Table of contents for 2022-04-12 in Cape Times

The fraud, money laundering and corruption trial of former president Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thales was postponed yesterday after debate on whether Judge Piet Koen had the discretion to allow Zuma’s Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) reconsideration application process to run its course. Judge Koen yesterday granted an adjournment saying the reconsideration application is part of an application for leave to appeal and that he could not find that Zuma’s litigation amounted to an abuse of court process. The judge said May 17 would be a holding date pending SCA president Justice Mandisa Maya’s decision and if the reconsideration applicationhad not been finalised, the trial would reconvene so another date could be determined. Zuma and Thales are not expected in court. Earlier, the court heard that Zuma’s…

THE election of Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie as Central Karoo mayor has been met with mixed reaction, with opposition parties saying residents would bear the burden of unfortunate fruits. McKenzie was sworn-in as councillor for Laingsburg Municipality replacing councillor Mitchell Smith, who resigned from the party recently. In his acceptance speech as the mayor yesterday, he said he would not just be a mayor for the PA, but would be a “mayor for everyone”. “I would like to apologise to all the residents of the Central Karoo because we politicians have not treated them the way they should be treated. Gone are the times we point fingers at other people. We take responsibility, whether we were there or not,” he said. McKenzie also said there will be zero…

AT LEAST 19 appeals have been lodged following Tosaco Energy’s recent decision to become the latest company to explore for offshore oil and gas from Alexander Bay to Hondeklipbaai in the Northern Cape. Residents in coastal communities in the Northern Cape have submitted appeals against the proposed seismic surveying along their shores, which comes just months after two seismic surveys on the shores of the East and West Coast were temporarily banned by the courts. A privately owned energy company, Tosaco Energy obtained authorisation to explore for offshore oil and gas in Block 1, which starts at Alexander Bay and extends to Hondeklipbaai in the Northern Cape. The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries said it had received 19 appeals against the decision To page 2…

SURROGATE motherhood has, over the years, become a big topic in the country’s courts. This is because every surrogate motherhood agreement has to be confirmed by the court. A judge has now developed criteria and ordered the interests of existing children on both sides must also be taken into account. Gauteng High Court Judge Brenda Neukircher, in a recent judgment, took a closer look at the issues regarding the children already in the existing families – the family due to receive a baby, as well as the children of the surrogate mother. Up to now the courts, in dealing with applications to confirm a surrogate motherhood agreement, mostly looked at the parties involved and whether such an agreement would be in the best interest of the child due to be…

THE search continues for a missing St Lucia man after he and a fellow fisherman were thrown off their boat when it was hit by waves on Sunday. National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) St Lucia station commander Jan Hoffman said duty crew were activated at 7am following reports of two fishermen who had fallen overboard a local commercial fishing boat in the surfline at Mapelane Bay in KZN. “Our NSRI rescue vehicle responded, towing an NSRI rescue craft Jetrib to the scene. On arrival, it was determined that the two local fishermen had been ejected off the boat into the surfline after the boat may have been broadsided by two waves,” Hoffman said. A local charter vessel had launched and rescued one of the fishermen. “He was safe on the…

THE proposal made by the Automobile Association (AA) last week that the operations of blue light brigades that are responsible for the transportation of politicians should be reviewed, is long overdue. This is not only due to the fact that they pose a safety threat for all motorists and pedestrians, but also because the blue light brigades should be subject to the same laws as all other South Africans. The AA announced that it would communicate with the ministers of police and transport to have such a review instituted without delay. Layton Beard, the spokesperson of the AA, made it clear that “the blue light brigades are, simply put, a threat to other drivers”. Section 58 (3) of the National Road Traffic Act allows SAPS officers in the Presidential Protection…

