Sommaire pour 2023-10-25 de Cape Times

THE BRICS tourism ministers have agreed to increase air access and ease visa regimes in efforts to boost intra-BRICS tourism. According to Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille, the South African tourism industry has risen from the ashes after the devastating impact of Covid-19. “According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the first seven months of 2023 saw international tourist arrivals reach 84% of pre-pandemic levels. “As South Africa, our tourism recovery is well under way and we are especially seeing significant growth in arrivals from BRICS nations. For the first eight months of 2023, South Africa saw 5.5million arrivals. This was a 63.4% increase from the same period in 2022,” she said. De Lille chaired the high level tourism ministers meeting held at the Table Bay Hotel yesterday.…

WITH reference to “Workers puzzled by firm’s failure to pay salaries” (Cape Times, October 23). The employees have done everything necessary to ensure that the positive CCMA award will result in the attachment of everything that the company owns. My suggestion is that they also attach the bank accounts and consider taking action against the directors. The CCMA needs to ensure that the deputy sheriff moves as quickly as possible to ensure that the employer does not transfer monies out of its bank account to try to avoid the attachment.…

With the end of the current parliamentary term looming, there is a flurry of activity from committees seeking to finalise legislation before their time is up; perhaps none is as disheartening as the portfolio committee on health. The committee has been conducting public hearings, so far in Limpopo and the North West, ostensibly to give South Africans an opportunity to express themselves on the contents of the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill. During the committee’s briefing on the bill on May 31, the chairperson of the committee emphasised to fellow MPs the Constitutional Court’s judgment in Mogale & Others v Speaker of the National Assembly & Others, which had been delivered the day before. The judgment affirmed Parliament’s responsibility to facilitate meaningful public participation. In summary, the…

Fighting has entered its 18th day in the Gaza Strip after Hamas gunmen stormed into Israel on October 7, killing at least 1 400 people and taking over 200 hostages, according to Israeli officials. The Hamas-run health ministry says that 5 791 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza in Israel’s relentless retaliatory bombardments since then. Diplomatic pressure on Israel to limit civilian casualties is growing, although Western governments remain steadfast in their support for the country. An 85-year-old Israeli woman freed by Hamas said yesterday that she “went through hell” during her abduction but had been well treated while held captive in Gaza. The gunmen “beat me on the way, they didn’t break my ribs but hurt me very much”, said Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released along with Nurit…

A Kenyan court yesterday extended a temporary order barring the government from deploying hundreds of police officers to Haiti in a UN- approved mission aimed at helping the Caribbean nation tackle gang violence, a lawyer who filed the case said. Following an appeal for assistance from Haiti, Kenya in July offered to send 1 000 officers to help restore security amid a worsening crisis in which gangs have forced around 200 000 people to flee their homes. But the plan was temporarily put on hold by a court order issued after a petition was brought by the small opposition party Thirdway Alliance, arguing the decision to deploy officers abroad was illegal. The Kenyan government has said it will seek parliament’s approval before the officers are deployed. “The court has extended…

LONDON: A British-born woman who went to Syria as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State has mounted her latest appeal against the removal of her British citizenship, arguing that Britain failed to consider whether she was a victim of trafficking. The British government took away Shamima Begum’s citizenship on national security grounds in 2019, after she was found in a detention camp in Syria. Begum first challenged the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in 2019. Begum’s case has travelled to the UK’s Supreme Court and back, while she remains in the al-Roj detention camp in north-eastern Syria. In February, SIAC found there was a “credible suspicion” that Begum was trafficked to Syria for sexual exploitation, and there were “state failures” over her journey from London to Syria…

MEXICO CITY: At least 13 police officers were killed in an armed attack in Mexico’s Guerrero state, authorities said. The incident occurred yesterday in the town of El Papayo under the municipality of Coyuca de Benitez. The policemen were attacked by a group of armed men near the Acapulco-Zihuatanejo federal highway, according to police reports. National police have decided to strengthen their presence and surveillance in the city of Coyuca de Benitez. Guerrero is one of the Mexican states most affected by criminal groups attacking security agencies. | IANS…

