Inhaltsverzeichnis für 2022-04-28 in Cape Times

The world’s oldest person has died aged 119 years old. Kane Tanaka – who was born on January 2, 1903 – died at a hospital in Fukuoka city, Japan, on April 19, Japan’s state broadcaster confirmed. Local governor Seitaro Hattori said: “I was looking forward to seeing Kane-san on this year’s Respect for the Aged Day [a national holiday in September] and celebrating together with her favourite soda and chocolate. I am extremely saddened by the news.” Tanaka – who previously owned a noodle shop – had lived at a nursing home, where she had been partial to eating chocolate, consuming fizzy drinks, and playing board games, including Othello. Her family wrote in a tweet on April 13 that she had been “hospitalised and discharged repeatedly”. She turned 119 in…

THE Department of Social Development will not be funding aspirant students wishing to pursue studies to become social workers in the 2022-23 financial year. This as the department faces budget cuts that hampered the financing of its social worker programme and the absorbing of graduates whose studies it funded. Now, the department has partnered with other departments including SAPS and the departments of Education, Correctional Services and Home Affairs, to lobby the National Treasury to make an allocation for the employment of social workers. This emerged when the department made a presentation on its annual performance plan to the select committee on health and social services. DA MP Delmaine Chesley Christians expressed concern that the department has discontinued the social worker scholarship programme after it was unable to absorb graduates…

THE estranged wife of one of the country’s top senior counsels advocate William Mokhari appeared briefly in court this week alongside two co- accused following charges that she has allegedly conspired to murder her husband. Boitumelo Joyce Mokhari appeared with Shadrack Malipane and Jacob Malope for a formal bail hearing at the Alexandra Magistrates' Court. Phindi Mjonondwane, Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, said the trio was released on R3 000 bail each without any conditions attached. The men were arrested on April 14 after the police received a tip-off and allegedly foiled the murder attempt. Mokhari meanwhile handed herself over to the Sandton Police Station on April 20 with the assistance of her legal representative. According to Mjonondwane, the three are facing a charge of conspiracy to murder advocate…

AS THE nation marked Freedom Day yesterday, commemorating 28 years since South Africa had its first free and fair elections, it was a bitter-sweet day for many who felt that the freedom fought for was still a far cry away. Marking their continued fight against development on sacred indigenous land, Khoi and San people joined by civil society, environmental organisations and social justice groups, came together for the second annual Walk of Liberation and Resistance. The event was also in commemoration of the first land grab in 1657 by the Dutch East India Company which took place on the banks of the Liesbeek River, leading to the first frontier wars of 1659. The ritual pilgrimage walk was followed by an interfaith cleansing ceremony to honour the ancestors, and prayer to…

ACCUSED murderer and alleged cultist Daniel Smit allegedly fed Jerobejin Van Wyk before brutally murdering the boy in an alleged pre-planned occult ritual by burning his body among tar poles “which provided the right temperature”. Smit, who appeared at the Klawer Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, will be referred for psychiatric evaluation after harrowing details relating to the murder emerged. Psychologist CWA van Zyl noted that Smit should be sent for psychiatric evaluation so he may be assessed “for scientific reasons for his horrific act”, which he had allegedly committed as he was “sick and tired of theft, beggars, and disrespect in his community”. It emerged that Smit, after he had knocked Jerobejin down with his bakkie for allegedly stealing fruit, took the teenager back to his home, where he gave…

A SUSPECT in the murders of six people in Enkanini informal settlement, will be back in court in July after being released on R800 bail this week. Thirty-five-year-old Thando Shuba appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where he was granted bail. He is the only person to have been arrested and charged for the murders of two women and four men in the mass shooting on March 20. Nine people were reportedly sitting outside a shack in Lindela Road, Khayelitsha, when three unknown suspects opened fire and shot them. Three people managed to escape the scene. Shuba is said to have an alibi. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said he was charged with six counts of murder and the case was postponed to July 6 for…

The infantile disorder displayed by Busisiwe Mavuso during the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) oversight visit at Eskom last week is a serious indictment on not only those who “deployed” her, but also South African natives generally as it serves to feed into the colonial construct that “Africans cannot run their own affairs”. Her desperate but disgraceful attempt at evading accountability served less to expose the “mess caused by the ANC-led government”, and more about her extremely poor grasp, if any, of the workings of Parliament and provisions of relevant pieces of legislation and prescripts. This included the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), Companies Act and even successive King Codes. How unfortunate that, in trying to hog media headlines by being seen to be “speaking truth to power”, she…

