Tabla de contenidos para 2022-04-01 en Cape Times

FINANCIALLY-constrained consumers will continue paying higher prices for goods for a little longer as producer prices at the factory gate quickened more than expected in February due to geopolitical tension. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) yesterday showed that annual headline producer price inflation (PPI) accelerated by 10.5 percent in February from a year before. This PPI reading was above market expectations of a 10 percent rise, and was the highest since the 10.8 percent increase experienced in December. Stats SA said the increase in producer prices was driven by elevated prices of coke, petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products which rose by 22.6 percent year-on-year, with petrol and diesel prices up more than 30 percent on an annual basis. This primarily reflected the…

THE GOVERNMENT will sell millions of barrels of strategic crude oil reserves to the market in a bid to recoup the R6 billion tax revenue it sacrificed to mitigate rising fuel prices. This sale of strategic oil reserves is the first since the government controversially sold 10 million barrels of oil reserves to private companies at heavily discounted prices between December 2015 and January 2016. The government yesterday announced a temporary reduction in the fuel price to help struggling motorists amid another expected record hike in April. This comes as the escalation in global oil prices due to the global economic recovery and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has placed significant pressure on domestic fuel prices. The latest data from the Central Energy Fund shows South Africa…

THE PRICE of 33 out of a basket of 44 basic foods increased by 10.6 percent year-on-year in March, according to the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group (PMBEJD), which monitors the prices of foods typically bought by lower income families. PMBEJD programme co-ordinator Mervyn Abrahams said the most significant increases were for cake flour, cooking oil, eggs, tea, and bread and also included maize meal, rice and white sugar. The average increase is almost double the inflation rate of 5.7 percent. The March 2022 Household Affordability Index, which tracks food price data from 44 supermarkets and 30 butcheries in lower income areas of Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg and Springbok in the Northern Cape, showed that the Johannesburg basket increased by R86.64 (2 percent) from February,…

THE UNFORGIVEN Liz McGregor Loot.co.za (R185) JONATHAN BALL A SEARING, intimate memoir tracing the author’s attempt to find out the truth about her father’s murder. Robin McGregor, an older man living in a small town outside Cape Town, is brutally murdered in his home. Cecil Thomas is convicted of the crime, but his trial leaves more questions than answers. His daughter, Liz, tries to move beyond her grief but she still wants answers. What drove Thomas to torture and kill a complete stranger? The author meets the murderer’s family and discovers that he comes from a loving, comfortable home. He is educated and skilled – there is no apparent reason for his descent into delinquency. After protracted obstruction from the prison authorities, she finally gets to confront him but not…

RESIDENTS of Kewtown have expressed deep concern for their health as a dirty canal with piled-up waste has not been cleaned by the City in a number of months. The Blomvlei river canal, on the corner of Koodoo and Hickory streets in Kewtown, Athlone, has left residents with a bitter taste in their mouths as a “putrid stench” and vermin breeding have become part of their lives in recent months. Speaking on behalf of residents living in close proximity to the canal, Mesheck Mc Kuchane said: “This matter was already reported during December, when we let the City know that the stench was unbearable. “It has just worsened now, and despite us having reported this and having received reference numbers for it to be resolved, no action has been taken.…

ALTERNATIVE accommodation may urgently be required for hundreds of foreign nationals who sought refuge at a local mosque in Bredasdorp as the holy month of Ramadaan begins on Saturday. Engagements between Zwelitsha residents, Cape Agulhas Municipality, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and other officials for the safe reintegration of non-nationals into the community have reached an impasse. Locals and Lesotho nationals allegedly destroyed the homes of hundreds of Zimbabweans and Malawians last week over jobs. The violence is suspected to stem from clashes between Lesotho and Zimbabwean nationals in Nqubela, Robertson. “During the community meeting I realised that we won’t have a quick fix solution, and we cannot safely reintegrate the non-nationals back to Zwelitsha right now. The efforts that were made by all the stakeholders for engagements…