In the middle of the Indian Ocean lies a little gem of a paradise. Chagos is a group of seven atolls comprising 60 little islands far from the madding crowd. Except for Diego Garcia, the islands are uninhabited. Some 200 years ago Chagos was an unspoilt, pristine home to a rich biodiversity of corals, marine creatures and numerous sea birds. But then came man. He saw this paradise in the middle of the ocean and found it irresistible. He just couldn’t leave it alone to the fish and the birds. He had to make his ugly mark on the island. In colonial times the British were everywhere, even in the most remote corners of the globe, always on the lookout for opportunities to expand their empire. Whether it was big…

French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday embarked on a final fortnight of bruising campaigning against far-right rival Marine Le Pen for a French presidential election run-off whose outcome is far more uncertain than their encounter five years ago. With final results in, Macron came first in Sunday’s first round of voting with 27.85%. Le Pen was second with 23.15%. As the top two finishers, they advance to a second round on April 24. Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon came close, after a late surge gave him a score of just under 22%. The duel between Macron and Le Pen is a re-run of the 2017 election final from which Macron emerged victorious with 66% – but this time polls predict a closer contest that will crucially hinge on voters who backed other…

LOS ANGELES: After a high-profile libel case in London, actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard headed back to court yesterday, this time in the US, for a blockbuster defamation case revolving about allegations of spousal abuse. The case pitting Depp, 58, against Heard, 35, will be broadcast live. Both are expected to testify, along with actors James Franco and Paul Bettany, and billionaire Elon Musk. The case centres on a column written by Heard for The Washington Post in 2018, describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse” who was pilloried online after her assault claims. | AFP…

At leasT 50 people were killed and dozens abducted by gunmen in Nigeria’s Plateau state, residents said yesterday, the latest in a spate of attacks by armed gangs in the northern parts of Africa’s most populous nation. Such attacks are not common in Plateau, in central Nigeria. But the state shares a border with Kaduna state, where suspected bandits blew up train tracks, killed eight people and kidnapped dozens last month. Fifteen soldiers were last week killed by gunmen who attacked a Kaduna army base. Jonathan Ishaku, spokesperson for Plateau Elders Forum, said 50 were dead and 70 people, including women and children, kidnapped. | Reuters…

Tehran: Iran yesterday questioned the US’s will in reaching an agreement to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, with key sticking points unresolved after talks halted last month. Iran has been engaged in talks with France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly, and the US indirectly to revive the deal. Negotiations aim to return the US to the deal, including through the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and ensure Tehran’s compliance with its commitments, including not to develop a nuclear weapon. “We don’t know if we’ll get a deal or not, because the US hasn’t shown the … will to reach an agreement,” the Iranian foreign ministry said. | AFP…

From page 1 Civic organisation SA1stForum convener, advocate Rod Solomons, said the argument about job losses was a “red herring.” “This development should never have started on such a rich and important heritage site. “We have so many more attractive options, from a spatial planning perspective. “Why were areas like Khayalitsha and Mitchells Plain, even Atlantis, for example, ignored? These are areas needing this type of economic development, not the leafy suburbs where traffic congestion is also already a huge issue,” he said. “We need to start looking at this MEC’s track record, and whether he bends over backwards to act in the interest of developers. “When there are serious objections they conveniently hide behind the argument of thousands of jobs that are lost. Who would get these jobs and…

FORMER Miss SA 2020 Shudufhadzo Musida continues to advocate for mental health by educating the public about the seriousness of depression and mental illness. The beauty queen’s aim is to shed light on perspectives about mental health while eliminating the stigma surrounding it, giving people a platform to communicate. Musida highlighted depression, which is one of the most pervasive mental illnesses that South Africans are dealing with. She had as webinar guests psychiatrist Dr Lerato Dikobe-Kalane; operations director at the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, Cassey Chambers; and a depression patient on treatment, Dineo Mogale, to unpack essential ways to deal with depression. Dikobe-Kalane started the meeting by revealing that depression can also affect young children but was most common among youth from18 years. “The commonest age of presenting…

