Indice dei contenuti per 2021-09-21 in Cape Times

From page 1 The document was then distributed by Rasool, who accused Marais of deliberately withholding valuable information from the union’s clubs. The latest casualty of the infighting and boardroom dramas is Peter Jooste. Jooste, who ran for president against Marais in 2018, handed in his resignation on Friday, becoming the latest member of the WPRFU executive committee to do so. His resignation follows other departures such as Kevin Kiewitz and Spencer King, while Junaid Moerat and Mario Williams have been suspended. Williams challenged his suspension in the Western Cape High Court on Friday, but was told he had to face a WPRFU disciplinary hearing on Thursday. Moerat also challenged his suspension and succeeded in halting his disciplinary process. His case in the high court is ongoing. The outcome of…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za UCT’S Senate is proceeding with an electronic ballot vote on the proposal for mandatory vaccination for staff and students. University spokesperson Elijah Moholola said the institution’s Senate considered a proposal on mandatory vaccination at a meeting last Friday. According to the Student Representative Council (SRC), more than 130 of UCT’s top professors and academics have endorsed the proposal. “Senate discussed and deliberated on this complex matter fully, taking into consideration a range of views. “Senate will proceed to conduct voting on the matter via electronic ballot. UCT will provide further updates once the electronic voting by Senate has taken place,” Moholola said yesterday. Any final decision on a matter of policy for the university would have to be a decision of the university Council, he added. “If…

Wynona Louw wynona.louw@inl.co.za WESTERN Province Rugby Football Union president Zelt Marais faced a ‘motion of no confidence’ at a special general meeting held last night following a tumultuous past six months in office, riddled with legal and financial quagmires. The latest involves his appointment of a ‘strategic committee’ without the input of the union’s constituents. The meeting came after Marais allegedly sidelined the union’s constituents in decision-making processes. Following the formation of a joint WPRFU and SA Rugby advisory committee to regain some stability in the embattled union, Marais was last month accused of disobeying the instructions of the advisory committee. SA Rugby has since withdrawn from the committee. On Saturday, Western Province Professional Rugby (WPPR) chairman Ebrahim Rasool sent out a scathing press release in which he addressed key…

Staff writers JACOB Zuma says he remains a victim of a “constitutional dictatorship” and has vowed to fight on. Speaking publicly for the first time since his release on medical parole, the former president said the country was in the process of changing from a constitutional democracy to a constitutional dictatorship. In a statement released by his foundation following the Constitutional Court’s Friday decision to dismiss his application to rescind its judgment, Zuma said many people were blinded by what he called constitutional dictatorship because they had been successfully hypnotized by a long-standing anti-Zuma narrative. He said it was convenient that the laws of the country were “repeatedly bent and manipulated when dealing with Zuma”. It began when former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela made a recommendation that a commission…

S Myerson | Cape Town SATURDAY being such a wonderful day, my wife and I decided to take a long walk and have lunch out. On our way back, we were walking through De Waal Park (which is looking magnificent) when my wife started to feel ill. We are senior citizens. Fortunately for us, an SAPS van from Cape Town Central was in the park, so I approached one of the officers and asked if he could give either my wife or both of us a lift home. The officer, a Sergeant Texeira (I hope that is his name), said he could not give us a lift in a police vehicle but said that he would phone the station and see what he could arrange. About 10 minutes…

Rev Steven-John Bam | Southfield PRESIDENT Ramaphosa announced the commencement of adjusted level 2. This journey of transition within the context of dealing with Covid-19 as a country has become a regular occurrence. The journey of pain and loss, on the contrary, has not been so simple and straightforward. The footprint of death has left its mark. Many families are picking up the pieces of their broken hearts and their disturbed realities. This valley of the shadow of death has been long, continuous and arduous. This has been a tough season. Staying in this valley though is not an option. Moving forward step by step and day by day is our only choice. In the words of Vicki Harrison, grief is like the ocean – it comes on…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za A COMMUTER’S claim that negligence on the part of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) caused him to fall from a moving train shortly before it reached a station, has been dismissed by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. Justice Zihor told the court he fell from the train in July, 2017 while it was approaching the platform at Kopanong station in Soshanguve, and as a result, he broke three bones in his left leg. He said he had a valid ticket and was travelling from Mabopane to Pretoria. Zihor said that before the train reached Kopanong, some passengers from the back coaches of the train came through to the coach he was in. As a result of the pressure from these passengers, he was pushed through…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za FORMER Expresso Show presenter Katlego Maboe has lodged a crimen injuria complaint with the police against Women for Change founder, Sabrina Walter, for alleged defamation. It comes after Maboe, through his legal team, sent letters of demand to Walter, his ex-girlfriend Monique Muller and her brother, Seth, as well as the SA Film and Television Awards (Safta), just over two weeks ago, to retract allegations made against him. He seeks R1 million in compensation from each, and they were given three weeks to respond. Maboe, 34, was embroiled in a scandal involving infidelity and domestic violence allegations levelled against him last year. In a video that went viral, allegedly taken by his ex, Muller, Maboe is heard admitting to having an affair with a former employee. Shortly…

