Inhoudsopgave van 2021-09-10 - Cape Times

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za Subdued sentiment on global markets kept the rand in the red yesterday, putting a slight dampener on the substantial widening in the current account balance of payments, which came in at the largest surplus ever of R343 billion in the second quarter of 2021, advancing from R261bn in the first quarter. The figure was R10bn higher than analysts’ expectations for the quarter, signifying the height in the softening of commodity prices, particularly platinum group of metals. As a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP), the current account surplus widened to 5.6 percent in the second quarter of 2021 from 4.3 percent in the preceding quarter. Investec economist Kamilla Kaplan in a note said export demand for non-commodity goods had also been supported by the…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE ISSUE of inmates using their laptops or computers in their cells to study will again comes under legal scrutiny next month. This time, Correctional Services is due to appeal an earlier order in which a judge gave the green light to three inmates to use their computers – minus the modem – in their cells, three years ago. The judge had said that to the extent that the department’s policy prohibited computers in cells for study purposes, it unfairly discriminated against the inmates on the basis that it affected their ability to further education. The application had been brought by three of the so-called Boeremag members, Lets Pretorius and his two sons, Johan and Wilhelm Pretorius. Pretorius sr is no longer behind bars as he was…

Staff writer FORMER SA Football Association (Safa) boss Leslie Sedibe says “there isn’t anything for Fifa to celebrate” as he plans to head to the Constitutional Court to challenge a ruling over the football governing body’s bid to reclaim its trademarks. Sedibe was in 2016 banned by Fifa’s adjudicatory chamber of its ethics committee for five years for his alleged role in the match-fixing of four international friendly matches against Bafana Bafana ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup. In August 2018, Sedibe approached the high court for, and was granted, an order attaching all the trademarks of Fifa in order to review the decision of the committee, which is based in Switzerland. Fifa had submitted that South African courts have no jurisdiction over Fifa to set aside decisions…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za WHEN Nizaam Hendricks from Sherwood Park, Manenberg, was involved in an accident at 2 years old and left wheelchair-bound, his life was forever changed. While facing a slim chance of survival and many complications, he fought hard to stay alive and today, with his passion for the Minstrels (klopse), the 31-year-old touches hearts with the message that teaches others not to take things for granted and that it is possible to transcend all of life’s difficulties. “I can only remember we played in the driveway and I ran outside for the ball. That is all I can remember,” he said, recalling the car accident all those years ago. For his father, Riedwaan “Babu” Hendricks, 61, the memory was a lot more traumatic. “I was working at the…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za FRUSTRATED Communicare tenants gathered at the South African Revenue Service (Sars) office in Bellville yesterday where they handed over a petition demanding answers to their request for the tax collector to probe allegations of mismanagement by the housing organisation. The Ruyterwacht Tenants Forum had in May written to Sars, requesting that they look into a list of concerns including allegations that Communicare was not paying tax on several of their properties; and that some of the properties and erf numbers were not registered. They also charged that Communicare was not living up a verbal promise that tenants could “rent to own after five years”. Over the past four months they were not updated by Sars, and yesterday demonstrated at its office. An extract of the complaint to…

Surfacing - People Coping With Depression And Mental Illness Marion Scher Loot.co.za (R249) Bookstorm An AVERAGE of 1 400 people call the South African Depression and Anxiety Suicide Helpline every day. And those are just the people who know it exists and are able to reach out for help, either for themselves or for a loved one. Journalist Marion Scher has spent years speaking to people suffering from depression or some other form of mental illness, and felt compelled to share some of these stories in Surfacing. Each chapter tells a different and very personal story, from a Springbok rugby player faced overnight with mental illness to a successful businessman who attempted suicide three times in one day; a new mother whose horrific real experiences did not match the Instagram…

For Your Own Good Samantha Downing Loot.co.za (R195) Michael Joseph BEST-SELLING author Samantha Downing is back with her latest sneaky thriller set at a prestigious private school – complete with interfering parents, overeager students, and one teacher who just wants to teach them all a lesson. Teddy Crutcher has won Teacher of the Year at the esteemed Belmont Academy, home to the best and brightest. He says his wife couldn’t be more proud though no one has seen her in a while. Teddy really can’t be bothered with the death of a school parent that’s looking more and more like murder or the student digging a little too deeply into Teddy’s personal life. His main focus is on pushing these kids to their full academic potential. All he wants…

