Indice dei contenuti per 2022-04-08 in Cape Times

From page 1 he can proceed. Also a huge part of his life has been wasted, he is in a wheelchair, severely disabled. It is very frustrating.” However he added there was hope. ChristianView Network welcomed the decision. “The court review judgment where De Vos asks the court to force the HPCSA to give him a verdict is awaited. “The HPCSA simply withdrew charges after failing to prove their case after years of harassing De Vos without evidence.” The HPCSA did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.…

THE former state-of-the-art Philippi Stadium, which was once home to football club Chippa United, now lies almost in ruins after being stripped bare and vandalised to the tune of R39 million. Vandals have damaged the pitch, toilets, offices and other infrastructure at the stadium. The site is owned by the provincial government, with the Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) its custodian. It was utilised by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS). In 2010, in preparation for the World Cup, the stadium was renovated at a cost of R54m as a training arena. It was also meant to help develop local soccer clubs and to grow budding soccer stars. However, Kosovo Football Development chairperson Vuyani Mathenga said that that vision is no longer alive. “We are heartbroken…

FOR the first time in the history of the Two Oceans Marathon, two athletes will be returning to run their record-breaking 45th Ultra Marathon next week. This has never been done before, but Louis Massyn and Tony Abrahamson will be back to run the 56km race as the oldest to do it. For Massyn, this will be his 45th race, being the only athlete to do it consecutively, however due to the cancellation of the Two Oceans Marathon in 2020 and 2021, it would have been his 47th race. “The athletes keep me motivated, and just to be back in Cape Town year after year for the Two Oceans and run along the most beautiful marathon route you don’t experience anywhere else in the world,” said Massyn. “I foresee a…

The Library Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen Profile Books The Library is a sumptuous tome of more than 500 pages, with marbled end-papers, a cord to mark your reading place, hard covered with a traditional dust cover, all suited to its content. Pettegree and Der Weduwen offer a leisurely look at the history of the development of books and the library. Remarkably for books being quite robust, they are equally fragile, succumbing to dust, water, neglect, loss of interest, political power plays and individual egos. Libraries only last as long as people find them useful. The early history of books and libraries is where the interesting stuff is. As we head towards the modern era and the democratisation of luxury, libraries became more popular with the general public, who…

The Gosling Girl Jacqueline Roy Loot.co.za (R225) Simon & Schuster MICHELLE Cameron’s name is associated with the most abhorrent of crimes. A child who lured a younger child away from her parents and to her death, she is known as the black girl who murdered a little white girl; evil incarnate according to the media. As the book opens, she has done her time, and has been released as a young woman with a new identity to start her life again. When another shocking death occurs, Michelle is the first in the frame. Brought into the police station to answer questions around a suspicious death, it is only a matter of time until the press find out who she is now and where she lives and set about destroying her…

South Korea’s president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said yesterday that strong deterrence was crucial in the face of nuclear and missile threats from North Korea amid a renewed warning by a top US envoy of a potential nuclear test as early as next week. Yoon spoke to US Forces top brass in South Korea during a rare visit to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, the command centre of the 28 500-strong US military in the country. North Korea launched a new ballistic missile last month after leader Kim Jong-un threatened to break his self-imposed moratorium on nuclear testing. | Reuters…

The Shanghai government said yesterday it was trying its best to improve the distribution of food and essential goods to locked-in residents, responding to growing public discontent as Covid-19 curbs stretched into an 11th day. China’s financial hub has fallen largely silent after the city imposed harsh curbs to stem the spread of Covid-19 under the country’s “zero tolerance” policy, with only health care workers, volunteers, delivery personnel or people with special permission allowed on the streets. Authorities say that has whittled the number of couriers, who must keep the city’s 26 million residents supplied, to just 11 000. Lockdowns for the city’s residents east of the Huangpu river began on March 28, and for the rest of the city started on April 1. The exercise was intended to last…

Yemen’s president delegated power to a presidential council and dismissed his deputy yesterday in moves aimed at supporting UN-led efforts to revive negotiations to end a seven-year war. Riyadh announced $3 billion in financial aid to the Saudi-backed government after the announcement by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. It called for talks with the Houthi group that controls the north and has been battling a Saudi-led coalition. Yemen’s warring sides agreed on a two-month truce that began on Saturday, the first since 2016. The deal eased a coalition blockade on areas held by the Houthis, who ousted Hadi’s government from the capital, Sana’a, in late 2014. Analysts say the new council aims to unify anti-Houthi ranks by giving more parties a seat at the table. Riyadh urged the new council to…

