Indice dei contenuti per 2021-10-13 in Cape Times

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za MANUFACTURING production in South Africa could be on a recovery mode if the country could avoid the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections, as output surprised on the upside in August despite remaining below pre-pandemic levels. Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday showed that manufacturing production rebounded in August, rising by 1.8 percent from a year ago following an upwardly revised 4.8 percent fall in July. StatsSA said the largest positive growth rates were recorded by the furniture and other manufacturing division, as well as the automotive division. On a month-to-month basis, StatsSA said manufacturing production increased by 7.6 percent in August, reversing an 8.4 percent slump in July and a 0.5 percent decrease in June. StatsSA’s director of industry statistics, Nicolai…

| Bang Showbiz Paris Hilton and her fiancé Carter Reum enjoyed a lavish joint bachelor and bachelorette party in Las Vegas over the weekend. The former Simple Life star and the 40-year-old author – who got engaged in February – jetted to Sin City from Los Angeles to celebrate their forthcoming nuptials in style. The couple hit up a number of night-life spots after flying in on a private jet, including Resorts World Las Vegas, where the couple stayed, and Hilton took to her Instagram Story to show off the decorations, including a balloon and floral arch and a “Paris Carter” sign by the pool, which the soon-to-be husband and wife posed for pictures next to. Hilton captioned one snap of the couple: “Thank you @resortsworldlv for our beautifully…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za SA Rugby president Mark Alexander says it was “very much the last resort” to put the Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU) under administration after months of negotiations went nowhere. A joint oversight committee set up between the WPRFU and SA Rugby had to be disbanded after a few weeks, and the governing body for the sport in the country felt that they could “no longer stand by” and watch how the Cape rugby institution continued to be dogged by failed business deals and power struggles in the boardroom. At Monday’s SA Rugby executive council meeting, they invoked their constitutional power to appoint former chief executive Rian Oberholzer as the administrator for the WPRFU (union), who will also be in charge of supervising the operational affairs of…

Ingredients Method 30ml olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 red pepper, finely chopped 1 yellow pepper, finely chopped 5ml paprika 5ml dried chilli flakes 1 x 410g tin diced tomatoes 450g beef mince 15ml barbecue spice 6 tortillas 150g tub double-cream plain yoghurt 50g cheddar cheese, grated Preheat the oven grill. Heat 15 ml of the oil in a pan and sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the red and yellow peppers and soften further for a few minutes. Mix the paprika and chilli flakes through, until all the vegetables are coated. Sauté the minced meat in a separate pan with the remaining 15 ml olive oil, until it is browned all over. Mix in the barbecue spice. Add the meat to the…

Staff writer AN eruption on the Sun a few days ago has produced a coronal mass ejection (CME) that is now showing its effects on the Earth’s magnetic field. Magnetometer readings around the world are showing moderate disruptions following the eruption on Saturday, the South African National Space Agency (Sansa) said. A disturbance of this size is classified as a G2 storm on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scale. The NOAA scale goes from 1: minor, to 5: extreme. “A G2 storm can disrupt communication with spacecraft and require updates to satellite position calculations from increased drag. At high latitudes (above 55 degrees), high frequency radio communication with aircraft can be impacted.” South Africa is at 35 degrees latitude, so the forecast for local radio disruption and power…

Francesca Villette Francesca.villette@inl.co.za FOR THE third time in six years, canned fruit factory workers in Ashton face retrenchment, this time leaving 157 breadwinners vulnerable. The employees at Langeberg & Ashton Foods (LAF)– a division of Tiger Consumer Brands - are up in arms, but feel helpless against the food giant that they say may also sell the business. According to its website, LAF’s canned fruit and fruit purée concentrate are exported to over 40 countries in six continents. An employee whose name is being withheld for his protection, said that in 2018, 151 people were retrenched following a round of retrenchments in 2015. He said many of those retrenched were put in contractual positions, while labour brokers were also brought in. “The reason given is that the export market has…

