Sommaire pour 2024-09-03 de Cape Times

RAINBOW Chicken, which listed on the JSE in July, reported a big financial turnaround in the year to June 30 with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) at R629.7 million versus only R29.8m the year before. Its financial results were still included as discontinued operations in the results of its parent RCL Foods. Rainbow’s reported profit surged to R169.6m profit versus a R299.9m loss the year before. “The turnaround at Rainbow is now well advanced, with every component of the process yielding positive results. At the core of the transformation is the aim to farm as efficiently and as cost-effectively as possible, with support from a change in breed,” RCL’s directors said in the results. The 7.9% increase in revenue to R14.53 billion was largely attributable…

FOURTEEN political parties have declared R189 million in donations for the first quarter of the 2024-25 financial year. This is according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in its first quarter political funding disclosure report for the period from the beginning of April to the end of June. The IEC said that the value of the first quarter donation disclosure was comparable to the value of donations declared during the fourth quarter of the past financial year. “Totalling a colossal R189 950 829, this is by far the highest value of donations across all years and quarters since the introduction of the Political Funding Act, as amended,” the electoral body said. The donations for each party were as follows: DA – R56 601 039 IFP…

‘We are getting older, we are not getting younger, the perpetrators are dying’ Why are they hiding the truth from us? The question lingered for a distraught Nomonde Calata, the widow of the late anti-apartheid martyr Fort Calata after being dealt a heavy blow in the Gqeberha High Court yesterday where the inquest into the murders of the Cradock Four was postponed for almost another year. It is set only to be heard in June next year, which will also be the month marking the 40th anniversary of their death. The families of Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Sparrow Mkonto also expressed disappointment that the truth and justice had been delayed for them for so many years. Initially, over 49 people had been identified as having some direct interest…

After a career spanning nearly three decades, Justice Raymond Zondo vacated the country’s top judicial post as he retired from the Bench, making way for his deputy Justice Mandisa Maya who officially assumed the role of South Africa’s first female chief justice. In this article, the Cape Times reflects on Justice Zondo’s stint at the helm of the country’s judiciary and his time as the chairperson of the State Capture commission of inquiry. His chairing of this commission saw him embroiled in a bitter dispute with former president Jacob Zuma who only wanted to appear before another judge. Justice Zondo refused and Zuma was subsequently jailed for being in contempt of a Constitutional Court order directing him to appear before Justice Zondo. At the time, Justice Zondo was the…

THE Stop Stockouts Project (SSP) has cited the unavailability of termination of pregnancy services as among the key challenges concerning access to contraceptives. Their recent report titled Contraceptive Supply Chain: Stockouts and their Causes found most of the surveyed facility managers reported that they referred healthcare users seeking termination services to other facilities. The report details the experiences of healthcare users in accessing contraceptives and includes interviews with public health facility managers to establish the causes of poor access and the mitigation measures in place. The report analyses interview data provided by managers and directors from the National Department of Health, and the KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West health departments. Between April 2022 and June 2023, SSP together with the Ritshidze Project also surveyed public health users to assess…

Country’s role is crucial in advancing the cause of gender equity THE G20, a forum representing the world’s most powerful economies, plays a pivotal role in shaping global financial policies, influencing everything from trade to investment flows, and setting the agenda for international economic governance. The decisions made within this group have far-reaching implications, especially for developing countries and marginalised populations. South Africa, as the only African nation in the G20, occupies a unique position where it can bring the concerns of the continent to the forefront, particularly the financial disparities that disproportionately affect women. Women’s access to financial resources, credit, and capital remains limited due to systemic barriers ingrained in global financial systems, often exacerbating gender inequality. As such, the G20’s agenda provides South Africa with an opportunity to…

Strike action brought parts of Israel to a halt yesterday in a bid to raise pressure on the government to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, after the military recovered the bodies of six captives the health ministry said had been “murdered” by Hamas. Relatives and demonstrators have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of not doing enough to bring the hostages back alive, and during mass rallies on Sunday called for a truce deal to help free dozens who remain captive. The military said on Sunday that the bodies of six hostages – all captured alive during Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war – had been recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, prompting outpourings of grief and fury.…

