Table of contents for 2022-12-01 in Cape Times

STANDARD Bank Group assisted more than 40 African businesses showcase their products at the 2022 China International Import Expo (CIIE) recently held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10. As the largest global import promotion event, the 5th CIIE exhibited products from more than 100 countries, including 280 of the world's top 500 enterprises. Over the past four years, the CIIE has successfully introduced more than 1 500 new products, technologies, and services, with an accumulated turnover exceeding $270 billion (R4,6 trillion) to the Chinese domestic market. Since travel to China is currently restricted due to Covid-19, this year’s CIIE allowed the physical exhibition of products, even though business owners couldn’t attend in person to promote their goods. The physical exhibition of pro- ducts, supported by…

THE quick action of correctional services officers prevented Gauteng ANC and SACP supporters from storming the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre with the sole aim of pouncing on Polish immigrant Janusz Walus – the killer of former SACP general secretary Chris Hani. The drama unfolded yesterday at the main entrance of the prison, when some of the protesters rushed to the gate with the clear intention of opening it and allowing fellow protesters to gain access into the maximum security prison. They were clearly baying for Walus’s blood, after the Constitutional Court ordered that Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola release him on parole. Walus has spent 29 years incarcerated at the centre, following his role in the murder of Hani on April 10, 1993. But their plan was…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has been found guilty on four counts of serious misconduct by the Section 89 panel investigating the Phala Phala scandal. In its report released last night, the panel found the embattled president may have committed serious violation of the constitution by “acting in a manner inconsistent with his office”, exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business of the constitution, as well as violation of sections of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) over the foreign currency that was held at his property in Limpopo in 2020. In damning findings that could lead to the establishment of an impeachment committee and could prove detrimental to Ramaphosa’s attempts to retain the ANC president position this month, the…

THE National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has passed the Electoral Amendment Bill, which will allow independent candidates to stand for election in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. The bill was, however, passed with amendments, including one providing for the establishment of an electoral reform consultation panel that must look into the country’s electoral system after the 2024 elections. The bill is a sequel to a Constitutional Court judgment delivered in June 2020, which found that the Electoral Act was unconstitutional because it required candidates who wanted to stand for elections to be members of political parties. Parliament was given until June 2022 to remedy the defect, but it asked for an extension, which ended on December 10. The amended bill provides for requirements that must be met by persons…

A FAMILY from Endlovini informal settlement in Khayelitsha are having to deal with the loss of three children, and at the same time are trying to piece their lives back together. When 13-year-old Nako Mbema noticed his sister Qamisa Mbema, 8, and brother Akhanyile Magamle, 4, were nowhere to be found as residents fled frantically while their shack was being consumed by flames, he went back in the hope of rescuing them. However, his heroic quest ended tragically as the children were trapped inside the burning structure. Their three bodies were found in the debris. Another child, a relative, is fighting for life at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. The family of 16 – made up of 12 children and four adults, reside in one large…

Over the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact globally on countries’ national communicable disease programmes, crucially including the response to HIV/Aids. Disruptions in treatment and prevention services may have contributed to about 1.5 million new HIV infections globally that occurred last year. A rigorous scale-up of health services by governments needs to go hand in hand with active involvement of communities to get the global HIV response back on track. Drawing on our experience of more than two decades working with HIV and tuberculosis in South Africa, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) believes that community-led interventions such as those involving youth can significantly improve the uptake of health services and reduce the risk of HIV infection. Young people can be extremely effective drivers of…

At least 16 people were killed and 24 others wounded yesterday in a blast at a madrasa in Afghanistan’s northern city of Aybak, about 200km north of Kabul. There have been dozens of blasts and attacks targeting civilians since the Taliban returned to power in August last year. The local chapter of the Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for most of these. The casualties were mostly youngsters. “All of them are children and ordinary people,” said a doctor in Aybak, who asked not to be named. A provincial official confirmed there was a blast at Al Jihad madrasa, but could not provide casualty figures. The Taliban, which frequently plays down casualty figures, said 10 students had died and “many others” were injured. “Our detective and security forces are…

