Latest news with #Fleck
The Star
24-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Ntokozo Makhaza's rags-to-riches progression from ‘nobody' to Springbok alignment camp
Mike Greenaway | Published 7 hours ago Ikeys coach and former Springbok centre Robbie Fleck had the pleasure of telling Ntokozo Makhaza that Rassie Erasmus was making enquires about him, but the young wing thought Fleck was winding him up. 'Rassie called me and asked me questions about 'Makky'. He wanted his number,' Fleck told Independent Media . 'When I told Makky that the Springbok coach would call him, he thought I was joking. 'I had to convince him he was getting a call, and to relax and enjoy the experience.' Makhaza is the bolter who was called up to the Springbok alignment camp, which was held in Cape Town this week. The 23-year-old is a third-year social science student at the University of Cape Town, specialising in psychology. Last month, Fleck's Ikeys side won the Varsity Cup, and Makhaza was the Player of the Tournament, as he was last year too. Erasmus has been watching, and was so impressed with the wing's performance statistics – yes, Big Brother Rassie watches everything – that he called up Fleck to find out more. 'I was surprised when Rassie called in the sense that it is not often a player gets called up straight out of the varsity system,' Fleck said. 'Rassie wanted to know about the person: who the guy is, is he hard-working and coachable? Those are the first questions Rassie asked me,' the former Stormers coach said. 'I said '100 percent' to all of Rassie's questions. 'Mak is a very humble, hard-working, and a true gentleman. He has an incredible work ethic on and off the field.' Makhaza's Northwood High School coach, Grant Bashford, echoed Fleck's sentiments. 'What a lovely kid. He is one of the nicest kids you could ever meet,' Bashford, who assisted John Plumtree in his first coaching tenure at the Sharks, told Independent Media . 'One of the Sharks' scouts discovered this nippy little player down the KZN South Coast, and got him to Northlands Primary (the school is about 2km from Kings Park),' Bashford explained. 'He came to us at Northwood in Grade Eight. 'He was small, but explosive… a Cheslin Kolbe-type kid, with a huge work ethic,' Bashford recalls. 'He was always polite and humble. When the others were messing around, he was the last one kicking balls. He would be the first one in the gym.' Bashford recalls a brilliant performance by Makhaza in a historic win for Northwood, one of the smaller of the tier-one rugby schools in KZN. 'In 2019, for the first time ever, we beat Maritzburg College at Goldstones (their home ground). Our regular flyhalf had been off with his kicking. Mak took the ball and kicked it from everywhere.' Bashford thought Makhaza might go the sevens route. 'I thought his pathway might be to the Blitzboks. But times have changed, and I think Cheslin Kolbe has done so much for getting smaller guys recognised. 'In previous Springbok eras, small guys were overlooked. Cheslin has given the small X-factor guys hope that they can make it. 'Makky played KZN Schools at Craven Week from Northwood. I remember he was so focused in his matric year in going to university in Cape Town to further his education.' Fleck says Makhaza's goal-kicking for the UCT Ikeys has been phenomenal. 'He kicks at 85 percent in howling south-easters, and hits 95 percent on the highveld. 'I told Rassie that Mak has a few shortcomings, but Rassie said that is what his coaching staff is for,' Fleck continued. 'Rassie likes guys with a work ethic that he knows he can improve, especially with a guy like Tony Brown coaching the backs. 'Rassie can take an 80-percenter and turn him into a 100-percenter. He likes players that are prepared to go the extra mile.' Erasmus prefers hard-working wingers who chase, work back, and create opportunities. Fleck adds that Makhaza was almost lost to mainstream rugby, although he has now signed for the Cheetahs for the Currie Cup. 'Credit to him, he was Player of the Tournament last year, but had no provincial offers. He was thinking about sevens, but we said, 'Give it one more year'. 'He had another cracker year, and look at him now.'