IN VIEW of the numerous incidents of failure of air safety in our airspace, it becomes imperative for the South African Civil Aviation Authority to check on the quality of workmanship when passenger aircraft are brought in for repairs. The troubling issue of bogus parts being installed on passenger aircraft is a matter of serious global concern. Faulty, incorrect or illegal parts have led to multiple crashes globally, resulting in hundreds of deaths. On September 8, 1989, Partnair Flight 394 crashed off the coast of Denmark, resulting in 50 passengers and five crew members dying. The crash was caused by the use of counterfeit aircraft parts in repairs and maintenance. Critical aircraft parts made by third-party suppliers are of serious concern. On average, a Boeing 737 consists of 600 000…

YOUR March 21 edition “Fights over jobs not xenophobia – SAHRC” refers: Unfortunately, I can’t agree with the South African Human Rights Commission. In essence the government is fuelling the xenophobic reaction. The Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi is trying to place quotas on how many foreigners can be employed even if the foreigners have job permits. To make the situation much worse we have about 50% unemployment in South Africa and the government has to find a scapegoat. This very convenient scapegoat is foreign workers. In essence, foreign workers don’t add up to more than 2% of the workforce and many of those making up the 2% don’t have work permits. The solution is to ease up the regulation on small business so that we can create…

HAVING grown up in Cape Town, I have had many opportunities to witness parts of life here that range from the highest socio-economic level of society to the lowest socio-economic level. Over time, the poverty in South Africa has grown worse as there are many factors that still have a negative impact, such as the legacy of years of apartheid. Another factor that made the problem worse in recent years was the coronavirus, which not only had a big impact in South Africa, but caused a massive negative impact on our country’s already suffering economy as it affected the worldwide economy. I’ve always heard talk of unity and what it means to the country to be united, and this talk even shows in our national anthem. However, when it comes…

THE Proteas’ women’s team have been left to ponder how they failed to give their best in the biggest game of their lives in yesterday’s World Cup semi-final in Christchurch, New Zealand. It will be scant consolation that they were outplayed by an opponent whose own performance is peaking at the most critical time. This was a team that was supposed to be playing for the nation. For every gogo, single mother and little girl, a column on these pages stated in the build-up to this much-anticipated clash. Maybe the responsibility of being pioneers – no South African women’s cricket team has qualified for a World Cup final before – was just too much. The quest will of course now continue, but when the dust has settled, which may take…

Israeli forces killed at least two Palestinians yesterday, the Palestinian health ministry said, in clashes that erupted during a raid in the occupied West Bank that followed deadly Arab attacks in Israel. In a separate incident, a Palestinian stabbed a passenger on an Israeli bus near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and was shot dead by another passenger, the Israeli military said. The national ambulance service said the man who was stabbed had suffered moderate wounds. Earlier, the Israeli military said its forces and border police entered the refugee camp in the city of Jenin to “apprehend terrorist suspects”. “During the operation, terrorists opened fire at our forces. Israeli troops returned fire that struck the gunmen. An Israeli soldier was slightly wounded.” The Palestinian Health Ministry said two…

UKRAINIAN forces were preparing for new Russian attacks in the south-east region where Moscow’s guns were now trained after its assault on the capital Kyiv was repelled, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday. Five weeks into an invasion that has blasted cities into wastelands and created more than 4 million refugees, US and European officials said Russian president Vladimir Putin was being misled by his generals about the dire performance of Russia’s military. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was bringing a convoy of aid to reach the besieged Black Sea port of Mariupol, where tens of thousands of people have been trapped for weeks under bombardment without food, water or heat. In a video address, Zelenskiy said Russian troop movements away from Kyiv and the northern…

Canberra: Rates of incarceration and suicide among indigenous Australians have increased for the second straight year after a landmark government agreement to address disadvantage. The Productivity Commission, the Australian federal government review agency, yesterday published updated data on the Closing the Gap programme, which aims to reduce the disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. According to yesterday’s data, the suicide rate for indigenous Australians has risen from 25 per 100 000 people in 2018 to 27.1 in 2019 and 27.9 in 2020. The figure is 10 times higher than that of the general population.…

