Table of contents for 2021-07-08 in Cape Times

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa’s liquidity position remained stable in June as the country’s gross reserves increased marginally, though gold reserves slipped. The SA Reserve Bank (SARB) said yesterday that the country’s gross reserves ticked up 0.6 percent to $54.47 billion (about R778bn) in June, from $51.14bn in May. SARB said the gross reserves were boosted by a rise in foreign exchange reserves from $43.88bn to $44.82bn due to proceeds received from foreign borrowings from the New Development Bank. In mid-June, the government received its $1bn economic recovery loan from the New Development Bank to support economic growth through employment generation. At the same time, the forward position declined due to foreign exchange swops conducted for sterilisation and liquidity management purposes. Investec economist Kamilla Kaplan said South Africa’s…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SCHRODERS has warned that many countries, including South Africa, were fiscally ill-prepared for the next cyclical downturn as the world economy emerges from the great lockdown. The global investment manager said yesterday that economic growth progress remained patchy across the world. Schroders chief economist Keith Wade said the overall picture was one of developed markets outperforming emerging markets, with economies like India and Brazil struggling to contain the virus. Wade said the other fault line opened up by the pandemic had been inequality within economies, which has likely increased on both an income and wealth metric. “In emerging markets, Brazil, South Africa and Chile are expected to be running a deficit smaller than in 2019 by 2025, though Mexico and Indonesia will be close,” Wade said. “Brazil…

Staff writer THE Electoral Commission (IEC) has postponed the voter registration weekend for the upcoming local elections by two weeks. At a special meeting yesterday the commission resolved to reschedule it from July 17 and 18 to the weekend of July 31 and August 1. It said the decision was made following a review of current conditions, including the rate of Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations over the past seven days. It had also considered concerns raised by political parties and warnings from health officials and other experts during last week’s oral submissions before the Moseneke Inquiry. “Taking into consideration the various factors, including the constitutional time frame which requires the elections to be held before November 1, and the minimum period required for the election timetable, the commission resolved…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za POLICE maintained a heavy presence in Eshowe late last night amid expectations that former president Jacob Zuma would be arrested to start serving his 15-month sentence. Amid the anxiety, just before sunset, the environment outside Zuma’s home in Nkandla was relatively calm despite threats of violence by his supporters if the police came to arrest him. His son Edward told the police to get lost and said there would be “bloodshed”. “As people from the area and I, as a member of the Zuma family, we will be defending (Zuma). There are no police that can come here and pick up president Zuma, there will have to be bloodshed before that happens,” he vowed. He said the prison cell that has been prepared for Zuma should be…

Staff Writer A FILM produced by Cape Town-based documentary production powerhouse Steps has won the Best South African/African feature at the 2021 Encounters South Africa International Documentary Film Festival. The Last Shelter, directed by Ousmane Samassékou (France/ Mali/ South Africa) is the second film in the Generation Africa slate of 25 films on migration to win an award at the festival. Generation Africa is the latest collection being produced by Steps, with 25 films in co-production across Africa. Generation Africa brings together stories reflecting the lived experiences of Africa’s youth through the topic of migration. In awarding The Last Shelter a citation, the jury said: “We were moved by The Last Shelter, which gave us full access to the House of Migrants in the Malian City of Gao,…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za THE Covid-19 Delta variant has been detected as dominant in the Breede Valley and Theewaterskloof municipalities, as well as in 19 wastewater treatment plants in the Cape Town metro. Scientists from the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) detected the presence of the highly infectious strain in wastewater from several towns in the province, using their wastewater surveillance and research programme early warning system. “For the past two months, SAMRC scientists have been screening for the presence of mutations associated with the Alpha and Beta variants in wastewater using qRT-PCR technology, and found both the Alpha and Beta variants, with the Beta variant being predominant,” said Dr Rabia Johnson, deputy director of the SAMRC’s biomedical research and innovation platform (Brip). “This week, however, the team acquired the reagents…

Mushtak Parker WILL he or won’t he go to jail? Millions of South Africans are pondering this following the country’s highest judicial institution, the Constitutional Court, handing former president Jacob Zuma a 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court last week. The next few days will bear witness to whether, in the words of Lord Hewart, the Lord Chief Justice of England in 1924, the judgment “is not merely of some importance but of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done”. Zuma has been showing two fingers to the Constitutional Court, South African justice and the Constitution for more than a decade. The usual mantra of “witch-hunts” and politically motivated actions are the refuge of scoundrels and based…

