Sommaire pour 2022-10-27 de Cape Times

FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana has come under fire from trade unions, as well as ANC alliance partners Cosatu and SACP who accused him of scape-goating public servants following his announcement that the government would forge ahead with implementing its 7.5% offer for public sector servants. “It was not his mandate or area to pronounce on wages and or implementing of salaries. He was overreaching on public service salaries and ignoring his huge task to make policies that would take the country out of a state of financial collapse due to mismanagement and corruption. Fiscus was bleeding due to corrupt procurement processes that he was not giving attention to. He is so obsessed with cutting public servants salaries that he is hugely neglecting his mandate as Finance Minister” said…

THE R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grants will be extended until March 2024 while the government is pondering a possible replacement grant. Tabling the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) yesterday, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the budget over the next three years was focused on restoring service delivery and laying the foundation for higher growth. “Medium-term changes to spending plans are driven mainly by government’s decision to extend the special Covid-19 SRD grant by one year, until 31 March 2024,” Godongwana said. The grant, introduced in May 2020 as a temporary measure to low-income households during Covid-19 lockdown, has been extended several times, and the one which 7.4 million beneficiaries receive was to expire in March 2023. Godongwana said the discussions on the future of the grant were on-going…

AFTER conceding liability for injuries and damages suffered during a child birth at Mthatha General Hospital, Eastern Cape Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth has now sought the relief of the court over an order to pay the patient the quantitative sum of just over R22million. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld an appeal against an order of the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, Mthatha making a proposed draft settlement order an order of court. The mother had instituted legal action against the health MEC at the time for damages arising from harm caused to her child during birth at the public health facility. The court issued a rule nisi order on June 30 2020 after the calculation of damages by the relevant experts came…

A MUSIC teacher at Bloekombos Secondary School in Kraaifontein faces criminal charges for allegedly beating a 16-year-old pupil with a pipe, leaving his buttocks swollen and bruised. The pupil was among a group of 13 learners who were allegedly assaulted earlier this year by the teacher who is also on the School Governing Body (SGB). He is accused of hitting each pupil a number of times after they celebrated a choir competition win by drinking liquor. According to the 16-year-old boy’s guardian, the teacher made his first appearance last month at the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court where the matter was postponed to November 3 for further investigation. It has also since emerged that another teacher was also part of the alleged corporal punishment incident. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said Kraaifontein…

Stellenbosch University management can no longer be convinced that alcohol is solely to blame for the recent racist incidents plaguing the institution. That’s finding an easy way out of an institutionalised problem that requires the university to first concede that its environment is a safe haven for such attitudes, and then move with speed in dismantling it practically. In 2022, it’s beyond heartbreaking that black students in that facility are made to feel inferior by their white counterparts who demean their dignity by either using racial slurs or urinating on their belongings. Yes, these incidents mostly happen when the white perpetrators consume alcohol, but that does not even come close to justifying their actions. The latest incident in the early hours of Saturday involves a white student who urinated on…

The UN said yesterday that the humanitarian response to the crisis in Somalia where a historic drought is threatening famine has gathered pace but warned the situation remained “dire”. The impoverished Horn of Africa nation is on the brink of a famine for the second time in just more than a decade, with UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths stressing in September that time was running out to save lives. The humanitarian response has intensified since then but some 7.8 million people or nearly half Somalia’s population still need assistance, including 230 000 at serious risk of starvation, according to the UN. “We believe that approximately 6.5 million are reached with some level of assistance and that amount has increased very significantly since the beginning of the summer,”…

Hundreds of Syrian refugees returned home from Lebanon yesterday, the first day of repatriations organised by Beirut, their mood more subdued than celebratory amid concerns over a scheme that rights groups say may involve elements of coercion. Lugging suitcases, power generators, fridges and even chickens and mostly skirting around watching media, some 700 Syrians who had agreed to cross over gathered from early morning in a desolate northeastern border zone. Lebanese authorities say the repatriations, under a revived programme coordinated by General Security,the agency responsible for safeguarding its borders, are voluntary. But while frontlines in Syria’s 11-year war are now largely inactive, the United Nations says flare-ups in violence and the risk of detention mean large-scale returns remain unsafe. Lebanon is home to more than 800 000 Syrians registered…

