Indice dei contenuti per 2021-08-31 in Cape Times

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za SUPER Group shareholders will be delighted after the group yesterday announced its first dividend since 2007 of 47 cents per share for the year to June 30. Chief financial officer Colin Brown said in a telephone interview that the divi- dend followed an outstanding performance by the group for the year to June 30, in spite of the Covid-19 crisis and other challenges in the countries in which it operates, with headline earnings per share up 88.8 percent to 285.4c. “The past 12 years has seen shareholders’ equity grow from R1.2 billion at June 2009 to the current level of R13.8bn, which represents a compound annual growth rate of 22.6 percent,” said group chief executive Peter Mountford. During this time, financial leverage, represented by…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-Leigh.Solomons@inl.co.za PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has said the board of state-owned entity (SOE) Denel had made significant inroads in restructuring it. Gordhan, however, said there was no “quick fix” to the aftermath of state capture. The board was established in 2018 following Gordhan’s appointment to the portfolio, and was tasked with stabilising the entity, rooting out corruption and restoring the financial standing of the SOE. In his response to questions by DA MP Michéle Clarke, Gordhan indicated that one of Denel’s successes was the cumulative cost savings in excess of R1 billion from April 2018 to September 2020. This, he said, was mainly driven by a 27% reduction in employee numbers. In 2019, the board approved Denel’s turnaround plan with the aim of refocusing the business to…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za FREDDIE Jantjies, 79, has died with a broken heart after trying for months to find his wife of 46 years, Lorraine, who went missing on Valentine’s Day. Prior to his recent death, Jantjies lived in hope and tried his best to find her so that they could be reunited. Despite an extensive search, she is still nowhere to be found and, along with that pain, Jantjies died of natural causes last week. He had prostate cancer and had recently suffered a stroke. Lorraine, who has Alzheimer’s, went missing in Genadendal on Valentine’s Day. Jantjies had gone to the clinic on that day to collect his chronic medication and when he returned, she was gone. Lorraine’s nephew, Albert Adams, said: “Since then his health just kept deteriorating, he…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za IN A landmark judgment described as the “verdict to break the culture of silencing victims”, Reverend June Dolley-Major has come out victorious in her fight to publicly name her alleged rapist. The Western Cape High Court found in her favour – stating that the fears of irreparable reputational harm feared by her accused, Anglican church reverend Melvin Booysen, were non-existent. The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC), who were admitted as a friend of the court in July, said the verdict breaks the culture of silencing victims. Booysen had approached the court earlier this year, to stop Dolley-Major from naming him on social media, citing that “defamatory statements” had been made against him in the public domain, after she named him as her alleged rapist. The alleged rape took…

SHARON Rameetse, a young woman from Limpopo, has found a way to incorporate fashion into an unconventional sector – the medical field. In June last year, she founded Scrubs 4 Medics, a business that manufactures and supplies medical scrubs, doctor jackets, and laboratory coats, with a stylish twist. Scrubs 4 Medics offers medical attire made of refreshing and colourful designs with the aim of “infusing style with professionalism”. As a recent graduate of a Master’s in chemical engineering, Sharon is often asked why her business is in the medical field. Her business idea sparked while listening to the complaints of her friends in the medical sector. They struggled to acquire scrubs in Polokwane and had to resort to sourcing one-size-only scrubs from retailers in Joburg. Scrubs 4 Medics is Sharon’s…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE ANC Women’s League is reeling in shock after an active member of the party, Phumeza Nomzazi, was killed in a hail of bullets, in her Khayelitsha home at the weekend. Nomzazi was murdered when two suspects allegedly entered the house in Nkove Road, Harare, Khayelitsha, on Sunday, and opened fire. According to ward councillor Anele Gabuza, while the motive was still unknown, it was believed the suspects had been waiting for her. Nomzazi was also the ANC candidate for the upcoming local elections, for Ward 98 in Khayelitsha. “Reports from the family state that Nomzazi had left the house to fix a car tire, so she could take her daughter to work. Just after she returned and entered the house, two armed men went inside and…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THE fraud and money laundering case involving DA councillor Nora Grose has been postponed until the end of next month for representations. Grose appeared with her co-accused, Reuben Swartz, at the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court yesterday. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the two were out on bail of R10 000 each. “Nora Grose and Reuben Swartz appeared at the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court today. They are charged with fraud and money laundering. Their case has been postponed to September 29 for the accused to make representations. Swartz also appeared alone on two other cases – fraud and corruption. The two are out on bail of R10 000 each,” Ntabazalila said. Investigations allegedly revealed that Swartz, the Atlantis pastor and chairperson of a…

