Table of contents for 2022-06-21 in Cape Times

FORMER ANC spokesperson and NEC member Carl Niehaus has accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of showing the country the “middle finger” by hosting a cattle auction at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo on Saturday. The farm has been making headlines after former State Security Agency director-general Arthur Fraser revealed that Ramaphosa tried to conceal a crime – the alleged robbery of $4 million (more than R60 million), from his farm. On Saturday Ramaphosa hosted an auction where scores of breeders gathered to buy livestock, among them Ankole cows. Speaking to Pretoria News yesterday, Niehaus said Ramaphosa was in contravention of the Constitution by continuing to do business while he was a sitting president. “The president is contravening his oath of office. He is acting in an illegal manner. He is…

Police Minister Bheki Cele has distanced himself from a meeting reportedly between his officers and their Namibian counterparts where details of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm robbery involving millions of US dollars were apparently discussed. In a recent statement, Namibian police Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga claimed the meeting between their officers and South African police in a place called “no man’s land” was on June 19, 2020. “As the custodian of law and order, we vehemently refute allegations … (that) the Namibian police did dirty work for President Ramaphosa. “On June 12, 2020, Mr Imanuwela David (the alleged mastermind) illegally entered Namibia through an ungazetted entry point near Noordoewer, IIKaras Region by canoe via the Orange River. “On June 13, 2020, Mr Imanuwela David was arrested at Hotel 77 Independence Avenue…

MONKEYPOX cases were reported from over 10 countries in non-endemic areas by the end of May, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, as it announced it was working with affected countries to enhance surveillance and provide guidance on how to stop the spread and how to care for those infected. Since 1970, human cases of monkeypox have been reported in 11 African countries – Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. The WHO said that with the exception of cases sporadically reported in travellers from endemic countries, cases in non-endemic areas that are not linked to travel from endemic countries are not typical. As of last month, there was no…

THE health and wellbeing of children in Flamingo Heights informal settlement near Lansdowne has raised concern after several children became covered in sores from the filthy living and playing conditions. Founder of community outreach organisation Indipam, Pamela Tosh, said the community was densely populated. “The situation here is that the community has got bigger and the infrastructure has not been developed with the growth of the community to accommodate the amount of sewage. “The environment is extremely dirty, especially for the children and the dogs. “The drains behind the external toilets break easily and overflow into the pathways where the children play,” Tosh said. She said children have now developed sores that look like large pimples. “The problem is if they are not treated with a cream or with a…

YET another mob justice incident has added to a “worrying trend” in the province. Police have launched an investigation after Kraaifontein residents allegedly attacked and killed a man on Saturday, blaming him for a spate of robberies in the community. The incident occurred on the corner of First Avenue and Lincoln Road in Belmont Park. It also happened less than 24 hours after Kraaifontein safety organisations, community and faith leaders marched for peace, and nearly a month after the gruesome murder of Dunoon Bolt driver Abongile Mafalala by a mob in Parkwood. Kraaifontein Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairperson Rob Bisset said they received information about a possible mob justice attack on Saturday. “We got word there was a killing on Saturday. We condemn this incident. Let’s let Saps do the…

Moscow’s blockade of Ukrainian grain exports and a rail transit row sparked fresh tensions between Russia and the EU yesterday, as Kyiv warned that Russian troops were intensifying their battle for control of eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of holding Africa “hostage” by blocking wheat deliveries, which has spurred food shortages and fears of famines in vulnerable areas. Nearly four months after Russia launched its bloody invasion, Zelenskiy said Ukraine was headed into a “fateful” week with EU leaders set to discuss Kyiv’s bid to become a candidate for bloc membership on Thursday and Friday. Zelenskiy warned to expect heavier fighting in the days to come in strategic areas in eastern Ukraine already under relentless Russian bombardment. Ukraine said Russian troops appeared to be making small gains,…