THIS week, I called the Wallabies wimps. Their own player, scrum-half Tate McDermott, had publicly stated how soft his teammates were in losing three successive Tests to the All Blacks. I called the Wallabies chumps for winning three matches in 12 in the past year after losing the World Cup quarter-final to England 40-16, the very same England that lost 32-12 to the Springboks in the final. I wrote that Sunday’s Rugby Championship was a Test of champ versus chump. I wrote that the expectation should be that the best team in the world, the Boks, should beat a team ranked as low as seventh, even if it was Australia, and that it shouldn’t matter where the game was played. I backed Siya Kolisi’s world champions to pump the Wobblies.…

The inauguration ceremony of the new Afghan cabinet is scheduled for Saturday, a source in the Taliban movement has told news agency Sputnik. “The inauguration of the new transitional government is scheduled for September 11,” the source said. “Russia, China, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran have so far been invited to the ceremony.” It is also noted that the new Afghan Deputy Prime Minister, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, went to Qatar on Wednesday to invite delegations from a number of other countries. The inauguration will take place precisely 20 years after the 9/11 terror attack in the US, which was the main reason behind the launch of the US military campaign in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Taliban captured Kabul on August 15, prompting the government to fall. The US, in…

Managua: Nicaraguan prosecutors have ordered the arrest of an award-winning novelist who used to be an aide to President Daniel Ortega, making him the latest perceived opponent to run afoul of the leftist government as elections draw near. Sergio Ramirez, who in 2017 won the Premio Cervantes, the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish-speaking world, is accused of “incitement of hate” and “conspiracy” – charges that have already been used several times in the arrests of candidates set to run against Ortega in November’s election. Ramirez is also accused of receiving money from the Violeta Barrios Chamorro Foundation, which is accused of money laundering and undermining national sovereignty. Ramirez, who fell out with Ortega’s Sandinista National Liberation Front in 1995, was notified of the charges on Tuesday. He…

MOSCOW: At least seven people, including a child and a teenage girl, were killed in a household gas blast in a local suburb of the Moscow Region on Wednesday, the TASS news agency reported yesterday. Fifteen others were injured, with six of them hospitalised. Two people were still under the rubble, according to TASS. The explosion occurred on the third floor of a nine-story residential building in the town of Noginsk in the Moscow Region, causing no fire. More than 170 people have been evacuated, and search and rescue operations are still under way.…

Manila: At least one person died and 17 were missing after a storm dumped heavy rain and caused flooding in the Philippines, authorities said yesterday, as a powerful typhoon barrelled towards the country. Tropical Storm Conson hit the central province of Eastern Samar as a typhoon on Monday before weakening as it passed over the archipelago, forcing around 10 000 people to flee their homes, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. One person drowned on the island province of Marinduque, said Mark Timbal, spokesperson for the disaster agency.…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za MUSTEK, local assembler of information communication technology (ICT) and home computers, lifted headline earnings a share by a whopping 247.5 percent to 441.81 cents and the dividend by 246 percent to 90c after the group benefited from remote working and learning trends. The share price leapt 3.38 percent to R13.75 by yesterday afternoon, bringing the gain in the price over a year to 96 percent. “We are confident the working and learning from home reality is more than a passing trend. Employees had a glimpse of what their workplaces can be, and most will demand this type of flexibility from their employers in future,” the group said. Revenue increased 25.6 percent to R8.04 billion and gross profit was up 14.8…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THE ANC councillor who tendered his resignation to the party on Wednesday, citing personal reasons, has announced that he is joining the Patriotic Alliance. Taking to social media, Ivan Mangaliso, who has served as a councillor of Hessequa and the Garden Route District Municipality, said he no longer agreed with the principles of the ANC. “The process which has led me to resign is not the process that just happened. One thing that has really struck the reality of things is that in the past few years I have highlighted many challenges and requested interventions not only from provincial but also from the national offices and I haven’t received any responses to intervene. “What struck me when I tendered my resignation is that I, for the very…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE Sokhanyo Primary School principal has blamed the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) for a lack of action in mediating a three-year conflict between himself and staff, which he says has left him fearing for his life should he return to the institution. According to principal Thetha Sithole, he was last at the Gugulethu school in 2019 when he was allegedly violently manhandled, insulted by residents and had his life threatened – in the presence of WCED officials. Sithole claims that, despite all the trauma with no psycho-social support, the department has rejected his request for secondment, and instead is forcing him to go back to the school. The department, however, has refuted the claims, saying that training was provided to all staff before he left, and…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille says consequence management is in the process of being carried out against 11 implicated officials in the R40 million Beitbridge border post debacle. Last year, it emerged the 38km border fence between South Africa and Zimbabwe collapsed. The project was initiated by the department in March last year. The construction of the border fence was intended to curb the illegal movement of people between Zimbabwe and South Africa during the start of the lockdown. In April last year, De Lille raised concerns over the project and requested the auditor-general conduct an independent audit of the project. After approaching the AG, she requested her department’s Anti-Corruption Unit, assisted by members from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), to also probe the project.…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE City’s plan to fine homeless people found sleeping in a public place if they “refuse a reasonable offer” of alternative shelter has been labled problematic and a concern due to inadequate shelters in the city. The mayoral committee (Mayco) gave the greenlight to the controversial new Unlawful Occupation by-law, alongside updates to the Streets, Public Places and Prevention of Noise Nuisances by-law following a meeting on Wednesday. According to the City, there were more than 350 hot spots for public complaints around by-law violations relating to people living on the streets. The updated new Streets by-law states a person found sleeping in a public place without authority will first be issued with a compliance notice. “They will be offered alternative shelter; such a person only commits…

