Table of contents for CT-2021-04-20 in Cape Times

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za Parliament only “woke up and smelled the coffee” on the extent to which the state was captured when it was too late, said Speaker in the National Parliament Thandi Modise, who appeared before the state capture commission of inquiry yesterday. She even went to the extent of apologising for the late reaction. Modise told the commission that Parliament only really “woke up” after the Constitutional Court’s ruling on upgrades at former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead. She added that it was also the “Gupta leaks” – a series of emails linking ministers with state capture – that made the allegations more real. Modise said that sometimes when allegations surfaced, members of Parliament assumed it could be “politicking” and that got in the way of holding their peers accountable.…

Athandile Siyo and Odwa Mkentane YET another gay man has been murdered after being allegedly raped in a suspected hate crime in Nyanga. Lonwabo Jack’s lifeless body was discovered in a pool of blood with stab wounds in Mau-mau, Nyanga East. The incident occurred on the 22-year-old’s birthday, according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Of South Africa (Glasa). Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said: “A case of murder was opened for investigating after a body of a man was found stabbed in Pula Road, Nyanga. The circumstances surrounding this incident are being investigated by the police with no arrests yet. Allegations of rape form part of the investigation.” Glasa’s Frank Gazu said the organisation was saddened by the cruelty displayed in the killing of Jack. “Less than a week…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za SUPPORT flooded in from across the country for University of Cape Town students, residents and firefighters battling a raging fire on the slopes of Table Mountain yesterday. SA National Parks (SANParks) early yesterday estimated more than 400 hectares of land and growing had been damaged thus far, and thanked residents and businesses who responded to a call for donations of food, water, energy drinks. This as the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) put its available air resources in Cape Town on standby for assistance and the Cape of Good Hope SPCA and Animal Welfare Society of SA dispatched staff to look for any injured or displaced wild animals. “There is overwhelming support from residents for firefighters currently fighting a running fire. “Scores of community members and…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za A FOURTEEN-year-old boy who handed himself over to Calitzdorp police in connection with the murder of Lourens de Villiers led to the arrest of another juvenile and a 30-year-old man at the weekend. The body of 66-year-old De Villiers was found last Tuesday outside his residence at the Fish Eagle Eco Camp. Two days earlier, De Villiers’ family thought he might have switched to another cellphone contract after suddenly leaving a family group on WhatsApp, and still being unavailable the next day. According to Southern Cape police spokesperson Chris Spies worried family members contacted police just before 4pm on Tuesday saying that they were struggling to get hold of him. “Police responded to a complaint. On arrival they found the body of the man with serious injuries…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za THE Judicial Service Commission (JSC) yesterday recommended Judge Roland Sutherland to be appointed as deputy judge president for Gauteng, a division with the most demanding case load. The JSC yesterday set its task of interviewing dozens of candidates for a second week. Sutherland was the only candidate to stand for the role of deputy judge president (DJP). He has been a judge since 2012 and has acted in the DJP role since 2019. In his most notable cases recently, he denied former Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku’s bid to challenge a Special Investigating Unit personal protective equipment probe against him. Sutherland appeared calm and at ease during his interview yesterday and faced tough questions over transformation, community work and whether judges could be corrupt. Commissioner Thamsanqa Dodovu…

Jody Delichte TRADITIONALLY, there is no word for business among the pastoralist communities of the arid Marsabit County, in northern Kenya. Nor do they have words for profit. They have a lexicon associated with a different set of principles: mutual aid, generosity, sharing. These deeply rooted values have shaped them for generations, determining individual and collective behaviour. But this is changing. In recent years, the people in this region, which borders Ethiopia, have started tograpple with becoming business people. Aid agencies have helped them build more sustainable livelihoods through business. Pastoralists are now engaging in businesses – livestock trade and retail trade of sugar, tea leaves and washing powder. Building business skills to improve livelihoods is being recognised and promoted as a mechanism to lift communities out of…

India has locked down its capital, New Delhi, for a week from to try to control a raging coronavirus outbreak, as the hard-hit US passed a hopeful milestone of giving at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose to half its adults. There was good news from Australia and New Zealand as well, as the two neighbours opened a travel bubble that would allow people to travel without a mandatory quarantine. And in Europe, Greece said it would welcome vaccinated travellers from some countries as it sought to restart its badly-bruised tourism sector, while Portugal and Slovenia peeled back virus restrictions as infections eased off. But India was still facing rocketing infections, with hospitals running out of beds and the government forced to reimpose economically painful restrictions again. New Delhi braced for…

