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THE festive season is around the corner, and event organisers have started to prepare for it. Exotic dancer Zodwa Wabantu has revealed that she's fully booked for this upcoming festive season. The 40-year-old, whose real name is Zodwa Libram from Soweto, said that event organisers love her work and entertainment lovers enjoy watching her perform. "I'm old by age, but I'm fully booked for this festive season. It's a blessing for the money and comfortable lifestyle. I can't stop now because I'm still in demand," said Zodwa. She said that she has been dancing for 10 years, but her fans don't get tired of her. In her performance videos, men can be seen excited, and they go as far as touching her private parts. She said she feels young and fresh. Zodwa further said she will retire "The fact that I'm fully booked for the festive season means that I'm still big, and people are still entertained by my body. So, other people's negative opinions don't matter. I have to wait for the ancestors to tell me to retire. "I can't do some things on my own as I'm controlled by them. If they tell me to start dressing up and stop performing, I will. I know that when they tell me, they will give me something else to do for a living. For now, haters must accept that I'll still be around, making money through dancing," said Zodwa.When she was still with Afrotainment, she used to brag about making R35 000 per gig. Now she said that she negotiates the booking fee. "Covid-19 affected most businesses. Most entertainers were affected. I was also affected, and most things changed. Now I understand that some companies are still trying to recover, and I'm forced to negotiate the booking fee," said Zodwa.

Khanyi Mbau buys new face. ACTRESS Khanyi Mbau has never been shy to talk about the work she has done on her body. And it now seems she has gone under the knife and she shared with her social media followers her latest procedure on her face. In a video, she shared that she's healing fine after the procedure. The 38-year-old from Soweto said she's now broke but is happy with the results of her newly purchased face.  The Young, Famous & African star said she feels better after the surgery. She wrote a caption describing her journey. "Now we bake, bought a new face. I know, I know before we all lose it. "It's still very fresh and super tight. It will take a few weeks for it to cook," she said. The actress said she grew tired of Botox and fillers every three months. She said she was now looking for a permanent solution to her structured tight face. Khanyi sent a big shout out to Dr Merve from Mono Cosmetics Surgery. She also thanked them for their work and their professionalism as they made the experience comfortable. She said the surgery took four hours. "I'm only getting my life back now. As you can see, I'm super swollen now. Here we go, this is my journey. I think I bit my lips earlier on," she said. She said she's happy with the outcome of her surgery and is ready to start her new life. But she said she won't comment on social media as she can't see well and her vision is still blurry. Khanyi said she is happy with how things went and is waiting to see the final results. Asked how she feels about the backlash she has been receiving from social media users, she said she is not worried about them. She said they hate what they don't know. "I understand where they are coming from and I empathise. Humans hate anything foreign or anything they are not used to," she said. Khanyi said they will be okay with her with time. She said what she was doing wasn’t aligned with their understanding. "They will catch up. I serve this experience as education and insight," she said. In 2017, Khanyi told fans that she was not bleaching her skin but had been on a skin-lightening journey for more than five years.

SHE thought her life was back on track and had returned to the studio, but tragedy struck. Gqom star Thobeka Ndaba, popularly known as Tipcee, has lost her older brother. Sharing the news, Tipcee said she has lost part of her life as her brother, Thulani "Kala" Shabalala (44), was one of her best friends and close to her. She said Thulani died on Wednesday morning, 21 August. "I'm not comfortable sharing most of the details, but he suffered from asthma, and we lost him around 1am. We lost him just like that. We loved each other so much that we were always together. He used to accompany me to gigs and the studio," said Tipcee. "He was even known at Afrotainment. As old as he was to me, he respected me so much. He would sometimes drive me when I was tired. I'm so sad and devastated. I can't even eat." But she had to abandon everything to mourn her beloved brother's death. "I can't do anything. I'm feeling pain. I'll suspend my studio sessions and recording until I feel fit enough to work again. At least, maybe, I'll feel much better after the funeral, although I don't think this pain will fade away anytime soon. It's too much and unbearable. But I have friends and family who have been comforting me," said Tipcee.

