Tabla de contenidos para 2021-08-19 en Cape Times

Move is reminiscent of bread cartel in historical class action lawsuit against discrimination Sizwe Dlamini and Sihle Makhowana BLACK businesses organisations have called for South Africa’s banks to be taken to the Equality Court and for a class action lawsuit against them, citing blatant discrimination towards black-owned entities. This move is reminiscent of the bread cartel that was disrupted by Tiger Brands and Pioneer Foods when it was taken to the Competition Commission in a historical class-action lawsuit that found the cartel guilty of inflating prices, and the end result was that they had to pay billions of rand to rectify the situation. Mntuwekhaya Cishe, the secre- tary-general of the Black Business Chamber (BBC), said South African banks were now in a similar situation and black businesses now wanted the…

From page 1 “The NNR has the mandate to protect the public, but to allow Eskom to ignore due process and make this announcement as if the extension is a ‘done deal’ calls into question the independence of the NNR. A similar scenario played out with the now infamous Karpowership saga. It was first announced in the media as a done deal, even though the necessary approvals had not been granted,” they said. NNR spokesperson Gino Moonsamy said the review process had several steps, including a public consultation process and deciding on the appropriate consultative method or methods to be used. “The NNR confirms receipt of an application made by Eskom to operate the Koeberg nuclear power station beyond the current licensing basis. The NNR has accepted the application for…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za THE Golden Arrow bus driver who was injured in a shooting during the recent taxi violence has detailed how the attack opened old wounds as he had escaped another attempt on his life in the past. Speaking to the Cape Times yesterday after he was discharged from hospital, father of two Lulama Zozo said he was stabbed in Mfuleni by unknown suspects during a robbery last year. Zozo had been driving on the N2 near Nyanga when he was shot in the mouth during the taxi violence between the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta) last month. He said the shooting had traumatised him to such an extent that the incident kept flashing back in his mind. The violence between the…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za A 13-year-old pupil tried six times to kill herself with a skipping rope after allegedly being sexually assaulted by another pupil at the Kraaifontein school. This is according to the Grade 6 pupil’s father as his daughter continues to recover at home, after spending three nights in hospital on suicide watch. Her parents told the Cape Times about their devastation, as they struggle to come to terms with the nightmare. They are also outraged with the way the school has handled the matter. “My daughter shares a room with her older sister. About three weeks ago her sister asked us if we saw the marks on her arms. When we checked we saw they were old wounds. “We then took her for a drive to learn more…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za JUDGMENT has been reserved in the gag order matter before the Western Cape High Court between Reverend June Dolley-Major and her alleged rapist, an Anglican Church reverend. The man, who is currently suspended from his pastoral duties while a diocesan tribunal is under way, went to the Western Cape High Court to prevent Dolley-Major from naming him on social media, citing that defamatory statements had been made against him in the public domain after she named him as her rapist. Earlier this week, arguments were heard at the high court and submissions were made by the Women’s Legal Centre (WLC), admitted as a friend of the court, in the case – which the centre says will have wide consequences for women who choose to name alleged perpetrators…

Goitsemang Tlhabye THE latest acceptance and hesitancy survey of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has revealed that even though vaccine acceptance in the country had increased to 72%, getting vaccines to the people still proved challenging for the health sector. The survey was conducted by the Centre for Social Change at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in collaboration with the Developmental, Ethical, and Capable State research division of the HSRC. The sample data and results were collected between June 25 and July 12, surveying roughly 7 631 participants. The recent findings indicate that vaccine acceptance in South Africa has increased from 67% to 72%, with younger persons being less likely to accept the vaccine than older persons. In that, the acceptance rate for persons above 55 years of…

THE ANC’S failure to officially commemorate the Marikana massacre says a lot about the ruling party’s attitude towards the suffering of the widows and families who lost their breadwinners at the hands of the state. It’s a worrying picture for a once proud liberation movement. The Mandelas, Tambos, Sisulus, Bikos and many others must be turning in their graves when today’s ANC is so out of touch with reality that it fails to lead. The organisation deems it appropriate to issue a media statement on the killing of 34 mineworkers on August 16, 2012. In the statement issued by spokesperson Pule Mabe on Monday, the ANC said: “We reiterate our call to the government to move with speed in implementing programmes that will help alleviate the plight of affected families…