NEW YORK: Police dismantled a homeless encampment in New York this week but none of the people living there agreed to be relocated to a shelter, fearing such places are dangerous. While anti-eviction campaigners booed, and a massive police presence looked on as the site was emptied, sanitation workers threw blue tents and piles of clothes, blankets and rubbish into a dumpster. Police arrested activists and a homeless man who resisted eviction. Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has promised to rid the city of makeshift camps in public spaces. There were almost 48 500 people in the city’s shelters in January, up 15% from a decade ago. | AFP…

STORMERS captain Steven Kitshoff is expecting a scrum battle when they meet the Bulls in a blockbuster derby at Cape Town Stadium tomorrow. It will be a crucial United Rugby Championship (URC) clash for both sides. As it stands, the Stormers lead the Bulls (42) by a single point on the standings. The Sharks (41) are also hot on the Pretoria side’s heels. The three outfits currently occupy the sixth, seventh and eighth spots on the table as the business end of the competition approaches. So, there is everything to play for. The Bulls did well when they packed down in their victory over Ulster last weekend, and while there might have been some struggles in the scrummaging department for Jake White’s men in the past, they seem to be…

THE DEPARTMENT of Mineral Resources and Energy’s launch of the sixth bid window (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme this week has been met with a mixed reaction by industry players, with some saying it is no longer a level playfield. An independent analyst, who declined to be named, said the tariffs had become far too low to be completive generally. “There are specific entities now lined up to take over the contracts because of the criteria,” he said, adding that only bidders with deep pockets and connections could compete at that level. “With previous bid windows, the price factors have been very low, but from bid window 5, the factors have been about 90 percent price and 10 percent of other factors…

Tax fraud accused Maxwell Mavudzi is questioning how he and his co-accused can be prosecuted by a prosecutor who was found to have misrepresented himself under oath. The trial returns to the Johannesburg High Court next week. Mavudzi says the prosecutor misrepresented himself when obtaining the warrant of arrest against him nearly seven years ago. His daughter, Chanice Kemphorst-Mavudzi, has embarked on a fierce legal battle outside of her father’s criminal trial to try to obtain justice. She said the Legal Practice Council as well as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were trying to cover up for Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Skumbuzo Majola, who she said “a court has found to have lied” earlier under oath in a bid to obtain a warrant of arrest for her father…

A DEVASTATED Ladismith family of 7-year-old Shitino van Wyngaard, whose charred remains were discovered in a shallow grave, are reeling in shock that a 16-year-old boy, known to them, is alleged to be behind their son’s killing. Shitino’s body, burnt beyond recognition, was found on the Hartmans- leegte farm in Hoekoe at about 11am on Tuesday. The teenage boy, who was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the murder, is expected to appear in the Ladismith Magistrate’s Court today. This follows a two-day search for the Grade 1 pupil. Speaking to the Cape Times, his grandmother Theresa van Wyngaard, 42, said that her grandson, who lived with her and his mother, had visited his father for the weekend. They don’t live too far from each other, and have a co-parenting…

THE Knysna Municipality has admitted that it “should have done a better assessment” of the situation before moving in with private security to demolish informal structures in Hornlee during riots in September 2020. This concession emerged during the second day of the South African Human Rights Commission’s (Sahrc) provincial hearings into violence incidents during evictions of unlawful occupiers and interactions with homeless people. The riots resulted in several injuries while one person lost their eye after being shot with a rubber bullet. Acting director for corporate services at the Knysna Municipality, Melony Paulsen, said during testimony that “in retrospect, the municipality had an incorrect perception that the situation would not be volatile”. Paulsen confirmed 31 Red Ants members had acted on municipal instructions to demolish structures, “that were not occupied”.…