THE UK government’s decision to keep South Africa on its “red list” due to the Covid-19 pandemic should give our country the opportunity to develop its domestic tourism market to make the sector more sustainable. Independent Media reported yesterday that the South African government was puzzled by the UK’s decision to keep the country on its list of those facing strict restrictions and high costs when entering the UK. International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor said: “We firmly believe there is no reasonable basis for keeping South Africa on the red list, and I am very disappointed.” She described the continued exclusion of South Africa as “shocking” given the country’s progress in combating the Covid-19 pandemic. Pandor’s determination to intensify efforts to have the country removed from the list…

ATHENS: The Greek Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that it had lodged a protest with Ankara over illegal fishing in Greece’s territorial waters. The protest came after Athens issued a diplomatic note against the alleged harassment by Turkish warships over the weekend. “As part of measures to ensure our national sovereignty, as well as protect European achievements, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias instructed the Greek Embassy in Ankara to issue a protest against illegal activities by Turkish fishing boats in our territorial waters,” the ministry said in a statement yesterday.…

Los Llanos de Aridane: A surge of lava destroyed around 100 homes on Spain’s Canary Islands a day after a volcano erupted, forcing 5 000 people to leave the area, authorities said yesterday. The Cumbre Vieja erupted on Sunday, sending vast plumes of thick black smoke into the sky and belching molten lava that oozed down the mountainside on the island of La Palma. The island is one of the most westerly of the Atlantic archipelago off the coast of Morocco. “Right now we have evacuated 5 000 people and around 100 homes have been destroyed,” said Lorena Hernandez Labrador, a councillor in Los Llanos de Ariadne, a town several kilometres from the volcano. Images on Twitter showed slow- moving lava creeping down the mountainside, pockets of flame erupting as…

KIGALI: A Rwandan court yesterday said Paul Rusesabagina, a one-time hotel manager portrayed as a hero in a Hollywood film about the 1994 genocide, was guilty of terrorism-related charges. “They should be found guilty for being part of this terror group MRCD-FLN,” said judge Beatrice Mukamurenzi. “They attacked people in their homes, or even in their cars on the road travelling.” Rusesabagina, 67, who criticised President Paul Kagame from exile after being portrayed by actor Don Cheadle in the film Hotel Rwanda, had denied all charges and said he was kidnapped from Dubai.…

Four police officers and a police informer have a case to answer in the killing of a human rights lawyer, a Kenyan judge ruled yesterday, a rare move in a nation where rights groups have accused the police of hundreds of extrajudicial killings. Lawyer Willie Kimani, 32, and his client Josephat Mwendwa, disappeared in June 2016, shortly after filing a complaint alleging that Mwendwa had been shot and injured by police. Days later, their bodies – along with their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri – were recovered from a river outside Nairobi. Four police officers – Frederick Leliman, Leonard Mwangi, Stephen Cheburet and Silvia Wanjiku – and informer Peter Ngugi have a case to answer in the case, judge Jessie Lessit said. All five men have previously pleaded not guilty. Their…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za STATE arms manufacturer Denel, hard- pressed on every side to honour financial obligations, is reviewing its avail- able skills base to take on contract work as its personnel numbers have been whittled down to 1 300 employees, some of whom are being back-paid while sitting at home. This is as the parastatal begs its creditors for at least a two-month breather for it to realise value from the disposal of its assets. Yesterday, acting chief executive William Hlakoane said: “It is not about the numbers, it is about the skill sets that we need; we might be sitting at 800 employees and realise we need 300 more with particular skills. “It is what we are working on right now. Only once we have done our…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE COMPLETION of the sale of PPC Lime and PPC Aggregate Quarries Botswana (PPC AQB) was an important and positive step in the company’s ongoing capital restructuring and refinancing project, the group said yesterday. The cement-making and related products company said that the conditions precedent for the two disposals had been met on September 15, earlier than the anticipated date of December 31, 2021. PPC had said in May this year that it planned to sell PPC Lime, while on June 8 it said a deal had been reached to sell PPC AQB to a construction and mining company in Botswana. The net proceeds from the sale of PPC Lime and of PPC AQB would be applied to de-gear PPC’s South African balance sheet, the group…

