Sommaire pour 2023-06-23 de Cape Times

FORMER DA member and speaker of the Western Cape legislature, Masizole Mnqasela, is preparing to launch a new political party to contest next year’s elections. Mnqasela announced the formation of the new party that he would lead during a press briefing at Sky Hotel yesterday, claiming he had “divorced the DA”. “For the past six months, different leaders and people have been asking me where to move from here? “I will not be joining any existing political party. Please don’t call me or try to persuade me to join your party. “There is a new movement coming, something that the people of South Africa have been calling and praying for. “This country needs leaders who are trustworthy, honest and can lead selflessly. Leaders who can be held accountable. “One of…

PARLIAMENT has accused Chief Justice Raymond Zondo of encroaching on the principle of separation of powers, following his remarks that the House would still not be able to prevent state capture if any attempts were made. Zondo made the comments during the Human Sciences Research Council’s colloquium entitled “Post Zondo: The Future of Democracy”. Zondo chaired the commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture and submitted his final report just over a year ago. The report made scathing findings against the government and the role of Parliament in failing to stop state capture. “I don't think there is anything that has happened which could prevent people from trying or starting (state capture). “What is important is that we should be able to identify it as soon as there are…

A HUSBAND has been successful in the Western Cape High Court in his bid to have his maintenance contribution to his ex-wife reduced, after his income had dropped. The court found that the ex-wife could not prove he had other investments to supplement her case. The parties were married by both Muslim rights and civil law. However, the divorce (talaaq) was finalised and became official in April 2019. On August 11, 2021, the husband instituted an application for the variation of his maintenance contribution. The earlier order required him to pay R20 000 per month, and he wanted to amend this to R10 000. He said that when the order was granted, his monthly salary was about R63 680 per month. However, due to some adjustments at his workplace, his…

REMARKS made by a worker about a female colleague’s “attire” – that she wore white slacks “with the wrong underwear” – coupled with a rumour that she and another worker had had an affair, as well as an article sent to her about “cheating husbands”, were the subject of an application before the Labour Court in Johannesburg. The male colleague who had offended his female colleague was fired from Pioneer Foods, where both of them worked, following charges of sexual harassment against him. Ms B lodged a grievance and told her employer she had had previous issues with the employee regarding verbal abuse and comments. Unhappy with the fact that he was fired, the employee turned to the CCMA, where an arbitrator found his dismissal to be procedurally and substantively…

An Angel’s Demise Sue Nyathi Loot.co.za (R266) MacMillan This is accomplished writer Sue Nyathi’s fourth novel. Originally from Zimbabwe, Nyathi, who now lives in Johannesburg, has always touched on her home country, whether from the prism of her fellow countrymen leaving their land and trying to make it anew in South Africa (The GoldDiggers) or as in The Family Affair, a delightful saga charting the ins and outs of the Mafu family in Bulawayo. In this sweeping story, she follows the lives of farm owner Paul in then southern Rhodesia, and the labourers at his service, Douglas and Simphiwe, on the farm Belle Acres at Somabhula. Filled with heart-rending episodes, joy, angst and superbly and accessibly evoked history, Nyathi takes us from the turbulent pre-independence years set from…

How would politics in the province look if the party had a plan and the plan was working? THIS week’s much-awaited Western Cape ANC provincial conference is a crucial stepping stone for the party on what it hopes will be a path leading to the premier’s office and the majority seats in the provincial legislature next year. Its leaders know they are at a critical juncture in their bid to oust the DA after many years in office, in circumstances that have left the ANC licking self-inflicted wounds. Despite putting all the effort into branding and internal affairs reorganisation, many see the ANC as dull and wooden and that it has yet to make enough of an impact on the public. Too few people know what it would do in…

THE year 1971 was eventful. The third Apollo mission to the moon was launched, and Motown singer Marvin Gaye released What’s Going On, which protested the war and drew attention to the racism and poverty that affected black Americans. While the Apollo mission sought to test the frontiers of space and science, in South Africa, another mission with more modest ambitions was quietly being stitched together. The non-racial Southern Africa Lawn Tennis Union (Saltu) prepared to send six promising young black players on a historic four-month tour of Europe. Saltu was an affiliate of the South African Council on Sport, which championed non-racial sport and proclaimed there could be “no normal sport in an abnormal society”.’ Dubbed the “Dhiraj” squad, after tennis champion Jasmat (Dhiraj) Soma, the players included Hiralal…

Ex-president Jair Bolsonaro faced an eight-year ban on running for office as Brazil’s top electoral court began trying the far-right leader yesterday over his unproven allegations against the voting system during last year’s elections. Bolsonaro, 68, was not in court as the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) opened his trial on charges he abused his office and misused state media when he convened foreign diplomats to warn of the alleged risk of large-scale fraud in the October elections, which he went on to lose to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The proceedings in Brasilia began with Judge Benedito Goncalves reading a summary of the case against the former president, which was brought by the left-wing Democratic Labor Party (PDL). The accusation against Bolsonaro is that the meeting with ambassadors…

