Sommaire pour 2021-08-23 de Cape Times

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za KAP INDUSTRIAL Holdings, which employs about 19 000 people in a range of sectors that includes automotive components, timber and logistics, reinstated its dividend and lifted operating profit 48 percent to R2.1 billion in the year to June 30. “We are extremely pleased with the results in what was an uncertain, unpredictable environment. We emerged with a stronger balance sheet, strong cash generation and a dividend,” chief executive Gary Chaplin said in a telephone interview on Friday. All the companies in the group performed well, although Unitrans, which had among its operations school bus and corporate transport, was facing a tough environment, he said. He said the strong results in the complex environment were a reflection of the value in the business model and…

Sihle Mavuso & Tarryn-Leigh Solomons KWAZULU-NATAL, the epicentre and the flashpoint of last month’s looting that left over 300 people dead and cost billions of rand in economic damage, is on edge, bracing itself for more unrest. It was initially treated as a hoax until the State Security Agency (SSA) told the province to come up with counter-plans. Also on edge is Gauteng and the operators of the N3 supply route servicing Gauteng with essential goods from the Durban harbour. A security plan seen by Independent Media shows that security personnel will be all over Gauteng to ensure that order is maintained. Initially the shutdown was about forcing President Cyril Ramaphosa to free former president Jacob Zuma, who is serving a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court or face…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za CONTROVERSIAL Rivers of Living Waters Church leader Bishop Bafana Stephen Zondo’s much awaited sex trial is due to kick off today in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. The 55-year-old head of the church is facing charges of rape, contravening the Sexual Offences Act, and defeating the ends of justice. It is alleged that one of Zondo’s victims was allegedly repeatedly raped and is a family member. Zondo faces nine counts in all. It is alleged that Bishop Zondo raped the woman in 1980 while she was 8 or 9 years old, while other victims who were allegedly raped and/or sexually assaulted by him were members of his congregation. The trial is scheduled to run until September 17. Zondo earlier told his supporters during an appearance in the…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za The SA Medical Association (Sama) has confirmed that it has lodged complaints with both the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and the Department of Health over anti-Covid-19 vaccination statements made by Dr Susan Vosloo. The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) has separately said the HPCSA was looking into complaints about the issue, after it also engaged with the council. Their statements come as the provincial health department encouraged residents to get their information from “trusted, reliable sources” in response to anti-Covid-19 vaccine protesters who gathered outside Groote Schuur Hospital, at the weekend. Sama’s Employed Doctor’s Forum chairperson, Dr Akhtar Hussain said: “We are not a regulatory body but we do not support any unethical behaviour. From day one we have been calling for the…

Aishah Cassiem aishah.cassiem@inl.co.za | Investigations Unit – investigations@inl.co.za THE Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has denied that their officials were involved in the mining rights’ dispute between Russia’s Transasia Minerals and Umsobomvu Coal, owned by local businessman Hector Kunene. This after Russian attorneys threatened to institute international arbitration proceedings against South Africa for failing to protect their client’s (Transasia) investment in accordance with the Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) of 1998. The DMRE said the matter was a subject of litigation in the form of main and interlocutory court applications which primarily involved private disputes between the parties in which the department was partly involved, due to its role as regulator. The department has distanced itself from the dispute. Independent Media’s investigations unit revealed how Transasia had allegedly been…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za CIVIL society organisations have expressed disappointment at the National Energy Regulator (NERSA) electricity subcommittee’s recommendation to conditionally approve the government's proposal for another 2500MW of nuclear power. NERSA's subcommittee on Friday recommended a conditional approval with suspensive conditions, mainly citing concerns over affordability. “The nuclear build programme must be at an affordable pace and scale that the country can afford, because it is not a great option in the long term,” the committee noted. The subcommittee’s recommendation will be taken to the Nersa board which will then make a final decision. The Koeberg Alert Alliance said the decision was disappointing as Eskom was in R480bn in debt, and cannot afford a new nuclear build. “No vendor will fund a build without guarantees and neither Eskom nor treasury…

