Tabla de contenidos para 2024-06-12 en Cape Times

The United Democratic Movement (UDM) and Patriotic Alliance (PA) have raised their hands to be counted among the parties to be part of the proposed Government of National Unity (GNU). This comes as the ANC is engaged in negotiations with parties over its proposal for a GNU after it failed to win an outright majority in the elections. ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa announced last Thursday that his party would not preclude the possibility of working with any party in the interest of the public. UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said his party held a meeting with the ANC on Sunday to discuss the formation of a GNU. Holomisa said it was the UDM’s view prior to the elections that there would be no outright winner and the outcome would promote checks…

Hamas accepts a UN resolution backing a plan to end the war with Israel in Gaza and is ready to negotiate details, a senior official of the Palestinian militant group said yesterday in what the US Secretary of State called a hopeful sign. But Qatari and Egyptian mediators have not received formal replies from Hamas or Israel to the UN-backed truce proposal, an official close to the talks told Reuters, and both sides suggested yesterday the plan fit their clashing goals, raising doubt whether any genuine headway towards a deal had been made. Discussions also touching on post-war plans for Gaza will continue over the next couple of days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv after talks with Israeli leaders. Blinken met Israeli officials yesterday in a…

AFTER yet another cyberfraud scam, the public have been reminded to make sure the banking details of recipients of money are correct before they pay over large amounts, after a woman lost R5.5 million to fraudsters. Judith Hawarden thought she paid this amount over to the conveying attorneys after she bought a property, only to discover she was a victim of cyberfraud. The high court earlier found leading law firm Edward Nathan Sonnenberg Inc liable to pay this amount back to her. But the law firm turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal, which ruled in its favour. Hawarden purchased a property from a family trust for the sum of R6 million in May 2019. Pam Golding Properties, the estate agent mandated by the seller to market the property, sent…

Sanlam’s 2023 claim statistics for sickness and disability show more than 60% of claims came from clients under 45. Sanlam said it paid out R10.7 billion in claims across both Sanlam Group Risk and Sanlam Risk and Savings including 21 896 claims. Sanlam said a notable trend in its 2023 risk and savings claim statistics was the prevalence of claims from younger clients, particularly in the areas of sickness and income protection. “Two-thirds of sickness and disability income claims came from individuals younger than 45. Additionally, more than half of all severe illness claims (57%) were for clients younger than 55; for women this was 70%. “62% of disability claims came from people younger than 55, in their prime working years; for women, this sits higher at 70%. “In 2023,…

Much has been said about the Government of National Unity proposed by ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa after the party failed to secure an outright majority in the polls. Mixed views have been aired on this model, with some describing it as spitting on the graves of freedom fighters. But is it? Spare a moment for Ramaphosa and the ANC. Forming a minority government and hoping someone will support you on policy making and crucial decisions is not the way to govern. And entering into a coalition and hoping you will not be changing presidents repeatedly is wishful thinking; we have seen what coalition deals did in Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Joburg. Teaming up with the EFF means the ANC will have to compromise on the red berets’ so-called non-negotiables. Then you…

Malawi’s Vice-President Saulos Klaus Chilima and nine others, including former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri, were killed when the military plane they were travelling in crashed, President Lazarus Chakwera said yesterday. The aircraft carrying Chilima, who was seen as a potential candidate in next year’s presidential election, went missing on Monday. The plane left the capital Lilongwe at 09.17am but was unable to land at Mzuzu airport as scheduled at 10.02am due to poor visibility. It was ordered to return to Lilongwe but went off the radar. Chakwera said all passengers on board were killed on impact and that the military was bringing their remains back to the capital. Images shared online showed security and rescue personnel on the crash site on a hillside with debris scattered around the tail of…