Former Kaizer Chiefs head coach Steve Komphela has explained why he thinks the club’s long-standing trophy drought won’t end soon. The 56-year-old spent three seasons in the Amakhosi dugout between 2015 and 2018 before being forced out following an unforgettable attack by the club’s supporters at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Komphela has been deemed, for the longest time, as the instigator of what has now become a nine-year trophy-less run at the club with Chiefs having hired and fired six different coaches at that time. Now the head coach of Moroka Swallows, Komphela spoke to the media after his side’s elimination from the Carling Knockout Cup on Sunday, a day before Chiefs parted ways with head coach Molefi Ntseki. He reflected on his tenure with the Glamour Boys and expressed…

Yesterday, South Africa completed a 149-run victory over Bangladesh at the World Cup in India and Independent Media picked the reasons the massive victory. The Recovery Partnerships Bangladesh has caused South Africa problems on numerous occasions in ODIs over the past four years. Starting from the 2019 World Cup where they beat the Proteas by 21 runs, Bangladesh had lost only one ODI match against South Africa before yesterday. So when Shoriful Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz made early inroads with the wickets of Reeza Hendricks (12) and Rassie van der Dussen (1), there were concerns that South Africa would go down in a match they needed to win with fixtures against New Zealand and India ahead. Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram batted well within the game situation. They…

Banyana Banyana will have to do battle without a number of influential names as they begin their 2024 Paris Olympics qualification journey today. The South African women's football side face the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the Stade des Martyrs (kick-off 4.30pm) in the first of two legs with an incomplete yet strong squad. Head coach Desiree Ellis will be without six members of her squad who are not present with varying reasons. Nomvula Kgoale and Tiisetso Makhubela are both out injured, while the University of the Western Cape’s Bongeka Gamede had to be withdrawn due to her final exams. And while Linda Motlhalo and Faith Nokuthula are expected to arrive in time in Kinshasa, Jermaine Seoposenwe and Samkelisiwe Selana are only expected to join the team for the…

Have you ever found yourself putting off studying or delaying essays until the last minute? Procrastination is a sneaky monster that loves to mess with students. The word “procrastination” comes from the Latin “procrastinare” and translates into the prefix pro-, “forward”, and the suffix -crastinus, meaning “till next day”. Procrastination basically means putting off something until tomorrow, a tomorrow that is usually less defined as to when exactly a task will be prosecuted. There is no doubt that every student has, at one time or another, succumbed to procrastination, that urge to put off studying and postpone writing those assignments. Procrastination is a student’s worst enemy. I have come across a few people in my time who have consistently waited until the last minute to turn in their assignments or…

I AM writing to express my deep concern regarding the ongoing crisis in Palestine and the need for increased attention and advocacy on the part of the South African news media. The situation in Palestine is a grave humanitarian issue that demands the spotlight, as innocent lives continue to be lost in the midst of a complex political conflict. It is disheartening to witness the continued suffering of the Palestinian people, who have endured decades of turmoil, loss and displacement. Recent events have once again highlighted the urgent need for international scrutiny and condemnation of the violence inflicted upon the citizens of Palestine. It is essential that South African news outlets, such as yours, play a crucial role in providing accurate and comprehensive coverage of this issue, as well as…

ADHERENTS of Islam often tell us that their religion is a religion of love and peace and certainly; the Muslims that I have met would fit these qualities. However, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is completely out of step with such noble sentiments and posted guidelines for mosque preachers as to what content they should include in their Friday, October 20 sermons. According to the Facebook page of the PA Minister of Religious Affairs, October 18, the following should apply: “The Hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees and the rocks or a tree will say: ‘Muslim, O servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him,’except for the Gharqad tree, for it…

TRANSPORT Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga has lauded the progress made at Prasa construction sites with a focus on building and creating jobs for residents by providing residential accommodation for students and modernising its train depot. Chikunga and other officials were in Cape Town yesterday to showcase the final phase of the Mixed-Use Development Student Accommodation and Retail Centre. The minister said the Cape Town Station development with Eris Property Group, located in the heart of Cape Town’s transportation hub, will see the building of student housing with 3 200 beds for NSFAS-eligible students. “The R1.2 billion project, which is a 7 000m² retail sector, is being renovated as part of this landmark project to better serve locals and commuters alike. “The retail precinct is planned to be finished next month, and…

