Table of contents for 2022-01-07 in Cape Times

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za SOLDIERS who went awol while on a medical course in Cuba in 2017 have once again lost their legal bid to be reinstated after the SANDF gave them the boot. The group of 36 medical students turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, last year ruled that the SANDF was within its rights to fire them. The court initially found in favour of the soldiers and ordered their reinstatement. This order was, however, overturned by three judges of the high court on appeal. Unhappy with this verdict, the group turned to the SCA, which yesterday rejected their application. The SCA judges commented that “the SANDF simply cannot function properly when its members absent themselves from duty without permission, contrary to…

Staff writer FORMER prison guard and friend of South Africa’s first democratic President Nelson Mandela, Christo Brand, has donated his Robben Island prison key to raise money for a Mandela Memorial Garden in Qunu. This follows outrage last month after British newspaper, the Daily Mail, reported that Brand was auctioning the key to Madiba’s Robben Island prison cell. The key was set to fetch millions of rand at the January 28 auction by US auction house, Guernsey’s. The Ex-Political Prisoners’ Association (Eppa) said last week it was working with the Robben Island Museum (RIM), Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa and the South African Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra) to interdict the auction. Due to sensitivities surrounding the key, Brand, according to a statement issued yesterday, was now in discussion…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za HUNDREDS of starfish that washed up on the Clovelly beach shore received a second chance at life after they were rescued and released back into the ocean. A mass rescue of the marine life was undertaken after the Cape of Good Hope (CoGH) SPCA received an emergency call alerting them that starfish had washed ashore on Wednesday morning. Armed with water-filled buckets, volunteers and SPCA staff sprang into action to save as many starfish as possible, before releasing more than 500 starfish back into the ocean. As soon as CoGH SPCA received the call, chief inspector Jaco Pieterse battled through the holiday traffic from Grassy Park to Fish Hoek in record time, racing against the clock to save as many starfish lives as possible. SPCA marketing manager…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za THE death of a 53-year-old hiker whose body was recovered on Table Mountain yesterday has renewed calls for hikers not to walk alone. The hiker went missing on Wednesday, and his body was discovered near a ravine, by rescuers conducting a search on foot yesterday. “The body of a 53-year-old male was recovered this morning (Thursday) on Table Mountain after he fell to his death. “According to reports a search was conducted yesterday (Wednesday) at about 5pm after hikers found belongings of the deceased on the mountain. They alerted authorities after accessing details on a cellular telephone found with the belongings,”said police spokesperson FC Van Wyk. Due to the terrain and windy conditions, the body could only be retrieved yesterday, said Van Wyk. “The body…

FRIENDS. FOOD. FLAVOUR. Michael Olivier Loot.co.za (R289) PENGUIN BOOKS THE doyen of South African food and wine commentators, Michael Olivier, has brought out a delicious “home-made” cookbook, Friends. Food. Flavour, a collection of largely Cape dishes. The inspiration came from a Cape buffet Olivier prepared for a wine festival in Australia some years back. Those original recipes had been “researched, deconstructed and rebuilt” and there are also some recipes from restaurants and friends. With this book, Olivier has shared heritage recipes that may be familiar to many, but are an important part of our food culture, and we cannot allow them to be lost to future generations. There are recipes for Boontjiesop (Old fashioned Hot Bean Soup); Snoekpatee; Sweet and Sour Onions with Moskonfyt; Pampoenkoekies (Pumpkin Fritters); Braaied Yellowtail with…

The Afcon competition is constantly portrayed as an unnecessary nuisance that exposes players to injuries and, recently, Covid-19 infection. In June and July last year football fans enjoyed the Uefa Euro 2020 tournament with all of Europe’s big name players. What a great tournament it turned out to be, especially after a limited number of fans were allowed back into the stadiums. And there could be no better climax to that competition than that juicy final encounter between two football powerhouses, England and Italy, in front of 67 000 fans. In the end, the Italians were the champions after a penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 stalemate in regulation time. The Euro 2020 event (played last year) was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But when it was eventually held, players…

