Sommaire pour 2022-07-22 de Cape Times

Stellenbosch University (SU) student Babalo Ndwayana’s family has hailed the institution’s decision to expel disgraced student Theuns du Toit after finding him guilty for his racist act of urinating on Ndwayana’s belongings. Reacting to the decision, Ndwayana’s father, Mkhuseli Kaduka, told the Cape Times last night: “As a family we are very ecstatic and we welcome the decision. We have been calling for Du Toit’s expulsion and we are very happy. We would also like to put it on record that this is only the beginning and we are going to take this further.” Du Toit was caught on video urinating on the belongings of Ndwayana at the university’s Huis Marais residence in May. Ndwayana had detailed how he had woken up to Du Toit urinating on his study desk,…

ANIMAL rights activists have expressed outrage over a video said to be of a SANParks employee repeatedly slapping a dead leopard. The leopard was put down this week after it attacked an employee from the Shalati Concession in the Kruger National Park while on their way to work on Sunday morning. This was the second attack on an employee in the same vicinity, according to SANParks. “You will only hurt yourself as the animal is already dead,” another man can be heard warning the man slapping the leopard in the video. SANParks has condemned the video, saying it was “unfortunate and deeply regrettable”. “SANParks management is concerned that the offensive video is being circulated on social media. “The statements that SANParks are involved in a cover-up are unfounded and unwarranted.…

Crying in the bathroom Erika L. Sánchez Loot.co.za (R528) Viking Erika L Sánchez’s new book, Crying in the Bathroom”, has arrived right on time. The memoir-in-essays probes the National Book Award finalist’s experiences with mental health, first-generation trauma, womanhood and, notably, motherhood. “Choosing how and when to have a family is critical to our liberation as women,” she writes in the essay. Sánchez is a raw, unapologetic and acerbic writer, who leans into difficult topics. In one essay, she talks about how having an abortion gave her the opportunity to create a great life for herself now – which includes having a daughter. As she explains it, she needed to build a life for herself before thinking about having children, and deferring her career and happiness was not a sacrifice…

Established to facilitate legal and legitimate cross-border movement of people, goods The deployment of border guards as part of building capacity for the newly established Border Management Authority (BMA) marks a watershed moment in the new drive to enforce our country’s immigration laws. At the Beitbridge border post in Musina in Limpopo, Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, deployed 200 border guards and went on to hand over vehicles that will patrol our country’s porous borders. This significant step is a breath of fresh air in the midst of brazen lawlessness and criminality by, mainly, undocumented immigrants. Alarmingly, many of these foreigners are assisted and abetted by unpatriotic Home Affairs officials, police officers, army personnel and, worse still, ordinary South Africans. As one proudly South African tweeted about that…

Monkeypox experts were discussing yesterday whether the World Health Organization should classify the outbreak as a global health emergency – the highest alarm it can sound. A second meeting of the WHO’s emergency committee on the virus was being held to examine the worsening situation, with nearly 15 400 cases reported from 71 countries, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic. On June 23, the WHO convened an emergency committee of experts to decide if monkeypox constitutes a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the UN health agency’s highest alert level. But a majority advised the WHO’s chief Tedros Adhanom…

The United Arab Emirates, home to the only foreign branch of the Louvre, has vowed to ensure a thorough investigation into the trafficking of artefacts linked to its parent museum in Paris. Hundreds of artefacts are believed to have been pillaged from Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries during a wave of protests from 2011, known as the Arab Spring. Investigators in France suspect the artefacts were then sold on to galleries and museums around the world. The probe was opened in 2018, two years after the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which has become a civil party in the case, bought a rare pink granite stele depicting the pharaoh Tutankhamun and four other historic works for eight million euros (roughly R145m)). Antiquities trafficking has been linked to armed groups such…

LONDON: Britain’s handling of migrants who arrive by small boats from Northern France has been unacceptable, ineffective and inefficient, an independent inspection published yesterday said. The number of people attempting dangerous sea crossings to enter Britain has risen sharply, forcing the government to address criticism from some quarters that border controls are too weak, while others say those seeking asylum are being treated inhumanely. The inspection, led by Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration David Neal, focused on the processing of migrants at two government centres between Decem-ber 2021 and January 2022. | Reuters…