At least 15 people were killed in an attack on a Shia Muslim shrine in the Iranian city of Shiraz yesterday, state news agency IRNA said, as security forces elsewhere clashed with protesters marking 40 days since the death of Mahsa Amini. Early reports of the attack gave varying accounts. The local police chief said there had been a single attacker, who had been arrested, while news agencies said three people were involved. The attackers were in a car and shot at pilgrims and staff at the entrance to the shrine of Shah Cheragh, IRNA quoted witnesses as saying. Police arrested two of the three “terrorists” and were looking for the third. | Reuters…

BRUSSELS: The European Commission yesterday proposed tougher legal limits on health-damaging dirty air and rules to make pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies pay to clean up wastewater polluted by their products. The EU’s executive proposed three laws targeting health and environment-damaging air and water pollution. Among them is a requirement that, by 2030, EU countries must meet new legally-binding air pollution limits that will be closer to the stricter World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. The WHO tightened its air quality guidelines last year, hoping to push countries toward clean energy and prevent deaths caused by dirty air. | Reuters…

ONE of the defining skirmishes come Saturday between the Lions and the Stormers, could be between the “lightweight” forwards duking it out, blow-by-blow, as they rumble across Emirates Airline Park from one running-battle to another. The loosies of both teams extol excitement – they are both highly mobile, physical and gifted. The hosts for the United Rugby Championship (URC) clash have relied on Emmanuel Tshituka, Sibusiso Sangweni, Ruan Venter and Francke Horn to carry them forward. Former Springbok Willem Alberts – although currently preferred at lock – can also play in the role of an extra loose-forward. Meanwhile, the Stormers are stacked in that department. They could have the irrepressible Evan Roos to call upon – if he is available for selection – but so too the explosive Hacjivah Dayimani.…

THE MEDIA have privileged access to the finance minister as well as Treasury officials during the lock-up, while the minister is joined by the director-general of Treasury, the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service. Questions related to Eskom dominated the media briefing as journalists wanted to know why the resolution had been delayed to the February 2023 Budget, what was the quantum of relief that the Treasury would provide and would it be one lump sum or spread over several years. The reason for the delay was that there were several stakeholders involved with an army of lawyers and accountants wanting to make sure that their clients’ interests were protected so that Eskom bond holders would not lose out. The…

WITH the country’s real GDP growth now forecast to be 1.9% in 2022 compared to an estimate of 2.1% in February, the government's focus will be on frontline services such as health, education and free basic services. Tabling the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) in Parliament yesterday, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced several measures to support economic growth and reduce fiscal risks. He said the economy was expected to grow an average of 1.6% over the next three years, adding that this was too low to support the country’s developmental goals. “Accordingly, we must take action to put our economy on a higher growth trajectory.” Godongwana said the government debt was projected to be more than R4.7 trillion in the current financial year and debt service cost would average…

UNSAFE abortion is one of the leading causes of maternal death globally and the only one almost entirely preventable. Unsafe abortion kills at least 22 800 people annually and injures another 7 million. Every day, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams worldwide witness first-hand the deaths and injuries caused by unsafe attempts to end unwanted pregnancies. As part of their commitment to reducing maternal mortality in the places where they work, MSF offer safe abortion care at many of their projects. For the last several years, MSF has made a global effort to address obstacles and scale up services. In 2021, their teams provided nearly 35 000 safe abortions in 33 countries. Asha*, a midwife supervisor from East Africa, worked with MSF from 2003 to 2021 and helped drive the evolution…