World food prices jumped 28% in 2021 to their highest level in a decade and hopes for a return to more stable market conditions this year are slim, the UN’s food agency said yesterday. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 125.7 points in 2021, the highest since 131.9 in 2011. The monthly index eased slightly in December but had climbed for the previous four months in a row, reflecting harvest setbacks and strong demand over the past year. Higher food prices have contributed to a broader surge in inflation as economies recover from the coronavirus crisis and the FAO has warned that the higher costs are putting poorer populations at risk in countries reliant on imports. In its…

SACKED twice from her casino job and arrested this week on charges of endangering public security, union leader Chhim Sithar is the latest in a long line of activists to take on the challenge of campaigning for labour rights in Cambodia. Sithar, 34, has been at the forefront of a strike at the country’s biggest casino, facing off against scores of riot police at protests in Phnom Penh. Since December, employees of NagaWorld casino run by Hong Kong-listed Nagacorp Ltd’s have been protesting against the layoff of 365 workers in the wake of disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Police say the strike is illegal and the protests threaten public security. NagaWorld has described the layoffs as unavoidable. Twenty-seven people have been arrested – including Sithar, who was whisked away…

Manila: Child marriage became illegal in the Philippines yesterday as a law banning the practice took effect in a country where one in six girls enters wedlock before the age of 18. The impoverished Southeast Asian country has the 12th-highest number of child marriages in the world, according to Britain-based rights group Plan International, with long-held cultural practices and gender inequality hindering change. But a new law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte lays out prison terms of up to 12 years for marrying or cohabiting with anyone under 18. People arranging or solemnising underage unions face the same penalty.…

Beirut: A Lebanese mountain town home to 70 000 Syrian refugees declared a “fuel emergency” yesterday, warning that soaring heating fuel prices would spell tragedy as winter starts to bite. The town of Arsal, also home to 40 000 Lebanese, lies at an altitude of 1 400m. The cost of fuel families need to power their stoves has risen by around 350% as a result of the lifting of subsidies caused by Lebanon’s financial collapse. Arsal mayor Basel al-Hujairi declared a “fuel emergency”, issuing an appeal to bridge the funding gap and raise $5.5 million. “Please reflect on leaving thousands of families in flimsy tents without heating.”…

INNINGS: Dean Elgar makes batting look like extremely hard work. He plays and misses often. Ends up in weird positions. He gets hit on the body - a lot. But he stays at the crease. He really puts a very high price on his wicket. And his teammates, and the South African public will love him for it. His 96* will rank as one of the greatest innings by any Proteas player. COMPOSURE: India lost theirs collectively yesterday. They quite rightly came to the ground, expecting to win. The pitch, the light, the target for South Africa - were all in their favour. They’ve won a number of matches in the last year and are understandably high on confidence. But that also breeds expectation, and when it didn’t…

World No 2 Daniil Medvedev battled past seventh-ranked Matteo Berrettini then returned for a crunch doubles rubber to help keep defending champions Russia on track for another ATP Cup title yesterday. The win set them up with a last four clash against Canada after Felix Auger-Aliassime stunned German world No 3 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Medvedev, who is set to be the top seed at this month's Australian Open with Novak Djokovic facing deportation over a visa issue, was dominant in the first set against Berrettini. But the gritty big-serving Italian battled back to win a second set tie-break before the Russian got a crucial break in game three of the third set to carve out a 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 win. Russian No 2 Roman Safiullin earlier lost…

