Tabla de contenidos para 2022-04-11 en Cape Times

From page 1 “There is no quick death for an animal caught in ocean debris and those that consume plastic accidentally or by confusing it for food literally starve to death because they are unable to digest plastic, which makes them feel full,” said Abraham. The minimum donation is R450 – the SPCA’s average cost to rescue and rehabilitate just one wild animal. He added he was now immune to stings from jellyfish, which he describes as “kisses”. “I do not train for these things anymore because I do it so often, I swim Robben Island at least once a week. That is my exercise that I do. When you get to the level of fitness where I am not then you do not have to train for…

THE SAPS in the Western Cape said they would co-operate with investigations into alleged police inefficiencies, as drug houses continue to thrive in the province. The police ombudsman in the Western Cape said it would conduct the probe after at least 1 577 “well-known drug houses” failed to be shut. Provincial SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said they would co-operate with the investigation. “We have noted the intention to investigate allegations of police inefficiency in relation to drugs in the province. The SAPS respects the rule of law and will co-operate with the probe. The scourge of drugs and its manifestations while concerning to all, requires a whole-of-society approach inclusive of all government entities as stipulated in the national drug master plan,” said Potelwa. Community and anti-crime activist Roegshanda Pascoe…

THE following is an extract from an Automobile Associating bulletin. “The AA believes the ________ are, simply put, a threat to other drivers. There is growing anecdotal evidence that ______ drivers are aggressive to other road users, that they speed way above the applicable speed limits, that they swerve dangerously in and out of traffic, and that they disrespect other road users.” You’ll see that two parts are omitted. One may be tempted to insert, “minibus taxi drivers”, into those two gaps. For the most part, that would not be wrong, but in this case the missing words are, Blue Light Brigade and PPU (Presidential Protection Unit). For those who have not experienced the aggressive and dangerous antics of the PPU drivers, they have to be seen to be believed.…

PRIMROSE Park Primary School said it would miss “the larger than life personality” of slain secretary Zuraya Barden, who was shot and killed while on her way to work on Friday morning. Barden, 61, was attacked and left for dead just after 7am in an alleged hit while driving her vehicle in Kunene Street, Manenberg with her six-year-old grandchild in the car. Police say arrests are yet to be made while the motive for the shooting is unknown. A social media post by the school read: “It is with sad hearts that we bid farewell to our secretary, Zuraya Barden, who lost her life so tragically yesterday morning. She was a larger-than-life personality who will be sorely missed by the entire Primrose Park Community.” It is reported that Barden…

DESPITE the innovation, aspirations, exuberance, hype and scams about unregulated digital currencies, the world seems to be edging towards the introduction of official central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for the settlement of international payments. Almost unnoticed, the SA Reserve Bank (Sarb) as part of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Singapore Innovation Hub, which also includes the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank Negara Malaysia, and Monetary Authority of Singapore, last month completed prototypes for a common platform enabling international settlements using multiple central bank digital currencies (mCBDCs). The collaboration, code named “Project Dunbar”, shows that financial institutions could use CBDCs issued by participating central banks to transact directly with each other on a shared platform. This has the potential to reduce reliance on intermediaries, and the costs and time taken…

FrENCH citizens went to the polls yesterday in the first round of a presidential election, with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen posing an unexpected threat to President Emmanuel Macron’s re-election hopes. French overseas territories voted on Saturday to take account of the time difference, starting with the island of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Canada, in Québec, in the US and in territories in the Caribbean followed by French Pacific islands. Some 48.7 million voters registered across France to vote in this election. Polls predicted that Macron would lead Le Pen by a handful of percentage points in round one, with the top two going through to a second round vote on April 24. Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon was snapping at their heels in third place and…

Islamabad: Imran Khan was dismissed yesterday as Pakistan’s prime minister after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament following weeks of political turmoil. A new premier will be chosen today, with Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif almost certain to be picked to lead the nuclear- armed nation of 220 million people. No prime minister has ever served a full term in Pakistan, but Khan is the first to lose office this way. Opposition supporters took to the streets early yesterday, waving national and party flags from car windows as they raced through the streets. While addressing the Pakistan national assembly on Saturday, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that sabotaging the no-trust motion would imply contempt of court. He said that if voting did not take place…

