Tabla de contenidos para 2022-02-24 en Cape Times

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has remained bullish about South Africa’s fiscal discipline as the country’s better-than-expected revenue collection will help cover social spending and reduce the Budget deficit. In his Budget speech yesterday, Godongwana said the National Treasury was on course to close key fiscal imbalances and restore the health of public finances in the medium-term. Godongwana, however, said the country’s debt burden, currently standing at R4.35 trillion, remained a matter of serious concern amid growing spending demands. Debt‐service costs consume an increasing share of gross domestic product (GDP) and revenue. On average, 20 cents of every rand collected in revenue every year will be needed to pay debt-service costs. “This huge sum is owed to lenders domestically and around the world,” Godongwana said. “It incurs…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za | Political Bureau HEALTH Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has been asked to reveal details of the multibillion-rand deals for Covid-19 vaccines. The Justice Health Initiative (JHI) is demanding answers from Phaahla over who are the countries that scored the multibillion-rand contracts to supply Covid-19 vaccines. The JHI has hauled Phaahla to the North Gauteng High Court to force the government to reveal details of the Covid-19 vaccine procurement contracts and agreements it has entered with nine manufacturers including Johnson & Johnson, Aspen Pharmacare, Pfizer, the Serum Institute of India, Sinovac, the African Union Vaccine Access Task Team, Covax and the Solidarity Fund. The initiative wants the high court to order that “to the extent necessary, setting aside and declaring invalid the failure by the second (information…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za WHILE the fuel levy and Road Accident Fund will remain unchanged during 2022-23, this will not be the case for alcohol and cigarettes as prices are set to rise. This emerged when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana yesterday tabled his Budget speech in the National Assembly. According to the National Treasury, tax revenue collections for 2021-22 were expected to exceed the 2021 budget estimate by R181.9 billion and the 2021 medium-term budget policy estimate by R61.7bn. It also said tax collections were slightly higher compared to those projected in last year’s Budget. “With the exception of customs duties, other major tax categories have also grown above 2019-20 levels. “Collections of excise duties are recovering from the trade restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 ban on sales, especially…

Staff writer THE select committee on petitions and executive undertakings will consider a petition calling for the removal of the word “Coloured” from all official government forms, private institutions and the Employment Equity Act. Oudtshoorn-based teacher Glen Snyman brought the petition on behalf of community-based non-profit organisation People Against Racial Classification (Parc). According to the petition, the word “Coloured” is confusing, derogatory, racist – and conceals the true historical identity of the Khoi and San people. Snyman also argues that it is racist to think that adding two different races together creates a third race, namely that of Coloured, or to believe that black or white are pure races. The petition calls on Parliament to review the race definitions of African and black as defined by the Employment Equity Act.…

Staff writer A FINAL-YEAR thesis that uncovers land restitution prospects by exploring landscape design opportunities has resulted in Kwezi Futshane from UCT clinching the Most Innovative Final-Year Landscape Architecture accolade in the 2022 Corobrik Student Architecture Awards. Highlighting talent, creativity, innovation and inspiration, the Corobrik Student Architecture Awards see regional winners selected from eight major universities, based on the students’ final theses. The regional winners then go through to the national round, where the top title is awarded, plus a R70 000 grand prize. Titled “How to design a landscape that celebrates Khoisan indigeneity and heritage”, Futshane’s project sheds light on the historic sensitivities within the Two Rivers Urban Park in Cape Town, focusing its design strategy on the contested River Club site. “Landscape architecture is more than just beautiful…

Staff writer Animal welfare organisation Cape of Good Hope SPCA (CoGH SPCA) has celebrated a victory after a Manenberg dog owner was convicted and fined for animal cruelty. Dog owner Zoffery Cupido was charged with animal cruelty after the CoGH SPCA became alerted that the dog, Mayana, was “horribly abused” by the owner, who was seen to be kicking and choking the dog. CoGH SPCA said Mayana, a crossbreed, had been found with lots of materials and strings fastened tightly around her neck and rubber bands around her legs and head. Her legs had appeared swollen, and despite witnesses pleading with Cupido to stop the abuse, he continued the acts. In a sworn statement and application to the court, Inspector Siviwe Noko stated: “I met with the owner of the…