A vast majority of young and older people may not even be aware of isiHlubi WHEN questions about AmaHlubi and their identity surface, especially in KZN, they most often focus on their language. In colonial Natal and Zuid-Afrika, language was one of the biggest catalysts in the process of the creation of mega tribes. Additionally, state formation in Europe encompassed a distinct language as a form of political identification. For example, the unification processes of Italy and Germany were both driven by nationalist movements that emphasised the importance of a common language. Besides being a political tool, language in Africa, much like in other parts of the world, also serves as a common medium of communication among diverse groups with distinct identities and cultures. Just as the Irish and Scottish…

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban claims to be “defending Europe from a tide of migrants”. But the discarded chocolate wrappers and water bottles left round the ashes of campfires on the border with neighbouring Slovakia seem to give the lie to Orban’s boast that “only the Hungarian model” of dealing with the problem is working. Most of the country’s EU neighbours have reimposed border controls with Hungary – with both Slovakia and Slovenia taking the exceptional measure in the last 10 days – as the number of migrants passing through the country has risen sharply. In September alone, Slovakian officials registered 13 000 – more than the whole of last year put together. In the Hungarian border village of Hont, civic guard Viktoria Teknossaid said that locals “keep their…

Donald Trump arrived at his New York civil fraud trial yesterday, blasting his former right-hand man Michael Cohen as a “liar”, ahead of testimony by the disgraced lawyer that could expose his old boss’s business secrets. Cohen delivered searing testimony to Congress while Trump was still president. Having served Trump as his lawyer and general fixer for years, Cohen has been privy to many of the scandal-embroiled populist’s private and business dealings. Trump said: “He’s a liar. He’s trying to get a better deal for himself but it’s not going to work.” Trump is not required to attend the proceedings, but has shown up sporadically, portraying himself as the victim of a Democratic Party plot to interfere with his 2024 presidential campaign. Trump and his two eldest sons are accused…

Geneva: The UN human rights chief yesterday said he was “deeply disappointed” that Australians had roundly rejected greater rights for indigenous citizens in a referendum. Speaking after observing the week of silence called for by indigenous leaders, Volker Turk said the issues that the referendum sought to address would not go away. Simmering racial divisions were exposed earlier this month when just over 60% of Australians voted no in a referendum on acknowledging indigenous Australians within the 1901 constitution. Turk said it was heartening that polling data showed younger Australians were more in favour of constitutional change. He called for reconciliation for all Australians. | AFP…

Kampala: North Korea is closing its embassy in Uganda, officials said, ending a half-century diplomatic presence in the country. This came after a meeting this week between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and North Korean ambassador Jong Tong Hak. North Korea forged links with Uganda after independence from Britain in 1962, and supported Idi Amin when he seized power in 1971, providing his forces with training and weapons. It opened the embassy in Kampala a year later. But in May 2016, Uganda said it was halting military co-operation with Pyongyang after the UN imposed heavy sanctions over its nuclear programme. | AFP…

OPPOSITION parties say the decision by City speaker Felicity Purchase to convert this week’s council meeting into a virtual one was an attempt to bully and silence them. The parties said council meetings cannot be moved online without a rational and valid reason. GOOD Party’s city councillor Jonathan Cupido said: “Moving it out of fear of disruption, or protest, from opposition parties does not qualify as a justifiable reason to abandon the transparent and democratic processes of public and physical council meetings. “In fact, the speaker’s own party, the DA, was disruptive and unruly in the sitting of the National Assembly last week. “There is no question that the DA would not accept a decision if the Speaker of Parliament were to decide to move the next sitting to a…

Health consequences of crisis goes beyond injuries from Israeli attack, say doctors CONTENDING with limited supplies, equipment and capacity in hospitals are among the myriad challenges confronting medical practitioners tending to hundreds of people, including children, wounded in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. At the Doctors Without Borders (MSF)-supported Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s main surgical facility, staff have reported a shortage of painkillers, leaving wounded patients screaming in agony. Recently, one of MSF’s doctors had to amputate a young boy’s foot without anaesthetics and he described how dire the situation was in Gaza. “You can see, this other guy, he’s the anaesthetist. He is trying to keep the boy’s mouth open to breathe. So, we amputate him in front of his mother and his sister, because there is no space,…

WESTERN Cape Judge President John Hlophe has been given until November 15 to make written representation to Parliament on why he should not be impeached as a judge. The justice and correctional services portfolio committee took the decision yesterday, after it received a briefing from the parliamentary legal services on issues that Judge Hlophe had raised in a letter to the committee. In the letter, Judge Hlophe’s legal representative, Barnabas Xulu, said the 2021 Judicial Services Commission (JSC) decision of gross misconduct against the judge was still subject to a court challenge on appeal. “While the high court dismissed the review application, it nevertheless granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA),” he said. Xulu said Judge Hlophe’s appeal had not yet been heard by the SCA.…