WORLD Food Day is celebrated annually on October 16 to emphasise the importance of ending hunger globally and ensuring that people have access to food that is safe and healthy. In this article, I would like to focus on food safety and point out that everybody has a role to play in this regard. Food safety is an essential public health issue for all. The potential threat to public health from foodborne disease continues to increase with expanding urbanisation and the global distribution of food. The consequences of a failed food safety policy are costly, with impacts not only on public health but also on food producers and the economy. Assessing the safety of our food has resulted in a paradigm shift to risk-based methods of analysis. Assessment and management…

AT LEAST least 28 people were killed and 14 injured yesterday when a passenger bus fell off a cliff in western Nepal, a local official said. Twenty-four passengers died on the spot in the tragedy in Pina Gaun, in the Mugu district in Karnali Province, while four others died of their injuries on the way to the hospital, said Rom Bahadur Mahat, Mugu’s chief district officer. “The bus was carrying 42 people including bus staff,” Mahat said. “Fourteen of the injured have been sent to Nepalgunj on helicopters and regular flights.” Mahat said most of the dead are students and migrant workers returning from India for Dashain, the biggest festival in Nepal, and the bus was heading toward Mugu’s Gamgadhi from Surkhet, the provincial capital. “Our preliminary investigation based on…

London: Harry Potter author JK Rowling yesterday released her first children’s Christmas book, inspired by lockdown and her son David’s beloved cuddly toy pigs. The Christmas Pig is a story about “being lost and being found, about loving and being loved, about what stays with us and what falls away,” the author told the Sunday Times. “It’s also about hope and endurance,” she added. The idea came from a cuddly toy pig that has been a favourite of her son since he was a baby, but which he kept hiding and losing. The 56-year-old author bought an identical toy in case the original got lost for good, but her son soon found it and declared the pair to be brothers. “The original pig is now extremely worn and battered,” she…

MOSCOW: Tropical cyclone Kompasu has claimed at least nine lives in the Philippines, the Inquirer newspaper reported yesterday. In particular, four people died in landslides in Benguet province, four more drowned in floods in Palawan province and one person drowned in Cagayan province. Two people sustained injuries and 11 have been reported as missing. Rescue operations are under way, with people being plucked off roofs in flooded areas. The cyclone hit the northern Philippine island of Luzon on Monday and is now moving towards the Chinese island of Hainan.…

PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called the US a source of instability in the region and pledged to build an “invincible” military. At the Defence Development Exhibition, “Self-Defence 2021”, Kim said there shouldn’t be another war between the Koreas, and that his country needed to achieve an “invincible military capability”. He also showed disbelief in Washington’s peaceful intentions. “The US continues to create tensions,” he said. On October 1, Pyongyang said it had test-fired a new anti-aircraft missile, raising concerns in Seoul, but then North and South Korea restored communications after a months-long break.…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za The NEWLY-resumed SAA airline management got a shake-up from organised labour yesterday with the presentation of grievances, which included salary cuts, lacklustre conditions of service and staff retention. The South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) and the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) picketed at SAA's offices in Kempton Park, Joburg. This as the airline resumed business late September, which according to analysts had seen a surprisingly good uptake with a load factor, or the passenger numbers, surpassing the target of 60 percent to 75 percent across all routes. However, yesterday Sacca and Numsa said they were deeply aggrieved about the fact that so many of the old SAA’s problems had been carried over into the new airline. Sacca organiser Zazi Sibanyoni said…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za ERIS PROPERTY Group has raised an additional R365 million investment into its social impact student accommodation company, SA Student Accommodation Impact Investments (Sasaii), as it plans to help alleviate the student accommodation shortage in the country. The investment was from a consortium of domestic and international investors including Momentum Metropolitan Life, Eskom Pension & Provident Fund, International Finance Corporation and the Danish Sustainable Development Goals Investment Fund (DSDG). DSDG had committed R215m initially, and indicated a willingness to deploy more in time, Eris Student Accommodation executive head Johan van Vuuren said in a statement yesterday. The Sasaii platform aimed to be converted into a real estate investment trust when it listed or when regulations allowed. “This liquidity event releases any capital these investors would have…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za THE legal counsel of murder accused and alleged underworld figure Nafiz Modack want evidence to be declared inadmissible. They say it is “hearsay” and aimed at linking him to multiple crimes. This week, Modack’s counsel submitted their heads of argument in the application to the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court where Modack and his co-accused – Zane Killian, Jacques Cronje and Ashley Tabisher – continue to pursue their bail applications. Another co-accused, Ricardo Morgan, is out on R50 000 bail. The application was brought to the court to declare “inadmissible and to disregard specified and itemised portions of the information” placed before the court in the State’s opposition to bail. “A consideration of the conspectus of information placed before this Honourable Court by the State, makes it clear…

