Inhoudsopgave van 2021-05-25 - Cape Times

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za SHARES of partly state-owned Telkom closed higher on the JSE yesterday after it upgraded its medium-term growth targets and said it would reconsider the suspension of dividends. This was after profits for the year to the end of March soared. Telkom, South Africa’s third-largest mobile operator, said it expected both revenue and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) to grow in the mid-to-high single digits between the 2022 and 2024 financial years. The higher growth forecast for revenue came as service revenue was now the main driver of revenue, cushioning the impact of muted growth from fixed voice business, which now contributed 15 percent to the entity, said Telkom. It also projected capital expenditure of between R8 billion and R8.5bn a year over the…

Information and communications tech- nology group, Ayo Technology Solutions (AYO) said yesterday it expected a sub- dued performance in the six months to February 28, 2021, with the basic loss per share expected to be between 29.22 and 31 cents per share. The headline loss was expected to be between 24.19 and 25.99 cents per share, the group said in a trading statement. The decrease in earnings was attributed to lower revenues for the six months, driven by the declining overall trading environment, non-renewal of significant contracts, and a decrease in interest income. “While AYO was not immune to the Covid-19-induced economic decline, which affected every business in South Africa, I am confident the group is in a solid position to weather this storm and continue on its growth trajectory…

BANELE GININDZA banele.ginindza@inl.co.za STANDARD Bank, Africa’s biggest lender by assets, has bowed to pressure from sections of its investors to commit to publishing both the strategy and the targets of its fossil fuel funding reduction programme, as part of its 2021 reporting to shareholders. The bank, which currently has more than R67 billion or 4 percent of total commitment to sectors like oil, gas and coal as part of its portfolio, confirmed in a statement yesterday that some of its shareholders had pressured it to table a non-binding vote at its annual general meeting this month. The bank’s strategy would set targets to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels on a time line aligned with the goals of the Paris climate agreement. “We’re deeply committed to supporting inclusive…

THE SOUTH African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) said yesterday that following an extensive investigation, charges of misconduct had been laid against former Steinhoff chief executive Markus Jooste. Saica said Jooste had conducted himself in a manner that “is discreditable, dishonourable, dishonest, irregular or unworthy, or which is derogatory to the institute, or tends to bring the profession of accountancy into disrepute; and/or that he failed to maintain and adhere to the fundamental principles in the Saica Professional Code of Conduct for Chartered Accountants”. In June 2019, Saica’s board resolved not to accept Jooste’s resignation from the institute and to suspend his membership pending the finalisation of disciplinary proceedings against him. The charges included breaches of obligations relating to integrity, objectivity, confidentiality and professional behaviour, Saica said in a statement…

Staff writer THE SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) in the Western Cape says it has finally managed to assess all Temporary Disability Grant (TDG) applications, after a backlog of 3 745 clients built up. By its own deadline of March 31, 31 587 of the 35 332 assessment bookings had been completed. The disability grant is the third-largest social assistance grant after the child support and the old-age grant in terms of numbers, and reaches 997 000 clients on a monthly basis. During the national lockdown, amendments pertaining to TDGs were published. They included a provision allowing a person whose TDG lapsed in December 2020, to be paid for three months after Sassa scheduled an appointment for reassessment. Sassa said a number of measures had been implemented at all its…

tarryn-leigh solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@inl.co.za A new forum which seeks to monitor infrastructure projects more effectively and put systems in place to detect and prevent corruption has been launched. The new Infrastructure Built Anti-Corruption Forum (IBACF) was launched in Parliament yesterday by Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille and Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head advocate Andy Mothibi. They were joined by Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Rodney de Kock and Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, the head of Infrastructure South Africa. The value of alleged irregularities in the infrastructure build investigations amounts to over R10 billion to date, Mothibi revealed. According to Mothibi, the SIU identified sectors vulnerable to corruption, which include the health sector, financial sector, local government, infrastructure/construction, state-owned entities, transport, energy, mining and border management. Mothibi said…

