Table of contents for 2023-03-27 in Cape Times

NEWLY-appointed Minister of Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has assured South Africans they will not have to suffer power cuts higher than stage 6 load shedding. This comes as Ramokgopa continued with his visits to all 14 Eskom power stations across the country to engage with the management, workers and unions on solutions to the ongoing energy crisis. The minister on Friday and Saturday visited the Ankerlig open-cycle gas turbines, the Koeberg Nuclear Power station, and the Palmiet pump station in the Western Cape. The Palmiet storage is a hydro-electric pump storage scheme which contributes 400MW to the national grid. “I want to give the South African public the assurance that I don’t foresee us moving to higher stages of load shedding,” Ramokgopa said. “When I say higher I mean…

THE BATTLE between the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and AYO Technology Solutions Limited (AYO) has come to an end, after the companies announced on Friday that they have reached a settlement. This follows the PIC heading to court, looking to dissolve and recoup its R4.3 billion investment in AYO. The PIC is the custodian of more than 80% of the Government Employees Pension Fund’s (GEPF’s) portfolio. The GEPF describes itself as Africa’s largest pension fund, with more than 1.2 million active members, more than 450 000 pensioners and beneficiaries, and assets valued at more than R1.61 trillion. On Friday, in a joint statement, AYO and the PIC said they settled the proceedings instituted by the PIC against AYO in the Western Cape Division of the High…

SOUTH Africa’s agriculture is currently faced with an array of challenges ranging from the high cost of production as inputs costs are high, lower output prices for many horticultural commodities, failing local infrastructure, high shipping and freight costs and recently continued accelerated load shedding. Land Bank, the agricultural industry and key stakeholders are particularly concerned about the extent to which the country has been experiencing power cuts recently. Productivity is negatively affected across the value chain. There is, however, an opportunity for farmers who may not have alternative energy sources such as solar energy to consider the financing of these alternative energy solutions to mitigate the risks and keep businesses running. The recently launched Blended Finance Programme by Land Bank in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and…

PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has not found out whether the planned move to take Eskom from his department to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy would contribute to solving the energy crisis. Gordhan was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Benedicta van Minnen, who asked about the basis for moving Eskom from his department to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. In his response, Gordhan said the matter was still under consideration. “No decisions have been made, save that the President has indicated that the reconfiguration of government will occur after the next election in 2024,” he said. The ANC took a resolution at its national congress in December 2022 that state-owned entities (SOEs) be moved out of the Department of Public Enterprises into their line…

SECURITY experts and criminologists have weighed on the infamous Facebook rapist Thabo Bester’s prison escape, saying it was indicative of collusion and participation by various authorities. “It’s quite shocking that someone could essentially run an entire business from a corrections facility and is obviously indicative of collusion and participation by various authorities because it simply couldn’t be facilitated otherwise because there’s a key concern around why this was allowed to occur and why people were facilitating it. The escape was clearly premeditated and planned. A considerable amount of thought went into it, he managed to fool authorities for an entire year. It’s sad that someone had to die in the process. One would have thought the investigation into the person’s death would have occurred far quicker, ” said criminology…

THE Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will always be welcomed in this country by those who were racially and economically oppressed by the previous tyrannical apartheid regime. Only those who benefited handsomely will oppose Putin’s visit to South Africa. Russia supported our freedom fighters when she was still called the USSR. Even now, Russia still unconditionally supports the former freedom fighters and we dare not forget that. If the undemocratic DA wants the Russian president to be arrested, they must arrest him themselves instead of always trying to dictate to our democratically elected government. The US and Britain must come here to effect that arrest in a neutral country and see what will the mighty Russia do to them. President Putin will come and go peacefully.…

THE Russian state nuclear energy company is doing partnership deals with nuclear energy in many African and Asian countries. This would be an ideal solution for us but we cannot expect any country wanting to partner with Eskom if the partnership is at risk of sabotage and corruption. The way to end sabotage and corruption in state-owned enterprises would be to make these crimes of economic sabotage punishable with the most severe prison sentences, say a minimum of 10 years and maximum 25 years in prison.…