IOL News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Ntokozo Makhaza's rags-to-riches progression from ‘nobody' to Springbok alignment camp
Ntokozo Makhaza UCT Ikeys star Ntokozo Makhaza was chosen as the Varsity Cup Player of the Season for the second year in a row. Photo: BackpagePix Image: BackpagePix Ikeys coach and former Springbok centre Robbie Fleck had the pleasure of telling Ntokozo Makhaza that Rassie Erasmus was making enquires about him, but the young wing thought Fleck was winding him up. 'Rassie called me and asked me questions about 'Makky'. He wanted his number,' Fleck told Independent Media. 'When I told Makky that the Springbok coach would call him, he thought I was joking. 'I had to convince him he was getting a call, and to relax and enjoy the experience.' Makhaza is the bolter who was called up to the Springbok alignment camp, which was held in Cape Town this week. The 23-year-old is a third-year social science student at the University of Cape Town, specialising in psychology. Last month, Fleck's Ikeys side won the Varsity Cup, and Makhaza was the Player of the Tournament, as he was last year too. Erasmus has been watching, and was so impressed with the wing's performance statistics – yes, Big Brother Rassie watches everything – that he called up Fleck to find out more. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ 'I was surprised when Rassie called in the sense that it is not often a player gets called up straight out of the varsity system,' Fleck said. 'Rassie wanted to know about the person: who the guy is, is he hard-working and coachable? Those are the first questions Rassie asked me,' the former Stormers coach said. 'I said '100 percent' to all of Rassie's questions. 'Mak is a very humble, hard-working, and a true gentleman. He has an incredible work ethic on and off the field.' Makhaza's Northwood High School coach, Grant Bashford, echoed Fleck's sentiments. 'What a lovely kid. He is one of the nicest kids you could ever meet,' Bashford, who assisted John Plumtree in his first coaching tenure at the Sharks, told Independent Media. 'One of the Sharks' scouts discovered this nippy little player down the KZN South Coast, and got him to Northlands Primary (the school is about 2km from Kings Park),' Bashford explained. 'He came to us at Northwood in Grade Eight. Ntokozo Makhaza Ntokozo Makhaza (front row, last on the right) in the successful Northwood High School First XV of 2019. In the floppy hat (middle row) is Grant Bashford, a former Sharks assistant coach under John Plumtree. Photo: SUPPLIED Image: SUPPLIED 'He was small, but explosive… a Cheslin Kolbe-type kid, with a huge work ethic,' Bashford recalls. 'He was always polite and humble. When the others were messing around, he was the last one kicking balls. He would be the first one in the gym.' Bashford recalls a brilliant performance by Makhaza in a historic win for Northwood, one of the smaller of the tier-one rugby schools in KZN. 'In 2019, for the first time ever, we beat Maritzburg College at Goldstones (their home ground). Our regular flyhalf had been off with his kicking. Mak took the ball and kicked it from everywhere.' Bashford thought Makhaza might go the sevens route. 'I thought his pathway might be to the Blitzboks. But times have changed, and I think Cheslin Kolbe has done so much for getting smaller guys recognised. 'In previous Springbok eras, small guys were overlooked. Cheslin has given the small X-factor guys hope that they can make it. 'Makky played KZN Schools at Craven Week from Northwood. I remember he was so focused in his matric year in going to university in Cape Town to further his education.' Fleck says Makhaza's goal-kicking for the UCT Ikeys has been phenomenal. 'He kicks at 85 percent in howling south-easters, and hits 95 percent on the highveld. 'I told Rassie that Mak has a few shortcomings, but Rassie said that is what his coaching staff is for,' Fleck continued. 'Rassie likes guys with a work ethic that he knows he can improve, especially with a guy like Tony Brown coaching the backs.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Germany's new chancellor said it will build Europe's strongest army — but can it deliver?
Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to build Europe's strongest military for Germany. Germany's shift in defense policy followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and NATO goals. Experts highlighted challenges like underinvestment, recruitment, and political consensus. Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, vowed last week that the country will build "the strongest conventional army in Europe." It comes as Germany and others adapt to the drive for European countries to rapidly rearm in the face of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — but contrasts with recent decades when the country has preferred soft power over military strength. So, how feasible is it for Germany to be the continent's biggest military power? "For now, the money is there, and Germans have deep pockets," Ulrich Kühn, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Business Insider. "What is missing is a general cross-party consensus on the issue, including the left wing of the governing Social Democrats, who are more skeptical of projecting military power," he said. Last month, Germany announced that it was deploying troops to Lithuania on a long-term basis—the first long-term deployment of German soldiers to another country since World War II, another sign of its changing military approach. Kühn added that the commitment to increase Germany's defense spending "can only be the beginning if the goal is really to position itself as Europe's defense champion." "What the German arms industry needs are long-term contracts well into the 2030s and state subsidies to rapidly scale up production," he said. As of May 2024, Germany's army, the Bundeswehr, had 180,215 active-duty personnel. Jörn Fleck, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Europe Center, told BI that a targeted increase of the German armed forces to 200,000 had been delayed until 2031 "due to lackluster recruitment and an ageing force." But he said that Germany "has taken important initial steps to rebuild the German military into one of Europe's leading conventional forces." Fleck cited a €100 billion special fund to modernize the military, announced in 2022, and constitutional changes to partially exempt defense spending from Germany's debt brake, which was imposed after the 2008 financial crisis and limits the deficit to just 0.35% of GDP. By contrast, the US deficit exceeded 6% last year. But Fleck warned that Germany "will have to overcome two if not three decades of underinvestment in its armed forces." "The resulting force reductions, readiness problems, capability gaps, and infrastructure challenges will take years to reverse," he added. "They will not be solved by money alone and will require sustained political will and leadership." One positive for Germany is its thriving defense industry, which includes major players like Rheinmetall and KNDS, along with medium-sized companies and innovative startups. In 2024, Rheinmetall saw sales related to its defense business increase by 50% year-on-year. Germany's defense industry strategy, focused on key technologies, greater economies of scale, and the potential of the European market, is a "positive step in the right direction," Fleck said, but he added that the country will "have to fundamentally reform its procurement agency and processes" to boost its defense industry. He also said that advancing Germany's military capabilities will move the needle across Europe, given the country's political and economic weight on the continent. This has already been visible when it comes to the REARM initiative that opened the door for countries to spend more on defense, and the proposal for common EU borrowing to fund joint development and procurement. "If Germany, Europe's reluctant hegemon with its fraught history, can get its act together on defense," Kühn said. "So can others." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
22-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Germany's new chancellor said it will build Europe's strongest army — but can it deliver?
Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, vowed last week that the country will build "the strongest conventional army in Europe." It comes as Germany and others adapt to the drive for European countries to rapidly rearm in the face of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — but contrasts with recent decades when the country has preferred soft power over military strength. So, how feasible is it for Germany to be the continent's biggest military power? "For now, the money is there, and Germans have deep pockets," Ulrich Kühn, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Business Insider. "What is missing is a general cross-party consensus on the issue, including the left wing of the governing Social Democrats, who are more skeptical of projecting military power," he said. Last month, Germany announced that it was deploying troops to Lithuania on a long-term basis —the first long-term deployment of German soldiers to another country since World War II, another sign of its changing military approach. Kühn added that the commitment to increase Germany's defense spending "can only be the beginning if the goal is really to position itself as Europe's defense champion." "What the German arms industry needs are long-term contracts well into the 2030s and state subsidies to rapidly scale up production," he said. As of May 2024, Germany's army, the Bundeswehr, had 180,215 active-duty personnel. Jörn Fleck, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Europe Center, told BI that a targeted increase of the German armed forces to 200,000 had been delayed until 2031 "due to lackluster recruitment and an ageing force." But he said that Germany "has taken important initial steps to rebuild the German military into one of Europe's leading conventional forces." Fleck cited a €100 billion special fund to modernize the military, announced in 2022, and constitutional changes to partially exempt defense spending from Germany's debt brake, which was imposed after the 2008 financial crisis and limits the deficit to just 0.35% of GDP. By contrast, the US deficit exceeded 6% last year. But Fleck warned that Germany "will have to overcome two if not three decades of underinvestment in its armed forces." "The resulting force reductions, readiness problems, capability gaps, and infrastructure challenges will take years to reverse," he added. "They will not be solved by money alone and will require sustained political will and leadership." One positive for Germany is its thriving defense industry, which includes major players like Rheinmetall and KNDS, along with medium-sized companies and innovative startups. In 2024, Rheinmetall saw sales related to its defense business increase by 50% year-on-year. Germany's defense industry strategy, focused on key technologies, greater economies of scale, and the potential of the European market, is a "positive step in the right direction," Fleck said, but he added that the country will "have to fundamentally reform its procurement agency and processes" to boost its defense industry. He also said that advancing Germany's military capabilities will move the needle across Europe, given the country's political and economic weight on the continent. This has already been visible when it comes to the REARM initiative that opened the door for countries to spend more on defense, and the proposal for common EU borrowing to fund joint development and procurement. "If Germany, Europe's reluctant hegemon with its fraught history, can get its act together on defense," Kühn said. "So can others."