AFRICA’S grandest gathering and South Africa’s original and much-loved jazz fest – the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) – is back with a bang. After a three-year break due to Covid-19, the CTIJF will continue its 21st anniversary celebrations that were postponed in 2020, with a line-up, new look and several surprises, that celebrate its roots but with a nod to the future, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, on Friday March 17 and Saturday March 18, 2023. South Africa’s queen of Afro-jazz Judith Sephuma is thrilled to be returning to Cape Town to entertain festival goers. “The Cape Town International Jazz Festival holds a special place in my heart. I performed at the very first one and am happy to be at this, the 21st event, to…

AJ Davies, in his 1995 book, We, the Nation: The Conservative Party and the Pursuit of Power, titles the chapter on the Conservative Party and its handling of the UK economy as “The economy is safe in our hands”. After 42 bumpy days in office, former UK prime minister, Liz Truss, has shattered that reputation for the Tories. Britain’s first woman prime minister must be turning in her grave. In fact, according to Davies, it was due to the internal divisions that dominated the party after Margaret Thatcher’s unceremonious dethroning and the view that the UK economy was fast beginning to look unsafe in Conservative hands under John Major that New Labour could trounce the Tories to victory in the general elections of 1997. Little wonder the Tories fear a…

The first formal peace talks between the warring sides in the brutal two-year conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region entered day two in South Africa yesterday. Led by the AU, the negotiations in Pretoria follow a surge in fierce fighting in recent weeks that has alarmed the international community and triggered fears for civilians caught in the crossfire. The talks are being held at South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry headquarters in Pretoria. AU Horn of Africa envoy and Nigerian former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who is the talks’ chief facilitator, was photographed entering the meeting venue yesterday morning. Kenya’s ex-president, Uhuru Kenyatta, who is part of the mediating team, was also seen entering the building. South Africa’s ex-vice president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and a US envoy, Mike Hammer, are also participating. The talks…

PARIS: A rare book given by French president Emmanuel Macron to Pope Francis was never plundered by the Nazis, its seller and authorities in Warsaw said yesterday. Macron gave the pope the first-edition 1796 French translation of German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s Towards Perpetual Peace on Monday. Its title page shows a stamp from a university library in the former Polish city of Lviv, which led to online speculation it might have been stolen by Nazis . Paris dealer Patrick Hatchuel said: “There is no doubt that this book was already in Paris at the turn of the 20th century.” | Reuters…

Moscow: A court in Minsk sentenced an investigative journalist to eight years in prison yesterday, the reclusive country’s Belarusian Association of Journalists said in a statement. The court sentenced Sergei Satsuk, the editor of the Ezhednevnik news website, for “inciting hatred”, “official misconduct” and “accepting bribes”, the press advocacy group said in a statement. The 58-year-old was detained in December 2021 after authorities searched his home and office. He is the latest journalist to be jailed in the authoritarian country, which has been ruled by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994. Satsuk’s colleagues say he is being punished for investigating corruption.…

International climate pledges remain far off-track to limit rising temperatures to 1.5ºC, according to a report released by the UN yesterday, less than two weeks ahead of high-stakes negotiations to tackle global warming. The combined climate pledges of more than 190 nations that signed up to the 2015 Paris climate deal put Earth on track to warm by around 2.5ºC compared to pre-industrial levels by the century’s end. With the planet already battered by climate-enhanced heatwaves, storms and floods after just 1.2ºC of warming, experts say the world is still failing to act with sufficient urgency to curb greenhouse gas emissions. | AFP…

Cape Town Opera’s Foundation Studio has been nominated for an International Opera Award in the category Equal Opportunities and Impact. The 2022 International Opera Awards will be held on November 28 in the Teatro Real in Madrid. Founded in 2012, the International Opera Awards is an annual celebration of excellence in opera around the world that aims to raise the profile of opera as an art form, to recognise and reward success in opera, and to generate funds to provide bursaries for aspiring talent in opera from around the world. Cape Town Opera’s artistic director Magdalene Minnaar said: “To receive this incredible accolade that acknowledges the work our teams do in the communities in and around Cape Town is such an honour. We are delighted.” Cape Town Opera’s Foundation Studio…

