Sommaire pour 2023-02-17 de Cape Times

THE inquiry into the fitness of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to hold office was delayed yesterday for the second time this week when the testimony of Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) investigator Bianca Mvuyana was postponed indefinitely. This came after Mvuyana asked to be given an opportunity to make a statement with assistance from Mkwebane’s legal team. The decision was taken after a protracted showdown between Mkhwebane’s legal counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu, and Section 194 Committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi. The writing was on the wall soon after the meeting started that Mvuyana’s testimony became a bone of contention after it was reported to the committee that she had not made a statement. Her testimony was delayed last Monday due to a dispute over non-payment of Mkhwebane’s legal team by PPSA…

The R1 billion Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has requested from the provincial treasury to respond to the energy crisis will be spent to help buffer schools from load shedding, secure diesel to keep essential public services running during load shedding and provide poorer households with “power packs” that help reduce the impact of power cuts. The money, which will be used over the upcoming three-year budget period, will also be allocated to address the short-term impact of load shedding on government services and assist SMMEs in assessing and implementing alternative energy options. Winde announced these measures when delivering his State of the Province Address (Sopa) yesterday, saying they were developing an energy plan for the Western Cape to inform the government's short-term responses. “We are approaching the energy…

KasiNomic Revolution GG Alcock Loot.co.za (R236) Tracey McDonald Publishers A revolution is taking place in the great marketplaces of the informal sector. It contains an unquantified scale and power as an economic engine and a way of life for most of our low-income populations. The KasiNomic Revolution might be a murmur in the streets, a grass-roots economic groundswell, but it is the future of African economic activity. “Kasi” is the South African word for township – a teeming conurbation of homes and businesses, entertainment venues and social meeting places. GG Alcock uses the term “KasiNomics” to describe the informal sectors of Africa, whether they are in the township, a rural marketplace, at a taxi rank or on a pavement in the shadow of skyscrapers. Brought up in a rural Zulu…

Age of vice Deepti Kapoor Loot.co.za (R270) Fleet This is the age of vice, where pleasure and power are everything, and family ties that bind can also kill. New Delhi, 3am. A speeding Mercedes jumps the kerb, and in the blink of an eye five people are dead. It’s a rich man’s car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all, just a shell-shocked servant who cannot explain the strange series of events that led to this event. Deftly shifting through time and perspective in contemporary India, Age of Vice is an epic, action-packed story propelled by the seductive wealth, startling corruption and bloodthirsty violence of the Wadia family – loved by some, loathed by others, feared by all. In the shadow of lavish estates, extravagant…

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday defended a currency swop that sparked protests and cash shortages, but ordered old, small denomination 200 naira notes to remain in circulation in a bid to ease scarcities. Nigeria has been struggling with a shortage of physical cash since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began to swop old bills of the local naira currency for new, redesigned ones, leading to a shortfall in banknotes. The scarcity of cash has triggered violent protests in major cities as angry and frustrated bank customers attacked and vandalised banks and blocked roads. The weeks-long cash crisis has intensified days before Nigerians go to the ballot box on February 25 to elect a successor to Buhari, who steps down after two terms in office. In…

The World Health Organization (WHO) said an outbreak of Mpox (monkeypox) remained a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The WHO officially declared in July 2022 that the Mpox outbreak outside of the traditional endemic areas in Africa had already turned into an emergency. Its experts acknowledged the progress in the global response to the outbreak and a decline in the number of reported cases. However, a few countries continued to see a sustained incidence of cases, while other regions were likely to have under-reporting of confirmed cases. The current global risk of the Mpox outbreak is assessed as moderate. | IANS…

BEIRUT: Several dozen Lebanese protesters attacked banks in a Beirut suburb yesterday, while blocking roads protesting against informal restrictions on cash withdrawals in place for years and rapidly deteriorating economic conditions. At least six banks had been targeted as the Lebanese pound hit a new record low. A bank in Badaro smouldered as firefighters sprayed water, while riot police stood nearby with shields. Since 2019, Lebanese banks have imposed restrictions on withdrawals in US dollars and Lebanese pounds that were never formalised by law. This led to depositors seeking access to their funds through lawsuits. In many cases, force was used. | Reuters…

