Indice dei contenuti per 2022-05-06 in Cape Times

MONDI, the multinational packaging and paper group, is divesting of its R11.4 billion operations in Russia, the group said in a quarterly update yesterday. “The board has decided to divest the group’s Russian assets. The divestment process for these significant assets is operationally and structurally complex and is being undertaken in an evolving political and regulatory environment,” the group said. There was no certainty when a transaction would be completed or as to the structure of any possible transaction, it said. The net asset value of Mondi’s Russian operations was €687 million (R11.38 billion) as at December 31, 2021. “The Russian businesses have, to date, managed supply chain constraints. However, the situation remains fluid, with interruptions to pulp and paper production possible going forward. “All significant capital expenditure…

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has lodged a criminal complaint against consultant Ismail Abramjee and his accomplices at the Brooklyn police station, Pretoria, yesterday. Mkhwebane wants Abramjee to be investigated for contempt of court, perjury, corruption and defeating or obstructing the course of justice. She also announced that her office would initiate a formal investigation following a leaked text message that Abramjee allegedly sent to advocate Andrew Breitenbach, the lead senior counsel for the Speaker of the National Assembly, saying he had it “on good authority” that the Constitutional Court had decided to dismiss Mkhwebane’s rescission application regarding its February judgment that Parliament could proceed with her impeachment. Abramjee also said the court would make the decision public on Friday last week. This came ahead of Mkhwebane’s bid in the Western…

MORE than 400 security personnel who faced unemployment breathed a sigh of relief after the Western Cape High Court interdicted the City from terminating the services of a private company. Star Security Services launched an urgent application to challenge the City’s decision to end their services at the Council sites they safeguard with effect between April 30 and May 1. They also requested that the appointment of any other service providers who successfully tendered for the contract to take over their services be prohibited pending an outcome over the tender process. The City was ordered to immediately allow the personnel to continue rendering the services and the other service providers were also served the order preventing them from working at the sites pending the return to court. In his affidavit,…

THE education system is “under siege” as teachers continue to be targeted by criminals, inside and outside school premises. Nine incidents were reported in the province since the start of the school year. These sentiments were expressed by unions, families of victims, activists and experts in the education space who are concerned about the scourge of violence against teachers. Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said that since the start of the academic year, to March, nine incidents were reported in schools, and 33 were reported last year alone. “There has been one fatal incident inside school premises in 2021. Assaults inside the school property include assaults by other staff members, learners, and the general public. Attacks outside the school property are not required to be reported to…

YOUNG Overberg chess champ Tayden McKenzie has been hailed for flying the South African flag high on his return from the youth championships held in Rhodes, Greece, this month. The World Cadets and Youth Championships for Rapid and Blitz were held over three consecutive days, from May 1 with the participation of 331 players from 40 countries. Tayden received a hero’s welcome on his return home yesterday. The 11-year-old said he had enjoyed his time in Greece. “It’s beautiful out there and I will visit again. I was very nervous and I didn’t know what to expect. It was a very tough competition, and I had to think a lot with little time on my clock. But I enjoyed it.” His proud father Tyrol Mackenzie said he was…

MOTHERHOOD HONESTY – 27 stories from 3 continents Victorine Mbong Shu and Professor Deborah S Ballard-Reisch Amazon (R250) Profounder Publishing A BOOK filled with wisdom, loss, pain, sadness and struggle. Most of all, Motherhood Honesty is filled with lessons learnt and insights gained. Twenty-seven women from three continents share their personal motherhood journeys. These stories allow mothers, those who wish to be mothers, and those who hope to understand mothers, to consider different perspectives and world views. Through the stories told here, we see motherhood as extraordinary and mundane; fulfilling and frustrating; infinitely simple and incomprehensibly complex. Each demonstrating perseverance and resilience. We meet women pregnant as schoolgirls, women who mother alone, and those with loving partners, family and friends. We meet women who live in poverty, who did…

TWELVE SECRETS Robert Gold Loot.co.za (R220) Sphere BEN Harper, true crime journalist, is about to unravel his most shocking story yet ... his own. The day his older brother was murdered was the day Ben Harper’s life changed forever. In one of the most shocking crimes in national history, Nick and his friend were stabbed to death by two girls their own age. Police called the killings random, a senseless tragedy. Twenty years on Ben is one of the best true crime journalists in the country. He has left the past behind, thanks to the support of his close-knit hometown community. But when he learns about a fresh murder case with links to his brother’s death, Ben’s life is turned upside down once more. He soon finds himself caught in…