THE R4.5 billion development of the River Club Development site with tech giant Amazon as an anchor tenant is headed for another fierce court battle. This after the City and provincial government confirmed they would also challenge Western Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath’s interdict halting the development. Judge Goliath’s judgment and order contained a number of errors and were “fraught with misunderstandings about the wide public participation processes undertaken”, according to Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Minister Anton Bredell. Judge Goliath said the matter concerned the rights of indigenous people and the fact that the development would bring substantial economic, infrastructural and public benefits could never override the fundamental rights of the First Nations People. Bredell said among the errors identified in the judgment were…

Despite the fact that South Africa lost its World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)-recognised FMD free zone status in 2019, the permanent movement restrictions remained in place in the FMD protection zones. “I call on all citizens of to stop the illegal movement of animals out of FMD-affected areas. The damages caused by continued FMD outbreaks have a severe negative impact on the economy of the country as well as the individual animal owners. “I am pleased that a 49-year old man was arrested at Masisi in the Vhembe District of Limpopo for bringing goats from the FMD-controlled zone into the free zone and the law has taken its course,” Didiza said. “Another case, where animals were illegally moved from an FMD-controlled area to auctions in two provinces, is being…

THE Cape Agulhas Municipality has lodged a fraud complaint against a non-profit organisation that it alleges defrauded the municipality of R25 000 for a youth sport event that never took place. The company, Childcare Assist, had submitted a proposal for a youth sport event in the municipality in 2018, and money was paid to the company to roll-out the event, the municipality said. Municipal Manager, Eben Phillips said the youth sports event was postponed due to bad weather and the company has since “vanished into thin air”. Efforts from the municipality’s legal team to trace the whereabouts of the company were also unsuccessful. “The Office of the Auditor-General identified the payment of R25 000 as fruitless and wasteful expenditure during the 2018/19 financial year,” he said. The Municipal Public Accounts…

LIMPOPO Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba’s office has explained that a team of various medical specialists is still running tests and conducting studies in order to decide on the next course of action regarding the conjoined twins born last week. “Psychologists have also been dispatched to offer psychological support to the mother of the new babies and her family, who all did not know that the twins she was carrying were conjoined until birth. Both babies are clinically stable, not intubated and respiratory-wise coping for now,” her department said. The department also requested the public to allow the medical teams to do their work, and also offer support to the family of the babies. A 41-year-old mother delivered a set of twins through Caesarean section and until they arrived, neither…

Families of executioners of political activists won’t be allowed to rest APRIL 6 these days has a dubious distinction. Some of our Afrikaner fellow South Africans regard it as the day civilisation came to our country in 1652. They also refer to it as “Founders’ Day”. However, when apartheid decided to hang Solomon Mahlangu in 1979, the best-known and best-loved anti-apartheid activist, who fought valiantly against it, in their notorious Pretoria jail, they made a crucial and fateful mistake by doing it on this day, April 6. The age-old belief that “good triumphs over evil” comes to the fore, etched firmly in our conscience, in various other incidents in our history. As far back as 1723 three slaves were sentenced to death, their heads impaled on poles to deter others.…

Ukraine said yesterday its forces were still holding out in the port of Mariupol, where Russia was renewing its assault in a siege believed to have killed thousands of trapped civilians. “Communication with the units of the defence forces heroically holding the city is stable and maintained,” Ukraine’s military commander-in-chief, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said on Facebook. “We are doing the possible and impossible for the victory and the preservation of the lives of personnel and civilians in all directions. Believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine!” A post on the Facebook page of a brigade of marines holding out in the city said they had run out of ammunition and were now facing death or capture, with yesterday likely to be the “ultimate battle”. Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to the…

