Indice dei contenuti per 2023-08-30 in Cape Times

A man who launched a series of unsuccessful court applications stretching from the lower courts up to the Constitutional Court, claiming compensation ranging from R6 billion to trillions from state departments, has been declared a vexatious litigant. The minister of police, in his official capacity, turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to obtain an order against David Chauke, to bar him from instituting legal proceedings without prior consent of the court. The history of litigation between the parties commenced during 2009 when Chauke instituted action against the police minister and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development (as it then was) in the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, claiming damages of six billion rands. This followed his successful appeal against a conviction and sentence of, amongst other, corruption charges…

IN a rare moment of unity, the DA, EFF and Freedom Front Plus joined forces in opposing the recommendation of deputy public protector Kholeka Gcaleka to take over Busisiwe Mkhwebane when her term comes to end in October. However, their efforts were in vain as the ANC, and the IFP rallied behind Gcaleka, who is now another step closer to becoming public protector. DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach told the ad hoc committee to nominate a person for appointment as public protector that she found Gcaleka wholly unsuitable for the post. She also said Gcaleka had a burden of baggage from her days at the National Prosecuting Authority. “I don’t think she answered questions entirely and frankly. She has not demonstrated as acting public protector that she has sufficient experience to…

Human Settlement Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis continue to clash over the purchase of the Khayelitsha land where hundreds of families that live along Metrorail's Central Line corridor are expected to be relocated. The national government and the municipality have been at loggerheads for some time, with the tensions evident during a Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) meeting yesterday. Kubayi confirmed that she had declared a dispute with the City as it allegedly refused to co-operate after it returned R50 million earmarked for land purchase back to the National Treasury. “The only thing we all agreed to is that the Prasa lines have to be operational again. We have agreed there will be an emergency assessment of the land, the Operation Bekela. This will be a temporary…

It is common knowledge that the election of minority party mayors in the metros of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni was the ANC’s desperate attempt to gain control of the budget of these metros by any means necessary. In Joburg, the coalition of the ANC, EFF, PA, and others was never based on shared values and principles. The removal of the then mayor Dr Mpho Phalatse and the election of Al Jama-ah’s Thapelo Amad did not happen because of the ANC-EFF coalition sharing common values. This was a consequence of the instability within the then governing multi-party coalition which saw the PA switching sides out of dissatisfaction. Even after the PA had left the rainbow coalition, the party was never ambiguous about its non-alignment with the new group it had joined. From…

Hundreds of thousands of people are being trafficked by criminal gangs and forced to work in scam centres and other illegal online operations that have sprung up across Southeast Asia in recent years, a UN Human Rights Office report said yesterday. The report cited “credible sources” estimating that at least 120 000 people across Myanmar and 100 000 in Cambodia may be trapped in scam operations, with other criminal-owned enterprises in Laos, the Philippines and Thailand ranging from crypto-fraud to online gambling. “People who are coerced into working in these scamming operations endure inhumane treatment while being forced to carry out crimes. They are victims. They are not criminals,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk. Cambodian police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun said he had not seen the…

Zimbabwe’s main opposition yesterday called for fresh elections after its presidential candidate lost to incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa in a vote it lashed as flawed and illegal. The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) urged the AU and southern Africa’s regional bloc to help mediate a solution to the crisis that followed last Wednesday’s vote. “Zimbabwe needs a fresh and broad and proper election to exit the current crisis,” the CCC’s deputy spokesperson Ostallos Siziba told a press conference in Harare. Mnangagwa, 80, won a second term with 52.6% against 44% for the CCC’s Nelson Chamisa, 45, according to official results announced late on Saturday by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. International observers said the vote fell short of democratic standards. Balloting was troubled by delays, purportedly caused by the printing of ballot…

DEMOTED EFF member Vusi Khoza says he will abide by the decision of the party’s top structure to remove him as a Member of Parliament (MP), following his failure to organise buses to transport members to the party’s birthday celebrations. The former EFF KZN leader was one of the members that was banned from attending the party’s 10th anniversary celebrations at FNB Stadium in Gauteng last month as he had not organised transport for members and supporters. He said while the decision may seem harsh in some quarters, he has accepted it as he was part of the February NEC meeting that decided on the criteria to be met by each public representative on the transport arrangements for the celebrations. Khoza expressed the commitment to perform his tasks as a…

Delicious mild curry and rice followed by apple crumble with custard, topped a most interesting conversation last week with the amiable Captain Russel Duse, master of the salvage tug SA Amandla. Apart from fascinating accounts of salvage and ocean towage operations in which he has participated, Captain Duse’s own story is one of reaching a career pinnacle – despite adversity – through determination, hard work and an ethical, cheerful approach to life. As his father had been a whalerman for 17 years before switching to Safmarine where he was a ship’s carpenter, Duse recalls being at the Cape Town wharf with his mother, watching the ships berth. Those experiences and the stories of his uncles – also seafarers - kindled his own interest in ships. Soon he was at sea…

THE Labour Court has set aside an interdict against an Imam who refused to vacate his position at the Waterloo Road Mosque in Kenwyn after he had been dismissed. According to court papers, Moulana Mogamat Farouk Rylands was dismissed in February after 20 years of service. However, he refused to vacate his position, which led to the Ashrafiah Trust who oversee the mosque, to apply to the Labour Court for an interdict in April this year. They sought to have him vacate his post as Imam of the mosque and that he be interdicted from holding himself out to be the officiating Imam of the mosque and leading prayers, including Jumuah Prayers, among others. After Rylands failed to file his answering affidavit by May 9, and also did not attend…

