Indice dei contenuti per 2022-10-25 in Cape Times

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has come in for criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups for his plan to implement the Zondo Commission findings and recommendations. On Sunday, Ramaphosa addressed the nation on steps to be taken and announced reforms covering procurement, SOE (State-Owned Enterprises) boards and anti-corruption measures. However, the parties felt he did not make bold announcements nor crack the whip on ministers implicated by the commission, and rehashed work already being done. DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said Ramaphosa simply provided an analysis of the Zondo Commission report instead of stating what the Cabinet intended to do to insulate government processes from grand theft again. “Much of what the president said is existing work already being done by law-enforcement agencies. Nothing was said about bolstering their capacity…

A SOLUTION to Eskom’s debt burden, the Basic Income Grant, the rising cost of living and public sector wage bill are some of the priorities experts and trade unions hope will dominate Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) tomorrow. The much anticipated MTBPS, which plays a critical role in the overall budget process as it sets out the policy framework for the upcoming Budget and provides the country with an update on the National Treasury's assessment of the current economic climate, is also expected to draw social movements and grassroots organisations from various communities who will gather in the city centre to highlight what they want to be included in the Budget. Godongwana is also under pressure from public sector unions who are geared to embark…

THE City will be appointing environmental consultants to help investigate and assess possible short-term interventions in the next step of its plan to restore the Milnerton Lagoon environment. The City said it is aiming to restore the lagoon in the shortest possible time frame. Last month, Milnerton residents had expressed their frustration at what they said was a lack of progress in resolving the issue of lagoon pollution, with some demanding an environmental disaster be declared or threatening a rates boycott, during a meeting with City officials. The City said the consultants would assess a range of short-term measures to improve water quality and odour at the lagoon, as well as options for the dredging of sediment to remove a decades-long build-up of urban pollution. Specialists in estuarine science and…

Douala: Nine hostages, including five Catholic priests and a nun, have been freed more than a month after they were seized in violence-torn anglophone Cameroon, the church said yesterday. “With great joy, I announce the release of the nine people who had been abducted,” Bishop Aloysius Abangalo Fondong of Mamfe diocese said. The six clergy were kidnapped along with three worshippers on September 17 during an attack by unidentified armed men on St Mary’s church in Nchang in the Southwest Region. The nine were freed on Saturday, the church said, giving no details about the identity of the kidnappers or the conditions involved. | AFP…

BUCHAREST: Romanian Defence Minister Vasile Dincu resigned yesterday, saying he could not collaborate with the country’s president, amid pressure weeks after he said Ukraine’s only chance to end the war was to negotiate with Russia. EU and Nato state Romania shares a 650km border with Ukraine, is host to a US ballistic missile defense system and, as of this year, has had a permanent alliance battlegroup stationed on its territory. Some 2.65 million Ukrainians have fled to Europe through Romania in the eight months since the war started. “My gesture (resignation) comes as it is impossible to cooperate with the Romanian president, the army’s commander-in-chief,” Dincu said. | Reuters…

Bangladesh authorities were evacuating hundreds of thousands of people yesterday from the path of a cyclone heading for the densely populated, low-lying country. About 33 000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, controversially relocated from mainland camps to a storm-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, were also advised to remain indoors. Scientists say climate change is likely making cyclones more intense and frequent, and Bangladesh is already rated by the UN and civil society groups as one of the countries most affected by extreme weather events since the turn of the century. Cyclone Sitrang, packing gusts of 88km/h, was forecast to make landfall near the southern Bangladeshi town of Khepupara by this morning, the weather office said. Most worrying for authorities was the predicted storm surge of up to three metres…

Negotiators from the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebel authorities were yesterday readying for peace talks in South Africa aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the country’s brutal two-year war. The AU-led negotiations have been flagged to start yesterday, after a surge in fighting in the north of Ethiopia in recent weeks that has triggered alarm in the international community. Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a spokesperson for the rebel authorities in Tigray, announced their delegation’s arrival in South Africa on Twitter on Sunday. “Pressing: immediate cessation of hostilities, unfettered humanitarian access & withdrawal of Eritrean forces. There can’t be a military solution!” Addis Ababa said its delegation had left for South Africa yesterday morning: “The government of Ethiopia views the talks as an opportunity to peacefully resolve the conflict.” But it also…