Sandra Thomas | Claremont The vaccination roll-out began in late May for those people who are 60 and over and those people are now due for their 2nd jabs. Unfortunately for them, the fifties and over were told to register from July 1 and that their roll-out would start on July 15. Not so, they have been encouraged to do walk-ins and the result is that sixties and over are being sidelined. The sixties and over are not able to get appointments close to their homes and if they phone the centres they are told to come on some date much later than the specified 42 days, because, not only are fifties and over doing walk-ins, they are also getting appointments earlier than the 15th of July.…

North Korea is facing a food shortage of around 860 000 tons this year, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation forecast, warning the country could experience a “harsh lean period from August to October”. The impoverished country, which is under multiple sets of international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, has long struggled to feed itself, suffering chronic food shortages. Last year, the Covid-19 pandemic and a series of summer storms and floods put more pressure on the flagging economy, and Pyongyang admitted last month it was tackling a “current food crisis”. Pyongyang shut its borders in January last year to protect itself against the pandemic and as a result, trade with Beijing, its economic lifeline, has slowed to a trickle while all international aid workers have…

The Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander yesterday condemned the attack on crime reporter Peter R. de Vries as an attack on democracy that had shocked him deeply. De Vries, the best-known crime reporter in the Netherlands and winner of an international Emmy award for his work investigating the disappearance of teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005, was shot on an Amsterdam street on Tuesday evening. He was taken to a hospital, where he was fighting for his life, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said. “This is an attack on journalism, a cornerstone of our rule of law”, King Willem-Alexander told reporters during a state visit to Berlin. “And as such it is an attack on our constitutional order.” The Dutch royal house does not generally comment on individual incidents, so the king’s…

MOSCOW: A search team found the remains of 19 people yesterday after a passenger plane crashed in Russia’s remote far eastern Kamchatka peninsula and the governor promised relatives “all necessary help.” The An-26 plane flying from Kamchatka’s main city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the coastal town of Palana with 28 people on board disappeared and crashed on Tuesday. Search teams later found wreckage of the plane near Palana after it was believed to have flown into a cliff. “Fragments of 19 bodies have been found,” the regional branch of the emergencies ministry said.…

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s closed borders have helped keep Covid-19 out of the Pacific nation, but a critical shortage of migrant labour is now fuelling protests among businesses and workers struggling with a staffing crisis. About 2 000 eateries stopped service and turned off lights across the country on Tuesday and are planning other stop work events as part of a two-month campaign to draw the government’s attention to the severe shortages in skilled labour. The labour crunch comes after New Zealand sealed its border in March last year in response to the raging coronavirus pandemic.…

WYNONA LOUW wynona.louw@inl.co.za Western Province 28 Griquas 30 GRIQUAS scored a try in stoppage time to secure an impressive 30-28 victory against Western Province in an entertaining Currie Cup contest at Cape Town Stadium yesterday. WP got off to a solid start and got an early maul try through JJ Kotze, with flyhalf Tim Swiel converting to take the score to 7-0. Griquas didn’t wait too long to hit back with a try of their own when Ashlon Davids levelled the scores. The hosts drew power from their maul again to get their second try as Kotze scored a brace towards the end of the opening quarter. The visitors made it clear that they had no intention of backing down and kept bringing the energy. After adding three points,…

A business-like Novak Djokovic threatened to short-change over 14 000 fans who had forked out £170 for yesterday's Centre Court tickets when, after only 19 minutes of action, he stood on the cusp of bagging the first set 6-0. Trailing 0-5 and 15-40 on serve, it seemed like Marton Fucsovics's first foray into a grand slam quarter-final would be short and not very sweet. But somehow the 29-year-old avoided disappearing into a Wimbledon sinkhole for two hours and 17 minutes before Djokovic pushed him over the edge for a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win that secured him a place in the All England Club semi-finals for a 10th time. Playing in his 50th grand slam quarter-final, Djokovic recorded a century of tour-level wins on grass and his 315th victory at a…