Nigeria yesterday charged 10 people with treason and conspiring to incite the military to mutiny following last month’s nationwide demonstrations that saw thousands take to the streets to protest against a cost of living crisis. The protests were met with a deadly crackdown by security forces and Amnesty International said at least 13 people were killed. Security forces denied using lethal force. The 10 men were arraigned in the Abuja Federal High Court and entered a not guilty plea. They face the death penalty if convicted, human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong said. State prosecutors said in court papers seen by Reuters that the protesters intended to destabilise Nigeria and “conspired together to commit felony to wit, treason”. Prosecutors also laid five other charges against the accused under the country’s penal…

KINSHASA: Democratic Republic of Congo’s government said an attempted prison break took place overnight at the central Makala prison in the capital, Kinshasa. In a statement yesterday, the government said security forces now had the situation under control and an investigation would take place. Gunfire rang out around 2am (1am GMT), one prisoner said. Another described being woken up by the sounds of prisoners outside, followed by heavy gunfire. “The soldiers were shooting at everything that moved,” a third prisoner said. The prison hospital and its administrative building were on fire, a prison official said yesterday. | Reuters…

STOCKHOLM: Toddlers should not be allowed to watch screens at all, Sweden told parents yesterday. Children under the age of two should be kept away from digital media and television completely. This was said by the country’s Public Health Agency. Kids between the ages of two and five should be limited to a maximum of one hour of screen time a day, it said in new recommendations. Children aged six to 12 should spend no more than an hour or two a day in front of a screen. Teenagers aged 13 to 18 should be limited to two to three hours per day, the agency said. | AFP…

FORMER president Jacob Zuma believes the case involving the 10 people who represented his uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) in Parliament should be thrown out of court because none of them have proved their party membership. The MKP was taken to court after 10 of its former members had their party membership terminated and were removed as MPs. They want the court to stop the National Assembly from filling their positions, and ask for the termination of their membership to the party and the National Assembly be reviewed and set aside. In his replying affidavit, Zuma said none of the group of expelled MPs alleged that they were members of the MKP. “Even if they did, no evidence has been furnished to the court to prove such membership, which is the…

EARLY last month, Gert Grobler, senior research fellow at the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University and a former senior diplomat in the South African Department of International Relations and Co-operation, together with 63 scholars from 50 African countries, sent a joint letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the letter, they extended their warmest congratulations on the successful convening of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and highly appreciated the historic achievements of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC). They hoped the new FOCAC summit would write a new chapter for building a China-Africa community with a shared future and modernising the Global South. On August 27, President Xi Jinping wrote a letter back to the scholars, encouraging…

For the potjie Sunflower oil, for frying 8 chicken pieces Salt and pepper 2 onions, chopped 3 carrots, cut into 3cm pieces 3 garlic cloves, crushed 5 cups hot chicken stock 2 sprigs thyme + extra 2 eggs, beaten 60ml chutney For the dumplings 500ml self-raising flour 5ml salt 2 eggs, beaten 125ml milk For the potjie, heat a splash of oil in a 23cm flat-bottomed cast iron potjie over medium-hot coals and fry the chicken for about 5 minutes or until browned all over. Season with salt and pepper. Stir through the onions and fry for 5 minutes until browned. Add the carrots, garlic, 1 L (4 cups) of the stock and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for about 45 minutes or…

THE mother of a child who was injured when a teacher assaulted the pupil by piercing his left eye with a pencil, which penetrated into the brain behind the eye, is due to receive more than R2.5 million from the Gauteng Education Department after she instituted a damages claim. The mother turned to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, following an incident in August 2014, when the child was only 6 years old. He is now 16 and blind in his left eye as a result of the pencil incident. The MEC for Education in Gauteng was sued in a representative capacity as a nominal defendant for claims arising against the child’s former primary school. The MEC earlier accepted liability on behalf of the teacher and the school and the court…

