Inhaltsverzeichnis für 2022-10-19 in Cape Times

Former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize’s supporters say his ANC presidential ambitions have been bolstered after the office of the State Attorney representing the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) sent his lawyers a letter acknowledging that it did not have the Cabinet documents it had relied on to make adverse findings against him in the Digital Vibes matter. Mkhize yesterday said the SIU had found that he had violated the Constitution by allowing the department to appoint Digital Vibes when the Cabinet had directed the department to appoint GCIS instead. But when his lawyers asked for this Cabinet resolution to be provided to them, the State Attorney, on behalf of the SIU, said the resolution does not exist, or is not in their possession. Mkhize said this raised the question of…

COPENHAGEN: Danish power and gas grid operator Energinet has expedited inspections of its own pipelines in the wake of damage to Nord Stream 1 and 2 which run through the country’s waters, but has so far found no irregularities, it said yesterday. The inspections come as nations around Europe look to bolster security around critical energy infrastructure after the suspected Nord Stream sabotage shone a spotlight on the vulnerability of the region’s subsea cables and pipelines. “Energinet has advanced routine inspections of Danish pipelines,” head of gas transmission Peter Hodahl said in a written comment to Reuters. The transmission system operator also constantly monitors pipe pressure. | Reuters…

NAIROBI: Kenya plans to use cheaper loans from agencies such as the World Bank to allow it to retire expensive domestic loans and create funds for much-needed spending on items like food, the nominee to the post of finance minister said yesterday. President William Ruto, who was sworn into office last month, is facing serious economic challenges like drought and a surge in prices of basic commodities, at a time when the East African nation is spending a huge share of government revenue on servicing debt. Concessionary debt is normally provided by lenders like the World Bank and the African Development Bank. | Reuters…

Australia said yesterday it would no longer recognise west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a policy reversal that prompted a curt rebuke from the Jewish state but was cheered by Palestinians. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the city’s status should be decided by Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, unwinding a contentious decision by the previous conservative government. In 2018, Australia’s then-prime minister Scott Morrison followed US president Donald Trump’s lead in unilaterally recognising west Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. The move caused a domestic backlash in Australia and friction with neighbouring Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation – temporarily derailing a bilateral free trade deal. “I know this has caused conflict and distress, and today the government seeks to resolve that,” Wong said. Jerusalem is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians,…

LONDON: A road in the centre of London’s government district, near Prime Minister Liz Truss’s Downing Street office and residence, was closed yesterday due to a suspicious package, police said. Whitehall, between the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square, is also home to several government departments and the Cabinet Office. London police said on Twitter they were called at 11.42am local time over a suspicious package. “Officers are in attendance and a cordon is in place. The item will be assessed by specialist officers,” they said. A government official said some of the government buildings along Whitehall were being emptied. | Reuters…

THE Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) was adamant yesterday that there was no veil of secrecy over the R225 million IT tender that involved former employees who formed a company that benefited from the deal. “I would like to assure the committee that there is no veil of secrecy that we place on this matter. As soon as the audi partem process has happened, we will report,” OCJ secretary-general Memme Sejosengwe said. “I am not hiding anything and I have nothing to hide. Myself, the executives and department officials will subject themselves to whatever process that needs to happen out of the outcome of this process,” she said. Sejosengwe made the statement as OCJ briefed the justice and correctional services portfolio committee on allegations of impropriety in the R225m…

Suspended national deputy police commissioner Francinah Vuma’s attempt to have her suspension lifted has failed after her application to the Labour Court was dismissed. Vuma, who faces charges of misconduct before the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC), approached the Labour Court in Johannesburg where she sought the court’s intervention by way of an urgent application to uplift her suspension. Vuma had also sought an order for SAPS to produce documents she requested for making representations in response to SAPS’s intention to suspend her. Vuma faces charges of misconduct in relation to not having furnished police watchdog Ipid with documents for their investigations and was implicated in unlawful procurement of personal protective equipment, resulting in irregular expenditure of some R500 million. Labour Court Judge André van Niekerk said Vuma…

AN EASTERN Cape High School teacher who allegedly shot and killed a King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) municipality traffic officer who was giving him a ticket, will be back in court next Monday for a formal bail application. Traffic officer Daniel Mxoli, aged 61, was allegedly shot and killed by Siphesonke Galoshe in Mthatha, Sutherland Street on October 10. Galoshe, a Ndamase Senior Secondary School teacher, appeared at the Mthatha Magistrate’s court on Monday on a charge of murder. Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson Yolisa Mgolodela said Goloshe was driving a silver Toyota Tazz when the incident occurred. “The offence is reported to have emanated from the traffic officer’s issuing of a fine to Galoshe for his contravention of the traffic rules. “The traffic officer turned his back on…

