Tabla de contenidos para 2021-07-30 en Cape Times

Staff writer THE provincial Department of Human Settlements says progress is being made on the Qolweni Housing Project, which has been rocked by allegations that management from the Bitou municipality solicited bribes from contractors. The department said it has consistently offered to assist the municipality with the project. This is as Good Party secretary-general Brett Herron said an affidavit filed in the Western Cape High Court reveals how a “criminal syndicate” operating at the highest level in the municipality sought to feast on revenue generated for the sorely needed housing contract. Herron said, according to Dr Anele Hammond, representing a company associated with the appointed contractor, Ukhana Project, the municipality cancelled the R38 million contract after she refused to participate in a “corrupt scheme” involving the town's top officials. Acting…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za A DELFT resident has relocated to the West Coast after witnessing a Golden Arrow bus driver being shot. The 25-year-old mom of one was on her way to work on July 6 when the incident happened. The driver was shot during a taxi war between the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta). He survived the attack. The woman said the incident left her traumatised, and she will only return to Cape Town once the taxi violence has settled. “The driver was shot in front of us on the N2 by taxi operators, and it was something we were not expecting as the passengers. “The bus driver was scared to continue with the journey and all of us in the bus…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in the Western Cape has demanded the City and provincial transport department “pull up their socks” and stop the permissions duplication of routes which has been identified among the issues fuelling taxi violence in the province. About 83 taxi-related murders have occurred this year, with 24 people killed this month alone. Santaco chairperson Nazeem Abdurahman said the department of transport also needed to take the blame for how routes were registered. “The fight for routes is due to the acceptance of membership. The members are registered by the registrar. The department has to take blame where it allowed these routes to be registered under the existing mother bodies or regions. “At no stage does Santaco get involved when a member…

| Orielle Berry The Scandalous Times of a Book Louse Robert Muponde Loot.co.za (R220) Penguin Random House IN Muponde’s enchanting coming-of-age tale set in rural Zimbabwe, surprise awaits at every twist and turn. There may not be much to eat for dinner and Father is out of work and the maize plants are not growing in the unreceptive rocky ground. But in the village of Gushure, where raconteurs dwell, the Guramatunhu family are aware storytelling somehow staves off the hunger beating at the door. It is here that thoughts and conversations blossom into poems, bud into political speeches and bloom into songs. Tucked into a story, you'll find instructions for cooking a hare, ways to defend yourself when a dead snake is your enemy’s chosen weapon, how to eliminate…

HIJACKERS ON BOARD Cynthia Stimpel Loot.co.za (R240) TAFELBERG CYNTHIA Stimpel ended her working career as group treasurer of South African Airways. It was a position that at the time she was appointed she thought would be her ideal job. It turned out to be the opposite. In her gripping book, Hijackers on Board, Stimpel traces her story from her modest beginnings, her rise in the corporate world, and of course, the story of her time at the beleaguered SAA. “I was approached three times by a recruiting agency to join SAA. At the time of that third approach, I had already resigned from my position at the Development Bank of South Africa, so I decided to meet with the agency. Would I want to work for a company that was…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za LAW enforcement agencies will be on high alert this weekend to prevent trauma cases, as month-end normally shows an increase in alcohol-related injuries, putting pressure on health services. Currently 3 433 Covid-19 patients are being treated in public and private hospitals. At the latest Covid-19 briefing yesterday, head of health, Dr Keith Cloete said: “The health service capacity is under threat this weekend. Critical (care) is already stretched beyond capability. The recent change to adjusted level 3 allows for partial availability of alcohol sales. “This coincides with an end of month weekend which, in normal circumstances, tend to see increases in trauma presentations. “Since the Western Cape is currently also entering the peak of the third wave of Covid-19, the implications of this may cause significant strain…

US SECRETARY of State Anthony Blinken assiduously affirmed on Twitter in July that “President Biden has committed to putting human rights back at the centre of our foreign policy, and that’s a commitment I and the entire Department of State take very seriously”. Perhaps this was a mere adjunct to Blinken’s remarks at the International Religious Freedom Summit on July 25 that “religious freedom is a human right and a key element of an open and stable society”. Such moralising unfortunately seemed to have been bereft from Blinken’s public utterings two days later when he visited India, where the ultra-nationalist government of PM Narendra Modi has literally made the lot of minorities including Christians, Muslims and the lower caste Dalits hell by pushing a chauvinistic “Hindutva First” agenda which has…