A court in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to five years in jail yesterday after finding her guilty in the first of 11 corruption cases she faces, a source said. The Nobel laureate and figurehead of Myanmar’s opposition to military rule is charged with at least 18 offences carrying combined maximum jail terms of nearly 190 years, all but killing off any chance of a political comeback. The judge in the capital, Naypyitaw, handed down the verdict within moments of the court convening and gave no explanation, said the source, who declined to be identified because the trial is being held behind closed doors, with information restricted. Suu Kyi, who has attended all of her hearings, would appeal against the outcome, the source said. The 76-year-old…

An Italian doctor who made headlines for pioneering windpipe surgery went on trial in Sweden yesterday, charged with assault for performing the experimental procedure. Paolo Macchiarini, 63, won plaudits in 2011 after claiming to have performed the world’s first synthetic trachea transplants while a surgeon at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute. The procedure was hailed as a breakthrough in regenerative medicine. But allegations soon emerged that the risky procedure had been carried out on at least one individual who had not been critically ill at the time of the operation. Prosecutors listed the charges of “aggravated assault” against three patients. The Karolinska Institute has confirmed that the three individuals have since died. Macchiarini has denied being criminally responsible. In 2013, the Karolinska hospital suspended all transplants and refused to extend Macchiarini’s contract…

KARACHI: a woman suicide bomber who killed three Chinese teachers in Pakistan was a teacher who had enrolled for a master’s degree months before the attack, carried out on behalf of separatist insurgents, a Pakistani official said yesterday. The blast detonated by the mother of two, 30, on Tuesday blew up a van outside Karachi University’s Confucius Institute, killing her, the three teachers and a Pakistani driver. It was the first major attack this year against Chinese nationals working in Pakistan. The attack targeted China, whose investments in Balochistan are opposed by the group, the Baloch Liberation Army. China demanded that Pakistan punish the perpetrators. | Reuters…

NEW DELHI: India is getting too hot too early, raising the risk of fires, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned yesterday, as New Delhi sweltered in extreme heat and a burning landfill on the outskirts of the capital spewed toxic smoke. Firefighters were struggling to extinguish a blaze at the Bhalswa landfill site, a hillock rising above the edge of the city. Fumes from the burning waste forced a nearby school to close on Tuesday. Many of the pupils’ parents work as trash pickers at the site. The cause of the fire was under investigation, though such incidents are common during India’s scorching summers, when temperatures regularly surpass 40°C. | Reuters…

ALTVEST Capital, a company that will allow investment by the public in private equity assets from as low as R100, will initially list as a cash shell on the Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) on May 5 and plans to acquire investments four to six weeks after that. Its planned R50 million listing of 10 million shares was on Tuesday approved by the CTSE, a statement said. The company’s management said they had started the selection process for potential investment opportunities, and the pipeline included privately- owned companies in the fintech, offshore medical property investment, sports team, wine estate and in the agriculture sectors. “AltVest aims to list up to four opportunities in 2022 and, thereafter, ramp up to a listing opportunity per month. “The vision is to…

A NEW political party formed by several former Patriotic Alliance (PA) members has emerged, promising to improve service delivery and create jobs. The Movement For Change (MFC) party said it would contest the 2024 national elections. MFC aims to bring freedom and to build a healthy community with service delivery, according to its website. “Our leadership team has a genuine interest in our communities. “A party that will go to lengths to make it run, bringing innovative strategy and a strong determination to drive our people to freedom, increase service delivery and improve our overall business value and maintain our vision to deliver service delivery to our people. “We will put the interest of all citizens who live in this country first. Our driving force will adhere to all demands…

WHILE civil organisations continue to pile pressure on Social Development over the decision to delay the new round of applications for the R350 social relief of distress grant, the department has defended the move, saying it wanted to stay within the budget and also ensure that only those eligible received the grant. This comes as MPs were given little to no details about the new criteria to apply for the grant, despite Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu publishing the regulations last Friday, stating that anyone with an income of more than R350 would be ineligible to receive the grant. None of the MPs insisted on the criteria when told Zulu would hold a press briefing to explain the new rules for reapplication, and that the South African Social Security Agency…

YOUR Tuesday edition “Cyril: SA owes execs support” refers: It was absolutely horrific to watch the clip where the chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee (Scopa) attacked the Eskom executive for speaking the truth. My understanding is that individuals who come forward to testify must be given at least the freedom to say what they believe and what they need to say in accordance with their own understanding of the situation. Should the portfolio committee think otherwise then they are not doing their job. Any portfolio committee in Parliament has to listen to the public in accordance with democratic principles. The chairperson of Scopa needs to be removed urgently as members of the public are going to be fearful to come forward and “speak truth to power”.…