| Reuters Romelu Lukaku did not mark his return to the Chelsea side with a goal but earned praise from boss Thomas Tuchel after Wednesday's 2-0 League Cup semi-final win over Tottenham Hotspur. The Belgian striker had apologised on Tuesday for saying in a TV interview he was dissatisfied with his role at Stamford Bridge since joining from Inter Milan for a club-record fee of £97.5-million (about R2.1-billion) in the close season. He was left out of the squad for the 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool at the weekend but Tuchel said he had no qualms about including him against Tottenham. "I am happy with the performance, I liked how he played," Tuchel said after the match. "He was strong, involved and showed huge commitment in our defensive…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za NURSING students said they were annoyed by the disregard shown to them by the national Health Department after community service nurses’ contracts ended and many were allegedly shown the door without any promise of employment. The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) Student Movement has now vowed to occupy the Gauteng Health Department building in Commissioner Street, Johannesburg, on Sunday until the plight of student nurses is heard. In a statement, Denosa national chair Nathaniel Mabelebele said they were disappointed by the department. “(We are) highly disappointed in the department of health for not honouring its commitment to receive the memorandum at the nursing council on November 25. The memorandum demanded a suitable funding model for nursing education, quality, dignified and well-maintained infrastructure in nursing education…

Ntombi Nkosi, Sihle Mavuso and Mashudu Sadike THE ANC has poured cold water on claims of threats or security risks against President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was escorted out of the memorial lecture honouring late Struggle icon Lilian Ngoyi before he could address the gathering, citing the flouting of Covid-19 regulations yesterday. “The president left after he was advised that we were not complying with the required regulations and, as a law-abiding and responsible leader, he had to vacate. There is no issue of any threat. The country is still safe. We have a legitimate government; there is no threat,” said ANC NEC member Dakota Legoete. “Everybody so far is safe. All citizens must be guaranteed safety. Those who have accreditation to come to the main event on Saturday can…

Staff writer WITH the Western Cape now having passed the peak of its fourth wave, analysis has shown fewer deaths among fully vaccinated persons compared to previous Covid-19 waves. In an update on the province’s Covid-19 cases and vaccine programme, Premier Alan Winde said between November 15 and December 11 last year, it was found that of those aged 60 years and older, 32 people died, of which only three were fully vaccinated. Of those aged between 50 – 59, eight died, of which only one was fully vaccinated. Of those between 35 - 49 years old, 11 people died, of which only one was fully vaccinated. Between 18 – 34 years, three people died, none of whom were fully vaccinated. “The Provincial Department of Health’s analysis of the fourth…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za FROM November to date, the City’s Fire and Rescue team has responded to 1 066 informal settlement fires, with at least 1 130 structures damaged and more than 3 000 people affected. In the latest incident yesterday, several homes and a number of people were displaced when a fire swept through Cathkin informal settlement in Heideveld. On Tuesday 10 shacks were burnt and 50 people displaced in Samora Machel informal settlement, Philippi. Samora Machel resident Thabile Sikhundla said he was shocked to see dark smoke coming from his house. “The fire almost burnt all my items but luckily things such as my documents I managed to save. Clothes, food and my wardrobes could not be saved. “I was at my friend’s house when I heard people shouting…

Is the legacy of the 1912 founders and of Madiba’s term in danger of being wasted? ON THAT fateful day on January 8, 1912, when the visionary leadership quartet of John Langalibalele Dube, Pixley ka Isaka Seme, Josiah Tshangana Gumede and Sol Plaatje gathered a motley crew of chieftains, tribal aristocracy, people’s representatives, church organisations and other prominent individuals in Bloemfontein to launch the South African Native National Congress, one Rolihlahla Nelson Dalibhunga Mandela was not even born! Just as South Africa was at the time undergoing seismic socio-political and economic changes – driven by the discovery of gold and diamonds and underlined, for example, by the adoption of the pernicious 1913 Land Act, which prevented Africans from buying, renting or using land, except in the so-called “Native Reserves” –…

Almaty: A Moscow-led military alliance dispatched troops to help quell mounting unrest in Kazakhstan yesterday as police said dozens were killed trying to storm government buildings. Long seen as one the most stable of the ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia, energy-rich Kazakhstan is facing its biggest crisis in decades after days of protests over rising fuel prices escalated into widespread unrest. Under increasing pressure, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appealed overnight to the Russia-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), which includes five other ex-Soviet states, to combat what he called “terrorist groups” that had “received extensive training abroad”. Within hours the alliance said the first troops had been sent – including Russian paratroopers and military units from the other CSTO members – in its first major joint action since its founding in…