Bill Harding | Noordhoek THE Minister of Health was placed on special leave a month ago under a cloud of corruption. Why has it taken so long for Ramaphosa to act? Does he not realise that we face the most horrendous effects of Covid-19? He brings in an acting minister with little or no medical credentials and experience. Where is the deputy minister? What on earth is he thinking? How much longer are we expected to tolerate his indecisive “leadership”? He seems incapable of taking action over a number of crucial issues. Talk about “fiddling while Rome burns”. Heaven help us!…

Keith Gottschalk | Claremont IT WAS good to read the article earlier in the week by Xanthea Limberg, mayoral committee member for water and waste (Cape Times, July 26). It explained the causes of the sewage overflow into Zeekoeivlei, and summarised the engineering repairs and upgrades the City is now busy with to solve the problem. This marks a welcome and long overdue change from the metro, which had previously tended to be evasive in responding to press reports, and to howls of complaints by ratepayers about sewage pouring into the Milnerton Lagoon, from that lagoon into the sea, and more recently into Zeekoeivlei and Zandvlei. The proportion of how much sewage is in water is typically measured by counting the number of the infamous bacteria E. Coli.…

WHO would have thought that a South African would win a silver medal in surfing at the Tokyo Olympics? But that is exactly what Bianca Buitendag, from Victoria Bay on the Garden Route, was able to achieve at the Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach this week. Luck wasn’t on Buitendag’s side in the final against American World No 1 Carissa Moore, as she couldn’t find that big wave needed for a high score. But Buitendag had the SA flag around her at the medal ceremony, and spoke inspirationally about what the sport means to her. “I’m super proud – proud of being South African, and representing its beautiful people. I hope more girls will have the courage to get in the water, and get introduced to the love of my life. It’s…

Russia successfully docked its troubled laboratory module Nauka with the International Space Station yesterday after more than a decade of delays, the country’s space agency Roscosmos said. The mission comes as Russia seeks to boost its space industry, which has fallen behind since the collapse of the Soviet Union and struggles to keep up with competition from the US. “There is contact!!!” Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Twitter as Russia completed the first docking of an ISS module in 11 years. Images released by Roscosmos showed the new addition to the Russian segment of the ISS docking with the nadir (Earth-facing) port of the Zvezda service module. It will now take several months and multiple spacewalks to fully integrate the module with the space station. The Nauka module blasted…

More than four billion doses of anti-Covid vaccines have been administered around the world, eight months after the vaccination drive started, according to an AFP count yesterday. Global injections have slowed slightly: the fourth billion dose was reached in 30 days, while it took only 26 days to reach the previous one. The first and second billion were reached after about 140 and 40 days respectively. Forty percent (1.6 billion) of the four billion shots have been administered in China. India (451 million) and the US (343 million) make up the trio of countries that have administered the most jabs. In terms of population among countries with more than one million people, the United Arab Emirates is the leader: 168 first and second doses administered per 100 inhabitants. Uruguay follows…

ISTANBUL: Three people have been found dead as a forest fire burned for a second day in southern Turkey, the country’s AFAD disaster agency said. Efforts to rescue others and extinguish the blaze continued yesterday after more than 100 people were evacuated. Hot weather and strong winds caused fires to spread around the town of Manavgat, 75km east of the resort city of Antalya, and nearby villages. Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast is known for its scorching summer heat, which often causes wildfires. Officials have said the latest fires are the biggest to date. | Reuters…

SYDNEY: Australia’s military will help enforce a lockdown in Sydney after the city of 6 million posted a record daily rise in Covid-19 cases yesterday and state authorities said the outbreak was likely to get worse. Despite an extended lockdown in Sydney since an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant, 239 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases were recorded in the city over a 24-hour period, the biggest daily rise since the pandemic began. One new death took the toll from the latest outbreak to 13 and the national total was now 921. With little sign that restrictions are reducing infections, new curbs would be imposed on the southwestern and western areas| Reuters…

