Table of contents for 2021-05-14 in Cape Times

STOCKS at the JSE were spooked by inflationary pressures and possible higher interest rates after the US recorded 13-year high consumer inflation. The rate of the US consumer price inflation (CPI) jumped to 4.2 percent on Wednesday, the highest since 2008 and well above forecasts of 3.6 percent rise. The jump in US consumer prices prompted a risk-off sentiment from investors on fears that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would tighten its dovish monetary policy sooner than expected. The JSE All Share Index closed 1.86 percent lower to 66 168.65 points dragged down by miners as a recent rally in prices of iron ore and platinum paused. African Rainbow Minerals fell 5.2 percent to 4.9 percent to R275.32 per share, while Anglo Gold eased R320.90. Kumba Iron Ore tumbled…

From page 1 Currently there are 757 Covid patients in acute hospitals (427 in public hospitals and 330 in private hospitals). Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has promised that South Africa will accelerate the vaccination programme when the second phase gets under way on Monday. He said it was their plan to speed up the vaccination of the people. “That is important for us to indicate that we would like to see the speed of vaccination picking up, and we expect that it will be so. “Hopefully, during the course of the week this delay with Johnson & Johnson will be released and therefore we will not have one million (doses) by then; we will have two million so that we pick up the speed. “We do want to see…

Zanele Mvana zanele.mvana@inl.co.za GUGULETHU residents took to the streets yesterday, protesting against gender-based violence (GBV), which claimed 48-year-old Brenda Mqela as the area’s latest victim. It was previously reported that Mqela died after dogs were set on her; it is now alleged that she was stabbed by her boyfriend, who owns dogs. Mqela, the daughter of one of the founding members of women’s right advocacy group Ilitha Labantu, died at her boyfriend’s home. Ilitha Labantu founder Mandisa Monakali said it was traumatising to hear stories of women being killed. “We should all be united in the fight against GBV. Don’t stand away from the fight against GBV because this could happen to your daughter. Young men are being raised without role models because their uncles and brothers are killing and…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za THE ANC has yet to ask former president and corruption accused Jacob Zuma to step-aside, raising suspicion of selective justice in applying the organisation’s controversial resolution. While suspended party secretary-general Ace Magashule and national executive committee (NEC) member Bongani Bongo were removed from the party’s virtual NEC meeting at the weekend, Zuma was left untouched, with the ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledging him in his post-NEC address on Monday. In his address, Ramaphosa said: “During this meeting, we received a report from the National Working Committee on the implementation of the resolution that all ANC members indicted for corruption and other serious crimes should step aside or be temporarily suspended pending the finalisation of their case. “The report indicated that, in line with the decisions of the…

Jonisayi Maromo jonisayi.maromo@africannewsagency.com DESPITE the highly publicised attacks on and murders of e-hailing cab drivers in different parts of South Africa, operators have no option but to continue working in fear, blaming authorities for not doing enough to protect them. Earlier this month the Johannesburg Metro Police Department rescued a driver affiliated to the e-hailing cab platform Bolt from the boot of his car, a Nissan Almera, which was being stripped after he was hijacked. The hijackers escaped. Last month, the Durban e-Hailing Association raised concerns about the safety of e-hailing drivers in the city and nearby townships. This came after a 30-year-old Bolt driver was found dead after he went missing. The association said it had also received reports of drivers being robbed or assaulted. In the Western Cape…