Staff writer THERE is ample evidence that women remain at the bottom of the pile when it comes to the number of beneficiaries of the land-reform process, said a leading expert in the field, Dr Wallace Mgoqi, to the Rural Women’s Assembly South Africa Land Conference in Boschendal, Franschhoek, this week. The Rural Women’s Assembly has a membership exceeding 100 000 black rural women in the southern Africa region. Member countries include South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The South African Chapter of the assembly has been advancing a campaign, One Woman, One Hectare, for the past six years, championed by Mgoqi, a former chief land claims commissioner, former city manager, former gender commissioner, and former acting judge for the Land Claims Court. The campaign…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za THE SEARCH continues for missing 74-year-old Japhta Julius of Strandfontein, last seen a month ago. Julius was last seen on April 25, after leaving his Tunny Crescent home in Strandfontein at about 3.55pm. His daughter, Constance Mactavie, described her father as a friendly person. “On the day he went missing it was just a normal day,” Mactavie said. “My mother had just left the house to bring back my granddaughter to me who was with them for the weekend, and that is when (my father) too left the house, and he didn’t come back. “Due to Covid-19 regulations and considering his age, he was not often outside the house. The only time he would go out is when he went to the shop and he wouldn’t be…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za THE Justice and Constitutional Development department led a walk from CPUT Cape Town Campus to the Grand Parade, on the eve of Africa Day, in an effort to promote African unity and deeper regional integration. Supporters joined the walk in the city centre with the aim of signing a pledge to remind communities, schools, places of worship and places of employment that no one is born racist. Africa Day is the annual commemoration of the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity on May 25, 1963. Provincial Acting Regional Head Tshilidzi Ramathikhithi, said the promotion of anti-racist and anti-discrimination education as well as human rights awareness is a shared responsibility between government departments and Chapter Nine institutions. “As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1996 Constitution,…

Q: At China’s initiative, the UN Security Council held an Open Debate on “Peace and Security in Africa: Addressing Root Causes of Conflict in Post-Pandemic Recovery in Africa”, where Africa and China jointly launched the Initiative on Partnership for Africa’s Development. Can you tell us about the main content of the meeting and the initiative, as well as China’s consideration in promoting the initiative? A: During China’s rotating presidency of the Security Council, we took the initiative to convene an Open Debate on “Peace and Security in Africa: Addressing Root Causes of Conflict in Post-Pandemic Recovery in Africa”, and worked to deliver a statement by the president of the Security Council drafted by China. At the meeting, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward a four-point proposal,…

Waves of earth tremors rocked the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo yesterday, unnerving residents still reeling from a volcano eruption that displaced thousands and killed at least 15 people. Chaos descended on Goma on Saturday evening when Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world’s most active and dangerous volcanoes, erupted, sending a smouldering wall of lava nearly a kilometre wide downhill towards the city of 2 million people. The lava flow stopped a few hundred metres short of the city limits, but destroyed 17 villages on the way and cut the principle electricity supply. Yesterday, reporters said tremors were occurring every 30 minutes. Experts said the earthquakes were caused by techtonic plates realigning after the eruption, and that the risk of a second eruption was small.…

Once the winter residence of sultans from illustrious Islamic dynasties, the ruins of a 1 000-year-old royal city in southern Afghanistan have become home to hundreds of people who have fled Taliban clashes. The astonishing ochre clay complex juts from the cliffs along the Helmand River, threatened by decay and encroaching urban sprawl as well as the makeshift constructions that have grown within it. Thousands of people have been displaced across Helmand since October following a surge in Taliban attacks, and while many have resettled in the capital Lashkar Gah – one of the few areas in the province still under government control – some have joined other refugees in the ruins. Qala-e-Kohna, as it is known locally, or Lashkari Bazar to archaeologists, has garnered international attention for its scale,…

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities began evacuating thousands of people from coastal areas in two states yesterday as a powerful cyclone bore down on the country’s east coast, complicating efforts to control the Covid-19 pandemic. Cyclone Yaas, the second storm to hit the country in a week, is set to turn into a “very severe cyclonic storm” with wind speeds of up to 177km/h, the Indian Meteorological Department said. The storm in the Bay of Bengal will likely come ashore tomorrow. Sri Lanka’s Meteorology Department also warned that heavy rains and strong winds were expected to hit the island country.…