THE US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating a Texas crash on Saturday that left two dead and local police said appeared to have occurred with no one in the driver’s seat. NHTSA said it “has immediately launched a Special Crash Investigation team to investigate the crash. We are actively engaged with local law enforcement and Tesla to learn more about the details of the crash and will take appropriate steps when we have more information.” Tesla had no immediate comment. The crash occurred as scrutiny is increasing over Tesla’s semi-automated Autopilot driving system following recent crashes. Autopilot was operating in at least three Tesla vehicles involved in fatal US crashes since 2016. The 2019 Tesla Model S was traveling at a high speed, when it failed to…

LONDON: American cookbook author and former model Chrissy Teigen hopes to break the stigma around fertility struggles with a new campaign encouraging women to be more open about their troubles conceiving and seek assistance. The 35-year-old, who is married to singer John Legend, is launching the Fertility Out Loud Campaign during the April 18-24 National Infertility Awareness Week. Teigen has joined forces with the US non-profit RESOLVE for the campaign, encouraging couples to use the organisation’s resources and support to help find a fertility specialist. Teigen has long spoken about the struggles she and Legend faced to start a family. Their two children were both born through in vitro fertilisation. “There is still a stigma attached to it. There is still this privacy that people want with it and this…

Ankara: The Turkish government yesterday widened an investigation into claims dozens of people had used special passports to enter Europe legally and never returned. The scandal has dominated local headlines since it emerged last week that 43 people with grey service passports entered Germany last November to attend an environmental workshop and never returned to Turkey. Grey passports are issued to people working abroad for the state, allowing visa-free travel to many countries. They were sent by a local district municipality in the eastern province of Malatya. The interior ministry said the probe would be widened to include more municipalities. | AFP…

Zaahier Adams Cape Town City confirmed the departure of their Dutch goalkeeper Peter Leeuwenburgh to Eredivisie side FC Groningen last week. Leeuwenburgh will though play out the season giving City sufficient time to find a suitable replacement. Here we scout the land to find five possible replacements who could fill Leeuwenburgh's immense presence in goal for the Citizens. 1 Darren Keet The former Bafana Bafana No 1 has seen a move to the Major Soccer League in the United States fall through in recent weeks due to the travel restrictions imposed because of Covid-19 and is eager to restart his career in the DStv Premiership. Independent Media understands that Keet is top of The Citizens' shopping list due to the 31-year-old currently being a free agent and based in…

Emma Pinedo and Jesus Aguado MADRID Television broadcasters won’t break their contracts with Uefa and national leagues to join the breakaway European Super League project, the head of Spanish media company Mediapro said yesterday as furious fans also slammed the move. Jaume Roures, whose company broadcasts matches from Spanish football’s top-flight La Liga and holds the TV licensing rights of the Uefa Champions League in the country, said he believed the new competition would not succeed. “International TV broadcasters have contracts (with Uefa) until 2024, nobody is going to break those contracts now. The only thing that the current move does is to create unease,” Roures said. “It won’t succeed. There is no other way out.” “I think it is more despicable, it is more of a greedy power…

From page 1 newspapers like Imvo Zabantsundu, among others,” said Nzimande. He has directed Higher Health to work with other emergency relief agencies to offer students debriefing support and for Higher Health’s mobile clinic and psychologists to support the UCT in-house team for psychosocial services to further support students. Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille said one minister’s Cape Town residence in Newlands (owned by the department) was completely destroyed on Sunday afternoon. “(On) Monday, family members of three members of the executive were evacuated from Walmer Estate properties as there was an immediate threat on Monday morning as the fire moved over Philip Kgosana Drive. “The family members of one minister and two deputy ministers were evacuated from Walmer Estate.” She said police have advised…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za ANC VETERAN and businessman Tokyo Sexwale has been asked to support his claims that he deposited billions of rand with the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) to assist poor university students. Sexwale made the claims during an eNCA talk show Truth to Power on Sunday night during which he said that he had raised billions of rand, and the funds had been channelled to the central bank in 2016. He said that former president Jacob Zuma and President Cyril Ramaphosa were aware of the funds, saying this was why Zuma had announced free education during the first day of the ANC’s elective conference in December 2017. Sexwale also claimed that the funds were to assist with improvements to infrastructure, such as the procurement of trains and bullet trains.…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za A LOCAL man has described how city residents came together to apprehend a suspect that allegedly started one of the fires, which continue to burn uncontrolled, on Table Mountain. Police confirmed they arrested one suspect on Sunday night, hours after the initial blaze broke out, when a resident witnessed three people making a fire. The two other suspects managed to evade arrest. Yazeed Evans, who was involved in the arrest of the suspected arsonist told the Cape Times yesterday that he was having a meal with his family. As they all watched the fire burn toward the top of Table Mountain, they saw another blaze, closer to their home, spark. “We were watching the fire right up the top of the mountain, it was quite far from…

