Indice dei contenuti per 2021-11-04 in Cape Times

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za RENERGEN, the domestic producer of gas and helium, saw its share price soar for a second consecutive day yesterday, after it announced a 600 percent increase in its methane and helium reserves at its flagship Virginia Gas Project. The independently confirmed reserves will give the project, the only onshore gas project of its kind in South Africa, the capacity to supply a constrained global helium market and to supply methane to the local renewable energy markets. Helium is used in the medical sector, space travel and superconductors, and in the manufacture of microchips, fibre-optic cables and other electronic equipment, among a variety of other uses. The share price increased by 15.5 percent to R40.71 yesterday morning after Renergen announced the increased reserves. On Tuesday the…

Lutho Pasiya lutho.pasiya@inl.co.za A woman in Pennsylvania has received more than 14 000 shares on a Facebook post after claiming she found something “odd” in her take out order. After getting home, Brittani Paulhamus says she opened the take-away container and took a bite out of a wing before she noticed one of them had an unusual shape to it. “Ordered wings from Old School Pizza with Hannah Wingrove and received a chicken head… “Was told to call back on Monday and speak to management. “PSA: I did not expect this post to blow up the way it did… “Yes, I know where the wings come from. However to me, it is personally not appetising to see the chicken head in the wings I ordered. At the end of the…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za THE ANC is keeping its cards close to its chest about which political parties it would be talking to in the Eastern Cape to form coalitions.This was after the ruling party battled to get above 50% of the vote in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro. The ANC is fighting with the DA for control of the metro council. By yesterday both were below the required majority to win Nelson Mandela Bay outright. The ANC was sitting at 40.8% of the vote, while the DA was at 39.07% in the metro. The two parties would have to rely on other smaller parties to get into a coalition and form a new council to run the metro. ANC provincial spokesperson in the Eastern Cape Loyiso Magqashela said yesterday they…

THE absence of the leaders of three of the five largest polluters on Earth, at this week’s 26th UN Climate Change Conference, understated as the Conference of the Parties (COP26), which kicked off on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, was, is symptomatic of the very politics of climate action transition. The party poopers, China, Russia and India perhaps have more to lose economically. But at what opportunity costs and impact on their hapless citizens at the mercy of the elements for decades? The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC,) in its latest assessment, warned that there was no doubt human activity had warmed the ocean, atmosphere and land. The other two serial polluters – the US and EU – have a century-long, first-mover advantage, thanks to the Industrial Revolution, laissez…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE City’s enforcement services is gearing up to increase their patrols from tomorrow in a bid to curb notorious Guy Fawkes lawlessness including the use of illegal fireworks and mobs targeting pedestrians and motorists. Last year, the public emergency communication centre recorded 238 calls about the illegal discharge of fireworks, and 17 about the illegal sale of fireworks. The highest number of calls were received from Beacon Valley, Lentegeur and Bonteheuwel. Law Enforcement Department spokesperson Wayne Dyason said as Diwali will also be celebrated today they would be on the lookout for prohibited fireworks. “Numerous incidents went viral on social media, of adults and elderly persons being chased, threatened and assaulted by mobs of youngsters, brandishing socks filled with paint, shoe polish, but also sharp objects designed…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za ASSISTANTS recruited through the Basic Education Employment initiative have started working in schools across the country. About 27 144 positions were allocated for the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) of which 18 096 were earmarked as education assistants and 9 048 as general school assistants. This is Phase two of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative which forms part of the Presidential Employment Stimulus and seeks to confront the devastating economic challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The initiative aims to position the Basic Education Sector to provide capacity to schools to manage the impact of Covid-19 on schooling, and building back together to bring efficiency and effectiveness to the system through the capacity provided by the assistants. It seeks to employ 287 000 youth into the sector.…

