Inhoudsopgave van 2021-08-16 - Cape Times

SAA preens wings as unions grit their teeth Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za National carrier South African Airways (SAA), 51 percent privately owned by the Takatso Consortium, telegraphed its return to the skies possibly in early September with the arrival of two Airbus 320s from Abu Dhabi to muscle back market share from rivals FlySafair and Airlink. Sources said the aircraft, each with the capacity to carry 138 passengers, will spearhead the airline’s return on the domestic market between Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as the Durban route, in its first forays. The airline said the aircraft, which were among those sent back to lessors, were placed in storage and given six-year maintenance checks in Abu Dhabi during the airline’s time in business rescue, and had now been given “rigorous…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@inl.co.za THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says the death of Johan van der Walt, the main witness and author of the forensic report in the corruption trial against former president Jacob Zuma, will not significantly damage the case. Reports suggest that Van der Walt, who was the senior managing director of FTI Consulting, died of natural causes in Johannesburg. The exact cause of his death is unknown at this stage. He has been described as a “bloodhound” auditor. He was a partner and forensic auditor at KPMG before he joined the consulting firm in 2017. Van der Walt testified in the corruption trial of Schabir Shaik and two former senior Saambou Bank officials, Charles Edwards and Gerhardus de Clercq. The duo were, however, found not guilty on 10…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za FUNERAL undertakers claim Avbob has adopted bullying tactics, saying the company has served one of them with a letter of demand for bringing to light allegations that the funeral service provider’s Maitland branch was charging extra for personal protective equipment (PPE). This followed after several undertakers accused the company of exploiting poor families by allegedly charging clients extra for PPE for the deceased at Groote Schuur Hospital, despite these being provided by the hospital. Avbob has refuted the allegations as untrue and inaccurate, describing them as part of a campaign to discredit the service provider. General manager for funeral services Pieter van der Westhuizen said last week that Avbob was not exploiting customers. He said that Avbob was the first company to offer free PPE to customers…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za TENSIONS are building between Nyanga residents over illegal electricity connections. Some residents say they have received death threats from neighbours, who allegedly want to illegally connect to the main distribution kiosk box, which services hundreds of residents in the area. Resident Nontuthuzelo Stofile said power outages, as a result of illegal connections, had damaged many household items. “We have been having this issue since 2014. People, who live on the other side, forcefully illegally connect electricity and that costs us. Things have been tense in this area, now people are divided – those who want to connect illegally by force and those who refuse that. “People have been receiving death threats and there is now tension in the area. As the community, we have engaged with the…

Barbie Sandler | Constantia THE DA’s launch of its “Better Living Challenge” project of course got opposition parties in a froth. Herron and Dugmore are always quick to criticise but I don’t see alternatives coming from them. It’s very easy to castigate but at least the DA is trying to do things. The ANC that has done nothing for the poor was also quick to climb on the bandwagon. Again, no one mentions the elephant in the room – that there are too many of us. The expectations of free housing, free schooling, free electricity, free water, etc, is just not sustainable unless we limit our numbers. I remember when Madiba came out of prison I wrote to him to say we needed to get the women involved.…

IT IS a far cry from the evening of March 30, 2017, when then president Jacob Zuma wielded an axe in the “Night of the Long Knives”, when he sacked 10 cabinet ministers, including the internationally respected Pravin Gordhan, and appointed the more compliant Malusi Gigaba as South Africa’s fifth finance minister. In contrast, Ramaphosa’s Cabinet reshuffle on August 5 was a damp squib, although 10 ministerial jobs changed hands. At best, it was a credit to the president’s diversity agenda that six of the new ministers are women. “Sacking”, it seems, does not feature in the lexicon of Cyril Ramaphosa’s polity. That the two defining cabinet portfolios of the day – the ministers of finance and health – were changed on the spurious grounds that they were “requested” speaks…