THE scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide remains a terror in the hearts and minds of South Africans despite promises to address policy and tighten the laws that protect women. The murder of 23-year-old Fort Hare law student Nosicelo Mtebeni, is just the latest horrific killing to take place as the country struggles to come to grips with these crimes. The Commission for Gender Equality says crimes against women at educational institutions is of particular concern. Commission chairperson Tamara Mathebula said the grim developments have darkened the meaning of Women’s Month and they view the continued killings of women as an act of confrontation to the law by GBV perpetrators. Mathebula said the commission spent three years assessing gender transformation and GBV at universities and colleges, and subsequently recommended…

CANBERRA: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged state and territory governments to stick with the pathway out of the coronavirus pandemic amid record case numbers. Australia reported a record 914 new cases of Covid-19 yesterday, a second day in a row with a new record number. Despite widespread outbreaks of the virus, Morrison pushed the states and territories to start easing restrictions when 70% of their adult populations were fully vaccinated. The National Cabinet, in July signed off on a four-phase pathway out of the pandemic that will see lockdowns used more sparingly when 70% of adults were inoculated.…

Tunis: Concern is mounting over freedoms in Tunisia as President Kais Saied presses ahead with a “purge” that has seen politicians, judges and businessmen arrested or banned from travel, activists say. On July 25, Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament for one month citing powers he says were granted by the constitution, but he has yet to reveal a “roadmap” for his decisions despite repeated demands by political parties. Saied’s shock move has sparked uncertainties for Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began a decade ago, setting in motion pro-democracy revolts across the region that unseated autocratic leaders. Tunisia, hailed as a rare democratic success story in the Middle East and North Africa, is mired in a political crisis compounded by dire economic woes and the Covid-19 pandemic. Several politicians,…

Stockholm: Sweden’s beleaguered Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, 64, yesterday said he would step down in November to allow a successor time to prepare for the country’s September 2022 general election. Lofven was reinstated as prime minister by parliament in early July just weeks after being ousted in a historic vote of no confidence. He has served as prime minister since 2014. The announcement of his resignation came as a surprise, as Lofven had previously indicated he wanted to lead the party in the next election campaign.…

Alongside a grinding seven-year military conflict, Yemen’s government and the Huthi rebels are locked in battle on another front – a currency war that has opened up a gulf in riyal values. Both the government and the Iran-backed Huthis used the same notes until late 2019 when the rebels banned new banknotes printed in government-run Aden, due to concerns about inflation. The resulting difference in money supply has since seen the riyal’s value plummet to around 1,000 to the dollar in government areas, while the value in Huthi-controlled zones has held relatively stable at 600. Citizens and businesses in both government and rebel-controlled zones have been left out of pocket by the divergence, but especially those in the former, given rampant inflation there. This internal exchange rate has also complicated…

Siphelele Dludla Siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za The GOVERNMENT’S finances will be boosted further with a R65 billion ($4.16bn) injection as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) become effective today. Earlier this month, the IMF board of governors approved the general allocation of SDRs equivalent of $650bn, the largest IMF emergency currency creation in history, to tackle the Covid-19 global pandemic. The newly created SDR is the first tranche, since the $250bn that was issued soon after the global financial crisis in 2009. The SDR is meant to boost global liquidity and will be credited to IMF member countries in proportion to their existing quotas in the Fund. The IMF said the SDR allocation will benefit all members, address the long-term global need for reserves, build confidence, and foster the…

From page 1 “On behalf of the university we condemn the brutality of this student’s death. Nobody deserves to die, more so, nobody deserves to die in this horrific manner. “This death is very personal to the university. We feel it very deeply. We will be working with the family regarding the funeral arrangements,” said Buhlungu. Matatiele Local Municipality mayor Momelezi Mbedla, who visited the Mtebeni family at Khaoue, in Matatiele, on Saturday, said they would work with the family during this difficult time. Mbedla is also the spokesperson for the family. “During Women’s Month, we strongly condemn this act. We are saddened by the passing of Nosicelo. This family have requested privacy to deal with this. We also appeal to people to stop sharing pictures of the (dismembered) body…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za DESPITE the uncertainty over whether this year’s local government elections will go ahead in October, political parties have begun selecting their preferred mayoral candidates. Good Party leader Patricia de Lille yesterday announced Brett Herron as its candidate for Cape Town mayor, while the ANC said it was still busy finalising its lists. The DA is today expected to pick Geordin Hill-Lewis for Cape Town mayor. Herron currently serves as a member of the Western Cape provincial legislature, a position he has held since 2019 after the national and provincial elections. He left the DA in November 2018, following Patricia de Lille’s resignation as a member of the DA and mayor of Cape Town. He listed spatial justice, economic justice and climate change solutions as among his priorities.…