Sithandiwe Velaphi sithandiwe.velaphi@inl.co.za THE ANC in the Eastern Cape has accused Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebani of being “party to intra-party and external factionalism” after she released a scathing report that the party and its chairperson and Premier Oscar Mabuyane benefited from funds meant for a memorial service of Struggle icon Winnie Madikizela Mandela. After remaining mum on the R280 000 of public funds which Mkhwebane found to have been “improperly” donated to the ANC in the Eastern Cape, the party in the province has “resolved to seek legal advice on the matter”. Mkhwebane’s report released on Friday also made damning findings against ANC provincial treasurer and MEC for Public Works and Infrastructure Babalo Madikizela. In her report she found that Mabuyane personally benefited to the tune of R450…

Chevon Booysen Chevon.booysen@inl.co.za THE LEGEND of the Princess, derived from the Khoi San myth, tells the tale of the tears she wept after being abducted and drowned by Portuguese sailors, forming the Vlei, is now cemented as part of the area’s provincial heritage status. Yesterday, the official Provincial Heritage Site plaque was unveiled at the Princess Vlei Eco Park, off the M5 in Retreat, by MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport, Anroux Marais. With the assistance of Heritage Western Cape, the City’s facilitation and input from the Western Cape Khoisan leadership to the Princess Vlei Forum Heritage Committee, the cultural, spiritual, recreational and environmental significance of this site will now be promoted in the public domain as a Provincial Heritage Site. Princess Vlei Forum spokesperson Bridget Pitt said they were…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za IN A CELEBRATION accompanied by song, dance and ululations, the doors of the first school for children with disabilities was opened in Mfuleni yesterday. The Lonwabo Special Care Centre, which started as a backroom daycare for two children with special needs, will now reach out to equip more children for their future. The building includes an interactive outdoor play area, a space for specialised community projects and a centre for early childhood development. Founder Thandeka Mafila’s dream for the facility became a reality through the support of Starting Chance, a non-profit public benefit organisation that is passionate about education and early childhood development. “The dream started when I used to reside in Paarl and my husband had a business there. For some reason, children with disabilities loved…

POLITICAL puzzles continue to play out in the public gallery as parties try to outmanoeuvre each other before the November 1 local government polls. Politicians are criss-crossing the country, including places they did not know existed, in an attempt to attract neutral voters. On Monday alone, the DA, ANC and Good party were on the campaign trail in Northern Cape. If he is to be believed, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa told potential voters in that province he was aware of the challenges facing the party, but would correct its local governance. His DA counterpart John Steenhuisen was not letting Ramaphosa have the limelight all to himself. If you swear by the blue colours of the party, then believe Steenhuisen when he tells you the ANC “is holding back many wonderful…

A group of 15 Nigerian women and children trekked through the bush for six days to escape from Islamist militants who had kidnapped them from churches in the north-east, a state governor said. North-east Nigeria has been ravaged for more than a decade by a conflict between Islamist insurgents and the armed forces, in which 300 000 people have been killed and thousands abducted, some held in captivity for years in remote camps. Other women who have escaped or been rescued have recounted being forced to marry their abductors and bear children, among other abuses. Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State said the six women and their nine children were being held by the Islamic State West Africa Province group in a forest in Buni Yadi, an area of Yobe…