Kim Kardashian West is shutting down KKW Beauty and will relaunch a “completely new brand” over the coming months. The 40-year-old star has told fans to bid farewell to her cosmetics range – which she founded in 2017 – as she’s planning to relaunch the line over the coming months. She announced in a statement shared to her social media accounts: “To our loyal customers, It all started with a contour kit and expanded to eyes, lips, body, and many incredible collections over the past four years. “On August 1st at midnight we will be shutting down the KKWBeauty.com site so that we can come back to you under a completely new brand with new formulas that are more modern, innovative, and packaged in an elevated and sustainable new look.”…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za FOLLOWING a fall from a staircase leading from a loft room at a chalet at a Protea Hotel, a guest tried in vain to sue the hotel for damages. The chalet is owned by the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Conservation Environment. Vernon Morgan fell from the staircase when he walked down from the loft room more than 10 years ago. He rolled down the stairs and bumped his head on a table at the bottom of the staircase. Morgan instituted a damages claim against both the department as well as the Protea Hospitality Group in the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. Morgan reached a confidential settlement with the hotel group’s insurer, but he forged ahead with his claim against the department. His claim against the department…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) will dip into its reserves to help finance an estimated R4.2 billion to R5.3bn extension of the temporary employee relief scheme (Ters). The fund has paid out billions of rand since the Covid-19 Ters was introduced in March 2020. This was to assist sectors and workers unable to operate. It has been extended a few times since March 2020, with the latest extension expected soon. Partners at Nedlac, the labour negotiations centre consisting of labour, business and the government, have agreed to extend the scheme. The partners had been in discussion over the issue for months, but calls grew louder with the announcement of a move to level 4 of the lockdown due to rising Covid-19 infections. Sectors that have been unable…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za THE Western Cape Provincial Council of Churches (WCPCC) has urged parishes to adhere to disaster regulations, even when they gather to demand its reopening. Some churches in the province have reportedly continued Sunday services, even though it is prohibited under alert level 4. WCPCC organiser Mthobeli Ngxoya said they were still working to have the regulation amended. “The churches have been pleading with the government to ease the restrictions; our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. “Members of any church are required to adhere to the regulations, we wouldn’t want to see our people being arrested by the police. “Churches will continue having peaceful marches until their demands are met. “People don’t understand that churches are just not about gathering and singing, but it is a spiritual…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za THE Western Cape Education Department (WCED) says it will appeal an Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) directive that it re-advertise the Foundation Phase head role at Bergsig Primary. The ELRC found it had committed an unfair labour practice. On Tuesday ELRC commissioner Reza Slamang set aside the WCED’s appointment at the Bonteheuwel school, which was made despite the school governing body (SGB) rejecting candidates, and directed the department to repeat the recruitment and selection process. Janine Prins, a teacher at Bergsig, had challenged the WCED’s decision, contending that it was unfair and prejudicial for the WCED not to appoint her as she had been working at the school in the Foundation Phase for about 13 years. When the department advertised the position in 2019, the recruitment and…

There is material evidence for the Communist Party of China (CPC) to celebrate its centenary. China’s unfolding history since the 1978 opening-up period deserves praise and appreciation. The CPC’s achievements in securing for Chinese citizens and communities record-high standards of decent living are worthy of commendation, and emulation – even if the objective conditions of China are relatively unique in terms of political leadership, governance model, population expectations and societal values. President Xi Jinping’s speech to mark the centenary was a moment of legitimate celebration since his political party has considerably improved people’s basic living conditions. Xi was justifiably confident since the CPC, using human development indicators, has attained political, economic, technological and military success. He was not exaggerating in boldly affirming that modern-day China has traversed a pioneering path,…

MAMA Joyce Manyonga, the late mother of now-banned long-jump star and Olympic medallist, Luvo Manyonga, must be turning in her grave at how her son’s career has taken a major blow. It’s been a heartbreaking sight seeing Luvo’s life turn upside down, not only because of his role-model status, but because we know how much his domestic worker mother invested in his career with the little she had. We remember the touching stories she shared with us about how she would give up her last R5 for bread to have Luvo travel by train from his Mbekweni home in Paarl to practise in Stellenbosch. We recall her beaming with pride when Luvo stunned the world and won a Silver medal at the Rio Games six years ago. It was a…