| OWN Correspondent COMPLICATIONS Danielle Steel Loot.co.za (R245) Macmillan Scandal and tragedy erupt against the backdrop of an exclusive Paris hotel in Danielle Steel’s riveting novel. Known for its luxurious accommodations and bespoke service, the Hotel Louis XVI has been the most lauded boutique hotel in all of Paris for decades, attracting an international clientele of the rich and famous. Now, after four years of renovations and the death of its legendary and beloved manager, it is set to reopen its doors at last. An esteemed group of loyal returning guests is set to descend upon the hotel, joined by a number of new faces who have managed to secure coveted bookings in the wake of last-minute cancellations. Awaiting them all is the Louis XVI’s new manager, Olivier Bateau,…

A Slow Fire Burning Paula Hawkins Loot.co.za (R240) Doubleday THE Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins, received huge critical acclaim and was made into a blockbuster movie. Fans of Hawkins will be thrilled to know that after her second book Into the Water, which confused many people, she is back on top form with A Slow Fire Burning. It’s a thrilling novel about damaged people, both in the literal and psychological sense. Laura is a young woman who has been hurt as a young girl when she is knocked over by a car, and the driver leaves her in the road. Her life is changed by this incident and she suffers from not only a limp, but also psychological issues where she does things without heeding consequences. She…

SINCE the implementation of the national lockdown in March 2020, our stadiums have been left vacant, bereft of gees, and mostly silent – save for the shrill blast of the officials’ whistle, the groans of staff and the muted mutterings of players. It has made for a sad spectacle, as stadiums that can accommodate thousands of frenzied fans have been televised to the country as empty husks, far removed from their former glory as epicentres of heaving emotion. There can be no denying that the impact of Covid-19 on sport has done an incalculable amount of damage to the income, revenue and coffers of the nation’s clubs, teams and franchises. Thankfully, there is light at the end of the tunnel – a glimmer of hope that in the foreseeable future…

FOUR people were killed and 12 seriously injured when a fire broke out in a makeshift hospital for Covid-19 patients in the north Macedonian town of Tetovo, the Balkan country’s health ministry said yesterday. The prosecutor’s office said DNA analyses would be needed to identify some of the victims, all of them patients in a serious condition. No medical staff were among the victims. The 26 patients were accommodated in the Covid-19 hospital at the time of the fire, said Health Minister Venko Filipce. “The remaining 12 patients with life-threatening injuries are being taken care at the Tetovo hospital,” Filipce said on Twitter. Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said the fire was caused by an explosion, and that an investigation was under the way. Local media said that a canister with…

