Indice dei contenuti per 2021-05-10 in Cape Times

NET1 UEPS TECHNOLOGIES’ share price leapt by more than 12 percent on the JSE on Friday despite the group reporting an operating loss of $14.29 million (about R200.7m) for the third-quarter to end-March, slightly up by 1 percent compared to the same quarter last year. The group is confident about its prospects after a difficult 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak. However, the South African-focused financial technology company with a presence in Africa and Asia, said the pandemic did not impact its South African operations as severely during the three and nine months to end-March compared to the last four months of the year to end-June 2020. South Africa was moved by the government to adjusted level 1 of the national lockdown after coming out of the second wave of…

Chevon Booysen Chevon.booysen@inl.co.za GRABOUW residents are adamant that the housing need is at a desperate stage, as a deadline looms for the group of “reclaimers” to vacate the property belonging to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI). This comes as DPWI Minister Patricia de Lille yesterday engaged with the community on land invasions in the area. Chairperson for the Khoi community in Grabouw Mark Matthews said the housing need in Grabouw has gone on for years “with little being done for those on waiting lists and backyarders.” “We are not illegal occupants, we are reclaimers. We understand the municipality has done all they could to assist, but now it is the DPWI’s job to come on board and address the urgent housing issue,” said Matthews. According to Matthews,…

Aishah Cassiem aishah.cassiem@inl.co.za Concerns have been raised over the underbelly of the province’s education system following continuous cases of bribery and corruption by senior officials serving under the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). While the department had last month pointed out the number of officials, teachers and principals disciplined for fraud and theft, the public specifically raised questions over officials who still serve under the WCED even though they had been fingered in corruption. The department has been criticised for protecting a senior official who allegedly bribed a teacher with a position if he co-operated with the department by falsely testifying in a disciplinary hearing against Heathfield High school principal Wesley Neumann. The SAPS, which confirmed the case, said no arrests and charges have been made at this stage as…

Ingredients 100g butter 1 bunch of leeks, sliced 750g pumpkin cubes 4 C (1 litre) vegetable stock 1 C (250ml) fresh breadcrumbs about 60g blue cheese ½ C (125 ml) reduced-fat cream or milk (optional) ¼ tsp (1.25ml) ground nutmeg salt and pepper to taste sugar to taste 12 sage leaves Method Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Generously grease a baking tray. Heat half the butter until bubbling then add the leeks and sauté until softened. Add the pumpkin and cook for five minutes to develop the flavour. Add the stock, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft. Meanwhile, place the breadcrumbs and blue cheese in a food processor and blitz together to form clumpy dampened crumbs. Place the crumbs onto the prepared…

G CONTALDI | Tafelsig THE City of Cape Town is generally regarded as the best municipality in the country. The high incidence of certain basic deficiencies is therefore most disappointing. How accurate is the current billing of municipal accounts? More and more people are complaining of exorbitant increases in their monthly municipal accounts. This increase is due to “increased” water usage, the detail of which appears on account statements. It is especially this detail which serves as indication that these cannot easily be accepted at face value. It is for example questionable how a house with five residents can suddenly use 9 000 litres more water per month. This increase, plus the usual average used, then remains the total average for every subsequent month. This is therefore…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THINGS are heating up in the Little Karoo where a group of 15 church leaders say they condemn the allegations of corruption, mismanagement and divisive politics which prevail in the Kannaland Municipality and their communities. The municipality has hit back, saying the so-called pastors were “unfortunately” implicated in previous investigations which were ongoing. According to the church leaders, the voice of the church has been silent for too long regarding the political management in Kannaland. It comes as Special Investigating Unit (SIU) spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said an investigation was ongoing in the municipality. “On Friday, March 26, 2020, SIU investigators served Section 5(2)(C) notices on officials who were closely involved in the acquisition of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the Kannaland Local Municipality. During the visit at…

EBRAHIM ’EBKOYBIE’ ESSA | Durban IS TECHNOLOGY – the internet, mobile phones, computers, and social media – actually destroying individualism in today’s children? When none of these modern devices were around, our kids came from different families, different backgrounds, different areas. Most of these households were interconnected to a small degree, depending on whether they were apartments, sets of economic houses or separate cottages. The main meeting point for children was school. And since learners were coming from, quite often, completely different backgrounds, they learnt a little to copy words, mannerisms, even some skills from their peers.They obviously must have learnt also to mimic and emulate their parents. Otherwise, they had no other recourse to muster up and fire their imagination, except by reading and listening to stories…

