Indice dei contenuti per 2022-06-09 in Cape Times

FOUR Somali shopkeepers have been shot dead in what is suspected to be linked to extortion of foreign-owned shops in Khayelitsha. The four were killed in Site B Khayelitsha, at Madiba Supermarket in R588 Sulani Drive, after gunmen opened fire on them. Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said organised crime detectives were investigating. “Khayelitsha police have opened murder dockets for investigation following an incident where three men were shot dead. “A fourth one (was) seriously injured and later succumbed in the hospital to injuries sustained on Tuesday evening. “Reports from the scene indicate that unknown gunmen entered the Madiba Supermarket and fired several shots at 7pm. The identities of the deceased persons have not been confirmed yet,” said Potelwa. A friend of the deceased and a witness of the incident,…

THE Ndlovu Youth Choir is preparing for its first-ever headline concerts at Montecasino and the Artscape Theatre. Since 2009, the choir has become one of South Africa’s most treasured choral groups. They are also recognised globally for their musical arrangements, vocal talents and infectious energy. Their South African headline tour is expected to be a series of shows starting at Montecasino’s Teatro on Friday, September 30 at 8pm; Saturday, October 1 at 3pm and 8pm; and Sunday, October 2 at 2pm and 6pm. Cape Town concerts at the Artscape Theatre Complex take place on Friday October 7 at 7.30pm; Saturday, October 8 at 3pm and 7.30pm; and Sunday, October 10 at 2pm and 6pm. Tickets priced from R150 are on sale online at www.showtime.co.za or through Webtickets at Pick n…

POLICE divers and the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) found two bodies out at sea in separate incidents on Tuesday. At about 9am, offshore of Long Beach in Simon’s Town, a witness contacted the authorities after seeing the body adrift. It is suspected that the man may have been a worker at a local roadworks company. He had reportedly disappeared from his post in the early hours of the morning before being spotted in the surf line later. “On arrival on the scene the body of an adult male was recovered by police divers and taken on board our sea rescue craft and brought to our NSRI Simon’s Town rescue base. “The body has been taken into the care of Government Health Forensic Pathology Services,” the NSRI said. “Family…

PLANS to erect a cellphone mast near Sir Lowry’s Pass Primary School have been put on ice after it emerged that the school did not get the go ahead from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). A grandparent has welcomed this, saying it posed a health risk. The WCED said while the school had followed other processes, it had not applied to Education MEC David Maynier’s office for approval. John Magwebu, a concerned grandparent and member of the SA National Civic Organisation, said he would fight to stop the project. “I think it is insane to put a project like this in school property, everything in a 15m radius in that particular area is an endangerment in the long run. “I have 10 grandchildren at the school so there is…

He is neither popular nor trusted – even among loyal ANC voters A WEAKENED President Cyril Ramaphosa probably suits most ANC’s National Working Committee members. Political pressure is building on Ramaphosa to come clean over allegations that he instigated a cover-up operation after millions of US dollars were taken in a 2020 robbery at his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo. Unfortunately for the party, those with the most to gain are in the opposition camps. Few party members know exactly the implications of former MP Tony Yengeni’s insistence during the party’s NWC meeting that Ramaphosa must appear before the ANC’s integrity commission. Few South Africans know precisely the implications of the chorus of voices in Parliament calling for the president to take leave while the police investigate the criminal…

US President Joe Biden kicked off a summit yesterday that was conceived as a platform to showcase US leadership in reviving Latin American economies and tackling migratory pressures, but has instead been undermined by discord over the guest list. Biden’s plan to unveil a package to spur recovery in Latin America, help stem immigration and counter China’s growing regional economic clout has been marred by a partial boycott by leaders upset at Washington’s decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the summit. US officials hope the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and a parallel gathering of top business executives can pave the way for greater economic co-operation as regional nations grappling with higher inflation work to bring supply chains stretched by the Covid-19 pandemic closer to home.…

Placards relating to Turkey were discovered in the car of a 29-year-old man who allegedly drove his car into a group of school children in central Berlin yesterday, killing their teacher, a local politician said. The vehicle veered onto a pavement twice in a district of the German capital popular with tourists and shoppers, the police said. The police identified the driver as a German-Armenian man, whose car crashed into a shop window. He was handed over to the authorities. The Interior Ministry said it was too early to speculate about what caused the incident. More than a dozen people were injured, the police said. Six were in a life-threatening condition, and another three were seriously hurt. Blankets covered what appeared to be a body in a cordoned-off area guarded…

London: Campaigners yesterday launched a court bid to block UK government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as it attempts to stop migrant boat crossings from France. The government in London said last month that it intended to fly a first planeload of asylum-seekers to Rwanda on June 14. But the Public and Commercial Services Union, Care4Calais and Detention Action have issued judicial review proceedings in the high court against what they call an “unlawful policy”. The flights are intended to deter others from entering Britain. More than 10 000 migrants have made the journey so far this year. | AFP…

