Indice dei contenuti per 2022-08-02 in Cape Times

MANUFACTURING businesses in South Africa are bracing for a tough six months ahead as the country’s energy crisis and a fragile global environment plunged production to a one-year low in July. The Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), released yesterday fell by a further 4.6 points, from 52.2 points in June to 47.6 points in July, as a result of crippling power cuts. This was the first reading below the neutral 50-point threshold – which separates contraction from expansion – since July 2021, when the looting and unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng hurt output. This also meant the manufacturing sector had a tough start to the third quarter after a weak second quarter. Absa said electricity supply disruptions were the likely cause of the drop in production last month, while the…

THE National Department of Transport has assured operators in the tourism industry that they are hard at work trying to clear the operating licence backlog. Delays were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic which led to capacity challenges within the National Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) resulting in a backlog in processing operating licences. According to the department's spokesperson Collen Msibi an interim NPTR ccommittee has been appointed to deal with the backlog of applications. To date, 227 renewals have been processed. “Following the appointment of the committee, the department is happy to announce that with effect from the beginning of July 2022, the regulator has been printing licences and contacting operators to submit correctly completed and outstanding documentation to enable the smooth flow of application processing. “The newly appointed committee…

THE Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has removed a Bella Vista primary school teacher following allegations that she was hitting pupils with a plank and threatening their parents. Parents have also accused the teacher of traumatising their children, who they say now refuse to go to school. WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the allegations have been reported to labour relations. Bella Vista resident Katinka Koopman, whose daughter goes to the school, said the teacher had “emotionally abused” their children. “She traumatises our children and now the children just refuse to go to school. “They become hysterical at home in the morning. It also happened to my child. “She refused to get up in the mornings and just started rying. I decided to investigate and found out what was happening.…

Activists against gender-based violence and femicide are calling for all the help they can get as they embark on a gruelling 360km walk from Windhoek to Swakopmund to highlight the plight of survivors and victims. Reverend June Dolley-Major will be accompanied by activists Celesthea Pierang and Felicity Roland for their “Try Walking in my Shoes, the Shoes of a Rape Survivor” campaign. They are calling on the public to donate for each kilometre walked in aid of the work they do, which includes counselling, school awareness programmes, court support, criminal case support, mentorship programmes for boys and more. This walk they anticipate will take about 12 days. Last year Dolley-Major and Pierang walked 902.8km all the way from Cape Town to Makhanda, the town where Dolley-Major says she was raped…

AN INTERCAPE driver is fighting for his life in hospital after gunmen opened fire on a bus outside the company’s depot in Airport Industria. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said Bishop Lavis police received a shooting complaint at about 6.30pm on Sunday at the corners of Morris Close and Montreal Road. On arrival at the scene they found the bus stationed in the road. “According to reports the driver and his assistant were on the way to Cape Town to load passengers when two unknown suspects approached the intersection, firing gunshots in their direction. “One of the victims sustained injuries as a result of gunshot wounds and was transferred to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. “The unknown suspects who fled the scene in an undisclosed direction are yet to be…

I am certain as I write this piece that it will resonate with many people because so many would have experienced some form of discrimination during their lifetime. Yes, in the 21st century, might I add, folks have had to contend with bigotry, sexism, and downright racism of the overt kind. But since the advent of social media, there has been a paradigm shift in terms of how we choose to deal with such matters – the good ol’ name and shame, but whether or not offenders actually learn a valuable lesson by contemplating their shortcomings, or if this simply forces an apology to save face, e.g. #MatieUrinationScandal and #KarensGoneWild, I don’t know. Overt racism is easier to deal with because it is blunt, as unpleasant as that sounds. It…

British Conservative front runner Liz Truss won another heavyweight endorsement yesterday as party members began a month of voting to decide the next occupant of 10 Downing Street. Truss’s lagging rival Rishi Sunak vied to make up lost ground with a plan for future tax cuts – and potentially to host a future women’s football World Cup in Britain after England’s “Lionesses” won the European championship. Truss attended Sunday’s final against Germany, and the first victory by any England football team in a major tournament since 1966 wiped the prime ministerial race off newspaper front pages. The Tory contenders were going head to head later yesterday in a members’ hustings in Exeter – the second of 12 such events before the winner is announced on September 5. Sunak, a polished…