Son of Fort Calata, one of Cradock Four, was only three when his father was murdered Koert Meyer NO PARENT can bear to become aware, day after day, of the ordeals other parents’ children have gone through, and are still going through, at the hands of heartless folks who believe it is right to kill and abduct them, and so little is done to stop them. From the beginning of time this misfortune that befell them has gripped humanity. When Christ died on the cross, his mother was there, not able to help him. The day that unknown South American freedom fighter was executed he had written that world-famous poem, Mother was there. And he ended it off by comparing his ordeal with that of Christ’s mother who was…

A US drone strike targeting the Islamic State killed 10 civilians in Kabul, including several small children, family members said yesterday. The dead were all from a single extended family and were getting out of a car on Sunday when the strike hit a nearby vehicle, said a neighbour who saw the attack. A woman’s 2-year-old daughter and three of her brothers were killed in the blast, a relative said, adding that eight children and two young adults were killed in the attack. The Taliban condemned the attack and announced it is investigating allegations of civilian casualties. US Central Command said the strike on Sunday destroyed an Islamic State car bomb that posed an “imminent” threat to Kabul’s airport. “We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike…

Paul “Pen” Farthing was so desperate to get out of Afghanistan with his charity’s staff – and dozens of dogs and cats he vowed to rescue – that he appealed to a Taliban leader. “Dear Sir; my team (and) my animals are stuck at airport circle,” Farthing, a former British Royal Marine who runs the Nowzad animal charity in Afghanistan, tweeted to Taliban spokesperson and negotiator Suhail Shaheen. “We have a flight waiting. Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy?” The days-long evacuation mission, dubbed “Operation Ark”, ended on Sunday in what Farthing called a “partial success”. He arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport on a privately chartered flight with his animals, but no staff. “We have just unloaded the last of our dogs and cats…

Lagos: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has called for communities to unite to ease tensions after violence in a flashpoint central city killed dozens of people. Jos, in Plateau State, has in the past suffered from clashes between Muslim and Christian communities, although local officials say recent attacks are the work of criminals rather than religious violence. At least 23 Muslim travellers were killed earlier this month when their bus convoy was attacked outside Jos. Police suspected a Christian militia. Just over a week later, gunmen descended on a predominantly Christian village on the outskirts of the city, shooting dead at least 18 people and setting homes on fire.…

Paris: The world has passed the grim threshold of 4.5 million Covid-19 deaths, according to an AFP tally yesterday as the virulent Delta variant wreaks havoc globally. Since the outbreak was first recorded in China in December 2019, the virus has killed a total of 4 500 620 people, the tally of official sources revealed. Some 10 000 deaths are reported every day in the world, a much lower figure than the highs of January when an average of 14 800 people were being killed daily. But the figure is much higher than at the start of July when some 7 800 daily deaths were registered. With an average of 1 290 deaths per day over the past week, the US has once…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za “I AM a big boy now.” That’s how new Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams feels after new coach Hugo Broos appointed the SuperSport United goalkeeper as captain ahead of Al Ahly superstar Percy Tau for the two Fifa World Cup 2022 qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Ghana this coming week. “I think Ronwen has the experience. He is a man that can communicate, that’s very important. On the other side we have Percy, he is obviously more quiet. He has experience of playing in several European leagues, and has the respect of all the players,” Broos said of his new leadership group. Williams, 29, made his national team debut back in 2014 against Brazil, collecting 19 appearances over the seven-year period. He is, though, an experienced leader, having…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za SHARES in Sun International were firmer on the JSE yesterday after South Africa’s luxury hotel, casino and online sports betting operator turned the corner with less debt and improved income from its operations during the half-year ended June 2021 Sun International, which operates Sun City, Table Bay Hotel and the Boardwalk among others, announced a more than 51 percent increase in income from operations to R3.8 billion from R2.5bn a year earlier with adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebidta) to R739 million from R60m. The share price leapt to a high of more than 4 percent yesterday, before moderating to 0.72 percent higher at R18.24 on the JSE. Debt was slashed to R7.6bn from R11.1bn a year earlier,…

IANS The choices we make every day affect the environment, the climate and other species. Many of us may not realise this; but any time you drive somewhere you could have walked, thrown something you could have reused or left electronics plugged overnight, you negatively impact on the planet. The effects of such actions may not be noticeable immediately, but they have long-term, irreversible consequences. Living sustainably helps meet our needs without impacting the planet or compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Here, we explore some easy and practical ways to get you started living more sustainably: Choose reusable alternatives Single-use products, particularly plastic ones cause harm to wildlife and the environment. We can prevent this by choosing reusable alternatives. Start small by using cloth…