THE reopening of the country’s borders in the early 1990s has exposed South Africa and its population to way too many things. Some of the phenomena are known and people talk about them daily. These include the influx of migrants, coronavirus and currency fluctuations. On the other hand, there are many positives like readmission to international sports and freedom of movement that have come with the opened borders. Hidden to public knowledge are crimes gruesome acts that, when narrated, one can hardly imagine that humans are capable of performing. As the old saying goes, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. This may be interpreted to mean that the mere fact that you are not aware of something does not mean it does not exist. The underground world of…

A report on abuses committed during war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region was published, but a spokesperson for the party controlling Tigray said investigators did not visit many sites where violence occurred. The joint investigation by the United Nations Human Rights Office and the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission set out to document alleged violations of human rights, humanitarian and refugee law committed by all parties to the conflict in Tigray. There have been widespread accusations against Ethiopian and allied Eritrean soldiers of gang-rapes, mass killings of civilians, and accusations of blocking humanitarian aid. There have also been accusations of gang-rapes and killings by Tigrayan forces, particularly by Eritrean refugees living in Tigray. The government has denied blocking aid and said individual soldiers have been tried for any abuses, without…

On a dark autumn evening, first-timers arriving for self-defence classes at Urban Fit and Fearless are asked if they have had any past traumas before they start training. After a series of high-profile murders of women in London in recent months, the number of young women participants joining the class is high. One of them, Laura Thompson, 29, an account manager, said: “I think a lot of women at the moment, especially living in London, are pretty shaken up. “It’s definitely in the back of my mind and I think something like this is definitely going to help.” The disappearance of marketing executive, Sarah Everard, 33, as she walked home in south London in March sparked renewed anger and concern about women’s safety. A serving Metropolitan Police officer later admitted…

ISTANBUL: Turkish police detained 17 suspects in Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul for an attempted attack on a crew member of the US Navy, the Istanbul Governor’s Office announced yesterday. The office said in a statement that the suspects tried to put a sack over the crew member’s head of a naval ship of the US Navy, which recently anchored on Istanbul. It noted that the incident occurred during a city tour, and “the suspects were detained upon the order of the chief public prosecutor’s office.” The US amphibious command ship USS Mount Whitney arrived in Istanbul on Monday for a scheduled port visit.…

TUNIS: Tunisia had discovered a tunnel near the French ambassador’s residence from a house frequented by a known extremist, and anti-terrorism forces were investigating, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said yesterday. Tunisian security forces have thwarted most militant plots in recent years, according to Western diplomats. The last major attacks took place in 2015 when militants killed scores of people in two separate assaults at a museum in Tunis and a beach resort in Sousse. The French residence is located in the upscale suburb of La Marsa.…

Gerry Cupido geraldine.cupido@inl.co.za A perfect round perky bottom is as desirable as perfectly round perky boobs but not everyone is blessed with them. So many ladies who are looking for a quick fix are opting to go under the knife to get a nip here and a tuck there, and move some fat from one part of the body to another to enhance their bottoms to achieve the desired effect. But there’s good news for the women who are not keen on plastic surgery or spending hours in the gym. All you need to get the pose right is strategically placed hands and the correct camera angle for that perfect Instagramable booty shot. Celebrities including Emily Ratajkowski and Kylie Jenner have shown us how easy it is to get the…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za WITH five municipalities so far hung in KwaZulu-Natal, political parties in the province have started setting their terms and conditions to be met by their suitors, with the ANC and IFP emphasising that non-racialism is key to any agreement. Coalition governments are not new in the province as in 1994, as part of the nation-building project, there was a government of national unity that forced the IFP, ANC and the now- defunct New National Party to band together at national level. In KwaZulu-Natal, the IFP under the late Dr Frank Mdlalose, was forced to accommodate ANC MECs like Jacob Zuma who was the MEC for economic development and Dr Zweli Mkhize and Sbu Ndebele. That coalition will provide the IFP with valuable lessons ahead of the coalition…