GOSPEL singer Pastor Motshidisi Monareng (31), well-known as Tshidi Monareng, said she has faced many challenges. The singer, who is based in Mpumalanga, mentioned that she experienced rejection, with some people telling her she didn't have a calling to sing and that she was forcing herself into music. She also said people told her the stage didn't suit her. Tshidi, from Rustenburg, North West, said she was inspired by powerful gospel artists like Hlengiwe Mhlaba, Joyous Celebration, and Bishop Benjamin Dube. She recorded her debut 14-track album, Ke Morena Jeso, in 2009. "In 2017, I tried to do a live recording. Unfortunately, things didnt go as planned. I ended up having depression and nearly took my life. At the time, my biggest challenge was losing my mum, Gladys Moetsi (64), on 29 January 2017," Tshidi said. “She was suffering from high-blood pressure. Despite, the difficult times, I didn't stop praying." She said the reason she's singing is because of the love of God. "I don't want to be selfish and keep my gift of singing within me. I want to heal broken hearts and give hope to the hopeless." The singer said she won't be changed by situations, environment, and money. Her advice to other gospel singers is: Don't fall into sin through entertainment, drinking alcohol and taking drugs. Tshidi said gospel singers should be good examples in the community. "My strength is that I love people and fear God." On 23 February 2024, she released her single track, called Ngilinde. She's busy in the studio working on another album to be released soon. Tshidi is married to Apostle Deddy Monareng, who co-founded the Faith Restoration Fire Ministry. In 2019, she released the album, Restoration with 14 songs. Pastor Monareng is also a businesswoman and a Setswana News reader at Moutse Community Radio Station under Sekhukhune District in Limpopo.

Power utility Eskom is keeping load shedding in its forward planning for the summer months ahead, saying that scheduled outages could return if breakdowns exceed planned levels of 15,000MW. However, such a scenario is not the group’s baseline scenario, and the utility is confident it can maintain its current outperformance. Speaking at the group’s seasonal outlook briefing, Eskom chief executive Dan Marokane said that utility’s performance in winter was consistently above expectations and that there has been a notable structural shift in operations. South Africa has gone more than 150 days without scheduled outages; the group has reduced its diesel bill by R10 billion year-on-year; and unplanned losses are at 12,400MW, compared to the 15,500MW “likely scenario” planned for winter. The CEO said that the huge turnaround at the utility on the generation side has given a massive boost to morale at the company, but also in South Africa generally, with analysts and economists noting the positive impact on the economy. However, he said that the company is not getting complacent and is erring on the side of caution with its outlook for summer (1 September 2024 to 31 March 2025). While the group is celebrating more than 150 days of no load shedding in the country, the end of scheduled outages cannot be declared over, and the possibility of their return cannot be discounted in planning. However, given the positive turn in generation over the past four (almost five) months, there have been two key changes in Eskom’s projections heading into summer: The breakdown scenario has been revised to a best-case scenario of 13,000MW of outages to a worst-case of 15,000MW. This is a downward revision from 15,000MW and 17,000MW projected at the winter outlook earlier this year. This impacts the second change, which is that the group expects no load shedding as long as breakdowns remain below 13,000MW. If breakdowns exceed 15,000MW, load shedding could return – but capped at stage 2. A scenario of no load shedding should be achievable, given that Eskom has managed to keep outages below the 13,000MW throughout winter. In fact, the group’s performance vs the winter outlook is remarkable. From a base case expecting 65 days of load shedding between stage 1 and 2 and R8.8 billion spent on diesel, Eskom delivered zero days of load shedding and only R3.5 billion spent on diesel. For summer, Eskom is taking a conservative and cautious view, keeping the possibility of load shedding in the mix. However, if its base case is that the current generation trends continue, and the summer months should be load-shedding-free, Marokane said that the group is optimistic that it will be able to meet the base-case scenario. However, he flagged some summer variables that could impact the system. This includes: High risk of rain and its impact on the ecosystem. Rain levels and weather patterns are more extreme than before, the CEO noted. There is also a possibility of excessive heat, which could also impact the operations of the power stations. The CEO said that the impact on losses is highly variable, thus Eskom is being overly cautious in its planning. However, he said the recent performance of the fleet gives the group confidence that it has the headroom to deal with any crises that might happen.