PORT-AU-PRINCE: The death toll in the Haiti earthquake had risen to 724 and left nearly 3 000 people injured, authorities said yesterday. Haitians laboured to pick through shattered buildings in search of friends and relatives trapped in the rubble after a devastating earthquake struck the Caribbean country on Saturday. The 7.2 magnitude quake flattened hundreds of homes in the impoverished country, which is still clawing its way back from another major tremor 11 years ago, and has been without a head of state since the assassination of its president last month. Southwestern Haiti bore the brunt of the blow, especially in the region in and around the city of Les Cayes. Churches, hotels, hospitals and schools were badly damaged or destroyed, while the walls of a prison were rent open…

Anger and grief collided in a crowded Beirut hospital yesterday as relatives of burn victims from a fuel tanker explosion in north Lebanon waited for news of loved ones. Geitawi hospital, one of the country’s two burn centres, saw an influx of patients injured in the overnight blast that killed at least 28 people in the Akkar district village of Al-Tleil. Dozens of people had flocked to the village to get petrol, a scarce and increasingly costly resource the army was distributing after confiscating it to combat stockpiling by distributors. The official National News Agency said the explosion followed scuffles between residents clamouring to get some petrol, but the exact cause of the blast remains unclear. The burns unit in Beirut, some 80km south of the blast site, was seen…

Accra: Two African-American survivors of a massacre in the US 100 years ago were in Ghana yesterday with their grandchildren at the start of a visit to connect with their “motherland”. Viola Fletcher, 107, known as “Mother Fletcher”, and her brother Hughes Van Ellis, 100, known as “Uncle Red”, are from the district of Greenwood in the Oklahoma city of Tulsa that was devastated in 1921 by a mob of armed white people. Up to 300 African-Americans were killed in the attack on the area nicknamed “Black Wall Street” and about 10 000 left homeless when the district was set ablaze, leaving a vibrant economy in ruins.…

ARMCHAIR VIEW BY Mike Greenaway mike.greenaway@inl.co.za On September 25, the Springboks and the All Blacks play in the 100th Test match between them and the occasion and the spectacle in prospect grows ever mouth-watering with each game Siya Kolisi’s team plays. On Saturday, the All Blacks put 50 points past the Wallabies and then a much-changed Springbok team (from the third Test against the British & Irish Lions) made a very good Pumas team look decidedly average. I have to confess that I was concerned that the Boks would be flat in this game and that the changes could mean a disjointed performance similar to what happened when the Bok ’B’ team (posing as SA ’A’) lost to the Bulls. And this was a Pumas team boasting 11 of…

South African Brad Binder won the Austrian MotoGP yesterday after gambling not to change bikes when heavy rain began to fall in the closing laps. Unlike his rivals, Binder opted to stay out on slick tyres and skilfully held off the field to win his second ever MotoGP. “Sometimes you have to take the gamble and today it worked,” said KTM rider Binder in the post-race press conference. The Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) swapped to his wet weather machine and passed six riders on the final lap on his way to snatching second place, finishing almost 10 seconds behind Binder. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), who won last week’s Styrian GP on the same track and started this race on pole, claimed a third podium of the season after…