VATICAN CITY: The F-word made its debut on T-shirts at a papal general audience yesterday and a laughing Pope Francis gave members of the choir wearing them VIP treatment. About 30 Italians wearing red T-shirts bearing the words “F*** Cancer Choir” sat in a front section at the audience in St Peter’s Square and later sang for the pope. Below the phrase was a clenched fist punching through a background of musical notes. After the audience before thousands of people, the group went up to the platform from where Francis had addressed the crowd and sang, standing around his chair. “You are good, you are poets, thank you,” he said, laughing. | Reuters…

AMAZULU have reportedly preceded the signing of Gabadinho Mhango by nailing down the signature of Dumisani Zuma for a period of four years. Zuma's agent Basia Michaels revealed to SABC Sport that the Pietermaritzburg-born man has joined Usuthu following his release from Kaizer Chiefs a week ago. "Yes, we have signed with AmaZulu and the president was one of the very first people to give me a call once Chiefs had released a statement in the manner in which they did. We had a good number of conversations and within a short space of time we had signed,” Michaels said. “Dumisani would love to go back to his home province and play there. He is looking forward to a new challenge – one that doesn’t have too much…

ANC MPL Danville Smith has denied any wrongdoing following his arrest on Tuesday, along with two foreign nationals, for fraud and vehicle theft. The arrests came after police were tipped-off about an alleged modus operandi in the theft of motor vehicles over the past six months, emanating from owners advertising their vehicles on social media, according to police. Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said the registered owners of the vehicle were approached by a bogus buyer who made electronic payments and sent fraudulent bank notifications to the seller, which prompted the release of the vehicles with documentation. “A successful integrated undercover operation was conducted, which also led to the seizure of a white BMW. As the investigation progresses, more arrests could be made. The suspects are due to appear in…

Accused fraudster and crypto developer Riccardo ‘FluffyPony’ Spagni’s days are numbered as final arrangements are under way to finalise his extradition from the US to face criminal trial in South Africa. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Spagni had launched a number of unsuccessful applications in the Western Cape High Court in the interim, in an effort to resist his extradition. He confirmed that Spagni was arrested in the US on July 21, 2021, “pursuant to the request for provisional arrest”. South Africa subsequently sought his extradition from the US. “In the interim, Spagni launched various unsuccessful applications in the High Court of South Africa’s Western Cape Division in his efforts to resist his extradition. On the eve of his extradition hearing in the US scheduled for May…

A LATE night accident by a truck driver transporting frozen vegetables who failed to negotiate a sharp bend on a provincial road was the subject of a legal tussle involving the MEC for Roads and Public Works in the Eastern Cape. At the centre of the dispute was the contention that the Road Accident Fund (RAF), and not the MEC, should be held liable for the damages. Richard Yeomans was injured when the truck he was driving along the R701 between the Gariep Dam and Venterstad overturned. He initially sued both the MEC and the RAF for damages. It was argued on behalf of Yeomans that the road agency failed to maintain signs warning motorists about the sharp bend ahead and did not caution them to slow down. He said…

POLICE have confirmed they are investigating another case of robbery and kidnapping after an e-hailing driver said he escaped with his life during a horror hijacking. Speaking to the Cape Times this week, Dieudonné Mwamba-Nzambi Ngoyi, 47, said he was an attack victim after he was hijacked outside his Wynberg home and forced to drive to Philippi at gunpoint. “I had just dropped my four children off at home from school when someone suddenly got in my vehicle and showed me his firearm. He ordered me to drive to Philippi. When we got there, he asked me if I knew about Marikana. I said no. He then said ‘welcome to Marikana’ and all of a sudden more men appeared. They assaulted me so badly,” said Ngoyi. Ngoyi said he has…

THE arrest of the Gupta brothers provides renewed hope in the fight against corruption, a crime that continues to derail the development of our country, robbing the poor of much-needed basic services. This, and the police investigation into the serious allegations against President Cyril Rampahosa over the theft of “concealed” US dollars on his farm, are a rare opportunity for the country’s law enforcement agencies to restore long-lost public confidence. They should not mess it up. Almost everything, from Eskom’s woes to the inefficiency of our institutions, has been blamed on the Guptas, the alleged kingpins of the state capture project. After failing to apprehend the controversial family before they left the country, law enforcement agencies should waste no time and immediately begin a process to have the brothers extradited…