Press freedom is vital to the lifeblood of democracy AS WE observe Black Wednesday today, South Africans can be assured that in general the country’s media landscape, according to the International Press Freedom Index 2022 published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), remains “sturdy, diverse and dynamic”. The fact that no journalist or media worker in South Africa has been killed and none are in prison because of their work since January 2022 underlines the robustness of the 1996 constitutional protection of press freedom which, in turn, has inculcated a well-established culture of investigative journalism often exposing scandals involving powerful figures. This in contrast to the aggregate 49 killed and 524 currently in prison worldwide. For the benefit of the current and future generations of our youth, it remains imperative to…

Istanbul: Two Spaniards were killed and three others injured when their hot air balloon crashed in sudden high winds in the tourist magnet of Cappadocia, Turkey, yesterday. “The hot air balloon came down abruptly at 8.50am (local time) after it unexpectedly became very windy,” authorities said. The balloon was carrying 28 tourists and two crew members. The authorities said they had launched an inquiry into the accident. Hot air balloon trips are a key attraction in Cappadocia, famous for its ancient troglodyte villages and “fairy chimneys”, fashioned out of the rock by millennia of erosion. There have been several balloon accidents in recent years. | AFP…

Tigrayan rebels said yesterday that Ethiopian and Eritrean forces had seized a key Tigrayan city, a move coinciding with UN warnings of a spiralling conflict and an “utterly staggering” toll on civilians. “These invading forces have taken control for the moment of some areas including Shire,” the Tigray Central Command said in a statement, adding that the rebels were in a “life or death” struggle. It said the joint forces had entered Shire, a strategic city of about 100 000 people which lies about 300km by road north-west of the Tigrayan capital Mekele, on Monday. “The enemies are massacring our people with heavy weaponry/armaments in the areas it invades,” the statement said. It is not possible to verify battlefield claims as Tigray is under a communications blackout and access…

The Indonesian football stadium where a stampede killed 133 people will be torn down and rebuilt, President Joko Widodo said yesterday, as the head of Fifa pledged to help “reform and transform” the sport in the country. Gianni Infantino met Widodo in the capital Jakarta, just over two weeks after the tragedy, and a year before the Under-20 World Cup is due to be held in the south-east Asian nation. More than 40 children were among those killed in the city of Malang, East Java on October 1, in what Infantino described as “one of the darkest days for football”. After supporters invaded the pitch at the end of a league match between Arema FC and rivals Persebaya Surabaya, police fired tear gas into packed stands, sparking a stampede. “For…

WARSAW: Poland is not afraid of losing EU funds, the Polish Prime Minister said yesterday, a day after the European Commission warned it could forfeit most development money unless the court system is fixed. Warsaw has been on a collision course with Brussels in recent years on issues from refugees and the politicisation of Poland’s judiciary to climate change and LGBT rights. On Monday, the EU executive said the country could lose the vast majority of €75 billion (R1.3 trillion) of development funds, given that Warsaw is not meeting democratic standards on judicial independence. “I do not think that the funds from the EU – for cohesion, agriculture, innovations and others – are at risk,” Mateusz Morawiecki said. “The first funds are already flowing in. Maybe these are not large…

THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) is in the process of attaching billions of rands of assets of former Steinhoff chief executive Marcus Jooste, the alleged ringleader in a financial fraud that saw investors lose more than R200 billion and resulted in the 95% collapse of the share price in 2017. The SA Reserve Bank published the Western Cape High Court order on its website yesterday which showed that Jooste and the respondents were suspected of contravening foreign exchange regulations. The assets to be attached included those of the Silver Oak Trust, art worth about R98.78 million, financial assets worth R1.21bn, loans receivable of R131.12m, Jooste’s house in Voelklip, Hermanus, at least six luxury vehicles, jewellery and other art worth some R795 400, books, documents, electronic devices and…

“SOMETIMES it is exhausting to be a South African,” Gareth Ackerman, the chairperson of Pick n Pay, said yesterday in a speech ahead of the interim results presentation, as he reflected on the challenges facing the retailer, while calling on the government to incentivise business to make infrastructure upgrades – through rates or tax rebates. This, as he said: “We are not power- less to turn this situation around. In fact, a much more positive trajectory is possible if we get just a few basics right.” He said tax levels in South Africa were high. “There is room to incentivise business to invest in the common good, but please don’t double tax us,” Ackerman said, as he reflected on headwinds, such as food inflation, the decay in…