The Hague: Dutch police have arrested a man in connection with the gunning down of two men in a busy McDonald’s restaurant, confirming a possible targeted assassination. The 32-year-old man handed himself over to police in Deventer, about 32km from Zwolle, where the shooting ocurred the day before. Dutch media reports identified the deceased as two brothers, aged 57 and 62. Huseyin and Ali Torunlar were two local businessmen involved in the hospitality industry and had Turkish-Dutch background, Dutch newspapers reported. Police have not yet officially confirmed the men’s identities.…

SAFARI Investments RSA, the JSE-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) with a portfolio of premium retail assets in semi-urban areas, said yesterday that it had performed in line with guidance for the period up to February 28. The company, which owns seven retail centres and a day hospital in SA, and a mixed use development in Namibia, said yesterday in a pre-close operational update for the year to end-March 31, the strategy to focus on food-anchored convenience shopping centres in mainly semi-urban areas had proven to be a key factor in the defensive nature of its portfolio. “Improvements were evident in all key trading metrics of the portfolio. In particular increased tenant turnover and trading densities are encouraging and bear testament to the resilience and dominance of Safari’s centres.” Tenant…

WORKFORCE, the JSE-listed labour services group that provides staffing, outsourcing, and training services to companies, has opted not to declare a dividend for 2021 due to the weak economic circumstances. The company said at the release of results for the year to December 31, 2022, that it was concerned about the potential effects of the war in Ukraine on the global economy. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine is likely to strike a devastating blow to global growth if the war is permitted to escalate and if no negotiated settlement is reached soon. “Although it is too early to tell with any certainty what impact this will have on Workforce, the following could potentially be impacted: the fuel price, and this will negatively impact industries and businesses downstream. “There are certain…

Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has decided to throw out the motion of no confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa after the African Transformation Movement (ATM) had failed to move it in the national legislature. After a meeting of the programming committee yesterday parties still could not agree how to proceed with the ATM and EFF insisting that the motion be postponed. But Mapisa-Nqakula said despite the party pushing for the postponement the matter was not sub judice. “As far as our own processes determine here because you have chosen not move your motion, therefore the motion has lapsed until you resubmit it. “The motion is not on the agenda, the motion is not postponed, the motion has lapsed on the grounds that the mover of the motion did not move it, did…

Moonshot: Inside Pfizer’s Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible Albert Bourla Loot.co.za (R381) HARPER AS A genre, vaccine development memoirs are a bit niche. But, given how important vaccines are to us all, and not only against Covid but also many other diseases, we could stand to know a lot more about how these life-saving products come into being and how they can be developed so darned quick. Albert Bourla, the chief executive of Pfizer, is ideally placed to provide such insight, and the subtitle to his book, Moonshot: Inside Pfizer’s Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible – sets up expectations of a breathless page-turner. But the skill set that makes for a successful chief executive of an international pharmaceutical company does not necessarily produce sparkling prose,…

ABANDONED IN DEATH J. D. Robb Loot.co.za (R210) PIATKUS HOMICIDE detective Eve Dallas must untangle a twisted family history while a hostage’s life hangs in the balance. A woman’s body was found in the early morning, on a bench in a New York City playground. She was clean, her hair neatly arranged, her make-up carefully applied. But other things were very wrong – like the tattoo and piercings, clearly new. The clothes, decades out of date. The fatal wound hidden beneath a ribbon around her neck. And the note: Bad Mommy, written in crayon as if by a child. Eve Dallas turns to the department’s top profiler, who confirms what seems obvious to Eve: They’re dealing with a killer whose childhood involved some sort of trauma – a situation Eve…

UNEMPLOYED youth have expressed their frustration with the recent Statistic SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey, blaming the government for the staggering figures that show the jobless make up 66.5% of those aged 15 to 24 and 43.5% of 25 to 34-year-olds. Stats SA found the number of unemployed people in the country had increased by 278 000 to 7.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Siyanda Benya, 24, from Mfuleni, said: “I have been unemployed for more than two years now. We thought that the current government would bring change, as the president had promised before he was elected into his position, but things are getting worse. “I am not shocked today by the money-heist incidents happening in most of the provinces because people are unemployed and have families…