ISTANBUL: Greece has illegally tried to send 81 irregular migrants back to Turkey and mistreated them, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence said yesterday. “81 irregular migrants maltreated and kept without food&water after their stuff were taken, were illegally tried to be deported to Turkey by Greek personnel. The immigrants were saved on the Meriç River where they were [stranded],” the ministry wrote on Twitter. Turkey and Greece have long been at odds over migration. Irregular migrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries occasionally attempt to enter Greece via Turkey, using the former as an entry point to Europe.…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE SOUTH African liquor industry has warned the government of the potential negative impact on economic recovery and jobs if another ban on the sale of alcohol is imposed. Fears within the industry have been growing since three provinces officially declared a third wave of Covid-19 infections, as this could prompt the government to implement stricter lockdown measures. The tavern sector is worth over R60 billion annually, accounting for 80 – 90 percent of liquor sales in townships, and approximately 43 percent of total alcohol sales. A coalition of liquor traders has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa seeking his audience to help find sustainable solutions to combat the pandemic without banning alcohol. The National Liquor Traders Council (NLTC) and Liquor Traders Association of SA yesterday said any…

THE RAND yesterday rose to a one-year high amid a subdued dollar in spite of rating agencies maintaining their junk status and negative outlook on South Africa’s sovereign debt. The domestic currency strengthened 0.03 percent to R13.91 against the greenback by 5pm, its highest level since early January last year, on a positive growth forecast. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) last week upwardly revised its 2021 growth forecasts to 4.2 percent, from an earlier projection of 3.8 percent. The rand appears to want to stay below the R14 mark around which it traded last week, despite an increase in global risk aversion. Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said the rand continued to benefit from the dollar’s weakness, as investors fear increasing interest rates in the US. She said the…

SIHLE MAKHOWANA sihle makhowana@inl.co.za BUSINESS Unity South Africa and Business Leadership South Africa recently presented research that suggests a more prioritised approach to localisation, a move that will see South Africa produce more products, create more jobs and ultimately grow the economy. The move to prioritise local production comes at a time when the country’s economy is facing daunting growth patterns that have been engulfed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has created difficult trading conditions in most sectors. The research on localisation, which was presented by Peter Attard Montalto from Intellidex, a research consulting firm that specialises in capital markets and financial services in Africa, scrutinised the viability of the proposed 20 percent import substitution. He said the idea behind localisation was inspired by the government in discussions at…

HOSKEN Consolidated Investments said yesterday that it expected to report a basic loss per share of between 1666.8 cents and 2 585c for the year to March 31, representing a decrease in losses of between 63.7 and 43.7 percent compared to a basic loss per share for the prior year. Headline earnings per share of between 224.9c and 351.1c were expected, a decrease of between 82.2 and 72.2 percent compared to headline earnings per share of 1 263.2c for the prior year, the group said in a trading statement. The basic losses a share included fair value adjustments to investment properties, and impairments to property, plant and equipment recognised by Tsogo Sun Hotels. A loss on disposal was recognised on the deconsolidation of Tsogo following the dilution of the group’s…

Athandile Siyo athandile.siyo@inl.co.za THE Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (Wieta) has suspended the certification and membership of a farm owner who allegedly bulldozed the house of a family that had lived on the farm for over 30 years. The home of 36-year-old Kerneels Beukes, who lived with his wife and four children, aged 13, 11, 7, and 2, on Akkerdal Farm, was allegedly bulldozed in his family’s absence with all their belongings inside and allegedly without an eviction order by farm owner Frikkie van Zyl. Beukes had been arrested on April 12 for a common assault charge and was subsequently released on May 5, according to a report from the executive director of the Rural and Farmworkers Development Organisation, Billy Claasen. While Beukes was in jail, his partner and…

