Índice para 2022-01-12 em Cape Times

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za Global consultancy group Bain & Company is sticking to its guns about having done its penance after the restitution of close to R200 million it earned for its role in the state capture fiasco. Pressure is mounting both locally and internationally for the US originating firm to be held accountable for its role in state capture as its executives were closely aligned with state capture principals and reportedly advised on the mechanics of siphoning billions of rands from state-owned enterprises and National Treasury. Bain's Nicola Wilson said in response to enquiries on its response to the Zondo report, "While we made mistakes in our work with Sars (SA Revenue Service), we remain confident that we did not in any way wilfully or knowingly support state capture at…

Dieketseng Maleke dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za FISHING group Sea Harvest has added to its international footprint by acquiring Australian group MG Kailis in a A$70m (R788m) deal. The company said the deal would give it access to high-value species such as prawns. MG Kailis has more than 50 years in the seafood industry and is well-established in prawn and fish trawling, seafood trading, and engineering business in Australia. A 54.9 percent stake in Sea Harvest is owned by black-controlled and managed investment holding company Brimstone. During its last reported results in August last year, the group revealed that it had a net debt of R1.33bn at the end of the six months ending in June. The acquisition was brokered through Sea Harvest-owned Australian subsidiaries, Sea Harvest Australia Pty and Sea Harvest Marine,…

Alyssia Birjalal alyssia.birjalal@inl.co.za As human beings, we always show appreciation to everyone but ourselves, never realising that it is equally, if not more important for our physical and metal well-being. Here to remind us that we should never stop loving ourselves is award-winning The Underground Railway star, Thuso Mbedu. She recently took to social media to post a short but “comically serious” skit about self-love and at the same time showed off her acting skills in a genre we’re not used to seeing her act in – comedy. Directed by Izzy Cohan, the video is a funny take on things one can do to help one relax, like meditation and deep-breathing exercises. She also looks at journalling, before her pencil breaks and pen runs out of ink, home improvements before…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za THE public has until Friday to comment on Eskom’s proposed 20.5% electricity price hike. In December, Eskom chief financial officer Calib Cassim confirmed that the power utility had applied for an electricity price increase of 20.5% for the financial year 2023, which commences on April 1, 2022. With comments to the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) closing on Friday, the authority must adjudicate the electricity tariff application by February 25. In a summary of the utility’s submission to Nersa, Eskom said it was making a total revenue application of R279 billion, R335bn and R365bn for the financial years, 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively. Eskom said it required reasonable tariff increases to address financial sustainability and liquidity challenges. A campaign since launched by public participation group Dear…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za PARLIAMENT arson-accused Zandile Christmas Mafe will embark on a hunger strike after he heard that he would face further detention and that his bail application could not commence yesterday. Mafe, who now faces an added charge under the Contravention of Terrorist and Related Activities Act after his court appearance yesterday, has been ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric evaluation at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital. This comes after the State said on January 3 – a day after his arrest and a day before his first court appearance – it had sent Mafe for a consultation with district surgeon Zelda van Tonder. During court proceedings yesterday, a clean-shaven and well-groomed Mafe, through his legal counsel – in which advocate Dali Mpofu officially came on record as senior counsel –…

Sinazo Alungile Novukela | Lugangeni Location, Mount Frere, Eastern Cape PENETRATING the market as a subsistence or rural farmer is difficult yet not impossible. It is difficult because the commercial markets come with a lot of demands that rural farmers are often not skilled to achieve. Before a rural farmer plants, they should have identified the type of the market they want to supply, know the requisite good agricultural practices of the market and have relations with role-players in the market they want to supply after harvesting. Culturally, rural farmers in the Eastern Cape, for example, plant maize in abundance because maize is also the staple food. Throughout the summer into autumn, fields are brimming with maize that ends up in surplus supply because subsistence farmers’ families alone…

Marsha Dean Marsha.Dean@inl.co.za SOME families whose children attend no-fee schools have said that without the option of free eduction, they would struggle to put their children through school. The Cape Times visited several families in the Delft area yesterday, who expressed a deep gratitude to no-fee schools. The South African Schools Act declared no-fee schools in 2007 for all nine provinces, and since then the system has helped millions of children to complete their basic education. Leslynn Damon, a mother of two boys, said she was thankful to not have to pay school fees for her son who is in Grade 3 this year. “I am unemployed and my husband recently got retrenched due to Covid-19. I only need to buy stationery which is expensive and they need a lot…