Staff writer COMMUNITY-environmental NPO Parkscape’s environmental consultant says the raging fire in Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) in the vicinity of Rhodes Memorial “was a catastrophe waiting to happen”. Parkscape’s chairperson, Nicky Schmidt said at a fire presentation hosted by the group with partners NCC Wildfires, the Cape Peninsula Fire Protection Association and the SA National Biodiversity Institute in October 2019, that the risk of fire was significant. “We live in a fire-dependent biome that needs to burn every 10 to 15 years in an era of unprecedented climate change, and in a city where our wild land interfaces – the national park – directly abut dense urban interfaces. Without proper management and education of the public, it is a recipe for disaster – exactly as we’re currently seeing,” Schmidt…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za A SECURITY officer had a narrow escape after she sustained serious injuries during a petrol-bomb attack at the Muizenberg landfill site. She is recovering in hospital after being targeted by a group of suspects on Sunday. City law enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason said the incident occurred between 10pm and 10.30pm. “A group of people petrol-bombed a City vehicle and attacked security officers at the Coastal Park Landfill in Muizenberg. “A female security officer who was chased by suspects took shelter under a vehicle on site. The suspects discharged a petrol bomb on to the front of the vehicle and the female was then trapped under the back section of the vehicle while the front burnt,” Dyason said. A City law enforcement officer attached to the…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za SOME refugees at the Paint City site in Bellville have remained steadfast on being resettled to other countries. This despite an ultimatum of two weeks to reconsider other offered options. Refugees and asylum seekers currently accommodated in Bellville and Wingfield tents have been offered to either be reintegrated or be deported, with each one assisted with a fully paid plane ticket. This offer stands for a two-week period that started on April 15. After that officials will remove the tents, showers, toilets and no longer supply anyone at these sites as they expect that there will be no one remaining. Should the refugees be found occupying streets and other areas after the deadline, they could be arrested,warned Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. He was briefing the media…

LIFTING the temporary suspension of the roll-out of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine under strict conditions, as recommended by the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority on Saturday night, proves that the country’s scientists have conducted extensive scientific research to avoid the unnecessary loss of human lives. The strict conditions include strengthened screening and monitoring of participants at risk of a blood-clotting disorder. The regulatory body also called for measures to be implemented to ensure the safe management of any participants who develop vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia. The country’s vaccination programme has been moving at a snail’s pace, and the lifting of the suspension offers renewed hope that the programme will be back on track soon. To avoid the loss of lives, and as part of the drive to reach…

Strong winds and high waves lashed the eastern Philippines yesterday as the strongest typhoon ever recorded in April barrelled past in the Pacific Ocean, killing at least one man and triggering flooding in lower-lying communities, disaster officials said. The national weather bureau issued a severe wind and heavy rainfall warning, saying “destructive typhoon-force winds extend outward up to 110km from the centre of the storm”. More than 100 000 people were evacuated from coastal areas, according to provincial disaster agencies. The core of Surigae, or Bising as the storm is known locally, is not expected to hit land. But with a diameter of 500km and winds reaching 195km per hour, parts of the eastern islands of Samar experienced flooding, while several communities lost power. The first super typhoon of 2021…

The EU yesterday imposed sanctions on 10 Myanmar junta officials and two conglomerates linked to the military over the coup and bloody crackdown on protesters, European officials said. “The military regime is continuing its course of violence and manoeuvring the country into a dead end. That is why we are increasing the pressure to bring the military to the negotiating table,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said after holding virtual conference talks with his EU counterparts. European diplomats said the two firms hit with asset freezes and visa bans were the Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, which dominate sectors including trading, alcohol, cigarettes and consumer goods. The officials targeted are mostly members of the ruling State Administration Council seen as responsible for undermining the democracy in the…