THE way the banks exercise their powers to terminate the banking facilities of some individuals and entities should be tested before the courts. South Africa’s top five banks, which control 90% of the market, appear to be a law unto themselves. Their approach seems to be political and selective. They have closed the banking accounts of some individuals and companies, in the name of “reputational risk”, while happily doing business with certified dodgy characters and other corrupt elements. Hiding behind something as vague as “reputational risk”, the banks have victimised and targeted people and companies. They have closed their accounts for being linked to irregularities, corruption and fraud, regardless of whether the targets have been criminally charged or found guilty. In some cases, the banks cited negative publicity – a…

The Ukrainian parliament yesterday adopted a resolution proposing the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council sanction Russian officials for 10 years over the recognition of the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics. The resolution was supported by 322 lawmakers out of 450. The resolution read: “The purpose and objectives of the resolution are to provide the prerequisites for the decision of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council on the imposition of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) on persons listed in Annex 1 to the resolution for creating real and/or potential threats to national interests, national security in the information area, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” The list includes 351 Russian lawmakers. These sanctions include cancellation of official visits, meetings, negotiations, introduction of a ban on…

Vast swathes of land stretching from southern Ethiopia to northern Kenya and Somalia are in the grip of a severe drought that has left 13 million people facing hunger. Across these regions, where people eke out a living from mainly agro-pastoral activities, the three rainy seasons since the end of 2020 have been marked by low rainfall, exacerbated by a locust invasion that devastated crops between 2019 and 2021. “The population of the Horn makes up only four percent of the global population, but it represents 20% of the population that is food insecure,” Michael Dunford, World Food Programme regional director for eastern Africa, said earlier this month. According to the UN agency, 5.7 million people need food aid in southern and southeastern Ethiopia, including half a million malnourished children…

Islamabad: The provincial government in Pakistan’s Balochistan yesterday claimed to have arrested the alleged killer of journalist Athar Mateen from Khuzdar district. The Pakistani journalist was shot dead last Friday in an armed attack on his car in Karachi’s North Nazimabad area. Balochistan’s Parliamentary Secretary, Bushra Rind, said that the alleged killer was arrested in a joint operation launched by Sindh and Balochistan police, The News International newspaper reported yesterday. The Parliamentary Secretary maintained that the alleged killer was being shifted to Karachi from Khuzdar.…

LONDON: Heathrow airport, Britain’s busiest, saw its lowest number of passengers since 1972 last year and suffered wider losses as the coronavirus pandemic cut demand for business travel and holidays. Passenger numbers fell to 19.4 million last year. Heathrow also recorded a pretax loss of £1.79 billion (R36.59bn) for 2021, taking total loses during the pandemic to £3.8bn due to the drop in passengers and high fixed costs. CEO John Holland-Kaye said Heathrow expected to meet its target of more than doubling passengers to 45.5 million this year, although demand would be “quite peaky” and focused on British school holidays.…

SEVEN-TIME world champion Lewis Hamilton called on Formula One to bring in "non-biased" race stewards, saying friendships between some of them and certain drivers had influenced their decision-making. The Briton, who said he had lost faith in the sport's governance following the controversial safety car call in last year's Abu Dhabi finale that denied him an unprecedented eighth title, did not name any stewards or driver. He also did not specify any incidents where a biased decision had gone against him. "Race drivers, some are very, very good friends with certain individuals, some travel with certain individuals and tend to take a more keen liking to some of them," the 37-year-old told a news conference on the opening day of pre-season running in Barcelona yesterday. "So I think (F1 should…

Ntombi Nkosi ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za | Political Bureau The NPA Investigating Directorate has vowed to prosecute the R25- million money-laundering case involving Gupta-linked Nulane Investment without fear, favour or prejudice. The High Court in Bloemfontein began hearing pre-trial issues yesterday, and adjourned to finalise the pre-trial matters on June 24. Investigating Directorate spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka said the R25m Nulane Investment fraud case has been set for trial from January 23, 2023 to March 3. “The bail conditions have been relaxed for the former head of the Free State Department of Agriculture, Limakatso Moorosi, who told the court that she needed to go to Lesotho to attend to her sick mother. No date was provided; however, she has been ordered to apply to the investigating officer before leaving,” Seboka said. Seboka said…