Staff writer THE Overstrand fire that raged for nearly three days and charred more than 4 000 hectares of vegetation was finally contained yesterday, with an urgent report now expected on its cause. Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Barbara Creecy yesterday commended the approximately 300 firefighters who risked their lives as the fire moved towards Arabella Country Estate on Monday night. “As a matter of course, the Fire Protection Association in the area is expected to compile a fire report regarding the facts pertaining to the source/origins of the fire. “In the interest of public accountability, the director-general of the department has asked the acting chief executive of SANParks to undertake an assessment of the Kleinmond fire. “The services of SANParks have been enlisted since they have internal capabilities to…

Mali’s army-dominated government has called for nationwide demonstrations on Friday against stringent sanctions imposed by the West Africa bloc ECOWAS over delayed elections. The Sahel state’s interim government on Monday night said the sanctions – which include border closures and a trade embargo – are “extreme”, and urged “the entire population and diaspora” to demonstrate against them on Friday. As well as closing borders and imposing a trade embargo, they also cut off financial aid to Mali and froze the country’s assets at the Central Bank of West African States. The move followed a proposal by Mali’s interim government last month to stay in power for up to five years before staging elections – despite international demands that it respect a pledge to hold elections in February. Relations with its…

Poet and activist Maya Angelou has become the first black woman to appear on the US quarter, in a new version of the coin unveiled by the US Mint on Monday. Angelou, author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, will also be the first figure commemorated through the American Women Quarters Programme, which was signed into law in January 2021. The US Mint “has begun shipping the first coins” with Angelou’s likeness on the American quarter, a 25-cent piece, according to a press release from the agency. “It is my honour to present our nation’s first circulating coins dedicated to celebrating American women and their contributions to American history,” said Mint deputy director Ventris Gibson. “Each 2022 quarter is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of accomplishments…

KIGALI: The UN World Food Programme has launched the Ignite Food Systems challenge in Rwanda to tackle food security challenges. The region face food security challenges with growing insecurity, rising conflict, natural disasters, climate change challenges and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. It is an joint initiative by the WFP and Impact Hub Kigali, which offers resources that foster innovation and entrepreneurship. It will run in Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda, with the support of $2 million (R31.2m) from USAid, to address gaps in supplying food. The UN estimates about 58.6 million people face severe acute food insecurity in East Africa.…

Managua: The leader of Nicaragua’s ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, Daniel Ortega, was sworn in yesterday as the president of the country for the fourth time in a row and for the fifth time in his entire political career. “Yes, I swear (to respect the constitution and laws, the rights and freedoms of the people, honestly and faithfully fulfil the assigned duties),” Ortega said. The inauguration ceremony took place in the capital of Nicaragua, Managua. Nicaragua held its presidential and parliamentary elections on November 7. The FSLN, with Ortega running for re-election, won 75.87% of the vote.…

HELLO and a healthy, happy and prosperous 2022 to all our Business Report readers. Around this time of year, many are sitting down to take stock of their lives, making resolutions, which may or may not be adhered to, and looking to the hope of a future that must surely be better than the past 24 months or so. Sometimes, in order to better plan for tomorrow it is pertinent to take stock of the past. If it is necessary to do this in our personal lives, I can safely say that as a country, South Africa should consider doing the same and urgently. Over the past few years, we have collectively faced serious challenges. We have been subjected to several viruses and diseases - not only corona, but…