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden yesteday announced a series of defence and trade agreements with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Washington attempts to counter China’s global influence. Biden treated Modi to a colourful White House South Lawn arrival ceremony yesterday followed by Oval Office talks and a state dinner in the evening. Senior Biden administration officials said the agreements on semiconductors, critical minerals, technology, space co-operation and defence co-operation and sales would ring in a new era in relations between the two countries. Some of the deals are aimed at diversifying supply chains to reduce dependence on China. | Reuters…

KUALA LUMPUR: Four Thai nationals will face charges in a Malaysian court today over the 2015 discovery of mass graves and suspected human trafficking camps at the country’s border with Thailand, Malaysia’s home affairs minister said. The dense forests of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia have been a major stop-off point for smugglers bringing people to Southeast Asia by boat, most of them Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar and squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh. The discovery of camps and graves on the Thai side of the border led authorities in Thailand to crack down on people smugglers. | Reuters…

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis skipped reading a planned speech at a conference yesterday, saying he still had breathing problems following a hernia operation this month. “I am still under the effects of anaesthesia, my breathing is not good,” Francis, 86, told a meeting of the Catholic Oriental Church, saying delegates would instead receive a text of the speech. Asked how he felt, he replied: “I’m still alive.” The pope had surgery on June 7 to repair an abdominal hernia. He had eight events scheduled for yesterday. | Reuters…

IT WOULD cost a quarter of a billion rand to renovate dilapidated infrastructure at the Robben Island Museum. This was announced by the chairperson of the Robben Island Museum, Professor Saths Cooper, yesterday. Cooper was answering questions from the media during a tour of the island, hosted by Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) Minister Sihle Zikalala, together with management at the island. Zikalala’s tour included viewing the progress made to refurbish the power plant on the island, the water desalination plant as well as the infrastructure. He said the work being done on the Island was led by the government to refurbish the site. “We want to thank the Robben Island Museum for their work and for giving an overall preservation of this area. “There are a number…

AT THE age of just 24, Chad Louw was sworn in to lead the Oudtshoorn Municipality in 2021, making him one of the youngest politicians to ever wear the mayoral chain in the history of South Africa. Growing up in Dysselsdorp, a small town 30km east of Oudtshoorn, Louw, who is now 26, said he initially joined politics because he was tired of complaining about challenges facing his community. “It was time to take an active role in driving the change that I want to see. The current moment calls for the emergence of those young leaders who can rise to the challenges of our time. “While our leaders have played a significant role in getting us this far, it's time for new soldiers to step up and take…

SMALL towns devastated by the recent series of cold fronts that made landfall over the province have reported “catastrophic” damage to their infrastructure. This, as at least 2 000 people had to be provided with temporary shelter in towns including those along the West Coast and the Cederberg. The Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM) yesterday said the inclement weather affected the nearly 3 500 kilometres of gravel and rural roads that serve as a lifeline for its economic development in the district. Several of the town’s roads have been declared unsafe for use. CWDM mayor, Elna von Schlicht, said repairs could only be undertaken when weather conditions permitted. "I am acutely aware of the significance of our roads, not only for the many farmers who rely on them for the…

Keep Her Leora Krygier Loot.co.za (R345) She Writes Press Destiny doesn't factor into 17-year-old adoptee Maddie's rational world, where numbers and scientific probability have always proven to be the only things she can count on as safe and reliable. Still, Maddie is also an artist who draws on instinct and intuition to create the collages she makes from photographs and the cast-off scraps she saves. But when her brother falls in with a Los Angeles street gang, Maddie loses her ability to create art. Then fate deals Maddie a card she can't ignore: Aiden, a young film-maker she meets when a water main bursts inside a camera store. Aiden is haunted by the death of his younger brother, and a life-changing decision he must now make – whether or not…

The Light We Left Behind Tessa Harris Loot.co.za (R200) HQ / Harper Collins MUCH has been written about Bletchley Park but this was the first time I had come across Trent Park. This stately home, where its classified work contributed much to the Allies’ victory in WWII, only gave up its secrets in 1996 – so it is a relative newcomer to the war history theme. Who would have known that at the end of the (suburban) Cockfosters line in London was this mansion, which had hosted Hollywood stars and royalty before the war, but which, during the years 1942 to 1945 became a luxury “prison” to high-ranking German officers. There were extraordinary freedoms under the guise of being “lulled into a sense of security” and playing to the…