Tensions ran high yesterday in annexed east Jerusalem after hundreds of Palestinians were wounded in a weekend of clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces, sparking global concern that the unrest could spread further. The violence around Jerusalem’s revered Al-Aqsa mosque compound and the Old City, mostly at night, is the worst since 2017, fuelled by a years-long bid by Jewish settlers to take over Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem. The unrest swept parts of the occupied West Bank and a rocket was fired early Sunday from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, with the Israeli army saying it responded with an air strike that struck a Hamas military post. Tunisia’s foreign ministry said it had called for a meeting of the UN Security Council today to discuss the escalating violence…

The head of Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church has said that atrocities amounting to genocide are being committed in Tigray, in his first comments on the conflict in the region that broke out in November and has killed thousands. Abune Mathias, who has been head of the church since 2013, did not say who was responsible for this. He spoke in a video message that was posted on Twitter on Friday by an American religious charity worker. Dennis Wadley, who heads a US-based church group called Bridge of Hope International, said Abune Mathias had asked him to post the video. “He wanted the world to know the truth regarding what was happening in Tigray,” Wadley told Reuters. Fighting erupted in early November in Tigray between federal forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation…

CONAKRY: A landslide at an artisanal gold mine has killed at least 15 people in north-eastern Guinea, the government said yesterday. The disaster took place on Saturday in remote Siguiri province, 800km from the capital, Conakry. The zone holds some of the West African country’s largest gold reserves. The government said it had launched an investigation. The bodies of those killed were recovered and two women were among the casualties, a resident said. The artisanal gold mines of Siguiri are notoriously dangerous, with diggers working in narrow shafts without much protection.…

Riyadh: The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Saudi Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque has recently released pictures of the Islamic relic known as the Black Stone, The Times of Israel reported. Set in a corner of the Kaaba, the ancient building located within the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Black Stone is usually accessible to Muslim worshippers during the annual pilgrimage known as the Hajj. With only those vaccinated against Covid-19 being allowed to perform prayers at the Kaaba, the General Presidency has released the Black Stone’s photos “as part of a series showing a number of holy artefacts that play a role in the Hajj”, the newspaper added.…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za THIRTEEN Struisbaai families are set to return to their homes this week after being evacuated because of flooding in the Cape Agulhas Municipality. The region suffered devastating floods after torrential rains last week, resulting in about 57 families being sheltered in community halls and chalets, or at municipal caravan parks. Four people were reported dead from the storm. Municipal manager Eben Phillips said the municipality was grateful for the goodwill of Samaritans making continuous donations of food and other emergency supplies. “In some instances, especially at the informal settlements, we had issues where people would not leave their homes as they were scared they would lose their belongings. In those instances, we aided with relief efforts – issuing blankets, mattresses and food parcels. At the weekend, a…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@inl.co.za THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said it hoped the speculation relating to the removal of police protection at the Royal Palace was not an attempt to drive a wedge between the ANC-led government and the royal household for “political expediency”. Zulu traditional Prime Minister Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi expressed concern for the safety of the newly named king of the Zulu nation, Misuzulu kaZwelithini, after claims that the SAPS had started withdrawing its VIP protection. The new king is the son of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini and the recently deceased Zulu regent Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu, the sister of King Mswati III of eSwatini. Following his selection on Friday, the new king had been facing threats, and had to be whisked away to safety by armed security personnel. In…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za WHILE the imported Covid-19 variants recently detected in the country were of great concern, behaviour remained the biggest driver of the third wave, experts have said. This comes as the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) sequenced Covid-19 specimens from people with a recent travel history to India, Europe and North America. The institute yesterday confirmed that four of the specimens tested positive for B.1.617.2 (two cases from Gauteng and two from KwaZulu-Natal). The B.1.617.2 variant is one of multiple variants circulating in India. The NICD said all cases had been isolated and contact tracing undertaken. A further 11 people have tested positive for the B.1.1.7 variant dominating infections in Europe and North America, with eight cases in the Western Cape, two in Gauteng…