| Bang Showbiz Catherine celebrated her landmark birthday on Sunday and to mark the occasion, three new images of the royal, taken by Paolo Roversi, were released and will enter the National Portrait Gallery. The photographer first met Catherine in November at Kensington Palace for tea and biscuits and said she was “apprehensive” about posing. He told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: “At first the Duchess was apprehensive. She is machine-gunned by photographers every day but is not used to posing. “Knowing my photos with models she was a little fearful of facing a real session, which required about four hours of work. But I reassured her that once we started it was going to be very easy. And so it was.” The shoot took place later that month…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za ZULU Queen Sibongile Dlamini-Zulu is changing legal tactics midway, after suffering the first legal setback in her bid to have 50% of the estate of late King Goodwill Zwelithini set aside for her. In the Pietermaritzburg High Court yesterday, the first order of the day was whether KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Mjabuliseni Isaac Madondo should recuse himself or not. The recusal question arose because Judge Madondo could be conflicted, as he presided over the 2014 marriage of the late king and Queen Zola Mafu, the last young queen who lives in Ulundi in northern KwaZulu-Natal. But Judge Madondo said the matter should proceed because nowhere in the queen’s papers was the issue of the validity of the five marriages in question, so there could be no conflict…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za WITH the Department of Basic Education's (DBE) failure to get consent from 2021 matric pupils and their parents for their results to be published, it plans to ensure that parents of top achievers approve the traditional gala dinner. Usually, the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results would be published on public media platforms such as newspapers, but this year this will not be the case because it would violate the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), according to the DBE. The POPI Act came into effect in the middle of last year. The matric results are expected to be released on January 21. A letter signed by DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga stated that the department recognised that section 14 of the Constitution provided that everyone has the right…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za IT WAS a stinky Christmas for a Kuilsriver pensioner and her family after numerous attempts to get their overflowing sewerage pipe fixed via the City’s 24/7 call centre yielded no results for six days. The City meanwhile said it was a private property, hence it was not their responsibility. Felicity Titus said that on December 23 at around 8am she discovered that their sewerage pipe was blocked. “There are two lines running through our yard, a municipal line and one that feeds into the municipal line. “We are not the only people on that line and all that faeces was lying in our yard, starting to stink. “At 9am on the 23rd we called the 24 hour online municipal service. “They guarantee a 24-hour turn- around time.…

Staff writer PRELIMINARY findings from two clinical trials in South Africa suggest that the omicron variant may have a much higher rate of asymptomatic “carriage” than earlier variants of Covid-19. This higher asymptomatic carriage rate is probably a major factor in the rapid and widespread dissemination of the variant, even among populations with high prior rates of coronavirus infection. “As we witness the quick, global spread of omicron, it is clear that we urgently need a better understanding of the transmission dynamics of this variant,” said Dr Lawrence Corey, senior author of the study and principal investigator of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center-based operations centre of the Covid-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN). “Since so many people may be asymptomatic, we can’t always know who is carrying the virus,” Corey said.…

WASHINGTON: The warmth of the world’s oceans hit a record. Again. A new analysis, published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, showed that oceans contained the most heat energy in 2021 since measurements began six decades ago – accelerating at a rate only possible because of human-emitted greenhouse gases. Since the late 1980s, Earth’s oceans warmed at a rate eight times faster than the preceding decades. “When you have this long-term upward trend, you’re getting records broken almost every year and it’s this monotonous increase,” said John Abraham, a co-author of the study and a professor at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota. “We’ve built up so much greenhouse gas that the oceans have begun to take in an increasing amount of heat compared to what they previously…

LOS ANGELES: Lady Gaga says her family realised they’d “made it” when they saw House of Gucci. The star, 35, plays Patrizia Reggiani in the big screen drama based on the real-life murder of fashion house businessman Maurizio Gucci, and said her family were in awe when she told them she’d be working with Al Pacino on the project. “They’ve never heard such a bellowing sound out of my father. My Italian father went absolutely crazy. ‘Pacino?! Pacino?! No! Stefani!’ “He was so excited, my family were excited ... (They thought) ‘we’ve made it!’”…

Boris Johnson is facing opposition calls for his resignation over an alleged drinks party in his Downing Street office while pandemic curbs were in place, renewing a sense of crisis around the UK premier. The prime minister’s hopes of a reset after a torrid end to 2021 were ruined after it emerged officials in his team were invited to a drinks party in his office garden in May 2020, when such gatherings were banned during the first wave of Covid-19 infections, according to an email seen by ITV News. The Metropolitan Police is aware of allegations of rule-breaking on that date, and is liaising with the government, according to a police spokesperson. It’s the latest in a string of allegations about rule-breaking parties, which are already being investigated by senior…

