Inhoudsopgave van 2024-04-24 - Cape Times

CAPITEC’s share price surged 7.79% yesterday after reporting strong earnings growth of 16% to R10.6 billion for the year to February 29. South Africa’s biggest mass retail bank had benefited from three years of diversification and from increasingly moving its clients into the digital space, CEO Gerrie Fourie said yesterday. The final dividend was raised by a fifth to R33.45 per share. Fourie’s executive pay and incentives increased 5.8% to R65.79 million. He said despite the tough economy, second-half growth was particularly strong at 25%. The R6.3bn that had been invested in products, new businesses, platforms and IT over three years had diversified the business from its early reliance on credit, and non-interest income now contributed 72% of total income. The share price closed 7.79% higher at R2…

THE ASSOCIATION of Meat Importers and Exporters of Southern Africa (Amie) yesterday announced the appointment of Imameleng Mothebe as its new CEO commencing May 2. Mothebe joins Amie from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, where she was the director of industry development, agro-processing. Amie said Mothebe brings more than two decades of valuable senior management expertise, in both the private and public sectors. Her career in the food sector spans corporate affairs, sector skills planning and economic development and she has extensive experience in both economic industrial policy as well as stakeholder relations management. Amie board chairperson Seymour Talpert said they believe Mothebe’s extensive experience in both the public and private sectors will be of great benefit to the association, and its members, as it positions itself for…

from page 1 The applicant averred that Ms Van Dyk shouted at him and forced him to remove the top half of his clothing. However, the latter did not understand what she was saying, but he was severely distressed by her conduct. “Ms Van Dyk forced the applicant to sign certain documents, and the applicant refused, and this angered her more. Upon returning to the police cells, the applicant averred that he felt he had no options. Ms Van Dyk tortured him to the point where he thought that his life was now in detention until deportation back to the political unrest in Ethiopia, and that made his life not worth living. There was nobody to hear his plight, and he could not undergo any more torture at the hands…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has notified Parliament about the extension of the deployment of SANDF members to fulfil the country’s international obligations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique. In two letters to National Assembly Acting Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli, Ramaphosa said the deployment of the almost 1400 soldiers has been extended in Mozambique and DRC until December 2024 and March 2025, respectively. The expenditure on the deployment of the army will amount to R840 million over the period spanning up to a year. Ramaphosa said the extension of deployment of the SANDF for service was in fulfilment of an international obligation of South Africa towards the SADC Community Maritime Security Strategy. “This serves to inform the National Assembly that I have extended the deployment of 200 members of SANDF for…

THE Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has revealed that it distributed R342 million to political parties represented in Parliament and the provincial legislatures during the 2022-23 financial year. Four political parties had their funds suspended due to failure to comply with the requirements of the Political Party Funding Act. The act, which retains the Represented Political Parties Fund (RPPF), provides funding for political parties represented in the national and provincial legislatures. The funds for the RPPF are provided annually through a parliamentary allocation. The act also establishes a Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF) to raise and distribute contributed funds from the private sector to represented political parties. “The period under review witnessed a marked increase in the total amount of funds allocated for disbursement to represented political parties, increasing from R165…

FREEDOM Day is a seminal event in South African history, marking the transition to its first non-racial democratic elections. This day not only commemorates a pivotal moment but also serves as a reminder of a democracy’s inherent fragility. The essence of democracy relies heavily on active participation; without it, the democratic process withers. However, expecting the South African youth to actively engage in this process without addressing the foundational aspects of their education, specifically literacy, overlooks a critical element of democratic participation. The sacrifices made to secure a platform where all South Africans could have their voices heard symbolise a profound commitment to equality and representation. Yet these efforts are only possible if we prioritise cultivating literary capabilities among our population. Literacy is the cornerstone of informed decision-making, enabling individuals…

FOLLOWING complaints about the discharge of effluent onto Strandfontein beach, the Cape Independent Party (CAPEXIT) has called on the City to take action against the “serious and immediate health risk”. According to Capexit councillor, Karl Bodin, the City had allowed “raw highly toxic sewage to gush onto Strandfontein beach and False Bay”. Bodin said there were potential health risks for residents: “The City is pumping raw sewage onto the beach and into False Bay between Strandfontein and Muizenberg. This highly toxic effluent has been flowing into the ocean for decades according to residents. Testing of the sewage has proved that it poses a serious and immediate health risk. City officials have not as yet taken action to immediately prevent this from happening.” Following a site visit, Bodin said the stench…

