Tabla de contenidos para 2022-10-13 en Cape Times

THE ANC in the Western Cape has criticised the latest Annual Report of the Department of the Premier for revealing many plans and policies with little impact on the ground. ANC leader of the province, Cameron Dugmore, said the report validated their belief that the province had the “weakest premier ever with no ability to provide firm leadership, strategic direction and implementation”. The standing committee on the premier and constitutional matters met on Tuesday to deliberate the annual report for the year 2021/22. “Despite the rising unemployment in the province, the ANC notes that the premier publicly admitted that his government had not focused any provincial resources on public employment initiatives. ”It heavily relied on the Presidential Employment Initiative and EPWP to create employment opportunities,” said Dugmore. He also…

THE Office of the Auditor-General South Africa (Agsa) has painted a bleak picture of state-owned entities (SOEs) failing since President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration took office. MPs yesterday heard that some SOEs, under Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, have not submitted financial statements for 2021-22 and others were exempted from disclosing irregular expenditure for auditing purposes. Briefing the public enterprises portfolio committee, Agsa deputy business executive Fhumulani Rabonda said the department inherited audits that had not identified material irregularities in the first year of Ramaphosa’s administration. Rabonda said the picture had now changed to mostly “not so good” in the 2021-22 financial year. “The department could not manage to retain good audit status. “They are no longer clean but they sit with unqualified audit financial statements with findings on compliance,”…

WITH soaring summer temperatures usually resulting in devastating wildfires, the Western Cape government is expected to pump R16 million into firefighting efforts. Wildfire season traditionally runs from November to May in the province, with more than 15 000 fires reported in the region each year. Human behaviour has been reported to be the No 1 cause of wildfires. Environmental affairs and development planning MEC Anton Bredell, who visited the Newlands Fire Base Station this week to engage with senior firefighting personnel, said he was satisfied with preparations and readiness to manage wildfires. He said the Western Cape Rapid Response Strategy, initiated in 2012, would again be implemented this year. “This strategy is based on the premise that expensive aerial support should be made available sooner rather than later. “This strategy…

YOUR article “Fury over minsters’ free ride on electricity, water” (Tuesday edition) refers: It is the height of insult to the struggling citizens of South Africa to even consider something as crass as free electricity and water for people who earn almost R2 million per annum. Ministers get housing for next to nothing and have a whole handbook of perks in exchange for doing very little work. Over and above this, ministers and their deputies also get another residence in Pretoria. It is all very well for Cosatu to slam this move by the government, but Cosatu is in partnership with the ANC government and can only seem to be making the right noises but not taking any action.…

THE past couple of years have been challenging, to say the least. As a country, South Africa is in the midst of an economic tornado. It doesn’t take an expert to come to this realisation since we are witnessing the decline of our economy before our eyes. We are seeing an increase in violent crimes, contact and sexual crimes and an increase in kidnappings. The online space is fraught with opportunists, looking for a naive soul to bamboozle, soaring food prices, petrol prices and interest hikes. The list goes on and on. Many folks are running on empty. It is hard to wake in the mornings with negative news being served up by every news outlet across the globe. It would seem that bad news, sensationalism and propaganda is unavoidable…

Farming activities hindered by low yields, lack of mechanisation and financing solutions Value addition is a central theme in agriculture. The concept involves adding value at every step, from production to delivery of a product. This creates opportunities for farmers and companies to find competitive advantages. It also has the potential to improve food security and create employment. In South Africa, the government has used value addition as a policy to try to correct some of the historical imbalances in the agriculture sector. Large-scale commercial enterprises have dominated the sector since the first part of the 20th century. They compare favourably with those anywhere in the world. But they are in stark contrast with the small-scale farming sector in terms of productivity and value addition. And the divide has a…

ZURICH: The Swiss government sent a draft law to parliament yesterday seeking to fine people who violate a national ban on face coverings up to 1 000 Swiss francs (R18 295) as it seeks to implement a “burqa ban” law. The far-right proposal to ban facial coverings in public won a narrow victory in a binding referendum last year. The cabinet proposal to levy fines did not mention Islam and is also aimed at stopping violent street protesters from wearing masks, yet local politicians refer to it as the “burqa ban”. Initially the cabinet wanted to anchor it in the criminal code with a fine of up to 10 000 francs. “The ban aims to ensure public safety and order,” it said. Muslims make up some 5% of…