From page 1 There was a publication on Friday of data on pre-print server medRxiv that researchers from the NICD, SA Medical Research Council and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), among others, had identified a potential variant of interest (VOI) in C.1.2. This lineage was first identified in May this year and evolved from C.1, one of the lineages that dominated the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in South Africa but last detected in January. C.1.2 contains multiple substitutions within the spike protein, which have been associated with increased transmissibility and reduced neutralisation sensitivity. “We see consistent increases in the number of C.1.2 genomes in South Africa on a monthly basis, where in May C.1.2 accounted for 0.2% of genomes sequenced, in June 1.6% and in July…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za THE Life Esidimeni inquest into the deaths of 144 patients who died in 2016 after being moved to various NGOs in Gauteng yesterday heard that 93 deaths occurred the year before. The inquest yesterday heard evidence from former Life Esidimeni managing director Morgan Mkhatshwa, who was examined by former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu’s legal representative, Laurence Hodes. His questions focused on attempting to help clean Mahlangu’s image. He also focused on the argument that Mahlangu could not be held responsible for the deaths that took place after patients were moved. Hodes asked Mkhatshwa about the deaths that had been observed at Life Esidimeni over the years while the state’s mentally-ill patients were under the organisation’s care. Hodes put it to Mkhatshwa that reports from the Gauteng…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za LITTLE Imthandile Swartbooi’s death could have been prevented, his family said, as they consult lawyers over the City’s liability. The 2-year-old died on Sunday after falling and drowning in an open sewage drain that had been without a lid for more than a month. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said they had opened an inquest. “The body has been sent for an autopsy to determine the cause of death,” he said. According to the toddler’s uncle, Malusi Swartbooi, another child who lives three doors away also fell into the same sewage drain but was rescued in time. “We were gathered here as a family in the afternoon and the child’s mother went to monitor him because he was playing inside the yard with other children. “She came back…

IT’S critical to understand that in the final analysis the capitalist system and the economic- and land- and property-ownership of South Africa is ultimately not about individuals. While the Zuma saga and the Zondo Commission (Zondo himself is most probably guilty given the signed affidavit of ANC youth activist Phadima Fukula on March 30, which charged the Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and Zondo with bribery and corruption in the ANC’s 2017 ‘CR17’ campaign. This included other leading ANC figures, with Fukula receiving constant death threats and he has disappeared since April 7), have occupied much of the mainstream South African news, the issue of Marikana and the role of white (and minority elite black) capital has been conveniently obscured. The fundamental economic injustice against the predominantly black working class…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE Pretoria parents accused of abusing their baby are expected to know their fate later this week. Named Baby T to protect her identity, the child was just 2 months old when she was taken to hospital for the first time with several broken ribs. She had more than 30 fractures when she was back in hospital three months later. The mother, 22, and father, 24, are facing child abuse charges as well as an attempted murder charge in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. According to the prosecution, Baby T was so severely injured by her parents that they should have foreseen that she could have died. A doctor who examined the baby during her second stint in hospital five months after her premature birth earlier told…

A brave woman, who was shot 12 times because of her honesty in uncovering corruption, was laid to rest in Phoenix,KwaZulu-Natal. The brutal and tragic killing of Babita Deokaran was an act of savagery that must be condemned by the nation and it’s law-abiding citizens. If the government does not protect whistle-blowers and their identities, murderous assaults like these will become common. Our march against corruption stumbles on flawed law execution. The NPA needs to extend every possible protection to whistle-blowers as theirs is an altruistic act. Their protection is a necessary element of coherent strategy to combat corruption, which includes other measures to create an ethical culture in the public and financial sectors. It was a well-known investigative journalist who said: “The way to right wrongs is to turn…

KWAZULU-NATAL Premier Sihle Zikalala’s failure to impose an appropriate sanction on Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane for defying Covid-19 protocols is a serious blow to the government’s efforts to fight the killer virus. Video footage went viral on social media last week showing Simelane celebrating her birthday and appearing without wearing a mask or practising physical distancing. Announcing his sanction at the weekend, Zikalala said the MEC regretted the failure of guests at the party, including herself, to wear masks. He also ordered that Simelane should within seven days issue a public apology for having been at an event where there was flouting of Covid-19 regulations. Zikalala also announced that 50% of the MEC’s salary would be docked and donated to NGOs involved in the fight against Covid-19 in the Amajuba…