Since the start of the democratic era, South Africa’s four elected presidents have seen different levels of economic growth, but some have had much harder challenges to overcome. According to a research note from the Bureau for Economic Research’s Nicolaas van der Wath, economists often compare GDP growth with population growth to determine a nation’s average income or welfare trend. In 1994, South Africa had a GDP of R3.6 trillion (in constant 2023 prices). When Nelson Mandela was president from 1994 until 1999, economic growth saw no solid upward momentum, lifting only 17% since 1993 (2.7% annual average). This was, however, above the 12% population growth of the same period. From 2000 to 2008, when Thabo Mbeki was president, economic growth accelerated to an average of 4.2% annually, far higher than population growth. “By 2008, domestic output was recorded at R5.9 trillion in 2023 prices, up 44% from 1999, while the population was up by only 12%, implying that GDP per capita increased by about 29% over the same period,” said Van der Wath. This period of solid growth ended suddenly in 2009 when the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) caused South Africa’s GDP to contract by 1.5%. Jacob Zuma also became President this year. Although growth resumed in 2010, it lost momentum in the following years. Real output reached R6.9 trillion in 2009 – 19% higher than in 2009 (1.9% average annual growth). The population increased by 14% over the same period, suggesting that GDP per capita increased by 4% in nearly a decade. The economy continued to lose momentum after 2019 despite hope that Cyril Ramaphosa could turn the ship around quickly. “In 2020, the economy contracted by a staggering 6% as the COVID-19 pandemic caused global panic, followed by an artificially induced economic shutdown,” said Van Der Wath. “It took the economy two years to recover from the malaise. However, growth remained disappointing: GDP in 2023 reached R7 trillion, not much higher (1%) than in 2019.” “Over the same period, the population expanded by 6% to reach 61.3 million people, implying that GDP per capita fell by 4%.” Although economic policies shape a country’s economic course, impactful events cannot be ignored. For instance, South African growth averaged 4.7% in the 1950s following a post-war boom but only 0.2% in the first half of the 1990s due to political uncertainty. The second half of the 1990s saw growth recover to an average of 2.6% following an historic democratic transition, which marked an end to international sanctions and a return of business and investor confidence. “Sound macroeconomic policies (RDP and GEAR) contributed, focusing on raising fixed investment, keeping consumption at bay and lowering government debt.” “Internationally, the 1990s were marked by better prospects; inflation was under control, and the Cold War was over following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. This opened a new era of international trade and cooperation.” “During the first decade of the new millennium, South Africa’s GDP growth accelerated to an average of 3.6%. By the middle of the decade, growth reached a high of 5.6% (in 2006).” “However, part of this surge was fuelled by extremely low interest rates in the US, which resulted in a massive property bubble, followed by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).” Following this, the decade ended with a contraction of 1.5% in 2009, with growth gradually slowing in the 2010s. In addition, political chaos, mismanagement at SOEs, the increase in load shedding, and the rise of state capture all contributed to a deterioration in economic performance. “The government’s macroeconomic policies changed course towards more consumption and less fixed investment; average GDP growth in this decade fell to only 1.7% per year.” “The 2020s started on a difficult footing. The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly spread around the world, and governments all over closed borders and demanded that their citizens stay at home.” “As a result, South Africa’s GDP contracted by 6.2% in 2020. Though the economy partially recovered the following year, an acute shortage in electricity due to a faltering Eskom kept a lid on growth.” Data on GDP per capita shows that South Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of income growth. South Africa’s GDP per capita was R75,200, or US$13,200 (PPP, constant 2011 prices) in 2023. This level is close to the world average of $11,600 and other emerging markets ($12,500). It is also far higher than the $4,000 seen in Sub-Saharan Africa. “However, South Africa’s growth performance over the past 30 years has lagged behind other regions and the global economy.” “In 1993, South Africa’s GDP per capita was $10,300, increasing by 29% over the following three decades.” “Globally, GDP per capita increased by 70% over the same period, while in Sub-Saharan Africa, it rose by 45%. Even in advanced economies (which have no catch-up potential), individual income levels improved by more, at 57%.”