NYANGA police have increased deployments in areas identified as crime hot spots in Brown’s Farm township following a spike in robberies of e-hailing drivers and Facebook Marketplace users. In some cases, users who were not familiar with the area were under the impression that they were doing business at a farm and not a township, said Nyanga police station commander, Lindiwe Dyantyi. A Glencairn resident was stabbed to death by scammers who lured the 51-year-old to Brown’s Farm in September. Three suspects were arrested in the same month for another robbery in the area. On October 12, six teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 were arrested for a similar attempted robbery in Brown’s Farm. Cellphones confiscated from the teenagers as part of the investigation revealed they had been…

ASPIRING young scientists Joseph Gibbon and Matthew Redfern from Pinelands High School have been honoured with Gold medals at the prestigious International Festival of Engineering, Science, and Technology in Tunisia (I-FEST2) for their research on mitigating plastic pollution. The matric pupil’s research “Comparing and evaluating different types of bioplastic polymers – an investigation into bioplastics”, was also deemed as one of the top 10 projects at the festival. They made their own bioplastics (starch-based, gelatine-based, and fish-scale-based bioplastics), and tested the plastic’s tensile strength, biodegradability, solubility, flammability, and thermal properties. They had no idea that the IFEST2 existed when they began working on this project for their school. “But now we’ve had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To us, this shows that if you work hard and give your all for…

Sudan’s leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said yesterday that the country’s army would be brought under the leadership of a new civilian government. Speaking before a session for security and army reforms in Khartoum, Burhan said his country would build a military force that would not intervene in politics and would be trusted by the Sudanese people in building a modern and democratic state. More than a year after the military took power in a coup, the military and its former civilian partners and other political forces have agreed on a framework to form a new transitional government and write a new constituation to be announced next month. | Reuters…

Nairobi: The police chief yesterday announced a ban on fresh opposition demonstrations called for today, after protests last week degenerated into riots. “We will not allow illegal violent demonstrations where hooligans loot and destroy people’s property and businesses,” said Inspector-General of Police, Japhet Koome. Opposition leader Raila Odinga urged people to take to the streets today and on Thursday for further protests against the surging cost of living in Kenya. Last Monday’s demonstrations – not authorised by police – descended into violence. A student was killed by police fire and 31 officers injured in running battles. More than 200 people were arrested. | AFP…

China and Honduras began formal diplomatic relations yesterday, with Taiwan accusing Beijing of using “coercion and intimidation” to lure away its few remaining allies. China announced the move soon after Tegucigalpa said it had officially severed ties with Taipei. “The two governments have decided to establish diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level”, effective immediately, China’s foreign ministry said. The switch cuts to 13 the number of countries that still diplomatically recognise Taiwan, which has lost several Latin American allies in recent years. China considers the self-ruled, democratic island a part of its territory, to be retaken one day – by force, if necessary. Under its “One China” policy, it does not allow countries to recognise both Beijing and Taipei. Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina said, “The government of the People’s Republic…

JERUSALEM: A top lawmaker from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party yesterday echoed a call by the defence chief to pause a contested judicial overhaul. Dissent from the premier’s own party and cabinet follows mass protests by Israelis who fear the reforms could endanger court independence. A key bill giving Netanyahu’s coalition more control over the appointment of judges is expected to be ratified this week in the Knesset. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, a Likud MP, broke ranks on Saturday, urging Netanyahu to suspend the legislation. He said the protests were undermining national security. | Reuters…

SECOND T20 INTERNATIONAL West Indies 258/5 Charles 118, Mayers 51, Shepherd 41*; Jansen 3/52, Parnell 2/43 South Africa 259/4 De Kock 100, Hendricks 68, Markram 38; Reifer 1/42, Holder 1/48, SA won by six wickets to level three-match series 1-1 Quinton de Kock and Johnson Charles scored magnificent centuries in the record-breaking second T20 international between South Africa and the West Indies at Centurion yesterday. Over 500 runs were scored at Centurion as SA and the West Indies put on a performance the world and both teams will remember for many years to come. Aiden Markram won his first toss as Proteas T20 captain and sent the West Indies in to bat first. West Indies batter Charles then set Centurion alight with a superb maiden T20 international century as…

