Table of contents for 2023-04-21 in Cape Times

While wage talks continue between state-owned enterprise Eskom and union members, the energy supplier denied allegations that they were ill-prepared for negotiations this week. The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) slammed Eskom for its alleged lackadaisical approach to wage negotiations and accused it of “unprofessionalism and wasting time”. Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said they met Eskom management in the Central Bargaining Forum (CBF) this week for negotiations. “Eskom management behaved appallingly by failing to present written submissions to the CBF. We were supposed to start negotiations at 9am, but we ended up starting at 12.45pm because Eskom needed time to write its submissions, so that it could be shared with all parties. It took them nearly three hours to respond. When they eventually did respond, they wasted everyone’s…

THERE is still no justice for the family of Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s (CPUT’s) residences head of department (HOD) Siyabulela Thwalani, killed in what was described as a “a ghastly orchestrated hit” nearly six years ago. Thwalani’s family believes that a failure of crime intelligence, who allegedly did not follow up on CCTV footage, has led to his death remaining a mystery. Thwalani, the head of residences at CPUT Cape Town campus, was killed in a hail of bullets a few minutes after dropping off a friend at his house in Mlonji Street, in Khayelitsha’s Litha Park, on November 5, 2017. It was discovered that nothing was stolen from him or his vehicle. Thwalani, affectionately known as Siya, worked for CPUT for about 10 years, was politically active in…

IN just a few months, the first collaboration of the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme working to localise the production of vaccines for future pandemic readiness will take place. More than 200 international participants had their first face-to-face meeting in Cape Town to discuss progress. The programme aims to contribute to equitable access to mRNA vaccines by increasing the distribution of sustainable manufacturing capacity across low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), enhancing regional and inter-regional collaboration, and developing and empowering a local workforce through tailored and inclusive training and expert support. In attendance was World Health Organization (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Health Minister Joe Phaahla, Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel, bio manufacturing partners from 15 countries in the programme, leading experts, industry, civil society representatives, and funders. “Vaccination is widely…

Black Candle Women Diane Marie Brown Loot.co.za (R249) Headline publishing A warm and wry family drama with a witchy twist about four generations of black women living under one roof and the family curse that stems back to a voodoo sorceress in 1950s New Orleans. For generations, the Montrose women have lived alone with their secrets, their delicate peace depending on the unspoken bond that underpins their family life – voodoo and hoodoo magic, and a decades-old curse that will kill anyone they fall for. When 17-year-old Nickie Montrose brings home a boy for the first time, this careful balance is thrown into disarray. For the other women have been keeping the curse from Nickie, and revealing it means they must reckon with their own choices and mistakes. As new…

SOUTH Africa’s poverty problem is institutionalised, as it was during the apartheid years. In fact, South Africa is still an apartheid state. ANC veteran and former state president Thabo Mbeki said during his tenure (1999-2008) as president of the republic that South Africa is “a country of two nations – one that is white and wealthy and another that is black and poor”. Emotions quickly reach a breaking point when it comes to this topic of the shortage of resources in black communities, and more often than not we have seen that it results in conflicts of black self-hate, or what some in the media have termed Afrophobia. As such, I feel duty-bound to contribute to the discourse by addressing the emotions and the conflicts resulting from the jobs discourse,…

At least 78 people were killed in a stampede in the Yemeni capital Sana’a as residents gathered at a school to receive cash donations distributed by merchants during Ramadaan, witnesses and the Houthi administration said yesterday. Hundreds of people crowded to receive the alms, which amounted to 5 000 Yemeni riyals, or about $9 (R162) a person, two witnesses said. “When the door opened, there was a big rush by people wanting to reach the school yard first and some people began falling on the steps leading to the entrance,” one medic said. Two thirds of the population need help in the war-torn country, which was impoverished even before the conflict erupted eight years ago. The Houthi Health Ministry said 77 people were injured, including 13 in a critical condition,…