Thobile Mazibuko thobile.mazibuko@inl.co.za It is common for most celebrities to wear designer clothes once they become famous. For some, it’s a symbol of status that they have made it. For others, it’s simply the love of finer threads. However, not all of them wear the real thing. There is an Instagram account @fake_guccicommunitysa aimed at exposing celebrities who allegedly wear counterfeit designer brands. Big Nuz member and Babes Wodumo’s baby daddy Mampintsha, appeared twice on the page for his Gucci bucket hats. It has alleged that Mampintsha has a collection of fake Gucci hats. Musician Big Zulu has been exposed by the page's admin for allegedly wearing a fake Gucci hat. Shawn Mkhize’s stylist, Shaun Stylist (pictured), who has been accused several times by the public for allegedly wearing fake…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za WHILE the criminal trial of former apartheid policeman João Rodrigues has still not started more than three years after he was formally charged for the death of Ahmed Timol, the reopened inquest into the death of Dr Hoosen Mia Haffejee is due to start today. The Pietermaritzburg High Court is set to hear evidence on how Haffejee, a 26-year-old dentist who died in 1977, allegedly also met his untimely demise at the hands of ex-Special Branch cops. Haffejee was driving to work on August 2 when he was abducted and arrested by the police. He was taken to the Brighton police station, and within 20 hours he was dead. It was alleged that he had hanged himself. He was the 45th detainee to have died while in…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za MURDERER and robber Mzimasi Marasha, 34, has been sentenced to life imprisonment along with 25 years’ imprisonment for his involvement in a 2017 hostage drama at the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) offices at Nyanga Junction. Marasha was convicted at the Western Cape High Court on Friday for the murder of security guard Patrick Castle, robbery with aggravating circumstances, illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition following a botched armed robbery at the Sassa offices in 2017. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the strong argument by the prosecutor ensured a sentence fit for the crimes. Marasha received life imprisonment for murder, 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, five years for illegal possession of a firearm and five years for illegal possession…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za THE Road Accident Fund (RAF) has been ordered to pay a police officer R2 million in damages and income loss, after a car crash left him confined to an office, doing administrative work, 17 years ago. Zephania Marwaneng was injured in a motor vehicle accident in September 2004, which left him unable to do his normal police constable work. He suffered fractures to both legs, resulting in his left leg being slightly shorter than his right. He has a slight limp and cannot walk or drive for long distances, without having to stop to make himself comfortable. He testified that he feels pain in his legs when it is cold or overcast, and cannot do the physical tests required by the SAPS every three months. Following the…

Kevin Meineke | Hout Bay I REFER to the articles: “We’re the cause of global warming” (Cape Times, August 10) and “The grass may be greener on the other side, but a lot hotter” (Cape Times, August 13). The authors suggest that the activities of mankind have caused the current global warming. Car engines, factories and power stations are blamed for producing the Greenhouse Effect and jet engines causing the ozone hole to develop. While all this may be correct, it should be pointed out that the Earth has been hotter and colder before, that remedied itself as far as we know. There is evidence that at one time most of South Africa was covered by glaciers, which then retreated due to some warming process. While people rush…

Farouk Cassim | Cope THE City is completing a detailed new draft of its Infrastructure Planning and Delivery Framework. Every directorate will use it to support a post-Covid-19 economic recovery in the city. This will guide the next council in 2022. Every move we make today is fraught with danger because of joblessness. Economic recovery has to happen quickly and substantially. We should look at platformisation to generate new types of business. Uber, Facebook, Amazon, Takealot and countless other businesses are platforms for service providers and clients, sellers and buyers. In place of the markets of yore, where sellers and buyers gathered, new age buyers and sellers now interact on a digital platform with the mobile phone used to conduct business.This helps to expand the market quickly and…

AS THE daily Covid-19 infection numbers remain steady and there is no indication of a rapid decrease, surely it is time for the Department of Basic Education to review the need for all children to be in school at the same time. More than 76 000 people have died as a result of infections, and the slowing down of the Covid-19 vaccination rate remains a cause for concern. Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the government was hoping to vaccinate 70% of the adult population by the end of this year with an anticipated fourth wave expected, but there appears to have been a drop in the demand for vaccines in recent weeks. Men, especially, appeared to be reluctant to get their Covid-19 jabs, the Health Department said. The vaccination programme…

Taliban insurgents entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul yesterday and said they expected to take power within days, promising to moderate their earlier hard-line Islamist rule even as foreign diplomats and many locals tried to leave. US diplomats were evacuated from their embassy by chopper after a lightning advance by the militants, who were poised to run Afghanistan again 20 years after they were toppled by US-led forces following the September. 11 attack. Taliban fighters were reaching the capital “from all sides”, a senior Afghan interior ministry official said. However, there were no reports of fighting. The group was in talks with the Western-backed government for a peaceful surrender, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said. “Taliban fighters are to be on standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer…