Paris: A 1987 treaty to repair a thin layer of ozone in the atmosphere that shields life on Earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays probably had the unintended benefit of preventing runaway climate change, even if that danger persisted for other reasons, researchers said yesterday. If the Montreal Protocol had not banned the man-made gases that dissolve naturally occurring ozone, by 2100 they would have heated up the planet’s surface 2.5ºC above and beyond warming caused by the carbon pollution humanity is struggling to curb today, they reported in the journal Nature. An increase of barely 1ºC since the mid-19th century has seen climate change amplify deadly heatwaves, rainfall, and coastal storms made more destructive by rising seas. Even if nations manage against all odds to cap global warming below the…

GENEVA: Circulation of the Delta variant in areas of low vaccination is driving transmission of Covid-19 around the world, World Health Organization officials said yesterday. “Many of the places where Delta is surging – even in countries that at a national level have high levels of vaccination coverage – the virus, the Delta variant itself, is really circulating in areas of low level of vaccine coverage and in the context of very limited and inconsistent use of public health and social measures,” WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told an online news briefing. Vaccines are clearly preventing increases in severe illness and death from the Delta variant.…

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian king has ruled that the next prime minister would have to face a confidence vote in parliament to confirm his backing by the majority of lawmakers. On Monday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government resigned over a loss of trust from lawmakers caused by the negative economic consequences of Covid-19 lockdowns. Outgoing Muhyiddin was appointed a caretaker prime minister until his successor is named. On Tuesday, party leaders agreed to a new, “peaceful” political landscape to better cope with Covid-19 challenges.…

WYNONA LOUW wynona.louw@inl.co.za THE Springboks have ticked the first box against Los Pumas with a superb display of rugby at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium last weekend. As a collective there were some really good moments, while there was also much to savour on the individual front. With another Test to be played in South Africa before the World Champions head to Australasia, the Bok players have another chance to impress. So, here are three players to watch this weekend … for different reasons. Jasper Wiese The No 8 produced a massive performance and was duly named Man of the Match last week, and this week he’ll be looking to build on that. Stepping in for a player of Duane Vermeulen’s quality was never going to be easy, and while his…

From page 1 an endorsement letter. “Following the discussions on the City’s events support processes, CTGPSA was asked to submit an application as required by legislation and City policy. “The City has never received an events support application from CTGPSA for Formula One or Formula E. “It is important to note that the City did not participate in the bidding process for Formula E, nor did it make a decision on the South African agent to run the Cape Town leg of Formula E,” the City said. Probed about the stolen location and circuit concept, the City did not comment. “CTGPSA has never been precluded from making an application for support. In fact, they were asked to submit their application, and even provided with information on how to go about…

Samkelo Mtshali samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za THE second day of the reopened inquest into the August 1977 death of 26-year-old Pietermaritzburg dentist Dr Hoosen Haffejee saw the legal counsel for the Haffejee family and the State conduct an inspection in loco of the Brighton Beach police station cell in which he died. Yesterday, advocate Anwar Suleman Jessop, who forms part of the triumvirate of legal eagles – which also includes advocates Howard Varney and Zak Suleman – representing the Haffejee family at the inquest alongside the State’s evidence leader, advocate Dernardo Macdonald, formed part of the inspection in loco. Jessop said this was for one of the key witnesses, who had been present at the time when Haffejee was being interrogated and later transferred to cell number two at the police station where…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za BLACK-OWNED promoter company, Cape Town Grand Prix SA (CTGPSA), has accused the City of hijacking intellectual property for the Formula E event set to take place in Cape Town in February. The company said their first engagement with the City to bring the sport to Cape Town was in 2007, and in 2019 an official bid proposal was submitted. According to CTGPSA, they were alongside another company in the running to host the Formula E Grand Prix event, but were snubbed by the City in a trend that had started to emerge. The City, however, denies snubbing CTGPSA as discussions held with the promoter “centred around Formula 1, and Formula E was never part of the discussion”. CTGPSA spokesperson, Esther Henderson, said they were compelled to engage…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za A HUSBAND who acted aggressively and rammed into six people standing around a braai has lost a bid to appeal his four attempted murder convictions in the Western Cape High Court. In 2018, Nathaniel Felix was alleged, by witnesses at the braai which took place at a car wash business in Thornton, to have become involved in a serious altercation with his wife before threatening someone on the premises who, apparently as a result of their argument, would not let his wife leave with him. Felix admitted to ramming through a remote-controlled gate, leaving six people injured. However, he claimed it was never his intention to kill anyone. In the Parow Regional Court he was charged with six counts of attempted murder, and in February last year,…