Brussels: The EU will discuss its support for war crimes probes in Ukraine in meetings with the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, the European Commission said. Karim Khan, of The Hague-based court, met EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Luxembourg yesterday, before participating in a meeting of EU ministers today. Moscow has denied the war crimes claims. On Saturday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv in a “show of solidarity” with Ukraine a day after a missile strike at Kramatorsk railway station killed 52 people, including children. A further 109 people were injured. The prime minister met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Downing Street said. Johnson tweeted that Britain was “setting out a new package of financial and military aid” because of “President Zelenskiy’s resolute…

Bangkok: Thailand has banned styrofoam packaging and single-use plastics from national parks as it fights a scourge of waste threatening wildlife. Waters off the coast of the country are choked with pollution and the coronavirus pandemic has brought a surge in plastic waste as demand for takeaway food grows. The Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said the ban was necessary to protect the ecology. Offenders can be fined up to 100 000 baht (about R43 000) if caught travelling into the parks with single-use plastic items or styrofoam containers.…

SOCIAL Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has revealed that more than 700 000 beneficiaries have not collected their R350 social relief of distress grants from the South African Post Office (SAPO). EFF MP Rosina Ntshetsana Komane wrote to Zulu asking about the number of beneficiaries who were approved to receive the grant and were yet to claim their money. Komane also asked about the measures her department had put in place to ensure all those entitled to the grant accessed it. The grant was introduced as a temporary relief measure for those who lost economic opportunities and were adversely affected after the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020. In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa extended the grant until March 2023 and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana allocated R44 billion for the 12-month extension while…

THE Road Accident Fund (RAF) has taken the fight to have its disclaimer of audit opinion from Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke scrapped to the Gauteng High Court. The fund wants the court to review and set aside the report after its bid to interdict its publication was unsuccessful. Although Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula wrote to Parliament explaining he could not table the report because of the dispute between RAF and the Auditor-General SA (Agsa), Maluleke said nothing in law preventing her from publishing the audit report, if not tabled by the executive authority. In her audit report, Maluleke said she was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence for claims liabilities totalling R27.8 billion and claims expenditure amounting to R37.1 billion as disclosed in the financial statements. In papers filed on…

AN EXTERNAL investigator is set to be appointed by Theewaterskloof Local Municipality to probe allegations against DA councillor Dawid Jooste, who is accused of sexual assault. Jooste is facing a charge of sexual assault and appeared in the Caledon Magistrates's Court last month. This is as several more women, including two female councillors, have come forward, alleging that Jooste has sent them messages that made them feel uncomfortable. A woman who alleged Jooste had tried to touch her without her consent lodged a complaint with police recently. ANC chief whip Raymond Nongxaza said the council had resolved at a meeting on Thursday last week to appoint an external person to investigate the allegations against Jooste. “That process is under way,” he said. Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg confirmed a sexual assault…

THE picture in the Cape Times (April 7) of Doctors Without Borders responding to threats of malaria in South Sudan says it all. Nineteen small children crowded around the doctor, with a few adults. We need to limit our numbers worldwide, as it is patently obvious the burgeoning numbers cannot cope with climate-related issues – from food shortages, to lack of water, to lack of housing, to lack of medical care, to lack of schooling, etc. It depends on where one is born in this world today, whether one is going to live a half decent life. And certainly those with too many dependants simply cannot cope and will continue to be mired in poverty. Friday’s Cape Times makes mention that Sri Lankans risk starvation due to a crippling economic…

IT IS a racing certainty or foregone conclusion that the Prevention and Combating of Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Bill – which provides for a first-offender to be jailed for up to three years – is never going to be used against a black person. Here I refer to a black person who allows his hatred of whites to gain the upper hand and get the better of him, except in the most egregious circumstances, and then only to administer a slap on the wrist similar to the one Velaphi Khumalo received for suggesting that whites should be hacked to death like Jews etc (https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-10-05-velaphi-khumalos-posts-on-whites-declared-hate-speech/). Consequently, I suggest that we guard against being accused of double-standards by re-naming the bill as the Prevention and Combating of Unjustified Hate Speech…