It was about a year ago that the Sharks and Bulls found out at the 11th hour that their matches against Welsh and Irish teams had been unilaterally called off by their visitors, hence the deja vu I experienced on Friday when the news exploded that Ulster and Glasgow were non-starters for their games at Kings Park and Ellis Park, respectively. It was the sudden diagnosis by (ironically) a South African scientist of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 that had the tourists pushing the panic buttons back then. The haste with which Munster and Cardiff headed for the airports was indecent and when they, in fact, could not leave because they had positive cases, they reacted as if they had been plunged into purgatory. Some of the Cardiff players,…

It's been an interesting year for the Springboks. While they won the series against Wales 2-1, it wasn't a run of Tests in which they produced their best performances. The series could have gone either way, really. Then there was the Rugby Championship, and frustration and rued opportunities were by-products again. The Boks finished second, but they could have lifted the trophy had it not been for a disappointing result against eventual winners New Zealand at Ellis Park. Yes, the results came at times this season, but there has been too much erraticism, and the Boks will surely be out to impress and gain some consistency during the end-of-year tour as they prepare for next year’s World Cup in France. The world champions begin their tour of Europe next Saturday…

GLOBAL grains and oilseeds prices are unlikely to return to the pre-Covid-19 and pre-war levels anytime soon due to current production levels, according to Agricultural Business Chamber chief economist Wandile Sihlobo. Overall, the 2022/23 global grain and oilseed season presented an encouraging picture of supplies. “Still, the price moves of the commodities will likely differ in the coming months because of the variations in the production levels compared with the 2021/22 season. “The current forecasts will probably be sufficient to provide relief from the levels the prices were at in the weeks after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war,” Sihlobo said. Agbiz said as the 2022/23 summer crop season began in the southern hemisphere, the grains and oilseeds production estimates released by the International Grains Council (IGC) and the US…

A TRAGIC accident more than six years ago during a school trip to a farm in the North West, during which three pupils died after they went canoeing, will cost the education MEC of that province dearly. The Mahikeng High Court ordered that the education authority had to pay the parents and guardians of the three children R375 000 in damages each. The department at the time paid each family R50 000 towards the funeral costs. Three learners drowned while on an official school excursion organised by the Rustenburg Technical High School in March 2016. At Farm Modderfontein, two of the pupils drowned when their canoe capsized, while the circumstances leading to the death of the third pupil remain shrouded in uncertainty. The court, however, said evidence indicated that the…

MORE than 11 000 Western Cape learners will tackle their computer applications technology (CAT) practical today as matric exams begin. Tomorrow, 927 learners will complete their information technology (IT) practical exam. Education MEC David Maynier has cautioned learners against cheating. Maynier visited Vista Nova High School, in Pinelands, last week to wish matric candidates the best for the exams and witness the signing of their matric Commitment Agreements for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams. “Every matric candidate, along with a parent or guardian, is required to sign the agreement, which clearly outlines what behaviour is not acceptable during the exams, and what can happen if the rules are not followed. “Among other rules, cellphones and notes are not permitted in the exam room. The agreement also outlines the responsibility…

THE City is probing allegations that community activist and DA member Fikile Mbewu, scammed Crossroads residents with the promise to fast-track their applications on the City’s housing database. According to Crossroads residents, Mbewu gave them housing application forms to fill out and charged them R40 each. The residents also said a bunch of application forms was found dumped at an illegal dumping site in the area last Tuesday containing sensitive information including copies of ID documents. Several attempts to contact Mbewu were unsuccessful. Ncumisa Poni said residents trusted Mbewu because he was at the forefront of the Crossroads Backyarders Movement. “It was the beginning of this month when he went around with a (loud) hailer telling people to come to him to apply for houses or to help fast-track the…

SOUTH Africa’s Sector Education Training Authorities (Setas) collectively control billions of rand. Some are doing a great job. Others are pathetic, squandering millions without showing much to email home about. One of Africa’s education and training routes is driven by the UN Environmental Programme through its Africa Environmental Education and Training Action Plan 2015-2024, aimed at strengthening sustainable development on the continent. While the jury is out on how the plan is proceeding, one has yet to understand how Setas are positively transforming the skills landscape for the better in South Africa. Yet, they have an opportunity to bring about dramatic change, per the government’s wishes, via Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande, South Africa’s key champion in this regard. And there are lessons for the…