North Korea celebrated the 73rd anniversary of its foundation with a night-time military parade in the capital, state media reported yesterday, publishing photographs of marching rows of personnel in orange hazmat suits but no ballistic missiles. Kim Jong-un, the leader of the reclusive state, attended the event as paramilitary and public security forces of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards, the country’s largest civilian defence force, began marching in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square at midnight on Wednesday, state media showed. Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers’ Party newspaper, published photographs of people in orange hazmat suits with medical-grade masks in an apparent symbol of anti-coronavirus efforts, and troops holding rifles marching together. Some conventional weapons were also on display, including multiple rocket launchers and tractors carrying anti-tank missiles. But no ballistic missiles…

Brasília: Truck drivers blocked highways across Brazil yesterday in support of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has sought to fire up his far-right base as he fights sinking poll numbers and a supposedly hostile political establishment. The truckers launched their protest on Tuesday, Brazilian Independence Day, when Bolsonaro held massive demonstrations to rally his base against what he calls attacks by the Supreme Court and electoral authorities. The drivers continued blocking major roads in at least 15 of Brazil’s 27, states even though Bolsonaro himself called on them to stop. “Tell the truckers blockades are hurting the economy,” he said.…

AMMAN: Jordan’s highest appeal court yesterday upheld a guilty verdict against a former confidant of King Abdullah and a minor royal who were sentenced to 15 years in jail on charges of attempting to destabilise the monarchy. The cessation court said it confirmed evidence backing the sentence passed last July by a state security court against ex-royal court chief Bassem Awadallah, who played a big role in the drive to liberalise Jordan’s economy, and Sherif Hassan Zaid, a distant relative of King Abdullah. The pair pleaded not guilty and said they had nothing to do with the case.…

Sihle Mlambo The Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Numolux, and China’s Sinovac have partnered to conduct a paediatric vaccine study on Covid-19 vaccines for children and adolescents, aged between six months and 17 years. The study will see more than 2 000 children and teenagers take part in research with seven clinical research sites across the country being utilised. The first child is expected to be vaccinated at the university’s MeCRU Clinical Research Unit on Friday. The children taking part in the trial will receive two doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine or a placebo, 27 days apart. “Efficacy assessments to include the surveillance for Covid-19 like symptoms, and the laboratory confirmation of Sars-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR. “Any confirmed Covid-19 cases will be followed by the investigators until resolution,” said Numolux,…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za THE Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, has distanced himself from the recently granted medical parole of former president Jacob Zuma, saying he was not involved. Responding to questions from Independent Media yesterday on whether Correctional Services commissioner Arthur Fraser was correct in overriding the decision of the internal parole board to free Zuma on medical grounds, and if he was legally wrong according to the department’s rule book, were they going to take action against him, Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, said the minister’s hands were tied. Phiri said according to the law, Lamola only got to have a say in parole in matters when the offender was serving a life sentence. “In terms of Section 79, Minister Lamola only engages with the medical parole…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za MARY Slack, the daughter of businessman Harry Oppenheimer, was the largest donor to the DA, channelling R15 million to the official opposition. Slack's father, according to SA History Online, was instrumental in the formation of the Progressive Party, which was later renamed the Progressive Federal Party (PFP), and continued to provide financial support for the party throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He was chairperson of Anglo American Corporation and De Beers Consolidated Mines for over 25 years. Slack is among DA donors including Jacques Plaut, a fund manager, who donated R100 000, while the German based Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom made two donations: R200 177 in May and R299 418 in June this year. The foundation offers political education in Germany and abroad. The DA also…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za THERE are still over three million people in the Western Cape who have not yet been vaccinated. This was revealed during the latest Covid-19 update for the province yesterday. As at Wednesday, the total number of individuals vaccinated was 1 685 629, equal to 33.87% of the people in the province. The number of those unvaccinated stands at 3 294 177. In a study of health-care workers, officials found for those in an unvaccinated group the risk of death was 1 in 480, while the risk of death for those in a vaccinated group was 1 in 1 490. Chief of operations for the Western Cape Department of Health, Dr Saadiq Kariem said: “The risk of death is 3.3 times higher in unvaccinated health-care workers versus vaccinated…

TODAY (September 10) is World Suicide Prevention Day – and on September 15 it will be two years since Durban journalist Glynis Horning woke to the devastating discovery of her elder son Spencer, 25, dead in his bed. She writes about it in Waterboy: Making Sense of My Son’s Suicide, published this month by Bookstorm Q: You wrote Waterboy after your son Spencer died by suicide. How painful was it to revisit his death? Q: There is still a huge stigma around depression and suicide, the way we speak about it or don’t, do you hope this book will open up the discussion? Q: How important was the support you received from Spencer’s friends and your friends? Q: A takeaway for me is that you and Chris had a really good relationship…