As the political season reaches its crescendo, with more than 50 countries worldwide heading to the polls in 2023, this is a historic election year in which more than two billion people will vote in, the US, India, Mexico and South Africa, among others. Discussions about integrity in communication are frequently associated with politicans’ electioneering tactics. However, the importance of integrity extends beyond politics. In business, maintaining integrity in communication with stakeholders is ethical and essential for sustained success. This article will explore the essence of integrity in stakeholder communication, its significance, how it can be maintained and the consequences of its absence, supplemented by real-life corporate examples. Integrity in communication involves honesty, transparency and consistency in all messages conveyed to stakeholders. Stakeholders are not just investors; they include employees,…

The idea of a doctor in the US having to consider the risk of imprisonment before performing an emergency abortion might have been difficult to imagine just two years ago. But after the US Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that had legalised abortion nationwide, such dilemmas are a reality in several states that have since adopted Republican-backed near-total bans that include the threat of criminal penalties and loss of medical licensure. The court today is set to hear arguments in a case pitting Idaho’s strict abortion ban against a federal law that ensures that patients can receive emergency care. It forces the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to revisit the fraught legal landscape that it created with its 2022 Dobbs v…

Pfizer and BioNTech asked a London court to revoke rival Moderna’s patents over technology key to the development of vaccines for Covid-19, as the latest leg of a global legal battle began yesterday. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech sued Moderna at London’s High Court in September 2022, seeking to revoke patents held by Moderna, which hit back days later alleging its patents had been infringed. The competing lawsuits over the companies’ two vaccines, which helped save millions of lives and made the companies billions of dollars, are just one strand of ongoing litigation around the world which focuses on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Moderna says Pfizer and BioNTech copied mRNA advances it had pioneered and patented well before the Covid-19 pandemic began in late 2019. US-based Moderna is seeking…

BEIJING: More than 100 000 people have been evacuated due to heavy rain and fatal floods in southern China, with the government issuing its highest-level rainstorm warning for the affected area yesterday. Torrential rains have lashed Guangdong in recent days, swelling rivers and raising fears of severe flooding. Yesterday, the megacity of Shenzhen was among the areas experiencing “heavy to very heavy downpours”, the city’s meteorological observatory said, adding the risk of flash floods was “very high”. The floods have claimed the lives of four people so far and 10 are missing, according to state media. | AFP…

SAN FRANCISCO: Adobe said yesterday it planned to place a tool for full artificial intelligence image generation in its Photoshop software later this year. Adobe’s image and video editing tools are widely used by creative professionals, but it faces competition from start-ups such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Midjourney and Stability AI, all of which offer services that can generate images from text prompts. Adobe is developing its own AI system called Firefly, which is trained on data that Adobe has rights to. The new image-generation tool will have the ability to tap a user’s uploaded image as a reference for the composition of an image. | Reuters…

TONIGHT, two of the country’s most successful domestic teams – the Lions and Titans – will show up for yet another Jukskei derby, this time in a CSA T20 Challenge semi-final at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. More than anything, tonight’s match will be a stern test of the two team’s cultures. Lions captain Bjorn Fortuin spoke highly of his team’s culture and referred to it as one that is deeply rooted in winning trophies, which makes his job as captain a touch easy. “I’ve been quite fortunate coming into the side that has won trophies and fortunate to be captaining a side that knows how to win trophies,” Fortuin said yesterday. “I wouldn’t say that the team runs itself but it’s nice to be part of a set-up where…

Are the Bulls going to choose the high road or the low road to win this year’s United Rugby Championship? Well, director of rugby Jake White knows both. He was involved as an analyst in the Springboks’ famous 1995 Rugby World Cup triumph, where coach Kitch Christie spoke about the two roads. Beating the Wallabies in the tournament opener meant an easier quarter-final and semi-final, and Francois Pienaar’s team duly delivered. In 2007, when he was the head coach, White’s Boks again pulled off the unforgettable 36-0 walloping of England, which led to a quarter-final against Fiji and semi-final against Argentina. Fast-forward to today, and the Bulls are in a tough spot in the United Rugby Championship after going down 27-22 to Munster at Loftus Versfeld last weekend. Suddenly, Saturday’s…