Stockholm: A Swedish zoo has been partially shut down after a king cobra escaped from its enclosure at the weekend, with staff yesterday still searching for the venomous vagrant. The snake, named Sir Vas (Sir Hiss), escaped on Saturday via a lamp fixture in a terrarium and was believed to be in an inner ceiling. He had only been brought to the zoo a few days earlier. The snake has now been renamed Houdini after the famed escape artist. Staff have spread out flour to try to track the slithery fugitive, sticky traps and special cameras designed to inspect sewage pipes in serach of the reptile. A visitor managed to capture the escape on video. King cobras are the world’s longest venomous snake. | AFP…

At least 50 people were killed in an air strike during a concert held by an ethnic minority group in conflict with Myanmar’s ruling military, opposition groups and media said yesterday. The air strike late on Sunday in the northern state of Kachin, which the military has yet to confirm took place, killed civilians, prominent local singers and officers of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), media reported, citing witnesses who said the attack was carried out by three jets. A spokesperson for the junta could not immediately be reached for comment and Reuters could not immediately verify the details of the reports, which said the strike happened in Hpakant township. | Reuters…

The EU is aiming to clinch deals on three new laws to fight climate change in time for the annual UN climate negotiations next month, in a bid to boost its political clout at the talks. Nearly 200 countries agreed at last year’s UN COP26 negotiations to upgrade their climate pledges by this year’s summit, to bridge the gap between their current plans and the far faster reduction in greenhouse gas emissions needed to avert disastrous climate change. But two weeks away from the COP27 summit in Egypt, only two dozen countries have done so and the 27-country EU was still to decide whether to raise its own target. Meanwhile, the EU has agreed to speed up negotiations on three emissions-cutting laws, so it can arrive at the UN summit…

Prague: Czech conductor Libor Pesek, who led the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a decade, has died at age 89, the Czech culture minister said Monday. “One of the most prominent Czech conductors, Libor Pesek, has died,” the minister, Martin Baxa, said on Twitter. Pesek, who was born in Prague in 1933, was the head conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 1987 to 1997. He also led orchestras in the Netherlands and was a conductor-in-residence of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. | AFP…

With less than a month to go to the World Cup in Qatar, Independent Media will begin the build-up for the showpiece with daily features The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has raised an unprecedented number of questions among fans over issues ranging from whether they will be able to drink alcohol, hold hands with a partner or even just getting into the Islamic Gulf state. Here is a guide on rules and customs in Qatar for fans at the tournament between November 20 and December 18 ENTRY Qatar is expecting at least one million people to visit during the World Cup and has said that only people with a Hayya fan pass and a match ticket can enter the country. Each ticket holder can invite three people but they…

ACTIONSA unveiled former DA deputy mayor and speaker in the Knysna Municipality, Michelle Wasserman, as its provincial leader for the Western Cape yesterday. Wasserman is taking over the reins from Vytjie Mentor, who died two months ago. Wasserman said she was honoured to be appointed the provincial chairperson. “I am looking forward to growing ActionSA support and establishing wall-to-wall branches and structures in the Western Cape,” she said. Wasserman, who quit the DA in May last year, entered politics in 2011. She previously worked for the SA Human Right Commission and Black Sash and is a founder of the Legal Centre for Women and Children. Wasserman said she quit the DA because of toxic power struggles and infighting in the Knysna DA caucus that led to by-election after by-election. “In…

SECTION27, the Centre for Child Law (CCL), and the parents of two learners who were assaulted by their teachers, say they are disappointed with a recent judgment on the matter and that it does not go far enough in effectively enforcing the ban on corporal punishment in schools. The organisations have indicated their intent to appeal against Pretoria High Court Judge Dawie Fourie’s ruling on October 13 in the case of the Centre for Child Law and The SA Council for Educators (Sace). The litigation was launched in 2020, spurred by two separate instances of corporal punishment committed by teachers, where both received lenient sentences from Sace, the organisations said. In the first instance of corporal punishment, a teacher was charged with hitting two Grade 2 learners over the head…

