Indice dei contenuti per 2024-03-08 in Cape Times

TRELLIDOR Holdings faced two major challenges during the six months to December 31: falling revenue in its domestic market, South Africa and higher levels of debt at high interest rates. Revenue increased by 6.9% to R292.2 million. Headline earnings per share fell by 16.1% to 21.4 cents, from 25.5c in the prior corresponding period. The dividend was passed, and would only resume once borrowings and gearing normalised, the directors said. Revenue from international markets increased to R82.4m, driven by a strong performance by the Trellidor UK division, representing 28.2% of the group’s revenue. Net debt was reduced 16.8% to R116.8m from R140.3m, driven by improvements in the investment in working capital. Cash generated from operations of R39.5m (R7m) was a feature of the period. This substantially strengthened the…

AS more than 600 million people, the majority from African countries, still remain without access to electricity, the World Bank believes universal access to energy by 2030 will not be achieved. However, unlocking the distributed renewable energy’s (DRE) potential globally can ensure that no one is overlooked. These were the remarks of the financial institution’s lead energy specialist Raihan Elahi, during a presentation at the Africa Energy Indaba this week. According to a report on The World Bank website, globally the number of people without access to electricity declined from 1.2 billion in 2010 to 759 million in 2019. The state of access in the Sub-Saharan African region was characterised by population growth outpacing gains in the number of people with access. “Our focus is SDG7, this is access to…

POLICE and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday confirmed the arrest of eThekwini ANC regional secretary Bongumusa Nciki and his bodyguard. Nciki and his bodyguard, Ivan Khoza, appeared briefly in the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday and were granted R5 000 bail each. Police initially stated there was a charge of possession of firearms without a permit, but this charge was not among those the duo were charged with. NPA regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the State alleged that the men were driving along Lighthouse Road in uMhlanga on Wednesday when they committed the offences. “They were released on bail of R5 000 each and the case was remanded to April 10 for further investigation.” KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala confirmed that the suspects were arrested on Wednesday…

Police warn that anyone who interferes with the investigation will face the might of the law The empty school desk of missing 6-year-old Joshlin Smith is a harsh reminder of her absence three weeks after she disappeared from her home in Middelpos, Saldanha. Joshlin’s Grade 1 peers, with their teacher Edna Maart at Diazville Primary School, continue with their school curriculum but now have a decorated mural wall with messages for their classmate, and they remain hopeful for her safe return. It’s here that Joshlin had started making friends. “Day 17... our school’s prayer is that Joshlin will return safely. Where there is hope, there is life,” read a message posted on the school’s social media page. Maart said that while it is a trying time for them, they stand…

Listen for the lie Amy Tintera Loot.co.za (R546) Celadon Listen for the Lie is an edgy mystery that artfully blends our growing obsession with the true-crime genre and our ongoing predilection for murder, mayhem and quirky detectives in fiction. Tintera strategically plants some of the most popular tropes of the true-crime landscape into her search-for-a-killer tale. The victim is Savannah “Savvy” Harper, a 24-year-old bartender who, like many women who meet her fate in the true-crime genre, is immortalised as an angelic former cheerleader who was adored by everyone. Her suspected killer, Lucy Chase, also 24 at the time of the murder, is remembered as the girl with a temper who once attacked a high school student. She and her well-to-do husband, Matt, whom she met at The University of…

An Abundance of Wild Roses Feryal Ali-Gauhar Canongate In the Black Mountains of Pakistan, the discovery of an unconscious, unknown man is the first snowball in an avalanche of chaos. The village head is beset with problems, including tending to the injured stranger and struggling to find his way out. Meanwhile, his daughter receives a love letter and incurs her father’s wrath. A lame boy foretells disaster, but nobody is listening. Trapped in terrible danger, a wolf-dog is battling ice and death to save a soldier’s life. A woman, beaten by her addict husband for bearing him only daughters, is pregnant again. Can this child save her? All the while, the spirits of the mountains keep a baleful eye on the doings of the humans. Chained by tradition and afflicted…

MAHMOOD Mamdani’s seminal work, navigates the complex terrain of humanitarian intervention and condemns the international community’s selective implementation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. Drawing on Mamdani’s astute observations, it is critical to look at Israel’s actions in its ongoing war with Palestine through the lens of R2P. By doing so, we can expose the flagrant violations of human rights and systemic injustices carried out against the Palestinian people. Central to Mamdani’s argument is the distinction between the Responsibility to Protect and the Right to Punish. He critiques the instrumentalisation of R2P by powerful Western nations to justify military interventions in the Global South, often under the guise of humanitarian intervention. Mamdani contends that such interventions are driven not by a genuine commitment to protect populations from harm, but…

