybe
Using data from the Kepler space telescope, Nasa scientists say they have discovered a new planet, twice the size of Earth and within the “habitable zone” of planets around its star, known as K2-288. The planet, named K2-288BB, is in the Taurus constellation about 226 light years away, which in space terms isn’t that far. It may have liquid water on its surface, which means there could be organic life there, and humans could one day be able to live there.
The Kepler telescope, which was sent out into space in 2009, gathered information about about 5 500 planets before running out of fuel in October last year. Its successor, named Tess, was launched in April 2018.
Pitch Black Afro’s
wife murdered
Hip-hop star Pitch Black
Afro, whose real name is Thulani Ngcobo and whose songs were big up to about 2009 when he released his last album Zonke Bonke, has been arrested and charged with premeditated murder for the death of his wife at the end of last year. Catherine Trisha Modisane Ngcobo was found dead in Bellevue, Johannesburg, on New Year’s Eve. At first it was thought she had died of natural causes, but a pathologist examining the body later concluded she had been murdered.
Trump rules by tantrum
“A total waste of time,” declared Trump after leaving a meeting with Democratic Party lawmakers aimed at trying to end the partial (but large) US government shutdown, now heading for its fourth week. As state agencies shut down and 800 000 government employees are “indefinitely furloughed” without pay, Trump is insisting he won’t sign legislation to get the government funded and going again if Congress does not give him $5.7-billion for his precious wall along the US border with Mexico — a promise he made on the campaign trail, and which is projected to cost more like $30-billion to build. Trump has blustered and lied, trying to scare up a crisis of border violations, but the Democrat-controlled Congress will not fund the wall, hence the shutdown. There are conflicting stories about whether Trump banged the table before he walked out, but White House sources confirm he said “Bye-bye”. This is now known as government by tantrum.