ITUMELENG MAFISA and NHLANHLA MBATHA A 28-YEAR-old male nurse at a Johannesburg public clinic has been arrested for fraud and corruption related to the sale of fake Covid-19 negative certificates. It is alleged that the suspect, who works at Parkhurst Clinic, sold the fake Covid-19 negative test certificates for R500 to people wishing to travel to other countries without conducting the actual test and taking blood samples. The city was trying to track all those that may have bought certificates from the suspect. The Cape Times’ sister publication, the Star understands that the health official had been working for the clinic for two years, having joined in July 2019, and was still new to the health industry. All that his customers had to do was send him an identity…

Sithandiwe Velaphi sithandiwe.velaphi@inl.co.za THE man expected to appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court today for the murder of Fort Hare University law student Nosicelo Mtebeni allegedly confessed that he killed her because she was “cheating on him”. This emerged while the devastated Mtebeni family visited the scene in Quigney yesterday where their daughter was killed and dismembered, allegedly by her boyfriend. Mtebeni’s body was stuffed in a suitcase that was discovered about 100m from her house, on Thursday, after police were alerted by a passer-by. The 23-year-old’s head and hands that were dismembered were left inside the house in plastic bags, while the bag was dumped on the pavement. “While at the scene, police received information that a 25-year-old suspect believed to be linked to the murder was found…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za STRUCTURAL failures within the police’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit and socio-economic issues are among the reasons civic organisations have attributed to the 72.4% increase in sexual violence cases this year. During the official release of the Crime Statistics for the first quarter of this financial year 2021/2022, Police Minister Bheki Cele, said 10 006 people were raped between April and June 2021. “This is an increase of 4 201 cases, amounting to a 72.4% increase, compared to the skewed previous reporting period. “A sample of 5 439 rape cases revealed that 3 766 of the rape incidents took place at the home of the victim or the home of the rapist. 487 rape cases were domestic violence related.” The Social Justice Coalition…

Firstly, it was the fast-track development of a beauty parade of vaccines in record time to combat the destructive effects of the novel coronavirus that has ravaged the world since early 2020. That ingenuity, alas, is confined to research and mark-to-market development. The dark side of the human psyche has led to billions of people from developing countries held hostage to unprecedented vaccine nationalism in the advanced wealthy economies, resulting in vaccine poverty and gross inequality in matters of access. Roll out to the poorest countries, especially in Africa and Asia, despite the efforts of the Global Covax Facility and belated pledges by some governments, remains woefully inadequate, as if pandemic procurement profiteering, in both developed and developing countries and supply chain disruption, are not enough to undermine our response…

Kano: Gunmen who kidnapped more than 100 students from a high school in northwestern Nigeria have released 15 more of the hostages after collecting ransom, a representative of families said. Scores of assailants stormed Bethel Baptist High School on July 5 on the outskirts of state capital city Kaduna, abducting 121 students while they were asleep. The Bethel abduction was part of a string of kidnappings by armed gangs. Around 1 000 students have been kidnapped since December after gangs started to target schools and colleges. Most have been released after negotiations, but scores are still being held in forest camps.…

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s new prime minister has called on his colleagues to end a months-long political crisis and come together to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, in his first speech as the country’s fourth premier in as many years. Just days after the previous government collapsed amid political infighting, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, 61, ysterday said: “The political crisis is causing unrest. Let us stem this grab for political power.” Malaysia has been in political crisis for months amid growing public anger over the government’s handling of the pandemic. Thousands have lost their jobs as businesses nationwide were forced to close due to lockdowns.…