THE City of Cape Town’s total budget for this year stands at R61.5 billion, mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said as he tabled the draft budget for the 2022/2023 financial year. This he said would be raised through “only inflation-related increases” on service tariffs. Tariffs on refuse will increase by 5%, water and sanitation by 5%, with an additional 1.5% specifically for expanding access to water to the poorest residents living in informal settlements. “We are bound to a 9.5% increase in electricity tariffs this year – our only tariff increase that is substantially above inflation. R3.8 billion is set aside for capital expenditure in energy over the medium term. R1.2bn will be spent on the refurbishment and upgrade of the Steenbras Pumped Storage Scheme, our primary means of mitigating load shedding,”…

YET another white-bashing racist article in the Cape Times, this one from Simone Reid, here from the United States of America to study Africa. Like Thembile Ndabeni a couple of weeks ago, Ms Reid has lumped all whites together in the same basket. This tedious whites-keeping-blacks-from-doing-well saga is getting really old. South Africa has been ruled by a black government for more than a quarter of a century. How much longer is it going to take? The abomination that was apartheid has left an understandable legacy of resentment, especially among the now older black population. Take a cue from Nelson Mandela. Give it a rest and instead of bleating about how hard done by blacks are because of whites, as I mentioned to Mr Ndabeni, do something constructive about it.…

AS SOMEONE who is non-binary and wears more typically feminine clothing, I feel very passionate about not gendering clothing. Gender is a social construct so why do we still gender pieces of clothing? In today’s society more and more people are not conforming to gender stereotypes. I propose that instead of having two sections (male and female), we section clothing by item not by gender. For example, instead of having male shirts and female shirts we just have a section of shirts. This will help normalise gender neutral clothing and make gender non-conforming people feel more comfortable when shopping. And I know this won’t be confusing or difficult because I mostly shop in thrift shops where the clothing is grouped together by item not gender and everything is fine. I…

In early March the UN’s General Assembly voted on a resolution demanding that Russia immediately stop its military operations in Ukraine. Out of 193 member states, 141 voted in support of the resolution, five voted against, 35 abstained and 12 didn’t vote at all. Of the 54 African member states, Eritrea voted against the resolution, 16 African countries, including South Africa, abstained, while nine other countries did not vote at all. In all, about half (26) of the 54 member states in Africa chose the path of neutrality in some form. So why did African countries not vote overwhelmingly to support the resolution? The decision of several African countries to stay neutral and avoid condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine was made on issues relating directly to the conflict,…

LONDON: Afghanistan’s economy risks falling into a “death spiral” without urgent aid, with some Afghans already forced to sell their children and body parts to survive, UN chief Antonio Guterres said yesterday. The UN is seeking a record $4.4 billion (R64bn) in funding for the conflict-wracked country this year but so far has reached less than 13% of its goal. At a virtual conference of donors co-hosted with Britain, Germany and Qatar, Western nations in particular were urged not to abandon the Afghan people, even as attention has turned to Ukraine and elsewhere. “Wealthy powerful countries cannot ignore the consequences of their decisions on the most vulnerable,” Guterres said, after US-led forces withdrew from Afghanistan last year. The UN secretary-general and others painted a desperate picture of starvation, penury and…

Yangon: Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi returned for hearings in a junta court yesterday after being quarantined when Covid-19 was detected among her staff, a source said. The 76-year-old’s civilian government was removed in a coup last year that triggered mass protests, and she faces a raft of charges that could see her sentenced to more than 150 years in jail. She’s currently on trial for alleged corruption, breaching Myanmar’s official secrets act and pressuring the election commission.…