Mayibongwe Maqhina and Nicola Daniels FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana shot down hopes of extending the R350 Covid-19 social grant to become a Basic Income Grant (BIG) any time soon, saying the improved revenue performance was not a reflection of an improvement in the capacity of the country’s economy. Tax collections since the time of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) have been much stronger than expected with new estimated tax revenue for 20211-22 set to be R1.55 trillion. “To be clear, any permanent increases in spending should be financed in a way that does not worsen the fiscal deficit,” he said in his maiden Budget speech yesterday. Responding to questions at a media briefing earlier, Godongwana said it was the view of the National Treasury that they could not fund…

Marsha Dean Marsha.Dean@inl.co.za THE first ever laughing gull has been recorded in South Africa after being spotted in Mossel Bay earlier this month. The bird has never been recorded south of the Equator on the continent before. Avid birder Don Reid said he spotted the gull on February 6 when he went for a swim at the beach in Mossel Bay at around 6pm. “As I was walking to the beach, I probably saw a dozen gulls in a freshwater pond right on the beach itself. Just looking at the gulls, one of them stuck out like a sore thumb. It had a pitch black head. I stopped in my tracks and thought this was something very different. “It is all a bit unreal and I did not expect something…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za AFTER nearly three months, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is yet to compensate more than 40 people who marked 2021 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exam scripts. About 3 532 markers were appointed at centres across the provinces during the December 2021 marking period. Some markers, such as Louise Grundlingh from Table View, said it was now almost the end of February and they had no clue when they would be paid for their work. “I’m currently an unemployed mother and while things have not reached desperation, they will head that way. I have been marking for about eight years and I have never experienced this long delay. Other people who also marked with me at the Western Cape Sport School and other centres have been complaining…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za AS POLICE confiscated drugs and weapons at Manenberg High School this week, teachers say they live in fear because they have been threatened with violence by learners. On Tuesday, police searched the school premises and confiscated 56 dagga bankies, nine knives, a bullet, cigarettes and lighters. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said the search was planned between Manenberg police and the school management. “The personnel are again encouraged to register criminal cases with the South African Police Service when they are threatened, or when their lives are in danger.” In a letter to parents on Tuesday, Manenberg High School principal Cameron Williams said this sent a message that certain learners did not come to the school to learn. “Instead, they are here to enrich themselves and their suppliers.…

It WAs heartbreaking to witness an innocent security guard being stoned and kicked to death by protesters at a Clover institution. The right to strike for a better life falls within the ambit of our Constitution. No one has the right to kill the protectors of our property. The deceased was a human being who was subjected to such brutality that it could be classified as a crime against humanity. Such savagery bodes ill for our nation. I shudder to think what will happen when law and order cease to exist. We are a nation on the edge of a steep cliff, starring into the abyss below. The innocent guard was a brother, father, son, uncle, and husband to someone. It is indeed extremely sad that it took the tragic…

Ankara: Soaring inflation in Turkey has propelled a wave of strikes, as workers demand more money to counter the shrinking value of their pay. Supermarket warehouse worker Bekir Gok was sacked this month – with 256 colleagues – for demanding an extra four Turkish liras (about R4.30) per hour. However after the workers at the Migros supermarket chain went on strike, they won back their jobs as well as salary rises and other demands. “We were asking for the price of a loaf of bread. It’s nothing compared to what we’ve helped them earn since the pandemic began,” Gok said. Turkey’s annual inflation rate officially reached 48.7% last month, and workers have struggled to keep up with the sky-rocketing cost of living. Industrial action is rare in Turkey, where the…

ANKARA: Turkey’s Justice Ministry has sent a request to the United Arab Emirates to detain and repatriate Sedat Peker, a convicted Turkish mob boss, after Interpol issued a red notice for him, state-owned Anadolu news agency said yesterday. Turkey launched a probe into Peker last year. Soon after, Peker started publishing videos on YouTube in which he detailed alleged graft among top Turkish officials. The videos were filmed in the UAE, with which Turkey has recently worked to mend long-strained ties.…

Chinese authorities have launched a criminal investigation into nine people in connection with a woman who appeared chained by the neck in a video on social media that went viral and sparked a public outcry, state media reported yesterday. The video, which surfaced in late January, showed the woman in an apparently confused state in the eastern province of Jiangsu. It was seen by millions, stirring debate over the treatment of women and issues including the trafficking of brides. Besides the nine facing a criminal investigation, 17 county-level officials have been punished in connection with the case, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Investigators said the woman, 44, originally from the southwestern province of Yunnan, was sold twice by human traffickers in Feng county, the irst time in 1997 for 5 000…