Nicola Daniels, Chevon Booysen, Tarryn-Leigh Solomons and Mayibongwe Maqhina AS THE DA and ANC gear up for coalition talks with other parties in 15 hung municipalities in the Western Cape, smaller parties could make a difference by demanding more from the agreements, say political analysts. “Coalitions have often had a fraught history in South Africa. Examples include Nelson Mandela Bay, Oudtshoorn, Johannesburg and Tshwane. “Smaller parties in coalitions often just demand the mayorship or deputy mayorship as the highest paying post for their councillor, and then vote along with whatever the bigger party wants,” UWC political analyst Keith Gottschalk said. “If a smaller party demands a written commitment by its coalition partner to, for example, more maintenance of sewerage, or building more social housing in their ward, they can…

Staff writer WITH global climate action talks on in Glasgow, Scotland, the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and Earthlife Africa Johannesburg say government continues to promote nuclear energy as a viable solution to climate change. In recent weeks reports have emerged about the Koeberg power plant, including serious concerns about the running of the plant and issues with staffing, and yet there is very little information being shared with the public about the government’s plans for more nuclear energy, particularly regarding the extension of the lifespan of Koeberg, the organisations said. As a result, the environmental justice organisations recently sent a letter to the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) seeking clarity regarding Eskom’s plans for the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station. A year ago, the NNR released a media statement…

Jonisayi Maromo jonisayi.maromo@africannewsagency.com THE Piet Retief regional court has convicted and sentenced a 67-year-old man from Mangosuthu village, in the Piet Retief district, to life imprisonment for raping his neighbour’s child who was aged 13 at the time of the incident. The victim, who testified through an intermediary, narrated to the court how on February 3, the elderly man invited her, a friend and her younger brother to pick some fruits from the trees on his premises, according to National Prosecuting Authority Mpumalanga provincial spokesperson Monica Nyuswa. “While the other two children were picking fruits, the accused called the victim inside his house. (When she was) reluctant to enter, the accused forcefully grabbed her inside, locked the door and raped her. He then gave her a R50 note,” said Nyuswa.…

IT REMAINS mind-boggling how low the bar is in South Africa, especially when it comes to Eskom, where failure seems to be the order of the day, with no consequences for those at the helm. South Africans can be forgiven for the lack of outrage whenever the power utility implements power supply cuts because this happens more often than before. To businesses, the power can determine whether they survive the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. What cannot be accepted is the narrative that Eskom group executive officer Andre de Ruyter, his fellow executives, the board and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan are the right people to keep the lights on. If anything, the opposite is true. They have been given enough time to attend to the most pressing issues at…

MINNEAPOLIS: Seventeen months after George Floyd’s murder led to nationwide calls to abolish or defund the police, voters in the city where the movement began soundly rejected a proposal on Tuesday to replace its troubled police department. Now the result from this election is likely to have national implications in the debate over policing and racial justice. City Question Two would have amended the Minneapolis charter to allow the police department to be replaced by a Department of Public Safety. The new agency would have taken a “comprehensive public health approach” to public safety, including dispatching mental health workers to certain calls and more investment in violence prevention efforts. The measure also would have removed decades-old language from the city charter requiring a minimum number of police officers based on…

LOS ANGELES: American actress Kristen Stewart was scared at the prospect of playing Britain’s Princess Diana in the new movie Spencer, but it was a challenge she could not refuse. “Even if people hated it and it ended up being like a sort of misfire, we tried the best we could,” said Stewart. “This wasn’t something I could pass up. I had to give it a shot.” Spencer, arriving in US movie theatres today, is directed by Chile’s Pablo Larrain who has described it as an imaginative portrait of Diana rather than a biography.…