MOSCOW: Russia’s main opposition leader Alexei Navalny was transferred to a prison hospital, the prison service and his lawyer said yesterday, 20 days into a hunger strike that has brought international warnings of consequences should he die in jail. Allies of Navalny are planning mass countrywide demonstrations later this week, which the Russian authorities have branded illegal. Russia’s prison service said a decision had been taken to transfer Navalny, 44, to a regional prison hospital. His condition was “satisfactory” and he was being given “vitamin therapy” with his consent, it said. The Kremlin said yesterday it would retaliate against any further sanctions. | Reuters…

Minneapolis: Minneapolis and other US cities are bracing for potential civil unrest as Derek Chauvin’s trial enters its final phase and the jury’s verdict is expected this week. A veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, Chauvin faces a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted in the second-degree murder of an African American, George Floyd, in May last year. Mayor Jacob Frey said about 2 000 National Guard members along with 1 100 law enforcement officers were on standby. Police preparations come a week after mass riots in Minnesota, where protesters clashed with police over the killing of 20-year black man Daunte Wright. | Sputnik…

Stuart Hess South Africa’s cricketers have apologised to the sport’s sponsors for the actions of Cricket SA’s administrators, saying officials have “undermined and betrayed your commitment to the sport.” In a statement released through the SA Cricketers’ Association - the players union - and signed by its president, Khaya Zondo, and the three Proteas captains; Dane van Niekerk, Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma, the players also admonished CSA’s Members Council, for not acting in the best interests of the sport in SA. Players around SA are understood to be very concerned following Sunday’s pronouncement by sports, arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa that he could ban CSA as the official governing entity for cricket, thus jeopardising the players’ opportunity to represent SA. Yesterday’s statement outlines how government intervention would have…

From page 1 He left the bedroom and went to his neighbour, Ms Francis Pienaar. He asked the neighbour to please help him with his daughter. The neighbour advised him to bring the baby to her.” Pienaar then suggested that Ashmee-Lee was dead and Kortjie was arrested. He admitted that he was not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol at the time. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the sentence, with spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila saying the conviction was prioritised. “Child murders have become a scourge in our province which led to the NPA putting a strategy in place which focused on these murders. “Ashwynne Kortjie was the father of this child and he was supposed to protect her. “He brutally killed the child because she cried.…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za STOPPING the installation of water management devices (WMDs) was long overdue, civic organisation Stop COCT said, as the City called for public comment on the proposed revised approach to domestic metering. The City’s Water and Sanitation Department is proposing that from July, the City no longer installs new WMDs, and that WMDs currently in service be replaced by conventional meters, with the latest metering technology, as they reach the end of their expected lifespan. Existing WMDs will be set to “open flow” over time, with effect from July 1, the City said. Non-indigent customers, whose accounts are in arrears for non-payment of municipal-related services, would have their water supply restricted or reduced to a trickle flow, using a flow-restricting disc. “Taking into account the current economic pressure…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za A ROBERTSON father has been sentenced to 25 years behind bars after he admitted to battering his 4-month-old daughter to death because she was crying. Ashwynne Kortjie, 22, entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State, detailing baby Ashmee-Lee Stallenberg’s final moments, and how he could not take her “incessant crying”. He was initially charged with murder and child abuse under Section 305(3)(a) of the Children’s Act, of which the latter charge was withdrawn. In his plea Kortjie admits to having Ashmee-Lee in his care on November 19, 2019, because he and the baby’s mother were not together. He admitted that at around 9am the next morning he and Ashmee-Lee were alone in his bedroom when she continued to cry. “While the baby was lying…