Political dynamics will be key as they will determine which investor is favoured The LATEST coup in Africa took place this week in Guinea – a country considered a treasure trove of mineral resources, much of which has yet to be exploited. The future political trajectory of the country will determine which major powers lay their hands on these critical resources. Guinea possesses more than four billion tons of untapped high-grade iron ore, a third of the world’s bauxite reserves, which are used to make aluminium, undetermined amounts of uranium, manganese, nickel, significant gold and diamond reserves, and prospective oil reserves. Aluminium is used in everything from car parts to drinks cans and home appliances. Longer-term, the metal is set to benefit from its use in electric vehicles and renewable…

London: Britain and France locked horns yesterday over plans by London to turn back boats carrying migrants across the Channel, triggering alarm and anger in Paris. At least 14 100 people have crossed the Channel to the UK on small boats this year, according to Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency – 6 000 more than for the whole of 2020. A record 828 people crossed over from France on a single day in late August, as traffickers took advantage of favourable weather. French authorities rescued 11 different boats and 198 people between Sunday night and Wednesday this week, according to the latest figures. The growing number of boats is increasingly embarrassing for Home Secretary Priti Patel, who has carved out a reputation for being tough on immigration and law…

VENICE: Jamie Lee Curtis has received a Lifetime Achievement award at the Venice International Film Festival. The 62-year-old actress was honoured with the prestigious Golden Lion accolade on Wednesday evening ahead of the premiere of her upcoming movie, Halloween Kills. Speaking to arts organisation Biennale Di Venezia, she said: “Halloween – and my partnership with Laurie Strode – launched and sustained my career, and to have these films evolve into a new franchise that is beloved by audiences around the world was, and remains, a gift.…

A damaging power struggle between Somalia’s top political leaders escalated further yesterday as they locked horns over the premier’s dismissal of the security minister. The very public feud between President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, commonly known as Farmajo, and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has plunged the troubled country into fresh crisis as it struggles to hold long-delayed elections and keep an Islamist insurgency at bay. In a late-night move on Wednesday, Roble fired the country’s security minister and replaced him with a Farmajo critic, triggering an angry response from the president. Roble had earlier accused the president of obstructing an inquiry into the disappearance of a young intelligence agent whose fate thrust the high-stakes dispute into the public eye. “That is a dangerous existential threat to the country’s governance system,”…

Colombo: Sri Lankan women were urged to delay getting pregnant after more than 40 expectant mothers died of Covid-19 in four months, the health ministry said yesterday. The island nation, which recorded its first maternal coronavirus death in May, is battling a spike in Delta variant infections after travel restrictions were eased for local new year celebrations in mid-April. “Usually, we have 90 to 100 maternal deaths a year, but since the start of the third wave we have recorded 41 deaths of pregnant women from Covid alone,” said Chitramali de Silva, a director of the government’s Health Promotion Bureau.…

MIKE GREENAWAY mike.greenaway@inl.co.za CURIOUSLY, the Springboks have three loose forwards on the bench for Sunday’s Rugby Championship match against the Wallabies and this is both an acknowledgement of how Australia play and also a reflection of the versatility of the Bok squad. Coach Jacques Nienaber has had to be a touch inventive in his selections because of the injuries to Pieter-Steph du Toit and RG Snyman, two key players from the 2019 World Cup, the first a blindside flank who could move to lock and the latter a vital part of the famed “bomb squad” as a lock replacement. Nienaber has dealt with that twin loss by picking Franco Mostert on the flank – a like-for-like replacement for Du Toit in terms of size and work rate, while Mostert…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa’s selectors juggled the spin options at their disposal for the T20 World Cup, picked one player who hasn’t played a T20 international, didn’t pick another who has featured frequently of late, and chose another who has only played sporadically in the last two years. The composition of the spin element in the squad is only one part of some bizarre decisions that also saw “free agents” like Faf du Plessis, Chris Morris and Imran Tahir ignored. Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi will be the three frontline spinners for the tournament, which SA’s brainstrust anticipate will take place on worn pitches in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman from late October. The IPL will be played to its conclusion in the region…