BARBIE SANDLER | Constantia ONE must congratulate SPCA inspector Mark Syce for his persistence in removing two poor dogs, who had obviously been used in dog fighting, from being chained in a backyard in Eerste River. He refused to leave until back-up came in case the dogs were moved. Can one imagine the pain these poor creatures had been through? They were covered in old scars. One had a torn ear, the other a torn lip. The owner did nothing to help them – just chained them up in the back yard bleeding from their wounds. It is astonishing cruelty by humans to animals! Where have we gone so wrong in life? The sad part is that kids were riding up and down shouting SPCA – in other…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za SITE C residents in Khayelitsha voiced their anger at hate crimes as they rallied behind the family of slain Phelokazi Ndlwana and the LGBTQIA+ community at the weekend. More than a 100 people packed the Ntlanganiso High School hall on Saturday, with some having to stand outside for the memorial service of “a woman who took pride in being a lesbian and an aspiring chef”. What started as a heavily emotional day ended up being a celebration of a young vibrant life through song and dance by activists and friends. Ndlwana was stabbed and killed last weekend just a few steps from her home. She had been at a shebeen with friends when she stepped outside but never returned. Ndlwana’s concerned friends who went to look for…

Okuhle Hlati, Sakhiseni Nxumalo and Vernon Mchunu THE police investigation into the case of the late Anele Tembe, who was Kiernan “AKA” Forbes’s fiancée, remains a death inquest at this stage. The rapper issued a lengthy public statement at the weekend in the wake of reports alleging that “violence and drugs” plagued his relationship with Tembe, fondly known as Nelli. WhatsApp text messages, images and videos showing past incidents were leaked on social media recently. In one of the images shared on social media AKA is seen allegedly entering a bedroom through a broken door, and in another Tembe can be seen with a bag of ice cubes pressesd to her cheek which seemed swollen. According to the reports, footage recorded by Tembe on March 13 and shared with a…

No one, not even the president, is above being taken to the courts. Much can be learnt from how our presidents deal with the experience. Shortly after we became a democracy, president Nelson Mandela came into conflict with one of the last bastions of white apartheid rule, the South African Rugby Football Union, and its chief executive, Louis Luyt. The president believed that fostering sport was a key part of nation building. He appointed a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of racism, nepotism and corruption in Sarfu. Luyt applied to review and set aside this decision. Luyt presented his action as a struggle for Afrikaners to preserve their last cultural bastion. The judge was Willem de Villiers, a veteran judge of the apartheid era - with all that entailed…

CONFIRMATION by the Health Department of the presence in South Africa of new variants from India and the UK is further vindication that the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over. A statement by the department said that the country had 11 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant discovered in the UK, and four cases of the B.1.617.2 variant found in India. This should not come as a surprise, as the rapid spread of the virus last year was a result of globalisation and the ease of travel. As countries ease their restrictions and travel becomes easier, the virus and its new variants will continue to spread. This will remain a challenge for governments for some time to come and will be compounded if citizens disregard their own safety…

British and Scottish politicians yesterday played down the risk of a legal battle over whether Scotland can hold an independence referendum, but provided little clarity as to how London and Edinburgh would resolve their differences on the issue. Pro-independence parties won a majority in the Scottish parliament in elections held on Thursday, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said this gave her a mandate to push ahead with plans for a new vote on independence once the Covid-19 pandemic is over. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party, which is in opposition in Scotland, strongly oppose a referendum, saying the issue was settled in 2014. With speculation mounting that the British government would go to court to stop a referendum, senior minister Michael Gove was asked during TV interviews…

WASHINGTON: Former US President Barack Obama’s family dog Bo, a male Portuguese Water Dog with a mop of blackband white fur who became a familiar playful sight around the White House, has died. Obama announced the death late on Saturday, saying the dog had been “a constant, gentle presence in our lives – happy to see us on our good days, our bad days and everyday in between”. “We will miss him dearly,” he said on Twitter. His wife Michelle said in a tweet that Bo, 12, had been suffering from cancer.…

NEW DELHI: India’s Covid-19 cases rose by more than 400 000 for the fourth consecutive day yesterday, the ministry of health and family welfare said. The 403 738 new infections brought the country’s total tally to 22 296 414. The death toll has increased by 4 092 in the past 24 hours, taking the overall number to 242 362. The number of recoveries has grown by 386 444 to 18 317 404 over the given period, the ministry added. India, the second worst-hit country in the world in terms of the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, has been witnessing a spike in the daily infection rate since mid-February.…

DAMASCUS: A fire erupted at a major oil refinery in war-torn Syria due to a leak, the country’s state news agency Sana reported yesterday. The blaze took place at a distillation unit as a result of a pump leak in the Homs oil refinery in central Syria, dpa news agency quoted the Sana report as saying. The agency carried images of smoke billowing from the facility as firefighters were trying to put out the blaze. Sana, citing a local firefighting official, reported that the blaze was later brought under control without causing casualties. The cooling process was under way.…