OWN Correspondent NEARLY a third of Cabo Delgado’s 132 health facilities have been damaged or forced to shut by the recent violence, leaving more than 1.2 million people urgently needing health assistance in Mozambique. “The plight of thousands of families is worsening and many of the violence-affected people depend on humanitarian aid for survival. “We must swiftly step up assistance to save lives and alleviate suffering. “We call for increased donor support to provide critical health services and other relief supplies that are desperately needed,” said World Health Organisation (WHO) regional director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti. The attacks by Ansar al-Sunna, a native extremist faction with tenuous international connections, has deprived poor communities of basic health services, sparking emergency health needs for HIV, malaria and TB treatment as well…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za DEFENCE counsel for murder-accused Nafiz Modack has questioned the validity of the charges brought against his client, also accusing the State of not furnishing them with enough details to prepare a case for bail. Modack along with co-accused Zane Killian, Jacques Cronje, Ricardo Morgan and Anti-Gang Unit cop Ashley Tabisher, appeared in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court yesterday facing 62 criminal charges in total. Morgan is currently out on bail of R50 000 while the other accused pursue their bail applications. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “Defence protested in court that they haven’t received enough information from the State to prepare for a bail application. Leading the protest was advocate (Dirk) Uys. “The prosecutor, advocate Greg Wolmarans, informed the court that the State received…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za BEAUFORT West Municipality executive mayor Noel Constable has resigned from his position in the Central Karoo District town with effect from May 31. The leadership of the Karoo Democratic Force (KDF) said in a statement at the weekend that the decision followed internal consultation with the leadership of the party and numerous engagements in the party over the past eight months. “The resignation is with effect from May 31, to ensure that it doesn’t disrupt the workings of the municipality in terms of its political leadership. Beaufort West Municipality was without senior management for years due to its political leadership not finding common ground on the crucial appointments that were to be made. “The executive mayor is of the view that he has to take some political…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE Hoërskool DF Malan is the latest institution in the province to start a process to rename the school and change other symbols, a move which has been widely welcomed. About 19 schools have changed their names since 2015. Provincial education department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said once the process to change a school name was completed the department’s role was to approve the change. “It is therefore the prerogative of a school to make such an application.” DF Malan, a National Party member, served as prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. During his term, the foundations for apartheid were laid. School governing body chairperson André Roux said the decision comes after a months-long process of consultation, which was still ongoing. “We have decided…

THE decision by the the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSP) to revive the firearms bill, which seeks to remove self-defence as a valid reason to own a firearm in South Africa, is ill-informed and will leave law-abiding citizens at the mercy of dangerous criminals. Last week, the CSP announced that under the newly revived Draft Firearms Control Amendment Bill, citizens will not be able to apply for a gun licence on the basis that they need a firearm for self-defence. There is no doubt that the proposed draft has other progressive elements, that empower the police to seize firearms from individuals charged with domestic violence or harassment. However, taking away the right of citizens to self-defence is a step too far, especially when violent crime in the country is…

Even though Hamas is not going to break the ceasefire at the moment, there is no chance of reaching peace with Israel until justice is served for Palestinians, Mahmoud Zahar, the movement’s co-founder and senior leader, told Sky News. “Peace means justice. No peace without justice,” Zahar said. He also denied that Hamas fired rockets and missiles from populated areas of Gaza and intentionally hit Israeli civilian areas. “This is not against Israeli communities, (it’s) against Israeli occupation. This is against Israeli aggression,” Zahar said. Asked about the possibility of the movement negotiating with Joe Biden, Zahar said that although the American president backed Israel, Hamas was ready for a dialogue with him. The Israel-Gaza conflict escalated on May 10 after several days of violent clashes between the Arab population…

THE HAGUEl A leader of Sudan’s infamous Janjaweed militia personally committed murders in Darfur, prosecutors said yesterday as he became the first to face charges at the International Criminal Court over the conflict. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known by the nom du guerre Ali Kushayb, was in court for a hearing to decide if there is enough evidence for a full trial on 31 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors told the court that Abd-Al-Rahman, an ally of deposed Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, was an “energetic perpetrator” of murders in the Darfur war.…

YANGON: Myanmar’s ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court yesterday, her first since the February 1 coup, to face a charge of “incitement to sedition”. The sedition charge is the most serious she faces, but she is also accused of violating a state secrets law and breaking coronavirus containment measures, dpa news agency reported. Defence lawyer Thae Maung Maung said lawyers were able to meet with Suu Kyi separately before the hearing and they discussed the legal matter. The 75-year-old has been under house arrest since the coup. Maung told dpa news agency that Suu Kyi was in good health.…