A New Mexico jury yesterday found Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter, ending a trial over Hollywood’s first on-set fatal shooting in nearly 30 years. Ten days of testimony had focused on whether the relatively inexperienced armourer endangered fellow crew and cast members in her handling and supervision of firearms on the low-budget production set in New Mexico. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered that Gutierrez be taken into custody immediately. She faces up to 18 months in state prison. As deputies led her from the courtroom, Gutierrez told her distraught mother, “I’ll be okay”. Jurors, who reached their decision in just three hours, acquitted Gutierrez on a second charge of evidence tampering. Just after lunch on October 21, 2021, Gutierrez mistakenly loaded a live round into a reproduction…

Mozambican authorities yesterday were scrambling to find survivors of a shipwreck that left at least one person dead and eight missing south of the capital, Maputo. Mozambique’s National Maritime Institute (Inamar) said an illegal fishing vessel carrying 12 people ran into trouble navigating the waters off the southern Matutuine region on Wednesday morning. The causes of the incident were not immediately clear, but officials said they believed the crew panicked after the vessel started taking on water, eventually causing it to capsize.Wreckage washed up on a beach in the area. Odete Muianga of Inamar said rescuers found two survivors on Wednesday and pulled a third from the waters the following day. Eight more crew members were missing at sea but hopes of finding them alive were fading. The boat was…

Barcelona: Police in Spain said yesterday they had smashed a ring which allegedly falsified works by British street artist Banksy which it sold around the world for up to €1 500 (about R30 000) a piece. Officers arrested two people in the north-eastern city of Zaragoza where the forgeries were allegedly made and two others with “knowledge of the art world” suspected of having put the works on sale, Catalonia’s regional police force said. Police suspect the ring sold at least 25 works, which were made with spray paint on cardboard, in specialised shops, Barcelona auction houses and online to customers in Germany, Spain and the US. | AFP…

BRUSSELS: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen yesterday won the backing of the EU’s leading political group, the centre-right European People’s Party, to head the bloc’s powerful executive for another five years. Von der Leyen listed the war in Ukraine, the crisis in Gaza destabilising the Middle East, and the rise of China as key challenges for the 27-nation EU. She won with 400 votes in favour and 89 against. She is seen as a clear favourite to lead the commission again after the EU parliamentary election in June. She vowed to advance economies, police smugglers, boost business and support farmers. | Reuters…

IT’S ALMOST time for the prestigious Raging Bull Awards, which will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on March 11. Independent Media’s Personal Finance publication hosts the awards to honour the leaders of the South African collective investment industry. The winners of the awards are determined by ProfileData, using its PlexCrown Ratings methodology. The Raging Bull trophies and certificates are awarded for straight performance over three years and for risk-adjusted performance over five years to the end of 2023. A nominated list of the winners was published last week on Saturday in Independent’s publication and on its online platform. Dr Iqbal Survé, executive chairman of Independent Media, said: “The Raging Bull Awards carry huge prestige for not only the winning funds and the managers – which…

The five nurses who were suspended on Monday at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital for alleged gross negligence were seen in a video ignoring a distressed patient, 28, who later died. The Gauteng Department of Health announced on Wednesday that the five who were believed to be on duty, were put on precautionary suspension. This is after a video that was shot by a member of the public who had been at the hospital on February 25, showing the nurses going about their private business while a patient believed to have an acute chronic illness was clearly in distress. The video was not shared with The Star, but the publication can reliably reveal that it shows the patient sitting on the floor while waiting for the doctor to attend to…

The DA has come under fire by opposition parties for seemingly providing a soft landing for political cadres who face corruption allegations instead of holding them accountable, following the redeployment of axed Drakenstein mayor Conrad Poole to the provincial legislature. Poole was ousted as mayor at a council meeting last month following a motion of no confidence brought by the ANC’s leader in council, Moutie Richards. The motion followed an investigation into allegations that Poole was involved in a pay-for-jobs scheme. Out of 62 councillors in a secret ballot vote, 34 voted in favour of the motion, 26 against and two councillors abstained. While the DA has now been criticised by opposition parties for redeploying Poole to the provincial legislature, the party said he will fill the spot left by…