Zaahier Adams TS Galaxy 0 Mamelodi Sundowns 1 (Shalulile 17) Peter Shalulile's 11th goal of the season enabled Mamelodi Sundowns to take one step closer to retaining their league crown yesterday at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. The defending champions, who are aiming for their fourth straight championship, have stretched their lead to seven points with their 1-0 victory over TS Galaxy. The Brazilians now require just two more victories from the final four games of the season to secure the title. The home side were well aware of the danger Sundowns posed in attack, particularly the central figure of their former teammate Shalulile, who has been in superb form since transferring to Chloorkop at the beginning of the season. Promise Mkhuma delivered a scorching ball into the box…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za JSE-listed Orion Minerals has obtained an urgent interdict from the Northern Cape High Court in Kimberley to prevent disruption at its Prieska copper-zinc mine following several violent protests, the company said on Friday. Orion approached the court after gun-wielding protesters demanded that the company appoint a specific contractor, which failed to win a competitive bid for a construction management contract adjudicated by Orion in a fair and commercial manner. Chief executive Errol Smart said on Friday that the company respected the constitutional right to protest but this did not extend to armed threats and the possibility of behaviour that would put lives as well as livelihoods at risk. “These protests are ill-conceived and self-defeating: they will not create more local jobs or opportunities, rather the protesters will…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za CASES per capita (per 100 000 people) are highest in South Africa, which accounts for more than half of all reported cases in Africa, the latest Partnership for Evidence-Based Covid-19 Response report titled “Responding to Covid-19 in Africa: Using Data to Find a Balance” has found. The aim of the report is to help governments determine the acceptability, impact and effectiveness of public health and social measures (PHSMs) for Covid-19, including their secondary impacts on health, food security and the economy. The report drew on findings from a telephone poll of more than 24 000 adults in 18 AU member states conducted between August 4 and 17, 2020, as well as social, economic, epidemiological, population movement, media and security data. “The total number of reported cases per…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za A LAMBERTS Bay mother has been stabbed to death in a suspected domestic dispute, which left residents reeling in shock on Mother’s Day. Police said a suspect was arrested. “This office can confirm that a suspect in his 30s was arrested, after he stabbed his 28-year-old girlfriend to death in Lang Street, Lambert’s Bay, during an apparent domestic dispute yesterday afternoon. Once charged, he is expected to appear in Clanwilliam Magistrate’s Court on a charge of murder,” police spokesperson Andrè Traut said. Community worker Beverly Schalk Leone said drugs were at the centre of recent killings in the area. “No one expected this, they have four kids together. It has been a long time since something like this has happened in our community. On Thursday, a young…

KEVIN MEINEKE | Hout Bay I REFER to the article: “Moves to immediately end captive-bred lion industry welcomed.” (Cape Times, May 3). In recent years South Africans have risen almost as one man to condemn the illegal killing of rhinos and the subsequent export of their horns and have called for stricter measures to protect the rhino. To a lesser extent the trade in lion parts, especially bones and the shameful hunting of ’canned’ lions has also been condemned. It is thus good news indeed to read that the government has suddenly found the courage and the will to clamp down on the lion trade. More recently, public awareness of the cruel trade of pangolins has increased. Various organisations are now trying to prevent this trade and…

Athandile Siyo athandile.siyo@inl.co.za STAFF had to be transported home and night security organised after a robbery that led to the temporary closure of the Crossroads 1 Clinic on Thursday. Patients and staff were robbed of their belongings and the suspects also got away with the facility manager’s phone, laptop, dongle, jewellery and the clinic keys. At the time of the incident the district driver doing his deliveries was also robbed of his personal vehicle car keys, wedding band, home keys, car key tags, and a bag with personal belongings. The vehicle was taken but later retrieved. Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said the incident happened at around 10.30 am. “Two suspects perpetrated a robbery at a clinic in Old Klipfontein Road in Old Crossroads. “The suspects threatened staff and patients with…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE family of the Northriding Secondary School learner who was allegedly hit, sprayed with sanitiser and called the k-word by an educator have vowed to get justice. An Afrikaans teacher at the school was suspended on Thursday following an alleged racist incident in which the female educator allegedly hit a Grade 8 learner and called other learners “baboons, drug dealers and k*****s”. Education department spokesperson Steve Mabona told the media at the school on Friday that initial investigations indicated that an altercation over noise-making occurred on Thursday morning between a Grade 8 pupil and a teacher. “The educator is then alleged to have sprayed the learner with sanitiser after he left the classroom to report the matter to another teacher in the neighbouring class. It is alleged…