Staff writer A YOUNG woman has been charged with kidnapping after police made a breakthrough in the case of a 2-year-old girl who disappeared in Kirkwood, Eastern Cape, earlier this month. The search for the child ended on Tuesday after the toddler was allegedly found at the woman’s Knysna home more than 1 000km away. The toddler went missing on August 4 while playing outside her Kirkwood home. By August 16, a photograph of the woman allegedly spotted with the missing girl in Knysna circulated on social media. Southern Cape police spokesperson Chris Spies said authorities became aware of the suspect’s whereabouts. “The Tsitsikamma K9 Unit responded to the information and embarked on an intensive search for the pair. First, without any success.” The search resumed at first light on…

AS THE new Minister of Health, Mathume Joseph “Joe” Phaahla has one of the most daunting tasks in South African politics. His immediate mandate is to kickstart the government’s containment of the Covid-19 pandemic and to accelerate its vaccination roll-out. In the midst of a third wave of Delta variant infections, both at home and abroad, the 64-year-old doctor, who hails from Ga-Phaahla in Limpopo, is confronted with a national coronavirus legacy. South Africa, with a population of 59.3 million, is targeting to vaccinate 23.7 million (40% of the population) by end 2021 and 35.6 million (60% of the population) by mid-2022. Many South Africans can only hope that these targets translate into reality, given that only 3.6 million of them have been fully vaccinated by the end July. Similarly,…

At least three people were killed in anti-Taliban protests in the Afghan city of Jalalabad yesterday, witnesses said, as the militant group tried to set up a government and Western countries stepped up evacuations of diplomats and civilians. More than a dozen people were injured after Taliban militants opened fire on protesters in the eastern city, a former police official said. The Taliban have promised peace following their sweep into Kabul, saying they will not take revenge against old enemies and will respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law. The witnesses said the deaths took place when local residents tried to install Afghanistan’s national flag at a square in the city, 150km from the capital on the main road to Pakistan. Taliban spokespeople were not immediately…

MELBOURNE: Australian Aboriginal groups will be consulted more widely but gain no veto over development projects on their traditional lands, under proposed changes to laws in the state where miner Rio Tinto destroyed ancient rock shelters last year. Rio’s destruction of the sites at Juukan Gorge was legal. But it sparked a public outcry, cost top executives at the global mining firm their jobs and prompted a national review of industry practices and Australia’s heritage protection laws. The state government is briefing groups on the draft legislation over the coming days.…

Ottawa: Canadian authorities yesterday charged a top general recently removed from his post as head of the nation’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign with sexual assault. The accusations against Major-General Dany Fortin date back to 1988 when he was a student at the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean, Quebec, according to comments his lawyer made to local media. Fortin denies any wrongdoing. In a statement yesterday he vowed to “vigorously defend myself against the charge”. Fortin spoke outside a police station in the city of Gatineau, Quebec, where the charge was filed, near the capital Ottawa.…

MIKE GREENAWAY mike.greenaway@inl.co.za FOR long periods of this game, it looked like the plucky Pumas would bring the Bulls crashing down to earth in Nelspruit but the champions showed true grit to find a way back from a 26-14 deficit with 15 minutes to go to triumph 33-26. The Pumas had undergone 11 changes from the side that had drawn with Western Province at Newlands on Sunday but their depth did a fine job in stretching the Bulls to their limit. The Bulls could do no right at the breakdowns and felt the full blast of referee Aimee Barrett-Theron’s whistle — again and again. In the first half, the Bulls were penalised eight times (to four against the Pumas), all of them at the breakdown, either for holding on or…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) is expected to keep interest rates on hold next month, as headline consumer inflation softened for a second month in a row last month. Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday showed that the annual rate of the Consumer Price Index edged lower to 4.6 percent year-on-year in July, from 4.9 percent in June. This was in line with market expectations and slightly above the 4.5 percent midpoint of the SARB’s inflation target range of 3 to 6 percent. Core inflation moderated to 3 percent year-on-year, from 3.2 percent in June, mainly because of the increase in water and other services inflation. Last month, the bank’s monetary policy committee said its implied policy rate path indicated an increase…