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has scented a new opportunity to capitalise on quirky products, launching a perfume called Burnt Hair that he said sold 10 000 bottles to earn a million dollars in just a few hours. “With a name like mine, getting into the fragrance business was inevitable – why did I even fight it for so long!?” Musk asked on Twitter, where he now describes himself as a perfume salesman. “The essence of repugnant desire” is the website description of his latest offering, which costs $100 a bottle and is set to start shipping in the first quarter of 2023, making good on a product Musk first touted in September. | Reuters…

At least 28 children have been killed in protests that have swept across Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini, with hundreds more mostly detained in adult prisons, rights groups inside and outside the country said. Amini, 22, was pronounced dead days after the morality police detained the Iranian Kurd last month for allegedly breaching the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women. Anger flared at her funeral and spread to become the biggest wave of protests to rock Iran in three years, despite a crackdown that has killed scores and seen hundreds arrested. Iran’s Children’s Rights Protection Society condemned security forces for resorting to violence against children who have protested in schools and in the street. “According to statistics, 28 children have been killed in these confrontations, mostly in…

LONDON: British Prime Minister Liz Truss said yesterday she would stick to a pledge to refrain from public spending reductions amid questions about how the government would fund its planned tax cuts. Asked by opposition leader Keir Starmer in parliament if she would stick to a pledge she made during the Conservative Party leadership contest that she was not planning public spending cuts, Truss said: “Absolutely, absolutely. What we’ll make sure is that over the medium term the debt is falling, but we’ll do that not by cutting public spending but by making sure we spend public money well.” | Reuters…

SPRINGBOK Women loosehead prop Sanelisiwe Charlie might not have expected to represent her country at the World Cup, but when they opened their campaign against France, she felt right at home. Charlie certainly had ambitions of playing for the Springbok Women, but she did not see herself being part of the potential RWC squad due to the more experienced players who were already in the national set-up. In 2021, when coach Stan Raubenheimer named his first national squad named post the Covid-19 pandemic, Charlie made the squad to face Kenya in two Tests in Stellenbosch. She was named on the bench in the first Test and then started at tighthead in the second for her international debut. Another call-up followed for the November tour to Europe, and although she was…

QATAR World Cup organisers yesterday warned fans to brace for “congestion” in the first two weeks of the tournament when the peak number of supporters will be packing the Gulf state’s capital. Private cars will be banned from many streets and residents near some stadiums will need permits to get to their homes, organisers and government officials told a press conference as they outlined measures to avoid a World Cup jam. The tiny state of 2.9 million people will be the smallest to hold the World Cup that starts 20 November. Qatar has spent billions of dollars on a state-of-the-art driverless metro rail network that serves five of the eight stadiums and will also have 3 200 extra buses and 3 000 taxis on the road. More than one million…

THE inquiry into the fitness of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to hold office was yesterday rocked by calls for the recusal of evidence leader Advocate Nazreen Bawa. This after UDM leader Bantu Holomisa and Attorney Godrich Gardee, acting on behalf of chairperson of Black People’s national Crisis Committee, wrote to the Section 194 committee Qubudile Dyantyi requesting the recusal of Bawa as one of the evidence leaders. The requests are made at a time when the committee has not been sitting for two weeks now and is yet to resume with its work this month. In his letter, Holomisa said it had come to the attention of the UDM that Bawa was implicated in legal proceedings that called her conduct into question. He did not divulge what the allegations…

MINERAL Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says his department is working flat-out to sign energy procurement project agreements by no later than the end of this month, in efforts to add another 13 813MW to the national grid. Mantashe was speaking at the 11th annual Windaba conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Windaba is hosted by the South African Wind Energy Association and aims to facilitate partnerships for the implementation of renewable energy projects, influence energy policy, and provide a framework for strategic decision-making. This year’s conference theme is “Wind Power Spearheading the Energy Transition for Accelerated Growth”. “This conference takes place when as a country we are experiencing frequent load shedding due to challenges with our existing power generation plants performance. We welcome and avail ourselves…