THE Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) says it will review the preliminary report that laid the blame at its doorstep over the failed Riverlands dams once received, and provide a response on the conclusion of its own processes. A Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) preliminary report released last week found DALRRD to have failed to conduct due diligence to ascertain whether the dams were compliant with the National Water Act and whether they were registered with the relevant authority. DWS minister Pemmy Majodina named DALRRD as the land owners of Farm Dassenberg near Malmesbury in Swartland municipality, where dozens of residents have been left destitute after the surrounding areas flooded when three dams failed. The Dam Safety Regulation specialist unit appointed by DWS to conduct…

WHEN Kenyan President William Ruto launched the listing of Kenya’s debut Sukuk Linzi at the bell ringing ceremony at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in August, it wasn’t a question of size that matters, but more about the symbolism of the gradual acceptance in continental Africa of sovereign Sukuk as an alternative cost-effective public debt fund-raising instrument – one of the few development finance products pioneered in the Global South. The usual mantra by debt management offices at finance ministries is that Sukuk issuance is to diversify sources of funding, to finance government budget shortfalls, to deepen local capital markets, and to broaden the investor base for such products. To be fair to them this has been a mainstay of the global sovereign Sukuk market, albeit largely confined to investment…

Pope Francis, 87, flew to Indonesia yesterday on the first leg of an ambitious four-nation tour, with inter-faith ties set to dominate his visit to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. The pontiff was due to land in Jakarta today, the first stop in a 12-day voyage that will also take in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. Covering 32 000km, the tour – the longest and farthest of his 11 years leading the Catholic Church – will test Francis’s increasingly fragile health. Catholics represent fewer than 3% of the population of Indonesia – about 8 million people, compared to the 87%, or 242 million, who are Muslim. But they are one of six officially recognised religions or denominations in the secular nation, also including Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and…

A five-member panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court formed a majority yesterday to uphold Justice Alexandre de Moraes’s ruling to shut down social media platform X in the country for not complying with local norms. Justices Flavio Dino and Cristiano Zanin sided with De Moraes, forming a majority even if Justices Luiz Fux and Carmen Lucia were still to cast their votes. X was taken down in Brazil, one of its largest markets, on Saturday following a decision by Moraes, after the platform missed a court-imposed deadline to name a legal representative in Brazil as required by local law. Moraes also ordered that those who accessed X via VPNs will be fined up to 50 000 reais a day. Moraes and X owner Elon Musk have been locked in a feud…

MOSCOW: Russian forces are advancing faster in eastern Ukraine than they have done for a long time, taking several square kilometres daily, President Vladimir Putin said yesterday as Moscow’s forces tried to smash through a major Ukrainian defensive line. Russian forces, which control 18% of Ukraine, have been advancing in eastern Ukraine since the failure of Kyiv’s 2023 counter-offensive. Despite a major Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, the bigger Russian army has in recent weeks been thrusting relatively swiftly though settlements in eastern Ukraine on the approach to the key city of Pokrovsk. | Reuters…

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that young members of his family speak fluent Mandarin, though he told school children they should not forget the importance of English too despite the growing popularity of Chinese. Putin has two daughters with his ex-wife, Lyudmila, and they speak Russian, English, German, and French. Putin, who divorced his wife in 2014, has at least three grandchildren, according to Russian media. Amid a growing partnership between China and Russia, Mandarin has been growing in popularity across Russia. Putin, who speaks fluent German but has taken lessons to improve his English, said that pupils should not forget the importance of English.…

BIDVEST Group’s diversified industrial service, trading and distribution businesses generated a solid performance in the year to June 30 and there were indications that market conditions in all the territories where it operates should start improving, CEO Mpumi Madisa said yesterday. Five of its seven divisions reported profit growth, four of those with double-digit profit increases, she said in an interview. The formation of a Government of National Unity was one indicator of a more business-friendly environment in South Africa, she added. The final dividend was raised 25% to 447 cents a share, bringing the total for the year higher by 4.3% to 914c. Group revenue increased 6.5% to R122.6 billion, while normalised headline earnings a share increased by 4.3% to 1964.8c. Bidvest has come out of a…