Colombian authorities are investigating the murder of two young Venezuelan migrants in the north-east of the country, sources said. Authorities said the two youngsters, one of whom was apparently only 12 years old, were murdered by an “illegal armed group”. Videos and photos shared on social media appeared to show them trying to steal clothing from a shop in Tibu, on the border with Venezuela – an area rife with criminal gangs. “They were taken away... by an illegal armed group that took them to an unknown destination where they were murdered,” said Jaime Marthey, the ombudsman in the Norte de Santander department. Images show the youngsters with their wrists bound with tape, surrounded by people giving them a warning: “We don’t want to see you lying by the side…

BAGHDAD: Hadi al-Amiri, one of the most powerful pro-Iranian figures in Iraq, has rejected the results of Iraq’s elections as “fabricated”, according to the Baghdad-based pro-Iranian TV channel al-Aahd. “We will not accept these fabricated results, whatever the cost,” the channel cited him as saying yesterday. Iran-backed parties with links to militia groups accused of killing some of the nearly 600 people who died in mass protests in 2019 took a blow in the election, winning fewer seats than in 2018. Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s party was the biggest winner in the election held on Sunday, according to initial results.…

Washington: US lawmakers were yesterday set to rubber-stamp a short-term bill to lift the nation’s borrowing authority, averting the threat of a debt default – but only for a few weeks. Congressional leadership does not expect any trouble passing the stop-gap $480 billion hike, which advanced from the Senate last Thursday after weeks of debate. Republicans had initially refused to vote to avert the crisis, but the party dropped its blockade in the Senate last week, ending – for now – an impasse that risked leaving the federal government incapable of securing and servicing loans after October 18.…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za The INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised upwards by 1 percent South Africa’s growth forecast for 2021, even as it lowered the global growth forecasts. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF yesterday said South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) will now grow by 5 percent this year, up from 4 percent previously forecast in July. The IMF’s forecast is in line with the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) which also revised upwards the 2021 GDP forecast to 5.3 percent from a previous forecast of 4.2 percent. For 2022, the IMF said the South African economy will grow by 2.2 percent as the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic stabilises. The IMF said the economic and fiscal policy assumptions underlying…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THE Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) Serious Commercial Crime Unit in George is investigating a complaint of alleged fraud and wasteful expenditure within the Greater Oudtshoorn Municipality over the appointment of the law firm Webber Wentzel as a service provider. A complaint was lodged with the Hawks by the municipality’s former municipal manager, Allen Paulse. Webber Wentzel was appointed by the municipality at the start of 2020 to investigate, among others, complaints against Paulse after he was put on special leave on January 28 by council following allegations of misconduct. A separate complaint was lodged with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) last year by the municipality’s former mayor, Colan Sylvester, against Paulse, for offences relating to “irregular expenditure, financial misconduct and gross violation of the municipal…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za THE Western Cape High Court case concerning the rights of landowners during property invasions continued yesterday after the recusal application for one of the judges was dismissed. The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) requested that Judge Hayley Slingers recuse herself from hearing the matter, because her husband worked for the City of Cape Town - one of the main parties in the dispute. Judges Slingers, Vincent Saldanha and Mokgoatji Dolamo are currently presiding over the matter. Yesterday the three dismissed the recusal application, with reasons still to be provided to the SAHRC. Legal representative for the SAHRC, Norman Arendse SC, said they reserved their rights to appeal at a later stage, but would not object if proceedings continued yesterday. “There’s huge costs to the State in employing…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za TWO judges of the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, said the effective 12-year jail sentence handed down two years ago to one of the country’s most wanted criminals at the time, was shocking, disturbing and inappropriate. The Pretoria Regional Court in 2019 sentenced Eugene Thapelo Lebona to a total of 93 years on an array of housebreaking and robbery charges. However, the magistrate at the time said as Lebona had three children and his trial took five years to conclude, he should serve an effective 12 years of the 93 years. The magistrate also took into account that although some of Lebona’s victims had been made to lie on the floor, with a gun at their heads while their homes were ransacked, “at least” Lebona had not harmed…