POLICE officers will soon receive an increase in danger allowance that will be backdated to April 2022. The officers have until recently been receiving a R400 a month in danger allowance. The danger allowance has attracted interest of NFP MP Munzoor Shaik-Emam, who asked President Cyril Ramaphosa during the oral question session on March 9 whether he would consider intervening as the officers obtained R13 a day in danger allowance. Ramaphosa said at the time the issue of danger allowance had come up in various negotiations and that it was being negotiated. Shaik-Emam then took up the matter with Police Minister Bheki Cele, asking in a parliamentary question whether he intended to deal with the concerns of police officers. In his written response, Cele said the SAPS tabled a revised…

Attempts to serve letter proved unsuccessful AXED Human settlements mayco member Malusi Booi has apparently been ducking and diving from receiving the DA’s letter notifying him of suspension, forcing the party to enlist the services of the sheriff. The DA said a number of attempts had been made to serve Booi a letter of intention to suspend him, with no success. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis sacked him as the mayco member of human settlements with immediate effect on Thursday, following Booi’s suspension from the mayoral committee. The decision to remove him came after police briefed Hill-Lewis further about their fraud and corruption investigation into Booi. The DA’s provincial executive committee (PEC) held an urgent meeting on Thursday night to discuss “possible remedial action”. The party’s provincial leader Tertius Simmers said…

IT was 141 years ago that Dr Robert Koch isolated the tubercle bacillus, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), on March 24 1882, a day which the world commemorates in its annual struggle to end what doctors call “one of the world’s top infectious killers” and a disease totally “preventable, treatable and curable”. Last Friday’s observation of the UN-designated World TB Day 2023 under the theme “Yes! We can end TB!” was yet another brutal reminder of how many deaths still occur from TB. Despite the enormous progress achieved in prevention and treatment over the decades, which has saved a remarkable 74 million lives since 2000, according to Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the Global Tuberculosis Programme at the World Health Organization (WHO), some 30 000 people still fall ill…

AN ARTICLE in the Cape Times Business Report page, tells us that the EFF's attempted-but-failed national shutdown still cost SA a probable R1.2 billion in generated wealth, as many businesses closed for the day anyway. R1.2 billion is a number not easily visualised by most people, so let’s put it another way. A R1 coin is 19.43mm in diameter. Laid edge to edge, 1.2 billion of them would go more than halfway round the earth. Or, they would easily go all the way round Mars, and still leave us with nearly 104 million coins, which is a much easier number to visualise; yes? Well, it’s bigger than you may think. On the N1, those 104 million coins would stretch all the way from Cape Town to Johannesburg, then almost…

THE Stellenbosch University (SU) Senate has thrown its weight behind Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers, and his management team despite a scathing ruling that the institution unfairly violated the human rights of Afrikaans-speaking students. The Senate which consists of professors, the rector’s management team, two members of council and members of the Student Representative Council, permanent academic staff and administrative staff, recently adopted a motion of confidence in and support for De Villiers and his management team in their pursuit of “inclusivity and multilingualism” at SU on Friday. This comes after the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) found that the university through its residence policies, unfairly violated the human rights of the affected students, following a complaint by the DA and FF Plus in 2021, that…

The EFF national shutdown dominated the general political discussions on all social and media platforms by many political commentators and analysts throughout the week, as expected. Even though Section 17 of the Constitution guarantees Malema and the EFF the right to assemble, demonstrate, picket and present petitions peacefully and unarmed, they have never presented themselves as political leaders who can be easily and safely associated with peace. Malema has over the years developed the ability to talk peace and war in the same sentence; if this is a strategy or a tactic to maintain media presence, it will certainly backfire in the long run. For me, whether the EFF national shutdown was successful or not is neither here nor there; I am just happy that there was general calmness and…

Tehran has condemned US airstrikes on Iran-linked forces in Syria that reportedly killed 19 people, which Washington said it carried out following a deadly drone attack on US forces. The Iranian foreign ministry late Saturday condemned “the belligerent and terrorist attack of the American army on civilian targets” in the eastern Syrian region of Deir Ezzor. Washington said it launched the retaliatory raids after a US contractor was killed – and another contractor and five military personnel wounded – by a drone “of Iranian origin” that struck a US-led coalition base in Syria on Thursday. The US strikes triggered further rocket attacks by Iran-backed militias, the Syrian Observatory said. | AFP…