Kano: Gunmen from criminal gangs killed 26 people, including four policemen, and kidnapped dozens more in a raid on a north-western Nigerian village, the latest in a spate of attacks, police and a local official said. Katsina is one of several states in Nigeria terrorised by heavily armed gangs, who carry out mass abductions for ransom as well as burning and looting homes. The gangs, who maintain camps in a huge forest straddling four states, have also undertaken large-scale kidnappings of students from schools in recent years. The criminals, referred to as bandits by locals, entered Gidan Boka village in Kankara district on Sunday on motorcycles, shooting and abducting residents. The criminals also shot dead five residents of nearby Nakwabo village as they were fleeing. | AFP…

MOSCOW: Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday that the country’s grain exporters would shift their focus to key markets in the Middle East and North Africa, and strengthen relationships with India and China. In a meeting with grain exporters, it was unanimously agreed that Türkiye’s import refusal would not affect Russia’s export capabilities, the ministry said. Türkiye is suspending wheat imports from June 21 to October 15 to support local producers On July 1, Russia plans to reduce its grain supply to the global market to 60 million tons. “Domestic exporters will focus on the key markets,” the ministry said. | Xinhua…

SOUTHERN Palladium has announced the appointment legal expert, Lindi Nkosi-Thomas, as a non-executive director and the resignation of Geoff Hiller from the board of the company. The appointment of Nkosi-Thomas is with effect from June 10. The practising lawyer has vast expertise in the legal sector and has served in advisory roles to state-owned companies and the government. She also has corpo- rate experience, chairing Miracle Upon Miracle Investments, a private company that owns the rights to the Bengwenyama platinum project through a joint ownership structure with Southern Palladium. Follow- ing her appointment to the board of South-ern Palladium, Geoff Hiller will step down from the role of non-executive director, the company said. Southern Palladium said Hiller remained invested in Southern Palladium and will provide leadership advice and support to…

from page 1 not survive the illegality of preceding steps and raised the crashing of the IEC’s results system and dashboard that did not operate for almost two hours on May 31. He said the report of experts MK Party procured in defects in IEC’s IT system raised more serious questions than answers. Meanwhile, the party’s expelled founder Jabulani Khumalo has turned to the Western Cape High Court on an urgent basis to interdict the removal of his name from the list of the party’s newly-elected MPs. Khumalo brought the application, to be heard today or soon thereafter, pending part B application where he will challenge his expulsion from the MK party. In Khumalo’s application, Speaker of the National Assembly, George and Zuma were cited as respondents. Khumalo is requesting…

Two senior officials at the George Municipality have resigned, while the position of mayor is also vacant. Municipal manager Michele Gratz tendered her resignation on Friday, followed by the director of planning and development, Lauren Waring, on Monday. A total of about four vacancies will need to be filled, and deputy mayor Raybin Figland is expected to assume the acting mayoral role. Former mayor Leon van Wyk and Mayco member for finance and strategic services Dirk Wessels will be among the DA’s new members who will be sworn in at the Western Cape legislature’s first sitting of the seventh administration tomorrow. George municipality spokesperson Chantèl Edwards said council will need to approve the advertising and filling of the positions. “Dr Michele Gratz tendered her resignation as municipal manager for George…

Global technology giant, Google, has had its assets in South Africa attached following a ruling by the Gauteng division of the High Court over its failure to reinstate a Russian TV station’s YouTube channel. However, it was not immediately clear what the monetary value of the attached assets belonging to Google was, or what type of items fell under the order. Zané Hartman, director of Johannesburg-based Pagel Schulenburg Attorneys, confirmed yesterday that a high court application was also served electronically on Google LLC in California last week. “The main application against Google LLC is for the conversion of the foreign civil judgment confirmed by the Ninth Arbitrazh Court of Appeal in Russia,” Hartman said. “The Russian civil judgment is two-fold: firstly, it orders the reinstatement of the YouTube channel belonging…

