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Chippa United bowed to public and government pressure on Thursday by withdrawing the appointment of controversial coach Luc Eymael.

The Belgians appointment had drawn widespread condemnation from the Premier Soccer League's (PSL) mother body Safa local government and social media because of his racist and offensive remarks made at a previous club.

In July Eymael was fired by Young Africans FC of Tanzania for referring to the club supporters as monkeys and dogs who know nothing about football.

Eymael was named as the Chippas new coach on Wednesday only 24 hours after they sacked Lehlohonolo Seema.

Chippa boss Siviwe Mpengesi initially defended Eymaels appointment on national radio on Wednesday evening but ultimately was forced to swallow his pride and embarrassingly reverse his decision.

Chippa United have a history for hiring and firing coaches but Eymaels tenure with the Port Elizabeth side will go down as the shortest ever stay . . . less than 24 hours.

"The club would like to formally announce that it has withdrawn the appointment of Belgian Luc Eymael" a statement read on Thursday afternoon.

"When processes are complete a new coaching announcement will be made in due course.

"After having announced Eymael's appointment the club has considered public outrage.

"There was also the reputational damage caused to our brand; and that of our stakeholders partners as well as our sponsors.

"We would like to clarify that the initial decision to make this appointment was based on Eymael's coaching track record where we felt he was the best person to take the club towards our desired top half finish in this DStv Premiership season.

"Outside of the written reports there was no formal instruction to us or to any other team- to not employ Eymael."

"However as the Pride of Eastern Cape we represent the legacies of world renowned anti-discrimination heroes that come from our province.

"The Chilli Boys play an influential role to our surrounding communities through football and through our philanthropic work.

"We have people that look up to us and on the responsible decisions that we take.

"Our withdrawal of this appointment is an acknowledgment of our stance on such matters with the club also having fully informed Eymael and his representatives on our position."

Earlier on Thursday Eastern Cape provincial government (ECPG) slammed the appointment of the Belgian.

The Eastern Cape provincial government is concerned that Chippa United has appointed Luc Eymael as their head coach even though they know about the racist and offensive remarks he made about black people supporting his former club their statement read.

The statement went on to say that Eymaels remarks had no place in SA society especially one that has the backing of NMB and Buffalo City municipalities.

We dont think a football club playing in our professional soccer league and a club that is financially supported by the municipalities of the Eastern Cape government should be coached by an unrepentant racist spewing offensive and derogatory statements about other human beings.

Safa made their intentions clear on Wednesday evening.

We find it deeply offensive that as the global football community is united in solidarity around the Black Lives Matter campaign Chippa United would see it fit to hire such a character to work in the city named after the founding father of the nation Tata Nelson Mandela the champion of a world free of racism and other forms of discrimination said the soccer bodys statement.

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Embattled 'Chippa' Mpengesi withdraws the appointment of controversial coach Luc Eymael - TimesLIVE

Many on social media have welcomed the North Gauteng High Court's ruling against lobby group AfriForum's request to have the Covid-19 regulations regarding beach closures declared unconstitutional.

The group submitted the motion after President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent announcement that beaches in the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route would be closed from December 16 to January 3. Ramaphosa said this would help arrest the spread of Covid-19 as SA is experiencing a second wave of infections.

Ramaphosa also said beaches in KwaZulu-Natal would be closed on peak days - December 16, 25, 26 and 31 and from January 1-3.

After lodging its court papers last week, AfriForum said the move to close beaches was unconstitutional and discriminatory. The group said the restrictions on access to beaches amounted to the restriction of basic human rights.

Original post:
'These beaches will be the end of us!' - Mzansi responds to court ruling against AfriForum - TimesLIVE

We can never stress enough the need for citizens to take every precaution necessary as we celebrate the festive season and look for a reprieve from a tough year. Unfortunately, Covid-19 is unrelenting and we therefore can't afford to be complacent at this stage.

We urge all South Africans to adhere to the regulations and recommendations pertaining to the national state of disaster, avoid large gatherings and congested environments, ensure adequate ventilation in venues where they gather and vigilantly adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions, said the minister in a statement.

Social media was abuzz with reaction to the latest virus figures, with some users predicting that if South Africans don't do more to try to curb the spread of Covid-19, 2021 might be even worse.

Here are some of the reactions:

Excerpt from:
'The second wave is going to be a tsunami': Mzansi reacts to SA's highest daily hike in Covid infections - TimesLIVE

Airline staff who test positive are required to spend 14 days in hotel quarantine and their fellow crew members also face a stint in isolation. Airlines fear the rules could result in pilots and cabin crew being stranded in Australia leaving nobody to fly their aircraft out of the country.

One senior source at an international airline, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorised to speak to the media and feared jeopardising negotiations with the Victorian government, said the company was considering suspending flights to Victoria.