Madrid: Spanish MPs have given final approval to a law granting paid medical leave to women suffering severe period pain, becoming the first European country to advance such legislation. The law, which passed by 185 votes in favour to 154 against, is aimed at breaking a taboo on the subject, the government has said. Menstrual leave is offered in only a small number of countries across the globe, among them Japan, Indonesia and Zambia. The legislation entitles workers experiencing period pain to as much time off as they need, with the state social security system, not employers, picking up the tab for the sick leave. | AFP…

MAMELODI Sundowns will have to guard against complacency when they visit Coton Sport in their second game of the CAF Champions League’s group stage tonight. The Brazilians started their group stage campaign on a high note last weekend, beating Sudanese champions Al Hilal 1-0 in Group A - which also boasts the African Club of the Century, Al Ahly. That result set them up nicely for their trip to Cameroon, having flown out of Johannesburg on Wednesday. The African title has been Sundowns’ only missing piece of the puzzle in recent years as they won five league titles in a row, including a domestic treble last season. The last time Sundowns won the continental crown was in 2016 under coach Pitso Mosimane, but a lot has changed since then, as…

President Cyril Ramaphosa paid tribute to outgoing Deputy President David Mabuza when he responded to the debate on the State of the Nation Address yesterday. “I wish to extend my appreciation to Deputy President David Dabede Mabuza, who has given me unwavering support over the last five years. “Not only has he given me support as the president, he has worked with me side by side over the past five years and has executed the task that I have allocated to him,” Ramaphosa said. He said Mabuza had ably led the South African National Aids Council and had had extensive engagements with military veterans. Mabuza had also been engaging with traditional leaders throughout the country on critical issues such as communal land and their ability to execute their mandate as…

Big EVENTS like pandemics and natural disasters often affect small rural communities disproportionately. And so when Covid-19 hit South Africa, the embroiderers and artists of the Keiskamma Art Project in the Eastern Cape hamlet of Hamburg found themselves locked down at home without a means of income. But instead of sitting around or losing hope, each stitcher set to work on a piece of self-designed handwork that would eventually come together to become the project’s moving Covid-19 Resilience Tapestry, depicting the people of Hamburg’s dogged will to survive in the face of unspeakable calamity. This remarkable hand-embroidered tapestry, and several other large-scale works from the project’s two decades- plus history, are currently on display at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg as part of the Umaf’ Evuka, nje Ngenyanga/Dying and Rising, As…

THE hundreds of Phola Park informal settlements residents left destitute after a fire destroyed their shacks on New Year’s Day have been left to fend for themselves, with none of the promises made to them by the city and national government materialising. About 760 people were left destitute after a devastating fire ripped through the area, killing one person and destroying 247 shacks on January 1. A few metres away from where the fire initially started, another fire destroyed 75 structures five days later, displacing a further 378 people. Some of the victms have been squatting with their relatives, while those less fortunate have been making use of a local church and a community hall. A week after the fire, national Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, together with the City’s…

February is International Mother Language month. It is also the beginning of Unesco’s Decade of Indigenous languages. Ancestral Voices is South Africa’s largest, most unique indigenous heritage and language preservation project. The project is involved in transcribing into current indigenous language orthography and then translating into English a large collection of manuscripts and contemporary typescripts written in seven of our nine official indigenous languages. All were written between the late 1920s and 1960s before Swati and Ndebele were written languages. Written by mother tongue speakers, many after interviewing the then elderly, these writings contain information on every aspect of the history and culture of the people written about, as told and recorded by members of those communities. Written nearly one hundred years ago and considering the age of the authors,…