Marchelle Abrahams Nothing gets past P.I. Twitter. Even the tiniest piece of evidence will be found. No one knows this better than Legacy actor Anton Jeftha. For months, fans have been tracking his move, trying to find the connection between him and rapper Boity. Rumours of the two dating have been doing the rounds for quite a while, and while they have never confirmed their romance, they’ve been having fun taunting social media users with their very cryptic posts. This past weekend kept online detectives busy as they tried to fit the missing puzzle pieces together after Jeftha posted two pictures of himself smiling while with a “mystery” date and captioning the post “her view”. It didn’t take them long to connect the dots by trolling Boity’s IG Stories and…

From page 1 November 1 has been gazetted as the date for the municipal elections. In her reaction to the judgment, DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said the party accepted the decision of the Constitutional Court. She said the court did not draw a final conclusion on whether the IEC had an ulterior motive in re-opening the candidate nomination process, saying it could not draw this conclusion merely on the basis of the papers before it. “Given the fact that the IEC has previously disqualified parties that did not meet deadlines, and given their explicit statement before the Constitutional Court that it would not be possible to re-open voter or candidate registration if the elections were not postponed to 2022, the DA notes the 180 degree turn made subsequently…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za THE extradition process involving alleged IT fraudster Riccardo Spagni is still under way in the US, with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) saying they’ve submitted all the necessary paperwork to get him back into the country to face a criminal trial. Spagni was previously denied bail in the US, and his detention was subject to strict time limits to allow the South African government to submit relevant paperwork. NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila yesterday said the paperwork was submitted before the deadline and the extradition process continued. “The extradition request was submitted to the US embassy and forwarded to the US State Department during the course of last week,” said Ntabazalila. “There was a hearing scheduled for (yesterday) in the US. “The way forward and Spagni’s further detention…

OWN Correspondent EFFORTS to mask failures of coalition governments in several municipalities to deny a further chance for candidate registration through court action have collapsed “like a pack of cards”. This is how policy analyst and human rights activist Nkosikhulule Nyembezi reacted to the Constitutional Court’s decision dismissing the DA’s application to stop the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) from reopening the registration of candidates today. The ConCourt ruling was delivered on the eve of the IEC’s deadline for all parties to register their candidates by 5pm – to allow all parties a chance to participate in the upcoming local government elections. The ANC was one of the parties that failed to register all its candidates ahead of the initial deadline of August 23, prompting the DA to accuse the…

Lenore Faddell | Claremont THE editorial column in Thursday’s Cape Times, in which JP Smith is criticised for not at least trying to pronounce someone’s surname, refers. In my experience, the pronunciation of a surname to the satisfaction of the person requiring it, is not possible. Few South Africans can adequately pronounce the surnames of all the different languages. I have found that sometimes the insistence on someone getting the pronunciation right, is used as a means of humiliating the person who is trying but cannot succeed because it is not their home language. Inclusivity would not demand it or consider it disrespectful if a person was not brave enough to attempt it in a public setting. Instead of being critical, should we not all be understanding of…

MICHAEL BAGRAIM | Highlands Estate YOUR Friday edition, “IEC asks president to declare election day a public holiday”, refers. The norm has been to declare a public holiday for elections. It’s a once-off public holiday and unlike other public holidays, it is not repeated. This does make it easier for people to get to the polls to exercise their civic duty and their constitutional right to vote. However, it becomes incredibly expensive for business. You have to pay for a day of salary for no work. The business community is on its knees and a further expense of this nature could be devastating. It also has to be noted that at least November 1 is a Monday, and it should therefore not be too much of a disruption…