The first feature film shot in space premiered in Russian cinemas yesterday, as Moscow delighted in beating a rival Hollywood project amid a confrontation with the West over Ukraine. The Challenge is about a surgeon dispatched to the International Space Station (ISS) to save an injured cosmonaut. Russia sent an actress and a film director for a 12-day stint on the ISS in October 2021 to film scenes aboard the orbiting laboratory. The Russian crew beat a Hollywood project announced in 2020 by Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise together with NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Director Klim Shipenko, 39, who was in charge of the camera, lighting and sound, brought back 30 hours of footage, 50 minutes of which were used in the final cut. Actress Yulia Peresild and Shipenko…

Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pressed Nato yesterday to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance and send more fighter jets and long-range weapons. Zelensky was speaking during a visit to Kyiv by Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, his first since the start of Russia’s invasion in February last year. Russia sees Ukraine’s Nato membership bid as an existential threat, while Ukraine says the invasion justifies its campaign. Zelensky also asked for Nato’s help to “overcome the reluctance” of some member states in providing long-range rockets, modern fighter jets and armoured vehicles. The Kremlin said preventing Ukraine joining the Western alliance remains one of the main aims of its invasion. | AFP…

TULSA: Two people were killed in Oklahoma yesterday when tornadoes and severe weather ripped through the US state, local officials said. Emergency management authorities in the state’s south-central McClain county confirmed the deaths in a Facebook post, adding that search and rescue efforts were ongoing late into the night. Authorities warned the storm’s toll could rise as the full extent of the destruction became known. NBC footage showed damaged and destroyed buildings, and debris littering the small town of Cole. The National Weather Service office in nearby Norman, Oklahoma described “erratic” tornadoes and supercell storms in the region. | AFP…

RAFAEL Nadal will miss next week's Madrid Open after a setback in his recovery from a hip injury sustained at the Australian Open in January, the 22-time major champion said yesterday. Nadal skipped tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo as well as the current Barcelona Open after suffering the injury that effectively ended his Melbourne Park title defence as he fell to a second-round defeat by Mackenzie McDonald. "Initially it had to be a six to eight week recovery period and we are now on fourteen," Nadal said in a video published on his social media accounts. "The reality is that the situation is not what we would have expected. All medical indications have been followed, but somehow the evolution has not been what they initially told us…

THE team that recently looked unstoppable on the domestic front has seemingly forgotten how to win ... The aura of invincibility that Mamelodi Sundowns wore with pride just last month is gone – the Brazilians and victory suddenly resembling the parallel lines of a railway – destined never to meet. And now, instead of the earlier confident talk of a second continental title, those associated with the multiple South African champions are speaking in hushed tones about the chances of their club reaching the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League. With good reason too, for why would they be confident of such success when their team has just been knocked out of the Nedbank Cup they’d been hoping to defend? That wouldn’t be so bad had that defeat been…

EFF MP Kenny Motsamai was ejected from the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) yesterday when he refused to withdraw his comments that President Ramaphosa was a criminal. This happened when he rose to ask a follow-up question during an oral question session to Deputy President Paul Mashatile on whether as the chairperson of cabinet’s committee on justice, crime prevention and security, he would focus on speedy prosecutions of high profile cases to hasten South Africa’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force grey list. Motsamai had asked Mashatile to provide an assurance that South Africa would be removed from the grey-listing when Ramaphosa was a “criminal” who stood accused of money laundering at his Phala Phala farm. ANC chief whip Seiso Mohai immediately rose on a point of order. “The…

Eight people, including two City employees, arrested over a R2.5 million City tender-fraud scandal, failed to get their case struck from the roll in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The court heard arguments over the State’s application to be allowed to conduct further investigation in the matter. Advocate Reuben Liddell, defence for the directors of the construction company TCC, Asif Khan and Abdul Karrim Khan, and employees Uwais Khan, Irfaan Khan, Craig Kannemeyer and Abdulatief Abrahams, said that postponements prejudiced his clients. Other accused in the case are City employees Adam Majiet and Alistair Stanbul. The matter was last heard two weeks ago where cash-flow statements for analysis were outstanding and data from laptops and cellphones seized in May last year still needed to be downloaded. Liddell said he…

