Inhaltsverzeichnis für 2021-06-23 in Cape Times

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday gave a strong hint that the government could move the current lockdown restrictions to a higher level as new Covid-19 cases continue rising, dampening rebounding business confidence at a time when it was still trying to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Ramaphosa said the government was considering reviewing the current lockdown restrictions and moving the country to a higher level. South Africa moved to a level 3 lockdown on Tuesday last week, introducing further restrictions around gatherings, the sale of alcohol and a tighter curfew. “Infections are rising and that calls on us to review where we are. We will be making an assessment,” Ramaphosa said. The president’s concerns come as business activity continued to pick up at the beginning of the second…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za A TOTAL of 3 629 children between birth and the age of 17 years have contracted Covid-19 from the start of the year until May 31, prompting health officials to caution parents and kids alike to always be Covid-safe. In response to questions in the provincial legislature, Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said the highest number of infections were among children between the ages of 15 and 17, with 1 324 cases. In children aged 0 to four years old, 616 cases were recorded. There were 556 Covid-19 cases in children between five and nine years old, and 1 133 cases among those aged 10 to 14. “Children are as susceptible to contracting Covid-19 as any other person. Our research and data have shown they…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za IN AN exclusive interview with the Cape Times, SA long jump star Luvo Manyonga has detailed how the death of his mother has taken a toll on him, contributing to his downfall. He spoke for the first time, after being handed a four-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), for “whereabouts failures”. The 30-year-old from humble beginnings in Mbekweni, Paarl, who has battled with drug addiction in the past, said he was ready to fight his demons. He said he is ready to come back stronger and better than before after failing three tests with the world athletics. “I was nowhere to be found for my tribunal and the cause of that is finances, but I am not making that an excuse for my behaviour. It’s…

Staff writer IN WHAT has been hailed as a milestone, South Africa has signed a protocol with China to facilitate the export of lemons under a new phytosanitary cold treatment regime. South Africa has been exporting citrus to China under a protocol that was bilaterally agreed and signed in 2006. Under this protocol, the potential risk of false codling moth (FCM), a pest of quarantine concern to the People’s Republic of China, was addressed through a cold treatment regime of 24 days at 0.6°C in transit. The Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development said one can consider this as a process of disinfestation. This temperature was not ideal for the shipment of lemons as it affects their quality on arrival and thus low volumes of lemons are…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za A PEPPER ball pistol saved a Durbanville couple from three knife-wielding men also armed with pangas who attacked them while cycling. Dr Neil van Tonder and his wife, Belinda, were riding along Waarburg Road, Joostenberg, near Kraaifontein, on Sunday morning and were due to return home to enjoy a Father’s Day lunch when they were accosted. While Van Tonder, 57, an occupational medical health practitioner, escaped unharmed, his wife fractured her right elbow. “It was about 9.30am and my wife was riding in front of me when a man just walked right towards her. She tried to go around him but he hit the bike which knocked her off and she fell. The guy searched my wife's pockets and took her cellphone.” Van Tonder said that as…

Siseko Maposa SUSPENDED ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has penned a scathing 2 923-word letter to former president of the ANC and the country, Thabo Mbeki. In the missive, shared by Ace’s ally Carl Niehaus, Magashule went out guns blazing at Mbeki, calling him out on alleged multiple leadership contradictions, hypocrisy, gender-based violence and personality shortfalls. For all its ferociousness, the letter should not be read as a genuine attempt at discussing Mbeki’s legacy; it is a vindictive response to Mbeki’s lambasting of Magashule as corrupt. Another problem with the letter is that Magashule is not qualified to deliver this kind of message, given his own ethical shortcomings, proneness to corruption and disregard for ANC policies. Magashule’s letter is credible only to the extent that it exposes some of the…

THE COVID-19 pandemic has not only exposed the dire state of our public health facilities, but also the inept leadership on the part of some of those appointed to be Health MECs. As the country starts to feel the impact of the third wave, perhaps it is convenient that we reflect on the role of those MECs whose actions, or lack thereof, could have been catastrophic. But we cannot do so without reminding our readers that South Africa enters this battle without the health minister, who is fighting for his political future following allegations of corruption regarding a multimillion-rand contract awarded to a company with links to him. Dr Zweli Mkhize could soon be following in the footsteps of sacked Gauteng MEC Dr Bandile Masuku. He was dismissed after the…