THE murder of Senzo Meyiwa, its political ramifications, the legal quagmire the investigations are deeply entrenched in, and the scope of the allegations and counter-allegations read like chapters from a John Le Carré thriller. What is dramatically unfolding is not fiction, but a bizarre chain of events that defy logic. The entire issue is shrouded in an impenetrable veil, a fog of fleeting silhouettes that appear and disappear in a hazy political background. The tsunami of information blurs its origins in a world enveloped in deception, disinformation, misinformation and strategic concealment. What is actually being displayed in 3D points to a conspiracy of immense proportions. The puzzling sequence of events over the years, the bizarre twists and turns, raise a profound question: who is concealing compelling evidence, and for what…

RAND Merchant Bank (RMB), the corporate and investment banking business of FirstRand, yesterday announced that chief executive James Formby would hand over the leadership to Emrie Brown, who would start in October. Brown as a female executive takes the role as gender equality in corporate leadership in South Africa is closely monitored. In March, RCS deputy chief financial officer Tonia Pavlou, who advocates for gender equality in the boardroom, said: “The South African state of affairs in terms of gender representation at executive level is most accurately captured by the top 40 JSE-listed companies, of which only four have female chief executives. “According to StatsSA, women make up 50 percent of South Africa’s working age population, but only fill 38 percent of ‘manager’ and ‘professional’ posts. “Beyond that,…

AS SCORES of ANC delegates from various branches across the Eastern Cape are expected to kick-off the party’s elective conference today, one political analyst believes the gathering will not be about coming up with solutions, but about factional battles. ANC Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane is set to seek a second term but standing in his way is senior party member Babalo Madikizela. The conference is expected to get under way with registration at the East London ICC in the Eastern Cape from today. The three-day event was expected to take place late last month but had to be postponed due to some “unresolved disputes”. Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said: “The ANC lacks a sense of urgency. “You look at some of the previous conferences that have taken…

The police ministry will have to cough up just over R170 000 for the unlawful arrest of a man at a festival in 2018 where an altercation erupted and another person was seriously injured. The plaintiff, Keenan Noemdoe, who was an independent security official at the festival, claimed damages against the police minister for his alleged unlawful arrest and detention. He was arrested on a charge of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and/or assault with the infliction of a dangerous wound and detained for 26 hours and 25 minutes at the Motherwell police station in the Eastern Cape. The police, however, argued that Noemdoe was lawfully and justifiably arrested and detained without a warrant and this was effected in terms of section 40(1)(b) of the Criminal Procedure…

IN an extortion and kidnapping breakthrough, four suspects have been arrested after police located the victim at a residence in Langa this week. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said the work of members of the SAPS Special Task Force for Organised Crime investigators and Crime Intelligence resulted in the arrest of suspects following the kidnapping of a 31-year-old man on Tuesday. “Unknown suspects entered a business premises on Tuesday at around 5.30pm in McClaren Drive in Dunoon, kidnapped a 31-year-old male and fled the scene in a Toyota Quantum. “The suspects contacted the relatives demanding a ransom in exchange for the victim’s freedom,” Swartbooi said. The investigating team pursued all information at their disposal to find the man. “On Wednesday the team descended on a residence in Winnie Mandela Road in…

Black Cake Charmaine Wilkerson Loot.co.za (R331) Michael Joseph BLACK CAKE, a cake made with rum-soaked fruit is a tradition in the Bennett family. Many readers from British backgrounds will know it as fruit cake, served at Christmas time, or at weddings, and the rum may often be substituted with brandy. And most families who eat this traditional cake make it off tattered recipes that have been handed down through generations. The Bennett family of mom, Eleanor, and dad, Bert; their life as a family of black people in southern California is a good one. The children: Benny the daughter, and son Byron get along fine. It is a traditional and loving home with the usual squabbles, trips to the beach. The one thing that stands out is that Eleanor is…

30 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MYSELF Radhika Sanghani Loot.co.za (R290) Berkley WHEN Nina Mistry’s life hits rock bottom, she decides to change her stars by falling in love … with herself – a hilarious, heartfelt story from outrageously funny novelist Radhika Sanghani. Nina didn’t plan to spend her 30th birthday in jail, yet here she is in her pyjamas, locked in a holding cell. There’s no wi-fi, no wine, no carbs – and no one to celebrate with. Unfortunately, it gives Nina plenty of time to reflect on how screwed up her life is. She’s just broken up with her fiancé, and now has to move back into her childhood home to live with her depressed older brother and their uptight, traditional Indian mother. Her career as a freelance journalist…

Let me start by saying that I do not condone the poor treatment that coach Brandon Truter and his family allegedly endured in the twilight of his tenure at Swallows FC. Truter, the current AmaZulu interim coach, claimed at Dobsonville Stadium this week that he and his family were threatened by the Swallows faithful after the team went through a slump last year. He also claimed that the club chaired by David Magoshoa, a business tycoon, still owe him his settlement fees after they prematurely released him from his contract due to a series of poor results. For someone who resurrected the once ‘Mighty Dube Birds’ from the doldrums of the lower ranks of South Africa football back to the elite league in less than a season in charge, he…