Kenya has no intention of shutting down Facebook, which is owned by Meta, its ICT minister said yesterday after the national cohesion watchdog gave the platform seven days to comply with rules on hate speech or face suspension. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) on Friday accused Facebook of contravening Kenya’s constitution and laws for failing to tackle hate speech and incitement on the platform ahead of August 9 national elections. “We do not have a plan to shut down any of these platforms,” said Joe Mucheru, the minister of information, communication and technology. “Press freedom is one we cherish, whether it is (traditional) media or social media.” Interior minister, Fred Matiangi accused the NCIC of making haphazard decisions, and vowed the platform will not be shut…

San Francisco: A fast-moving wildfire, dubbed the McKinney Fire, has grown to become the largest wildfire so far this year in California. The wildfire began on Friday in the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County near the California-Oregon border. It has scorched over 210 square km with zero containment as of Sunday evening. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Siskiyou County. The fire, intensified by extreme drought conditions and high temperatures, has destroyed homes, threatened infrastructure and forced the evacuation of 2 000 residents. It overtook the Oak Fire in Mariposa County to be the largest wildfire of 2022 in the state..…

NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed outrage after UN peacekeepers opened fire and killed two residents in a Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town that borders Uganda. In Kasindi, North Kivu province, UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (Monusco) military staff opened fire at residents “for no reason” at the weekend. Some 15 others were injured, said the DRC government, which condemned the shooting. Guterres said the peacekeepers’ country of origin should “urgently initiate judicial proceedings”. Since July 25 thousands have been protesting against Monusco, looting its offices, demanding it leaves. | IANS…

If there is a demented soul on the planet that believes the All Blacks are in terminal decline after losing to a very good Ireland side, they ought to take a gander at the history books, which show that almost every time the Kiwis — or the Springboks for that matter — have suffered a severe setback, they reinvent themselves. This was highlighted by Bok front-ranker Frans Malherbe yesterday in Nelspruit, ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener at the Mbombela Stadium, when he pointed out that adversity brings out the best in teams of pedigree. “I was part of the Bok setup when we lost 57-0 to the All Blacks (in 2017) and then look how we bounced back against them the next year (Malherbe started in the famous 36-34…

It’s all well and good beating England, but the Proteas have left themselves - well Victor Mpitsang, and his selection panel - with one heck of a conundrum as far as the T20 World Cup is concerned. It’s a good thing there’s still at least five weeks left before Mpitsang and Co have to name a squad for that tournament in Australia. Stuart Hess looks at some of the issues. TOP ORDER Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Rilee Rossouw, Janneman Malan, heck Dwaine Pretorius batted at No 3 in India. Good luck sorting all of that out. Realistically four out of the first five mentioned will most likely get picked and with Bavuma, the captain, and De Kock, despite poor returns against England, almost…

From page 1 what Parliament may or not be up to. “We will certainly take necessary steps in so far as committing perjury against the Public Protector (is concerned). We forgave earlier for insults. We are not to forgive you for perjury,” he said. Mpofu said the alleged perjury by Samuel was committed against the people of South Africa and not against Mkhwebane. “She is not in a position to forgive. It will be taken by appropriate authorities. All I want to say is that you are a completely unrepentant liar even when you are caught out,” he said. DA MP Benedicta van Minnen said Mpofu’s statements amounted to intimidation or threats. “This is going too far. Threatening to be imprisoned is going too far,” Van Minnen said. ACDP’s Marie…

FOUR people were killed, scores of others injured and millions worth of damage caused to public infrastructure after residents of Tembisa in Gauteng shut down the township and fought running battles with the police over service delivery yesterday. Residents took to the streets in the Ekurhuleni township in protest over service delivery and “expensive” rates, taxes and high electricity bills. They blockaded roads with burning tyres, rocks and heavy metals from 4am and prevented people from going to work. The main civic centre at Rabasotho Section was burnt to the ground, including several cars, while municipal council offices were also set alight. Another satellite municipal hall in Ethafeni Section was burnt to ashes. A bank ATM outside the municipal property was broken into and bombed. During the protest, three people…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa will not heed the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) recommendation to suspend Western Cape High Court Judge President (JP) John Hlophe any time soon. A letter from the presidency’s acting head in the Legal and Executive Services Unit, Geofrey Mphaphuli, said no decision would be taken despite the JSC making a recommendation for suspension during a special meeting last week. “The President received the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) report on Wednesday, 27 July 2022. The President is aware of the ongoing court cases related to the issue. We advise further that the matter is receiving the necessary attention. “The presidency is therefore not in a position to make any decision, let alone make such an undertaking, at this time and on such notice,” the letter read. This follows…