As deforestation and climate change ravage India’s Unesco heritage-listed Western Ghats mountain range, an all-women rainforest force is battling to protect one of the area’s last enclaves of biodiversity. The region is home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish species but the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has ranked its outlook as a “significant concern”. But at Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary a group of 27 women act as guardians of the rare ferns, tree-hugging mosses and thousands of other plants that may otherwise be lost forever. “We are trying to salvage what is possible. It is like a refugee camp,” said Suprabha Seshan, one of the curators at the reserve. It is also like a hospital. “The intensive care unit is in…

Minsk: Belarus yesterday sentenced two members of the rights group Viasna to prison time for their support of last year’s protests against the country’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, the NGO said. Leonid Sudalenko was handed three years in jail, while his colleague Tatiana Lasitsa was jailed for two-and-a-half years following a closed-door trial, Viasna said. The pair were arrested for their support of mass demonstrations that erupted across Belarus following a disputed presidential election last year. They were found guilty of “grossly violating public order”, among other charges.…

MIKE GREENAWAY mike.greenaway@inl.co.za THERE will be a liberal sprinkling of British & Irish Lions stars in the Wales team locking horns with the Springboks at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday and, while they would like to get one up on their old foe, revenge is unlikely to be their primary motivation. That is the opinion of Bok prop Trevor Nyakane who will be renewing acquaintances with Lions tight five members Ken Owens, Wyn Jones and Adam Beard, while in the Welsh backline there will be the belligerent Josh Adams on the wing, Liam Williams at fullback, and kingpin Dan Biggar at flyhalf. That is more than enough Lions players who will still be smarting from their series defeat to the Boks in August ... “Maybe some of those guys will…

DINEO FAKU dineo.faku@inl.co.za ANGLO American plc’s chief executive of almost a decade, Mark Cutifani, has been lauded for his leadership in the South African mining industry and beyond after the 104-year-old company announced that he would be stepping down. Anglo American said yesterday that South African Duncan Wanblad, 54, would be its new chief executive, signalling a new chapter for the globally diversified mining company with South African roots. “There has been no greater privilege for me than leading Anglo American and our incredible people. Together, we have transformed our competitive position and led the way towards a very different future for mining – a safer, smarter future that delivers enduring value for all our stakeholders,” Cutifani said. Cutifani, an Australian businessman, who took the helm nine years ago, placed…

Tom Daley, the Olympic gold medal-winning diver, has labelled coming out as “traumatic” but “liberating” in the November GQ Heroes. The four-time Olympic-medal winner – who broke the news to fans nearly eight years ago in a candid YouTube video – admitted he wished he’d been open about his sexuality sooner because there is less “pressure” on him now, though he also knows it would have been a different experience if he wasn’t famous. Speaking to the new issue of Britain's GQ magazine: “It was kind of traumatic, but then (also) a very liberating experience. To be honest, I wish I had come out earlier. “I don’t know what that would have been like for me or whatever, but since coming out I’ve felt like I could be myself; all…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za A LOCAL loan-application operation has been dealt yet another blow by the Western Cape High Court when it turned down its application for leave to appeal against the certification of Stellenbosch University’s Law Clinic class action case against it. Judge Patrick Gamble this week found that the Lifestyle Direct Group failed to show that they have reasonable prospects on appeal of persuading another court to set aside the certification of the Law Clinic’s class action, and he dismissed the application for leave to appeal with costs. In July, Judge Gamble gave a legal thumbs-up to the clinic’s bid in which it and eight clients sought permission to institute a class action on behalf of thousands of allegedly defrauded consumers from around the country. It is only the…

Odwa Mkentan odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za FOUR criminals made away with laptops and cellphones after robbing the St Francis Adult School in Gugulethu while the learners were writing a test. The suspects held a security guard at gunpoint and demanded he accompany them to the computer lab where they stole a number of cellphones and laptops last week. Police spokesperson Frederick Van Wyk said police were investigating a case of business robbery opened on October 27. “According to reports the complainant was approached by four unknown males, one armed, who pointed at him with the firearm and instructed him to get inside the computer lab. They pointed a firearm and took an undisclosed amount of laptops and cellular telephones and fled the scene in a white Vito,” said Van Wyk. School principal…