MIKE GREENAWAY mike.greenaway@inl.co.za BRITISH & Irish Lions scrumhalf Conor Murray was coached by Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber for 18 months at Munster but that has not made him any the wiser as to what Erasmus is up to with his controversial social media antics over the last fortnight of the Test series. The South African pair were at Munster in 2016 and 2017 and left when Erasmus was appointed as the new SA Rugby Director in 2018, and that was more than enough time for Murray to gain a powerful insight into their psyche. Erasmus and Nienaber have been mates since they were young men in the South African army and they have coached together since their early days at the Cheetahs in 2004-2006, right the way through to…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za THE SA Revenue Service (Sars), its commissioner Edward Kieswetter and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni are facing legal action by the organisation’s employees for failing to increase their salaries this year. Through their union, the Public Servants Association (PSA), angry Sars employees have hauled the entity’s political and administrative bosses to the North Gauteng High Court to enforce a three-year salary agreement signed in 2019. The move followed Sars’ decision not to increase employees’ salaries in the 2021/22 financial year despite having implemented the agreement in 2019/20 and 2020/21, and paying its staff an 8% increase and consumer price index (CPI) plus 2%, in both years respectively. In terms of the agreement, the employees were expected to receive wage hikes of the CPI plus 2% from April this…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za THE financial impact of the recall of certain KOO and Hugo’s canned vegetable products is estimated at between R500 million and R650m. Tiger Brands on Monday recalled certain canned vegetable products including baked beans, produced from May 1, 2019 to May 5, 2021, due to a number of defective cans supplied by a packaging supplier. The cans may have a defective side seam weld that could cause them to leak. Tiger Brands spokesperson Werna Oberholzer said yesterday while they were yet to quantify the number of recalled products that have been returned to date, the financial impact of the recall was estimated at between R500m and R650m including the cost of the potentially affected stock to be written off, transport and storage costs, as well as loss…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za THE transport services available to farmworkers remains a hot debate in rural areas and the agricultural sector, as workers still have no choice but to risk their lives by climbing onto overloaded bakkies or trucks. The Department of Transport has now indicated that as it considers banning the transportation of people at the rear of goods vehicles, it is still applying its mind due to “unintended consequences that may come with such a ban”. Renewed calls were made earlier this year for stricter regulation of farmworker transport, after 80 people were injured when the truck they were travelling in overturned on the R44, near Klapmuts, Paarl. The incident happened weeks after a 30-year-old farmworker was killed when she was among 37 workers being transported on the…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za A FIRE that ripped through Phumlani village in Lotus River this week has left more than 60 people destitute and desperate for essential items. The fire razed about 14 shacks in the informal settlement on Wednesday morning, and is believed to have been started by a candle. Community activist Beryl Williams said residents had been left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. “The situation is very desperate as the residents lost everything in the fire. “They were asked to sleep over in the community hall overnight, as there was no other shelter for them. “The City doesn’t provide the structure starter packs any more, so we are not sure when and how they can start to rebuild their lives. “Some of them stayed with family,…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za A fire broke out at the Public Protector’s office in Wale Street yesterday, the second time in recent years. The institution, which has the power to investigate, report and remedy improper conduct in state affairs, said no investigation files were lost. “We do not know what caused the fire. This is the second time a fire has broken out at that office. It also happened a few years back,” Public Protector spokesperson Oupa Segalwe said. Police confirmed that they were not investigating the matter at this stage. “The fire was contained and extinguished by the Cape Town Fire Department. The fire was confined to the storeroom, which contained cleaning material, toilet paper and sanitizer,” police spokesperson FC van Wyk said. There were five staff members present when…

Trevor Gosling | Cape Town PRESIDENT Ramaphosa’s announcements on support for the SME sector (when he addressed the nation on Sunday) shows that he understands the importance and the value of this sector of our economy. The tax incentives he announced will also encourage employers, especially in the retail and hospitality sector, to create or maintain jobs. Small businesses create over 90% of private sector jobs, and steps to get them back on their feet should be welcomed. SME owners should make sure that they do everything they can to secure their cash flow in order to best position themselves for growth and recovery, as well as make use of any of the support measures that have been put in place. They can do this by negotiating with…