A MAN has been convicted for raping his ex-girlfriend’s 9-year-old daughter in the Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha. Convicted rapist, Xolani Nkewu, pleaded not guilty to the charge of rape, where on October 26, 2020 he unlawfully and intentionally committed an act of sexual penetration without consent. According to the judgment handed down by Judge Avinash Govindjee, Nkewu had visited the home of his former girlfriend, cited as “N” in court papers, the mother of the complainant. “He had previously been involved in a relationship with N, however they had not been in contact for more than a year. He had been consuming alcohol from early that afternoon. He conversed with N for between 30 and 45 minutes before falling asleep on a single-seat couch in the lounge. He…

LAWLESSNESS in our country has reached crisis proportions, and if action is not taken as a matter of urgency, the spectre of crime will cripple the proper functioning of the state. Two incidents that took place this past weekend serve as further proof that criminals are getting the upper hand, and that police are either overwhelmed or too ill-equipped and poorly trained to launch a proper response. The crime spree that began with the mass killings at a tavern in Pietermaritzburg last month continued at the weekend when 14 people were murdered in different locations across KwaZulu-Natal. Twelve people were killed in the vicinity of Mariannhill – seven were murdered in Savanna Park and five in Dassenhoek – and two died in the King Cetshwayo District in northern KZN. Perhaps…

Baghdad braced for demonstrations yesterday by rival Shia Muslim groups affiliated with heavily armed militias, raising fears of clashes as tension soars over the formation of a government. Iraq’s longest post-election deadlock, at nearly 10 months with no government after an October vote, has led to unrest including protests by supporters of the powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who are occupying parliament in an open-ended sit-in. Sadr’s opponents include a grouping of parties and militias mostly aligned with Iran. That grouping, known as the Shi’ite Co-ordination Framework, has called for counterprotests yesterday near the parliament, “to protect state institutions against the civil unrest of the Sadrists”. “We’re ready for whatever Sadr orders,” said one supporter of the cleric, Kadhim Haitham, on his way to join the parliament sit-in. We’re against…

LOS ANGELES: A collection of jewellery Elvis Presley gave his manager Colonel Tom Parker is going up for auction on August. 27. Some 200 items, including gold rings encrusted with jewels, cufflinks, watches and chains, have been brought together by GWS Auctions. Also included is the guitar played by Presley during his famous “comeback” TV special of 1968. Many of the pieces were provided by Presley’s former wife, Priscilla Presley. “Well, it brings back memories for sure,” she said, adding he commissioned jewellery for Parker because the manager already had everything he needed. | Reuters…

Sabha: At least six people were killed and dozens injured yesterday when a fuel truck exploded in south-western Libya, medics said. The precise causes of the blast were not clear. It happened when a crowd flocked around the tanker as it headed to resupply a petrol station in the Bent Bayyah district. A stampede occurred, followed by a massive explosion that set several cars on fire. An official at the main hospital in Sebha, southern Libya’s main city, said six people had died. The hospital’s management said on Facebook that “more than 50 wounded were admitted to Sebha hospital”. | AFP…

Kabul: Afghanistan received a fresh batch of $40 million (about R660m) cash in humanitarian aid and deposited at one of the country’s commercial banks, the central bank said in a statement yesterday. “As part of a series of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, $40m in cash arrived in Kabul yesterday (July 31) and was transferred to the Afghanistan International Bank,” Da Afghanistan Bank (DBA) said. Thanking the international community for sending humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, the DBA said the cash would be spent transparently. The last tranche of cash provided to Afghanistan helped prevent economic collapse. | IANS…

Former world No 1 Luke Donald has been named captain of Team Europe for next year’s Ryder Cup, replacing Henrik Stenson, who was stripped of the role before he joined the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Stenson was removed as captain last month, hours before the Swede announced he was joining the lucrative Saudi-backed series and Englishman Donald later told Golf Week he would love to take over. “Luke is a former world No 1, who possesses a superb Ryder Cup record, so he undoubtedly has the credentials required to be a successful European captain,” European Ryder Cup director Guy Kinnings said. “He is hugely respected by the players and by the wider support team at Ryder Cup Europe, who have already done an immense amount of work behind the scenes…

ATTEMPTS to divide-and-rule indigenous councils in the name of private gain smacks of colonial conquest of the past four centuries. These were the words of the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Traditional Indigenous Council (GKKITC), which refuted claims it is in support of the River Club redevelopment and appointed a new attorney. Developers, the Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust (LLPT) were this week granted leave to appeal to a full bench of the Western Cape High Court. This after they filed an urgent application to the Supreme Court of Appeal against Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath’s ruling, which interdicted construction of the River Club redevelopment pending review proceedings. After developers continued building, the Observatory Civic Association (OCA) and the GKKITC brought a contempt application against them. The matter is expected to be heard…