New York: Ex-policeman Eric Adams was on track to become New York’s next mayor after the city’s elections authorities released new results showing he had maintained his lead in the Democratic primary. The 60-year-old Brooklyn borough president claimed victory after the Board of Elections said he held a lead of one percentage point over nearest rival and fellow moderate Kathryn Garcia. If confirmed the winner, Adams will take on Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in November’s mayoral election.…

Malaysians struggling to make ends meet during a worsening coronavirus outbreak have hoisted white flags outside their homes in a desperate plea for help that has swept the country. Authorities imposed a second strict nationwide lockdown last month in response to a surge in Covid cases, and many low-income workers who live hand-to-mouth have lost their jobs again after a ban on non-essential businesses. The flags – often little more than strips of cotton or T-shirts – have sprung up outside homes of the needy around the country in the past week, prompting an outpouring of sympathy and donations from the public. “This month I have not paid the rent... I am afraid that I might not be able to find another place to stay in this critical situation,” said…

NEW DELHI: Three Indian farmers in the dry western state of Gujarat have been arrested for selling illegal alcohol after their own buffaloes got drunk on the hooch, police said. One of the men called a local vet after their buffaloes started to “act strangely and their mouths started frothing”, local police official Dilipsinh Baldev said. The vet then inspected the water trough that the animals had been drinking from and “observed a strange smell and found the water to be coloured”. This, it turned out, was because the men had hidden bottles of moonshine in the trough and some of them had broken, contaminating the water.…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za THE DEPARMENT of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) said yesterday that it planned to collapse existing state-owned entities in the oil and gas sector into a new national oil company that would become a key player in the entire value chain. The department said the entity, to be called the South African National Petroleum Company, would be formed from the merger of Central Energy Fund (CEF) subsidiaries PetroSA, IGas and the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) into the single entity. Ntokozo Ngcwabe, DMRE deputy director-general: mineral policy and promotions, said the new company would ensure that South Africa played in the petroleum space and maximised value of its own resource potential. Ngcwabe said the department wanted the company to play in the upstream space. “In the upstream space…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za THE great white pelican population in the Western Cape may be at risk as the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is affecting birds in South Africa. There are only an estimated 370 breeding pairs living in the province, and already 40 out of a group of 100 birds have succumbed to the H5N1 strain. The pelicans, listed as vulnerable in the Western Cape, are colonial breeders, currently only breeding on Dassen Island. The H5N1 strain had been detected in sick and dead wild birds. CapeNature and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) said they were monitoring the situation and taking action. “Fortunately, this strain of avian influenza poses a low risk to humans, but people can transport the virus…

Staff writer KNOWING the transportation challenges farmworkers face, efforts are under way in the Theewaterskloof region to see how they can be further helped in getting vaccinated. The provincial health department said at the start of the vaccine roll-out, a large part of that community over the age of 60 was identified to be living on farms with their families. Dr Renier Liebenberg, clinical manager for the Theewaterskloof and vaccination lead for the areas, said: “We decided to get into contact with the farm owners and managers to establish a forum and discuss how the Department of Health and the private sector can assist each other in getting as many people vaccinated as possible in the shortest time.” Liebenberg said most farm owners and companies have since offered assistance with…

Odwa Mkentane and Zanele Mvana ONGOING violence over taxi routes in the province brought the industry to a standstill yesterday after at least six people were killed, bringing the number of people murdered since January to 71. Six others were wounded in the shootings in the space of 24 hours, bringing the number of people hospitalised during the conflict for route ownership, since the start of year, to 33. Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) drivers held a motorcade on the N2 as a way of paying respect to drivers who had been shot and killed. Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo cancelled her visit to Khayelitsha for the vaccination of more than 50 people and religious leaders due to the taxi-related violence. No one has been arrested for the recent attacks, which…