Nigeria’s inspector-general of police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, says the police force has acquired five additional high-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to improve surveillance operations to checkmate criminal activities in Nigeria in line with his vision to boost technology-driven policing. The police said it wanted to integrate the use of innovative technology and ultimately enhance its intelligence gathering and operational capabilities. According to a statement released by Olumuyiwa Adejobi, acting force public relations officer, Abuja, the drones will assist the police in monitoring active crime scenes, in co-ordinating response operations, and provide aerial support to responding officers. “The UAVs include an ALTI Transition, capable of covering up to 150km in a single flight with high endurance of up to 14 hours, and an Elistair Orion fixed-wing aircraft ……

ANKARA: Turkish police have detained seven Syrian Islamic State (IS) suspects in Adana province. Yesterday, after the police examined the digital documents seized in previous operations, they determined that seven suspects were residing in Adana, the local DHA news agency reported. The anti-terror teams launched raids to detain the foreign nationals, who allegedly operated on behalf of the group. In a separate operation, on Tuesday, Turkish security forces detained four Syrian IS suspects in the Kayseri province over information that they had carried out armed activities in Syria and Iraq.…

ANALYSTS have remained divided about the potential impact of the proposed labour migration policy on the economy and job creation in South Africa. This comes as the government in February unveiled South Africa’s National Labour Migration Policy for public comment and engagement. The Employment Services Amendment Bill proposes a framework that will enable the Minister of Labour to regulate the extent to which employers can employ foreign nationals in their establishments. If passed into law, employers would be compelled to implement quotas on the number of documented foreign nationals who can be employed in sectors like agriculture, hospitality and tourism, and construction. Talita Laubscher, a partner at Bowmans’ employment and benefits practice, yesterday said the proposed legislation was not really a new thing. Laubscher, however, said the definition of the…

FOR MANY YEARS, the mining industry has been increasingly aware of the need to comply with environmental, social and governance standards and targets, primarily to address its impact on the environment and communities. This is succinctly articulated in a 2017 academic paper, “Mining industry and sustainable development: time for change”: “Mining is the human activity that has been more disturbing to the environment and is linked to large social impacts and inequalities.” Importantly, “Mining activities are very diverse and may have different ecological footprints. Past mining activities left such imprints in the environment, but two issues, in particular, are of major and worldwide importance: mine tailings and acid mine drainage.” Understanding these realities and the increasing demands from local communities has required that we do things differently. The unavoidable effect…

DEPUTY President David Mabuza has confirmed in Parliament that Eskom is re-purposing about seven power stations to meet energy challenges. He said the stations were old and were reaching the end of their lifespan. He said Eskom had to come up with measures to handle older power stations. The power utility has been battling load shedding over the last few years and its ageing power plants are facing breakdown. Answering questions in Parliament yesterday, Mabuza said some of the old power stations that would be re-purposed would include Camden and Grootvlei. He also told MPs that they were working hard to open the market to ensure energy security, due to load shedding. “It was important for us to open and follow the IRP 2019 (Integrated Resource Plan), to open…

IN WHAT could go a long way in relieving struggling South Africans, in particular motorists, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has tabled a temporary reduction in the general fuel levy in the National Assembly. He and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe have committed themselves to reducing the price of fuel through short and long-term restructuring in the form of levy reductions, price gaps and changes in regulation, among others. “The proposal will be included in the 2022 Rates and Monetary Amount and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill for consideration of the House. “Since the proposal will not have an impact on the fiscal framework, an adjustment to the annual national Budget is not necessary,” they said in a joint statement. This followed mounting pressure from civil society organisations and opposition parties,…

THE MONARCHS Danielle Paige, Kass Morgan Loot.co.za (R425) HODDER & STOUGHTON IN THIS thrilling conclusion to New York Times best-selling authors Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige’s The Ravens duology, loyalty, love, and friendships are tested as sorority sisters Scarlett and Vivi must face the forces of hell itself when a rival sorority threatens to wreak havoc on campus. The ultra-exclusive Kappa Rho Nu – the Ravens – are determined to restore balance to the world. After destroying an ancient talisman and barely saving their sorority in the process, they’ll go to any lengths to keep their secret as Westerly’s most powerful coven of witches. Scarlett Winter, a legacy Raven, has finally got what she’s always wanted: Scarlett is Kappa Rho Nu’s newest president. Unlike her mother or older sister before…