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s air force yesterday suspended combat training for its F-16 fleet after a recently upgraded model of the fighter jet crashed into the sea in the latest of a series of accidents. The defence ministry said the F-16V, the most advanced type in Taiwan’s fleet, went missing from radar screens after taking off from the Chiayi air base in southern Taiwan for a training mission. President Tsai Ing-wen issued instructions to spare no efforts in the search and rescue mission and “to further clarify the cause of the accident”, her spokesperson said. The government’s Rescue Command Centre said witnesses had seen the aircraft crash.…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE World Economic Forum (WEF) has flagged the prolonged economic stagnation in South Africa as the most serious risk to the country’s recovery over the next two years. South Africa entered a period of serious economic depression in 2020 when the gross domestic product (GDP) plunged to a 6.4 percent contraction due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Though a recovery is underway and GDP now seems on track to return to pre-pandemic levels of 2 percent in 2022, activity is still not stable following a contraction triggered by violent unrest in July last year. In its Global Risk Report 2022 published yesterday, the WEF cited this prolonged stagnation among five key risk factors that could affect the country’s stability in the short term. The WEF said employment and…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za SALES activity levels in all three major commercial property sectors: industrial, retail and offices increased mildly in the fourth quarter, following a “dip” in the previous three months that might have been KwaZulu-Natal/Gauteng unrest-related. FNB’s latest Property Broker survey showed the percentage of broker respondents perceiving business conditions to be satisfactory, had increased in the fourth quarter survey to 32 percent – up from 25 percent the previous quarter. However, despite the improvement, it remained at a “very weak level” and largely reflective of still weak business confidence across the economy, said FNB Commercial’s property sector strategist John Loos in the bank’s latest Property Insights. The level implies that 68 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with business conditions, but it was nevertheless the highest percentage of respondents…

| IANS A narcissist is someone who despises modesty and celebrates vanity. Everything is an inflated and unrealistic mirror of self in narcissism. Every narcissist sees themselves as godlike, and their deep-seated anxieties and insecurities are obscured by the false notion that they are unique. The two foundations of narcissism are malignant self-obsession and self-centredness, in which a person is unconcerned about the wishes, needs or interests of others. This type of behaviour is associated with personality problems, according to psychologists. The name was derived from the Greek mythology narrative of Narcissus, a child who fell in love with his own reflection, which dates back to at least 8AD. This tale was offered by Sigmund Freud as a representation of a self-absorbed person. Exaggerated ambition, grandiose fantasy, sentiments of…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za A WILDLIFE conservationist who had taken to Facebook sharing images of alleged animal cruelty at a private farm accompanied by the details of the farm owner was well within his rights to do so, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruled this week. The SCA upheld an appeal from the Eastern Cape High Court, in which Bool Smuts, a wildlife conservationist and executive director of Landmark Leopard and Predator Project South Africa, challenged a decision to have parts of the Facebook post removed. The case started in 2019 after a group of cyclists were participating in an adventure ride on September 23, where they traversed the farm Varsfontein, belonging to Herman Botha. “Nicholas Louw, one of the cyclists noticed two cages on the farm, one containing a…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za ORGANISED labour has expressed concern over the pronouncement by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) that it will intensify human resource management strategies by reducing its number of personnel and implementing a freeze on salary increases. In the DFFE’s 2020/21 Yearbook, it is noted that of the department’s allocated R8.2 billion for that financial year, an estimated 52.1%, was earmarked for goods and services, including the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) for creating jobs and work opportunities. Compensation of employees was the department’s second largest cost driver, accounting for an estimated 20.8% of expenditure. The DFFE’s spending, however, is expected to decrease at an average annual rate of 3.4%, from R9.9bn in 2020/21 to R8.9bn in 2023/24. This is primarily due to Cabinet approved…

Odwa Mkentane and Okuhle Hlati THE killing of a homeless man – allegedly by a 22-year-old law enforcement officer – has once again raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the City’s firearm training, as well as the vetting process of officers suitable to carry firearms. Officer Luvolwethu Kati appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court yesterday charged with the murder of 48-year Dumisani Joxo, who was shot in the mouth while trying to intervene in a scuffle between his friend and Kati in Rondebosch on Sunday, according to a witness. His killing has sent shock waves among experts and human rights activists and once again underscores the City’s treatment of the homeless. Recently appointed National Planning Commission member and criminologist at Stellenbosch University's Department of Political Science,…