THE tide is slowly turning before our eyes as more and more South Africans begin to embrace and acknowledge the health challenges that African traditional herbs can solve and the economic opportunities that come with the commercialisation of these products. Over the years, we have seen some Africans overlooking indigenous medicinal herbs, while embracing Western medication. The stigma and limited funding to promote and professionalise indigenous medicine precipitated the notion that our traditional herbs are less effective. Some people were fortunate enough to grow up with the elderly, who would teach them that some diseases do not require a Westernised treatment method. Therefore, sharing knowledge about how to use leaves, barks and roots, beneficial to human health, became a part of creating a culture of heritage preservation and community. For…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za DAVIDENE Lucas, mother of slain toddler Orderick, denied that she had her son in her care on the day he is said to have disappeared. Lucas was recalled to court yesterday as the State reopened its case in the murder trial against Melvin Volkwyn, to test evidence brought by defence witnesses Locrisia Goliath and Betty Cloete. Yesterday, State prosecutor Mornay Julies officially applied to reopen the case for the sole purpose of clarifying new evidence brought about by the defence’s case. It was Goliath and Cloete’s version that Lucas was last seen carrying Orderick on her back, wrapped in a blanket, when she visited a tuck shop at the premises of the witnesses. The two testified that Lucas had been at the shop with a towel wrapped…

Athandile Siyo athandile.siyo@inl.co.za THE family of slain 33-year-old Vuyokazi Dzoyi who was stabbed to death allegedly by an intimate partner more than a year ago have alleged police bungled the case as the matter was struck from the court roll. Dzoyi’s sister, Bulelwa, said the only witness decided not to co-operate after the investigating officer from Langa allegedly missed several appointments with him. “At first the witness was so co-operative, he told us over and over again that he was willing to give his evidence. “After many failed attempts to meet with the investigating officer, he decided that this was a waste of his time as the police did not seem interested in his statement. “I lodged a complaint with the police about this because I believe that if the…

Reviewer: Jennifer Crocker Suitcase of Memory A’Eysha Kassiem Loot.co.za (R205) Kwela Books BASTIAN Bredenkamp is the heir to the Goedleven farm. He has a rare condition that is like hyperthymesia, which gives him a highly autobiographical memory. When we meet him he is also dead. An unusual start to a brilliant novel. A’Eysha Kassiem’s book Suitcase of Memory tells us the story through the eyes of a man who is dead, and is able to survey his life, from birth to the grave, with perfect recall. With a dead protagonist he muses on what the meaning of it all was. He has parents, Pa Bredenkamp and Mamma Sanri, and he grows up on his family’s Stellenbosch wine farm. It’s a privileged upbringing, with a father who is proud of him…

Nyaniso Qwesha | Wynberg Where are we? Is this the South Africa I know? Or is it a convergence of politics? A week ago, we were inundated with former DA Western Cape leader and MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela’s misrepresentation of facts, claiming to have obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree in his CV. This saga resulted in him being suspended and he then resigned from all his leadership positions. Xanthea Limberg is another DA member on the list of members whose qualifications have come under scrutiny. Noting the above, one will need to think clearly about the need for ethical foundations within our politics and government circles. It cannot be right that people lie and there are no consequences. On the other hand, the ANC has been struggling with implementing…

Of the 100 cities worldwide most vulnerable to environmental hazards all but one are in Asia, and most are in India or China, according to a risk assessment published yesterday. Across the globe, more than 400 large cities with a total population of 1.5 billion are at “high” or “extreme” risk due to some mixture of life-shortening pollution, dwindling water supplies, deadly heat waves, natural disasters and climate change, the report found. The sinking megalopolis of Jakarta – plagued by pollution, flooding and heat waves, with worse to come –topped the ranking, while two other Indonesian cities are in the top 10: Surabaya (fourth) and Bandung (eighth). Pakistan’s two biggest urban agglomerations, Karachi (12th) and Lahore (15th), are not far behind. But India, home to 13 of the world’s 20…

The UK government yesterday promised to help families of 10 innocent civilians killed in Northern Ireland almost 50 years ago, amid demands for a police inquiry into the deaths. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis acknowledged families’ “terrible hurt” about the unrest in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, as sectarian violence escalated in August 1971. “We’re determined to address it in a way that enables victims and survivors to get to the truth which they deserve,” he told parliament. On Tuesday, a coroner concluded at an inquest that British soldiers used “clearly disproportionate” force against protesters in the nationalist area. She said the victims, including a priest and a mother of eight, were “entirely innocent of wrongdoing”, clearing their names after decades of smears that they were paramilitaries. Nine of the 10 were…