The Sweet Spot Amy Poeppel Loot.co.za (R535) Atria/Emily Bestler Reviewer: The Washington Post THE Sweet Spot in the title of Amy Poeppel’s fourth novel refers to a grungy Greenwich Village bar, a beloved neighbourhood fixture with battered wood floors, rickety tables and a pungent smell of beer. Its owner is Dan, “a laid-back, decent, extremely chill” single dad who helpfully steers customers clear of the house wine. It’s a good name for a bar but an even better name for a warm and charming comedy of manners that hits every note just right. Above this New York bar lives Lauren and Leo, their three young children, and a poorly behaved dog. Lauren is a ceramic artist whose porcelains sport signature grotesqueries, usually of a squirmy sort, such as a teapot…

The launch of a replacement spacecraft to retrieve a Nasa astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts from the International Space Station after their ship suffered a massive coolant leak late last year “is under review,” Nasa said this week, as engineers worked to figure out the cause of a leak affecting a second Russian spacecraft. Earlier this week, after discovering the second leak on a Russian cargo ship that does not fly people, Russian space agency officials said they were pushing the launch of the replacement craft to March to give them additional time to investigate the problem. But Nasa did not put a date on when the replacement ship would be sent to the space station and said that it was working with engineers from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency,…

Vatican City: The resignation of a pope should not become the norm within the Catholic Church, and that prospect is not “on my agenda”, Pope Francis has said. Francis wrote a resignation letter two months after becoming pope in 2013 in case of future health problems. “However, this does not at all mean that resigning popes should become, let’s say, a fashion,” said Francis, 86, in an interview. He cited the surprise resignation in 2013 of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who “had the courage to do it … due to his health … I, for the moment, do not have that on my agenda,” he said. | AFP…

Banda Aceh: At least 69 Rohingya refugees, many of them women and children, landed on Indonesia’s west coast yesterday in a wooden boat, the UN refugee agency said. The vessel came ashore at a beach in Indonesia’s western-most province of Aceh, according to UNHCR official Oktina Hafanti, with one passenger saying some died during the voyage. It was the sixth Rohingya boat to land in Indonesia since November. Around a million Rohingya are estimated to be living in refugee camps in Bangladesh after they fled persecution in Myanmar in 2017. Thousands risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys trying to reach Malaysia or Indonesia. | AFP…

BANGKOK: One of 12 boys rescued after two weeks trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018 has died in Britain where he was attending a soccer academy, his former teacher said this week. Duangpetch “Dom” Promthep was captain of the Wild Boars team whose extraction by international divers and Thai navy SEALs captured huge global attention. The circumstances of 17-year-old Duangpetch’s death were not clear. The news was shared on social media by a Buddhist monk who taught the boys in Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province. Once rescued, the boys’ story was the subject of books, documentaries and films. | Reuters…

FORMER Bafana Bafana and Bidvest Wits defender Buhlebuyeza Mkhwanazi says he has no regrets about walking away from football and focussing his energy on his religious calling. Yesterday, Mkhwanazi revealed the staggering amounts he was earning at Wits before Jesus “took it away for my soul to be saved”. Having joined Wits in his early 20s, Mkhwanazi worked his way into being a first-choice defender at the club. In 2018, his contract was renewed by the now-defunct Clever Boys for three years as he became one of the highest paid players at the club. In an Instagram post yesterday though, Mkhwanazi, who has represented Bafana Bafana 21 times, put up a copy of that contract, showing the money he was supposed to earn monthly. “1.0 The club employs the footballer…

WHILE opposition parties piled on pressure against the appointment of yet another minister, President Cyril Ramaphosa used his reply to the State of the Nation Address (Sona) debate to defend the decision, saying the resolution of the energy crisis needed effective coordination across several departments and public entities. He dispelled criticism that the planned appointment would cause confusion and fragmentation and might also result in turf wars among mnisters dealing with energy and Eskom. “The minister will be responsible for driving the various actions being coordinated by the National Energy Crisis Committee to end load shedding as a matter of urgency. “This appointment will ensure that there is a minister who is ultimately responsible for resolving load shedding and who is able to work with all fellow Cabinet ministers, departments…