Fifteen Nigerian hostages have escaped from their abductors as they slept, weeks after they were among more than 130 pupils and teachers snatched by gunmen from an Islamic seminary, the school’s head teacher said yesterday. On May 30 around 200 motorcycle-riding gunmen stormed Tegina town in Niger state, abducting 136 pupils and some teachers, according to authorities. On Saturday, 15 of the hostages slipped past the bandits guarding them in a house in a village in neighbouring Zamfara state while they were asleep, said Abubakar Alhassan, the head teacher of Salihu Tanko Islamic school from where the hostages were taken. The escapees, nine boys and six girls, including a seven-year old girl, had trekked through the night to Birnin Gwari district in Kaduna state. The 15 had been separated from…

LONDON: Billie Eilish has apologised after a video surfaced appearing to show the American singer mouthing a racial slur and putting on accents. In a statement on Instagram, Eilish, 19, said she was “appalled and embarrassed” by the edit, which she said was from when she was 13 or 14 years old. “This song was the only time I’d ever heard that word as it was never used around me by anyone in my family. Regardless of my ignorance and age at the time, nothing excuses the fact that it was hurtful. And for that I am sorry. I have always worked hard to use my platform to fight for inclusion, kindness, tolerance, equity and equality.”…

Madrid: Spanish police said yesterday that they had arrested two men over a migrant boat which overturned off the Canary Islands last week claiming four lives, among them two women and a child. The police said they had arrested the two skippers of the boat, which arrived last Thursday off the coast of Lanzarote island. The 9m vessel overturned when it hit a rocky area just off the island’s northern shores, with rescuers pulling 41 people to safety. They also recovered the four bodies. Police said the two men were arrested after survivors identified them as being responsible for “steering and navigating the boat”.…

Sydney: An arachnid invasion has left swathes of Australia’s Gippsland region covered in webs as the spiders sought higher ground to escape flooding. A sea of silk engulfed an area in Australia’s southeast hit by flooding earlier in June, caused by sheet web spiders that normally live on the ground, according to ecologist Dieter Hochuli. “When we get these types of heavy rains and flooding, these animals who spend their lives cryptically on the ground can’t live there any more, and do exactly what we try to do – move to higher ground,” Hochuli, from the University of Sydney, told local broadcaster Channel 7.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za THERE was no sense of relief for Mark Boucher after South Africa’s first Test series win away from home in four years on Monday evening. The Proteas coach has been under pressure following a period in which the team’s results have tendered more towards the negative. That he has had to deal with a team that was in the midst of radical transition, was of little defence for him. Then before the team left for the Caribbean, Cricket SA’s Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith appeared to apply some more pressure saying the tour to the West Indies and the weeks following it were “a crucial period for the players and management”. However, having secured the series win on Monday, and seen big improvements in several areas, most…