Kenyan President William Ruto yesterday launched a low-interest credit scheme to boost financial access for the country’s poorest citizens, fulfilling a campaign promise made to voters. Ruto, who once sold chickens on the roadside, has vowed to lift the lives of Kenyans battling high inflation and unemployment. The 50-billion-shilling “hustler fund” will offer personal loans of up to 50 000 shillings (about R6 900) to any Kenyan with a cellphone and a mobile money account, with interest charged at 8% a year. The fund will eventually also offer small-scale enterprises and start-ups access to credit, with those loans set to be launched by the end of May next year. The new fund will require borrowers to set up a savings account, with 5% of the loan amount going into a…

QUETTA: A Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber rammed a police escort for a polio vaccination team in south-western Pakistan yesterday, killing four people and wounding more than 30, police said, just two days after the militants ended a ceasefire. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, near the Balochistan provincial capital, Quetta. Islamist militants in Pakistan often target polio vaccination teams, having spread rumours that the immunisation effort is a Western tool to spy and make Muslims infertile. Separately, the army said it killed 10 militants, but did not clarify whether they were TTP or Baloch separatists. | Reuters…

LONDON: More than 10 000 ambulance workers across England and Wales have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay and conditions, the GMB union said yesterday. Britain’s state-run National Health Service (NHS) is braced for a wave of unprecedented industrial action this winter, with up to 100 000 nurses due to take strike action on December 15 and 20 for the first time in their union’s 100-year history. The union said it would meet soon to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas. The NHS is dealing with record levels of patients on waiting lists for hospital treatment due to the pandemic and a staffing crisis. | Reuters…

In Sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women were three times more likely to be infected with HIV than boys and men of the same age. The driving factor was inequality. These are the words of Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, as the world commemorates World Aids Day, today. This World Aids Day, UNAIDS said it was joining with people living with HIV and communities around the world in one shared call to action: “Equalise”, a call against discrimination in all forms. “World Aids Day is a moment to honour over 40 million lives lost to Aids, take stock of the Aids response, and commit to ending Aids. We must equalise for women and girls to reduce their HIV risks. Enabling girls to stay in school until they complete…

75g butter 1 green pepper, thinly sliced 120g white button mushrooms, thinly sliced 15ml cake flour 275ml chicken stock 150ml milk 5ml salt 5ml freshly ground black pepper 4 chicken joints, cooked, skinned and chopped Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and sauté the green pepper until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender. Remove the pan from the stove, blend in the flour and gradually stir in the chicken stock and then the milk. Return the pan to the stove and bring the mixture to boil, stirring until thickened. Add salt and pepper and the pieces of chicken, and heat through (about 10 minutes). Serve with boiled white rice and pair with Boschkloof chardonnay wine. |…

SOUTH Africa’s education system found itself in a dilemma as a teacher retirement wave was approaching, but provinces were not hiring at the rate universities were producing. This is according to the first in a series of reports from a new research project, the Teacher Demographic Dividend project. The three-year project is being conducted by a team of over 20 researchers at Stellenbosch University’s Research on Socioeconomic Policy (RESEP) unit, funded by the Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy and the FEM Education Foundation. It is headed by Professor Nic Spaull and Professor Servaas van der Berg, and will run until 2024. It aims to study the incoming wave of teacher retirements. So far they found that nearly half of South African publicly-employed teachers (49%) were aged 50+ in 2021, leading…

As South Africa’s economy was losing at least R130 million daily owing to metal and copper cable theft, calls have been made for new proposed regulations to be implemented without delay. The government announced policy implementation measures during a media briefing yesterday, that would assist in the fight against the theft and selling of scrap metal and copper cables, that were crippling public infrastructure and the country's economy. The changes would restrict and regulate trade in ferrous and non-ferrous metals waste, scrap and semi-finished ferrous and non-ferrous metal products. It would also put prohibitions on cash transactions when purchasing waste and scrap, to only allow transactions to take place through electronic transfers. Measures will require traders to show where they bought the copper and metal and who they were selling…

The more things change, the more they stay the same in the DA, and no one knows that better than the unending list of senior black leaders who were either booted out or resigned from the party. We know the DA is a party that does not take kindly to any kind of scrutiny, and we expect a few nasty words hurled at us over our assessment in how it handles pertinent issues. However, its double standards are too glaring to ignore, especially for a party that has ambitions to one day govern this country. Take, for example, the latest debacle involving Western Cape legislature speaker Masizole Mnqasela, whose membership the DA terminated this week. Apparently he lost his membership after the disparaging remarks he made about the party or…