Barbie Sandler | Constantia I READ the article by Unathi Kondile (Cape Times, September 17) on the Eastern Cape with a bit of sadness. The article was a bit cynical in a lot of ways for someone having a freebie to these lovely areas. The staff at Graaff Reinet Drostdy Hotel which has the reputation of being one of the finest hotels in the area got short shrift. The article says: “Should I ever go back I will not ask to interact with any of the staff. I wish for no hellos nor goodbyes. I just want to soak in the beauty of the place without the forced Sir! sounds and disdainful service!“ It would be interesting to hear from management as there are always two sides to…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za ZWEZWE residents living in shacks along busy Potsdam Road in Dunoon said they will erect a fence themselves after a car crash left one person hospitalised yesterday. A pedestrian was injured after a Quantum van and private vehicle collided, crashing into four of the shacks erected along the side of the road. Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said: “The circumstances surrounding a reckless and or negligent driving case docket are under investigation following an accident between two vehicles in Potsdam Road, Milnerton. Both vehicles, a Toyota Yaris and a Toyota Quantum collided with shacks.” Zwezwe informal settlement activist Nkosiyabo Gumbi said the residents will take it upon themselves to fence the area. “The area is built in a very risky space and almost everyone who knows the area…

THE UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has entered a new era with a new structure and new dynamics. The 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are approaching. We have to change our agri- food systems urgently and holistically. The transformation requires a systemic approach and our collective action hand in hand with producers, distributors and consumers, together with governments, the private sector, academia and civil society. This is what the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit is about, and what the FAO wants to achieve, together with all our partners, through the new Strategic Framework 2022-2031. Many agri-food practices are exacting a heavy toll on our planet. Our agri-food systems are not functioning properly. How do we transform them? How does every individual impact the process? As the…

LONDON: Climate change protesters ignored criticism from politicians and the police to stage another protest to disrupt rush hour traffic using London’s busy M25 orbital motorway yesterday, leading to long tailbacks. The activists from Insulate Britain, which wants the British government to commit to providing insulation for 29 million homes, blocked slip roads, glued themselves to the road. It is the fourth such action in the last week to disrupt the M25 by the group. It sent a letter to the Highways Agency and police to warn them that their campaign would go on until the government met its demands.…

WARSAW: Three people have died after crossing into Poland from Belarus, and a fourth person has been found dead on the Belarusian side of the border following a surge in illegal migration that has caused a diplomatic row. Polish officials, who announced the three deaths inside Poland, gave no cause of death. The Belarusian border service identified the person found inside Belarus as “a woman of non-Slavic appearance” but did not say how she died. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said there had been almost 4 000 attempts to illegally cross Poland’s border in September and nearly 7 000 over the last two months.…

SIX people were killed and 24 others injured yesterday after a gunman opened fire at the premises of Russia’s Perm State University, authorities said, adding the perpetrator was a student and had been apprehended. According to the Health Ministry, of the 24 injured, 19 had sustained gunshot wounds, TASS News Agency reported. The Ministry added 25 medical teams were working at the site. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, the student opened fire earlier in the day at the university premises. The shooter has been detained and authorities have established his identity but were yet to make it public. The Committee added the suspect sustained injuries as he tried to resist while being apprehended. A law enforcement agency source told TASS that the perpetrator was armed with ‘traumatic’ non-lethal weapon.…

LONDON: Britain’s Princess Beatrice, Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter, has given birth to a baby girl, her first child with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Buckingham Palace announced yesterday. The baby, who weighed 2.78 kg, was born at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on Saturday. Beatrice, the tenth-in-line to the throne and the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, married property developer Mapelli Mozzi in July last year. “The new baby’s grandparents and great-grandparents have all been informed and are delighted. The family would like to thank all the hospital staff,” the statement said. “Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well, and the couple are looking forward to introducing their daughter to her big brother, Christopher Woolf.” The baby is the 12th great-grandchild for Britain’s 95-year-old…