Our ancestors cannot rest peacefully until they are returned to the land of their birth AT THE confluence of the billowing dust, rapid sound of heavy war machines from whose crevices ooze out the last drops of oil contaminated with thick smoke that signals the times of anti-colonial war, there stood the son of Guinea-Bissau, Amilcar Cabral, who echoed these words: “We must act as if we answer to, and only answer to our ancestors, our children, and the unborn”. Cabral may have uttered these words many decades ago in a different socio-political and cultural context in space, place and time, but the gravity of the timelessness of what he said has found expression in the current political milieu and zeitgeist. Not only this, but his voice of reason also…

The Hague: The UN’s top court awarded Somalia control of most of a potentially oil and gas-rich chunk of the Indian Ocean yesterday after a bitter legal battle with neighbouring Kenya over their sea border. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled there was “no agreed maritime boundary” and drew a new border close to the one claimed by Somalia, although Kenya kept a part of the 100 000km² area, Chief Judge Joan Donoghue said. Kenya, which had claimed the entire area off the East African coast, said last week that it would refuse to recognise the jurisdiction of the “biased” Hague-based court. Kenya said in addition to withdrawing its participation from the current case, it had joined many other members of the UN in withdrawing its recognition of the…

Alba Aragón did not shy away from sharing her sexual orientation during her first appointment with a gynaecologist last week. After all, Aragón is comfortable with her sexuality: she has been attracted to women since she was 15. “I told him that I was gay because I thought it would be an important fact at the time of prescribing any treatment or determining the diagnosis,” said Aragón, who lives in Murcia, a city in south-east Spain. But before the consultation ended at the Hospital General Universitario Reina Sofía, Dr Eugenio López handed her a document diagnosing her with an illness that had nothing to do with the irregular and painful periods for which Aragón had sought treatment. Instead, it read in Spanish, “Current illness: Homosexual.” Aragón, 19, was taken aback.…

Vienna: Austrian authorities yesterday made a first arrest in a corruption probe that toppled chancellor Sebastian Kurz, local media reported, holding a woman for allegedly destroying evidence. The affair revolves around partially faked opinion polls paid for with taxpayer money and fed to a tabloid to paint Kurz in a favourable light. The woman arrested is a pollster who authorities said last week was under investigation for corruption. Kurz has maintained his innocence. Kurz – who became the world’s youngest democratically-elected leader in 2017 at age 31 – stepped down as chancellor on Saturday.…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za Officially the Cape Town Cycle Tour was not allowed to have any spectators at the world’s largest timed cycle race on Sunday. Unofficially, it was the biggest party Cape Town had seen in almost 18 months. Capetonians came out in their droves and celebrated the opportunity to be part of an institution that has been running for 43 years. And before I get crucified for not being sensitive to the impact of Covid-19 and the possible spreading of the virus at large social gatherings, the route was 109km long and the “spectators” were all socially distanced along the race. The infamous, fickle Cape Town weather certainly played its part as it almost knew that the moment to show off had dawned. With the race stretching through beautiful…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za A stunning goal from Thomas Partey made the difference as Ghana secured a vital 1-0 away win over Zimbabwe in their Group G World Cup qualifier at the Zimbabwe National Sports Stadium in Harare yesterday. Captain Partey gave Ghana the lead with a wonderfully struck free-kick in the 31st minute. The goal would have been a relief for the Black Stars as it came amidst Zimbabwe starting to threaten their goal and exert a bit of domination. Zimbabwe had their first good opportunity after 10 minutes as Kaizer Chiefs player Khama Billiat attempted to link up with Jordan Zemura, but ended up putting his ball behind before Ghana recovered well. After taking the lead, Ghana nearly doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime as Daniel Amartey…