IN celebration of Freedom Day, two surfers from the Cape Flats are sharing their stories of how they found freedom in the ocean in a two-part documentary called Free Surfer. The Corona Studios film deals with challenging stigmas of belonging, including defying prejudices based on race and gender. It follows the inspiring lives of Cass Collier, the first black person to win the Reef ISA Big Wave World Championship in Mexico in 1999; and Khayelitsha-born-and-raised Khanyisa Mngqibisa’s journey to becoming South Africa’s first internationally qualified lifeguard and surfing coach. “I’ve spent my entire life in the ocean and that’s where I find my freedom. Once you experience that first wave it changes everything. I think the ocean is all about healing and there’s no greater feeling of freedom than this.…

EIGHT people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in demolishing the home of a South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) leader using hammers and shovels on Monday. The organisation’s branch secretary, Christopher Zondani, said that before the incident, he had received a warning to leave the community within three days. “There were people that came to my house on Friday last week, they told me to leave the community. They said they were sent by residents who were angry because I blocked their electricity and their service delivery. They said they were giving me three days. “But I decided to stay because I am not the ward councillor of the community and I did not do anything wrong,” he said. Zondani said he was woken by the sound of…

Board and power station managers must not be allowed to avoid accountability THE South African Energy Forum (Saef) notes with grave concern the timeous evasion of responsibility and accountability of the board of Eskom to account to the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) since this board was put in place in 2018. This board was given a mandate to rescue Eskom from the financial abyss, and there had been no load shedding in the preceding three years before it was appointed. It started with former Eskom board member Nelisiwe Magubane when she appeared before Scopa. The then chairperson of Scopa, Themba Godi, accused her of not even being able to explain her own Eskom Report Document presented to the committee. The Eskom board was found part-timing on their job.…

Since going public in 2013, Twitter has only occasionally turned a profit, even if it has a commanding role in politics and culture worldwide. The company’s announcement this week that it had reached a deal for Tesla boss Elon Musk to buy it outright raises the question of whether this will lead to a brighter financial future for Twitter? Musk has downplayed economic considerations as a motivation for his purchase, saying earlier this month: “This is not a way to make money. It’s just that my strong, intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilisation.” Listed on the New York Stock Exchange for just under nine years, Twitter has posted a net loss every year,…

Cergy-Pontoise: French President Emmanuel Macron was the target yesterday of a bunch of tomatoes hurled by a disgruntled onlooker as he made his first public appearance after his weekend re-election victory. Reflecting his promise of uniting a divided France following his defeat of far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Sunday, he chose for his first post-election visit the town of Cergy-Pointoise in Paris, a low-income area. Macron was meeting residents when a bunch of cherry tomatoes whizzed by close to his face, missing him but hitting bystanders. Macron appeared unflustered but keen to move on as rapidly as possible. “No! No! No fighting,” he said. | AFP…

Singapore: A mentally-disabled Malaysian man was hanged in Singapore yesterday, his family said, after losing a long legal battle and despite a storm of international criticism and appeals for clemency. Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, 34, was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, which has some of the world’s toughest drugs laws, and handed a death sentence the following year. The plan to hang him sparked outrage, with the UN, EU and British billionaire Richard Branson condemning it. The EU called the death penalty “cruel and inhumane” and urged Singapore to “adopt a moratorium on all executions” and abolish capital punishment. | AFP…

London: Cereals giant Kellogg’s said yesterday it had launched a legal challenge against new rules that will limit the prominence of sugary foods in English shops as part of a new campaign against obesity. The government’s strategy only calculated the fat, salt and sugar content of cereals when eaten dry, not when taken with milk, the US company said. “Unless you take account of the nutritional elements added when cereal is eaten with milk, the full nutritional value of the meal is not measured,” said Kellogg’s UK managing director Chris Silcock. The new regulations, to take effect in England in October, also ban TV ads of unhealthy foods before 9pm. | AFP…

THE Border Management Agency (BMA), which was formed last year as a single authority to man the country’s borders, will be operational at 18 ports of entry next year. This was the word from the Department of Home Affairs when it tabled its annual performance plan to the portfolio committee. Director-general Tommy Makhode said the department would ensure that the BMA was operational by 2023-24 at 18 ports of entry, six segments of the land border law enforcement areas and one community crossing area. “We want to ensure BMA rolled out to an additional seven ports of entry and one additional segment of the land border law enforcement area by 2024,” he said when he was detailing the department’s budget for 2022-23. Makhode said 100% of selected ports of entry…

A MOTHER’S dying wish has been fulfilled, following a two-year battle to have her four-and-a-half-year-old daughter live with her sister in South Africa instead of returning to the UK with her father. The Supreme Court of Appeal this week dismissed the father’s application for the return of the child in terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, 1980’ with costs. Previously the Western Cape High Court had rejected the defences advanced by the late mother and ordered the return of the child to the UK. The mother was diagnosed with colorectal cancer on April 8, 2019 while still living in the UK and decided to come to South Africa to pursue available treatment options. The understanding was that both mom and child would return…