AN International Monetary Fund (IMF) team began bailout talks in Sri Lanka yesterday, with police called to escort a top government official to the negotiations after protesters angry about the economic crisis blockaded the finance ministry. Economic mismanagement and the Covid-19 pandemic have left Sri Lanka battling its worst financial problems in seven decades, and a lack of foreign exchange has stalled imports of essentials including fuel, food and medicines. The nation of 22 million people is scrambling to get fuel shipments in the next three days, the energy minister said, as public disaffection grows because of a persistent shortage of diesel and petrol. He asked consumers not to queue for petrol for the next three days to conserve supplies. Sri Lanka suspended payment on $12 billion of foreign debt…

LONDON: Prince William evoked his late mother Princess Diana’s work for charity as he described as “eye-opening”, his stint selling copies on a London street of a magazine that helps to combat homelessness, saying he was committed to highlighting the problem. William, second in line to the British throne, was seen in early June standing on a Westminster Street as a vendor for the Big Issue, which is sold by homeless people in Britain as a way of earning money. “I was 11 when I first visited a homeless shelter with my mother, who in her own inimitable style was determined to shine a light on an overlooked, misunderstood problem,” William wrote in the magazine’s latest issue. Charity Crisis estimated that 227 000 British households experienced homelessness last year.…

HARARE: Zimbabwean health workers went on strike yesterday after rejecting a 100% wage hike offer last week, pressing their demand for payment in US dollars as the local currency slumps. Zimbabwe’s main nurses’ union urged the government to negotiate and warned that lives would be lost if the dispute was not resolved quickly. The government and health workers are at an impasse after inflation jumped to 131.7% in May, a grim echo of the hyperinflation that wiped out people’s savings a decade ago. Government workers rejected the below-inflation 100% wage hike offer last week. | Reuters…

80ml olive oil 3 large onions, sliced (not chopped) 600g large brown mushrooms, sliced 2 tbs fresh thyme 5 ml fennel seeds (or cumin seeds) 15 ml balsamic vinegar 500g puff pastry, thawed 1 egg, whisked, for brushing 2 tsp sesame seeds, for sprinkling (optional) For the filling: In a large, wide pot, over medium heat, add the oil and the onions. Fry slowly until the onions start to soften and go golden brown – about 10-15 minutes. Add the mushrooms, thyme and fennel, turn up the heat and continue to fry (stirring often) until the mushrooms release their moisture and go soft and dark (about 10-15 minutes). Add the balsamic vinegar and stir until it has reduced. Season with salt and pepper, and leave to cool for 15 minutes.…

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has finally proposed to make it a binding policy that all schools built from mud, asbestos, metal and wood be replaced. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) recently published proposed amendments to the minimum norms and standards for public school infrastructure. The comment period closed earlier this month. In addition to poor structures, the document detailed that norms and standards going forward should entail that all public schools should have water and electricity. They should also have enough classrooms to accommodate all enrolled learners and adequate perimeter fencing. Motshekga, or any successive minister, will monitor the implementation of the new norms and standards, the document said. “Each provincial Department of Education must annually … provide the Minister with detailed reports on plans and progress on…

THE sexual assault case against DA Theewaterskloof Local Municipality councillor Dawid Jooste has been provisionally withdrawn, while the complainant is unreachable. Jooste is alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman when he gave her a lift in February. The victim said she lodged a complaint with the police after the incident. Jooste had appeared in the Caledon Magistrate’s Court on a charge of sexual assault earlier this month. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila yesterday said the case had been provisionally withdrawn. “A sexual assault case was opened but the matter was provisionally withdrawn as the complainant could not be traced,” Ntabazalila said. Attempts by the Cape Times to reach the woman were unsuccessful yesterday. In February she told the publication: “He gave me a lift from town to…

Gun violence and the killing of teachers has got out of hand AS SOUTH Africans watched yet another series of deadly school shootings unfold on the Cape Flats, Rustenburg, Gqeberha, Newlands West and elsewhere in the country, we were again left to reflect on what to point the finger at for a seemingly unstoppable problem. At the same time, President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed the World Bank’s approval of a loan of about R7.6 billion to help South Africa fund Covid-19 vaccine purchases as he braced the country for a possible winter surge of cases, leaving us all pondering what we could do to put an end to this horrible pandemic. It seems that we, as a nation, are uniquely hopeless at attending to things that end in “-emic”, be…