The Western Cape High Court yesterday commemorated the lives of judges Gerald Friedman and Hennie Nel who colleagues said left indelible marks on the tapestry of justice and the lives of countless individuals. Friedman died on September 11 and Nel on July 29. Acting Judge President Patricia Goliath said it was with heavy hearts that they gathered to commemorate and honour the lives and legacy of two judges who served in the division. “Although many of the new generation judges did not have the privilege to serve with the two judges, we can say without any hesitation that our two colleagues were legal luminaries whose contributions have left an indelible mark on the tapestry of justice,” said Judge Goliath. She said Nel was an intellectual and mentor who contributed to…

In delivering the 13th Percy Qoboza Memorial Lecture at Unisa last Thursday, veteran scribe and public servant Sandile Memela referred to the relationship between media houses and their backers as a classical case of “he who pays the piper calls the tune”. Simply put, the person who provides the money for something decides what will be done, or has a right to decide what will be done. The same scenario best defines how the banks operate in South Africa. Spare a moment for the consumer whose car finance application was turned down simply because, despite having a payslip and bank statements showing that s/he had a stable job, the company s/he worked for was “unstable” during Covid-19 era, and thus continued employment was not guaranteed. The fact is that most…

Wall Street’s top financiers struck a pessimistic tone about the global economy at a flagship gathering in Saudi Arabia aimed at deal brokering, as a violent conflict between Israel and Hamas that has killed thousands of people unfolds. The annual event is typically used by attendees to build relationships with some of Saudi Arabia’s biggest companies and its $778 billion sovereign wealth fund, drawn by the promise of deals as the kingdom seeks to wean its economy off oil. But an escalation between Islamist group Hamas and Israel into a broader conflict overshadowed the event dubbed “Davos in the Desert”, a nod to the annual gathering of world leaders and corporate bosses in the Swiss Alps. JPMorgan Chase chief executive officer Jamie Dimon encouraged Saudi Arabia not to abandon a…

MOSCOW: The Kremlin yesterday denied a report that President Vladimir Putin was ill, and laughed off persistent rumours that he used body doubles to cover for him in public appearances. “Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said when asked about an unsourced report picked up by some Western media that the president had suffered a serious health episode. Peskov laughed in response to a further question about body doubles, and denied that Putin had any. Putin visited China last week. | Reuters…

Berlin: One person died and four were missing from the crew of a cargo ship that sank after colliding with another vessel in the North Sea, German authorities said yesterday. Two further crew members from the ship were rescued after the collision with a second cargo vessel yesterday, the German Sea Rescue Society (DGzRS) said. The accident happened about 22km southwest of the island of Helgoland, officials said. Several ships were involved in a rescue operation in the area. The sunken ship was the Verity, sailing under a British flag and on its way from Bremen to the UK town of Immingham. The other ship was the Polesie, under a Bahamas flag, travelling from Hamburg to La Coruna in Spain. | AFP…

BEIJING: China removed its defence minister yesterday, the second ousting of a senior leader in three months, raising questions about the stability of the leadership team around Chinese President Xi Jinping.General Li Shangfu, who has been absent from public view for two months, was dismissed as defence minister and state councillor. China also announced that Qin Gang, who was removed as foreign minister in July, was stripped of his state councillor position. No replacement for Li was named, leaving the country without a defence minister as it prepares to host foreign defence officials at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on October 29-31. | Reuters…

South Africa 382/5 De Kock 174, Klaasen 90, Markram 60; Mahmud 2/67 Bangladesh 233 all out Mahmudullah 111; Coetzee 3/62, Jansen 2/39, Williams 2/56 SA won by 149 runs “De Kock!” “De Kock!” “De Kock!” These were the chants that reverberated through the stands at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai yesterday. Not since the legendary AB de Villiers has a South African batter received such an ovation on foreign land. And Quinton de Kock was deserving of every bit of it. De Kock bettered De Villiers’ masterful unbeaten 162 against the West Indies at the 2015 World Cup yesterday and was on target to surpass Gary Kirsten’s World Cup record of 188 not out all those years ago back in 1996 but ultimately departed for a vintage 174 off 140…