Siyavuya Mzantsi siyavuya.mzantsi@inl.co.za SMUGGLING stolen vehicles across the border in exchange for cash, being in possession of illicit cigarettes valued at thousands of rand, assault and drunkenness. These are some of the charges against at least 14 SANDF members deployed at the Zimbabwe-South African border since the beginning of the year. Nine of them were recently arrested over a period of three days. SANDF members Rapula Reuben Maidi, Edward Lepokola, Bulelani Danti, Ludwe Gwedashe, Thembani Mjelo, Marks Funeka and Peter Thato Namane, arrested at the Beitbridge border post, are alleged to have connived with smuggling syndicates to get stolen vehicles across the Limpopo River in exchange for money. For this, they allegedly demanded R15 000 a vehicle, which would be shared among themselves, “placing the lives of the majority…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za RESIDENTS of KTC informal settlement in Nyanga have been forced to empty their buckets full of faeces inside stormwater drains while others resorted to relieving themselves in open fields and bushes for a week. They alleged that the City had failed to provide an alternative solution after the contract of a company that used to empty and clean their portable toilets expired. Residents staged a protest on Tuesday night and early yesterday, blocking a road with buckets full of faeces. According to community activist Mluleki Arendse, about four sections in the area had been affected by the sanitation nightmare. “When three days passed without the waste being collected, community leaders from the different areas marched to ward councillor Khaya Yozi’s office to get answers. “He informed us…

Jeremy Gordon | Sea Point About 20 countries are now using ivermectin to treat Covid-19 with good results, despite the fact the World Health Organization has not approved its use. They include Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Nigeria and Egypt. In South Africa, doctors are allowed to prescribe ivermectin but it is not being rolled out everywhere and in hospitals and clinics. According to Jackie Stone, a doctor in Zimbabwe, since January when ivermectin began to be used, it has cut Covid-19 hospital admissions and deaths over 70%. A meta analysis of clinical trials just released by the BIRD group in the UK concluded that ivermectin has an over 70% success rate in preventing deaths in hospitalised patients. Ivermectin can also be used…

A small pen-and-ink drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which lay buried unrecognised in a box for decades, is at the centre of a battle between its owner and France’s culture ministry that was set to play out in a Paris court yesterday. The court will begin hearing if the drawing of a martyred Saint Sebastian lashed to a tree is allowed to leave France for eventual purchase by a foreign buyer. The piece was among several drawings and engravings that Jean B, the owner, who is in his 80s and has asked not to be fully named, received as a gift from his father for passing his medical school exams in 1959. Being more of a rock enthusiast than an art lover at the time, the young doctor forget…

Lusaka: Zambia’s founding leader Kenneth Kaunda was laid to rest at the country’s presidential burial site yesterday despite an 11th-hour bid by some of his relatives to block the interment. Kaunda, who was also a hero of the struggle against white rule in southern Africa, died last month at the age of 97. Some of his relatives had wanted him buried at his farm next to his late wife Betty, with whom he had 10 children. But the burial proceeded without incident at Embassy Park, a special cemetery dedicated for the country’s leaders. His children paid glowing tribute to Kaunda, portraying him as a fighter and teacher whose attributes should be emulated. “Go well, you fought the good fight of faith, you have finished the race. We will miss you…

LAGOS: In the wake of Monday’s kidnapping of about 140 children from a boarding school in northern Nigeria, authorities in Kaduna State have closed 13 schools presumed to be at high risk of attack. Officials said a risk assessment showed that the schools were the most vulnerable to attacks. Kaduna State Commissioner for Education Dr Shehu Muhammad said the incident at Bethel Baptist High School showed that the security arrangement was not working. Kaduna State has been plagued by kidnappings in recent months. Since December last year, more than 1 000 children and students have been kidnapped across Nigeria.…

LONDON: British parliamentarians grilled Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday, following the announcement that Covid restrictions are to be lifted July 19. The leader of the opposition, Labour’s Keir Starmer has branded the Delta strain, “the Johnson variant”, suggesting that the PM allowed it to run rampant in the UK. Starmer’s point during the PM’s Questions was that Johnson failed to put the Indian variant on the red travel list soon enough. ​Johnson shrugged off the criticism, saying the government “will continue with a balanced and reasonable approach”, praising the mass vaccination programme.…

MATSHELANE MAMABOLO matshelanemamabolo@gmail.com IT makes sense that Pitso Mosimane should be a little conflicted as he anticipates next weekend’s CAF Champions League final. How can he not be when he is on a mission to break the hearts of his fellow countrymen? As coach of African football superpower Al Ahly, Mosimane is tasked with delivering the ‘aleushria/El Ashra’ - a 10th title - for the Egyptian giants. But the fact that he has to do it against a team from South Africa complicates things a wee bit. “There’s a little bit of a conflict,” Mosimane said yesterday as he looked ahead to the clash with Kaizer Chiefs during a virtual Zoom interview with members of the South African Football Journalists Association (SAFJA). “I am South African playing against my home…