MICHAEL BAGRAIM | Highlands Estate YOUR Thursday edition “NGO goes to Concourt over mandatory vaccines” refers: I very seldom agree and endorse any action taken by our Minister of Employment and Labour. However, on this occasion Minister Nxesi is absolutely correct. It is an obligation on every single employer in South Africa to follow the health and safety regulations regulations. These regulations specifically outline that every employer has to do whatever is in their power to ensure that all staff are kept as healthy as possible. Current medical advice tells us that the vaccination protects the staff and that the unvaccinated become a risk to others. On this occasion the Department of Employment and Labour is correct in stating that vaccine mandates will pass constitutional scrutiny.…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za WHILE the disbursement of a Taxi Relief Support Fund has been welcomed, the once-off payment of R5 000 has received mixed reactions by the industry. The fund is meant to ease the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the taxi industry, as public transport operations were halted due to both domestic and international travel prohibitions. Addressing the media at the fund’s launch yesterday, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said: “Public transport operators, among others, faced reduced demand as their operating hours and passenger capacity were restricted. When most sectors of the economy opened up in Level 3, demand for public transport remained very low. Almost 20% or more of the taxi industry experienced total loss of income. “Today, we therefore open the call centre to start taking applications…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za CONCERNS of further learning losses have been expressed as there was still no time frame given on when the rotational timetable would be scrapped to allow the full return of pupils to schools. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga yesterday said that due to Covid-19 being “still very much with us”, the rotation system would remain the same. Motshekga was speaking at a media briefing where she shared the state of readiness for the upcoming academic year. Inland schools including Gauteng are reopening today and coastal schools such as in the Western Cape would resume on January 19. “We are exploring possibilities to return schooling to normal, but we need to do so responsibly, and to this end, we rely entirely on the advice of public health experts,…

The UN has rebuked Kazakhstan after the country’s troops were spotted wearing blue helmets reserved for UN peacekeepers during a violent crackdown on protesters last week. Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the UN secretary general, told reporters on Monday that Kazakh authorities had said they would address the issue after the global body raised concerns. “Countries are to use UN insignia only when they are performing their mandated tasks as UN peacekeepers in the context of their deployment within a UN peacekeeping operation,” he said. Blue helmets have become a symbol of the UN’s peacekeeping efforts since the 1950s. Kazakh authorities could have been attempting to portray the country’s security forces as “representing a more international action” in an “attempt to draw on the unique legitimacy” that UN peacekeepers possess,…

BRUSSELS: European Parliament president David Sassoli died early yesterday at the age of 65, his office has announced. “The president of the European Parliament (EP), David Sassoli, passed away at 1.15 a.m. on January 11 at the hospital in Aviano, Italy, where he was hospitalised,” said his spokesperson, Roberto Cuillo. On December 10, Sassoli was hospitalised in Italy due to severe complications associated with a dysfunction of the immune system. All events in which the head of the EP had been scheduled to participate have been cancelled. Sassoli was president of the 705-seat EP since 2019. In December, Sassoli, a former journalist from the Italian Democratic Party, announced that he would not run for re-election as EP speaker, so as, he explained, “not to split the European majority”. His term…

NAIROBI: Power supply has been restored in most parts of Kenya, which earlier experienced a nationwide outage after a high voltage transmission line connecting the capital broke, state-controlled utility Kenya Power said yesterday. Kenya Power reported a blackout at 7.45am, after towers supporting a high voltage power line connecting the capital to the Kiambere hydroelectric dam collapsed. A company spokesperson confirmed the outage was nationwide. It said in a statement on its Twitter account that as of 11.14am, power had been restored in Nairobi, West Kenya, North and Central Rift and South Nyanza.…

WASHINGTON: Short-staffed hospitals in the US “are turning to international nurses” as thousands of healthcare workers were dismissed over vaccine mandates, Fox News has reported. More than 5 000 international nurses have been waiting to be cleared to obtain a visa approval to work in US hospitals, it reported. The need for more foreign nurses comes as thousands of US healthcare workers lost their jobs over corona virus vaccine requirements. A Minnesota clinic fired 700 unvaccinated employees; Massachusetts dismissed 500; and over 30 000 New York healthcare workers who disobeyed the vaccine mandate were sacked.…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za FORMER Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana star Siphiwe ‘Shabba’ Tshabalala is not planning to retire from football, according to his agent Jazzman Mahlakgane. The 37-year-old spent last season on the books of AmaZulu FC. However, he was used sparingly by the Durban-based club, and it was unsurprising that coach Benni McCarthy’s side opted to release him at the end of last season. The fact that the veteran has remained without a team since has led to speculation that he has retired. Mahlakgane, however, is adamant that Tshabalala still wants to play professionally. “He has not retired. “I don’t want to start any conversations about Tshabalala at the moment because I might get distracted, as we are currently busy working on something for him,” Mahlakgane is reported to…