It seems that these days, Russia has transcended the very notion of a country. Today, Russia is a whole cultural phenomenon in the West, the ultimate scarecrow that needs no introduction. The negative effects of and its actions require no proof or explanation. The Western media proceed from the understanding that whatever Russia is doing “can’t be good”, it “has to be” something nefarious. It’s convenient for the Western mainstream media because “Russia” has become a magic word that can explain everything or almost everything. Let’s have a look at some of the recent events on the international agenda. Energy crisis in Europe? It’s Russia (“Russia profits from Europe’s gas crisis as it pumps fuel to the continent at record high price”, Express); “The US was right – Europe has…

Sweden’s government said yesterday that it was setting up a truth commission to examine the country’s past treatment of, and abuses against, the Sami minority, following a similar move in Finland last week. The commission would be tasked with charting and investigating the policies affecting the Sami and their implementation. “It feels very good that we can finally appoint a truth commission,” Culture and Democracy Minister Amanda Lind said. “The government has a responsibility to increase knowledge of the abuses, rights violations and racism that Sami people have been subjected to,” she said. She added that increasing awareness of “historical injustices” was important to “facilitate reconciliation”. The Sami are believed to have arrived in the region at the end of the last ice age. Victims of a brutal assimilation policy…

KHARTOUM: Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, ousted in a military takeover, has agreed to head the new government, Al Arabiya reported yesterday, citing sources. The cabinet will consist of independent technocrats, according to Al Arabiya. At the same time, Hamdok’s conditions include the release of political detainees, Al Hadath TV reported. However, Reuters’ report suggested Hamdok and military leaders have not reached a deal so far, and negotiations are still ongoing. Sudan has been dealing with a political crisis since the end of October, when the country’s military detained Hamdok and dissolved his cabinet, declaring a nationwide state of emergency. The move triggered mass protests in the capital, Khartoum, resulting in violent clashes. The takeover occurred as the term of the 11-member transitional Sovereign Council of Sudan was approaching completion.…

New YorK: A notorious Colombian drug lord pleaded guilty in a New York court on Tuesday to running a criminal enterprise and conspiring to support a designated terrorist group, US justice officials said. Daniel Rendon Herrera, also known as Don Mario and once considered the most feared narco-terrorist in Colombia, was extradited to the US in 2018 after his arrest in the Colombian jungle in 2009. Rendon Herrera was a leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which the US government designated in 2001 as a global terrorism organisation. He admitted in court “to providing material support to a designated terrorist organisation”.…

JERUSALEM: An Israeli court yesterday suspended the auction of a partial tattoo kit billed as having been used on inmates at the Auschwitz death camp, after an outcry from Holocaust survivors. Obtained from a private collector, the eight fingernail-sized steel dies, each lined with pins to form numerals, would have been pressed into prisoners’ flesh with ink to brand their serial numbers. His website had deemed it “the most shocking of Holocaust items”, with a projected sale value of $30 000 (about R462 900) to $40 000. Bidding was $3 400 when Tel Aviv District Court granted a request by survivors to halt the auction.…

HERMAN GIBBS herman.gibbs@gmail.co.za CHAMPIONS Mamelodi Sundowns earned a record 11th consecutive clean sheet after beating a determined Maritzburg United 1-0 in their Premiership clash at Loftus yesterday, after a goalless first half. The result allows Sundowns to open up a three-point lead at the top of the standings, ahead of second-placed Stellenbosch FC who have played one match more. Maritzburg are now in 11th place on 10 points. Sundowns, fresh from bagging a record 20th trophy in the PSL era following their conquest in the MTN8 final at the weekend, enjoyed an overwhelming 64% possession in the first half. However, they returned to their dressing-room empty-handed at the break after a bland performance in the opposition goalmouth. At the outset, Maritzburg served notice that they would be serious challengers as…