LONDON: Portrait pictures of a young Queen Elizabeth II taken at the beginning of her reign and the jewels she wore are going on display at Buckingham Palace from today. Tiaras, earrings and necklaces form part of The Queen’s Accession exhibition marking her record-breaking seven decades on the throne. Elizabeth, 96, Britain’s longest-reigning and currently the world’s oldest monarch, became queen on February 6, 1952, on the death of her father King George VI. The display is available to guests visiting the palace’s State Rooms, which are open to the public for the first time in three years. | Reuters…

AFTER six years of steady decline, the Covid-19 pandemic saw the number of municipal bucket toilet users nationally jump from 42 434 in 2019 to 47 130 in 2020. Activists say one of the main causes of this is land occupations in various provinces. StatsSA this week announced that increases in the use of bucket toilets were reported in seven of South Africa’s 257 municipalities, with the Free State recording the biggest rise. Municipalities provide bucket toilets to communities as a temporary measure while more permanent forms of sanitation are in development. StatsSA noted that the City of Cape Town managed to eradicate municipal serviced bucket toilets entirely, reducing the number from 84 in 2019 to zero in 2020. This might not be the case on the ground, however. In…

JUDGMENT has been reserved in the matter involving the Women’s Legal Centre Trust’s (WCL Trust) application to the South Gauteng High Court to have the Social Development Department’s conduct declared unconstitutional after it allegedly unlawfully interfered in two adoption processes. Arguments in the matter concluded yesterday, and were heard virtually by Judge Fiona Dippenaar. Centre for Child Law advocate Morgan Courtenay, who had made submissions as an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, said that sections of the Children’s Act relating to cross-cultural adoptions, interpreted by the social development department, had been done incorrectly. “What these guidelines require or what they state is that cross-cultural adoptions should be considered as a second option when prospective adoptive parents sharing the same culture with the adoptable child, could not be found…

BACK IN THE DAY Melvyn Bragg Loot.co.za (R324) SCEPTRE Three years later he was appointed editor of BBC2’s first arts programme, New Release, and since then has become a leading figure in broadcasting – editing, producing and presenting a large number of innovative, award-winning arts television programmes and equally acclaimed radio programmes across the cultural spectrum. In 1998 Bragg was appointed to the House of Lords as a Labour life peer: Lord Bragg of Wigton. Wigton is a market town in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, just outside the Lake District of north-west England. It currently has a population of a touch over 6 000 inhabitants. It is a medieval town with a triangular marketplace at its centre, by way of a charter granted in 1262. In his memoir, “Back…

TURKIYE’S minister of foreign affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu, wrote an article, published in the Cape Times on July 15, filled with the usual political rhetoric and baseless accusations, which have been disproven many times over. The current ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey (now officially known as Türkiye), was established in 2001 after a difficult period with promises of greater freedom, prosperity and clean governance. It all changed when they thought they had achieved enough power, following their election to government in 2002. During their 20-year reign democratic gains have regressed, the economy has all but collapsed, and the gap between rich and poor has grown. The country was once the hope where the East and the West could coexist harmoniously. It is now run by a populist who…

Russian gas began flowing to Europe via a major pipeline yesterday after a 10-day pause, but fears of broader supply cuts remained, and Russian forces in Ukraine were seen eyeing the capture of the country’s second-biggest power plant. Russian troops shelled cities across eastern and southern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said, and hit two schools as Moscow’s forces carried out limited ground operations in preparation for what is seen as a wider offensive. The resumption of gas flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany ended a nerve-jangling 10 days for Europe in which politicians expressed concern Russia might not restart them at a time when alternative energy supplies are tight and prices high. The pipeline has traditionally carried more than one third of Russia’s gas exports to Europe, but…