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni considered resting Lionel Messi for Monday’s Copa America clash against Paraguay, but in the end, good sense prevailed as the Barcelona striker was once again a key man in their 1-0 win. “The truth is that Messi has played in all our games and so it is very difficult not to rely on him,” Scaloni said after a hard-fought game in which Argentina scored early, and then ceded more and more ground to a Paraguay side that could not turn their possession into goals. “What worries me is the physical condition of the players. “The conditions were not great to play in.” Messi has been one of Argentina’s most active players in their three Copa games so far. He has played every minute, and as usual,…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za OMNIA Holdings rose almost 6 percent on the JSE yesterday morning after the diversified chemicals group returned R1 billion in dividends to shareholders for the year to end March. The group declared an ordinary dividend of 200 cents a share – the first since 2018 – and a special dividend of 400c, boosted by a strong cash generation of R2.3bn during the period. The group ended the year with R1.8bn of cash on hand after it paid down its R1.9bn net debt following the disposal of Oro Agri during the year. Omnia sold Oro Agri in January to European Crops Products 2 SARL for $146.9 million (R2.1bn), with the proceeds used to settle its net debt. Oro Agri was reported as a discontinued operation in the results.…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za JSE-LISTED EPP, Poland’s biggest retail landlord, said yesterday that the outpacing of vaccine roll-out targets led to a robust retail rebound and promising economic prospects for that country. With one of the lowest and declining Covid-19 infection rates in the EU, a growing number of vaccinated residents, entertainment and schools reopened, and social gatherings resumed, Poland was returning to pre-pandemic normality, EPP chief executive Tomasz Trzósło said in the group’s pre-closing update. By June 17, 26 million Covid-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Poland, and 42 percent of the popu- lation had received at least one shot. Oxford Economics has forecast cumulative GDP growth of the EU’s sixth-largest economy at more than 8 percent by the end of next year. “EPP operates in one…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za JSE-LISTED financial technology company Capital Appreciation yesterday reported a full-year earnings decline, largely due to the delayed delivery of a substantial order of terminals after the year-end cut-off period. As a result, the group reported an 11.1 percent decline in headline earnings to R126.4 million for the year to end March and a 3.1 percent decline in headline earnings per share to 10.34 cents a share while earnings per share fell by 8.5 percent to 10.28c. Its revenue declined by 11.7 percent to R619.5 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) declined by 15.5 percent to R172.9m. Joint chief executive Brad Sacks said the company’s operations performed extremely well under the circumstances of generally declining economic conditions compounded…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has been criticised for presenting a central line recovery plan that was the same as previous years’ – amid pressing new challenges. Presenting before the provincial legislature’s standing committee on transport and public works yesterday, Metrorail’s group manager Richard Walker said challenges faced on that line include organised crime where copper theft has become rife, gangs and illegal occupations. The corridor, meant to run from Cape Town station to Chris Hani station in Khayelitsha and Kapteinsklip station in Mitchells Plain, was the Western Cape’s busiest rail commuter line. It now operates up to Langa train station, after the service was suspended in 2019 due to theft and vandalism of railway infrastructure. With the Covid-19 lockdown, the rail agency’s challenges escalated…

iNGREDIENTS METHOD For the sauce: 1 onion, chopped roughly 1 large potato, cubed 2 carrots, chopped in chunks 1 courgette, chopped in chunks About 15 green beans ½ tin chopped tomatoes 450ml vegetable stock Salt and pepper to taste 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp ground garlic For the meatballs: 500g fat free mince 1 onion, finely chopped 1 small green pepper, chopped 1 tomato, finely chopped ½ teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon crushed garlic 1 slice slightly stale bread, soaked in water 1 egg Salt and pepper to taste Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan, cover and gently simmer over a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile make the meatballs. Wash and drain minced meat well. Soak bread in water and squeeze excess water out. Chop onion, pepper,…

MANY aspects of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that the National Ports Authority will be restructured are to be welcomed. Indeed, the recent high-level interest shown in the ports is most encouraging to the shipping sector and also to those hard-working, efficient, honest but discouraged port officials who may have felt they had been forgotten. If the new structure really allows revenues generated by the ports to be invested only in port infrastructure to upgrade equipment and to expand the ports – and not to repair vandalised railway buildings in remote sidings or to buy over-sized locomotives with the related kick-backs – the ports will be able to surge ahead. Most will agree that the private sector can play a significant, even vital role in partnering with the new body to…

Athandile Siyo athandile.siyo@inl.co.za HELP is slowly coming in for those affected by the recent deadly blaze which killed one person, injured multiple firefighters and displaced over 500 families in Jim se Bos informal settlement in Philippi. This is according to the director of Youth Solutions Africa, John Philmon, who said that the situation was “terrible” as the resources to provide aid to the families were coming in slowly, following the fire on Sunday. “The challenge is that there's no material and due to the rain everything is just delayed. “I have worked in this community for years and I personally know the residents, and seeing them with nothing but the clothes on their backs is heartbreaking.” Philmon said that a local crèche and church were housing young children and mothers…

THE CONSTITUTIONAL Court judges are a proud bunch. But not too proud to change their minds, or to admit as much. Only a few months ago they felt the heat of the public reliance on their powers to adjudicate intra-party infighting disputes. This was so even after the thrust and counter-thrust of the battle for control of the ANC spilled into the legal arena, following the ongoing spate of suspensions and counter- suspensions of the party’s leadership in the run-up to the local government elections scheduled for October 27, and the ANC’s national general council later in the year. Of paramount concern to the general public is the crucial role of the judiciary to prevent what the Zondo Commission described as a risk of a “spectacle” where former president Jacob…