People who stutter continue to be oppressed, marginalised ON OCTOBER 22, the world celebrated International Stuttering Awareness Day. International Stuttering Awareness Day (Isad) is a day held each year to create awareness about issues affecting people who stutter, but also to educate the public about the struggles, discrimination, oppression people who stutter encounter at various levels of society. Despite these efforts, people who stutter continue to be of the most oppressed and marginalised groups in society. We believe one of the reasons for this phenomenon is the oppressive communication practices that continue to dominate various spheres of society. Wherever you go there is a demand for fluent speech; may it be at school, university, the workspace – fluent speech is identified as the expected and acceptable way of communication. For…

Catastrophic storms and unforgiving heatwaves devastated many parts of the world this year, with Earth experiencing one of its hottest summers on record. Now, a report from Unicef estimates that nearly all the world’s children – more than 2 billion – will be exposed to high heatwave frequency by 2050. That is about 1.5 billion more children than are exposed now. “The models tell us this is the case, as does empirical lived experience,” Lauren Gifford, a research scientist at the University of Arizona, said in response to the report. She added, “Children now and children who haven’t been born yet are going to exist in the world with very different ways, and some of those ways we can’t even conceive yet.” In the report, Unicef defines high-frequency areas as…

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday postponed an eagerly awaited budget plan due next week, as the youthful new leader got down to business after weeks of political turmoil. Following a meeting of his new cabinet, Sunak engaged in his first parliamentary joust with opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is demanding a snap general election. Sunak, 42, ruled out an early election – not due for at least two years – as he vowed stability and fiscal rectitude following his appointment by King Charles III on Tuesday. He succeeds Liz Truss, who served just 49 days in Downing Street. “We will have to take difficult decisions to restore economic stability and confidence,” Sunak told MPs at his first “Prime Minister’s Questions”. He added that his Chancellor of the Exchequer,…

LAGOS: Nigeria’s main opposition presidential contender yesterday called on the government to set up a flood disaster fund similar to one created to fight the coronavirus pandemic, to help victims hit by the worst floods in a decade. The government has blamed the floods on heavy rain and water released from a dam in neighbouring Cameroon. More than 600 people have been killed, around 1.4 million displaced and 570 000 hectares of farmland damaged or destroyed. Atiku Abubakar said after a trip to oil-producing Bayelsa state, one of the worst hit, that the floods were a reminder of the impact of climate change and urged the government to launch a national emergency relief fund, “similar in scope to what was initiated during the Covid-19 pandemic”. Critics have accused the…

BERLIN: Germany yesterday set out plans to legalise cannabis, in a move promised by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government that would make it one of the first countries in Europe to make weed legal. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach presented a cornerstone paper on planned legislation to regulate the controlled distribution and consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes among adults. Acquiring and possessing up to 20 to 30 grams of recreational cannabis for personal consumption would also be made legal. The coalition government struck an agreement last year to introduce legislation during its four-year term to allow the controlled distribution of cannabis in licensed shops. | Reuters…

THE Springboks are in full-on “Ireland mode” after concluding their three-day training camp in Stellenbosch yesterday, with the match against the No 1-ranked team in the world less than two weeks away. Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus, and the Springbok and SA ‘A’ head coaches, Jacques Nienaber and Mzwandile Stick will announce the travelling squads tomorrow – the Boks will play against Ireland in Dublin on November 5, France in Marseille on November 12, Italy in Genoa on November 19, and England in London on November 26. The SA ‘A’ team will face Munster on Thursday, November 10, and the Bristol Bears a week later on November 17. “It was a fantastic camp, and it offered the coaches an ideal opportunity to get the players to switch their focus…