Inhaltsverzeichnis für 2021-10-27 in Cape Times

OWN Correspondent With the local government elections just days away, citizen satisfaction and trust in local municipalities to deliver basic services has dropped to its lowest point in five years. This is according to Consulta’s 8th South African Citizen Satisfaction Index (SA-csi) released this week. The overall citizen satisfaction level, as an average across all metros, was at 51.1 – declining from 55.7 in 2020 and reaching the lowest point in five years. Of the eight metropolitan municipalities – Buffalo City, Cape Town, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Johannesburg, Mangaung, Nelson Mandela Bay and Tshwane – polled in the index in 2021, the results showed that they were falling far short of meeting citizens’ expectations. The key drivers of citizen satisfaction and the aspects under evaluation in the index included refuse removal, maintenance…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za IT’S ALL systems go as matrics across the country commence their make-or-break NSC exams that will determine whether or not they proceed to tertiary institutions as planned for next year. This will be the second cohort of matrics writing under tough Covid-19 conditions. At least 124 065 candidates nationally will sit for English home language today, while 609 830 will write English first additional language and English second language. Eighteen-year-old Shana van Wyk from Alexander Sinton High School said while she had been studying as best she could, she was still nervous. “I feel like we didn’t have a lot of time to study and there was so much work to do. “We tried to catch up, even on weekends. I had to sacrifice a lot of…

Staff writer ROUGHLY 500 endangered Cape cormorants a day are dying as the avian flu outbreak among wild sea birds in the Western Cape continues, with Dyer island in the Overberg the major hot spot. The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds recently said they were receiving many reports of sick sea birds. Sick seals need to be reported to Seal Rescue in Hout Bay, while birds can also be reported to local conservation organisations, local municipalities and local vets. Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell said efforts continue to manage the situation, with the primary focus on responding to areas where dead and sick birds are found and then implementing a clean-up. “Dyer Island is an important wild bird breeding colony in…

Staff WRITER POLICE have welcomed the sentencing of two convicted house robbers who would threaten their victims with knives and pangas. Onke Gqoko, 24 and Sibongile Phithikazi, 27, were sentenced in the Somerset West Regional Court to an effective 62 years imprisonment for two house robbery cases in 2018. Their modus operandi was to kick doors open and threaten victims into giving them money, cellphones and other belongings. “Excellent investigation work by Detective Sergeant Wynard Carelse and Detective Sergeant Marius Erasmus led to the arrest of the suspects,” SAPS said. In an unrelated matter the same members secured a 10-year sentence handed down by the same court to accused Phuthumani Mxhego, 22, and Thulani Tokwana, 26, for a business robbery in August this year. The suspects were arrested in Asanda…

UN report focuses on Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security and points to challenges AFRICA Day for Food and Nutrition Security is celebrated annually on October 30 to draw attention to the pressing challenges of hunger and malnutrition on the continent and how they can be addressed. No doubt it will take quite some effort and collaboration to find lasting solutions to these problems, especially if we consider that Africa’s population is expected to reach nearly 2.5 billion in 2050. Unfortunately, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) paints a bleak picture for the continent in its recent report, Africa – regional overview of food security and nutrition: Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets. It states that “Africa is not on track to meeting the Sustainable Development Goal…

Rome: All Italians are likely to be offered booster shots for the coronavirus vaccine to help contain the spread of new variants, a government official said yesterday. “It is most likely that a third dose will be necessary for everybody,” Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri told Radio Capital. His remarks echoed what the president of the national health institute, Silvio Brusaferro, had said 24 hours earlier about the need for the vaccinated to get another jab. Rome authorities insist on mandatory certificates for all workers. These are available to all who are vaccinated or recently recovered, but can also be obtained by getting a negative test at the worker’s own expense. | AFP…

TOKYO: A Japanese startup backed by soccer superstar Keisuke Honda hopes to persuade wealthy consumers to swop their supercar for a ¥77.7 million yen (about R10m) hoverbike which went on sale yesterday. The “XTurismo Limited Edition” from Tokyo-based drone startup A.L.I. Technologies is equipped with a conventional engine and four battery-powered motors and promises to fly for 40 minutes at up to 100km/h. The black and red hoverbike consists of a motorcycle-like body on top of propellers. The machine rests on landing skids when stationary. The startup demonstrated the bike with a short flight a few metres off the ground at a racetrack near Mount Fuji. | Reuters…