Rome: The Vatican confirmed yesterday it had lodged a diplomatic protest against a draft Italian law against homophobia, in what a news report called an “unprecedented” act of meddling in Italy’s affairs. The so-called Zan law, currently being debated in Italy’s parliament, seeks to punish acts of discrimination and incitement to violence against gay, lesbian, transgender and disabled people. According to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, the Vatican argued in a letter, or “note verbale”, that the bill violates the Concordat, the bilateral treaty between Rome and the Holy See, by curtailing Catholic freedom of belief and expression. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said that the document was “informally delivered” to the Italian ambassador to the Holy See on June 17. “It is an unprecedented act in the history of relations…

A top North Korean official warned the US yesterday not to misinterpret comments by her leader, saying doing so would end in disappointment, as a US envoy aiming to get talks with the North back on track met South Korea’s president. Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in North Korea’s ruling party and sister of leader Kim Jong-un, released a statement in state media saying the US appeared to be interpreting signals from North Korea the “wrong way”. She was responding to US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan, who on Sunday said he saw an “interesting signal” in a recent speech by Kim Jong-un on preparing for both confrontation and diplomacy with the US. “It seems that the US may interpret the situation in such a way as to seek…

TOKYO: Two-and-a-half years after Carlos Ghosn’s arrest, Nissan Motor Co. is still struggling to emerge from the scandalized affair involving the former chairman and CEO. Shareholders at the Japanese automaker’s annual meeting yesterday repeatedly questioned executives about the events surrounding Ghosn’s 2018 arrest, suggesting that Nissan was perhaps better off during the former auto executive’s era of management. “Under Ghosn’s leadership there were a lot of good things. There were a lot of beautiful flowers within Nissan,” one said during questioning at the company’s headquarters in Yokohama, pointing to a period four years ago when the three-way alliance of Nissan, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. topped global sales volumes. Nissan has posted two straight years of losses since Ghosn was arrested on charges of financial misconduct, albeit as the…

GENEVA: China has called for an independent investigation into the discovery last month of the remains of more than 200 indigenous children at a Canadian boarding school. The remains of 215 children, some as young as 3 years old, were found in British Colombia at the site of a former residential school for indigenous children. “We call for a thorough and impartial investigation into all cases where crimes were committed against the indigenous people, especially children, so as to bring those responsible to justice and offer full remedy to victims,” Jiang Duan, an official at China’s mission to the UN in Geneva, said.…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za SOUTH African ports, ranked poorly on the global stage despite their crucial importance to continental and global trade, are getting a new lease on life, with President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday announcing the establishment of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) as an independent subsidiary of Transnet. Ramaphosa said the establishment of the independent National Ports Authority with its own board was an essential part of addressing the challenges at the ports. He said the authority would create a clear separation between the roles of the infrastructure owner and Transnet, the terminal operator. “The functional and legal separation of these roles, which are currently operating divisions of the same company, will enable each to be fulfilled more independently and with greater efficiency,” Ramaphosa said. “In particular, it will mean…

Zanele Mvana zanele.mvana@inl.co.za LOCAL film District Six Rising from the Dust continues to rack up international accolades, this time winning the award for Best Documentary at the Beyond The Curve International Film Festival in France. The documentary details the painful story of forced removals and restitution, and only four months ago won the Florence Film Award for Best Original Story. Film director Weaam Williams worked on the film for six years after she moved into a house which was returned to her grandfather, and started documenting the journey of living in District Six. Williams’s grandfather owned a block of houses and a tailor shop in District Six. After he returned from Mecca, he found his shop burnt down. Out of the five houses he owned, only one was given back.…

Siyavuya Mzantsi siyavuya.mzantsi@inl.co.za | See picture page 2 SOUTH Africans are set to benefit from lower prices of goods and more jobs throughout the export value chain following the establishment of the Transnet National Ports Authority as an independent subsidiary of Transnet. This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who described the move as a major step forward in the government’s reform agenda. Ramaphosa said the creation of a separate subsidiary, which has been in the pipeline for 15 years, would allow the ports authority to make its own investment decisions and ensure that it treats all terminal operators fairly and equally in the interests of port users. It will have its own board appointed by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan in the coming weeks. “An essential part of…