Vusumuzi Vilakazi hasn’t been one to shy away from speaking his mind. As such, he fired a warning shot to Cape Town Spurs ahead of their battle for survival on Friday. With matches coming thick and fast in the DStv Premiership, Spurs and Richards Bay are in danger of being relegated. But it’s been Richards Bay that have got on with the business of staging a recovery. They won their last two games in a row, including beating Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday. The two massive wins saw Vilakazi and his men retain 15th spot, while opening an eight-point gap between them and basement dwellers Spurs. The Urban Warriors, on the other hand, have found the going tough. They lost their last four games in a row and are without a…

from page 1 will be the first elections since 1994 in which the ANC faces a real possibility of securing less than 50% of the vote,” he said. “Some polls are suggesting that the governing party’s support may sink to 39%. If this happens, the ANC may find itself completely out of government and relegated to the opposition benches in Parliament. “The massive decline in support for the ANC is attributable to its failure to deliver basic public services, tackle corruption and address the endemic unemployment problem that is affecting millions of young people. “The growth of opposition parties like the EFF and MK Party, which has been endorsed by former president Jacob Zuma, has also contributed to the ANC’s loss of support,” said Nkala. He however said it should…

ANC structures in KwaZulu-Natal have raised concerns over the delay in the delivery of party election posters, saying this could have a disastrous impact on the party’s campaign strategy. With less than 40 days to go to the elections, the ANC in the province confirmed yesterday that there had been delays in the arrival of a shipping container that carried posters, but 200 000 had arrived and more were expected. The party’s strategy includes party president Cyril Ramaphosa spearheading campaigns in the areas with the highest concentration of voters – the metros – and former party leaders and National Executive Committee (NEC) members campaigning in heavily populated metros and rural areas, highlighting the country’s economic recovery plan. The party has set its sights on 14 million voters in the polls,…

WE ARE now confronted with a myriad election posters hanging at all angles on poles along our roads and freeways and this has led to some humorous thoughts. Some have now been blown around showing the blank back of the poster possibly representing “The Back To Front Party”. Then there are the ones that have fallen over representing the “Upside Down Party”, both of which seem to be plentiful in this coming election, and then there is the one that says “Save South Africa” with “Donate Blood Now” below it which all raise a bit of a smile as I am stuck in the traffic and I am sure other readers can add to these few.…

Ingredients 1 tbs cooking oil 8 cleaned sheep trotters or ox trotter cut into pieces. 1 kg red ripe tomatoes, washed, chopped or liquidised 1 tin of chopped tomatoes 3 cloves of garlic, crushed 2 large onions, chopped 2 tsp salt or to taste 2-3 chopped green chillies (use more or less according to your taste) 2 tbs tomato paste 3 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into quarters, optional 2 tbs sugar or to taste Method In a separate pot cover trotters with water, add a few bay leaves. Bring to the boil and cook until the trotters are soft and tender. The trotters will have to cook/simmer over medium heat for at least 2 hours to ensure its tender. Top up with water as needed. Heat the oil in…

Propagandist history has kept Ngoni, Ndebele beholden to the belief that they have a home In his article “Ngoni Praise Poetry and the Nguni Diaspora”, Ohio State University’s Lupenga Mphande asks a very good question: What is the nature of the interplay between the history of Nguni migration and the literary expression of the reality and the socio-historical contexts that led to the construction of myths from historical realities? He also adds that “apart from wanderlust and the sense of adventure, it is partly the aspect of loss and nostalgia that defines diaspora. Essentially, nostalgia and the threat of loss have enabled the Nguni in the diaspora to maintain their language, culture, religion and traditions.” Different sources suggest that the origin of all the “true” Ngoni of Malawi is from…