TOKYO: Holding the Tokyo Olympics safely as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage would be impossible, a union of Japanese hospital doctors has warned. “We can’t deny the danger new virus variants will bring to Tokyo from around the world,” it said. Japan is battling a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections, with several areas including the capital under a state of emergency. Several governors have said they will not allocate hospital beds for athletes. With the Olympics set to open on July 23, public opinion remains opposed. Organisers, however, say they can safely hold the Games thanks to virus countermeasures.…

Taipei: Taiwan faced rolling blackouts yesterday after an outage at a power plant, days after the affected electricity supplier warned that drought and heat wave conditions were creating an energy crunch. Officials said the cause of the outage was still under investigation, saying power could be restored as early as the evening. Taipower’s Hsinta Power Plant – a coal- and gas-fired facility at Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan – tripped after equipment failure at a substation, said Kao Tzu Hang, a company representative. Starting 3pm local time, electricity supply on the island of 24 million people was restricted to 2 million households.…

SPANISH soccer clubs were given the green light on Wednesday for fans to return to matches for the final two rounds of fixtures this season in regions with low levels of Covid-19 infections. Sports minister Jose Manuel Uribes announced that a maximum of 5 000 spectators would be able to attend games in regions with fewer than 50 Covid-19 cases per 100 000 inhabitants. “How to pick the spectators will be the clubs’ decision: a lottery, a system rewarding those with most seniority,” Uribes said. “This is a first step with a view to many more – the key for us was to begin again.” Health minister Carolina Darias added that other teams could be allowed to host supporters if their region’s infection rate drops to below 50 per 100…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za BANKING group Absa said yesterday it expected its earnings for the six months to the end of June to surge ten-fold compared with last year because of lower credit impairments as the bank recovers from the fall-out of the Covid-19 pandemic. The bank informed its shareholders that its headline earnings per share (Heps) and earnings per share for the six months to the end of June were expected to be more than 10 times higher – at 67.7 cents a share and 58.8c, respectively – compared with the first six months of 2020, with most divisions expected to report earnings growth. Normalised Heps was expected to be between five and six times the normalised Heps of 173.6c reported during the first half of last year. The…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za IN A DOUBLE accolade, leading South African infectious diseases epidemiologist Dr Quarraisha Abdool Karim has been appointed to the UN 10-Member Group that facilitates the use of technology in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as to the Friends of the Global Fight Against Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria board. UN Secretary-General António Guterres this month appointed Abdool Karim, associate scientific director at the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa) and professor in clinical epidemiology at Columbia University in the US to co-chair the UN 10-Member Group for a two-year period. Abdool Karim is married to internationally acclaimed clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim. She was appointed to the 10-Member Group by Guterres together with eminent individuals…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za THE City has denied claims of irregular appointments in the manager’s office, while the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) alleged the trend was “nothing new”. This comes as the Cape Times received information that City manager Lungelo Mbandazayo appointed Onke Vumindaba, who was previously performing clerical duties, as a senior manager while she allegedly did not meet the position requirements. “Following the appointment of Onke Vumindaba, four other positions were created for friends under this lady that previously worked with her in the office of the executive mayor. “The four persons had already been earmarked for permanent positions before the positions were approved by the mayoral committee and were advertised,” the source who asked to remain anonymous said. The posts of the service complaint investigators allegedly came…

Staff writer AVAILABLE data on the newly-listed Covid-19 vaccine Sinopharm in pregnant women are insufficient to assess either vaccine efficacy or vaccine-associated risks in pregnancy. However the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (Sage) said the vaccine is an inactivated jab with an adjuvant, or substance, that is routinely used in many other vaccines with a documented good safety profile, including in pregnant women. The effectiveness of the vaccine, which is developed by the Sinopharm/China National Pharmaceutical Group, is therefore expected to be comparable to that observed in non-pregnant women of similar age. The WHO last week listed the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for this vaccine to be rolled out globally. In a recent briefing Sage said the vaccine is…