THE Department of Defence and Military Veterans’ failure to spend R150 million meant for military veterans’ pensions points to an entity that is in shambles and unable to deliver on its constitutional mandate. This is according to MPs from various political parties after Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga blamed the underexpenditure on the regulations that were published late last year and the capacity constraints within the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA). A total of 1 232 military veterans received their pension at the end of June and 12 202 applications were being processed. The slow pace in processing the applications at GPAA results in some of the military veterans dying before they get their benefits, according to the Azanian People’s Liberation Army Military Veterans Association. The underspending…

The Good Party has called for the reallocation of funds from the Western Cape Safety Plan, which has reportedly cost the provincial government over a billion rand since its inception four years ago without making significant progress in the fight against crime. The crime statistics for the first quarter of 2024/2025, released on Friday, reveal that four out of nine provinces experienced an increase in murder cases. The Western Cape saw the highest rise, followed by North West, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. All of the top 30 stations for murder were located in just four provinces: the Western Cape (11 stations), KwaZulu-Natal (8), Eastern Cape (6) and Gauteng (5). Among these, Nyanga recorded the highest number of murders, followed by Inanda, Umlazi, Khayelitsha and Harare. “It is time for…

In a bold and long-overdue move, the new Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, has proposed a groundbreaking initiative to allow families of police officers killed in the line of duty to claim restitution from those responsible. This announcement was made during the commemoration of 39 officers who lost their lives during the 2023/24 financial year, highlighting the urgent need for justice and support for the grieving families left behind. Mchunu has promised to explore avenues for the SAPS to assist families in civil claims against perpetrators. This initiative is not only a beacon of hope for families seeking justice, but it also represents a significant shift in addressing the broader issues of criminal accountability. For too long, the justice system has focused solely on criminal procedures, often neglecting the financial…

The far right’s first victory in a German state election in the post-war era prompted soul-searching in Berlin yesterday, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s battered and unloved coalition looked as if it would hold together. All three parties in Scholz’s centre-left coalition suffered painful losses while the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and a new anti-establishment populist party booked record gains in the eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony on Sunday. Scholz, a Social Democrat, described the results as “bitter” but Finance Minister Christian Lindner rejected suggestions that his neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), who fared the worst of all coalition partners, should quit the government. With a year to go to national elections, the results are nonetheless likely to foment tensions in a coalition riven by ideological differences and struggling to…

BENGHAZI: Oil exports at major Libyan ports were halted yesterday and production curtailed across the country, six engineers said, amid a stand-off between rival political factions over control of the central bank and oil revenue. Some output was being increased to feed local power generation, they said. Libya’s oil production has plummeted by more than half from typical levels since the stand-off began last month, when western factions moved to oust veteran Central Bank of Libya (CBL) Governor Sadiq al-Kabir. In response, eastern factions called for a shutdown to all oil production. The crisis threatens to end a four-year period of relative peace in the Opec member. | Reuters…

LONDON: British government plans to increase a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers would lead to a nearly £12 billion (about R282bn) drop in revenue and accelerate a decline in output, industry group Offshore Energies UK said yesterday. The Labour government, elected in July, has said the changes will help to ramp up renewable power and shift from oil and gas in order to reduce carbon emissions. Offshore Energies said the changes would reduce tax revenue by £12bn between 2025 and 2029, compared to the current tax regime. Capital investment in the sector over the period is expected to fall to £2.3bn from around £14bn, the group said. | Reuters…

OPENER Tazmin Brits is hoping a “fearless” brand of cricket will take the Proteas Women’s team one step further when they head off to the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup in the United Arab Emirates next month. The Proteas finished as runners-up to Australia in a memorable first appearance in a T20 World Cup final at Newlands last year. But now Brits is hoping to spearhead the Proteas’ challenge from the top of the order again. The powerful right-hander enjoyed an excellent T20 World Cup on home soil, amassing 186 runs at an average of 37.20 and strike rate of 103.91. She was particularly good in the semi-final against England, where she not only stroked 68 of 55 balls but also claimed four spectacular catches. The 33-year-old also formed a…