Israeli strikes intensified across Gaza yesterday in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, pounding the north from where the Israeli army had previously drawn down its troops, residents said. Strikes by air and shelling from tanks on the ground were also reported in central and southern areas in what residents said were almost non-stop bombardments. Overnight tanks made a new incursion east of Beit Hanoun on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, though they did not penetrate far into the city, residents and Hamas media said. Gunfire reached some schools causing panic amongst displaced residents sheltering there. In Israel, where government offices and businesses were shut to celebrate the Jewish Passover holiday, incoming rocket alerts sounded in southern border towns, although no casualties were reported. The armed wing…

Donald Trump faced a contempt of court hearing yesterday as part of his criminal trial, with prosecutors insisting the former president violated the gag order issued to prevent him from intimidating witnesses. The hearing comes a day after the jury heard opening arguments in Trump’s hush money case, with prosecutors placing him at the centre of a criminal conspiracy while his defence team said he was “cloaked in innocence”. The case, which centres on allegations of business fraud in the lead-up to Trump’s 2016 election victory, is the first criminal trial of a former US president. Yesterday’s contempt hearing focused on Trump calling witnesses Michael Cohen, his former personal fixer, and Stormy Daniels, a porn star, “sleazebags” after Judge Juan Merchan imposed a partial gag order on him not to…

Nairobi: At least 21 people are dead and 23 missing in a new migrant boat disaster off the coast of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said yesterday. The accident occurred about two weeks after another boat carrying mainly Ethiopian migrants sank off the Djibouti coast, claiming several dozen lives. “Tragedy as boat capsizes off Djibouti coast with 77 migrants on board including children,” the IOM said in a post on X. It was the latest deadly accident on the so-called Eastern Migration Route. An earlier boat carrying more than 60 people sank off the coast of Djibouti on April 8. | AFP…

Sydney: Tech billionaire Elon Musk has hit out at Australia over the country’s attempts to ban footage of a Sydney church stabbing on his social media platform X. The Australian court this week granted a two-day injunction, ordering the platform to hide videos of the April 15 stabbing for all users globally. “If any country is allowed to censor content for all countries, which is what the Australian ‘eSafety Commissar’ is demanding, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet,” Musk wrote on X. “We have already censored the content in question for Australia, pending legal appeal, and it is stored only on servers in the US,” he said. Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said social media needed to have social responsibility with it. “Mr…

The Limpopo government spokesperson has been slapped with charges relating to dodging Sars. Ndavhe Ramakuela, provincial head of communication services, appeared before the Polokwane Commercial Crimes Court on Monday after he was summoned by law enforcement, facing charges of contravening the Tax Administration Act. Ramakuela’s appearance in court on Monday comes at the time when he is answering questions to the media, as spokesperson, about another high-ranking official from the same office who was also arrested recently for fraud. Director of Labour Relations in the office of the premier, Michael Maseko, was arrested on a different matter. In reports, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said the embattled Ramakuela was accused of not submitting his income tax returns to the South African Revenue Service (Sars) for 10 years. She said…

‘There was nobody to hear his plight, and he could not undergo any more torture’ A HOME Affairs senior official has come under fire from a Western Cape High Court judge for treating an Ethiopian national who applied for asylum status “with disdain and inhumanely”. The man later attempted suicide. In addition, the court said the official, Annelise van Dyk, cited as head of immigration, does this to force immigrants, such as foreign national Tsegaye Esyas, to sign documents under duress. In a recent judgment in the Western Cape High Court, Judge James Lekhuleni rebuked Van Dyk for her unacceptable and deplorable behaviour and removed her from Esyas’s case, which was referred back to the Paarl Magistrate’s Court to be heard on review by a different magistrate. Numerous attempts to…

I READ so often on social media that people say the DA is not going into the townships to help the poor. It helps only those living in the suburbs of Bishopscourt. I’ve said this before but it’s worth repeating: this is blatantly unfair and untrue. In yesterday’s Cape Times, there was an article on what the DA faces daily. Gangster extortionists hold their communities to ransom, soliciting money from business people before they are allowed into the area to do their work. Our mayor says additional security has to be added before staff can go into informal settlements. This all costs extra money that could be used for the poor. A judge, during one of the cases he was presiding over, said it was like the Wild West, with…