BEHIND THE SEQUINS Shirley Ballas BBC BOOKS IT WAS once said that one can have enjoyed a successful career performing on the stage, but not many people will have heard of you; but have one appearance in a television programme and suddenly you are famous. That was the case for Shirley Ballas when she first became chief judge on the hugely popular Strictly Come Dancing in 2017. Ballas came to Strictly with a dance career of over 40 years, having garnered many national and international awards for her dancing, and a teaching career that had seen many of her pupils rising to the top of the profession. In her newly-published biography, Behind the Sequins, we are taken behind the “glitz and glam” of her journey. Ballas writes from the heart,…

SEVERAL organisations are set to receive support as Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon participants work hard to raise funds in a different type of race taking place on the event’s official online fund-raising platform. With the backing of the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon Initiative charity programme, participants are using the GivenGain fund-raising platform to raise money for charity. So far, organisations focused on health and children along with animal shelters, are leading the non-profit pack in donations. Rare Diseases South Africa sits at the top of the leaderboard, with a heroic solo effort by local supporter Cailey Low, whose Two Oceans Half Marathon is a personal mission for her. Low has already raised R22 350, which is more than her initial fund-raising target of R1 500, thanks to generous donors. “Rare…

Two thieves who stole R35 million from Eskom to go on expensive overseas holidays, including Disneyland, have been sentenced to an effective 20 years in jail for fraud and corruption. Eskom said the Palm Ridge Commercial Crimes Court sentenced a former employee and a supplier to an effective 20 years’ imprisonment on Tuesday. The pair, former Eskom financial controller, Mosai Barnard Moraka, and Eskom service provider, Victor Vilosi Tshabalala, were each found guilty of 53 counts of fraud and theft that cost Eskom R35m. The court also granted an order where both will forfeit their respective properties to the state. The properties were placed under a preservation order in November 2021 and will now be sold, and the proceeds will be paid directly to Eskom. “This is another welcome milestone…

IT IS sad to record the death of Clive Keegan (1950-2022). Keegan was one of the 1970s generation of outstanding leaders of the anti-apartheid National Union of SA Students (Nusas). He rose to become national vice-president in both Nusas and the National Catholic Federation of Students. His hobbies included enjoyment in acting. The apartheid regime banned him and seven other student leaders in 1973. Banning orders forbade the victim to attend university, social gatherings and participate in any political activities. This compelled Keegan to stop his UCT studies. He opened a bookshop to earn a living. After his banning order expired, Keegan became a municipal councillor for Wynberg (1978-96) and chair of Town Planning (1983-91). He rose to be deputy mayor (1991-93) and became mayor in 1994. He joined the…

WHILE watching the hit Netflix show Sex Education, I realised that sexual education in this country is lacking dramatically. Like the school in the show, our schools are still preaching abstinence and have a very closed-minded point of view. Being a teenager in high school, I have found that schools just avoid the conversation of sex, focus only on the dangers or give wrong information. Sometimes teachers may even skip over content because they feel uncomfortable saying it. Our country has hidden away from the conversation of sex for a long time. We’ve placed it in a state of taboo, but because of our high HIV rates we should be stating the importance of protection. This topic has been widely spoken about, but we have done barely anything about this…

IN A human rights-affirming decision, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday that the disciplinary process that permanently excluded Yolanda Dyantyi from Rhodes University in 2017 was flawed and had been procedurally unfair after the university proctor heading the process had denied her a postponement when her legal counsel had not been available to attend. The hearing had continued in her and her legal counsel’s absence – and despite protestations from academics and human rights activist like myself – found her guilty and permanently expelled her from the institution in a disciplinary hearing on charges of kidnapping, assault, insubordination and defamation for leading a protest action aimed at calling for systemic change to the institutionalised rape culture on campus and the perpetual violence against vulnerable and minority groups, mostly…