Rome: Italian police have seized over €800 million (about R13.6 billion) worth of assets from three brothers suspected of links with the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta Mafia, including luxury villas and a large shopping centre. The assets included numerous companies, supermarkets, bank accounts, luxury motorbikes, a Ferrari and real estate, including one of the largest shopping centres in the southern Italian region, police said yesterday. The brothers – one of whom is on trial after a previous anti-Mafia sting – have been under investigation for several years, it said. Italy’s AGI news agency named them as Franco, Pasqualino and Marcello Perri.…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za AFTER strengthening their partnership with motoring magnates Toyota, Kaizer Chiefs will be eager to take a leaf out of their partner’s slogan “Lead The Way”, following their decline in form in domestic football in the past seven years. For seven years, Chiefs haven’t only fallen behind in the chasing pack, but they’ve also been downgraded to an average team. They are on course to go seven seasons without a trophy and have changed coaches five times in this period. This season they lost out on the Nedbank Cup and MTN8, and in the league title race they are 19 points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who’ve played four games more. That gap might be extended if they lose an arbitration over fixtures that they forfeited. However, even if…

Dieketseng Maleke dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana yesterday said the government would hire 12 000 new police officers in a bid to beef up the security of the country. In his 2022 Budget Speech, Godongwana outlined South Africa’s expenditure, saying the SAPS had been allocated R1 billion to implement personnel reforms. The SAPS was also allocated an additional R8.7bn to its budget. “We are beginning to say, if we do not deal with the security of the country, it’s not going to be helpful …The police and other law enforcement agencies would not be able to do their job because of the lack of resources.” Last year, South Africa was gripped by civil unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu- Natal. The police came under fire as citizens complained about…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE poor state of affairs at Khayelitsha District Hospital (KDH) where the official bed capacity is 340, but which often sees about 446 patients, is far from being resolved. This as plans are afoot to expand the hospital’s psychiatric centre, which has been described as one of two areas experiencing severe demand, in 2023. According to KDH chief executive officer (CEO) David Binza, the hospital was seeing a strong growing burden of mental health conditions, mostly owing to substance abuse and unemployment due to Covid-19. There is only one specialist in this area. “We are experiencing a lot of constraints because this is the only hospital in Khayelitsha and the demand often exceeds supply,” said Binza. “We sometimes operate at 130%. Khayelitsha is also dealing with a…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana has highlighted the tough road ahead for state-owned entities, saying they will only get bailouts if they meet the tough conditions laid down. He said he was still practising tough love for SOEs, but they would not be treated in the same manner. The government has raised concern that their balance sheets have deteriorated and they have not been able to generate cash. Godongwana said, other than Eskom, there was no provision made for any other entity. “Other than the commitment we made in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement on Eskom, no other commitment is made. “It does not mean they will not be funded. You have to meet certain conditions. I am negotiating with them the tough conditions because people must move…

Marsha Dean Marsha.Dean@inl.co.za FIVE matrics are set to embark on a trip to Mauritius this weekend to learn important lessons about sustainability, the ecosystem and the importance of conservation for the planet. The pupils usually travel to Antarctica annually as part of the Matrics in Antarctica initiative, where world-renowned explorer Riaan Manser takes South African students on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the world’s southernmost continent. Due to Covid-19, the trip to Antarctica has been postponed to November but the pupils will be leaving for Mauritius on Saturday for their Mauritius Kestrel adventure. The Riaan Manser Foundation partnered with Canon South Africa to select the top 100 Grade 12 learners from the class of 2021 from various high schools and homeschoolers in the country by asking them to write an essay…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za CONVICTED for the murder and rape of 37-year-old Bianca Matroos, Revticken Muller will have to wait to hear his fate as sentencing proceedings got under way at the George Magistrate’s Court this week. After she went missing for two days, Matroos’s body was found among concrete blocks on an open field at the George Riding Club. This was the morning after she went to Nitro nightclub on November 14, 2009, along with her sister, where she was also seen to be in the company of Muller. Muller is expected to be sentenced on March 22. According to court documents, Muller had gone to the club with two friends – Andries Jakobus and Stefaans Juries – in a red Golf. At about 1.30am, an inebriated Matroos left the…