At least 25 people were killed by devastating tornadoes that ripped across the southern US state of Mississippi yesterday, tearing off roofs, smashing cars and flattening entire neighbourhoods, with the region readying for more severe weather. The powerful weather system, accompanied by thunderstorms and driving rain, cut a path of more than 60km across the state late Friday, slamming several towns along the way. Mississippi’s emergency management agency put the death toll at 25 and said dozens more were injured. Four people reported missing “have been found”, it added. And in Alabama, one man died after being trapped when a trailer overturned in the severe weather, the sheriff’s office in Morgan County said on Twitter. In Rolling Fork, home to fewer than 2 000 people, an entire row of…

Hong Kong police yesterday permitted a small protest march under tight restrictions in one of the first demonstrations to be approved since the enactment of a sweeping national security law in 2020. Several dozen demonstrators were required to wear numbered lanyards and were barred from wearing masks as police monitored their march against a proposed land reclamation and rubbish processing project. Participants chanted slogans against the reclamation project as they marched in the rain with banners in the eastern district of Tseung Kwan O, where the project is slated to be built. Some also criticised the restrictions on their protest, which included a maximum of 100 participants, according to a seven-page letter from police to organisers. Responding to the protest, the city’s Development Bureau said the project was intended to…

Washington: Kanye West renounced anti-Semitism in a new Instagram post, writing that watching actor Jonah Hill in the film 21 Jump Street made him “like Jewish people again”. The rapper – known formally as Ye – has shocked and alarmed former supporters in recent months with a series of threats against Jewish people that drove sportswear giant Adidas and other fashion houses to dump him, and saw him locked out of most social media platforms. His latest Instagram post appeared to be an attempt to reverse his earlier declarations of “love” for Nazis and admiration for Adolf Hitler. “No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people,” he continued. “No Christian can be labelled antisemite knowing Jesus is a…

Natal Sharks (13) 20 Tries: Penxe (2), Sobahle; Penalty: Zeilinga; Conversion: Zeilinga Western Province (7) 7 Try: Robertson; Conversions: Wolhuter It was like enduring root canal treatment for long periods, but the Sharks eventually prevailed over both Western Province and the gusty wind conditions in Durban to win this Currie Cup game 20-7 yesterday. It was a strange old encounter. The home team enjoyed a mountain of possession but found the Province defence and spiteful wind difficult to overcome, with the second and third quarters of the game delivering perplexing rugby as both teams did their best not to score. The Sharks started well enough when fullback Yaw Penxe scored from a play set up by a very good tactical kick by scrumhalf Bradley Davids. Veteran…

ALMOST all people experienced a time in their lives when they wished they could turn back the clock. Sometimes it is to change certain poor decisions that have been made, fix a mistake in the past, to relive special moments of joy, or to properly say goodbye to a loved one. Although the ability to turn back the clock has long been embraced by science fiction and debated by theoretical physicists, it is impossible in the classical physical world. We are all too familiar with the directionality of time and that all events follow a unidirectional path. Once an event has occurred, it cannot be reversed because we are not able to manipulate time as an entity. However, an international team of scientists claim that they have succeeded in speeding…

SOUTH African taxpayers coughed up R25 million for 167 suspended public servants where some have been sitting at home for nearly three years. Ideally, precautionary suspensions in national and provincial governments should be for a period not longer than 60 days, but the longest suspended official in departments like the Correctional Services, spent 883 days at home on full pay. These were the findings in the latest Public Service Commission (PSC) Pulse of the Public Service Bulletin for the third quarter that covered the period from October 1 to December 31, 2022. The addition included the focus on pre-hearing suspensions for the 2021/2022 financial year and non-payment of suppliers by the departments which showed a bleak picture. “The scale of the problem needs the government to put robust…

A FEMALE business owner was shot dead for apparently refusing to pay suspected extortionists a “protection fee” in Samora Machel, Philippi at the weekend. The 37-year-old Zimbabwean owned a hair salon on Oliver Tambo Drive. Police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie said: “Police members responded to a complaint of a shooting in progress. On arrival at the scene, they found the body of the deceased on the floor. She had already succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head and was later declared dead by paramedics on scene. The motive for this senseless act is unknown and forms part of an ongoing investigation into this murder.” A resident and business person, who asked to remain anonymous said the woman had refused to pay the group that has been terrorising…