The investment firm also plans a R6.5 billion rights issue as it pairs down its debt Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za SHARES in Rand Merchant Investments (RMI) took a 14 percent leap on the JSE yesterday following its proposed business shake-up that will result in the unbundling of life insurance assets Discovery Limited and Momentum Metropolitan and a shift towards a focus on property and casualty (P&C) insurance. RMI, the owner of OUTsurance, and UK personal insurer Hastings, is also planning a R6.5 billion rights issue, “which is considered the most equitable and efficient mechanism to optimise RMI’s capital structure as a result of the unbundling”. The restructuring would also help the company tackle its R11.8bn debt and reduce it closer to R6bn, a level “more commensurate with the asset…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SOUTH African retailers remain pessimistic about business conditions in the short-term, despite a spike in confidence levels. The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) yesterday said retailer confidence climbed to a seven-year high in July, notwithstanding looting and trade restrictions. It said retailer confidence inched up marginally by two index points to reach a seven-year high of 56 points in the third quarter, up from 54 points in the second quarter. BER economist Tshepo Moloi said confidence was largely driven by food and beverages, and hardware retailers, on the back of improved sales volumes in these categories. Moloi said while this was certainly a positive development, especially in the aftermath of violent protests and stricter trade restrictions amid a third wave of Covid-19 infections, this confidence…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za A LOVE triangle in which a man’s first wife claimed she was still married to him and asked his marriage to his second wife be annulled, left a North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria judge unimpressed. Judge JS Nyathi said the second wife was innocently dragged into this legal wrangle, which was brought in bad faith. The judge concluded the application was “an egregious abuse of the court process”. It started with an application launched by Rosina Mahlangu, against the man she called her husband, Lucas Ntuli, and his second wife, Precious Ntuli. Mahlangu wanted the court to order Home Affairs to register the customary marriage between her and Ntuli and annul his second marriage. The couple, who married in 2007, had split up when Ntuli married Precious…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za PARLIAMENT has yet to be served legal papers in the impeachment matter against Western Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe. In the meantime, a meeting of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which was expected to convene a meeting yesterday to make a decision on whether to recommend to President Cyril Ramaphosa that Hlophe be suspended, was postponed indefinitely. Despite having said last week they would file their answering affidavit “soon” in response to Hlophe’s application to urgently stop the National Assembly from going ahead with the impeachment process against him, Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo yesterday said they were yet to be officially served. “Parliament was never officially or properly served in the matter of Judge President Hlope, and therefore has not filed any responding affidavit. “This…

Siyavuya Mzantsi siyavuya.mzantsi@inl.co.za A TEAM of scientists have been formed to advise the South African and British governments in an attempt to have South Africa removed from the UK’s red list, says Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. Being placed on a red list means that South Africans visiting the UK, even if vaccinated, will need to stay in a hotel where they must quarantine for 10 days at their own cost. In her keynote speech at Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit yesterday, Sisulu said she addressed the red list matter with the British deputy high commissioner to South Africa and that they agreed to bring together scientists and advisers from both countries to conduct further research into the Beta variant that had created the perception that South Africa…

Ingredients Method 3 tbs oil 1 onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 50g ginger, finely grated 2 tbs mild curry powder 1 red pepper, finely chopped 1 yellow pepper, finely chopped 5 large carrots, unpeeled but scrubbed and topped and tailed then grated 2 tbs tomato purée 400g can chopped tomatoes 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only 400g can baked beans Salt and pepper to taste To a pan over medium heat, add the oil. Then add onion and sauté until translucent and softened. Add the garlic, ginger and curry powder. Stir to combine. Add the peppers. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the carrots. Stir to combine and ensure they’re coated in curry powder. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Cook the mixture for 5 to 10…

Duwayne Esau | Spokesperson for the DA’s Mayoral candidate in Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis SOCIAL housing has always been a thorny issue. The crux of the matter is that the supply has not been keeping pace with the demand. The reason for this is multi-pronged. However, the core reason is the availability of land. The DA Mayoral Candidate in Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, has proposed a provocative solution to this problem. His plan is to release government owned land so that private developers can build the houses needed. But, what is provocative about Hill-Lewis’s proposal is that he has identified the military bases in Cape Town, as well as the Acacia Park parliamentary village as targets for release and development. There are three military bases in the metro,…