PATRIOTIC Alliance (PA) Leader, Gayton McKenzie was elected as a seconded councillor in the Laingsburg District Municipality during a council meeting at the Central Karoo yesterday. McKenzie, who received the majority of votes, replaced councillor Mitchell Smith who resigned from the party last week. He is also on the road to being voted in as executive mayor of the of the Central Karoo District Municipality next week. McKenzie had launched the PA political party in 2013, and became the party's first president. Karoo Democratic Force (KDF) president, Noel Constable, said they would vote for McKenzie to take the mayoral position in the Central Karoo. “Mr Mckenzie as leader of the PA has a great reputation in the corporate world. He is well-known as a businessman. “Through his experience and knowledge,…

THE HEIST MEN Andrew Brown Loot.co.za (R199) PENGUIN CAPE Town is experiencing a wave of skilfully executed cash-in-transit heists, and Captain Eberard Februarie is brought in to crack the case. There are few leads, and the gang always seems to be a step ahead of the cops, raising suspicions of a leak from the inside. Andile Xaba lives a double life, leading a crew of heist men and hiding his activities from his girlfriend and mother. He knows the police are on his tail, and when a job goes wrong, fault lines start emerging in the gang. They cannot afford any more mistakes. In this explosive new crime thriller, Andrew Brown pits his haunted detective against the most elusive enemy he has yet faced. While dealing with his own demons,…

BRITISH Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murthy, holds non-domiciled status in the UK, meaning she doesn’t pay British taxes on her foreign earnings. The revelation threatens to further damage the chancellor’s popularity, which was already plummeting over perceptions that he’s not doing enough to help Britons struggling with the cost of living as inflation soars. Murthy’s tax status could potentially save her millions of pounds over many years in UK tax payments. She is the daughter of an Indian billionaire, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, and owns 0.93% of the company’s shares – valued at almost R15 billion at current prices. Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to comment yesterday, saying “it is very important in politics, if you possibly can, to try and keep people’s families out of…

A Turkish court yesterday halted the trial of Saudi suspects over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and transferred it to Saudi Arabia, a ruling that drew condemnation from rights groups and comes as Ankara mends ties with Riyadh. The decision was expected after the prosecutor called last week for the trial in absentia of 26 Saudi suspects to be transferred from Istanbul to Riyadh. The justice minister later endorsed the request, which was initially sought by Riyadh. Khashoggi’s killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul four years ago raised a global outcry and put pressure on Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Turkish officials said they believe Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the crown prince, was killed and his body dismembered in an operation which…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move to dissolve parliament was unconstitutional and called for MPs to return in two days, a decision that could spell the end of his premiership. The former cricket star had moved to dissolve the lower chamber ahead of a no-confidence vote against him that he had looked destined to lose. The court said that the vote would now go ahead. When opposition parties united against Khan last week to push for the no-confidence motion, the deputy speaker of parliament threw out the motion. Khan then dissolved parliament. | Reuters…

SAN JUAN: Most people in Puerto Rico woke yesterday with no electricity after a blackout hit the entire US island territory in the Caribbean. The Luma electric company said the outage may have been caused by a failed circuit breaker at a power plant. All 3.2 million residents of the island were without electricity. Power restoration could extend well into today for some areas, it said. Puerto Rico has suffered from infrastructure problems for years. Its electrical grid was privatised in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of persistent blackouts. But a fire at a transformer triggered yet another outage. Thousands of residents protested in October. | AFP…

From page 1 “We are shocked, hurt and sad because we know that teenager. My daughter and Shitino’s father are distraught,” said Van Wyngaard. The family confirmed they now know the details of what happened on that fateful day, but said they couldn’t disclose them out of fear of jeopardising the case. Van Wyngaard said she would never forget how her grandson loved food, laughing and playing. Southern Cape police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie said all available resources, including specialised units and experts, were used. “A round-the-clock investigation, spearheaded by the station commander, ensured that sufficient evidence and witness statements could be obtained that linked a 16-year-old suspect to the death of the 7-year-old. Subsequently, the boy was arrested and is currently awaiting assessment by a social worker.” Meanwhile, the body…

SOUTH Africa has stuck to its guns at the UN General Assembly, joining the more than 50 countries that abstained from voting to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, saying the US-led push was premature and would further divide and polarise the matter. The resolution over “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights” by Russian troops in Ukraine garnered 93 votes in favour, while 24 countries voted no and 58 countries abstained, among them South Africa. A two-thirds majority of voting members in the 193-member General Assembly in New York was needed to suspend Russia from the 47-member Geneva-based Human Rights Council. In choosing to abstain, the South African representative said the commission established to investigate the alleged human rights violation needed to be given space…