WITH reference to our report “Khaye animal clinic facing closure” on Monday, the Mdzananda animal clinic has since indicated: “The Khayelitsha-based animal clinic is flourishing to the extent that it recently took over the SA MAST animal organisation, turning it into the Mdzananda Satellite Sterilisation Clinic. “Mdzananda is now the only NPO animal organisation in Khayelitsha, a community which has an estimate of 300 000 companion animals. It provides veterinary care and welfare services to over 1 500 animals per month through consultation rooms, a hospital, theatre, mobile clinics, animal ambulance and homeless shelter. It also has a strong focus on education, helping community pet owners become the best owners they can be. The organisation wishes to thank all its donors and supporters whose continuous help is allowing it to…

WHILE the embattled UCT executive team made a U-turn,stating its support for an independent investigation into governance issues at the institution, the UCT Council has been served with a letter of demand. The law firm Webber Wentzel sent the letter on Monday, addressed to the UCT Council on behalf of the UCT Academics Union, regarding the September 30 Senate meeting and the outcomes of a Council meeting on October 6. The union said it believed the last Council meeting’s decisions were unlawful, and showed a conflict of interest and bias on the part of the Council Chair Babalwa Ngonyama, Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and Deputy Chair of Council Pheladi Gwangwa. Phakeng and Ngonyama were accused during a controversial Senate meeting on September 30 of having misled the Council meeting concerning…

MY INTEREST is researching aircraft crashes in my area, north-east England. I am writing to make an appeal in the hope of tracing any relatives of the late Peter William Rutherford who lived in Rondebosch, Cape Town. He passed away in 1967. Rutherford was a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force during World War I. In 1919, he had a flying accident at Roker, Sunderland, England when he was in No 36 Squadron based at Hylton Aerodrome/RAF Usworth. He was okay. The aim is to trace his pilot’s flying log book, along with any other photographs of Rutherford. His relatives can please e-mail me at philip.smith322@btinternet.com or write to: Philip Smith,13 Sunnidale,Fellside Park,Whickham,Newcastle-Upon-Tyne NE16 5TT, England,UK.…

MR. PRESIDENT, I trust and hope you will note what I am going to say in this article. First question, why did we establish the Zondo Commission? Was it not to unravel all the wrongs that happened and were not stopped by various parties involved in government entities? We spent a lot of money to uncover the truth; I do not know the exact amount paid for the Zondo commission. Is it a billion or more? I believe this is a relevant question, especially now when one would assume that the recommendations in that report are fully implementable. Why is there a greater need to ensure those recommendations are tested? We are coming from a period in which the board members of various entities had a political relationship that significantly…

It has been seven years since students in South Africa began protesting in a bid to “Africanise” the country’s university curricula. They viewed what they were learning as too neo-liberal – characterised by Western values pushing the market- isation of education. They wanted universities to become more relevant to students in an African country and more connected to their own lives. The students’ calls propelled “decolonisation” to the forefront of national (and even international) debate. Decolonisation in the university context involves dismantling the institutional practices and policies that uphold white supremacist, Western values. Since then, there have been initiatives at most of the country’s 26 public universities designed to change what students learn and how. Every academic has their own opinion and approach. Mine, as a university educator who lectures…

PARIS: A representative of France’s FNME trade union said yesterday that some workers at EDF’s nuclear plants resumed their strike over salaries, delaying maintenance work on eight reactors. Three of the Cruas nuclear plant’s reactors are affected by the strike, while two reactors at the Cattenom and Tricastin plants and one Bugey reactor have had their maintenance delayed by the strike, FNME said. The strike is not reducing power supply at active reactors, FNME added. FNME representative official Viginie Neumayer told Reuters the union sent a message of support to striking workers at refineries and petrol depots owned by oil giants TotalEnergies TTEF.PA and Exxon Mobil XOM. | Reuters…

