Kaizer Chiefs secure new car sponsor

An agreement that will see Japanese car manufacturer Toyota become the official car supplier to Kaizer Chiefs, has been reached!

In the three-year deal, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) will supply the club with 20 vehicles for all their transport requirements. The fleet will range from hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs and bakkies to panel vans and minibuses to cater to the club's various needs.

"We couldn't have asked for a better partner than Toyota to provide us with transport needs for our business," said Kaizer Chiefs Executive Chairman, Kaizer Motaung. "Toyota is one of the biggest motor vehicle manufacturers in the world and their brand is synonymous with quality and reliability across the globe. These attributes resonate deeply with Kaizer Chiefs, as we are a Club that aspires to the same ideals and high standards. We are delighted to establish a relationship with them and look forward to a prosperous and mutually beneficial partnership."

Andrew Kirby, Chief Executive Officer and President of Toyota South Africa, says that the Toyota brand is deeply rooted in South African sport: "Whether it is rugby, cycling, motorsport and now soccer – we are behind South African sport wholeheartedly. The values of perseverance, leadership and endurance are those that are synonymous with the Toyota brand and its history in South Africa.

"We're looking forward to driving the Kaizer Chiefs team for the next three years. Remember that Toyota is behind you every step of the way both on the field and off it. We are excited about joining the Amakhosi fans in supporting their team and hope to grow this partnership over time," Kirby added.

Amakhosi fans will also benefit with 250 free and secure parking bays allocated to all Toyota-driving fans attending Kaizer Chiefs home matches at the FNB stadium. This area will be known as the Toyota Zone and supporters will be allocated parking on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Source: Kaizer Chiefs

Boity Thulo is the next star to join #RhythmCity

Boity Thulo seems to love the e.TV family.  Having excelled on popular music show Club 808, she will soon be part of the Rhythm City soapie.

Boity said that her new role will give fans the opportunity to see her in a new light

She told the E.TV website that she's always played "sweet, innocent characters that people assume I am."

She said that this time her character is going to allow her to show people that she also has "a bitchy side, just like everyone else."

She added that the new space comes with its own challenges and that she may be a bit out of practise. "I've never worked with a lot of the actors on Rhythm City so this is going to be a whole new space for me. I also feel like I haven't acted in a while so I have to work extra hard to be ultra-prepared."

She also gave a bit of information on her new character Luscious Lu:

*She's strikingly beautiful.

*Her biggest flaw is her faith in people – she's way too trusting.

*She's an incredibly hard worker. She started as a graveyard shift host, but very quickly made her way up the ranks, taking over the afternoon drive.

Rthym City's social media account broke word about it and E.TV website confirmed the news that Boity will be joining the cast on Monday 10 April 2017.

HAVE YOU HEARD? @Boity is joining the #RhythmCity fam! Here are all the details: https://t.co/8bC0YEj7m8 pic.twitter.com/Y57BPPgX5q

— Rhythm City (@eRhythmCity) February 7, 2017

5 simple ways to free up your phone space without deleting anything

There is nothing more annoying than getting or rather receiving a notification that says "Storage Almost Full" just when you are in the middle of recording a video or about to snap an image. It can also be frustrating. Well there is now an easy way to clear space on your phone without deleting your precious memorable pictures.

Delete unnecessary storage-eating apps
This is actually one of the easiest ways to free up storage on your phone. You can delete unused or unnecessary apps that take up more of your space. Also consider apps that chows up your data

Get rid of old messages
There is really no use of keeping messages that older than 30 days. So delete the messages so you can have space on your phone. There's even an option now where you can delete old messages automatically

Clear your browser's cache
This suggestion does not only apply to your computer, it also applies to your phone. Go to settings, and then head to 'Clear history' to clear your cache. However, it might take a little while to free up the gigabytes, but it will definitely be worth the wait.

Switch of automatic app updates
Automatic app updates will not only deplete your data and take up more room of your space, it will also drain your battery. Turn off these app updates

Use the cloud
Moving your files to the Cloud is actually an easy way to also free up space on your phone. Go to settingsàicloudàphotos then optimise iPhone storage. This feature will save all your photos and videos in smaller format.