GAZA: The head of the Efrat municipality located in Area C of the West Bank says the decision to approve the construction of homes is a sign of Israeli sovereignty over the area, noting that it will also put an end to illegal building in the disputed region. In Israel, a decision by Defence Minister Benny Gantz to approve the construction of 1 000 new units for Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank is already making waves. A number of conservative politicians have already slammed the move, with some calling it “a present for the Palestinians” that aims to keep the current government in power.…

HONG KONG: Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), the pro-democracy group that organises Hong Kong’s annual July 1 rally and galvanised millions to take part in street protests in 2019, said it has disbanded, in the latest blow to the opposition movement. The group was established in 2002 with an aim to provide a platform for different organisations to promote the development of human rights and civil society in Hong Kong. It organised the global financial centre’s first July 1 rally in 2003 that saw half a million people take to the streets to protest against a draft national security law.…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za MAMELODI SUNDOWNS (2) 2 Shalulile 10, Zwane 23 KAIZER CHIEFS (2) 2 Parker 38, Billiat 59 Sundowns win 3-1 on penalties Kennedy Mweene proved to be the hero, saving four spot-kicks, as he inspired Mamelodi Sundowns to the MTN8 semi-finals following a 3-1 penalty shootout win over Kaizer Chiefs in their quarter-final at Lucas “Masterpieces” Moripe Stadium yesterday. In a game that proved to be an entertaining contest, ending 2-2 after extra time, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos, who was in the stands, will take a lot of positives heading to the 2022 World Cup qualifiers next month against Zimbabwe and Ghana. Coming into yesterday’s match, there were deja vu moments for both technical teams. Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter started his first stint in…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za BEAUTY Busuku-Makoma, the wife of the Franschhoek man who lost his left arm after being butchered with a chainsaw, has expressed relief that her husband did not suffer any brain damage and that his remaining arm will be saved. Thirty-seven-year-old Andy Makoma was brutally attacked inside his Ysterhout Avenue home last Saturday night by a man who accused him of insulting his wife earlier that day. The 34-year-old alleged assailant, who lives in the same street as Makoma, made his first court appearance at the Paarl Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on an attempted murder charge, and is expected return on August 17 for a bail application. Busuku-Makoma said she visited her husband on Saturday, for the first time since the incident. “My in-laws came to stay with…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za THE CITY has been slammed for the proposed allocation of R7.5 million to the Mayoral Art Collection, while residents were struggling to survive as poverty grows amid challenging economic times. The City, meanwhile, said the money was to be used to refurbish a section of the City Hall and will be open to the public as a gallery. Good secretary-general Brett Herron said hidden in the fine print of the City’s Adjustment Budget, to be tabled on Thursday, is a proposal to spend R7.57m on the Mayoral Art Collection. The funding has been repurposed from the Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department’s budget. Herron said he had written to the City manager to ask for an explanation. “The R7.57m that Cape Town intends spending on the…

Arn Franzsen | Cape Town I WAS shocked to discover that retailers at petrol stations are to be issued liquor licences. Do we not have a big enough alcohol abuse problem already in this country? I thought authorities would be looking at ways to reduce drinking, but it seems they are doing the opposite? It has always been a very common sense “rule” that we don’t encourage people on the road to drink by making alcohol freely available along the way – now it seems this is to change. To what end? Why do we need more availability of liquor? Are there not already enough places one can buy booze? Please can authorities explain why they feel the need to make booze available on forecourts?…