The dozens of items on the public agenda of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund this week include several sessions on climate change, food security, and other chronic world problems, some on inflation and trade, and attention as well to economic inclusion and digital currencies. Comparatively absent: the coronavirus pandemic, a once-in-a-century crisis that has killed an estimated 6.5 million people since late 2019 and highlighted broad weaknesses in how the global economy is organised, will be directly addressed through a single panel on preparedness, and two on issues related to economic recovery. With the world fractured by war, commodity price shocks, possible recession, financial market stress, and a slide towards deglobalisation, the lingering health crisis that sparked or accelerated many of those problems –…

Myanmar’s junta yesterday jailed a Japanese journalist – arrested while filming an anti-coup protest – for three more years for violating immigration law, a diplomatic source said. The jailing came the same day a closed junta court sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to another six years in prison for corruption, a source said, taking the Nobel laureate’s total jail time to 26 years. Toru Kubota, 26, detained in July and jailed for seven years last week, was sentenced to an additional “three years’ imprisonment”, a diplomatic source at Japan’s embassy said, citing the journalist’s lawyer. Myanmar’s junta has clamped down on press freedoms, arresting reporters and photographers, and revoking broadcasting licences during its crackdown on dissent since seizing power last year. Kubota was detained near an anti-government rally…

Los Angeles: Actress Angela Lansbury, who became a household name through her role as a writer-detective in Murder, She Wrote, died on Tuesday, her family announced. She was 96. “The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles just five days shy of her 97th birthday,” a statement widely quoted in US media said. The British-born star, who found fame and fortune in a variety of memorable roles on television, was also a hugely successful stage actress, netting five Tony Awards. “In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great-grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury,” the family statement said. “She was…

FIVE weeks ago when the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup was announced there was reason for optimism. It was a balanced group with plenty of options, experience and variety. The big question mark was about Temba Bavuma, and that remains, but on the whole, there were more reasons to feel good about the Proteas chances in Australia, than was the case a year ago when the tournament was hosted in Dubai. However, how much scarring will there be following the one-day international series defeat to an Indian side devoid of many of their star players? That was a young team led by Shikhar Dhawan and they hammered the Proteas in the last two matches to clinch the series, and pushed the South Africans into even further difficulties as…

THE disciplinary hearing against former water and sanitation Mayco member, Zahid Badroodien, who is accused of tampering with an electricity meter at his property, kicked off yesterday. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced on September 28 that the former Mayco member requested to step down from his position pending the outcome of the disciplinary hearing. The Cape Times is aware that five parties are represented in the Disciplinary Committee (DC) that is made up of seven members from the DA, two from the ANC, while the EFF, Good Party and the Cape Coloured Congress (CCC) party each have one member. The first day was apparently brief and the panel chaired by councillor Ian Nielson dealt with the terms of reference and clarity on issues raised. The next hearing date is expected to…

500g lean beef/ sirloin or silverside Spring onions 2 cloves garlic, grated 1/2 tsp grated ginger 1 medium green pepper 1 medium red pepper 1 medium yellow pepper 3 tbsp olive oil salt and pepper to taste 1/2 - 1 tsp crushed chillies 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp vinegar Cut the beef into thin strips. Add the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, crushed chillies and vinegar in a bowl. Add the beef strips and stir. Leave to marinade at least an hour. Cut the spring onions and peppers into thin strips. Heat half of the oil in a wok. Add the marinated beef and cook until the beef is soft, this depends on the cut of beef you’re using. Remove from the wok once the meat is soft. Add the…

Divanne Leibrand, a Good Samaritan who attempted to save 18-year-old Taytim-Lee Hendricks, after she was hit by an alleged drunk and unlicensed driver in Bonteheuwel, has been overwhelmed with messages of kindness. Hendricks is understood to have been walking on the street when the speeding car ploughed into her, before it crashed into a wall. She was hit with such impact that her body was flung onto the roof of a house. She succumbed to her injuries in hospital. A 32-year-old man was arrested on charges of reckless and negligent driving and culpable homicide. He made his first court appearance at the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where he was released on R5 000 bail, on condition that he stays out of Bonteheuwel. The case has been postponed to…