Hurricane Henri’s outer bands moved onshore in southern New England and Long Island early yesterday as the storm threatened the region with high winds, a dangerous storm surge and drenching rainfall. By 5am local time, Henri was located about 125km south-southeast of Montauk Point on Long Island in New York state, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said. It was carrying top sustained winds of 120km/h and heading north. Henri was expected to make landfall on Long Island or southern New England later yesterday, hitting land at or near hurricane strength, the centre said. More than 42 million people in the region were under a hurricane or tropical storm warning on Saturday. The centre warned that Henri could produce storm surges – when ocean waters are pushed above their…

LONDON: Daniel Craig, 53, has decided to stop playing James Bond due to injuries. The actor makes his fifth and final appearance as 007 in the delayed No Time To Die, and has now overtaken the late Sir Roger Moore’s record as the longest-serving Bond with 15 years in the tuxedo. Craig has been injured shooting stunt scenes on every Bond blockbuster since he first appeared in 2006’s Casino Royale – on which he lost two teeth – and it’s “time for somebody else to have a go now”. “I still do as many stunts as I can because I enjoy the physicality of it. But I’ve grown older and don’t bounce back as well as I did. I’ve hurt myself on every single Bond movie since I started,” he…

zaahier.adams@inl.co.za BOTH Cape Town City and Stellenbosch FC failed to open their new Premiership season accounts with a victory over the weekend, but they will take plenty of confidence from their respective outings for vastly contrasting reasons. Stellenbosch returned from Soweto with a point after holding Orlando Pirates to a thrilling 2-2 draw, while City played out a dour 0-0 stalemate with SuperSport United at Athlone Stadium on Saturday. Steve Barker’s Stellenbosch team had struggled to find the back of the net last season, particularly during the final 10 games when all they managed was a single penalty, but all that changed with the first two minutes of the new season when new striker Waseem Isaacs struck home a pile driver from outside the box. Fellow new signing Judas…

Last WEEK a friend of mine, an astute investor, pointed me to gold and silver price graphs and it is evident that both metals are at major points of resolve. His question was what major move lies ahead – up or down? As a mining analyst many moons ago and investment strategist and fund manager later on, I focused on supply and demand in forecasting metal prices, especially gold. Although I got a somewhat better idea than some economists whose numbers are just thumbsuck, I continued to be perplexed about the relationship between the supply/demand equation and the gold price in terms of US dollars. I experienced a lightbulb moment a few months ago when I discovered that gold was nothing else than a 10-year US Treasury Inflation-linked Security or…

From page 1 “She’s very protective, especially when it comes to me. When it did not appear, I assumed it might not have heard me. Weirdly, even after entering the house, it was just quiet and I started looking for her in the rooms,” the woman said. She said after opening the door to her mother’s room, the dog jumped from underneath the accused. “The expression on my dog’s face was indescribable. It was as if it was relieved that I arrived. He was lying on top of my dog and quietly dressed himself when the dog ran out to hide. I was frightened and shocked. At the time my mother was visiting my aunt. I knew someone from TEARS and called her because I didn’t know what to…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za PSYCHO-social support is provided to pupils who lose a parent or guardian, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said in the wake of a new study that found one in every 200 South African children had lost a primary caregiver due to Covid-19. The research into Covid-19-associated orphanhood and deaths of caregivers was undertaken in 21 countries. Woodbridge Primary School last week offered messages of condolences to three of its pupils who lost their fathers due to Covid-19-related ailments. Two of the pupils are in Grade 4 while the one is in Grade 2. Provincial education spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said when a pupil’s caregivers or family members passed away, for whatever reason, a school’s psycho-social support networks were called on to provide assistance if required. “In instances…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za A SIXTY-six-year-old man is expected in the Simon’s Town Regional Court today for allegedly sexually assaulting a dog. The woman who caught him says the incident has evoked past trauma and she asked not to be named. Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi said a case of bestiality was being investigated after the 66-year-old man was arrested on Friday night. The dog has since been moved to an animal shelter. According to the woman, she had just returned home from visiting her brother when she saw her mother’s boyfriend – allegedly with his pants down – on top of the dog. “Usually, if I had gone somewhere and returned my dog would excitedly meet me by the gate. To page 2…