A string of deadly storms pummelled Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique with more intense rainfall because of climate change and global warming, new research found yesterday. Three tropical cyclones and two tropical storms hit south-east Africa in just six weeks in the first months of this year, causing widespread flooding. More than a million people were affected and at least 230 died. The analysis was carried out by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network of scientists, which has pioneered ways to speedily link extreme weather events to climate change. They said it was climate change that had made the heavy rains brought by the back-to-back storms both heavier and more likely. After Tropical Storm Ana smashed into the region in January, Tropical Cyclone Batsirai hit Madagascar in early February, followed in…

LOS ANGELES: Elon Musk is no longer joining the board of Twitter, the chief executive of the social media company said, in a reversal less than a week after announcing the Tesla and SpaceX chief would be appointed. Musk was named to join the Twitter board after buying a major stake in the firm and becoming its largest shareholder. “Elon has decided not to join our board,” Parag Agrawal tweeted. “I believe this is for the best.” Currently the world’s richest man and with more than 80 million followers on the microblogging platform, Musk last week disclosed a purchase of 73.5 million shares (9.2%) of Twitter’s common stock. His announcement sent Twitter shares soaring more than 25%. In reaction to the news, Musk tweeted a smirking emoji. The billionaire tech…

JAKARTA: Indonesian police fired tear gas and water cannon yesterday to disperse hundreds of university students protesting high cooking oil prices and a mooted extension of President Joko Widodo’s stay in office. Crowds of demonstrators were seen running away from the scene outside parliament in the capital, Jakarta, and rocks had been thrown into the complex. The rally was one across Indonesia, including in South Sulawesi, West Java and Jakarta, where hundreds of students wearing neon jackets had marched towards parliament to complain about rising costs and the president outstaying his two-term limit. | Reuters…

A MONTH ago, Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was having sleepless nights over a lack of fit and in-form flyhalves at his disposal, and he says that has even considered Cheslin Kolbe as a stop-gap solution. Nienaber’s World Cup-winning flyhalf, Handre Pollard, has suffered a string of injuries and only this last weekend did he make a comeback when he played 20 minutes off the bench for Montpellier against Harlequins in the European Challenge Cup. Pollard’s backup in Japan, Elton Jantjies, seriously injured his shoulder and has been back in South Africa for surgery. “It was quite a shock when I thought about it a month ago that if we would have to play a Test match, both our regular players were injured,” Nienaber told media on Sunday in an online…

From page 1 of the Competent Authority (CA) to grant Tosaco Energy an environmental authorisation (EA) for their proposed seismic survey project. “The appeals that meet the criteria for compliant appeals will be consolidated into an Appeals Response Report. “Thereafter, the Appeals Directorate will send the Appeals Response Report to the applicant and to the CA for their comments and responses to the grounds of appeals, which must be provided within a period of 20 calendar days after receiving the report,” the department said. Samantha Cloete, a resident of Kleinsee, a small village on the West Coast of the Northern Cape, said residents believed the realities of their communities should have been considered in the application. “There is no evidence of this in this cut-and-paste document because it does not…

FOLLOWING the outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in cattle in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the North-West, Gauteng and Free State, there is a high risk of spreading the disease to other parts of the country through the movement of cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals. For this reason, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture is cautioning farmers about the risk of buying livestock of unknown origin. According to State Veterinarian Dr Vivien Malan, animals can spread the disease without showing any clinical signs of it, because they shed the virus before any signs of the disease can be seen. Foot and mouth disease is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of livestock, including cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. The virus is found in all body fluids, such as saliva, urine, faeces, milk…

SOUTH Africa is facing a chicken price increase tsunami due to inflation, rising costs, supply chain disruptions and global economy risk to food security. So says the South African Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE), adding that it could be realised as soon as June this year. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) said it was monitoring prices through the Poultry Masterplan, but food price inflation was currently a global problem. “We have noted domestically, high feed costs and Avian Influenza outbreaks which are currently rampant within the EU. “Poultry continues to be under pressure both domestically and globally,” DTIC spokesperson, Bongani Lukhele said. “Through the Poultry Masterplan process, the National Agricultural Marketing Council continues to monitor the chicken prices including the rise that can be attributed…