AS THE curtain falls on Women’s Month 2023, there is no better time to reflect on whether inroads were made in safeguarding the welfare of women. Looking back, organisations put women at the forefront of several programmes completed during the month of August. Stories about women achievers made headlines in the past few weeks. However, the rights of women will not mean much until the women feel protected by the men around them, in whatever capacity. Disappointingly, in releasing crime statistics – coincidentally during Women’s Month – Police Minister Bheki Cele said sexual assaults continued to take place in the homes of victims and perpetrators. In terms of the crime figures, the majority of sexual assaults are still taking place between people that are familiar with each other. Yes, the…

The BRITISH government was working with airlines yesterday to help ensure passengers stranded in airports across Europe can get home after an air traffic control glitch caused widespread disruption to flights that is expected to last for days. More than 1 500 flights were cancelled on Monday – a public holiday in parts of Britain, and one of the busiest travel days as the school holidays draw to a close – when air traffic controllers were forced to switch to manual systems due to a technical problem. That left thousands of passengers stuck at airports in Europe and further afield. Mark Harper, the transport secretary, warned it would take days to resolve the issues, even though the fault was fixed after a few hours on Monday, as cancellations hit…

ATHENS: A wildfire burning in north-eastern Greece for 11 days has destroyed an area larger than New York City, the EU-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service has said. Fuelled by gale-force winds and hot weather, the fire that began near the city of Alexandroupolis quickly spread across the Evros region, killing at least 20 people last week in Europe’s deadliest blaze this summer. In a post on social media platform X, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service said the fire had ravaged at least 808.7km2. New York City takes up 778.2km2. Authorities warned that risks from the fire remained high yesterday. | Reuters…

There is life after Shabnim Ismail, according to her long-time partner in crime, fellow Proteas Women’s seam bowler Ayabonga Khaka. Ismail led the Proteas seam-bowling attack with aplomb for 16 years since making her international debut back in 2007. But even though the fiery fast bowler seemed to be in her prime at the T20 World Cup in South Africa earlier this year – where she was still clocking speeds close to 130km/h – the 34-year-old opted to retire from international cricket a few months ago. Khaka, along with Ismail and Marizanne Kapp, formed the famous “Three Musketeers”, with the trio regularly hunting down opposition batting line-ups. But with Ismail retired, there is now an increased responsibility on Khaka and Kapp to shoulder the burden, although the long-limbed seamer believes…

AS THE highly anticipated summer season is fast approaching, tourism security plans are being boosted to ensure visitors enjoy South Africa without incident. The Department of Tourism has budgeted about R174.5 million to train more than 2 200 tourism monitors who will be deployed across the country. The monitors are expected to be deployed at top tourist attractions and national parks that are often targeted by opportunists. In the Western Cape, crime hotspots have been identified, including ATMs, Signal Hill, Long Street, Bo-Kaap, Greenmarket Square and Hout Bay Harbour. “The key objectives (are) to enhance tourism safety awareness at key tourism attractions and sites, upskilling of unemployed youth and reducing tourist vulnerabilities. The key responsibilities of the appointed tourism monitors include patrolling within the identified attractions and site/areas, raising tourism…

MPL’s were left disappointed and frustrated after another no-show by Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramakgopa at a meeting of the Western Cape’s ad hoc committee on the energy crisis. According to DA provincial energy spokesperson and committee chairperson MPP Christopher Fry, the minister sent an apology last night, citing an urgent matter he needed to attend to. ACDP MPL Ferlon Christians said: “Chair, we will have to go through the summons route. If we set a date the minister will give us a time and he’ll disappoint us again. We (wasted) a whole day … to accommodate the minister. We have constituencies out there that ask questions; I was very hopeful.” EFF MPL Aishah Cassiem said:, “I would like to register our disappointment, as the EFF, on the minister’s continuous failure…

Don’t rely on BRICS: Time for Africa to find its own way forward The 15th BRICS summit ended on August 24, 2023, and six new countries were admitted to the fold. After long periods of speculation about “disagreements” about welcoming new members, the outgoing BRICS chair Cyril Ramaphosa laid the issue to bed. From 1 January 2024, BRICS will add Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Local and foreign media hailed this development as the strengthening of a “multipolar world order”. Without many people being aware, the vocabulary of international politics is loaded with terminologies and phrases whose meanings are not quite known. These concepts are frequently used to the point that their supposed meanings appear normal, whereas their purpose has always been “to impose a liberal…

Sudan’s army chief yesterday visited Egypt on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of war in April, with the latest violence killing dozens of civilians in battle-scarred Darfur. As Abdel Fattah al-Burhan headed for talks with key ally Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, medics and witnesses said 39 civilians were killed, most of them women and children, in shelling of Nyala, Sudan’s second city in South Darfur state where fighting between the army and paramilitary forces has intensified. Burhan swopped his trademark military fatigues for a suit and tie and flew from Port Sudan to El-Alamein on Egypt’s north coast, where he said his forces faced “rebel groups who have committed war crimes in their attempt to seize power”. In their meeting, Sisi’s office said he had “reaffirmed Egypt’s…

Residents along Florida’s west coast were under orders to evacuate yesterday ahead of Hurricane Idalia’s arrival, as forecasters said the storm was strengthening over an exceptionally warm Gulf of Mexico and would likely become “extremely dangerous” before landfall. Idalia, which the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said had become a Category 1 hurricane overnight, was churning yesterday morning hundreds of kilometres off Florida’s south-west, and bringing tropical storm conditions to western Cuba. Warm Gulf waters near 31°C are expected to turbocharge Idalia into an “extremely dangerous major hurricane before landfall on Wednesday (today),” the NHC said. Major hurricanes are usually a Category 3 or higher on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale – storms that the NHC says can cause “devastating” and “catastrophic” damage. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis urged those in the…