The AU intends to buy up to 110 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc in an arrangement brokered in part by the White House, which will defer delivery of some doses intended for the US to facilitate the deal, officials said. The AU’s doses will be delivered over the coming months, with 15 million arriving before the end of 2021, 35 million in the first quarter of next year and up to 60 million in the second quarter. “We urge other vaccine-producing countries to follow the lead of the (US),” AU coronavirus envoy Strive Masiyiwa said. The Moderna purchase is the second time that the AU has agreed with a pharmaceutical company to buy vaccines. It reached a deal in March with Johnson & Johnson for up to…

Iran appears to have been responsible for a drone attack on a US outpost in Syria, suggesting a new front could be opening in the low-level conflict that has simmered since the United States pulled out of the Iran nuclear accord in 2017. No US casualties were reported in the attack on the isolated US outpost at Tanf near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders, according to the U.S. military. But pro-Iranian media trumpeted it as a “victory” and it was the first major attack on US troops in Syria by Iran. It also marked the biggest and most sophisticated strike against the relatively small US force in Syria deployed in 2015 to support Kurdish-led forces in the fight against the Islamic State. At a news briefing on Monday, Pentagon spokesperson…

Dieketseng Maleke dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za ABSA’S share price remained un- affected amid an unfolding board spat that saw the financial group yesterday appoint Sello Moloko as chairperson as prominent businessperson Sipho Pityana late on Monday launched a surprise legal salvo against not being chosen for the position. Pityana is the former Business Unity South Africa president and also the former AngloGold Ashanti chairperson. The market barely reacted to the news that shocked the business and political sectors, the share price closing at R144.61 on the JSE yesterday. Absa announced that Moloko would be taking over from Wendy Lucas-Bull on March 31, 2022. Lucas-Bull announced in June that she would step down as chairperson of the Absa board after nine years.…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za A FORMER traffic officer’s appeal to the Johannesburg Labour Court has been dismissed after he was found guilty of misconduct for issuing learners licences to applicants who did not write the exam. Morris Mabuza was employed as a traffic officer and later promoted to an examiner, which required him to examine learners licence candidates. He had appealed to the Labour Court after he was dismissed in 2016 following a tip-off and an investigation by the Hawks. The probe found that Mabuza processed and issued learners licences to people who could not read or write in English, and used a colleague’s PIN code to capture information on the IT system without the requisite authority. Arbitration hearings which followed the probe by the Hawks, detailed how one of four…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has been accused of using the retirement of two Golden Grove Primary School staff members implicated in financial mismanagement as an excuse not to take legal action. Education MEC Debbie Schäfer was questioned by ANC MPL Khalid Sayed about the investigation into alleged fraud and financial misconduct by former Rondebosch school principal Sally Shield and another retired member. He wanted to know whether any charges were laid against the employee. In response, Schäfer said no, adding that the forensic report did not indicate that criminal or civil proceedings should be instituted against the principal. WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said: “Criminal proceedings were not recommended by the Provincial Forensic Services (PFS). The WCED enquired with Legal Services, who made it clear to…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za NEWLY crowned Miss SA Lalela Mswane, as well as the Miss SA Organisation, have yet to respond to Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela on his call to boycott the Miss Universe pageant in Israel, citing that the “Palestinians’ daily lived experience under occupation is horrific”. Miss SA Organisation meanwhile told the Cape Times that they wished Mswane well on the international stage, and that she will be attending the pageant. “The Miss South Africa Organisation is not getting involved in a political war of words and looks forward to watching Miss South Africa make the country proud on an international stage.” Mswane could not be reached and did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. Inkosi Mandela said his call was not “frivolous nor idle”. “My call…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za THE search for 28-year-old mentally challenged Stephan Naudé continues after he disappeared while hiking along Stellenbosch Mountain. Naudé’s sister, Suzanne, put out an urgent plea to help search for her brother who was last seen on CCTV footage at the suspension bridge, “Hangbrug” at around 1pm last Wednesday. Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed the search for Naude continues. SAPS, Metro Search and Rescue and other role-players have been searching for him since last week, but could not find him,” said Van Wyk. Anyone with information on Naudé’s whereabouts is urged to contact Stellenbosch duty officer on 082 559 4646.…

Staff writer THE World Health Organization (WHO) says that now, more than ever, governments need to set clear and ambitious goals and invest in public health. The WHO’s Council on the Economics of Health For All, said: “The council believes that a new paradigm must be pursued that avoids macroeconomic policies and assumptions that move us away from Health For All. “This means designing policies to reach health for all now and in the long-term, and realigning finance from all sectors and sources through conditionalities that fuel symbiotic gains in the public interest. “Not only more financing of the health sector, but better-quality finance is crucial to deliver Health For All, which must be equitable and ensure a sustainable impact on peoples’ lives,” the WHO said. As the G20 Summit…