At 14 years old, she was given in an arranged marriage to her 13-year-old husband, and at 17, this illiterate girl gave birth to her first child prematurely. The baby did not survive his first year. Not a promising start to a life. History is predominantly told and written by men and from a male perspective. That is why, even though her husband is an enduring global icon of peace and justice, known as Mahatma Gandhi, far fewer people know the name of this woman, Kasturba, who played a key role in the famous and decisive 1913 Satyagraha March from Natal to the Transvaal. The march was arranged as part of an ongoing campaign to get the Union government to desist from implementing its increasingly draconian immigration laws. While in…

HEALTH Minister Joe Phaahla said the provincial government was committed to building a new hospital to serve the areas of Klipfontein, Gugulethu and Nyanga, and the planning part of the hospital had been completed. He made the statement replying to questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday when EFF MP Susan Thembekwayo asked him about his department’s plans to build a bigger regional hospital after decommissioning the GF Jooste Hospital in Manenberg, the only hospital serving the Klipfontein area communities of Manenberg, Gugulethu and Nyanga. Thembekwayo also enquired about the department’s plans towards upgrading healthcare facilities in the area to meet the needs of these communities. In his reply, Phaahla said the GF Jooste Hospital was decommissioned in 2013 because it was no longer suitable for services it was meant…

If you ever thought the victims of the happy-clappy churches were illiterate folk who did not know any better, you have another thing coming. The writer of the book Power and Faith, Pontsho Pilane, is a worldly journalist with access to information at the click of a computer key; she’s a Wits University graduate, yet she still fell for the abracadabra of the charismatic churches whose currency is the vulnerability of its followers. The book, Power and Faith, How evangelical churches are quietly shaping our democracy, packs enough into 181 pages to infuriate the reader. Granted, she did not eat grass or have insecticide sprayed in her face, but she will have you wondering, when you read the book, if access to information doesn’t allow one to be more discerning…

A Kaizer Chiefs-Orlando Pirates Soweto Derby always gets the juices flowing for soccer fans. It is mainly about bragging rights for supporters, as the two arch-rivals are the most popular clubs in South Africa – despite their lack of success in recent seasons compared to that of Mamelodi Sundowns, who are the undoubted kings of local football. But for Chiefs coach Cavin Johnson and his Pirates counterpart José Riveiro, it’s all about the three points in tomorrow’s league encounter at the FNB Stadium. Chiefs are sixth on the log with 29 points, one ahead of fifth-placed Pirates, who both trail leaders Sundowns, who are on a whopping 42 points – and have played three fewer matches than both Soweto giants. Chiefs had enjoyed a recent five-match winning streak, until Pirates…

Namibian communities whose ancestors were massacred by German colonial forces and had their property seized more than a century ago are calling for fresh talks with Berlin to negotiate the return of ancestral land. Germany agreed in May 2021 to fund projects worth €1.1 billion (R23bn) over 30 years to make up for the property seizures and killings by German colonial forces between 1904 and 1908, after the tribes rebelled against German rule. Germany also apologised for its role in the slaughter, officially describing the massacre of some 65 000 Herero and 10 000 Nama people as genocide for the first time. But critics have said Germany should not have directed its apology to the Namibian state, which did not exist at the time of the genocide and had no…

SRINAGAR: Just weeks before national elections, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday held his first rally in the main city of Kashmir since his government revoked the region’s special status nearly five years ago. Kashmir hasn’t held local elections since the government scrapped Article 370 of the constitution. The region is India’s only Muslim-majority one and removing its special status had been a long-held campaign promise of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Kashmir has seen decades of separatist violence and been a source of the dispute between India and neighbouring Pakistan since the two gained independence in 1947. | The Washington Post…

Stockholm: The EU health agency yesterday reported a “troubling” surge in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) across Europe, which could be just “the tip of the iceberg”. In 2022, gonorrhoea cases rose by 48%, with 70 881 reported around the EU and EEA area, compared to a year earlier. Cases of syphilis rose by 34% to over 35 391, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Cases of chlamydia rose 16%, reaching 216 508 across 27 countries. The agency also warned that while chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis, were treatable, they can lead to serious health complications. | AFP…