A local police instructor has been arrested for the alleged rape of a female police trainee. Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said the incident allegedly occurred on March 31. “It is alleged that on March 31, 2024, a police instructor at a Phillipi Police Training Academy in the Western Cape called a female police trainee to his office and she went to the office after she had several excuses in the past for not going to his office. It is alleged that the instructor locked the door once the complainant was inside, and raped her. She was allowed to leave after the alleged rape, but she did not report the incident immediately,” said Shuping, adding that the incident was reported days later. “Ipid arrested the instructor on April…

Equal Education (EE) and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) have hauled the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to court over the immediate placement of all unplaced learners in the province, calling on the court to declare its “failure to timeously place late applicant learners in schools” unconstitutional. This comes after the organisations said it had been “flooded” with queries from parents seeking support for the placement of their children in the Western Cape, particularly in the Metro East Education District. The court application brought by EE and the EELC is divided into two parts, part A being urgent and part B semi-urgent. In part A of the application, they are seeking an order for the placement of all out-of-school late applicant learners in the Western Cape, as well as…

THE South African underworld is much more complex than ordinary folk, even the police, could fathom. Following the shooting of DJ and MC Peter Mabuse, popularly known as Mashata, in the early hours of Sunday in Soshanguve, many bemoaned the high crime rate in the township and country at large. However, as details began to emerge, it became clear that the killing was a hit and not a criminal act linked to hijacking or robbery. The police have opened a case of murder and attempted murder. Reports indicate that Mabuse died in hospital while another victim, who was with him, was left wounded. The suspects fled and police are following several leads. In the early hours of Sunday, November 20, 2022, Oupa John Sefoka, better known as DJ Sumbody, was…

Five people, including a child, died in an attempt to cross the English Channel from France yesterday, hours after Britain passed a bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda to try to deter the dangerous crossings. The deaths occurred after an overcrowded small boat carrying around 110 people set out to cross one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The French coastguard was still searching for any survivors. “A tragedy occurred on a boat overloaded with migrants early this morning. We deplore the deaths of five people, a seven-year-old girl, a woman and three men,” local prefect Jacques Billant told reporters. “The engine stopped a few hundred metres away from the shore and several people fell into the water,” Billant said. Rescuers had arrived quickly and picked up…

BERLIN: An aide to a member of the European Parliament for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of “especially severe” espionage for China. Prosecutors accused Jian Guo of passing information about EU legislature discussions to Chinese intelligence. Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s top candidate in June’s election to the assembly, said he would stop working with Guo if proven guilty. Meanwhile, three Germans were arrested this week on suspicion of handing over technology with military applications. And two men were charged in Britain with spying for China; one worked as parliamentary researcher for a Conservative Party MP. | Reuters…

HYDERABAD: India’s spice exports regulator has asked MDH and Everest to provide details of quality checks after sales of some of their products were halted in Hong Kong for allegedly containing high levels of a cancer-causing pesticide. The companies’ products are popular in India and are exported to Europe, Asia and North America. Hong Kong this month suspended sales of three MDH spice blends and an Everest spice mix for fish curries. Singapore has also ordered a recall of the Everest spice mix and advised against its consumption. Authorities say the products contain high levels of ethylene oxide, which is unfit for human consumption, with long exposure a cancer risk. | Reuters…

LONDON: Taylor Swift fans – called “Swifties” – are flocking to The Black Dog, a pub in southwest London, after it was name-checked on the US singer’s new album The Tortured Poets Department. Lily Bottomley, the pub’s events and social media manager, said the buzz started online last week before the double album was released with The Black Dog confirmed as the 17th track. The pub in the city’s Vauxhall district has capitalised on its new-found fame with a “Swift” burger and “(Taylor’s Version)” cocktails. | AFP…

THERE is something special about late bloomers. They have to endure extended periods of self-doubt and have to learn to master the art of patience. Durban-born spinner Keshav Maharaj is one of the special cases of late bloomers. It took Maharaj eight years of international cricket to finally attract the attention of the Indian Premier League (IPL) bosses, making the long journey to the biggest stage a little sweeter. The slow left-arm orthodox now has two IPL games under the belt and has returned impressive figures of 2-23 and 0-16. “It’s a privilege to be part of the official squad of the Rajasthan Royals,” said Maharaj. “Having played my first game, I think it was a beautiful experience, the fans are amazing over here.” The 34-year-old caught the attention of…