The World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday that it feared another 236 000 Covid-19 deaths in Europe by December 1, expressing concern about stagnating vaccination rates and low uptake in poorer countries. “Last week, there was an 11 percent increase in the number of deaths in the region – one reliable projection is expecting 236 000 deaths in Europe, by December 1,” said WHO Europe director Hans Kluge. Europe has registered around 1.3 million Covid deaths to date. Of the WHO Europe’s 53 member states, 33 have registered an incidence rate greater than 10 percent in the past two weeks, Kluge said. High virus transmission rates across the continent were “deeply worrying, particularly in the light of low vaccination uptake in priority populations in a…

Ed Asner, who played a gruff newsman for laughs and for drama in the classic TV series The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off Lou Grant in the 1970s and 1980s and was honored with seven Emmy Awards, died on Sunday at age 91, his family said. Asner, whose diverse credits included a key voice role in the 2009 animated film Up, died at his home surrounded by his family, his publicist said. Asner was known for his liberal politics and his stint as Screen Actors Guild president in the 1980s when he criticised US involvement in Central America during the administration of a previous head of the actors’ union, president Ronald Reagan.…

Beijing: Beijing has banned written exams for 6- and 7-year-olds, as part of sweeping education reforms aimed at relieving pressure on pupils and parents in China’s hyper-competitive school system. China’s exam-oriented system previously required students to take exams from Grade 1 onwards. The exams culminated in the feared university entrance exam at age 18 known as the gaokao, where a single score can determine a child’s life trajectory. “Too frequent exams … which cause students to be overburdened and under huge exam pressure”, have been axed by the Ministry of Education, stated the new guidelines released yesterday.…

WASHINGTON: A UN watchdog report that North Korea appears to have restarted a nuclear reactor reflects an urgent need for dialogue and the US is seeking to address the issue with Pyongyang, a senior administration officials said yesterday. “This report underscores the urgent need for dialogue and diplomacy so we can achieve the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” the official said. “We continue to seek dialogue with the DPRK so we can address this reported activity and the full range of issues related to denuclearisation.”…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za MAS REAL ESTATE, the retail property investor in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), has resumed dividends despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and de- clared a dividend of 5.93 euro cents (R1.02) a share for the year to June 30. The group had declined to pay an interim due to Covid-19, and the pandemic was not yet over and vaccination rates in the group’s markets were low compared to Western European averages. However, the group said yesterday that the business had returned to “significant profitability” – it had managed to deal with the Covid-19 fallout in its markets and the group was benefiting from good liquidity. On the JSE, the share price increased 1.68 percent to R18.76 around midday yesterday. Moreover, in its main market, Romania, gross…

Shania Twain’s second marriage has been an “incredible restrengthening of her confidence”. The 55-year-old singer has been married to Frederic Thiebaud since 2011, and she feels “very grateful” to have found love again after her split from first husband Robert John Lange. Speaking about her divorce, she said: “The silver lining during all of that was falling into love with somebody (Frederic). “He has been an incredible support through those difficult times. My second marriage has been an incredible restrengthening of my confidence, of my will to even want to sing again. “It is just amazing, the power of love, and I am very grateful to have found that again. I had been going along and enduring so much of what I had lost for a very long time. “Finding…

Staff writer WITH an average score of 61%, gender attitudes in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are gradually changing for the better, but evidence of deep-seated patriarchal attitudes is still strong. The recent findings of the Southern African Gender Progress Study (GPS), released yesterday, found that while 60% of women and men in the SADC region agree or strongly agree that “women and men should be treated the same”, 68% agree or strongly agree that “a woman should obey her husband”. More than 34 000 women and men of all age groups in 15 SADC countries participated in the study between January 2019 and May this year. The GPS is administered by country focal networks of the Southern African Gender Protocol Alliance co-ordinated by Gender Links. Relatively low…

Sihle Mavuso and Kailene Pillay TWO people appeared in separate magistrate’s courts yesterday for allegedly instigating the unrest that led to looting and deaths in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last month. One of the accused was granted bail, while the other will remain behind bars for a week pending a bail application. The pair was arrested at the weekend in connection with the looting and burning of Brookside Mall in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. A woman who allegedly used her social media accounts to incite violence and encourage looting was granted bail yesterday. It was alleged that 36-year-old Zamaswazi Zinhle Majozi, known as “Sphithiphithi Evaluator” on Twitter, incited violence via her social media posts under the username @_AfricanSoil. Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said her posts allegedly resulted in the looting…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za HEALTH authorities are on high alert following the detection of the highly mutated coronavirus strain, C.1.2. In a media briefing last night, experts from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said C.1.2 has been detected in all provinces in South Africa at relatively low frequency since May. While the C.1.2 lineage shares a few common mutations with the Beta and Delta variants, the new lineage is between 44-59 mutations away from the original Wuhan virus. NICD Principal Medical Scientist Jinal N Bhiman said this has raised alarm. “While the Delta variant continues to dominate infection, C.1.2 has been detected at low frequencies, less than 3% of sequences. “It shares some mutations with the other variants of concern (VOC) or variants of interest (VOI), but also unique…