Xin Ping On October 7, 2021, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah for “his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”. In his masterpiece. Paradise and Afterlives, he portrayed the miserable lives of the African people under the reign of German colonisers in the early 20th century. Art creations often originate from real life. The reason why Mr Gurnah’s depictions are so overwhelmingly persuasive and touching is that they owe much to the traumatic memory of Germany’s mass atrocity crimes in Africa. If we were to establish a Racial Crime Nobel Prize, we’d probably have to congratulate Germany for its extensive eugenic researches, which gave racial discrimination and white…

Paris: Covid infections and deaths are on the rise again in Europe, with Russia, Ukraine and Romania registering the highest fatalities on the continent, an AFP tally showed yesterday. About 1 672 000 new cases have been registered on the continent over the past week, an average of about 239 000 a day. That was an increase of 18% on the previous week, according to AFP’s data, compiled from official sources from 52 countries and territories in the region. The increase in cases was a 60% jump from August and September, when were about 150 000 new registered cases a day, the data showed. In the region, 42 countries saw an increase in new infections over the past week. | AFP…

KYIV: Ukraine’s health minister urged more citizens to get vaccinated as coronavirus deaths hit a daily record of 734 yesterday, with hospitalisations up more than a fifth on the previous week. So far only about 7 million in a population of 41 million are fully vaccinated. Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said 94% of patients requiring hospital treatment were not vaccinated. “I call on all of you to get your vaccine,” he said. Ukraine has registered 2.8 million coronavirus cases and 64 936 deaths since the start of the pandemic. After a lull in the summer, the daily rate of new cases has jumped to around 16 000-20 000 in recent weeks, including 19 120 in the past day. | Reuters…

Ethiopia’s military yesterday launched another airstrike in war-torn Tigray, hitting what a government official called a rebel training facility just outside the regional capital Mekele. Tigray was pounded by near-daily aerial bombardments last week in a sign the military was stepping up its use of air power in the year-long war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The bombings in the northern and western parts of Tigray have drawn international censure, and disrupted UN access to the region where an estimated 400 000 people face famine-like conditions under a de facto aid blockade. The latest strike was in Quiha, a town five kilometres east of Mekele, which the TPLF recaptured from government forces in June and has held ever since. “A special forces training centre for the terrorist group…

Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has denied a charge of incitement to cause public alarm, media reported yesterday, in her first court testimony since a February coup plunged the country into chaos and ended a decade of democratic reform. Citing lawyers, BBC Burmese and Myanmar Now reported that Suu Kyi had denied incitement in connection with her party publishing a letter in February calling on international organisations not to co-operate with the junta. Myanmar’s state media has not reported developments in Suu Kyi’s multiple legal cases.…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za IN-FORM Kaizer Chiefs star Keagan Dolly has been included in Bafana Bafana’s 36-man provisional squad ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Ghana next month. Dolly’s selection has hardly come as a surprise, given his recent form for Chiefs in the Premiership. Dolly played a role in creating both of Bernard Parker’s goals in Chiefs’ 2-1 win over SuperSport United over the weekend. Earlier this month, he scored a brace against Chippa United, and created goals for Khama Billiat and Lazarous Kambole as Amakhosi won 4-0. The Johannesburg-born Dolly returned to South Africa with Chiefs this season after having spent four years in France with Montpellier. Interestingly, he has scored three league goals in the current campaign for Chiefs, while he only managed one league…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za DESPITE being clearly told by Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen that his application to have National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) senior prosecutor, advocate Billy Downer SC removed as the lead prosecutor in his corruption trial was wrongly pursued, former president Jacob Zuma yesterday instructed his lawyers to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal. The former president was yesterday dealt another legal setback when Koen turned down his application against Downer, saying, among other things, it was not for an accused person to determine the impartiality of a prosecutor. The legal fight over Downer’s suitability to lead the prosecution began in July shortly after Zuma pleaded not guilty to 18 counts of corruption, money laundering and racketeering. Zuma wanted Downer to be removed as a…

Sithandiwe Velaphi sithandiwe.velaphi@inl.co.za THE Bhisho High Court yesterday suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s report into allegations of corruption by Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and Public Works MEC Babalo Madikizela. This after the legal defence team for Mabuyane and Madikizela argued before Judge Rossan Kruger that the failure to grant interim relief, pending the final review of the report, would prejudice the political careers of their clients. Mkhwebane had found Mabuyane and Madikizela to have “improperly” benefited from the R450 000 and R350 000 respectively to ferry mourners to a memorial service for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Mbizana in 2018. Mkhwebane said Mabuyane used the money to renovate his home in East London. But Mabuyane has been arguing that he borrowed the money from Madikizela and had repaid it by the…