Consumers #Valentines spend expected to rise sharply

Considering past trends consumers are expected to spend more on gifts and restaurants this Valentine's. In 2016, FNB Credit Card holders spent 60% more on flowers, jewellery, chocolate, greeting cards ahead of Valentine's while a 25% increase in spend at restaurants was recorded.

FNB Credit Card analysed 2016 spending patterns of its customers on gifts in the week of Valentine's and restaurants on the 14th February, comparing to a usual business week, to ascertain if there was a unique spending pattern associated with Valentine's.

 "It is very clear that consumers spend more around Valentine's and interestingly, men are responsible for the majority of spending. However this doesn't mean that women don't spoil their loved ones as we also see increases in their spend during this time," says Christelle Pretorius head of product and growth at FNB Credit Card. 

Online florists see the biggest increase in the week of Valentine's with a 116% increase compared to usual spend patterns. Men take the lead when buying flowers, accounting for 65% of these purchases, compared to 35% purchased by women.

Jewellery stores also see an increase of around 29%. Again men make most of the purchases in this category accounting for 60% of spend.

Chocolate and card stores also saw increases of 38% and 22% respectively; however both women and men spend equally on these gifts for Valentine's.

 Restaurants see a boom on the day of Valentine's, with an increase of 25% compared to a normal business day.

#Bulls mourn the passing of former #Springboks captain Joost van der Westhuizen

The Vodacom Bulls are saddened to learn of the passing of former Springbok and Vodacom Bulls stalwart Joost van der Westhuizen after a courageous six year fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most severe form of motor neuron disease. He was 45 years old.

Van der Westhuizen changed the way scrumhalves played the game with his sniping runs, solid defensive work and his ability to sniff out the try line (scoring 71 tries for the Blue Bulls, and 6 for the Vodacom Super Rugby franchise). He was such an illustrious talent that he held the Springbok record for most tries scored until Bryan Habana broke it in 2011.

Van der Westhuizen made his debut for the Vodacom Blue Bulls in 1992 and went on to earn 144 Currie Cup caps and 26 Vodacom Super Rugby appearances. He captained the men from Pretoria on 38 occasions and lead the Northern Gauteng union to two Currie Cup victories in 1998 and 2002.

At Springbok level, he was involved inthree World Cup campaigns including the 1995 edition where he put in a heart stopping tackle on All Black wing Jonah Lomu that prevented a certain try. He captained the Springboks in ten Tests and represented the Springbok Sevens team as well.

Blue Bulls Company CEO, Barend van Graan said: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of Joost van der Westhuizen, and our thoughts and condolences go out to his family, friends and the millions of fans that adored him.  Joost will forever be remembered as the warrior that terrified opposition on the field, and one that took on MND head on while raising massive awareness for the cause."

Although he suffered immense difficulties because of MND, he showed South Africa his fighting spirit through his foundation, the J9 Foundation, as he pioneered awareness of this dreaded disease.

Gert Wessel, President of the BBRU: "Joost was an individual with a 'big heart', both on and off the field. This showed in his approach to the game as he stood back and stepped aside for nothing in his playing. This tenacious attitude clearly came through in his battle against MND as well" 

Zambian comedian gets his wife a $14 million #Valentines gift.... Yes a private jet

A Zambian Comedian identified as Nkisu Yikona also known as HK surprised his wife a private Jet worth a whooping $14,000,000 for Valentines.

He presented the gift early today to his wife who was shocked as she never expected the gift. The jet was delivered straight to Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka.

Too much #paracetamol damages the liver as much as cancer

Adverse use of paracetamol can potentially be as dangerous as cancer on the liver's function, scientists warn.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have studied the impact of the painkiller on liver cells in human and mouse tissue.

Their tests showed that in certain settings, paracetamol intake can damage the liver by harming the vital structural connections between adjacent cells in the organ.

When these cell wall connections – known as tight junctions – are disrupted, the liver tissue structure is damaged. The cells may then be unable to function properly and may die.

This type of cell damage is known to occur in liver conditions including hepatitis, cirrhosis, and cancer, but it was not linked to paracetamol toxicity until now.