WITH Youth Day again focusing our minds on the youth and the truly appalling youth unemployment figure of over 4.9 million, everyone is wringing their hands saying that something must be done, but what is that something? One option, perhaps an old-fashioned one, would be to bring back limited conscription for youths between 18 and 27, whereby they go into the military for a three-year period, but during that period they learn a trade, whether it be plumbing, nursing, building or hospitality. After that period they would have a far better chance of getting full-time employment. New trade schools could be set up within this new expanded framework with qualified instructors, with set goals for the recruits. They would also be taught personal discipline with the ethic to first not…

A multinational mission to find a missing submersible near the Titanic wreck is still focused on rescuing the five-member crew, the US coast guard insisted yesterday, despite fears that the vessel’s oxygen may already have run out. Two more unmanned subs were deployed yesterday as the massive hunt for the Titan, lost somewhere in a vast swathe of the North Atlantic between the ocean’s surface and nearly four kilometers below, moved to the critical stage. Based on the sub’s capacity to hold up to 96 hours of emergency air, rescuers had estimated that the passengers could run out of oxygen early yesterday. But as that possible deadline passed US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said rescuers were “fully committed”. “People’s will to live really needs to be accounted for…

Ukrainian missiles struck one of the few bridges linking the Crimea Peninsula with the Ukrainian mainland yesterday, cutting one of the main supply routes for Russian occupation forces in southern Ukraine as Kyiv pushes to drive them out. Vladimir Saldo, the head of the Russian-installed administration in occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson province, released a video of himself on the Chonhar road bridge, where craters had been blasted through the asphalt. He threatened to retaliate by targeting a bridge linking neighbouring Moldova to Nato member Romania. The Chonhar bridge hit overnight is one of just a handful of access roads to Crimea, which is linked to the Ukrainian mainland by a narrow isthmus. Alternative routes require hours-long detours over roads in poor condition. Russian-installed transport officials in Crimea said…

San Antonio: A powerful tornado left at least four people dead and 10 injured in the southern US state of Texas, where officials and residents were already grappling with a heat wave. “The town of Matador has experienced an unprecedented tornado bringing damaging winds,” the fire service in the neighboring city of Lubbock said yesterday. Matador, with a population of about 600, is the main city in Motley County in north Texas. The US National Weather Service said several buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed. It reported at least four tornadoes in Texas. Rain and strong winds also hit some cities in the state. | AFP…

Sydney: The government of New South Wales (NSW) yesterday reported a growing number of homeless people across the Australian state, noting that the deepening housing crisis was hurting the most vulnerable citizens. According to the report, conducted between February 2 and 27 in more than 350 towns and suburbs, 1 623 people were counted sleeping rough in the state, registering a 34% increase compared with the 2022 survey. Byron Bay, on the far-north coast of NSW, accounted for 300 rough sleepers – a stark 117% hike compared with February 2022. Sydney saw the number of homeless people rise by 23% to reach 277. | IANS…

IT’S not just Scotland and Ireland that the Springboks have to worry about in Pool B of the World Cup in France later this year, but one of the Pacific Island teams can also cause some headaches for the world champions. Tonga, who form part of the group of death, and their coach former Wallaby international Toutai Kefu, are assembling a stellar line-up for their campaign loaded with internationals from different tier-one countries. Just like the Boks made use of World Rugby’s Regulation 8 to get the services of South African Irish lock Jean Kleyn as they prepare for the World Cup, Tonga have several former All Black and Australian players in their current squad. The regulation allows players to switch from one country to another on birth or ancestral…

3 997 children aged 10-19 have delivered babies in the Western Cape in just five months NEARLY 4 000 children aged 10-19 have delivered babies in the Western Cape within just five months of this year. Last year alone, the figure was 10 686 births over 12 months, 11 157 in 2021, and 11 690 over the same period in 2020 for the same age group, according to the provincial department of Health. There were 3 997 for 2023 to date. Outraged child rights activists have attributed some of the pregnancies to “forced sex”. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said it received reports on the number of learners who became pregnant, a year in arrears, via the Annual School Survey (ASS) - for example, for the 2018 ASS,…

IN THE wake of a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud, nepotism and irregular appointments in its fleet department, the City said there was “no evidence to corroborate” the anonymous accusations. Earlier this week, the Cape Coloured Congress’s (CCC’s) Fadiel Adams lodged a criminal complaint against the City’s fleet management department on behalf of City employees whom he said had confided in him, alleging irregularities were brewing. Adams alleged nepotism, illegitimate appointments, inconsistent disciplinary procedures, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, gross dishonesty, corruption and fraud tender irregularities were rife, while two senior employees were in positions “that they do not qualify for”. Adams said he alerted mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis to the allegations. “I gave the mayor 48 hours to lay the charges himself. I gave him first dibs to do so…