Independent Media has announced new editorial appointments and changes that will underpin the future of one of South Africa’s oldest publishing groups. The company has been at the forefront of the transformation of the media industry in South Africa and it said the new editorial appointments resonated with the objective to represent a cross-section of all voices in South Africa, for all sides of the country’s story to be told and heard. Aneez Salie, who has been editor-in-chief for the past four years, has been appointed editorial and content director. His appointment to the board of Independent Media three years ago marked the first-ever editorial representative on the board of directors. Aziz Hartley moves from his position as editor of Cape Argus to take up the reins as editor-in-chief. Hartley…

MORE than 85 illegal miners and suspects in the gang rape of eight young women will be back in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court tomorrow, after making a brief appearance yesterday. Some of the suspects are women, while 20 others are said to be minors charged with contravention of the Immigration Act. Some of the suspects are yet to be linked to the rape of eight young women on Thursday while in West Village, Krugersdorp, who were believed to have been shooting a music video. Community organisations, interests groups, NGOs, faith-based organisations and political parties protested outside the court. Following their brief appearance, the case was postponed to tomorrow when the suspects are expected to continue being tried for rape, theft and possession of illegal firearms. The prosecution team asked for…

THE 9th South African Ballet International Competition (SAIBC) came to a spectacular close at the Artscape Opera House on Saturday. The festive event was a celebration of outstanding ballet and contemporary dance that showcased the 2022 winners and featured guest appearances by professionals and vocational students from Mzansi Ballet. Every SAIBC participant also took part in a fun finale choreographed by Angela Revie. The closing Gala was attended by the international jury panel that was present in person for the first time in two years. Speakers included Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Anroux Marais, and chairperson of the City’s Safety and Security portfolio committee, councillor Mzwakhe Nqavashe. The week-long SAIBC event began on July 26 as a hybrid event that saw dancers participating onstage and via video from countries including…

95th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army This year, we are celebrating the 95th Anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). For 95 years, the PLA, the people’s army, established by the Communist Party of China (CPC), has gone through wars and difficult times, made great sacrifices in exchange for more and more glorious victories, made indelible achievements for safeguarding our socialist country, preserving national dignity, and maintaining world peace and tranquillity. We are accelerating the modernisation of national defence. A strong country must have a strong military, as only then can it guarantee the security of the nation. Following the CPC’s 18th National Congress, the People’s Army has been fully implementing President Xi Jinping’s Thinking on Strengthening the Military in the…

A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon yesterday under a safe passage agreement, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago. Ukraine’s foreign minister called it “a day of relief for the world”, especially for countries threatened by food shortages and hunger because of the disrupted shipments. The sailing was made possible after Turkey and the UN brokered a grain-and-fertiliser export agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month . “The first grain ship since #RussianAggression has left port,” Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said. “Today Ukraine, together with its partners, makes another step to prevent world hunger.” The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni will head to the port of Tripoli, Lebanon, after transiting through…

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday kicked off an Asia tour that has been shrouded in secrecy following an escalation in tensions with China over Taiwan. With no word if Pelosi will visit the island, she stopped first in Singapore, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged her at a meeting to strive for “stable” ties with Beijing. Her itinerary also includes Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, but a possible Taiwan visit has dominated attention in the run-up. Reports about a plan to visit the island have enraged Beijing and caused unease in the White House with President Joe Biden trying to lower the temperature. Beijing considers self-ruled Taiwan its territory, to be seized one day, by force if necessary, and said it would regard a Pelosi visit as a…

Sydney: Aboriginal Senator Lidia Thorpe branded Britain’s Elizabeth II a “colonising” queen yesterday, as the recently elected MP reluctantly swore allegiance while taking the oath of office. Greens senator Thorpe raised her right fist in a Black Power salute as she begrudgingly swore to serve the 96-year-old monarch, who is still Australia’s head of state. “I sovereign, Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonising Queen Elizabeth II,” she said before being rebuked by an official. Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years, a period during which thousands of Aboriginal Australians were killed and communities were displaced. The country gained de facto independence in 1901, but has never become a fully-fledged republic. Polls show most…

Manila: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said yesterday that his government was not keen to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC). Marcos said the ICC’s ongoing investigation into the crime against humanity allegedly committed by the previous Rodrigo Duterte administration was not needed, adding that the government was also conducting an investigation on the matter, reports Xinhua news agency. He convened his legal team last week to discuss the administration’s strategy in dealing with the ICC. According to government data, more than 6 000 people were killed in the war on drugs that Duterte launched in 2016. | IANS…