International airline crew face 14 days in quarantine if they test positive for COVID-19. Credit:Getty

Another airline industry source with knowledge of the threats, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said three other airlines were also contemplating changes as a result of the testing policy.

"We could be leaving a very expensive piece of metal on the ground," said the airline source. "We are seriously questioning if we continue operating to Melbourne."

US carrier United Airlines, Japan Airlines and Royal Brunei have made the loudest protests against the new policy, according to one government source with knowledge of the discussions. Other carriers currently flying to Melbourne include Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qatar.

It is not clear how serious the threats to suspend passenger services are or whether they are an attempt to have the government roll back an inconvenient policy.

Victoria's testing commander Jeroen Weimar said the government's position was non-negotiable.Credit:Jason South

Mr Weimar said that while he understood the new program was a "logistical challenge" for airlines and that some might suspend flights to Melbourne, "our position is non-negotiable".

"As weve seen in very recent developments both here and in Sydney, the air crew represents significant risk," he said.

"While were doing the right thing in terms of managing our international returning Australians in a very secure way, its important we also manage our international air crew in a similar way."

Mr Weimar said Victoria considered anyone part of a crew in which one member tests positive as a close contact and the "preferred position" was they would also isolate in a quarantine hotel, but that would be negotiated individually with each airline.

He also expressed frustration that travellers from NSW's "red zones" continued to arrive in Melbourne without a permit, with 48 people set to spend Christmas Day in hotel quarantine as a result.

"Regrettably I think another 11 or 12 turned up yesterday despite our fairly extensive communication program to encourage people not to return to Victoria from [the red zone areas] but nevertheless they're doing their 14 days of isolation in our hotel quarantine program," he said.

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"Clearly that's not a foolproof system. We understand that in this environment of contactless boarding that may be difficult to achieve but it is a bit frustrating."

Mr Weimar said he "implored" airlines to do better after the rules had been in place for many days now, saying the government expected them to "do their part of this job to ensure that the people who are travelling are eligible".

The COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney's northern beaches has hit air traffic at what is normally the busiest time of year, with 190 flights between Sydney and Melbourne cancelled over the past three days.

Meanwhile 25 international travellers have been granted exemption from Victoria's hotel quarantine program since it restarted on December 7. A DHHS spokeswoman said six exemptions were granted on medical and compassionate grounds, five were given to foreign diplomats and their family and one was granted to an unaccompanied minor.

The remaining 13 were approved for "international transit, interstate travel for medical or compassionate reasons and maritime crew members".

"These people all undertook the mandatory 14-day quarantine in an alternate location," said the spokeswoman. Mr Weimar said authorised officers regularly checked in on people allowed to self-isolate at home with fines up to about $5000 if they were caught out.

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Business reporter at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

Michael is a state political reporter for The Age.

Rachael Dexter is a breaking news reporter at The Age.

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Airlines threaten to abandon Melbourne over COVID-19 test requirement - Sydney Morning Herald

The Telegraph

After almost four years of Brexit negotiations, Michel Barniers famous clock was still ticking. On Wednesday night, expectation was high that the EU and UK would finally strike the trade deal both sides have been waiting for. All seemed set fair for the white smoke on the agreement to be sent up but a last-minute hitch stalled progress. Negotiators were locked in a final push to get the deal over the line, determined not to add another missed deadline to a pile of discarded Brexit deadlines. The finger of blame in Brussels was pointed in the direction of an anonymous French official who had boasted to a news agency that Boris Johnson had made massive last-minute concessions. After that was flashed on the wires, progress ground to a halt. Cant they just shut up as long as there isnt a deal? It only provokes a reaction, an EU diplomat raged. The chances are that it wasn't entirely the fault of a blabbermouth official. A more likely culprit was a discussion on what the trading rules for electric car parts would be from January 1. But a deal is still tantalisingly close and real progress towards a final agreement on fishing, the level playing field and the deals enforcement was made on Wednesday. Mr Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, haggled furiously over fishing rights as the two leaders took control of the trade talks, speaking at least five times over the course of the day. It was only after being told no by the EU three times in one week that Boris Johnson started saying yes to Brussels. The road to the deal was paved after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, rejected the Prime Ministers pleas for direct talks in early December. UK-EU trade negotiations had been deadlocked since March over the issues of fishing, the level playing field guarantees and the deals enforcement. Mrs von der Leyen informed Mr Johnson that his request for direct intervention to find a breakthrough in the talks was denied for the second time. He was welcome to ask again, she told him over a fish supper on the 13th floor of commission headquarters on Wednesday, but the answer would still be no. But the December 9 dinner was also the beginning of an understanding between Mr Johnson and the president of the European Commission.

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