An experimental Alzheimer’s drug from Eisai and Biogen slowed cognitive decline in a closely watched trial but may carry a risk of serious side effects for certain patients, according to detailed data presented this week. The drug, lecanemab, was associated with a dangerous type of brain swelling in nearly 13% of patients in the trial that spanned 18 months and enrolled nearly 1 800 participants with early-stage Alzheimer’s. Some patients also experienced bleeding in the brain, with five suffering macrohaemorrhages and 14% suffering microhaemorrhages – a symptom linked to two deaths of people receiving the drug in a follow-on study. The companies said in September that lecanemab – an antibody designed to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta – reduced the rate of cognitive decline on a…

London: The UK’s most senior police officer of colour has said the duchess of Sussex faced “disgusting” threats to her life during her time in the royal family. Neil Basu, whose father was from India, said that as head of counter-terrorism, he had to deal with credible threats from far-right extremists against Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry. Markle, a mixed-race former television actor, married the prince in 2018 but they quit royal life in 2020 and moved to the US. Basu, 54, who is stepping down from London’s Metropolitan Police, said people had been prosecuted for those threats. | AFP…

Beijing: Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin died yesterday at the age of 96, state media reported, hailing him as a great communist revolutionary who helped quell the 1989 pro-democracy protests. Jiang took power in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, in which the military used deadly force to end peaceful demonstrations, and led China towards its emergence as a global economic powerhouse. China’s ruling Communist Party announced his demise due to leukaemia. His death comes as China sees a flare-up of anti-Covid-19 lockdown protests. Analysts say his faction continues to exert influence over communist politics. | AFP…

PARIS: The humble baguette, France’s staple bread, has made it onto the UN’s cultural heritage list. Paris-based UN heritage body Unesco yesterday voted to include the “artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread” on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which already includes around 600 traditions from over 130 countries. “The baguette is a daily ritual, a structuring element of the meal, synonymous with sharing and conviviality,” said Unesco. It has been a central part of the French diet for at least 100 years. One legend has it that the bakers of Napoleon Bonaparte came up with the elongated shape to make it easier for his troops to carry. | Reuters…

LUIS Enrique said Spain will not count their chickens before they are hatched when they face Japan tonight, aiming to win and qualify for the World Cup knockout phase. La Roja are top of Group E on four points and are guaranteed to progress with a draw, but are aiming for all three points at the Khalifa International Stadium. Some have suggested that Spain might benefit from coming second and avoiding a potential quarter-final clash with Brazil, but their coach disagreed. “We have reflected on it, but from a professional point of view, imagine this, that we were interested in coming second,” Luis Enrique told a press conference yesterday. “We’re in the 90th minute, stoppage time arrives, and both games are 0-0. And in the 95th minute with 15 seconds…

WITH rainbow flags and "OneLove" armbands, World Cup fans have protested against host Qatar's anti-LGBTQ policies, but many queer Arabs fear a Western solidarity push could do more harm than good. Gestures in support of the local LGBTQ community have unleashed a torrent of homophobia, activists and community members say, creating new risks for people who have long relied on discretion to survive. "It's not great to live in the shadows, but it's also not great to live under a spotlight," said a 32-year-old entrepreneur from neighbouring Gulf nation Bahrain, who requested anonymity for safety concerns. "The World Cup will end, Fifa will leave, and the hate will continue." LGBTQ rights in Qatar - where homosexuality is illegal - and concerns over the use of the rainbow flag during the…

Stellenbosch University has dismissed claims that some recommendations of the recent Justice Khampepe report have been overturned due to political intervention. The university last month received the report of the independent Khampepe Commission led by retired Justice Sisi Khampepe. A large part of the report found that black students and staff still felt unwelcome and excluded at the institution. This was due to some of the residences tending to disproportionately favour Afrikaans cultural practices, and because there was a perceived lack of representation and diversity. The findings of the report have been criticised by some organisations, saying they were a protest against Afrikaans, white people and Afrikaners. DA constituency head in Stellenbosch Dr Leon Schreiber said a lawyer's letter was sent to the university rector, Professor Wim de Villiers, shortly…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has seemingly placed the blame on his head of Presidential Protection Service, Major-General Rhoode, regarding the reporting the robbery at his Phala Phala game farm. In his affidavit to the Section 89 panel set up to probe whether Ramaphosa had a case to answer over the robbery, Ramaphosa said he expected Rhoode to take care of matters. “I reported the housebreaking and theft to General Rhoode as he is responsible for ensuring my safety and security in view of the position I occupy. I expected that he would do all that is necessary and take any other steps required in response to the information I had shared with him,” said Ramaphosa. The three-volume report was handed over by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo to the Speaker…