THE Labour Court has dismissed the findings of a disciplinary hearing presiding officer who found a Western Cape Department of Health employee guilty of only one of five charges in relation to the sexual harassment of a colleague in 2019. “The presiding officer either ignored evidence before her, misconstrued the nature of the enquiry she was required to make, and ultimately made decisions not rationally connected to the evidence before her and, indeed, drew conclusions that a reasonable decision-maker could not have made,” Acting Labour Court Judge I Haffegee said last week. The department wanted the presiding officer’s decision to be set aside and replaced with an order finding the alleged perpetrator guilty of all the allegations against him. However, the court ordered that a new disciplinary hearing be held,…

Eskom, Nersa dragging feet on progressive revision of costs to keep electricity affordable IT HAS now been more than two decades since South Africans thought they could be guaranteed access to an affordable and reliable electricity supply for domestic and industrial use. Many news reports describe the ongoing electricity blackouts as a manifestation of “stalled” attempts to rationalise the financially embattled Eskom, but as I read the detailed analyses, that doesn’t seem correct: Eskom has for ages held a near-monopoly in the electricity market, but changes to the laws and regulations that govern the sector have started to open the market up to the competition. As a sign that the authorities are warming to the idea of a competitive electricity market, the National Electricity Regulator of SA (Nersa) recently awarded…

Along a riverbank scarred by logging, Joseph Mwandenge Mangi points out a solitary mangrove tree, a species once abundant in the forest where the mighty Sabaki River meets the sea. “This is the last one. There are no more left,” said the 42-year-old Kenyan, who grew up on the estuary and possesses a seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge of its flora and fauna. For generations villagers living along the Sabaki estuary had relied on its natural bounty for lumber, firewood, fresh water, seafood, farming, and plants for traditional medicine. Sustainably nurtured, the coastal wetland is a resilient ally in the face of a changing climate – storing carbon, filtering water pollution, and protecting against extreme weather and rising sea levels. But years of unchecked exploitation damaged the mangroves and ecology at the…

Washington: Jennifer Lopez has announced her engagement to actor Ben Affleck, 18 years after they ended their relationship for the first time. The 52-year-old singer and actress posted a video of herself appearing emotional and admiring a light green, emerald-cut ring in her newsletter, On The JLo. Her representatives then confirmed the engagement announcement to People magazine. The pair first met on the set of the widely panned movie “Gigli” in 2002. It will be the fourth marriage for Lopez and the second for actor and director Affleck, who is 49.…

SUVA: Fiji reported four more deaths from leptospirosis, a bacterial disease, in recent days, bringing the death toll from the disease to 35 so far this year. According to the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, Permanent Secretary for Health James Fong said all the new deaths occurred in Lautoka, the second largest city in Fiji, between April 1 and 4. There have been 1 638 confirmed cases of leptospirosis this year. There were also 1 353 confirmed cases of dengue fever and 93 cases of typhoid this year, with five deaths from typhoid. Fong attributed the rise in these cases to the consistently high levels of rainfall in recent months. There were 21 new cases of Covid-19 reported.…

A TAXI operator who had been “incorrectly sentenced” for operating without a valid permit will pay R6 000 less on a fine imposed after a high court ruling. Instead of paying his initial fine of R10 000 imposed by the Madadeni Magistrate’s Court, taxi owner Xolani Dlamini will now pay only R4 000 after the Pietermaritzburg High Court automatically reviewed the decision by the lower court. Judge Sidwell Mngadi said he doubted whether the sentence imposed on Dlamini was appropriate after he had perused the lower court’s record of proceedings. Dlamini was found guilty of contravening the provisions of the National Land Transport Act (NLTA) in that he wrongfully and unlawfully operated a road-based public transport service by transporting fare-paying passengers by means of a Toyota Minibus Hiace taxi, without…

From page 1 “They raised a motion that the RTT be allowed to vote because they know that they are a majority in it since three of our members are out because of step aside. In all the other conferences in KZN, none of the RTT was allowed to vote, so it was going to be the first one where they are allowed to vote. That is how we reached the stalemate,” Khuzwayo said. The convener of the RTT, Kwazi Mshengu, denied that they were now awaiting guidance from the national executive committee as the provincial executive committee of the ANC was very clear on the voting rights of task team members. “We are not awaiting guidance. The province has a PEC decision that the ANC task team doesn’t vote.…