INDIA tightened public security yesterday after the circulation of a letter warning of Islamist militant attacks to avenge derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad by an official of the ruling Hindu nationalist party. Several Indian media groups shared the June 6 letter attributed to al Qaeda’s branch in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS), in which threats were made to carry out suicide bombings in Indian states to defend, it said, the honour of the Prophet. “We have ordered state police to ensure public gatherings or protests are not allowed, as they could be targeted by the militant group,” a senior home ministry official in New Delhi said. The security threat surfaced days after a spokesperson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made comments about the Prophet Mohammad during…

NEW YORK: Harvey Weinstein is suing car maker Chrysler for $5 million (R76m) over a 2019 crash. The fallen Hollywood mogul, 70, serving a 23-year jail sentence following his 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape, wants compensation for a smash that saw him flip a Jeep Wrangler while trying to swerve to avoid a deer. His lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was lodged at New York Supreme Court and claims the car firm provided him with a “dangerous” vehicle in exchange for product placement in a film. He claims the accident left him paralysed and said the vehicle “failed to decelerate” after he braked. | Bang Showbiz…

AMSTERDAM: Uber said yesterday it had donated a customised version of its “Uber Direct” software app to the UN’s World Food Programme to help distribute food in Ukraine. The WFP is scaling up operations in Ukraine and expects to be able to provide food and cash to 3 million people per month by June, the agency said in a joint statement with Uber. The software will allow the WFP to co-ordinate a fleet of vehicles and track deliveries in real time to densely populated areas where larger vehicles might not be able to travel. The WFP is already using the app in Dnipro, with plans to expand to Chernivsti, Kyiv, Lviv and Vinnystia, it said. | Reuters…

Beirut: Rescue teams scrambled to douse a blaze in Lebanon’s largest pine forest yesterday that authorities said could be deliberate, as the country braced for another summer of fires. The blaze in the Dinniyeh region broke out on Tuesday night, prompting the army and volunteer firefighters to try to salvage one of the Middle East’s lushest pine forests. The army said yesterday it had dispatched helicopters but it was still struggling to contain the fire. Lebanon is grappling with its worst financial crisis. It lacks the capabilities to combat wildfires that have increased in recent years, partly because of rising temperatures due to climate change. | AFP…

GRANT Kekana is looking forward to being the latest member of his family to serve South Africa after receiving his maiden Bafana Bafana call-up for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers. The son of the deputy minister in the presidency, Pinky Kekana, Grant is on the verge of making his Bafana debut against Morocco at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium tonight. “My mother is a sports girl, but on a political scale, so yes (representing the country runs in the family). She’s the deputy minister in the presidency,” Kekana told Safa media from Rabat. “I am here to play sports and I am trying to make the best out of it. “ I’m trying to give my all. I think that’s all one can do; it doesn’t happen often…

KEABETSWE Modimoeng, chairperson of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), has resigned unexpectedly. This comes just a few months after Modimoeng oversaw the auction of broadband spectrum, which went beyond expectation and raised more than R14 billion. Modimoeng joined the Icasa board in 2016. In a statement, Icasa said Modi- moeng cited “a need to take some time off after an enervating period”. He would take time off before deciding what to do next with his career. Modimoeng would serve notice to ensure a smooth handover, the regulator said. Modimoeng served in various committees of the council, including as a member of the complaints and compliance committee, and was seen as bringing broad stability to the organisation. “The undisputed highlight of his decisive leadership in the sector…

THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has made fresh requests to President Cyril Ramaphosa to authorise proclamations in order to investigate new allegations made against some water boards and the Department of Water and Sanitation. This emerged yesterday when the SIU briefed the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on the investigations authorised in eight proclamations. Briefing the committee, SIU chief investigator Leonard Lekgetho said they had received new allegations, and motivations had been submitted to Ramaphosa. Lekgetho said they were looking at drought relief technology services and investigation services from service providers in a manner that was contrary to the Constitution and the Lepelle Northern Water Board’s procurement prescripts. “We also look at one allegation that one of the service providers was appointed on an expedited basis, without just cause,…

ALL eyes will be on President Cyril Ramaphosa when he appears in Parliament to table the Presidency’s Budget Vote today, amid serious allegations that millions of US dollars were concealed on his farm before the money was apparently stolen by a gang conspiring with his domestic worker. His appearance in the National Assembly comes with a cloud hanging over him after former State Security head Arthur Fraser lodged a criminal complaint against him for alleged money laundering, defeating the ends of justice and kidnapping the suspects who were allegedly interrogated, citing breaches of, inter alia, the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, no 121 of 1998 (“Poca”) and the Prevention of Corrupt Activities Act No12 of 2004 (“The Corruption Act”). The charge relates to a 2020 break-in, where in excess of…