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander says the financial incentive of having South African teams playing in the European Rugby Champions Cup is not the main motivating factor for wanting to play in the competition. South Africa’s four franchises – the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions – play in the United Rugby Championship, with the first three currently in the top eight. With there being a financial reward for the teams that gain entry into the European Rugby Champions Cup – albeit only to the franchises – teams have even more to play for and top their regional shields. Speaking about the opportunity, Alexander said the main incentive is playing more top teams. “I think it’s not a financial thing,” Alexander said on the sidelines of the Carling Champions Match launch…

SOUTH African markets and the rand remained subdued yesterday as investors digested the US Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates to curb historic high inflation, while striking a less hawkish tone regarding future hikes. The US Fed raised interest rates by half-a-percentage point last night, as was expected by most commentators. It was the most significant hike in 22 years, though the Fed dismissed the likelihood of larger hikes going forward. The JSE All Share Index fell by 0.96 percent, dipping below 70 000 index points to 69 682 points, the lowest in more than a week, dragged down by commodity-linked stocks and Naspers. Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said the tone of the Fed remained hawkish, comparable to the last meeting, and did not…

THE complete lack of progress or positive change in the functioning of Eskom seemed to indicate that both upper management and the board were sitting on their hands, rather than making the difficult decisions needed to steer the entity in the right direction, IFP MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa has said. Speaking during a debate in the National Assembly on the energy crisis and the threat of a protracted failure of Eskom, Hlengwa said introducing the debate was not influenced by any other development. Hlengwa recently apologised to Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso after an exchange of words, which led her to leave a parliamentary meeting before it was concluded. He said the debate was requested in the last term in March and conditions had remained the same since as the country…

IN YET another victory for the indigenous Khoi and San, the Western Cape High Court has turned down the leave to appeal bid against its decision to interdict construction at the River Club development site - earmarked for Amazon as an anchor tenant. The Liesbeek Leisure Property Trust (“LLPT"), the City, the Province and the First Nations Collective (“FNC”) have lost their bids as the court dismissed all applications for leave to appeal with costs. Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath had in March granted the interdict, saying the fact that the development has economic benefits can never override the fundamental rights of the First Nations People - which were under threat if the development was allowed to proceed. This was after the Observatory Civic Association (OCA) and the Goringhaicona Khoi…

BLACK South Africans who lost their lives while working in military labour units during World War I (1914 -1918) are set to be honoured for the first time. This as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) plans to redress this historic omission by building a memorial site in their honour, at the Cape Town Company’s Garden. In the early part of the war, 35 000 black South Africans provided labour services to the South African forces in German South-West Africa (now Namibia). They fulfilled a wide range of auxiliary roles including stevedores, wagon drivers, railway builders and repairers. More than a century later not all the names of those lost from the ranks of the labour units have been recorded in remembrance. The CWGC had identified the causes of death…

GIVE UNTO OTHERS Donna Leon Loot.co.za (R229) Ebury THE celebrated Venetian detective returns in his 31st case. Once again, Commissario Guido Brunetti is willing to bend police rules for an acquaintance, even though Elisabetta Foscarini, the woman who asks the favour, is not really a friend. But her mother was good to Brunetti’s, so he feels he has no choice but to repay the debt and agrees to look into the matter “privately”, rather than as a police official. Her son-in-law has alarmed his wife by telling her they might be in danger because of something he’s involved with. Because Enrico Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti suspects the likely reason must be the finances of one of his clients. Brunetti takes a look and finds little: one client is an…

EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU Celeste Ng Loot.co.za (R180) Abacus “AUTHOR Ng brilliantly depicts the destruction that parents can inflict on their children and on each other.” - Mark Lawson, Guardian Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee; a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfil the dreams they were unable to pursue – in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker; in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the centre of every party. But Lydia is under pressures that have nothing to do with growing up in 1970s small town Ohio. Her father is an American born…

Links with organised crime are the biggest challenge In cities and towns across the Western Cape’s shores, illicit abalone poaching has become a common occurrence and has resulted in a thriving black market industry. The impact of abalone poaching has serious implications for communities. This is especially the case in small coastal towns, where economic opportunities are often few and far between. Abalone poaching also has a significant impact on the Western Cape, especially with regard to crime and the environment. According to a study by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, abalone poaching in South Africa has been closely linked to the trafficking of synthetic drugs since the 1990s. Over the past three decades, the Cape’s gangs have exploited our local biodiversity to fund and grow their illegal…