Mushtak Parker IT IS just as well President Cyril Ramaphosa did not issue the customary May Day message marking International Labour Day on May 1 – a day when workers of the world unite and commemorate the world of work! Instead, he left it to his Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi to roll call the “meaningful changes to the lives of workers” in employment conditions, protections and rights during the ANC’s 27-year rule. Never mind that his Troika of Ministers – Tito Mboweni at the Treasury, Senzo Mchunu at Public Service and Administration and Nxesi – are collectively embroiled in a battle of nerves in the latest negotiations with unions representing over 1.2 million state employees. The Treasury proposed a three-year wage freeze. Unions want an inflation-proof 7.1%…

Dozens of young girls were buried yesterday on a desolate hilltop cemetery in Kabul, a day after a secondary school was targeted in the bloodiest attack in Afghanistan in over a year. A series of blasts outside the school during a peak holiday shopping period claimed more than 50 people’s lives, mostly female pupils, and wounded more than 100 in Dasht-e-Barchi, a west Kabulsuburb populated mostly by Hazara Shiites. The government blamed the Taliban for the carnage, but the insurgents denied responsibility and issued a statement saying the nation needed to “safeguard and look after educational centres and institutions”. Saturday’s blasts came as the US military continues to pull out its last 2 500 troops from the violence-racked country despite faltering peace efforts between the Taliban and Kabul to…

A leading Iraqi anti-government activist was killed early yesterday, security sources and activists said, sending supporters of a protest movement on to the streets to demand an end to bloodshed. Ihab al-Wazni, a co-ordinator of protests in the Shia shrine city of Karbala, was a vocal opponent of corruption, the stranglehold of Tehran-linked armed groups and Iran’s influence in Iraq. He was shot overnight outside his home by men on motorbikes, in an ambush caught on surveillance cameras. His death was confirmed by security forces and activists. Wazni narrowly escaped death in December 2019, when men on motorbikes used silenced weapons to kill fellow activist Fahem al-Tai as he was dropping him off at home in Karbala, where pro-Tehran armed groups are legion. Both were key figures in a national…

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, 78, has been caught offering investors access to the Kremlin in exchange for personal gain, according to a Sunday Times and Channel 4 investigation. The embarassing claims come at a time of disastrous relations between London and Moscow. Prince Michael told undercover reporters posing as investors from South Korea in a virtual meeting that for £10 000 (R196 517) a day he could make “confidential” representations to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s entourage. He could also give the company a royal endorsement in a recorded speech for $200 000, with his Kensington Palace home as a backdrop. In a recorded meeting with the undercover reporters, his business partner Lord Reading called the prince “Her Majesty’s unofficial ambassador to Russia … we wouldn’t…

WASHINGTON: The USS Monterey has intercepted a massive shipment of illicit weapons that were being transited through the North Arabian Sea, the Fifth Fleet of the US Navy said. “Thousands of illicit weapons interdicted by guided-missile cruiser @USSMonterey (CG 61) from a stateless dhow in international waters of the North Arabian Sea on May 6-7,” the Fifth Fleet tweeted on Saturday, posting a video showing the weaponry. According to the US Navy, the shipment included Russian-made anti-tank missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, PKM machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.…

Eshlin Vedan A thrilled Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila coach Dylan Kerr hailed his troops for their organized and polished display in their 1-0 Nedbank Cup final win over Chippa United at the Free State Stadium on Saturday night. Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo’s long-range shot in the 27th minute proved to be the only goal of the game as TTM secured their first ever major trophy, which also earns them the right to play in the CAF Confederation Cup next season. “We did make mistakes in the second half which gave them a chance but we defended like heroes. Credit to Mpho Maleka and David Mathebula as they have been brilliant. We’ve got our reward.” The win would have been a relief and confidence booster for TTM who have had a roller-coaster first season…

Manchester United recovered to beat Aston Villa 3-1 away in the Premier League yesterday as Bruno Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani scored in the second half to put on hold the title celebrations of champions-elect Manchester City. The result left United second on 70 points from 34 games, 10 behind City who have played a game more and missed a chance to secure the title on Saturday after they suffered a 2-1 home defeat by Chelsea. It also stretched United’s unbeaten away league run to 25 games but came at a cost as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed captain Harry Maguire may be ruled out of the Europa League final against Spanish side Villarreal on 26 May. “It might be a few weeks or a month, we don’t know,”…