IN A SPATE of overnight violence, two men in their 20s were shot and killed in a suspected gang-related incident in Steenberg yesterday. Hours before that, armed men in a black VW Polo fired about 10 shots at security personnel who were guarding the recovery work on the Central Line between Bonteheuwel and Lavis Town. In Steenberg, the victims, 23 and 28, were killed on the corners of Symphony Avenue and Cradock Road. One of them was believed to be an innocent person walking past the shop. Last month a 17-year-old boy was found with a bullet in the head in Retreat. On May 9, a 63-year-old man from the same area was killed by a stray bullet following a shootout near his home. Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said Steenberg…

AFRICA is plagued by many epidemics – from tuberculosis and HIV/Aids to malaria and wild polio – but the continent has also worked for decades to fight these threats. The key to beating these deadly diseases is turning inward to existing expertise and finding locally driven solutions. The recent Covid-19 pandemic placed public health back in the global spotlight and has also served as a reminder science is not undertaken in an ivory tower. Science shapes humanity because it takes place among us. Covid-19 has also shown no epidemic takes place in isolation. Through collaboration, we can build on the foundations of our knowledge to bring forward innovative ways to address health challenges that benefit all of humanity. This is not a new idea. In fact, it is something we…

Kyiv’s forces may have to retreat from the eastern city of Severodonetsk, a senior Ukrainian official conceded yesterday, as diplomatic efforts intensified to unblock grain stuck in Ukraine’s ports. The strategic city has become the focus of Russia’s offensive as it seeks to seize an eastern swathe of Ukraine, after being repelled from other parts of the country. Moscow has claimed it has full control of residential areas while Kyiv was still holding the industrial zone and surrounding settlements, but Ukrainian officials insisted the Russians were not in control of the city. Yesterday Sergiy Gaiday, the governor of the Lugansk region, which includes the city, said Ukraine’s forces might have to pull back as Severodonetsk is being shelled by Russian troops “24 hours a day”. Russia’s offensive is now targeting…

A group of children in Seychelles made a pledge to protect the ocean in one of several activities organised to mark World Oceans Day yesterday. A group of primary school students visited the department of blue economy, where they learned more about the ways to protect the ocean. “We decided to focus on the children today, we believe it is very important to include them into our activities because we need to educate and sensitise them about how important it is to protect our oceans,” said the principal information and communication officer at the department, Elna Etienne. She said that the children will be most impacted by the depletion of ocean resources and, therefore, they must understand from an earlier age, the importance of the blue economy and the ocean.…

BELLINZONA: The trial of former Fifa president Sepp Blatter and French footballing legend Michel Platini over alleged corrupt payments ground to a halt yesterday when Blatter said he was too ill to testify. Swiss prosecutors accuse the pair of unlawfully arranging a payment of 2 million Swiss francs (about R31m) in 2011. Blatter and Platini both deny the charges. But Blatter, 85, looking frail during the hearing at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, said he was unable to address the court due to chest pains. “The pain will come back and I am having difficulty breathing,” he told the court in a whisper. The judges will allow him to make his testimony today. Lawyers failed to shift the trial to a local court or dismiss Fifa’s civil claim against…

Vienna: More than 100 German school children and teachers had to be rescued, most of them airlifted to safety, after getting stuck on an Alpine hiking trail, described online as a “classic after-work tour,” police said yesterday. Dozens of rescuers using two helicopters had to extract the 99 students aged 12 to 14 and eight teachers on Tuesday after the path they were on became increasingly difficult and it started to rain, they said. Two pupils within the group, from the south-western German city of Ludwigshafen, had slipped, suffering minor injuries, and some were panicking, police said. | AFP…

IT seems unlikely that the Stormers will have the in-form Damian Willemse back for their blockbuster United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final against Ulster at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off), but panic hasn’t descended on the Cape side just yet. Willemse is still nursing the bicep injury that kept him out of their 28-17 quarter-final victory against Edinburgh last week. Given how well the Springbok has done this season, not having him available for a fixture as massive as a semi-final is far from ideal, especially considering the opposition. Willemse has been a revelation at inside centre since Warrick Gelant settled at fullback, with Manie Libbok at flyhalf. He has not only formed a potent unit with the duo, but his individual contributions and overall presence have played a…

DANE van Niekerk was included in a provisional squad of 21 players for the Commonwealth Games, an indicator from Cricket SA that her progress from a fractured ankle is going well. The South African captain missed the 50-over World Cup in March after breaking her ankle in an accident at home in February. Van Niekerk has been undergoing extensive rehabilitation and she hoped to return to the side for the Proteas’ tour to England that starts later this month. She was not included in the squad for the current tour of Ireland The Commonwealth Games included a women’s T20 competition for the first time in its schedule, and it is one of the focal points for the South African team as part of the extended tour to England. Besides Van…