THE City has made some steps in its aim to procure power, and its goal to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) by the first quarter of 2025. The municipality is currently in the evaluation stages of two independent power producer (IPP) procurement programmes. The City’s generation development manager, Shane Prins, shared these developments yesterday during a panel discussion on “Risks and barriers in renewable energy development in Africa through Independent Power Production”. This was part of the IPP and PPA conference on the fringe of the African Energy Indaba. More than 4 000 people and 156 speakers participated in this year’s conference sessions and side events held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. “The first IPP (programme was) launched in February 2022 for embedded power generation and there we…

OUTGOING Theewaterskloof municipal manager Wilfred Solomons-Johannes maintains he was prepared to take on Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC, Anton Bredell before the parties reached a court settlement paving the way for him to vacate his position in June. Solomons-Johannes welcomed the court order yesterday and said that he was compliant with all the requirements for the appointment in the position of municipal manager. “It must be made clear that the MEC’s team approached the municipality and me for a settlement. Eventually, after negotiations led by the legal teams, the agreement was mutually accepted. I was prepared to fight the MEC in court, and confident that the appointment process was lawful, but we decided to prevent further expenses and to save the taxpayers’ money,” Solomons-Johannes said. He added…

The Forgotten child is a complex true story about a new-born left to die. I was trying to find a lighter read for this week’s edition of “On my bookshelf,” but something kept drawing me to Richard Gallear’s “The Forgotten Child”. Hidden among the rest of my books, I was immediately drawn to its cover. Little did I know that the book would take me on a journey of resilience and the power of the human spirit. “The Forgotten Child” is a true story about an abandoned baby boy whose mother has left him for dead. Only a few hours old, she had wrapped him in nothing but two sheets of newspaper and hid him among the undergrowth under a bridge. Despite its age, the book remains relevant, highlighting the…

Most political parties are not, and never have been fully pro-transparency WITH hotly-contested elections around the corner, there was a lot of breathless speculation before the February 29 Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC’s) latest Party Funding Disclosure Report on donation declarations for the third quarter of 2023/24 (October – December), but the actual figures did not clarify the two most important questions. How reliable are the declarations of sources of income given the ANC’s rushed adoption last week of the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill in the Home Affairs Committee that will provide it with a more significant share of the available funding for political parties and independent representatives than previously provided. As well as the controversial candidate list compilation process across parties meant to exclude the same fund-raisers…

India’s navy evacuated all 20 crew from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea yesterday, after a Houthi attack killed three seafarers in the first civilian fatalities from the Yemeni group’s campaign in the key shipping route. The Iran-aligned militants fired a missile at the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence on Wednesday about 50 nautical miles off the port of Aden, setting it ablaze. In a statement, the owners and manager said all 20 crew and three armed guards on board were taken to hospital in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa by an Indian warship. Two of the dead were Filipino nationals, while the third was Vietnamese, the owners and managers said, expressing condolences to the families. Two other Filipinos were also severely injured. Images released by the Indian Navy…

Former US president Donald Trump will have to pay at least £300 000 (about R7 million) in costs after losing a UK court action against a former spy who compiled a salacious dossier about him, according to a court order publicised yesterday. Trump took legal action against Christopher Steele’s company, Orbis Business Intelligence, but High Court Judge Karen Steyn ruled last month that there were “no compelling reasons” to allow the claim to proceed to trial. The data protection claim was “bound to fail” she wrote. The judge also threw out Trump’s claim for compensation, stating that he had “chosen to allow many years to elapse – without any attempt to vindicate his reputation” in the UK courts since the dossier came out. In an order, the judge said Trump…

HONG KONG: The Hong Kong government will send a national security bill to the legislature today, possibly cracking down further on dissent in the former British colony, with city leader John Lee calling for it to be passed “at full speed”. The move to enact new laws encompassing espionage, state secrets and sedition comes a week after a month-long public consultation period for the bill ended. The law targets crimes including treason, theft of state secrets, espionage, sabotage, sedition and external interference. It will also have “extraterritorial” effect, giving rise to fears it could be used to intimidate and restrict free speech of residents outside Hong Kong. | Reuters…

VILNIUS: High oil prices, sanctions evasion and state investment are providing Russia with enough resources to fight on in Ukraine at the current intensity for at least two more years, Lithuanian intelligence agencies said yesterday. Russia reformed and strengthened its battle-torn army in Ukraine in 2023 and is on track to expand its military capabilities along its border with Nato, including next to Finland, which joined the alliance last year, the agencies said. While Russia is openly supplied with weapons by Iran and North Korea, China has become its largest supplier of microchips and the yuan the main currency for Russia’s international transactions. | Reuters…