Los Angeles: The third season of historical-romance series Bridgerton has added three new cast members as production on the next instalment of the Netflix period drama gets under way. Daniel Francis, Sam Phillips, and James Phoon have all signed on for the new season. Francis plays Marcus Anderson, described as a charismatic presence, attracting the notice of matriarchs in the town and the ire of others. Phillips plays Lord Debling, who has wealth and a noble title to back up his eccentricities. Phoon plays Harry Dankworth, whose good looks make up for what he lacks in wit and intelligence. | IANS…

New Delhi: Hundreds of Congress workers were staging protests at different locations in the national capital over their party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi being summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) yesterday. Outside the party headquarters, police used water cannons to disperse protesters. Former Union Minister P Chidambaram said his Congress party was protesting the ED summons to Gandhi, adding that all the ED wanted to know about the AJL-Young India transaction was recorded in the books of account. “The Congress party will not bow down to the intimidation,” he said. | IANS…

Guadalajara: A Mexican disability rights activist has died after she was attacked and set on fire in the state of Jalisco, the local prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday. The mother of an autistic child, Luz Raquel Padilla, was part of “I take care of Mexico”, an organisation of families with experience in caring for people with disabilities. Three men and a woman doused the 35-year-old in alcohol and set her alight in a park in the town of Zapopan, prosecutor Luis Joaquin Mendez said. Padilla died on Tuesday from the “seriousness of the injuries” in a hospital in nearby Guadalajara, he said. She had burns on 90% of her body. In Mexico, an average of 10 women are murdered daily. | AFP…

LOCAL markets ended the day on a positive note yesterday in spite of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) delivering the biggest interest rate hike in 20 years, with the rand ending the day higher. The SARB yesterday delivered a hawkish 75 basis points hike in interest rates due to persistently elevated headline inflation and the rand’s weak exchange rate. This was the fifth hike in a row since and the SARB has now hiked rates by a cumulative 200 basis points since November 2021 in a bid to tame price pressures. In spite of this, the rand moderated to R17.06 to the US dollar at 5pm as speculators had already priced in the SARB’s hawkish monetary policy stance. Ashburton Investments fixed income strategist Michael Grobler said the SARB’s…

THE SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has accused the country’s banking sector of serving the interests of the dominant capitalist faction, and not caring about the negative consequences of how its actions will affect workers. Saftu national spokesperson Trevor Shaku, who condemned Standard Bank’s decision to sever ties with Independent Media, said: “The siege on Independent Media by hypocritical commercial banks will rob the media landscape of press diversity, lead to retrenchments and open a space for other narratives to be hegemonic.” The statement from Saftu follows that of the Insurance and Banking Staff Association (Ibsa), a union representing workers in the banking sector, which on Wednesday, issued a statement slamming Standard Bank’s decision. Standard Bank’s action comes after several other commercial banks opted to cut ties with the…

IRATE parents at Portland Primary School in Mitchells Plain have described the school’s 43-year-old building as a “ticking time bomb” that could collapse at any time. Safety concerns over the dire state of the building were allegedly flagged as far back as 2012 and again last year, after a pupil was injured while walking up steps. Some classroom walls are cracked and windows are missing, while five sets of steps at the school are cracked or splitting. Pupils have to constantly be cautious. Frustrated parents protested outside the school yesterday, with many saying no learning will take place until the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) treats the matter with urgency. A parents and education activist, Ezra Williams, questioned whether the department was waiting for a tragedy to happen before attending…

WESTERN Cape legislature speaker Masizole Mnqasela will be charged with misconduct, the DA federal executive (FedEx) has resolved. DA Western chairperson Jaco Londt made the announcement yesterday after the party’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC) made the recommendation to the FedEx. The party had handed over documents to the Hawks for investigation after two whistle-blowers provided Premier Alan Winde with submissions relating to alleged subsistence, travel and entertainment allowance claims linked to Mnqasela. “The DA FedEx has resolved to accept the FLC recommendation. “As required by the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, the DA has also reported the matter to the Hawks for investigation, including the documentary evidence provided in the protected disclosures,” said Londt. He said the party had a zero-tolerance approach to corruption, and when “evidence-based allegations…