WHILE the merger between two grain trade companies has been welcomed, the Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Fawu) said it was “generally cautious” about mergers in the sector. This comes after the Competition Tribunal announced the successful merger, with conditions, between VKB Beleggings (Pty) Ltd (VKB) and Griekwaland Wes Korporatief Limited (GWK). Their activities include grain storage and handling, grain trade and procurement, grain milling, trade retail and agricultural finance businesses. According to the tribunal, the merger would protect jobs and promote the greater spread of ownership and would also enable historically disadvantaged persons (HDP) or farmers and entities to enter into agricultural markets which the merging parties form part of. Tribunal spokesperson Gillian de Gouveia said: “The tribunal concluded that the proposed merger is unlikely to substantially prevent or…

Victory City Salman Rushdie Loot.co.za (R240) Penguin Random House This is Salman Rushdie at his best. A feminist tale in an historical setting that will remain with you long after you turn the final page. The epic tale of a woman who breathes a fantastical empire into existence, only to be consumed by it over the centuries. In the wake of an insignificant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in 14th-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. After witnessing the death of her mother, the grief-stricken Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for the goddess Parvati, who begins to speak out of the girl’s mouth. Granting her powers beyond Pampa Kampana's comprehension, the goddess tells her that she will be instrumental in…

Russia rained missiles on Ukraine yesterday and struck its largest oil refinery, Kyiv said, while the head of the Wagner mercenary group predicted the long-besieged city of Bakhmut would fall within a couple of months. Following a pattern of heavy bombardments after Ukrainian battlefield or diplomatic gains, Russia launched 36 missiles in the early hours, Ukraine’s air force said, after Nato alliance officials met the previous day to plan more support for Kyiv. About 16 missiles were shot down, it added, a lower rate than normal. The missiles triggered air-raid sirens and landed all over Ukraine, including its largest oil refinery, Kremenchuk, where the extent of damage was not immediately clear. “Another massive missile attack by the terrorist state on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine,” the Defence Ministry tweeted. Ukraine said…

International rescue missions rushed to Türkiye and Syria after massive earthquakes that struck the region last week left nearly 40 000 dead, tens of thousands injured and an unknown number trapped in the rubble. There are more than 9 000 foreign nationals from over 80 countries conducting search and rescue operations and offering humanitarian assistance in the quake-hit zone, according to the Turkish foreign ministry. Among those who mounted extraordinary recovery efforts is an 82-member Chinese search and rescue team, which has so far pulled out six survivors from the rubble in a week, defying the odds. “There are some differences between search and rescue at home and abroad,” said Zhao Yang, a team member working in the Antakya district of the southern Hatay Province. “First, we need a comprehensive…

BERLIN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy joined Hollywood actor Sean Penn by video link yesterday at the opening of the Berlinale, Europe’s first major film festival of the year, as it spotlights the fight for freedom in Ukraine and Iran. The 73rd annual event, the most politically minded of the three big European cinema showcases, marked the Russian invasion’s first anniversary as well as anti-regime protests in Iran with new feature films and documentaries. Penn appeared on stage at the opening gala and introduced Zelenskiy. The two-time Oscar winner, who was filming in Kyiv at the start of the Russian onslaught, will today premiere Superpower, tracking Zelenskiy’s transformation from comedian to president to war leader. “Zelenskiy was two completely different creatures from one day to the next,” Penn said about the…

DUSHANBE: A series of avalanches has killed 10 more people in eastern Tajikistan, the Central Asian nation’s government said yesterday, bringing the death toll over the past two days to 20 and forcing hundreds of families from their homes. Most of the avalanches hit the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, which borders China and Afghanistan, and where more than 400 households have been relocated from dangerous areas. Avalanches have hit homes as well as roads, the government said, and all international traffic has been suspended. The mayor of provincial capital Khorog urged its 30 000 residents to stay at home as heavy snow and rain fell. | Reuters…