OCTOBER is Mental Health Awareness Month and it is a privilege to share the philosophy of Nicky Abdinor, a clinical psychologist and inspirational speaker who was born without arms. It was in Grade 11 when Nicky’s life changed forever. A friend suffering from depression and debilitating anxiety sparked the life-changing realisation that psychological troubles could significantly hinder functioning, perhaps even greater than a physical disability. Sharpening our focus on this weighty topic, Nicky says that it’s about mindset and how you choose to view things. If she had to write a list of all the things she can’t do, she says she would be depressed. But she wholeheartedly believes that being born without arms was advantageous. Utilising the metaphor of David and Goliath, it’s natural to assume the enormous…

Staff WRITER THE Pfizer vaccine has been shown to be safe in adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years in North America and Europe, the National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD) noted, saying the side effects are similar in adolescents and adults. South Africa recently extended Covid-19 vaccination to this age group, which had made up 14.7% of new Covid-19 cases reported. As of mid-October, children aged 10-19 years made up 9.2% of all cases of Covid-19 reported since the beginning of the pandemic. The NICD said adolescents will only be offered the Pfizer Cominarty vaccine. “This is the only Sars-CoV-2 vaccine currently approved by the South African Health Products Authority for use in this age group (under Section 21 emergency use access). Adults can get the Pfizer or…

THE conflicting statements by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Hawks in the case involving under-fire Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane do not inspire public confidence, especially in a country like South Africa where law enforcement agencies have historically been accused of being involved in political battles. Mabuyane has been embroiled in alleged malfeasance over funds meant for Struggle icon Winnie Madikizela Mandela’s memorial service. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s report alleges that he used nearly R500 000 of the R1.1m to renovate his private home, an allegation Mabuyane denied, and he cried foul about the timing of the release of the report. Mabuyane fears that if charged he would be forced to step aside, dashing his hopes for re-election in the upcoming provincial conference in December. The Hawks confirmed…

Tehran: Iran’s capital is suffering its worst drought in half a century, a water resources official said yesterday, citing a 97% drop in monthly rainfall compared with last year. Tehran has had 0.4mm of rain since September 23, compared with 14.3 mm over the same period in 2020, said Mohammad Shahriari, deputy director of the company that supplies the region. The five dams supplying water to the capital are at less than a third of their capacity, holding just 477 million cubic metres of water instead of two billion cubic metres. Tehran is home to around nine million people. Hydroelectricity generation has dropped 40% in the past six months, according to Shahriari. | AFP…

KHARTOUM: Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan defended the army’s seizure of power, saying yesterday he had ousted the government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to avoid civil war. Speaking at his first news conference since he announced Monday’s takeover, Burhan accused politicians of “incitement against” the armed forces. He said Hamdok had not been harmed and had been brought to his own home. “The prime minister was in his house. However, we were afraid that he’d be in danger so he has been placed with me at my home,” Burhan said. “The dangers we witnessed last week could have led the country into civil war,” he said. Cabinet ministers had attended demonstrations last week to protest against the prospect of a military takeover. Soldiers arrested the prime minister and…

BERLIN: German lawmakers gathered yesterday as a new parliament featuring more women and members from ethnic minorities than ever before met for the first time, while outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel looked on from the visitors’ gallery. Comprising lawmakers of the youngest ever average age, and including the first two transgender women deputies, the lower house chamber, or Bundestag, convened to elect a speaker and other members of its presidium. Merkel’s conservatives suffered their worst result in the national ballot of September 26, when the new deputies were elected, but in which she did not stand. Her own approval ratings remain high, and she will stay in office in a caretaker capacity until the Bundestag chooses her successor, likely to be Olaf Scholz of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). The SPD,…

ABOUT 100 hippos descending from a herd smuggled into Colombia by the notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar are now recognised as “interested persons” following a federal court decision this month that is believed to be the first such ruling of its kind in the United States. The Animal Legal Defense Fund, which sought the interested persons designation for the “cocaine hippos”, called the ruling by a judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio a “critical milestone” in its larger effort to have the American legal system recognise “enforceable rights” to which animals are entitled. Escobar smuggled several hippos onto his estate in the 1980s, but their wild spawn now roam the wetlands north of Bogotá, the largest invasive species on the planet. Colombia had considered…