THE PHARMACEUTICAL sector has been flagged by numerous government initiatives and workstreams as a priority sector for localisation, which means that all public sector entities that enter into procurement processes for pharmaceuticals must look to local manufacturers and prioritise their spending in South Africa. The public sector is the largest procurer of pharmaceutical products in the country, with the capacity to order in volumes that could be critical for local producers, their economies of scale and the recovery of factories. However, through a tender process that is fundamentally prejudiced against local manufacturers, the government is, in all likelihood, set to import a large amount of pharmaceuticals, if the awarding of the current tender for antiretrovirals (ARVs) goes the way Pharmisa (Pharmaceuticals made in South Africa) fears. The local pharmaceutical landscape…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za PARLIAMENT is pushing ahead with the election of a new speaker today, with plans already in place for a secret ballot if there are a number of people contesting for the position. However, Mabuza Attorneys threw a spanner in the works yesterday after it threatened court action to challenge the nomination of former Defence and Military Veterans minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula for the position of speaker. The lawyers, representing the New Nation Movement and other individuals, argued Mapisa-Nqakula was not fit for the position and made a number of allegations against her. The New Nation Movement is the party that successfully challenged the electoral laws in the Constitutional Court last year, enabling independent candidates to contest provincial and national elections. In a letter to Acting Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli…

Testimony at commission must qualify as one of the greatest acts of physical distancing LET us be frank. South Africa is in bad shape. The fairy-tale of the Rainbow Nation has no happy ending, and the fiction of political messiahs is the telling tale of today. Not only is the nation in the clutch of a global health pandemic but, with its untreated maladies of racially engineered structural inequality, poverty and unemployment, South Africa is itself a pandemic. In his address on Human Rights Day this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “We are now in the phase of reconstruction and recovery. We are working to build a new economy that promises equal opportunity for all. “In doing so, let us remember that this is a struggle for all of us…

Survivors in Haiti scrambled for shelter, food and medical supplies overnight as a tropical storm hampered efforts to rescue tens of thousands of people whose homes were destroyed in Saturday’s massive earthquake. Heavy rainfall on Tuesday battered temporary shelters set up since the weekend, drenching people stranded by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake. Some slept out in the open. Officials raised the death toll on Tuesday to 1 941, though that figure was expected to rise. Flooding and mudslides cut off some roads, blocking aid deliveries and residents still searching for victims in the rubble. Unicef has estimated that the powerful earthquake affected about 1.2 million people, including 540 000 children. Schools, bridges and medical facilities collapsed. Unicef’s representative in Haiti, Bruno Maes, shared a video, saying “countless Haitian families who have…

Valletta: Malta’s attorney general called yesterday for a life sentence for businessman Yorgen Fenech for allegedly masterminding the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, which rocked the nation four years ago. Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg laid formal charges against Fenech, who was arrested in November 2019 trying to leave Malta on his yacht, for complicity in the murder and criminal conspiracy. The bill of indictment, which confirms that Fenech will stand trial, requests life imprisonment for the murder charge and between 20 and 30 years in prison for the criminal conspiracy charge. Fenech has denied involvement.…

A WILDFIRE in the tinder-dry hills of Northern California tore through a small town yesterday and forced thousands to evacuate, as high winds fanned flames and caused blazes to rage out of control. The Caldor Fire, which has swelled to more than 2 600 hectares, burned through Grizzly Flats, destroying at least 50 homes in the hamlet of about 1 200 people east of Sacramento, according to the Associated Press. At least two people have been injured. The devastation comes two weeks after another blaze, the Dixie Fire, eviscerated the Gold Rush-era town of Greenville and as California struggles with one of its worst fire seasons ever. The state faced a second day of intense winds yesterday, with gusts expected to reach 64 to 80km/h, fanning flames across areas dried…