Staff writer A CONSORTIUM of South African organisations will be the first, globally, to celebrate a day dedicated to the conservation of critical ocean areas which allow marine life to thrive, reproduce and grow. There are 42 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along the South African coastline which provide crucial safe havens for animals and plants in the ocean and support human communities. To highlight the important role of MPAs, organisations including the South African Association for Marine Biological Research, Two Oceans Aquarium, Dyer Island Conservation Trust and Wildtrust have designated August 1 as MPA Day. This is a way to educate and inspire others about the proper management of protected spaces and to draw attention to the benefits which MPAs provide. Dr Judy Mann, conservation strategist at the South African…

Staff Writer THE recent attacks in Palma, the town located north-east coast of Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province, illustrate the violence that the population has been exposed to during the conflict. These have been increasing in intensity and spreading over the last year. This is according to international humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation Doctors without Borders (MSF), working in Mozambique since 1984. In Palma, as in many previous attacks, violence-hit members of the community, including women and children, and thousands of people were forced to flee for their lives while others remained trapped in the settlements near the Afungi gas compound (Quitunda and Maganja). “Those who have returned to Palma city continue to face insecurity,” said the organisation. The number of people displaced by the conflict in Cabo Delgado is increasing…

Athandile Siyo and Odwa Mkentane TWO Cape Town families are struggling to get by without their IDs which they need for all essential registrations. In Kraaifontein, 27-year-old mother of three Dorothy Nortje says her life is at a standstill as she does not have an ID and her children are struggling to get birth certificates. Nortje said she was told to bring the ID of her mother, Aida, who abandoned her when she was about 11 years old and she does not know where to begin searching for her. “When my mother left me, I didn’t have a birth certificate, so I had to first apply for that in 2019. With the help of my aunt, who is my mother’s sister and is my primary caregiver, I managed to…

| Orielle Berry THE DARKEST EVENING Ann Cleeves Loot.co.za (R189) PAN MACMILLAN THIS is the ninth novel in this popular series of DCI Vera Stanhope and, yet again, the author triumphs in creating an immersive read that is enjoyable and at times unsettling. Vera is on her way home, driving through a swirling blizzard. Despite her wish to curl up on the sofa in her warm home as soon as possible, the snow is so heavy she becomes disoriented and loses her way. Then she sees a car perched off the road ahead of her. The driver's door is open and Vera assumes the driver has sought shelter. But when she inspects the car, she’s shocked to find a young toddler strapped in the back seat. Vera takes the child…

WHERE THE LIGHT ENTERS Jill Biden Loot.co.za (R229) FLATIRON BOOKS AS well as being America’s First Lady, Dr Jill Biden is also a professor of English at a community college. During the Obama-Biden she advocated for military families, community colleges, the fight against cancer and the education of women and girls around the world. “A girl I barely know anymore stares out at me from a grainy wedding photo. She has feathered hair and wears a delicate tea-length white dress. She walks behind two little boys, frozen forever in their earnest jackets and ties, who already have her heart. As she approached the stark, slatted door of the UN Chapel, her smile gives no hint of the journey that brought them to this day.” In her recently republished book, Where…

Mark Keohane HUGO Broos is a train wreck waiting to happen. Forget any five-year plans, he is unlikely to be around in 18 months. Whatever the situation, the clever people at the South African Football Association should have fought harder to find a resolution to local favourite Benni McCarthy’s demands to be the Bafana Bafana coach. McCarthy, initially a breath of fresh air at Cape Town City, left suddenly and without much warning. He found a second home at Amazulu and a near perfect fit. The two, as club and individual, are thriving. The players at Amazulu are loving McCarthy and he is getting results he shouldn’t be getting given the limitations in his squad and the abundance of talent elsewhere in the PSL. But, and there is always a…