Ingredients Method 4 cups flour 1 pack yeast 2 tbs of sugar 1 tsp salt 500ml lukewarm water 2 tbs melted butter ¼ cup sweetcorn Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix well. Stir in the butter and then add water. Using your hands, mix until a dough forms (the dough should not be sticky or dry). Place the dough in a clean steel bowl, cover with a cloth, and put it in a warm area for 45 minutes to prove. After 45 minutes, the dough should have risen twice its initial size. Pound it down and then add the sweetcorn and mix well. Form a ball with the dough and place it in a steel bowl pre-greased with butter or oil. Place the bowl in…

Robin-Lee Francke robin.francke@inl.co.za AS SNOWFALL hit parts of the Western Cape over the weekend, Capetonians flocked to areas such as Ceres and the Matroosberg Reserve to catch a glimpse of the blanketed areas and play in the snow. Hundreds of people on social media couldn’t wait to post pictures of the snowmen, snowballs and angels they made. Ceres resident Caylyn Arendse, 30, said it was the third time she had experienced the snow, but this was “the best yet”. “I was in awe of the snow. It was such a nice experience and the snow was thick. One could play and even build an Olaf,” Arendse said. Olaf is a fictional snowman character in Disney’s Frozen franchise. Arendse said Ceres was extremely busy and her friends and family took about…

Staff writer TRADE movement FairPlay has bemoaned the government’s decision not to compensate poultry farmers for their chickens being culled during bird flu outbreaks, saying the decision would hamper control measures in the future. In a statement, the not-for-profit trade movement said it noted that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) was compensating for sick birds culled, but not those culled by official directive because they had been in contact with or near infected birds. It said farmers who knew they might have to kill some or all of their flocks if they report an outbreak, may be tempted to keep quiet as a result. The value of culled birds could be around R1.5 billion, it said. “There was little or no compensation in the 2017…

Thandisizwe Mgudlwa “VOTERS create politicians and then the latter run all our lives, up or down, over the cliff – as in the folktale about the nation of frogs who wanted a king. They asked the stork to be the king and he was happy to oblige: he began to gobble his subjects one by one.” – Es’kia Mphahlele, 1977 One is often reminded of this quote when I think of poor leadership and tyranny committed by elected leaders from across the globe, dead or alive. It sure is very interesting to learn what leads nations to produce the likes of Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, Augusto Pinochet, Benitto Mussolini and stuff like that. Many would agree that these men are historical “factory faults” who…

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has extended a lockdown in Auckland by two weeks, while officials reported the country’s first death linked to the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. New Zealand had been largely virus- free for months, bar a small number of cases in February, until an outbreak of the Delta variant imported from Australia prompted Ardern to order a snap nationwide lockdown on August 17. Infections in the outbreak have reached 562 but the number of daily new cases dropped to 53 yesterday, the lowest over the past five days. “We all feel encouraged that our number is lower,” Ardern said. “The job is not yet done. We do need to keep going.” Around 1.7 million Aucklanders will remain in strict level 4 lockdown for another two weeks, while…

LOS ANGELES: Six years after he quit his satirical The Daily Show, Jon Stewart is returning to television next month with a new venture looking at current affairs in depth. Apple said yesterday that The Problem With Jon Stewart will launch on its Apple TV+ streaming platform on September 30 and sees Stewart taking a deep dive on a single issue of national importance. In each of the one-hour episodes, Stewart, 58, will hold discussions with people affected by a particular topic and talk about “tangible steps that can lead to a solutionary path forward”, Apple said. The show will appear every other week and will be accompanied by a weekly podcast with the same name. It will include “lots of jokes”, Apple said. Stewart’s irreverent brand of political and…

LEIPZIG: He was once a minister in Afghanistan but he quit, fed up with the corruption. Now in Germany, Sayed Sadaat is making a living delivering meals as a bicycle courier. For six hours on weekdays and from noon to 10pm on Saturdays and Sundays, Sadaat dons his distinctive orange coat and big square backpack, shuttling pizzas or other orders to customers. “There is no shame in the job at all. Work is work,” he said. “If there is a job, it means there is public demand… someone has to do it,” he said. Sadaat is one of thousands of Afghans who have found a home in Germany over the last years. His job begins at noon when he starts to deliver lunches.…