YOUR Friday edition “GEMS ‘injustice’ exposed”, refers: It is typical of our government to speak about equality and fairness on the one hand, but when it comes to their own actions they never evidence that sort of fairness. In this particular instance, independent pharmacies were being cheated to a large degree. We see this when the government doesn’t pay small businesses their invoices after the promised 30 days. We also see this in that the two political parties that are in partnership in governing the country, both the ANC and the Communist Party, had not paid their own employees. At least in this instance with GEMS (Government Employees Medical Scheme), a deal has been brokered and the disastrous situation has turned around. Should our Competition Commission not investigate this in…

MORE than 100 people have lost their lives in the past week alone in two separate incidents in the Central Mediterranean Sea, as a result of the EU and its member states’ deadly policies towards refugees and migrants. In the same week, at least 130 people were intercepted and forcibly returned to Libya, where they almost certainly will be subjected to a litany of ill-treatment, abuse and torture that has been widely documented to occur in Libyan detention centres. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has condemned the negligence of Italy and Malta to assist boats in distress, and the indifference of the EU and its member states to the rising death toll and the ongoing violation of human rights in the Mediterranean Sea. These awful deaths and forced returns…

THE Melkbosstrand Community Police Forum (CPF) has welcomed the sentencing of 35-year-old Abongile Nqodi who was convicted on various charges, including the murder of 74-year-old Nicholaas Heerschap. The 74-year-old, the father of Nico Heerschap, a member of the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team, was shot and killed in front of his house in Melkbosstrand in 2019. Nqodi was sentenced by the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on Friday after he entered into a plea agreement with the State. Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said Nqodi received an effective 20 years behind bars. Melkbosstrand CPF member, Samie Kleynhans, said the community hoped that continuing investigations would be successful. “The Melkbosstrand CPF is pleased that justice has been served. “We would like to thank all involved who made it possible to achieve this…

THE stern warning issued by eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda to “lazy” city officials should resonate with all municipal employees around the country. Kaunda’s message is critical to prevent the total collapse of governance at this important sphere of service delivery. Kaunda, who is believed to be vying for the position of ANC provincial leader at the party’s upcoming conference, was addressing the media on the state of the city and the progress made to deliver services to communities. Kaunda said that from July, all city workers would be subjected to performance contracts, instead of just top management, to ensure that everyone met the conditions of their employment. “Those who are lazy, not doing their work, I am sure you are aware that this year in July the issue of the…

The beekeeping and honey production industry in Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar has been expanding after long years of insecurity and heavy fighting. “Running a beekeeping farm is a satisfying and profitable career. said farmer Abdul Bari. “The honey produced on my farm is pure, and the profitable industry has attracted many farmers to raise bees, harvest honey and sell it to local markets.” On April 3, the Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada banned in a decree the cultivation of opium poppy and trade of opium in Afghanistan, a move coming seven months after the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Despite a remarkable drop in opium production due to persistent drought, the country is still the largest producer of opium, the raw material for making heroin. Afghanistan’s illegal drug trade…

Washington: Actor Will Smith has responded to being banned from Academy events for 10 years after slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted on Friday to ban the star from all academy events for 10 years. Asked for comment, Smith told Page Six celebrity news site: “I accept and respect the academy’s decision.” The academy said in statement: “The Board of Governors has decided, for a period of 10 years, from April 8, Mr Smith shall not be permitted to attend any academy events or programmes in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards. “We want to express our deep gratitude to Mr Rock for maintaining his composure.” The incident occurred after Rock made a joke…

VLADIVOSTOK: Russia plans to launch a Luna-25 probe from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur on August 22, RIA Novosti news agency has reported. This would be Russia’s first mission to the Moon in 46 years, said Alexander Mitkin, Deputy General Designer for Electrical Systems at NPO Lavochkin, that built the Luna-25. The last lunar mission, Luna-24, was undertaken by the former Soviet Union in August 1976, which proved the presence of water in samples brought back from the Moon. The main tasks of Luna-25 would include testing soft landing technologies and conducting contact studies of the lunar south pole.…