IN THIS four-part series ’Advancing Gender Equality and Entrepreneurship’, UCT student Traci Hurling is turning the spotlight on the women behind Foundhers Circle - a female-led start-up to provide women with the tools they need to build and scale profitable and impactful businesses. Today she writes about network creator, Keitumetse Pule Keitumetse Pule is a young South African woman who has a passion for entrepreneurship and women empowerment. Keitumetse (Keitu) brought these two passions together and created Foundhers Circle, a network that supports and connects local women entrepreneurs. When Keitu was in Grade 11, she participated in an event where young girls from around the world devised policy recommendations for a G20 Summit. The theme of these recommendations was on increasing women’s economic participation, as well as the accommodation…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za CAT owners in Manenberg are breathing a sigh of relief but will not let their guard down completely just yet. This follows the detention and questioning of a suspect in connection with the slaughter of at least 42 cats over the space of two months in the area. A breakthrough was made in the animal cruelty investigation when a 40-year-old man was taken in for questioning on Friday. The suspect is also the owner of two dogs – a pitbull cross and a short-haired terrier cross – which were confiscated by the Animal Welfare Society of South Africa (AWS SA) as his “hunting partners” just days before his detention. SAPS spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi yesterday confirmed a 40-year-old man was being detained. Manenberg resident Abdul-Karriem Adams, who has…

ANC must be stopped from weakening Parliament, hence our intervention FROM the Constitutional Court to the Zondo Commission of Inquiry, Parliament has received enough lamentations on dropping the ball when it comes to accountability work. The duty to build a capable state involves the need for a strong Parliament as one of the important democratic institutions. In our constitutional architecture, the doctrine of separation of powers is valuable in its aspiration to foster accountability and constitutional supremacy. There are three arms of the state: the executive, legislature and judiciary. The judiciary’s independence is fairly entrenched and understood by all – even with the latest attacks levelled against the judiciary from some political quarters. The huge contention is on the independence of the legislature, given that ours is a parliamentary…

Geneva: Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter says he will continue fighting fraud allegations, and does not fear his case possibly going to trial. Blatter, 85, faced four days of questioning by a federal prosecutor earlier this month in a long-running probe into a suspected fraudulent payment a decade ago. Over 2 million Swiss franc (R33.6m) was paid to Michel Platini in 2011, then in charge of European football’s governing body Uefa. Blatter was forced to stand down as Fifa president in 2015 and banned by Fifa for six years, for authorising “disloyal payment”. The Attorney General of Switzerland has yet to announce whether it will indict him or dismiss the case.…

JERUSALEM: A state inquiry into a stampede in April at a Jewish pilgrimage site that killed 45 people, among them US and Canadian citizens, began hearing testimonies yesterday to determine what led to Israel’s worst civilian disaster. Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews thronged the Galilee hillside tomb of second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on April 30 for the annual Lag B’Omer festival that includes all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance. During the ceremony, part of the crowd surged into a narrow tunnel and 45 men and boys were asphyxiated or trampled.…

The Taliban yesterday blamed the United States for the chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and foreigners from the capital, one week after the hardline Islamist group returned to power in a rapid victory that stunned the world. The US has warned of security threats and the European Union admitted it was “impossible” to evacuate everyone at risk from the Taliban, who have vowed a softer version of their brutal rule from 1996-2001. But terrified Afghans continue to try to flee, deepening a tragedy at Kabul airport where the US and its allies have been unable to cope with the huge numbers of people trying to get on evacuation flights. “America, with all its power and facilities... has failed to bring order to the airport. There is peace…

Haitian President Jovenel Moise began this year by warning that his country was a land of coups, conspiracy and murder. In the days before he was shot dead in a murky international plot last month, he was telling friends that enemies were out to get him. “He said a lot of people were spending a lot of money to murder him,” said a former Haitian senator and close friend of the late president, of a conversation with Moise the evening of his death. “I told him to stop thinking like that.” “He said: ‘This is reality’.” Revealing his final text messages with Moise, the politician, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of his safety, said Moise did not identify the plotters. The assassination decapitated a fragile government in a…