A Mitchells Plain mother of three boys and founder and executive director of The Olive Exchange, a publishing business that specialises in affordable children’s books, Alicia English, has won the Home-Based Business of the Year Award at the Mastercard Women SME Leaders Awards 2024. English is an award-winning magazine editor, publisher and children’s book author. In 2021, she left her job as senior editor of Big Issue and Little Issue magazines to be with her children after her husband died of Covid-19. In August that year, The Olive Exchange launched the I Miss Daddy children’s book, which she co-authored with her 10-year-old son Matthew in memory of her late husband. She also recently authored two new children’s books, Mahalia the Rainbow Princess and Shanté and the Whale, which are aimed…

It is time for the black majority to take their destiny into their own hands In the aftermath of the 2024 elections in South Africa, there is a pressing need to reconsider the political landscape and chart a course that genuinely serves the interests of the marginalised and downtrodden. Analyst Nco Dube believes that a coalition between the ANC, EFF and uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) is a possibility and that it “would represent a significant shift in South African politics”. Dube contends that the potential coalition between the ANC, EFF and MKP is grounded in their shared history and substantial ideological similarities. Generally framed as a “doomsday coalition” in some circles, it is considered bad for the country and its economy. However, the perspective deliberately overlooks a crucial aspect that…

Russia said yesterday that its troops had started the second stage of drills to practise the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons alongside Belarusian troops after what Moscow said were threats from Western powers. Russia says the US and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation by giving Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used against Russian territory. Since sending thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend itself in extreme situations, comments that the West has dismissed as sabre-rattling. Russia last month explicitly linked the nuclear drills ordered by Putin to what it said were “provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against…

China has urged the BRICS bloc of nations to take on greater responsibilities and establish itself as being inclusive to the world, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod yesterday, in the wake of Western sanctions and trade restrictions imposed on the country. Many Chinese companies have faced Western sanctions over their support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the European Commission is set to announce tariffs this week on Chinese EVs in a bid to protect European carmakers. This week, the Group of Seven wealthy democracies is expected to send a tough warning to smaller Chinese banks to stop helping Russia evade Western sanctions. The politicisation of economic issues had grown with unilateral sanctions and technological barriers, Wang said. BRICS –…

SANA’A: A boat carrying more than 200 migrants sank off Yemen, leaving at least 49 dead, mostly women and children, in the latest disaster on the perilous migration route from Africa, a UN agency said yesterday. “At least 49 migrants have died and 140 others remain missing after a boat” carrying 260 people capsized on Monday, the International Organisation for Migration said. It said 31 women and six children were among those confirmed dead, adding that 115 Somalis and 145 Ethiopians were on board the vessel. The boat departed from Bossaso in Somalia at about 3am on Sunday amid a “recent rise in migrants from the Horn of Africa travelling to Yemen,” the UN agency said. | AFP…

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines has offered compensation to passengers who suffered injuries during a flight that hit major turbulence last month. A 73-year-old man died of a suspected heart attack and more than 50 others were injured during a flight from London to Singapore on May 20. The Boeing 777-300ER carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew plummeted almost 1 800m over the west coast of Myanmar and had to be diverted to Bangkok for an emergency landing. Passengers who sustained minor injuries were offered $10 000, while hose medically assessed with serious injuries have been offered $25 000. All passengers on the flight have been offered a full refund. | IANS…

ETHEKWINI Municipality has made an application for an amount of R167 million to help with rebuilding efforts following the storms that lashed parts of the city last week. This was revealed in a report presented at the City’s executive committee meeting yesterday. The municipality announced it has made a formal application to the national government to have oThongathi and other affected areas declared a disaster area. oThongathi, north of Durban, was the worst affected area with hundreds of homes destroyed and thousands of people displaced. Eight lives were lost and 99 people were injured during the heavy storm. Vincent Ngubane, eThekwini disaster management head, said nine areas in eThekwini were affected by the tornado. “The area of Magwaveni and surrounding areas in oThongathi had more than 12 000 people…