In Our Own Words - Nurses On The Front Line Siedine Coetzee, Hester Klopper, Jonathan Jansen Loot.co.za (R175) Jonathan Ball OUR nurses have witnessed the pandemic first hand, compassionately caring for patients amid war-like circumstances. The havoc caused by the pandemic highlighted existing fault lines in the South African health system, and nurses faced shortages of staff and vital life-saving equipment. Colleagues tested positive and died. Visitors were not allowed, so nurses had to be intermediaries between patients and desperate family trying to glean information on the phone. Despite these pressures, they remained at the forefront of the fight against the deadly virus. This book brings together deeply personal stories of caring for patients in wards and ICU, of feeling overwhelmed, and experiencing the fear of getting infected and passing…

Mario Draghi, credited with helping save the eurozone as head of the European Central Bank, presided over a remarkable period of unity as Italy’s premier before falling foul of its notoriously unstable political system. The star economist was never directly elected but won the backing of almost all political parties when he took office in February 2021 and raised Italy’s profile on the international stage as a respected leader in the EU and G7. He was tasked with battling the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of a recession in Europe’s third-largest economy just as Italy was awarded a vast part of an unprecedented EU recovery package worth billions of euros to boost growth. Enjoying soaring personal popularity and the trust of Brussels and the financial markets, Draghi was seen as…

Major economies such as India, Brazil and Russia face “cascading” crises driven by climate change such as food insecurity, energy shortages and civil unrest, an industry analysis warned yesterday. While developing nations of Africa and Southeast Asia are predicted to be worst hit by higher temperatures, extreme weather and sea-level rise, some middle-income nations lack the infrastructure and legislative freedom to keep pace with the changing climate. And, as Europe counts the cost of another record-shattering heatwave, analysis showed how even nations with few climate-linked crises will need to adapt as global temperatures rise. The analysis looked at countries’ performances across 32 structural issues – including weather-related events, political stability, economic power, resource security, poverty and human rights – to assess each nations’ capacity to manage crises. It then divided…

LONDON: James Blunt is set to star in a new BBC documentary hailed as Spinal Tap meets Alan Partridge. The You’re Beautiful hitmaker, 48, has teamed up with the production company behind the hit Bros: After The Screaming Stops and Oasis Supersonic film, on the upcoming feature inspired by the 1984 American mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, a satire about the heavy metal legends’ antics on the road. The documentary will explore the singer-songwriter’s trajectory from reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army. The synopsis reads: “This the story of an ageing, British pop star, still fighting for relevance some 17 years after his star momentarily twinkled … from witnessing the genocide of the Kosovo War, recording the biggest selling album of the noughties, enduring the…

KATHMANDU: A 47-year-old Nepali sherpa has set a climbing record by scaling all the world’s 14 peaks that are higher than 8 000m for a second time, his agency said yesterday. Sanu Sherpa, from Sankhuwasabha district in east Nepal, reached the top of Pakistan’s Gasherbrum II, which at 8 035m is the 13th-highest, yesterday, his Pioneer Adventure hiking company said in Kathmandu. “He is the only person in the world to scale each of the 14 highest mountains twice,” Nibesh Karki, the company’s executive director said. Eight of the 14 peaks, including Mount Everest, are in Nepal. The other six are in Pakistan and the Tibet region of China. | Reuters…

GOODMAN Mosele cut a playful figure during the unveiling of Orlando Pirates’ home and away kits ahead of the new season, but spoke with pride and regret. Mosele had a breakthrough season to remember at Pirates last term after playing 31 games, including the CAF Confederation Cup final. He controlled traffic in the engine room, covering up for the defenders, while he was influential going forward as well as he racked up four goals and three assists. His impact, though, couldn’t inspire the Bucs to glory on the local or continental fronts as they also lost out the Confederation Cup final against RS Berkane of Morocco. Speaking at Pirates’ kit launch, which commemorated the club’s 85th anniversary, in Sandton, yesterday, Mosele looked back at his first season at…