Ingredients: Method: For the syrup: Method: 25ml butter (melted) 20ml sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla essence 4 x 250ml self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 100g black currants (optional) 1 cup (250ml) milk 1 cup (250ml) water 750ml sunflower oil, for deep frying Coconut, for sprinkling Whisk the melted butter, sugar and eggs in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence. Sift the flour and baking powder twice. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Add the currants if using. Add the milk/water and mix into a soft, sticky dough. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes. Heat the oil over medium to high heat in a suitable pot for deep frying. Place spoonfuls of the mixture in hot oil and fry until golden brown.…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za TWENTY-one-year-old Khanyisa Shasha, linked to a number of shop robberies in the Southern Cape, made a brief appearance in the George Magistrate’s Court yesterday. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Shasha faced three counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances – for now. “More charges are likely to be added as the investigation continues. His case has been postponed to April 29 for bail application.” Police made a breakthrough in robbery cases in the Pacaltsdorp and Conville areas after a shop was robbed in York Street, George, last Monday at about 7pm. According to Southern Cape police spokesperson Chris Spies, an investigation revealed that four men, two armed with firearms, entered the shop where they threatened one person and stole an undisclosed amount of cash. They…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za HEALTH Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the Sisonke trial would soon resume after final consultations with, among others, the South African Medical Research Council and the World Health Organization. The Sisonke trial involving around 500 000 Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses administered to health workers was paused following international reports of complications in certain recipients. It was reported that out of 6.8 million doses administered in the US, there had been six cases of a severe and rare type of blood clot. Mkhize visited the Mitchells Plain hospital yesterday to assess the state of preparedness for the second phase of the vaccine roll-out which is set to kick off around May 17, a day after phase one…

IS IT not time we pause to ask: What has happened to us? Why are we following rather than leading in the national interest? Is that not our greatest leadership undoing? How have we participated in escalating what has been done to us? Those who have done this to us most certainly do not have any other reference point to act otherwise than to continue acting in the only way they know how – doing the same thing. Typical of our taking cues from Western powers on how to manage our affairs, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has announced that South Africa will pause its roll-out (or vaccine trial) of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccines, as did the US after after its regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)…

I understand the sentiments of Ikbal Kolia regarding the fuel price and it’s effect on people’s lives, but he has the wrong end of the stick. The basic fuel price has actually reduced from R5.26 per litre in 2008/9 to R5.10 currently. So it is clear that it is not the basic fuel price – determined monthly – that is the problem. The government’s “add-ons” is the big problem: Over the period 2008/9 to the present, the Fuel Levy has increased by 32.3%, Road Accident Fund Levy by 40.4% and other levies which include Wholesale and Retail margins by 20.9%. The “add-ons” together constitute 65% of the fuel price which is nothing short of ridiculous stupidity, and is government-fuelled inflation. Governments, of course, love inflation because of the automatic increase…

NASA successfully flew its tiny helicopter Ingenuity on Mars early yesterday, the first powered flight on another planet and a feat a top engineer called “our Wright brothers moment.” At 9.34am SA time the 1.8kg rotorcraft lifted off, hovered 3m above the Martian surface, then came back to rest after 39.1 seconds. Data and images from the autonomous flight were transmitted 278 million kilometres back to Earth where they were received by Nasa’s array of ground antennas and processed more than three hours later. Engineers were tensely watching their screens at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where the mission had been designed and planned for the past six years. They broke into applause as one of them read off a checklist of tasks Ingenuity had achieved. Ingenuity quickly…

BERLIN: Germany’s Green party yesterday named its co-chairperson Annalena Baerbock as its candidate to succeed Angela Merkel, throwing down the gauntlet to the chancellor’s conservatives who were locked in infighting for her crown. Trained lawyer Baerbock, 40, became the first chancellor candidate for the party, as surging support for Greens brings it within reach of the chancellery. With her candidacy, Baerbock said: “Climate change is the task of our time, the task of my generation. And accordingly, I want the policies of the new federal government to make climate protection the benchmark for all sectors.” | Reuters…

HAVANA: Cuba’s ruling Communist Party elected President Miguel Diaz-Canel to succeed Raul Castro as party first secretary, the most powerful position in the country, on the final day of its congress yesterday. The succession marks the end of six decades of rule by brothers Fidel and Raul Castro, who led Cuba’s leftist 1959 revolution. Diaz-Canel, 60, has emphasised continuity since becoming president and is not expected to move Cuba away from a one-party socialist system. Hundreds of party delegates gathered for the party’s most important meeting, that takes place every five years to review policy and elect new leadership. | Reuters…

London: The Old English Sheepdog, one of Britain’s most recognisable dog breeds, has been listed for the first time as vulnerable to extinction after a drop in popularity, The Kennel Club said yesterday. The Kennel Club recorded just 227 puppy registrations last year for the dog, recognisable for its shaggy coat. It is the lowest number in 60 years, it said, marking a “steep decline” in the breed’s popularity, the club said. The category was devised for British and Irish native breeds which have fallen below 300 annual puppy registrations and could be at risk of disappearing from Britain. | AFP…