As clashes continue in East Jerusalem with the pending eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, to make way for Israeli settlers, the repeated raids into Al Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces and the rising death toll in Gaza, anger within Israel’s Green Line has reached boiling point. On Wednesday Israel declared a state of emergency and a night curfew in the northern city of Lod, where a young Palestinian man was shot dead by an Israeli on Monday. Protesters clashed with Israeli forces during the funeral procession on Tuesday night. This was the second time in the city’s history that a state of emergency had been declared, the first being in 1966 just before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Benny Gantz…

BRASILIA: Only about 24% of Brazilians think the administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has been “good” or “great”, his lowest popularity rating since taking office in 2019 and down from 30% in March. Bolsonaro has been widely criticised for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including for opposing lockdown measures, downplaying the severity of the disease and not prioritising the purchase of vaccines. Brazil has the world’s second-largest death toll from Covid-19.…

Caracas: Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has indicated he is ready to restart halted talks with the exiled opposition leader, according to state media. Negotiations between the two rivals have been at a standstill since August 2019, with Juan Guaido currently in exile – despite being internationally recognised as the nation’s leader. “I am ready to meet with all the opposition to see what comes out of it,” Maduro said on television on Wednesday. “Now Guaido wants to sit down with me,” he said, adding that he would agree to the meeting with the help of the European Union and the Norwegian government.…

TRIPOLI: The Libyan ministry of justice yesterday announced releasing dozens of detainees who fought with the eastern- based army against the former UN-backed government of national accord for control of the capital Tripoli. A deadly armed conflict broke out in April 2019 between the eastern-based army and the former UN-backed government of national accord in and around Tripoli, which ended in June 2020 with the former UN-backed government announcing its takeover of all western Libya after withdrawal of the rival eastern-based army.…

HERMAN GIBBS DEFENDER Reeve Frosler says Tanzania visitors Simba SC will not derive much benefit from watching Kaizer Chiefs in action against Swallows FC in a midweek DStv Premiership match. Simba, CAF Champions League quarter-finalists two seasons ago, arrived in South Africa on Tuesday, ahead of their quarter-final match against Chiefs on Saturday at the FNB Stadium (start 6pm). On Wednesday, Simba's squad watched Chiefs in action on television as part of their preparation for Saturday's showdown. "Simba has done well to arrive early so that they can acclimatise, and also have a look at our game," said Frosler. "This is a CAF fixture, and we play differently than when we play a Premiership League game. The game plan will be different, and the make-up of the team will…

From page 1 In the case of Zuma, Mngomezulu said the governing party’s hands were tied as he has previously told the ANC’s Top Six that they were persecuting him together with his enemies, and any action against him now will make him cry foul again. “However, he (Zuma) has cases in court and, like others, he was supposed to be served with a suspension letter because some will say, ‘Why allow someone facing corruption charges to address party events?’ “But then the challenge with suspending Zuma is that he is a drawcard for the ANC when it comes electioneering. They need him,” Mngomezulu said.…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za THE Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed a Nigerian national’s attempt to set aside the decision to deprive him and his minor children of their citizenship in South Africa. Anthony Nwafor acquired South African citizenship after being granted a certificate of naturalisation by the Department of Home Affairs in 2009. Prior to granting this certificate, the department issued him a permanent residence permit or an exemption certificate. Nwafor secured this on the strength of his marriage to a South African citizen, Gladys Vilankulo, in 2003, the validity of which was strongly disputed. The department addressed a letter to Nwafor advising that the minister intended to deprive him and his minor children of their South African citizenship on the basis that Nwafor obtained the permanent residence permit by…