The Imposters Tom Rachman Loot.co.za (R240) Riverrun The Imperfectionists is the story of a chameleonic writer desperate to finish her final book, and the indelible characters from her own life who intrude on those efforts with increasingly unpredictable results. Dora Frenhofer knows her mind is going. She is determined, however, to finish her final book, and reverse her fortunes, before time runs out. Alone in her London home during the pandemic, she creates, and is in turn created by the fascinating, real characters from her own life. Like a 21st-century Scheherazade, Dora spins stories to ward off her end. From New Delhi to New York, Copenhagen to Los Angeles, Australia to Syria to Paris, Dora’s chapters trot the globe, inhabiting the perspectives of her missing brother, her estranged daughter,…

Happenstance by Tessa Bailey is a romantic comedy about an accidental relationship between three smitten men . . . and one commitment phobic woman. Elise Brandeis has never won a Pulitzer - and she never will. At least not while she’s delivering sandwiches at the Gotham Times, instead of working there as an actual reporter. Her only shot at seeing her byline in print is to prove to the no-nonsense managing editor that she has a nose for news. And she’s got just the story to grab her elusive attention. Chasing down leads brings Elise to Roosevelt Island, but just when the trail of clues begins to take shape, she gets stuck. On a cable car with three strangers who couldn’t be more different. An uptight rugby coach, a…

IN a perfect world, the final that the Free State Cheetahs and the Pumas play tomorrow, would not be the only real opportunity they get to lift silverware. Indeed, much like the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers do, it would be expected of them to travel the world to face teams on the other side of the globe week-in and week-out, testing their strength and tactics against some of the best franchises and clubs rugby offers. It is completely understandable that earlier this week Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse begged SA Rugby for more competition, especially after the Nelspruit-based team – one of the country’s financially poorer unions – proved everyone wrong again by making a second, consecutive Currie Cup final. “It’s tough for the guys sometimes at the Pumas, and…

The World Bank will ease financing for countries hit by natural disasters, it said yesterday, as the International Monetary Fund announced it had hit its target of making $100 billion (about R1.8 trillion) in special drawing rights available for vulnerable nations. The two announcements were made at a gathering in Paris of 40 leaders, including about a dozen from Africa, China’s prime minister and Brazil’s president, that aims give impetus to a new global finance agenda. It aims to boost crisis financing for low-income states and ease their debt burdens, reform post-war financial systems and free up funds to tackle climate change by getting consensus on how to promote a number of initiatives struggling in bodies like the G20, COP, IMF-World Bank and UN. An announcement about Zambia’s debt was…

The TEMPERATURE in Beijing breached 41°C yesterday and shattered the record for the hottest day in June as heatwaves that had seared northern China a week earlier returned to the Chinese capital. The previous June high was logged on June 10, 1961, when the mercury hit 40.6°C. In Tanghekou, in Beijing’s north-east, the temperature pushed even higher to 41.8°C, helping the small township clinch the title of the hottest spot in China yesterday. Beijing has raised an orange alert, the second-most severe weather warning, saying temperatures could be as high as 39°C until Saturday. The 41.1°C logged yesterday was the city’s second-highest in history. The warmest temperature recorded by the city of nearly 22 million people was 41.9°C on July 24, 1999. The latest round of heatwaves, coinciding with the…

Beijing: Nine people were detained yesterday over a massive explosion at a barbecue restaurant in China’s Yinchuan city that killed at least 31 people. Authorities said that the detained people included the owner of the Fuyang Barbecue Restaurant, as well as staffers and shareholders of the eatery. Assets of the nine people have also been frozen. Wednesday’s blast occurred due to an alleged gas leak at the restaurant, which is part of a cluster of eateries and entertainment venues in Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia autonomous region. Seven injured people were being treated at a hospital. The rescue operation lasted until yesterday. | IANS…

WINDSOR CASTLE: King Charles has hailed the Windrush generation for their “profound and permanent contribution to British life”. To mark the 75th anniversary yesterday of HMT Empire Windrush first transporting people to the UK from the Caribbean in 1948, the king led tributes to the “pioneers” who left behind “all that was familiar” to them to offer up their skills to help rebuild the country during peacetime after World War II, saying: “History is … beginning to accord a rightful place to those men and women of the Windrush generation. “Once in Britain, they worked hard, offering their skills to rebuild a country during peacetime and seeking opportunities to forge a better future.” The king attended a service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle to mark the anniversary, and…

WARRIORS coach Robin Peterson wants Tristan Stubbs and the other youngsters in the South Africa A squad to be given room to play all formats to develop into future match winners for the Proteas. One of the highlights of the SA ‘A’ tour to Sri Lanka has been batter Stubbs. What made him stand out on the tour has not been his hard-hitting ability that the whole world knows him for. Stubbs gave everybody a glimpse of his full potential by spending a lot of time at the crease. In fact, Stubbs faced more deliveries on the tour than any other SA ‘A’ batter, with his Warriors teammate Matthew Breetzke finishing second across the two series played in Kandy and Colombo. Peterson complemented the 22-year-old Stubbs for his work ethic…