Athandile Siyo athandile.siyo@inl.co.za TWO robbers were shot and killed after an attempted robbery of construction workers tarring the parking area of a City clinic in NY3 in Gugulethu yesterday. Police said one of the victims fired at the suspects, killing both. Spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said: “The suspects held construction workers at gunpoint at a construction site, opposite the Gugulethu mall at about 10am, demanding cash and cellphones. “One of the victims allegedly fired shots at the suspects with his licensed firearm, fatally wounding both. “Gugulethu police are investigating a business robbery and opened an inquest for further investigation. A firearm recovered on the scene will be sent for ballistic testing.” The City said the clinic had to be temporarily closed to allow police to conduct their investigation and the…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za AN OPPOSITION councillor has maintained his innocence after being issued a letter from the Mossel Bay municipality stating that he allegedly violated the code of conduct for councillors, for requesting that charges that led to the suspension of the municipal manager be made public. The letter from the office of the speaker to Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (Icosa) councillor Dawid Kamfer said he allowed for information to reach the media, in which, among other things, he insinuated that the DA-led municipality would not hesitate to make the complaint known if it were a person of colour. This followed the suspension of municipal manager Thys Giliomee over sexual harassment allegations recently. Kamfer was given until yesterday to respond to why he should not be charged.…

Dr Garth Van Gensen | Director: Marketing and Communication at CPUT A WEEK ago the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) was lauded by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande for its proactiveness in dealing with Covid-19 on its campuses. As the largest university in the Western Cape, with a staff and student complement of over 40 000 staff and students, we have always been focused on the health and safety of our university community. Considering that the Western Cape is firmly in the grip of a third wave CPUT’s numbers remain relatively low. The institution currently has 13 active cases with only one of that being a residence student. That particular student has been referred to a Western Cape Health Isolation Centre and…

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador condemned the attacks in the Mexican city of Reinosa in the Tamaulipas state, which left 14 people dead amid a wave of violence sweeping the country. “Everything indicates that in Reynosa it was not a confrontation but an insidious attack against innocents that cost the lives of 14 people,” the president said at a press briefing on Monday. He sent his condolences to the families of the victims and described what happened last Saturday as a “cowardly” attack. The shootings provoked the mobilisation of the army, the national guard, the state police, and personnel of the state prosecutor’s office, which were deployed throughout the city. Reports indicated that a group of armed people in cars organised a series of violent attacks in Reynosa. These…

The Tokyo Olympics have weathered a historic postponement, an unprecedented ban on overseas fans and persistent domestic opposition, but with one month to go until the opening ceremony on July 23, the finish line is finally in sight. The first Olympic teams are already in Japan, along with key officials and some overseas media. And polls suggest long-standing public opposition to the Games may be weakening. The journey to Tokyo 2020 has been an uphill battle since the unprecedented decision to postpone the Games in March 2020, as the scale of the pandemic started to emerge. Officials pressed ahead, contending with delayed qualifiers and test events and launching a mammoth effort to draft virus rules they say will keep the event safe. In March they announced the Games would be…

YANGON: Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in a junta court yesterday on trial for sedition and for flouting Covid restrictions during an election her ousted party won in a landslide. Under house arrest and invisible bar a handful of court appearances, Suu Kyi has been hit with an eclectic raft of charges, including accepting illegal payments of gold and violating a colonial-era secrecy law. The special court in Naypyidaw yesterday heard testimony she violated Covid-19 restrictions during elections last year that her National League for Democracy party won in a landslide, her lawyer said, and testimony about separate sedition charges.…

LONDON: Coronavirus cases are rising in Cornwall – but Downing Street says the Group of Seven summit held in the British town earlier this month is not to blame. The seven-day case rate in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has soared from 4.9 per 100 000 people in early June to 130.6 per 100 000 people on June 16, the Guardian reported. Rates of infections are particularly high in Carbis Bay, where the summit was held, and nearby areas where delegates to the gathering of world leaders stayed. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson denied any direct causation between the G-7 summit and the rise in the coronavirus infection rate.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za Opening partnership: Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram have opened the batting together on 47 occasions, and only three times have the shared century stands, two of which came against Bangladesh in the first two matches they played together. Individually they have been alright, but given the inexperience that follows them in the order, the Proteas need more from their opening partnership No 3: Keegan Petersen must be given an extended run there. The problem is he won’t be able to play another Test until December, so whatever work he will feel he needs to do after his first Test experience will have to be done at domestic level or at SA A level, if that team can secure a series or two somewhere. His technique looks solid…