The UN relief agency yesterday appealed for $1.7 billion (about R25bn) to address the humanitarian needs of 6.8 million most vulnerable South Sudanese in 2022. The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) called on donors to fund the South Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan for 2022/2023 to help the affected populations with urgent life-saving assistance and protection. Sara Beysolow Nyanti, the humanitarian co-ordinator for South Sudan, said some 8.9 million people in South Sudan are estimated to have significant humanitarian needs in 2022. “The cumulative and compounding effects of years of climate-related shocks such as flooding and drought, conflict and subnational violence have destroyed people’s homes and livelihoods, robbing them of the future they deserve,” Nyanti said. The UN agency said that there were more than…

LOS ANGELES: Chris Rock is “still processing” what happened between him and Will Smith at the Oscars. The 57-year-old comic was smacked in the face by the King Richard star for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, during Sunday’s ceremony. In his first public appearance since the altercation, Chris admitted he was still coming to terms with what happened and wasn’t ready to speak about it yet. Entering the stage at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre to a standing ovation on Wednesday, an emotional Rock said: “Sit down I have jokes to tell, and now you’re making me misty eyed”. After asking the crowd how their weekends had been, he said: “I have a whole show… that I wrote before the weekend, so, if you came here for that…

LONDON: The UK government has allocated £5.4 billion (about R103bn) in the past three years to energy and infrastructure projects allegedly linked to labour abuse and environmental damage in countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, The Guardian newspaper reported yesterday. It said the funding comes from loans and guarantees from the UK Export Finance (UKEF), a department that helps UK companies access business contract overseas. The Guardian said although the UKEF did environmental and human rights reviews of projects before allocating funding, there had been cases of workers complaining of low pay and safety hazards.…

Stockholm: A Supreme Court justice in Sweden has been fined for shoplifting a Christmas ham and meatballs among other items, the prosecutor in the case said yesterday. The 67-year-old justice was caught by staff at a supermarket in Stockholm a week before Christmas. “I have issued a fine regarding the crime, petty theft, previously known as shoplifting,” chief public prosecutor Per Nichols told AFP. The judge resigned from her post – when reports emerged that she was being investigated – after having served two decades on the bench. The judge denied any intention to steal the groceries, and was issued a fine of 50 000 Swedish kronor (about R78 500), Nichols added.…

THE dream is over. The Proteas have been knocked out of the Women’s World Cup. Their objective of becoming the first South African team to reach a World Cup final lay in tatters on the Hagley Oval outfield yesterday. It will instead be traditional rivals England, who trounced South Africa by 137 runs in this second semi-final, and Australia that will once again contest the showpiece on Sunday. The major disappointment for the Proteas will be that they comfortably kept their worst performance of the tournament for the knockout stages. “Obviously it's a very sad changing room, different to all of our games that we've been playing," said captain Sune Luus. “It's going to be a hard pill to swallow this one, especially just in the way we…

OPPORTUNITIES abound at Kingsmead. For players making debuts and teams missing stars, for World Test Championship points and more history in the case of Bangladesh. South Africa got the authoritative start the team’s leadership demanded, but they would have headed back to the hotel yesterday pondering the missed opportunities. Three of the dismissals were gifts to the tourists. Everyone got into double figures, but that Dean Elgar’s 67 was the highest score indicates batters not taking advantage of starts. Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque had chosen to bowl after winning the toss possibly seduced by the extra grass covering on the surface, a somewhat unusual sight at the venue in recent seasons. There was help for the seamers, but Bangladesh weren’t good enough to exploit it in the…

WHILE they are well aware of the threats the Ospreys pose, Stormers coach John Dobson says his concern is that they don’t appreciate how good the Welsh outfit are. The Stormers will host the top-ranked Welsh side at Cape Town Stadium tomorrow. And while they took a 45-15 beating against the Lions last weekend, Dobson knows that complacency can be detrimental as his team look to add another win to their run. “My concern is that we don’t appreciate how good the Ospreys are. They are the top Welsh franchise. They are big and direct. If you throw in an Adam Beard or a Gareth Anscombe, it’s a proper team,” Dobson said. “Part of the journey of us adapting to the URC, is that these aren’t brands yet, but we…