Bill Constantine | Oranjezicht I WAS delighted to see the smiling faces of SA water sports Olympic silver medalists Bianca Buitendag, (surfing) and Tatjana Schoenmaker (100m breaststroke), gracing the front page of the Cape Times: “SA Olympic water stars win hearts as they grab silver for surfing, swimming”, (Cape Times, July 28). I’m not a softie; I’ve seen combat and as a former champion athlete, (though not of Olympic stature), I’ve experienced “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”. Still, I was moved to tears by the truly exceptional graciousness and “from the heart” manner by which each of these gifted athletes publicly expressed themselves following their Olympic silver medal-winning performances. Buitendag: “I’m very proud to be South African and bring some good news home, especially…

On the special occasion of the centenary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, we are celebrating the 94th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The Nanchang Uprising, launched on August 1, 1927, was seen as the CPC’s initial bid to establish the people’s army, marking a new era of China’s revolution. In the past 94 years, the People’s Army has made indelible achievements on behalf of the CPC and the people. It is a strong pillar for safeguarding our socialist country and preserving national dignity, and a powerful force for protecting world peace and regional stability. On the journey ahead, the People’s Army will fully implement Xi Jinping’s Thinking on Strengthening the Military in the New…

SOUTH Africa is facing a national crisis – the most catastrophic since entering democracy. We have a government that has lost touch with its people; a governing party fraught with factionalism; a disparate group of opposition parties; a security cluster paralysed by the recent uprisings; a health-care crisis; an economic group that is shockingly silent; constant service delivery protests, and the list goes on … In short, we have a leadership crisis. A candid assessment of the ANC will demonstrate it has become so factionalised that it is incapable of leading. After more than 100 years, the venerable party that led the change to democracy has lost its currency. As a person, our president is very likeable. But as affable as he is, he has failed to lead. There is…

The US economy returned to its pre-pandemic level in the second quarter, data released yesterday showed, giving US President Joe Biden a political win as Congress moves closer to passing a long-debated plan to improve the country’s infrastructure. However the 6.5% annualised rate of expansion in the April-to-June period was slower than expected, and the Commerce Department report confirmed that inflation spiked as customers vaccinated against Covid-19 returned to businesses that suffered throughout the pandemic last year. “Make no mistake: this growth is no accident, it’s a direct result of our efforts to deliver economic relief to families, small businesses, and communities across the country,” the Democratic president tweeted. After taking office in January, Biden won passage of a massive $1.9 trillion spending bill to help the economy’s recovery from…

New York: A renowned New York City sommelier has been charged with setting fire to outdoor dining sheds of rival restaurants. Caleb Ganzer, 35, was caught on CCTV lighting the wooden structures of two restaurants in separate incidents in January and July, said the New York Fire Department. No one was injured. He was also filmed setting fire to a pile of rubbish in June after midnight Ganzer, who was a Food and Wine magazine sommelier of the year in 2017, was charged with two felony counts of arson and other crimes, including reckless endangerment. | AFP…

Brussels: The EU said yesterday it was pausing its legal action against Britain for allegedly breaching the Brexit deal on Northern Ireland as it weighs London’s proposals to overhaul the pact. The EU launched legal proceedings against London in March after it delayed custom controls on some goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Britain. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government published a paper last week demanding the EU renegotiate the protocol for Northern Ireland after rioting and business disruption plagued the province. The EU says it will not renegotiate the protocol, but was willing to discuss “solutions”. | AFP…

Nuku’alofa: Cocaine worth more than $1 million (R14m) has washed up on a Tongan beach, with police scouring nearby shores for similar illicit packages yesterday. Residents discovered the drugs in the Pacific nation’s northern Vava’u group of islands and handed them over to the authorities. Police said the packages were similar to those found in Vava’u in the past. Tonga has been listed by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime as “geographically disadvantaged” because it is on the route used by illicit drug manufacturers in Asia and South America to reach prime markets in Australia and New Zealand. | AFP…