Belgrade: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has accused Australia of harassing tennis star Novak Djokovic, who was denied entry into the country after he arrived in Melbourne to take part in the Australian Open tournament due to start on January 17. Djokovic, 34, was previously granted a medical exemption by the tournament’s organisers. Vucic wrote on his Instagram account. “I told our Novak the whole of Serbia is with him … ” Djokovic won a temporary reprieve in his deportation from the country later yesterday.…

French regulators have hit Google and Facebook with 210 million euros (R3.7bn) in fines over their use of “cookies”, the data used to track users online, authorities said yesterday. US tech giants, including the likes of Apple and Amazon, have come under growing pressure over their businesses practices across Europe, where they have faced massive fines and plans to impose far-reaching EU rules on how they operate. The 150-million-euro fine imposed on Google was a record by France’s National Commission for Information Technology and Freedom (CNIL), beating a previous cookie-related fine of 100 million euros against the company in December 2020. Facebook was handed a 60-million-euro fine. “CNIL has determined that the sites facebook.com, google.fr and (Google-owned) youtube.com do not allow users to refuse the use of cookies as simply…

Mexico: Mexican prosecutors are seeking a 39-year prison sentence for a former oil executive and key figure in a corruption scandal linked to Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht, a judicial source said. Emilio Lozoya, 47, who ran state oil giant Pemex from 2012 to 2016 and was once an advisor to former president Enrique Peña Nieto, was arrested in Spain and extradited to Mexico in 2020. Charges include bribery, money laundering and criminal association, the source said. Prosecutors are seeking a 25-year prison sentence for Lozoya’s mother, Gilda Austin, who is accused of involvement in the alleged corruption, the source said.…

The Aston Martin Formula One team announced the departure yesterday morning of chief executive officer and team principal Otmar Szafnauer. The Silverstone-based team, owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, said in their statement that a leadership team would take over until a replacement was appointed. They added: “We would like to thank him for the service provided to the team over the past 12 years and wish him well for the future as he will undoubtedly take on new challenges. “Fortunately, we are led and managed by a strong group of individuals, and we are comfortable to take a little time to explore options before announcing a new team structure. “The focus of the team is currently on preparing the most competitive car possible for the start of the 2022…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons Tarryn-Leigh.Solomons@iinl.co.za PREPARATIONS for the State of the Nation Address (Sona) are at an advanced stage, says Parliament spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo . President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to deliver the annual address on February 10. This usually takes place at the National Assembly, but since the parliamentary precinct was gutted by fire on Sunday and Monday, a new venue is being sought. Mothapo said the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Amos Masondo yesterday afternoon joined Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis on an inspection of possible alternative venues, such as the Municipal Chambers, Cape Town International Convention Centre and the Town Hall. “The inspection follows an offer by the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the City for…

Marsha Dean marsha.dean@inl.co.za ASSISTING a devastated owner with the euthanasia of his horse, overseeing the ritual slaughter of a sheep and responding to complaints of a flat containing an excessive number of cats is all in a day’s work for Cape of Good Hope (CoGH) SPCA inspectors. The Cape Times this week accompanied Inspector Siviwe Noko as he journeyed around Cape Town responding to a number of animal-related issues over the course of his nine-hour shift, which he said often extends late into the night. Noko has been an inspector with the CoGH SPCA based in Grassy Park for five years and covers the central region of Cape Town. He said he has a love for animals and enjoys working with them. “They can’t speak or defend themselves, so I…