Egypt has slashed millions of dollars off its compensation claim against the Japanese owner of a megaship that blocked the Suez canal in March, the canal authority chief said. Egyptian authorities had seized the 200 000-tonne MV Ever Given in April and lodged a claim in a local court demanding $916 million from its owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha in compensation for the ship’s release. But Suez Canal Authority head Osama Rabie said the claim had been dropped to $550m. The Ever Given became diagonally stuck in the narrow but crucial global trade artery in a sandstorm on March 23.…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za Orlando Pirates’ lack of fluency in front of goal has been their big problem area this season and it once again haunted them in their 4-0 CAF Confederation Cup elimination and quarter-final second leg defeat to Raja Casablanca at the Stade Mohammed V in Morocco on Sunday afternoon. Although Pirates were humiliated, the stats indicated that they got the basics right. What let them down heavily was their lack of composure in their build-up play, on-field communication and yet again poor finishing. Pirates had 51% possession in the game, something that is not easily achievable especially when playing away from home. They also managed 16 shots at goal, although rather worryingly, only managed three shots on target. What Pirates lack is a prolific scorer upfront who is…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za THE PRICE of Barloworld’s shares increased 3.15 percent yesterday afternoon after it resumed dividend payments and returned a special dividend of 200 cents per share to shareholders. The international heavy equipment, automotive and food processing group declared an interim dividend of 137c per share, compared with no dividend declared in the first half of last year during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was after a strong balance sheet was maintained in the six months to March 31, and the cash balance was robust at R8.3 billion. Headline earnings per share leapt to 367c per share for the six months to March 31, compared with 70c in the first half last year. Group revenue of R28.6bn was up 6.5 percent, with revenue from continuing operations up…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE LEASE on the iconic former SAB World of Beer building in Newtown is up for grabs to the highest bidder. Broll Auctions and Sales hopes to attract an investor to secure a 32-year lease for use of a 5 215m² erf, zoned industrial, when the building goes on auction on Thursday. The building has been valued at R27 million. The World of Beer was opened by President Nelson Mandela in 1995 in celebration of SAB’s centenary year. The museum and conference venue helped to rejuvenate tourism in the city centre, hosting almost 50 000 visitors a year, before closing in 2019. The venue is owned by the City of Joburg. Its lease expires on December 31, 2053.…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za NETCARE, South Africa’s largest healthcare provider, said yesterday that its interim operating profit had suffered a 48.8 percent decline to R915 million during the six months ended March 2021, after incurring higher personal protective equipment (PPE) costs. The group said the increased costs, coupled with the large, fixed component of employee costs against a declining revenue base, had weighed on operating profit. Netcare previously told the market that Covid-19 costs had amounted to R316 million in the first half of 2021. “The majority of these costs relate to PPE, where stringent border controls and significant global demand during the first wave of the pandemic resulted in substantial price increases for several critical stock items,” Netcare said. Netcare said acute hospital patient days reflected a…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za WITH an overall budget allocation of R27 billion, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) sector now has its work cut out as it plays catch-up to achieve several outcomes it should have already ticked off its list. This was the reaction of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa) to DBE Minister Angie Motshekga’s recent presentation of the Adjusted Budget Vote Speech for the 2021/22 financial year. Motshekga announced the overall 2021/22 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) budget allocation at R27bn, an increase of 15.5%. Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the province received a decrease of R105 million from the 2020/21 budget. Hammond said the province would use its allocation to fund education in ordinary public schools, as well as support independent schools,…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za THE STATE capture commission has heard explosive evidence from the director at Shadow World Investigations, Paul Edward Holden, who revealed that more than R49 billion in state funds had been disbursed in expenditure tainted by state capture. The Gupta enterprise, he estimated, earned just over R16bn of that money. Holden, who gave evidence from an off-site location, explained how state funds were laundered in an “enormous and complex” manner via numerous Gupta-linked shell companies. He simplified it, explaining to the commission that the state funds ended up in the Guptas’ clutches in three ways. The first included state funds paid directly to Gupta enterprises that were contracted to state-owned enterprises and government projects. The second was through payments made by contractors in what Holden described as…

own correspondent KNOWLEDGE systems outside those sanctioned by Western universities have often been marginalised or simply not engaged with in many science disciplines. But there are multiple examples where Western scientists have claimed discoveries for knowledge that resident experts knew and shared. This demonstrates not a lack of knowledge itself but rather that, for many scientists raised in Western society, little education concerning histories of systemic oppression has been by design. Western scientific knowledge has also been used to justify social and environmental control, including dispossessing colonised people of their land and ways of life and discounting existing knowledge systems. A new paper published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution recently details interventions to build a more anti-oppressive and decolonial ecology. These include: decolonising the mind to include multiple…