In the wake of Covid-19 co-operation can be strengthened Message from Maruyama Norio, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of South Africa, on the occasion of His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday this week. Fourth year of Reiwa I would like to celebrate the 62nd birthday of His Majesty the Emperor, which was yesterday, February 23, 2022. Due to difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is highly unfortunate that I am unable to host the reception to celebrate His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday this year, as we were also unable to celebrate last year. On this auspicious day, I would like to share with you my thoughts on relations between Japan and South Africa, especially in light of the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad8), which will…

Cyclone Emnati overnight lashed the island nation of Madagascar, still reeling from the impact of another cyclone earlier this month, local authorities said yesterday. The cyclone “made landfall around north of the south-eastern district of Manakara,” Faly Aritiana Fabien, a senior official of the National Risk Management Office told AFP. No casualties have been reported yet. The storm, which passed just north of Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Reunion, had weakened slightly by the time it reached the eastern coast of Madagascar, but was still packing winds of around 100km/h and gusts of 140km/h, according to Meteo-France. The cyclone was forecast to exit Madagascar yesterday night, but authorities are warning of torrential rains. National Weather forecaster, Meteo-Madagascar warned of strong gusts, heavy rain and widespread flooding around the southern…

Kampala: An award-winning Ugandan author who fled the country after being charged with insulting President Yoweri Museveni and his son has arrived in Germany to seek medical treatment after being “tortured” in jail, his lawyer said yesterday. “He arrived in Germany this morning,” Eron Kiiza, the lawyer for Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, told AFP, describing the news as “a big relief”. The novelist was detained shortly after Christmas and later charged with “offensive communication” in a case that has raised international concern. The EU was among those calling for a “comprehensive investigation” into rights abuses in Uganda. Rukirabashaija, 33, slipped out of Uganda two weeks ago – after a court denied his application to have his passport returned – ahead of a criminal trial that was due to begin today. He said…

SEOUL: South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong has voiced concern to Unesco director-general Audrey Azoulay over Japan’s initiative to include the closed Sado mine – associated with the forced labour of Koreans – on the Unesco World Heritage List as part of Japan’s industrial heritage. The officials met on the sidelines of the Indo Pacific Ministerial Forum in Paris on Tuesday. Azoulay reportedly said Unesco continues to push Japan to fulfill its 2015 pledge to publicly acknowledge the use of Korean forced labour at Unesco heritage sites. The Sado site was a gold and silver mine in the 17th century, but operations were cut by the impact of World War II. |…

Beirut: Lebanon has thwarted a plan by the Islamic State group to carry out three suicide bombings targeting Shia religious compounds in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the interior ministry said yesterday. “A terrorist group had recruited young Palestinian men in Lebanon to carry out major bombing attacks using explosive belts” and other munitions, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi told a press conference. “Three separate targets were to be hit at the same time,” the ministry said, in an operation Mawlawi said would have caused a large loss of life. Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces said the instructions for the bomb plot came from an IS operative based in a Palestinian refugee camp.…

ZAAHIER ADAMS zaahier.adams@inl.co.za LAURA Wolvaardt’s social media posts feature plenty of photos showing off activities she undertakes in the outdoors. There are plenty of her trail running, working out at the gym or swimming in the ocean. And that’s only when she is not busy with favourite hobby, which is hitting balls in the nets, of course. It’s no wonder that Wolvaardt is ecstatic that she and the rest of her Proteas teammates are back out in the sun after spending the last week in quarantine in New Zealand ahead of next month’s Women’s World Cup. “It feels super good to be out here on the turf. It was super boring in my room. The first two days we were in the indoor nets, so it’s our first day out…

ZAAHIER ADAMS zaahier.adams@inl.co.za THE Dolphins have secured the final place in the Cricket South Africa T20 Challenge playoffs with a crushing 65-run victory over Western Province at St George’s Park yesterday. In a must-win game for the Dolphins it was their senior players who came to the fore. After a disastrous start that saw the Dolphins slip to 13/3 after just 14 balls, the experienced Khaya Zondo led the recovery with an undefeated 59 off 51 balls. Zondo received solid support from youngsters Ruan de Swardt (22) and Bryce Parsons (28) initially, but the real impetus was provided by Andile Phehlukwayo who clubbed 25 not out off just 12 balls (2x4, 2x6) to lift the Dolphins to 148/5. Phehlukwayo’s assault on two of the leading bowlers in the competition Wayne…