Marsha Dean marsha.Dean@inl.co.za THIS year is set to be an exciting one for child golf prodigy Kian Adonis, 6, from Somerset West, who has been invited to compete in three international tournaments this year. Kian, a member of SA Kids golf organisation, was a runner up at the Junior Africa challenge in San Lameer, KwaZulu-Natal last year. This landed him opportunities to play abroad and he was invited to play his first tournament in Australia in April, then his second and third tournaments in the US and Northern Ireland in July. “I’m excited to play in overseas tournaments and to make new friends,” said Kian, whose favourite golf player is Hideki Matsuyama from Japan. His father, Jerome Adonis, said as parents they tried to incorporate different activities apart from golf,…

The Latinist Mark Prins Loot.co.za (R521) Norton THE Latinist is ingenious in its sinister simplicity. In Mark Prins’s novel, Tessa Templeton, a PhD candidate in classics at Oxford, discovers that her mentor has written a recommendation letter that damns her with faint praise, torpedoing her chances of securing an academic job. Professor Christopher Eccles’ motive? Obsession. The “Professor of Desire” wants to keep Tessa close. Tessa is a rising star in her small field: the non-canonical work of minor Roman poets. She’s had a paper accepted for publication at Oxford University Press. So, it’s odd that some humdrum graduate students in her programme have landed job interviews, but Tessa none. When she receives an email from an anonymous sender, reading: “You may want to reconsider asking Eccles for a…

NOVAK Djokovic will know on Monday whether he has been granted permission to play in the Australian Open, which starts on January 19. For now, he remains “locked up” in a refugee detention hotel after the Federal Court ruled that his appeal to be let into Australia ahead of the Australian Open would be adjourned until Monday. The Department of Home Affairs made the decision to deny Djokovic entry to Australia and to deport him, despite Djokovic arguing he had a vaccine exemption to enter the country, granted through Tennis Australia on medical grounds. It makes for dramatic reading, but don’t be in the least surprised if Djokovic, the winner of 20 Grand Slam men’s single titles and a record nine Australian Open men’s single titles, wins his appeal on…

Thousands of Sudanese took to the streets of Khartoum and other cities yesterday to protest against the military, which led a coup more than two months ago, witnesses said. Sudan’s armed forces led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan staged the power grab on October 25, sparking international condemnation and setting off a wave of demonstrations. The coup, which saw the civilian leadership ousted and detained, derailed a rocky transition toward full democracy that had started after the April 2019 ouster of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir. The military takeover – one of several in Sudan’s post-independence history – has triggered mass demonstrations and a bloody crackdown that has left at least 57 people dead and hundreds wounded, according to the independent Doctors’ Committee. “Our marches will continue until we restore our…

LOS ANGELES: Betty White “never wanted people to make a fuss over her”. The iconic actress died at her home in Los Angeles on December 31, at the age of 99, and Jeff Witjas – her long-time friend and agent – has revealed that Betty’s funeral will be a private ceremony. He told People magazine: “The arrangements are being handled privately and that was Betty’s wish. As in life, she never wanted people to make a fuss over her.” He encouraged fans to honour Betty’s legacy by donating to some of her favourite organisations, such as the Los Angeles Zoo, Tree People, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Wildlife Learning Center, and Actors and Animals for Others. “If someone has a desire to do something in her honour, you can support or donate…

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden urged Americans to reject lies and live by the “light of truth” yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump. Biden, a Democrat, defeated Republican Trump in the 2020 election, but the former president has falsely claimed the vote was marred by fraud, and his speech two weeks before Biden’s inauguration urging supporters to fight fuelled a deadly riot at the Capitol. The White House said Biden would assign “singular responsibility” to Trump for the violence a year ago in which four people and one Capitol police officer died.…

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis yesterday took an apparent dig at conservatives resisting change in the Roman Catholic Church, lamenting those whose religion was encased in a “suit of armour”. On the Feast of the Epiphany, Francis seemed to direct specific criticism at those who have balked at his decision to restrict the traditionalist Latin Mass, saying: “Do our words and liturgies ignite in people’s hearts a desire to move towards God, or are they a ‘dead language’?” In July, Francis tightened regulations on when it could be celebrated. Since then some conservatives have defied the pope, resulting in what some have dubbed the Church’s “liturgy wars”.…