NEF unveils new R150m fund to support black manufacturers GIVEN MAJOLA given.majola@inl.co.za THE NATIONAL Empowerment Fund (NEF) has been allocated R150 million by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to establish the Black Business Manufacturing Fund (BBMF) in an attempt to support black entrepreneurs in manufacturing various products locally across all key sectors of the economy. To qualify for BBMF funding, companies must be majority owned by black people with a minimum of 51 percent black ownership, among other criteria. The NEF, a provider of innovative transformation solutions for an economically inclusive economy, said yesterday that this was in response to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent call for the acceleration of the implementation of local Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan aimed at rebuilding the local economy.…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za UCT is in the process of reviewing its senior executive appointment policy, along with the lengthy turnaround time of finalising such appointments. This comes as some progress has been made in the processes of recruiting a suitable person to fill the contentious post of deputy vice-chancellor (DVC) for transformation. UCT was rocked by controversy earlier this year after the appointment of retired Emeritus Professor Martin Hall as the acting DVC for transformation. Hall, 72, was to replace black female Professor Loretta Feris on a R2 million salary package at a time when academics, staff and unions had been ordered to make cutbacks. This led to the shock resignation of convocation president Eddy Maloka. The DVC for transformation post was advertised on June 29, with the closing date…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za POLICE Minister Bheki Cele has distanced himself from the alleged procurement of a “spy grabber”, telling Parliament that he knew nothing about it. “I know nothing about this. I don’t know about the case,” he said. This emerged when police commissioner Khehla Sitole told MPs that he will not resign from his position after he and two senior officers lost an appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) over the grabber procurement. Sitole’s legal woes stem from allegations around attempts to buy the electronic spyware device known as a “grabber”, which boasts the capability of intercepting phone calls and cell phone messages, for R45 million ahead of the ANC’s 54th national conference in Nasrec, allegedly with the aim of influencing voting. DA MP Andrew Whitfield asked…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za AFTER mammoth legal proceedings spanning nearly seven years, a vigilante group of 14 Kraaifontein men have been sentenced to almost 2 000 years imprisonment after six people were kidnapped, murdered and their bodies dumped in a field. Tsepo Mathabela, Mncedisi Nditha, Ayanda Gwarubani, Montile Tyokwe, Ayanda Koni, Khaya Booi, Luvo Maqolo, Khanyile Paul, Thandisiwe Manise, Lindani Cetywayo, Sibongile Paul, Lunga Zilwa, Siphiwo Zilwa and Fumanekela Paul were sentenced to 1 840 years imprisonment collectively. The case dates back to December 2014 when six men – Zola Gayiya, Emanuel Barnes, Sandile Ngxabela, Sakhele Ngxabela, Lulama Dunga and Mhlanganisi Mljanjeni – were kidnapped in Wallacedene. They were murdered after being accused of robbing and killing Tsutsutsu Ntsundu while he was on his way home from work. He was a…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za FEUDS regarding the right to bury a deceased person have the potential to permanently divide a family. These are sensitive disputes best suited to be mediated and resolved by family elders, rather than being brought to court where there is usually no winner. This is according to a Polokwane High Court judge, who said applications involving a tussle over a body usually divide families. “It is the time when the family should be united more than ever, and prepare to give the loved one a dignified burial, rather than hang their dirty linen in court,” Judge Maake Kganyago said. This was in relation to an application by a widow whose estranged husband died days before their divorce was due to be finalised. The widow, only identified as…

Barbie Sandler | Constantia THERE are things one reads in the paper which stops you in your tracks. How does this happen? A dear little baby of two months, admitted to hospital with at least 18 fractures across her tiny body (Cape Times, July 28). The sad part is the poor wee thing was admitted on at least three occasions to hospital. Surely, the doctors should have picked up child abuse earlier so she didn’t have to go through this trauma? She was then released to her grandmother. Did the authorities really think the abusers, her parents, wouldn’t get to her again? Which they did. As she was admitted again with fractures so her parents had got to her and had beaten her again? What sort of people…