ACCUSED child rapist and killer Mohydian Pangaerker faces multiple life sentences as judgement got under way at the Western Cape High Court yesterday. Pangaerker is accused of the murder of eight-year-old Tazne van Wyk after he had allegedly lured the girl from her Clare Street home Connaught Estate before disappearing with her on February 7, 2020. Her lifeless and desecrated corpse, her left hand sawed off, was found in a stormwater pipe near Worcester on the N1 after Pangaerker had shown police to the site. Added to the criminal charges, the State had built up a prima facie case against Pangaerker where he faced 27 criminal charges, including 11 counts of rape, murder, three counts of common assault, three counts of sexual assault, two counts of kidnapping, incest and desecrating…

The country’s fight to put an end to corruption will not produce the desired results if the government does not prioritise the protection of whistle-blowers. There is no doubt the state’s inability to protect whistle-blowers has silenced those who want to speak out against the scourge of corruption. The continued murder and silencing of these men and women is a serious threat to the country’s democracy. Speaking at the Union Buildings on Sunday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa commended whistle-blowers and the role they played as witnesses in the state capture inquiry. He also emphasised the importance of protecting these individuals in the fight against corruption. However, in his speech there was little detail on what the government and law enforcement agencies are going to do to make them feel safe…

Islamabad: A top Pakistani news anchor was shot dead in Kenya, his wife said yesterday, just months after he fled his home country to avoid arrest over sedition charges. Arshad Sharif was a frequent critic of the powerful military establishment and supporter of former prime minister Imran Khan, who was ousted in April. “I lost a friend, husband and my favourite journalist today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” his wife Javeria Siddique tweeted. In August Sharif interviewed senior opposition politician Shahbaz Gill, who said that junior officers should not follow orders that went against “the will of the majority”. | AFP…

Elected for the first time to parliament in 2015, Rishi Sunak is set to become Britain’s youngest prime minister in more than 200 years, tasked with steering the country through an economic crisis and mounting anger among some voters. It is a remarkable return for Sunak who lost a leadership bid to Liz Truss less than two months ago when he was accused by some in the Conservative Party of bringing down their hero, Boris Johnson. One of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, he enters Downing Street facing a need to make deep public spending cuts to stem a fiscal crisis, as well as tackling a cost-of-living crunch, a winter of strikes and Russia’s war in Ukraine. His backers say the former finance minister is a safe pair of hands…

Western countries accused Russia yesterday of plotting to use a threat of a bomb laced with nuclear material as a pretext for escalation in Ukraine, as Moscow evacuated civilians from a southern city in anticipation of a major battle. With Ukrainian forces advancing into Russian-occupied Kherson province, Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu phoned Western counterparts on Sunday to tell them Moscow suspected Kyiv of planning to use a so-called “dirty bomb”. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of France, Britain and the US said they had all rejected the allegations and reaffirmed their support for Ukraine against Russia. “Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” they said. “The world would see…

LOS ANGELES: Opening arguments are set to be made in the Los Angeles rape trial of Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer who became the face of #MeToo allegations five years ago. Weinstein, 70, is serving a 23-year sentence for sex crimes in New York. In Los Angeles, he is facing 11 charges of rape and sexual assault involving five women in the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles area between 2004 and 2013. He has pleaded not guilty. Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary film-maker, actor and wife of California governor Gavin Newsom, is one of Weinstein’s accusers in the California case. She is expected to testify that Weinstein sexually assaulted her during what she thought was going to be a business meeting. The identities of the other accusers are being kept…

Cape Town City will be eager to return to winning ways in the DStv Premiership when they host the fast-improving Chippa United at DHL Stadium tonight. After enduring the heart-break of crashing out of the CAF Champions League preliminary qualifiers, City returned to local football last Wednesday night. But their misery continued there as well as they were beaten 1-0 by rookies Richards Bay to remain rooted in 14th place on the league standings. As if things couldn’t get worse, they’ll host the red-hot Chippa knowing that victory is not guaranteed. The Chilli Boys are currently enjoying a purple patch under administrator-turned coach Morgan Mammila, who’s won four games on the bounce. However, the Citizens cannot go into the game thinking that they’ll face a mammoth task, they should strive…