HIGHER Education Minister Blade Nzimande yesterday said he would not resign just because the opposition alleged that he was not taking action against corruption in his department. During an oral session in the National Assembly, DA MP Willem Aucamp said types of corruption in TVET colleges were reports of procurement, employment irregularities and abuse of authority. There had also been reports of theft of resources, bribery and extortion, and institutions of higher learning were destroyed by such practices, he said. “It appears higher education has been captured. It appears your blade has become blunt in the fight against corrup- tion in your department,” he added. “You failed to cut out corruption. You failed the higher education sector as its total collapse is imminent. Will you agree to step down amid…

THE South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has labelled the United National Transport Union’s (Untu) decision to agree to a wage deal with Transnet as a betrayal of the workers’ struggle. However, Untu’s general secretary said they acted in the interest of their members and if Satawu continued with the strike, it would be unprotected. Satawu represents 27,3% of port workers nationally. Its general secretary Jack Mazibuko said they had learnt “with shock and utmost disappointment that the genuine class struggle waged by workers” had been betrayed. “The decision in question not only disadvantages but correspondingly undermines the interests of the working-class, low-earning employees, in particular. This demonstrates that the working class is not homogeneous but is divided from a stratification, theoretical, conscious, social and economic point of…

The NSPCA has backed the Sizwe Kupelo Foundation and its “Ban the Breed” petition, relating to pit bull terriers. The animal protection organisation said the pit bull had become notorious for violent attacks, although other dog breeds were also responsible for attacks. In the latest tragic case, 10-year-old Storm Nuku was mauled to death by his family’s two pit bulls in his house in Gqeberha last month. The NSCPA said it supported the petition advocating for the protection of people and responsible pet ownership. “The petition calls for all pit bulls to be castrated/sterilized, which would prevent the current rate of uncontrolled breeding. “The petition also calls for stronger regulations for the keeping of pit bulls (and other power-breed animals), requiring owners to have permits to keep such animals. “Dog…

A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found multiple challenges with the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant life extension project, including that the containment structure monitoring system is not fully functional. The IAEA team of nuclear professionals from eight countries conducted a Safety Aspects of Long Term Operation (Salto) mission at the plant in March to review the status of activities related to long-term operation (LTO) assessment of the plant against IAEA Safety Standards and international best practices. The team identified 15 issues resulting in either a recommendation or suggestion for improvement, which included that the management of the LTO programme was not effective to timeously complete all actions to prepare for long-term operation and the safety analysis report (SAR) has not been adequately updated for LTO and…

KABUL: About 30 Afghan women protested in front of Kabul University yesterday after authorities expelled students from the dormitories allegedly for breaking rules. The protesters claimed all the evicted students were women in a move that comes as the Taliban has increasingly restricted girls’ access to education. “Today’s protest was for girls who have been expelled,” organiser Zholia Parsi told AFP after Taliban forces dispersed the rally. Organisers also called for reopening of girls’ secondary schools, which have been shut since the Taliban returned to power last year. In several cities, women have staged sporadic protests against harsh restrictions. | AFP…

The Lebanese army says an Israeli gunboat had violated Lebanese territorial waters on Monday, a claim denied by Israel in the second such dispute this week as the countries work towards a maritime border demarcation. The alleged naval incursion was in the Mediterranean sea opposite Ras Naqura. The Israeli military said “there was no crossing” into Lebanese terrorial waters. The countries are technically at war but have clinched a US-brokered agreement to demarcate a maritime border. The deal awaits formal announcement by Washington. The Lebanese army said Israeli gunboats had violated Lebanese territorial waters several times on Saturday opposite Ras Naqura – allegations also denied by Israel’s military. | Reuters…

More than a week of inter-rebel fighting in Syria’s Turkish-held north has killed 58 people, mostly combatants – a flare-up that has allowed al- Qaeda-linked fighters to gain ground, a war monitor said yesterday. The clashes since October 8, in a volatile area near the Turkish border, have been among the deadliest in years, killing 48 rebel fighters and 10 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Among the 48 combatants killed, 28 were members of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance (HTS), which is led by al-Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate, according to the Britain-based war monitor, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria. Dozens of rebel groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad are confined to areas of northern and north-western Syria that still evade government control…

Ukraine said Russia had destroyed almost a third of its power stations over the past week as Moscow stepped up a pre-winter campaign to strike infrastructure, a move the West says is a calculated attempt to disrupt and demoralise. Missiles struck power-generating facilities in a clutch of Ukrainian cities home to millions of people, and several people were killed. Moscow acknowledged targeting energy plants, while Ukraine said water infrastructure had also been hit. “The situation is critical now across the country … the whole country needs to prepare for electricity, water and heating outages,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, told Ukrainian television. One man died when a Russian missile reduced his apartment in the southern river port of Mykolaiv to rubble. “They (Russians) probably get pleasure…