THE ANC in the Western Cape has again postponed its provincial conference, until after the national elective conference to be held in Nasrec, Gauteng, from December 16 to 20. This emerged after the Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) held its meeting in Cape Town on Sunday. In October, the IPC announced that the provincial conference would be held from November 30 until December 3, but on the eve of the conference, they announced the postponement. They will, however, convene the regional conference of the Central Karoo region in Beaufort West on December 2. On Tuesday, provincial spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said the IPC received a report on the preparations for the 9th provincial conference. “The IPC noted the progress that has been recorded thus far, (in relation to) when the roadmap towards…

Today, India begins its G20 presidency. The previous 17 presidencies of the G20 delivered significant results – for ensuring macro-economic stability, rationalising international taxation, and relieving debt-burden on countries, among many other outcomes. We will benefit from these achievements and build further upon them. However, as India assumes this important mantle, I ask myself – can the G20 go further still? Can we catalyse a fundamental mindset shift to benefit humanity as a whole? I believe we can. Our mindsets are shaped by our circumstances. Through all of history, humanity lived in scarcity. We fought for limited resources because our survival depended on denying them to others. Confrontation and competition – between ideas, ideologies and identities – became the norm. Unfortunately, we remain trapped in the same zero-sum mindset, even…

Half the world’s democratic countries are experiencing an erosion of democracy, intensified by war in Ukraine and economic crisis, an international think tank said in a report yesterday. “We’re seeing extraordinarily severe headwinds for democracy now, intensified by the political fallout from the economic crisis that started with the pandemic and the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine,” said International Idea secretary- general Kevin Casas-Zamora. “It might be that the credibility of elections is challenged. It might be that the rule of law is under assault. It might be that civic space is being constrained,” he said. The number of democracies with the most severe democratic erosion – a group dubbed “backsliding” countries, which has included the US since last year – increased from six to seven in 2022…

The exceptionally long La Nina, which has worsened drought and flooding around the globe, is set to continue into February or even March, the UN warned yesterday. The current La Nina weather phenomenon – the cooling of surface temperatures which can cause widespread effects on global weather – started in September 2020. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said there was a 75% chance La Nina will persist during December-February, and a 60% chance during January-March. It is the first triple-dip La Nina of the century and only the third since 1950, the organisation said. La Nina’s large-scale cooling of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean normally occurs every two to seven years. The effect has widespread impacts on weather around the world, typically the opposite impacts…

WASHINGTON: Democrats in the US House of Representatives were poised yesterday to pass their leadership baton to a younger generation, marking the end of the Nancy Pelosi era and the widely anticipated opening of Hakeem Jeffries’ party rule. Jeffries, a 52-year-old New Yorker, is running for House Democratic leader for the next two years. If he is elected as expected during closed-door voting, he would become the first black person to hold a top party leadership job in the House or Senate. Jeffries has pledged to preside over a caucus that would return power to committee members and give junior lawmakers more say in shaping legislation and being rewarded with high-profile positions. There were no apparent challengers to Jeffries. The regime change for Democrats comes at a time when Republicans…

Abidjan: A court in Ivory Coast yesterday began the trial of 18 people accused of abetting one of West Africa’s bloodiest jihadist attacks, a machine-gun assault on a beach resort in 2016 that left 19 dead. But only four defendants were present for the proceedings in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s economic hub. The others, including the suspected masterminds, were either on the run or being held in Mali, said Aude Rimailho, a lawyer for civilian plaintiffs. Mali is the epicentre of a decade-long jihadist revolt that has shaken the Sahel, claiming thousands of lives and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. | AFP…

Defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns have been setting trends and records for nearly a decade now and they continue to as they were spotted back at their training base already, a month away from their next fixture. The Brazilians closed out the first round of the domestic season in first place on the DStv Premiership log, with an outstanding record of nine wins in 12 league matches while scoring 24 goals and conceding only five. Bongani Zungu, Rivaldo Coetzee, Sipho Mbule and sensational youngster Cassius Mailula have already been spotted at their Chloorkop training facility as they begin their preparations for the resumption of the second half of the season. Ka bo Yellow, although sitting pretty on top of the table and on course to defend their league crown,…