‘Large number of objections finalised by the IEC not satisfactorily dealt with’ THE “crashing” of the IEC’s results system and dashboard that did not operate for almost two hours on May 31 were among the reasons the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) forged ahead with its Constitutional Court application to interdict the first sitting of the National Assembly scheduled for Friday. The Jacob Zuma-led party has hauled Secretary to Parliament Xolile George and Chief Justice Raymond to the country’s apex court to be stopped from convening and conducting the first sitting following the declaration of results on June 2. It also asked, alternatively, that the court temporarily suspend the first sitting of the National Assembly until such time that it will be properly constituted. The MK Party’s urgent application is pending…

Transnet Port Terminals and the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) have criticized a report by the World Bank and ratings agency S&P that Cape Town’s port and the Port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape were the worst-performing ports in the world. Last week, the two agencies released the global Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) for 2023 which made the claims. The report looked at the 405 ports globally and noted that South Africa’s ports dominated the bottom of the rankings. The index also ranked the Port of Durban at 399. The port is the largest in the country and handles almost half of SA’s port traffic. Transnet and SAAFF have called the report out and said it is flawed and riddled with inaccuracies. The organisations said that…

WHILE Eskom said it had consultations with some community leaders, attacks on their employees continued, with four violent incidents recorded in the past three months in the Khayelitsha precinct. At 1.45pm on Sunday in Mew Way Road, Endlovini, a team of contractors providing services in the area made a narrow escape after they were accosted by armed men. Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said Harare police were investigating an attempted carjacking case. “According to reports, the complainant and partner were fixing electricity poles at the mentioned address, when he saw three unidentified males positively armed approaching them. He alerted his partner and they got in their vehicle and drove away. One shot was fired by the suspects, just damaging the vehicle. Investigation continues, no arrest,” he said. Eskom provincial spokesperson…

May 29 saw South Africa, like over 60 countries globally, heading for general elections this year. Over 70 political parties and independent candidates traversed the length and breadth of South Africa, canvassing for support to be voted into parliament with the hope of getting enough votes to govern South Africa. One of the often-heard gripes from South Africans is that once politicians are elected, they barricade themselves from the people they had lured for their votes, even visiting them in their homes, only to be remembered on the eve of the next elections. This grumble points to shortcomings in the stakeholder relations efforts of elected leaders. This article will use practical insights to explore the importance of stakeholder relationships for governments. Governments operate on behalf of their citizens, making the…

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to moderate his Hindu- nationalist agenda to assuage his coalition partners, but they will likely let him press on with his foreign and economic policies, analysts say. Modi, forced into a coalition government after a shock election setback left him without an outright majority for the first time in a decade, unveiled his third-term cabinet on Monday. Key posts are unchanged – including the defence, finance, foreign and interior ministers – and the cabinet remains dominated by his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Modi opts for continuity,” the Hindu- stan Times headline read Monday. “BJP and Modi are still solidly occupying the ... driving seat,” the Times of India wrote in its editorial. Nevertheless, this term will require “more dexterous deal-making within the parliament…

Wilmington: A jury found Hunter Biden (pictured) guilty yesterday of federal gun charges in a historic first criminal prosecution of the child of a sitting US president. The 54-year-old son of US President Joe Biden was convicted on all three of the counts he faced, media reported. Hunter Biden was accused of lying about his illegal drug use when he bought a handgun in 2018, a felony. The verdict comes as his father is seeking re-election. The proceedings, along with another case in which Hunter Biden faces tax evasion charges in California, have complicated Democrats’ efforts to keep the election focus on Donald Trump, who was convicted on business fraud charges two weeks ago. | AFP…

Kathmandu: Nepalese soldiers have retrieved four bodies and a skeleton from Mount Everest and the neighbouring peaks of Lhotse and Nuptse during a cleaning operation. According to the army, they have also collected 11 tons of rubbish since April. At 8 849m, Mount Everest has also gained the sad notoriety of being the world’s highest rubbish dump. There is also a lot of human waste – and dozens of corpses, some of which mountaineers even use as trail markers. When people die on the mountain, they are often left behind. This is because recovering a frozen corpse is difficult and expensive. In most cases, a team of six to 10 experienced Sherpas with oxygen cylinders is deployed and a helicopter flies the body off the mountain. | IANS…