Hundreds of people belonging to the Amhara ethnic group were killed by rebels in Ethiopia’s Oromia region over the weekend, survivors said yesterday, but the insurgents denied the claims, blaming government forces for the deaths. Fighting erupted on Saturday in Oromia’s Gimbi district between pro-government forces and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a rebel group which is branded a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian government. Amharas and Oromos make up the vast majority of Ethiopia’s 115 million people and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has previously accused the OLA of ethnic massacres. Witnesses said the attack lasted several hours, with unclaimed bodies still lying on the streets. “I lost my 16-year-old daughter in the attack, shot by a bullet from the (OLA) gunmen,” an Amhara man said. Another man said…

Australia’s prime minister says he will engage “diplomatically” over the US prosecution of Julian Assange, but he is standing by earlier remarks questioning the purpose of further legal action. As domestic pressure mounted on him to intervene in the WikiLeaks founder’s case, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday took a swipe at “people who think that if you put things in capital letters on Twitter and put an exclamation mark, then that somehow makes it more important”. Assange’s wife Stella Assange said she understood the Albanese government was raising her husband’s case with US President Joe Biden’s administration. Assange’s legal saga began in 2010 after WikiLeaks published classified US documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been held in a London jail since 2019 for jumping bail in…

Guwahati: At least 26 more people had died in monsoon flooding and lightning strikes in India, as millions remained marooned in the country and neighbouring Bangladesh, authorities said yesterday. Floods are a regular menace in India and Bangladesh, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and unpredictability for the two countries’ 1.6 billion people. India’s state of Assam continued to reel under severe flooding, with 5 140 villages submerged by surging waters. More than 100 000 villagers are taking refuge in relief shelters. Monsoon storms have also unleashed floods in Bangladesh that have left millions stranded and killed dozens so far. | AFP…

JERUSALEM: Israel yesterday accused Iran of being behind a cyberattack the previous day that activated false rocket warning sirens in Jerusalem, state-owned Kan TV news reported. The Israel National Cyber Directorate believes the alarms, heard for about an hour on Sunday evening in Jerusalem and the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat, were triggered by a cyberattack carried out by Iran, according to Kan. The military said the sirens were false alarms and “the issue is under investigation,” adding later that the hacked sirens belong to the local authorities and are not part of the Home Front Command’s system. Iran had not responded to the allegations by deadline. | Xinhua…

AUDITOR-GENERAL Tsakani Maluleke has fingered the Department of Water and Sanitation for not holding officials accountable for incurring irregular expenditure as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure totalling more than R300 million. In her 2020/21 audit report, Maluleke said effective steps were not taken to prevent irregular expenditure amounting to R179 million. “The majority of the irregular expenditure related to prior year irregular contracts which were extended in the current year,” she said. Maluleke also said effective steps were not taken to prevent fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R157 million. “The majority of the fruitless and wasteful expenditure disclosed in the financial statements was caused by loses or abnormal costs incurred on internal and external projects.” The A-G said the department did not make payments within 30 days after…

A CORPORAL punishment incident at Bloekombos Secondary School has once again placed the spotlight on teacher training to deal with ill behaviour. In the latest incident, the Kraaifontein school’s music teacher is alleged to have assaulted a group of 13 learners by beating each of them, apparently more than 10 times, on the buttocks with a pipe, after they celebrated their choir competition win by drinking liquor. One learner, who reported the matter after others were fearful, also sent the Cape Times a picture of his buttocks which are visibly bruised and swollen. According to his aunt, who is also the learner’s guardian, she became aware of the incident on May 30 after her son showed her the pictures of her 16-year-old nephew. “The incident happened at the weekend and…

A former semi-professional electronic sports (esports) gamer has become the first patient to undergo a robotic-assisted thoracic procedure in Africa. In a first for the continent, Etienne Nel, 33, had the thoracic outlet decompression surgery performed at Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital. Nel said he was looking forward to swimming again once he has completely healed. “Four years ago, I started to notice some pain around my shoulder, and as time went on, I began feeling discomfort and ‘pins and needles’ in my right arm and hand. Through a process of elimination, I was eventually diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, and by this time it had also begun to restrict movement in my right arm,” Nel said. “You really need that symmetrical strength and flow of motion for swimming,…