THANDISIZWE MGUDLWA ON THE 30th anniversary of the new generational South African music genre, kwaito, it’s fitting to celebrate this sensational musical artistry during Heritage Month. Kwaito, which emerged in 1990s during the transition from apartheid towards the democratic dispensation, is classified as a weapon to deal with the oppression of black people and the context of colonialism in which they still find themselves in. Sung mostly in several of South Africa’s indigenous languages, including Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu; and including Afrikaans and English, makes kwaito even more appealing to a wider audience. When this musical genre emerged, it introduced a mixture of a number of different rhythms from marabi of the 1920s, kwela of the 1950s, mbaqanga/maskhandi of the hostel dwellers,…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za A MITCHELLS Plain family is at their wits end, saying they’ve had to deal with the faeces of their neighbour oozing into their bath and toilet pipes for the past two weeks. The problem has resulted in their being unable to do basic things such as bath, wash their faces, or brush their teeth. Despite multiple complaints to the City, the matter was yet to be resolved. The City, in turn, said the blockage came from a private property, so it was not their responsibility. Woodlands resident Adielah Abrahams said: “If you look at the pictures, ask yourselves if you’ll be able to live with your neighbours’ human waste messing up your bath and toilet. All in all, I'm disgusted and extremely disappointed in the services of…

Only question to ask to test one’s moral stance is where one stands on life and death EVERY TIME a new issue crops up, one is again confronted with vexatious questions: where do I personally stand, what did people stand for in the dark days of the Struggle against an unjust system, and who and what should I support without making a fool of myself. The latest one is the question of how former president Jacob Zuma was granted parole. Eyebrows were raised when older folks noticed that the Helen Suzman Foundation had joined the fray to have this matter tested in our courts. One would rather have expected the FW De Klerk Foundation and others with the aims of protecting and preserving their undeserved privileges on that bandwagon, but…

Kinloch: More than two dozen friends and family members gathered at Kinloch Fire Department’s firehall in Pennsylvania to celebrate the upcoming birth of a new baby when the dad-to-be got into an argument over gifts. A man shot three guests at the baby shower, police said. The Tribune-Review reported that Isiah J Hampton allegedly got into a spat with an unidentified woman. Hampton, 25, pulled out a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, police said. He fired three shots, striking a 23-year-old man, a 19-year-old woman, and a 16-year-old boy. All have survived. Bail has been set at about R3.7 million.…

FRANKFURT: German legislators yesterday grilled Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, the frontrunner to succeed Angela Merkel in national elections this weekend, over a high-stakes money-laundering probe. Local media speculated that the scandal had unsettled allies in his centre-left Social Democratic Party, with less than a week to go before the September 26 vote. The candidate turned up in person to the hearing in Berlin before the parliament’s finance committee after he was initially expected to take part by video link. Scholz has also come under fire over Germany’s “cum-ex” tax fraud saga.…

Migrant families sent back to Haiti by the US after attempting to enter the country from Mexico are angry at their treatment and fearful of returning home to a life punctuated by gang violence. The deportation of Haitian migrants had been temporarily suspended by Washington after a devastating earthquake hit the Caribbean nation last month. But in recent days, more than 15 000 Haitians crossed into the country from Mexico and found themselves stranded for days in Texas under a bridge spanning the Rio Grande River, blocked from moving onwards. Washington began sending back these migrants on Sunday, with three flights full of Haitian nationals landing in the capital Port-au-Prince from Texas. “(US President Joe) Biden knows well what is happening, but he doesn’t care,” said one tearful woman…

Lebanese expats in the wealthy United Arab Emirates (UAE), many of them riven with guilt, are scrambling to ship essential goods and medicine to family and friends in their crisis-stricken home country. “How can I sit in the comfort of my home in air-conditioning and a full fridge knowing that my people, my friends and family, are struggling back home?” asked Jennifer Houchaime. “Oh, the guilt is very, very real,” said the 33-year-old resident of Dubai, a member of the UAE, which is home to tens of thousands of Lebanese. “It’s guilt, shame and nostalgia.” Lebanon’s economy has collapsed under a long-running political class accused of incompetence and corruption. Its currency has plunged to an all-time low, sparking inflation and eroding the purchasing power of a population denied free access…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za Banyana Banyana coach Desiree says her team will have to be on top of their game when they face the highest-ranked team in Africa, Nigeria, in their final game of the Aisha Buhari Cup at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, today. Banyana thumped rivals and the fourth-ranked side in Africa, Ghana, 3-0 in their opener on Friday. That win was inspired by a strong team, which was made up of local and overseas-based players. But the South Africans will be hoping to end their campaign with a 100% record when they clash with the Super Falcons. Hosts Nigerians, though, are also looking for back-to-back wins after beating Mali in their opening match last week. “We’ve got more footage of Nigeria playing in the other matches. We…