AT LEAST two people were killed and one person is missing as heavy rains left a trail of destruction across KwaZulu-Natal. Several areas, including eManzimtoti, were flooded due to the torrential rain on Sunday and yesterday. The eThekwini Municipality said two people had died – one in KwaMashu’s ward 47, and the other in uMlazi’s ward 87. Robert Mckenzie, KZN Emergency Medical Services’ spokesperson, said a 22-year-old man was killed after a wall fell on him in KwaMashu yesterday. Paul Herbst, a spokesperson for Medi Response paramedics, said that a landslide had occurred in uMlazi on Sunday, engulfing an informal dwelling, and the occupant was killed. In KwaDukuza yesterday, a woman was washed off a low-level bridge as she tried to cross the Nonoti River. IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson Dylan…

THE stalwart newspaperman Jos Charle served in many roles in his long-standing career, including chairperson in the National Press Club, former Pretoria News news and executive editor, and ICC Cricket World Cup committee spokesperson. He was a Young Men’s Guild (YMG) member in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA), a Methodist Circuit steward in Moreleta and leader at Mamelodi Central Methodist Church where he served the community of Mamelodi. A man with absolute integrity, honesty and a determined, straight- forward “no-nonsense” personality, he was innovative, creative and a responsible leader. His leadership and administrative skills are almost legendary and could be deemed unprecedented in the Moreleta Circuit. He attended numerous seminars and conferences in the MCSA. He travelled globally and often represented not only his church but the country…

Pakistan’s parliament chose a more Western-friendly politician, Shehbaz Sharif, as prime minister yesterday, completing the ousting of predecessor Imran Khan in a political crisis that has sparked street protests and a mass resignation of MPs. Sharif’s election brings to a close a week-long constitutional confrontation that climaxed on Sunday when Khan lost a no-confidence vote, although the nuclear-armed nation is likely to remain prone to political and economic turbulence. Sharif, 70, who has a reputation domestically as an effective administrator more than as a politician, is the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Analysts say Shehbaz, unlike Nawaz, enjoys amicable relations with Pakistan’s military, which traditionally controls foreign and defence policy in the country of 220 million people. After the vote, Sharif vowed to tackle an economic malaise…

The looming execution of a US mother-of-14, sentenced to death in a controversial case for the murder of her daughter, 2, has provoked a backlash from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and a gro- wing movement beyond US borders. Melissa Lucio is to be put to death on April 27 for the 2007 murder of her daughter, Mariah, whose body was found at the family home covered in bruises, days after falling down stairs. Pregnant with twins at the time, Lucio’s life had been marked by physical and sexual assault, drug addiction and financial insecurity. Police suspected she had hit her child. After saying she hadn’t done it, she made an “extorted” confession, said Sabrina Van Tassel, director of the hit 2020 documentary The State of Texas vs Melissa. During the…

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force yesterday continued its operation to rescue 48 stranded tourists after at least two people were killed and several others injured when two cable cars in a ropeway collided with each other at Trikut hills close to Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar on Sunday. The rescue operation has been slow because the ropeway trolleys are stuck at a height of 182m and are not approachable from the ground, therefore they are being rescued by the air force chopper. Trikut ropeway is one of the highest vertical ropeways. It is about 20km from the temple and is about 766m long. The Trikut hill is 392m high. | IANS…

BRITISH Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has asked the government’s ethics advisor to review whether he followed all the rules after revelations about his family’s financial affairs stoked political controversy. In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Sunak requested that the government’s adviser on ministerial standards, Christopher Geidt, assess his declarations of interest since he first became a minister in 2018. Johnson has agreed to the request. It follows a leak last week revealing that his wealthy Indian wife, Akshata Murty, had benefited from “non-domicile” tax status in the UK, shielding her overseas income from taxes at a time when they are rising for most Britons. | AFP…