Staff writer A TEENAGER who had just turned 16 was caught clocking in excess of 200km/h on Jan Smuts Drive after he and his friends sneaked out in his brother’s new car. The teen was among 202 suspects detained by the City’s law enforcement agencies in the past week. Just before 1am on Sunday, a Ghost Squad officer spotted the Golf 7 travelling at high speed along Jan Smuts Drive, in the direction of Grassy Park, and gave chase. The driver disobeyed several red traffic lights and refused to stop. The officer called for back-up and the vehicle was eventually stopped at Old Strandfontein and Ottery roads. The driver informed them that he had just turned 16 the day before. He had five passengers in the vehicle, all around the…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za FEARS are growing in some parts of Thembalethu, George, that the gang-related mass shootings seen in Cape Flats townships will be experienced there after seven people were shot and wounded at the weekend. Southern Cape police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie said at about 7.25pm on Sunday unknown gunmen stopped at a home in Asazani, Zone 6, where a house party or braai was being held and opened fire. He said seven people were wounded. “Police recovered a firearm which might have been used during the shooting incident. “The firearm was confiscated as evidence, together with several spent cartridges that were found on the scene. Investigation into the matter is still at an early stage with limited and sketchy information at our disposal.” The Eden policing cluster commander Major…

Thumba Pillay THIS is, in part, a review of a book, the contents of which include the story of a lawyer’s journey during the heydays of apartheid South Africa. This review of Henry Brown’s book, A Lawyer’s Odyssey: Apartheid, Mandela and Beyond, starts with a handwritten letter personally handed to me by Mac Maharaj upon his release after he had served his 12-year sentence on Robben Island, due caution being exercised considering the illegality of its being smuggled out of Robben Island. Its contents were the subject of a case many years later in the 1980s when Nelson Mandela, while still a prisoner on the Island, took on the Minister of Prisons on various matters affecting him personally and many of his fellow prisoners. (The original of that letter,…

Apia: the first woman to be elected prime minister of Samoa showed up for her swearing-in ceremony yesterday to find her opponents had locked the doors to prevent her from taking office. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and her supporters pitched a tent on the statehouse lawn, where she took the oath of office instead. The bizarre scenes capped six weeks of election turmoil that escalated into a constitutional crisis at the weekend as Mata’afa’s rival refused to cede power. “This is an illegal takeover of government,” Mata’afa said on Sunday of the efforts to keep her from office. “Because it’s a bloodless coup, people aren’t so concerned or disturbed by it.” The drama in the Pacific nation of 200 000 could have broader geopolitical ramifications. Mata’afa has pledged to stop…

Western politicians accused Belarus of state piracy amounting to a “warlike act” yesterday, searching for a way to retaliate that would match the gravity of the offence after Minsk forced an airliner down and arrested a dissident journalist. Sunday’s action, in which a Belarusian warplane intercepted a Ryanair flight between EU members Greece and Lithuania and forced it to land in Minsk has few precedents and denunciations were worded in the strongest terms. Belarus authorities arrested a passenger, 26-year-old Roman Protasevich, whose social media feed from exile has been one of the last remaining independent outlets for news about the country since a mass crackdown on dissent last year. “This was effectively aviation piracy, state sponsored,” said Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said: “It is…

LONDON: Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson is in a critical condition after being shot in the head in south London, her political party has said. London’s Metropolitan Police appealed for witnesses after officers found an injured woman, they thought to be in her 20s, early on Sunday in Peckham. Police did not name the woman. Johnson, a mother of two, has been a leading figure in the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK, and is a member of the Taking the Initiative Party’s executive leadership committee, the party said on its Instagram account. “The attack happened in the early hours of this morning, following numerous death threats as a result of her activism,” the party said. A friend of Johnson’s told the BBC, however, that she thought the…

Lagos: Police have repelled an attack on a station in Nigeria’s restive southeast but the gunmen stormed into a nearby election office and set it on fire, a spokesperson said. Southeast Nigeria has seen a surge in violent assaults on security personnel and key government offices since the start of the year, leaving scores of officers dead. “There was an attack on our station in Akwa yesterday but it was repelled by the gallant officers on duty,” Anambra state police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said. “Unfortunately, the attackers used a decoy to deceive the police and went to a INEC (election body) office and set part of the building ablaze with explosives.”…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za Eric Tinkler has returned to Cape Town City to "win things" and to change the mentality of the players at the club. Tinkler, 50, is set for a second spell at the Citizens after guiding the blue and yellow during their inaugural season in the top flight in 2016/17 before departing for SuperSport United. The former Bafana Bafana midfielder was hugely successful during his tenure by guiding City to a third place finish and the Telkom Knockout trophy. He replaces Dutchman Jan Olde Riekerink, who parted ways with City last week. "I am extremely excited to be back at Cape Town City. “I had a very successful season in 2016 with CT City. “A lot of fond memories and to come back here and hopefully replicate what…