I AM not certain where this (River Club) development now stands, but I comment as follows: To me, at this stage, it will be impossible to demolish and remove what is on-site already without leaving a bigger mess. In over 12 years of going to work and back along Liesbeek Park Way, I saw a lot of golfers and a few fishermen but no other use of the property. To me, Cape Town is in desperate need of big investment and big employment. By killing this project, I think it puts a big dampener on future major investments here. What I’m saying: Would it not be possible for the Cape Town City to allocate a significant portion of land and title thereto to the Khoisan from the adjoining park and…

WITH reference to the letter by Charles Thomas (26 April 2022), I feel it is now time for me to respond to this ongoing false narrative, and set a few facts straight. The WCED is a huge organisation of around 42 000 staff. In any organisation, public or private, there are rules as to how one is expected to behave. If every individual feels that they have the right to say and do whatever they feel like, it will lead to chaos in the system. The majority of people understand this. Unfortunately, Brian Isaacs did not. He was not dismissed for speaking out against the department. He was dismissed for his contemptuous and disrespectful attitude and behaviour to his superiors – not me, but…

A number of StatsSA field workers from other provinces have been deployed to the Western Cape to assist with the collection of data for the 2022 census. According to StatsSA, those counted in the Western Cape stand at approximately 55.5%, while the average national figure stands at 87%. Stats SA last week announced it would reopen the online self-enumeration system until the end of April, saying data collection challenges, particularly in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, which was heavily impacted by the recent extreme weather conditions, led to the decision to extend the census mop-up period to the end of the month. StatsSA chief director, Patrick Kelly, said the department struggled to recruit staff in a number of areas in the province, including urban areas. “There are other challenges as…

UNDER-FIRE Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso may have had a valid point in telling Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) MPs that the ANC’s failures contributed to the crisis that is Eskom today, but it does not stop there. She should have also conceded to the fact that the current board and executive assumed the responsibility of fixing Eskom when accepting their appointments, and they have dismally failed to do so. With the same vigour, Mavuso should have also found the courage to explain to South Africans that as a board and executive, the problems at Eskom are too much for them, and as such they are tendering their resignation letters. We have been hit by rolling blackouts, costing the ailing economy billions of rand, and all indications are that…

Russia said yesterday it had destroyed a large quantity of Western-supplied weapons in Ukraine, while halting gas supplies to EU and Nato members Poland and Bulgaria in a move condemned by European capitals as attempted blackmail. With the conflict that has claimed thousands of lives entering its third month, Ukraine conceded Russian forces had pushed deeper into the country’s east and captured several villages, as Moscow intensifies its offensive to take control of Donbas. Three people died and 15 others were injured in bombings in and around the eastern city of Kharkiv. Russia’s defence ministry said its forces targeted the “large batch” of weapons and ammunition supplied by the US and European countries using long-range missile strikes on southeastern Ukraine. It said they hit hangars at an aluminium plant near…

Measles cases have surged by nearly 80% worldwide this year, the UN said yesterday, warning that the rise of the “canary in a coal mine” illness indicates that outbreaks of other diseases are likely on the way. The coronavirus pandemic has interrupted vaccination campaigns for non-Covid diseases around the world, creating a “perfect storm” that could put millions of children’s lives at risk, the UN’s children’s agency Unicef and the World Health Organization said in a statement. More than 17 300 measles cases were reported globally in January and February, compared to around 9 600 during those months last year, according to new data from the UN agencies. There have been 21 large and disruptive measles outbreaks in the last 12 months to April, most in Africa and the eastern…

Islamabad: The scion of Pakistan’s most influential political dynasty was appointed foreign minister yesterday, the latest step up a ladder likely to take Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to the top of the country’s leadership. Bhutto, 33, becomes one of the world’s youngest foreign ministers but inherits a diplomatic bag of issues that started well before he was born, including relations with arch-rival India. He was sworn in two weeks after he helped lead an alliance that toppled Imran Khan and saw Shehbaz Sharif become prime minister. He will accompany Sharif today to Saudi Arabia, a key trade partner for Pakistan and its struggling economy. Bhutto is the son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari. His grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the Pakistan…

Conakry: Political leaders in Guinea have reacted angrily after the country’s military junta spurned demands by West Africa’s regional bloc to spell out a timeline for restoring civilian rule. The junta is locked in a showdown with the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), which had set a deadline of Monday for putting forward an “acceptable” timetable for transition, failing which it would impose economic and financial sanctions. But the government said strongman Colonel Mamady Doumbouya gave little heed to the demand. It accused the bloc of turning a deaf ear to “the cries of the Guinean public”. | AFP…