Chevon Booysen Chevon.booysen@inl.co.za THE Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) says it keeps getting stonewalled for explanations on the parole release of former police colonel Chris Lodewyk Prinsloo, who was released after serving a short stint of an 18-year prison sentence for flooding the Cape Flats with weapons. Prinsloo had been convicted and sentenced in 2016 on 20 charges ranging from racketeering, corruption and money laundering relating to the smuggling and dealing of lethal weapons worth around R9 million with Cape Town gangsters. He is said to have been released on parole in April last year. Popcru’s national spokesperson, Richard Mamabolo, said their enquiries to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) had been blocked. “Since our inquiry into the matter, we were promised a response and did a follow-up,…

Staff writer MORE than a billion people around the world live with hypertension, or high blood pressure, which is a major cause of cardiovascular disease and premature death worldwide. In South Africa, high blood pressure is responsible for 50% of all strokes, and two in five heart attacks. In raising awareness around World Hypertension Day on May 17, the City said its health department had screened more than 400 000 clients for hypertension over a 12-month period until the end of March. The World Health Organization notes that the burden of hypertension is felt disproportionately in low- and middle-income countries, where two thirds of cases are found, largely due to increased risk factors in those populations in recent decades. They added that around half of people living with hypertension are…

Thabo Makwakwa IN AN ongoing battle between Eskom and Econ Oil & Energy, new evidence obtained by Cape Times’ sister publication Daily News suggests that Eskom executives, led by the entity’s chief executive, André de Ruyter may have overstepped their mandate and illegally appointed Bowmans law firm in an effort to push out the black female-owned fuel supplier. In what sources close to developments have termed a carefully co-ordinated approach, insiders and evidence suggest Eskom misrepresented the truth when it claimed in media reports that suspended chief procurement officer Solly Tshitangano, with three other officials, allegedly cancelled Bowman’s investigation without the knowledge of chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer. The purported reports attempted to link Medupi-Kusile probes with the oil supplier, alleging that Econ Oil was part of the Bowmans…

Tertuis Simmers | Western Cape Human Settlements MEC (“City slated for ’dodgy’ land deal”, Cape Times, May 12), refers. Your article fails to highlight the facts. This matter has served before the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) in the Western Cape, where all the factual information was tabled, including the cost analysis. The purchase price is what the City offered in 2017. Ironically, in 2017, when Mr Brett Herron was a Mayco member of transport and human settlements in the City of Cape Town, the City offered to purchase the property at R58 million exclusive of VAT based on highest (valuation) and best use methodology. The offer made by the City was rejected by the owner on July 25, 2017. The City revised its original offer to…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za A 35-year-old taxi driver who was shot dead in his driveway has become the latest victim in a series of suspected taxi industry-related murders. Father-of-two Thandekile Mtywazo was shot and killed on Wednesday night while walking to his vehicle after opening the gates at his premises. His uncle Sinethemba Keyi said the family were devastated. “He had nothing but a brother’s love for everyone in the family and even in the taxi industry. Many people in the family were dependent on him. We never heard any wrongdoings by him back at home in the Eastern Cape and even in the taxi industry. He was a down-to-earth man. The whole community is shocked by this. The family cannot speculate what happened because we don't know him as a…

WWF’s mission is “to stop the degradation of the Earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature…” In their Living Planet Report published in 2020 it is noted that global mammal, fish, bird and amphibian populations have declined by 68% in less than 50 years. Genetic degradation isn’t covered in the report. People the world over donate billions of dollars to WWF each year. Despite this, the reality is that after 60 years at the forefront of conservation, WWF (and professional conservation in general) have failed to fulfil their stated objective. Environmental degradation is in freefall and animals in their natural habitats are likely to be wiped out within a matter of one or two decades. Which is not to say…

AS THE saying goes, truth is often stranger than fiction and while this book reads like a first-class thriller on land, race, murder and betrayal, it’s the true story of a case that broke a South African town. | Orielle Berry THESE ARE NOT GENTLE PEOPLE Andrew Harding Loot.co.za (R229) PICADOR AFRICA Written by a BBC foreign correspondent, it takes up the story of a group of 40 men, their vengeful act and its and ramifications. At dusk, on a warm evening in 2016, the men gathered on a dusty field on a farm outside Parys in the Free State. Fury was rife but some of the men’s cohorts treated the whole thing as a joke. The violent events of the next two hours came to haunt them all, ripping…