FROM a purely simplistic point of view, surely it is time to call the bluff of the so-called unions and the strikers, and utilise the millions of unemployed workers who would, I am sure gladly, step in and help alleviate the serious disruption at the ports and other strategic areas of concern. In the current climate of rampant inflation, we all need to tighten our belts, take positive action, but certainly not hold the government to ransom over demands from highly paid union bosses who are only interested in lining their own pockets. Surely it does not take a genius to see that the unions will not give in until their demands are satisfied. It is a hopeless situation when labour unions are able to hold the government to ransom…

MY NECK is hurting from looking over my shoulder. Your comment, Lindiwe Sisulu, is one of the many lies told by government officials. South Africa is, sorry to say, on the list of being one of the countries with the highest levels of crime – from molesting and raping girls and women to robberies, kidnappings, attacks on innocent people and, recently, buses. Learners run around with guns in schools. Even police officers kill their whole family. Here comes Sisulu, saying: “South Africa is a peace loving country.” Well, it’s not the first German tourist killed on holiday in SA. Even crimes committed by most of the government officials over the last 25-plus years, are swept under the carpet. Zuma will take all his wrongdoings and lies to his grave. Cyril…

The Ramaphosa administration’s new dawn has been nothing but a never- ending nightmare for poor South Africans who are desperate to keep their heads above water. It has been all about benefiting a few cadres and business people who sing the praises of the incumbent. Even for those with the means to get by, load shedding and the high price of food and fuel have left a bitter taste in their mouths. It therefore comes as no surprise that our ministers and their deputies’ water and electricity bills are being footed by the already squeezed taxpayer. The same members of the executive don’t know a thing about the Eskom blackouts that Ramaphosa has no idea how to fix. Instead, he handsomely awarded them a 3% wage increase in June, effectively…

N’DJAMENA: Severe drought followed by the worst floods in 30 years has led to rocketing food prices and left a record 2.1 million people in Chad acutely hungry, report UN agencies. As a result of the climate disaster, 10% of all children under 5 are affected by severe malnutrition, and one in three will suffer from stunted growth, said the UN children’s fund. On a bed at the Notre Dame des Apotres Hospital in the capital N’Djamena, Fatimé Mahamat Idriss feeds her gaunt toddler through a feeding tube. When the harvest failed, her husband sought work in a gold mine in the north, leaving no food for their three children. | Reuters…

JAKARTA: Indonesia will investigate cases of acute kidney injury which has caused the deaths of more than 20 children in its capital Jakarta this year, health authorities said yesterday. The probe comes as authorities in Gambia said nearly 70 children died from acute kidney injury after taking a locally-sold paracetamol syrup used to treat fever. Indonesia will coordinate with investigators from the World Health Organization (WHO) that have found “unacceptable” levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which can be toxic, in four products made by New Delhi-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Indonesia’s drug regulator (BPOM) said the syrups were not registered. | Reuters…

A vault built on an Arctic island to preserve the world’s crop seeds from war, disease and other catastrophes received new deposits yesterday, including for the first time from Iraq and Uruguay, Norway’s ministry of agriculture and food said. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault on Spitsbergen island halfway between Europe and the North Pole, is opened only three times a year to limit its seeds’ exposure to the outside world. Launched in 2008, the vault acts as a last resort for national and regional gene banks, and played an essential role between 2015 and 2019 in rebuilding collections damaged during the war in Syria. More than 45 000 samples from 13 gene banks from Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America were added yesterday, lifting the total number of deposits…

More than 50 countries gathered on the sidelines of a Nato meeting in Brussels yesterday to discuss bolstering Ukraine’s air defences, after Moscow launched its most intense missile strikes since the start of the war. Russian attacks using more than 100 missiles have killed at least 26 people across Ukraine since Monday, when President Vladimir Putin ordered what he called retaliatory strikes against Ukraine for an explosion on a bridge to Crimea. Air raid sirens sounded across swaths of Ukraine for a third day yesterday and there were reports of some shelling, but no immediate sign of a repeat of the intensive countrywide strikes of the previous two days. Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia’s missile attacks were a sign of weakness by a country facing the prospect of losing…