ACROSS the entire nation our cities have become a trash heap where residents continue to dump waste on a never ending scale. Dirt and waste are infused with undesirable connotations, which can be deeply hurtful. To be connected with dirt is to lose respectability and to lose respectability is to lose class status. Characteristics of offenders include local residents, contractors and waste removers. The illegal dumping of both industrial and household waste has become a huge environmental problem. There is blatant evidence of this practice in the form of individuals throwing their trash in streets releasing toxic waste into the environment. Illegal dumping can impede the natural runoff of water during heavy rain as we enter seasonal downpours. Raw sewage continues to pour into our rivers, streams and beaches. Illegally…

HOLY Moses! What is wrong with this world? Of all people, President Putin will pay us a visit in August. Has the ANC lost its sense of morality and justice? One year ago the peaceful and prosperous cities and villages of Ukraine were attacked by a barbarous band of hooligans. No mercy, cities like Mariupol and Bakhmut were flattened to the ground. O! The suffering of the innocent and all because of one man. Russia’s new “Tzar” Vladimir Putin acts like a warmonger. All smug sitting at the end of his mile-long desk conversing with strange bedfellows diminished at the other end of the table. One can read Putin like a book. He certainly suffers from the delusion of grandeur. His presidential suites glitters from top to bottom but as…

THE Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) believes that young black farmers like Ricardo du Preez, a lessee at one of its farmes acquired for over R18 million, are proof of the impact their land initiatives have on transforming the agriculture sector. During a tour organised by the department, Du Preez showcased his produce exported internationally and also enjoyed locally. DALRRD together with the provincial Shared Service Centre visited the land reform Langfontein Fruit Farm in Haarlem, George where Du Preez farms with his wife and son for their business, Ricas Fruits. The farm has created a number of job opportunities for the locals – employing 29 permanent workers and 70 seasonal workers for harvesting, pruning, thinning, planting and installation of irrigation - and produces different…

Nothing is valued by politicians as much as that little mark we make on our ballot papers Over the years I have learnt that there is no such a thing as a free lunch. Whenever someone offers you a free lunch, you must know that you have something valuable that your host wants from you, something whose worth is far higher than the cost of the lunch. I will use this analogy in relation to our gullibility as an electorate, in the context of the periodic elections that take place. By the way, it is not a South African phenomenon but something universal all over the world. Nothing is valued by politicians as much as that little mark we make on the ballot paper on election day, for it is…

A group of 380 rebels handed life sentences over the 2021 death of former Chad ruler Idriss Deby Itno have been pardoned. This was according to a statement from the president’s office. More than 400 rebels had been sentenced on Tuesday following a mass trial for “acts of terrorism, mercenarism, recruitment of child soldiers and assaulting the head of state”. The trial started last month. It took place behind closed doors at Klessoum prison, 20 kilometres southeast of the capital. But a statement from the office of transitional president General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, one of the former ruler’s sons, said 380 had received a presidential pardon. | AFP…

A top security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday that Russian plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would destabilise that country, which had been taken “hostage” by Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the decision on Saturday, sending a warning to Nato over its military support for Ukraine and escalating a standoff with the West. The move was not unexpected and Putin said it would not violate nuclear non-proliferation promises, but it is one of Russia’s most pronounced nuclear signals since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago. Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, called it “a step towards internal destabilisation of Belarus”. “The Kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage,” he tweeted. Putin likened his plans to…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz battled yesterday to put out the fires threatening his government as the three-way coalition met for crisis talks on a growing series of disputes. A little more than a year after taking office, the relationship between Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and his governing partners, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, looks more strained than ever. Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens has accused the FDP of blocking progress, while the FDP’s deputy chief Wolfgang Kubicki compared the Green politician to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kubicki later apologised but the damaging row underlines the state of the three-way coalition. The alliance got off to a good start in December 2021 but was put to a tough test when Russia invaded Ukraine just two months…