ATTACKING and assaulting worshippers in prayer, whether at a mosque, in a church or anywhere else, is abhorrent and cannot be tolerated by the international community. Israeli soldiers have attacked Muslim worshippers during this holy month of Ramadaan and Christian worshippers during the Greek Orthodox Easter, and there have been little, if any, repercussions following this outrageous violation of their rights. Occupying Israeli forces attacked worshippers in the vicinity of the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre, established military checkpoints, obstructed access to the church, assaulted nuns and priests, and detained worshippers, according to the Palestinian Authority. Where else in the world would this type of behaviour be tolerated? There was no respect for the sanctity of holy sites, or the fact that they are to be accessed freely in…

The next two weekends will be very important for the “big three” of South African soccer – Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns – as they prepare for their Caf Champions League and Confed Cup quarterfinals. Football on the continent brings its own special challenges and rewards. It’s a very different proposition to the local Premier Soccer League, but it almost always makes for intriguing tales and storylines. Our three glamour clubs find themselves in contrasting headspaces. Sundowns are poised to wrap up their fourth-consecutive league title and they face a fascinating clash with Egyptian giants Al Ahly, who are coached by former Sundowns mastermind Pitso Mosimane. There is a long history between these two clubs, not least because, in 2016, Sundowns, with Mosimane at the helm, won the…

A three-day ceasefire agreed to by the warring Taliban and Afghan government came into force yesterday as the country celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr after weeks of deadly violence. Proposed by the militants and approved by President Ashraf Ghani, the truce offered respite for Afghans as they mark the Muslim festival with friends and family. Violence has intensified in the country since the US missed a May 1 deadline, agreed with by the Taliban last year, to withdraw all of its troops. If the ceasefire holds, it will be only the fourth pause in fighting in nearly 20 years of conflict. Ghani used his annual Eid address to urge the Taliban to agree to a lasting truce now that international troops were leaving. “We don’t want you to surrender, but we want you…

HARARE: Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended the tenure of the chief justice by five years following contentious changes to the constitution that allowed for the extension and are being challenged in court by lawyers. Chief Justice Luke Malaba had been due to retire on Saturday when he turns 70, but Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party used its majority in parliament to amend the constitution, allowing the president to extend the retirement age of senior judges to 75 years. In a statement, the chief secretary to the cabinet said Mnangagwa had accepted a medical report from Malaba, which showed the top judge had the “mental and physical fitness to continue in that office”. But lawyers and the opposition say the amendment that allowed Malaba to continue in office and empower Mnangagwa…

N’Djamena: Chadian National Reconciliation and Dialogue Minister Acheikh Ibn Oumar has accused the armed opposition group Front for Change and Concord in Chad (Fact) of being sponsored by foreign powers. According to the minister, who himself used to be an opposition leader, the difference between Fact and Chad’s other armed groups is that the former was formed outside the country. “It was formed abroad with significant and unidentified foreign support. They have a large number of equipment and weapons that are being used on the battlefield for the first time. They are also very experienced in using those weapons.”…

The IOC seems to be desperate right now, and desperate people do desperate things that are not logical, or sensible, and certainly not in the interests of those around them. The situation in Japan is deteriorating, and according to Reuters this particular wave of Covid-19, fuelled by new variants, has placed the healthcare system under severe pressure. On Wednesday, 7 521 new cases of the disease were recorded with 103 further deaths, adding to 11 148 individuals that have sadly passed away in that country. You might think South Africa has concerns and problems with its vaccination programme, but Japan is struggling just as much, with only an estimated 2% of its 125-million citizens receiving the jab. The state of emergency has also been extended in the country to the…