Ilse Haas | Bothasig GOOD question, even if it is quite clear: who paid for the deputy president’s two-month trip to Russia? Simple answer, of course, the taxpayer. The Deputy President could not be treated here in SA, where we had the best doctors. Well, the best doctors emigrated to safer grounds. The reason why he went to Russia is for political training. Russia is very good at brainwashing. And what about a few million for the trip, the government is throwing taxpayers money around like confetti at a wedding anyway. Never mind the costs of the trip from the deputy president, taxpayers’ money is still paid to Zuma and other exes. Food prices and all other goods are going up and up, with tax contributions going up…

To secure his political future, Ramaphosa had to ask former Finance minister to resign THE big buzz around President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first Cabinet reshuffle must be the change in the finance portfolio as Tito Mboweni resigned. Apparently Mboweni resigned just three hours before Ramaphosa made the announcement that Enoch Godongwana will become the new Finance minister. A popular view from across various quarters is that Mboweni did not actually resign but had been pushed out by the SACP and Cosatu with Ramaphosa’s approval. Attard Montalto, head of capital markets research at Intellidex, commented that Ramaphosa announced Mboweni had “resigned” in order “to attempt to soothe the markets”. Montalto said technically he may well have resigned but key here are the political machinations and motivations. It also shows something very…

chen xiaodong REALISING national rejuvenation has been the ultimate aspiration of the Chinese nation in modern times and a historical mission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) since its inception. At the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC last month, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech, stressing that resolving the Taiwan question and realising China’s complete reunification is a historic mission and an unshakable commitment of the CPC. Jinping expressed his earnest expectation that all of us, compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, should come together and move forward in unison. He stressed that we must uphold the one-China policy and the 1992 Consensus to promote peaceful reunification of the Chinese nation and take resolute action to defeat any attempt…

The police in Zambia appealed for calm after a spate of violence experienced in some parts of the country following elections on Thursday. Police spokesperson Esther Mwaata-Katongo said the police had observed an emerging tendency where violence erupted as a result of others failing to contain emotions and attacking those seen celebrating the victory of their candidates. “As members of the public continue receiving or waiting for results at different levels, we appeal to them to remain calm and celebrate their victory of their preferred candidates in a responsible and peaceful manner without breaching the peace,” she said. The police spokesperson said supporters of the ruling and opposition parties exchanged gunfire in the northern parts of the country on Saturday leaving one person with gunshot wounds, while in Lusaka, the…

SEOUL: South Korean police mobilised hundreds of buses and set up dozens of checkpoints yesterday to fend off political rallies in the capital Seoul, as some groups pushed ahead with annual protests in defiance of warnings over the novel coronavirus. South Korea has largely been held up as a coronavirus success story, but is grappling with a fourth wave of infection that brought more than 2 200 new daily cases last week for the first time. The government banned protests ahead of yesterday’s Liberation Day, warning of a revival of an outbreak from an anti-government rally and a church last August which resulted in more than 1 800 cases.…

Lubumbashi: A motorcyclist had a narrow escape as he was crossing the runway of an airport in the Democratic Republic of Congo when a plane carrying 23 people hit him during landing. The motorcyclist suffered only scratches in the incident on Friday evening at the airport in Lubumbashi, the transport ministry said. The Bombardier Q400 plane of Congo Airways hit the motorcyclist as it was landing on a flight from central Mbuji-Mayi. “The plane hit a motorcyclist crossing the runway, causing major material damage.” A photo on social media showed a soldier in presidential guard uniform on a bike on the tarmac.…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za Orlando Pirates’ lack of finesse in front of goal once again haunted them as they were beaten 2-1 by Moroka Swallows in their MTN 8 quarter-final on Saturday. Pirates’ defensive lapses in concentration was punished by veteran Swallows striker Ruzaigh Gamildien, who scored a brace with his goals coming either side of a Buccaneers goal from the penalty spot by Kabelo Dlamini. “Our build up was not good enough. Swallows were good in their high press and we could not find a solution. This was the biggest issue from the beginning. We made too many mistakes as well. Individual mistakes are not easy for the whole team. In the second half, we got better. We also had opportunities in the first half but you need a bit…