QUESTIONS have been raised about the legality of developers, the Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust’s (LLPT) intentions to commence with “riverine rehabilitation and remedial activity” on the River Club site while they wait for the outcome of their application for leave to appeal before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). Western Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath had interdicted construction on the site pending review proceedings, saying the fact that the development has economic benefits can never override the fundamental rights of the First Nations People – which were under threat if the development was allowed to proceed. Earlier this month, the LLPT had filed an urgent application for leave to appeal in the SCA against Judge Goliath’s decision. Yesterday, LLPT trustee and spokesperson, James Tannenberger, said: “Today, remedial…

A FORMER Western Cape Government (WCG) employee has broken his silence, alleging that he was not given a chance to respond to allegations made against him in the wake of a sexual misconduct investigation. Lazola Ndubela, 30, said he was now struggling to find new employment because a dark cloud of uncertainty hangs over his head after his contract was terminated earlier this month, and after being implicated in an investigation that led to the dismissal of former Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz. “I wish to break my self-imposed silence and make a statement about my precautionary suspension and inclusion in the allegations made against Fritz … After all of their investigations, the WCG has found no evidence of wrongdoing against me. A grave injustice has been perpetrated against me…

THE AU has declared 2022 as the year of “Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent”, but realising this might be harder than anticipated due to climate change’s impact on the continent. Presently, the East African region is experiencing its worst drought spell in four decades, attributed to La Niña – a natural large-scale cooling of ocean surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean – causing dry weather and high temperatures. The drought has eroded economic reserves, herd sizes, and human health – a major factor behind the alarming numbers of people without enough to eat daily. Yet, the region is one of the least responsible for the climate crisis, emitting collectively 0.1% of global carbon emissions. Estimates by Oxfam and Save…

French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist camp scrambled yesterday to seek support from parliamentary rivals to salvage some of his reform agenda and avoid political paralysis, after voters punished them in a legislative election. While Macron’s “Ensemble” grouping secured the largest number of lawmakers in the 577-seat National Assembly, it fell well short of an absolute majority in a vote on Sunday that saw a left-wing alliance and the far-right perform very strongly. “It’s going to be complicated,” government spokesperson Olivia Gregoire told France Inter radio. “We’re going to have to be creative. What I fear most is that this country be blocked.” One key question is whether Macron will try to strike a coalition deal with the conservative Les Republicains, who have for now rejected that option, or enter into…

MANILA: Philippines’ President-elect Ferdinand Marcos awarded himself the post of agriculture minister yesterday, citing the urgent need to address challenges in the sector and boost production to prevent food shortages and price increases. Ramping up agricultural production in a country known for being one of the world’s biggest importers of rice would be among his priorities, Marcos said. It is unusual for a Philippines president to hold a post in their own cabinet. Marcos, who will be sworn in on June 30, warned of a food shortage that will push prices higher, driven by “outside forces”. | Reuters…

SAO PAULO: The boat used by killed British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira to travel Brazil’s Amazon had been found, authorities said. The speedboat was submerged about 20m deep in the Itacoai River in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil with the help of six sandbags, authorities said. They said they were led to the site of the boat’s sinking by the latest suspect in the killings, Jeferson da Silva Lima, who surrendered himself to police. Police have identified five more suspects for the murders. Phillips was doing research for a book on the trip with Pereira. Shock at their fate has echoed around the world. | Reuters…

Brussels: The EU yesterday added three Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist commanders in West Africa to its terrorist sanctions blacklist for attacks in Mali and Burkina Faso. The new asset freezes and visa bans target Sidan Ag-Hitta and Salem ould Breihmatt, senior commanders in the UN-listed al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in Mali, as well as its Burkinabe branch Ansarul Islam and its leader Jafar Dicko. “The sanctioned group and individuals are responsible for several terrorist attacks, including against civilians, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali and defence and security forces in Burkina Faso,” the EU said. | AFP…