PUTTING his feet on the line, Frank Steyn will be running the 56km Totalsports Two Oceans Ultra Marathon in school shoes next week, to help raise funds for kids’ footwear. Steyn is no stranger to this challenge, having done the same in 2019 at the Two Oceans Marathon and raising R66 402, which was doubled by the MySchool programme. He has funded R132 000 worth of school shoes for children in need - reaching as far as Knysna. “The end result is always beautiful, just to see the child smile and to see them happy when they receive their school shoes; that is why I do it,” said Steyn. “I am hoping to make this an every-year thing for as long as I can run. It will always be a…

Run For the Love of Life Erica Terblanche Loot.co.za (R225) Quickfox Publishing SINCE the start of the Covid pandemic, hundreds of books have been penned on how better to manage our lives and how to navigate the troubled waters of death, devastation and general unsettlement. Just under two weeks ago, at the Fleur du Cap awards, there were not many dry eyes as the organisers paid tribute to those who had passed in the past two years. And just this past week, on a more personal level, I was devastated to hear of the passing of colleague Achmat Samuels, one of the most genial, helpful people ever who was always ready to assist on IT problems. How to carry on amid the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine –…

THE PUSH Ashley Audrain Loot.co.za (R172) PENGUIN A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family – and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for – and everything she feared. Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter – she doesn’t behave like most children do. Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she’s imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling…

IN APRIL 2018, thousands of young South African women declared to the world, which did not know how much Mama Winnie meant to us, that “Winnie did not die, she multiplied”. Black women lifted their fists for Winnie Mandela the same way that she had lifted her fist for Mandela’s release, which eventually led to his presidency. This is once again our time as women to lift our fists for something that counts. We need a woman president now! The current message to black women is clear. We are told that we must wait. Our best shot, we are being told, is to aim for a deputy position, as confirmed by articles a few weeks ago that mentioned our former deputy president, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, that she was being lobbied…

The UN General Assembly voted yesterday to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine. Of the 193 members of the assembly, 93 voted in favour of suspension as proposed by the US, while 24 voted against and 58 abstained, suggesting weakening international unity against Russia at the UN. It was the second ever suspension of a country from the council. Libya was the first, in 2011. Suspension required two-thirds of the votes for and against; the abstentions did not count. The countries voting against included China, Iran, the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and communist Cuba, Russia itself, Belarus and Syria. Despite pressure from Moscow for a no vote, several African countries only abstained, such as South Africa and Senegal. Also abstaining…

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen vowed yesterday to issue fines to Muslims who wear headscarves in public, as candidates made a final push for votes three days ahead of an election seen as increasingly close. President Emmanuel Macron built what seemed an unassailable lead ahead of the first round of polls this Sunday but Le Pen has eroded the margin and feels she has a real chance of winning the run-off on April 24. With France’s traditional right- and left-wing parties facing electoral disaster, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is on course to come third. Le Pen said of her pledge to ban the headscarf: “People will be given a fine in the same way that it is illegal to not wear your seat belt.” She has said she…

MADRID: Researchers said yesterday they have located the first tomb of Christopher Columbus, the 15th century navigator who began European incursions into the Americas, in the central Spanish city of Valladolid. It has long been known that Columbus was buried in Valladolid after his death there in 1506 but the exact location of his tomb was not known until now. Three years later, his remains were taken to his family mausoleum in the southern city of Seville, and were moved several more times before returning in 1898. Columbus is considered by many to have spurred genocide against indigenous groups in the Americas. | AFP…

doha: The UN labour agency joined Amnesty International yesterday in calling on World Cup hosts Qatar to protect thousands of security guards from Africa and Asia who a report said were victims of “forced labour”. Guards posted at World Cup stadiums, ministries and offices often had to work months, sometimes years, without a day off, Amnesty said in a study. Qatar, where the World Cup starts in November, said it had cracked down on hundreds of “unscrupulous” companies, but abuses still took place. Amnesty said guards “worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week”. They said they had to work outside in Qatar’s notorious summer, when temperatures hit 50°C. | AFP…