Kevin Meineke | HOUT BAY AT THE request of her dentist, my friend’s daughter went for a Covid test, which came back as positive. As she has always been asymptomatic, this result caused some alarm. The test was repeated at a different laboratory two days later, and this time it was negative. What now? Which result is correct? Must a third test be performed to give a majority out of three which is then accepted? Are laboratories performing both internal and external quality control for this assay? Are all laboratories using reputable reagents? While false-positive results are better than false-negative ones for the community at large, the question then arises as to how many of the 150 000 so-called active cases in South Africa may be false…

Mark Keohane At a time when contact sports battle the issue of concussion based on a historical belief system that tough boys don’t cry and legends are made because they played on despite being knocked unconscious, sport is also battling the issue of mental health illness. In both instances, there can be no compromise. The narrative must be powerful and consistent: Telling the doctor you can’t remember your name and can’t play on is a sign of strength, whereas telling him whatever he wants to hear in an attempt to play on is stupidity. Equally, telling the world you pulled out of a contest or an event because mentally the pressure was too much is also a sign of strength. It is absolutely not a weakness. There has been…

The muggy heat swaddling Tokyo may be a forerunner of Olympic life to come, experts say, urging a rethink to make the world’s oldest sporting spectacular fit for a fast-warming planet. The Olympics kicked off in the Japanese capital last week after a year-long delay due to the pandemic, with organisers banning spectators from venues and enforcing a slew of measures to keep the coronavirus at bay. While worries over Covid-19 have overshadowed other concerns, Japan’s heat and humidity – where temperatures can exceed 35°C also show how future Games will need to grapple with extremes as climate change bites. “Tokyo 2020 will serve as a model for future hotter Olympics and other summer sporting competitions,” said Yuri Hosokawa, an expert on sport and heat risks at Japan’s Waseda University.…

Hundreds of Eritrean refugees protested in the Ethiopian capital yesterday, calling on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to relocate friends and family who they say are trapped in two refugee camps by fighting in the Tigray region. Clashes between armed groups have escalated in and around the camps, Mai Aini and Adi Harush, and two refugees have been killed this month, the UNHCR said. It said it lost access to the camps on July 14. The UNHCR said it had relocated about 100 refugees from the two sites and was in discussions with Tigrayan authorities to secure safe passage out of the camps for others. Conflict broke out between the Ethiopian central government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in November with the government seizing control of the…

Budapest: Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton said yesterday that Hungary’s “anti-LGBT+” law was “unacceptable and cowardly” ahead of this weekend’s Grand Prix in the country. LGBTQ leaders say the “anti-paedophilia” bill stigmatises gay people and aims to shore up Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s radical right-wing support ahead of an election next year. Since the law was approved on June 15, several homophobic attacks have been reported in local media, while LGBTQ activists warn of growing fear in their community. Last weekend, thousands marched in Budapest’s biggest Pride parade, a week before this Sunday’s race at the Hungaroring, to the east of the capital. “Everyone deserves to have the freedom to be themselves, no matter who they love or how they identify,” Hamilton tweeted. “I urge the people of Hungary…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is to ban staff from entering public offices, schools, restaurants, transport and shopping malls without vaccination certificates, officials said yesterday, despite only 2.7% of the population having had the full two Covid-19 vaccine shots. The certificate will also be required for all air passengers and crew. Out of a population of 220 million, more than 27.8 million have received one vaccine shot, but only 5.9 million have been fully vaccinated. Pakistan registered 4 497 new cases and 76 deaths in the last 24 hours. So far 23 209 people have died of Covid-19 in Pakistan. Coronavirus infections have soared, dominated by Delta variant, and the poor health infrastructure is under extreme pressure. | Reuters…

WYNONA LOUW wynona.louw@inl.co.za JUAN de Jongh will lead a strong Western Province team against the Blue Bulls in their Currie Cup clash at Newlands this evening, while Warrick Gelant will make his return from injury off the bench. Gelant will make his return to action after eight months on the sidelines after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in November last year. The injury, of course, ruled him out of selection for the Springboks' three-Test series against the British & Irish Lions, which the tourists currently lead 1-0. De Jongh, who returned to the Cape earlier this month, lifted the Currie Cup trophy at Newlands in 2014 and will lead the team following the unavailability of regular Currie Cup captain Ernst van Rhyn through injury. There is only one change to…