Boston Globe
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Critics say Trump's religion agenda will benefit conservative Christians the most
But others, including some Christians, are alarmed by these acts — saying Trump isn't protecting religion in general but granting a privileged status to politically conservative expressions of Christianity that happen to include his supporters. Critics are even more aghast that he's questioning a core understanding of the First Amendment. 'They say 'separation between church and state,'' Trump said at the prayer day gathering, when he talked about establishing the White House Faith Office. 'I said, all right, let's forget about that for one time.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Trump's creation of these various bodies is 'definitely not normal, and it's very important to not look at them as individual entities,' said the Rev. Shannon Fleck, executive director of Faithful America, a progressive Christian advocacy organization. Advertisement 'They are indicative of an entire system that is being constructed at the national level,' she said. 'It's a system specifically designed to guide and shape culture in the U.S.' Fleck worries about the combined effect of Trump administration actions and a spate of decisions by the US Supreme Court in recent years. The court, now with three Trump appointees, has lowered barriers between church and state in its interpretations of the First Amendment's ban on any congressionally recognized establishment of religion. Advertisement 'My freedom of religion runs right up to the point when yours begins, and if I am then trying to establish something that's going to affect your right to practice your faith, that is against the First Amendment,' Fleck said. But religious supporters of Trump are happy with his expansion of religion-related offices. 'We were a nation birthed by prayer, founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic to ensure that people could worship as they wished,' said Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a Republican, at the Rose Garden ceremony where he was announced as chair of the Religious Liberty Commission. Many members are conservative Christian clerics and commentators; some have supported Trump politically. The event featured Christian praise music along with Jewish, Muslim, and Christian prayers. White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers, via email, said the commission is ensuring 'that all Americans' God-given right is protected, no matter their religion.' Rogers said the criticism is coming from anti-Trump advocacy groups that are trying to undermine his agenda. The three entities created under Trump overlap in their marching orders and, in some cases, their membership. In February, Trump established the White House Faith Office, led by evangelist Paula White-Cain as a 'special government employee,' according to the announcement. She's resuming a similar role she held in the first Trump administration. White-Cain — who also serves on the new Religious Liberty Commission — was one of the earliest high-profile Christian leaders to support Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and is considered Trump's spiritual adviser. Her office is designed to consult 'experts within the faith community' on 'practices to better align with the American values.' It also is tasked with religious-liberty training and promoting grant opportunities for faith-based entities; and working to 'identify failures' in federal protection for religious liberty. Advertisement Also in February, Trump created a Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi with representatives from several federal departments. Its mandate is to expose and reverse what Trump claims were 'egregious' violations of Christians' rights under former president Joe Biden. Many of those claims have been disputed, as has the need for singling out for protection the nation's largest and most culturally and politically dominant religious group. A White House action focused on a specific religion is not unprecedented. The Biden administration, for example, issued strategy plans to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia. Both Trump administrations have issued executive orders on combating antisemitism. An April hearing of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias featured witnesses from across federal departments, alleging that Christians during the Biden administration faced discrimination for such things as opposing vaccine mandates or 'DEI/LGBT ideology' on religious grounds. The State and Veterans Affairs departments have asked people to report alleged instances of anti-Christian bias. The White House said the Justice Department formed specific task forces to respond to what it called a 'concentration of bias' against Christians and Jews, but that it's committed to combating discrimination against Americans of any faith. The latest entity to be created, the Religious Liberty Commission, has a mandate to recommend policies to protect and 'celebrate America's peaceful religious pluralism.' Patrick, the chair, has supported legislation requiring Texas school districts to allow prayer time for students and says he wants his state to emulate Louisiana in requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms. Advertisement Among the commission's mandates: to look into 'conscience protections in the health care field and concerning vaccine mandates' and government 'displays with religious imagery.' Among the commissioners are Catholic bishops, Protestant evangelists, a rabbi, and attorneys focused on religious liberty cases. Its advisory boards include several Christian and some Jewish and Muslim members. Charles Haynes, senior fellow for religious liberty at the Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation focused on First Amendment rights, said the various entities reflect Trump's attempt to fulfill an agenda priority of his conservative Christian supporters. He said the entities' work reflects their long-standing contention that the First Amendment has 'been misapplied to keep Christians out of the public square, to discriminate against Christianity, by which they mean their understandings of Christianity.' Trump's moves and recent Supreme Court cases are reversing a consensus dating at least to the 1940s that the First Amendment strictly prohibits government-sponsored religion at the federal and state levels, Haynes said. He said the First Amendment actually provides broad protections for religious expressions in settings such as public schools. He helped write a Freedom Forum guide on religion in public schools, endorsed by groups across the ideological spectrum. It notes that within some limits, students can pray on their own time in schools, express their faith in class assignments, distribute religious literature, form school religious clubs and receive some accommodations based on religious belief. But Haynes noted that the Supreme Court is now considering allowing Oklahoma to pay for a Catholic charter school, which he said could erase a long-standing standard that public-funded schools don't teach a particular religion. Advertisement 'It's a very different day in the United States when both the Supreme Court and the president of the United States appear to be intent on changing the arrangement on religious freedom that we thought was in place,' Haynes said. 'It's a radical departure from how we've understood ourselves.'