"Paracetamol is the world's preferred pain remedy – it is cheap, and considered safe and effective at therapeutic dose," said study co-author Dr Leonard Nelson. "However, drug-induced liver damage remains an important clinical problem and a challenge for developing safer drugs. Our findings reinforce the need for vigilance in paracetamol use, and could help discover how harm caused by its adverse use might be prevented."

Researchers now hope to develop a trustworthy method of using human liver cells rather than animal testing.

They will then plan to examine how varying paracetamol doses and timescales influence toxicity in the liver, and identify potential targets for new drugs.

Co-author Pierre Bagnaninchi, of the university's MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, added: "Although liver damage caused by paracetamol toxicity has been the subject of intense study for 40 years, recent developments in biosensor technology are enabling a fuller picture of the biological mechanisms involved."

The full study has been published in journal Scientific Reports.

© Cover Media

#WhatsApp to allow you to delete message after sending

We've all been there, sending a message to someone only to be plagued by regret the moment it is sent.  Now, there is good news for all the drunk and angry texters out there. Popular messaging app WhatsApp will soon allow senders to retract messages after they have been sent, according to reports.

The down side is that the feature will only work if the person has not yet seen the message. If there is a blue tick next to your message, you might have to start drafting an apology message to accompany it.

According to the Mirror UK, the option to delete and even edit messages is currently in its testing stage and will be available in a future update, however, no date has been announced as yet.

WhatsApp was bought by Facebook for $22 billion in 2014. Last year, the messaging app announced that it would able users to video call each other. This feature has made the platform, where it will be competing against the likes of Apple's FaceTime, which is only available to iPhone users, Viber, and Microsoft's Skype.

Earlier this year, a hoax saying that WhatsApp would be announcing a feature that allows people to be notified when someone screenshots their conversation.  The story was debanked by several tech platforms such as Asian One Digital who pointed out that the website from which people got the story from is a satirical  platform called 8shit.

Mzansi's love for drumsticks and wings fuels crisis in poultry industry #ChickenDumping

Don't you just love those oven grilled chicken drumsticks coated with your favourite spicy coating? Or those very hot peri peri wings deep fried in hot oil?

Well do you know that your preference for "brown meat" such as chicken drumsticks and wings is listed as one of the major reasons for the poultry "crisis"? Yes it is.

This is as a result of "dumping" of foreign chicken imports from developed nations which prefer chicken breasts or "white meat".

This market preference is affecting the country's poultry sector, which is bleeding thousands of jobs due to the increase in cheaper imports, parliament's select committee on trade and international relations heard yesterday.

"Dumping" occurs when a company exports a product from another country at a price lower than the price normally charged for the same product in the home market.

Garth Strachan, deputy director-general for industrial development in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said high costs of feed and drought had an impact.

"The critical increase in imports of bone-in quarters and you also add mechanically de-boned meat portions is also part of the problem. We all know there are retrenchments under way. It's a very concentrated industry."

It is indeed very sad considering that about 40 000 jobs are on the line should the crisis not be resolved.

Thuli Madonsela to receive #Commonwealth Law Award in Australia

Former public protector advocate Thuli Madonsela will travel to Melbourne in March to accept the third Commonwealth Law Conference Rule of Law award.

The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) nominated Madonsela for the accolade and congratulated her yesterday.

"We are delighted and proud that this worthy South African lawyer will receive international recognition from her peers across the Commonwealth for her work in protecting our constitution and promoting the concept of the Rule of Law‚' said LSSA co-chairpersons Jan van Rensburg and Mvuzo Notyesi.

The Rule of Law award will be presented to Madonsela by the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA). The award recognises an individual or firm that has an outstanding contribution to the rule of law‚ which has an impact both within their own country and the Commonwealth.

The CLA said Madonsela had demonstrated to South Africans the merit in pursuing truth‚ regardless of the obstacles‚ in her tenure as public protector.
Madonsela will accept Rule of Law award at the closing ceremony of the 20th Commonwealth Law Conference in Melbourne‚ Australia‚ in March.