TRENSTAR Limited employees have been victorious in the Constitutional Court where it was found their employer had wrongfully locked them out in response to protected strike action, and during that time used replacement labour. The employees, members of worker’s union National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), embarked on protected strike action for a once-off gratuity payment during October 2020 demanding R7 500 from Trenstar. Numsa national spokesperson, Phakamile Majola, said they welcomed the ruling. “(We were) seeking leave to appeal against judgments of the Labour Court and the Labour Appeals Court. At the heart of the application to the Constitutional Court was that we wanted the court to set aside the judgments of these lower courts, and confirm the interpretation advanced by Numsa regarding the meaning of the…

Probably Ruby Lisa Bird-Wilson Loot.co.za (R235) Random House AN indigenous woman adopted by white parents goes in search of her identity in this unforgettable debut novel about family, race and history. This is the story of a woman in search of herself, in every sense. When we first meet Ruby, a Métis woman in her thirties, her life is spinning out of control. She’s angling to sleep with her counsellor while also rekindling an old relationship she knows will only bring more heartache. But as we soon learn, Ruby’s story is far more complex than even she can imagine. Given up for adoption as an infant, Ruby is raised by a white couple who understand little of her indigenous heritage. This is the great mystery that hovers over Ruby’s life…

In CELEBRATION of Earth Day tomorrow and World Book Day on Sunday, Exclusive Books has launched the Book Tree Project, aimed at cultivating reading culture and literacy among young minds. The initiative looks to spread the joy of reading and the love of books, as well as leaving a story under the shade of a new tree – over 150, to be precise. Exclusive Books visited three schools in partnership with Food & Trees for Africa for the Book Tree Project. This NGO facilitated the tree-planting ceremony, which included a demonstration that explained the shape of a hole in the ground for a tree to thrive in and a slow-drip irrigation system made from recycling a 2-litre bottle, punctured slightly, which is planted with the tree for easy watering care.…

New electricity minister meets ambassador to discuss load shedding For nearly two decades, South Africa’s capacity for economic development has diminished, resulting in an energy crisis threatening to collapse entire industries. Its regional prominence is also at risk, as countries like Mozambique make inroads into handling the bulk of import and export cargo for the region. Cargo handling in the region has historically been the preserve of South Africa. The revamped Maputo ports now handle much of southern Africa’s cargo, even servicing South African clients – and demand is on the rise. While most sub-Saharan nations have harnessed energy production parallel to their industrial development needs, South Africa has not. Plagued by an energy crisis since 2009, the increasing demand for goods and services to satisfy a steadily growing middle…

Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, exploded during its first flight yesterday, but Elon Musk congratulated his SpaceX team on an “exciting” test of the spacecraft designed to send astronauts to the moon, Mars and beyond. The uncrewed rocket disintegrated minutes after successfully blasting off from Starbase, the SpaceX spaceport in Boca Chica, Texas. The Starship spacecraft that will eventually carry crew and cargo had been scheduled to separate from the first-stage rocket booster three minutes into the flight, but separation failed to occur and the rocket blew up in a ball of fire over the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the failure to complete the full 90-minute flight test and reach orbit, SpaceX and Musk, the founder and CEO of the private space company, declared it a success. “Congrats…

Munich: Michael Schumacher’s family said yesterday they were planning legal action against German magazine Die Aktuelle for using an artificial intelligence programme to generate fake quotes from the seven-time Formula One champion. The magazine had claimed it had an interview with the motorsport legend, the first since he suffered a serious brain injury in a 2013 skiing accident in the French Alps. This week, the magazine published the “interview”, revealing afterwards it had been generated by artificial intelligence. The article included quotes attributed to Schumacher, discussing his family life since the accident and his medical condition. A family spokesperson confirmed that they planned legal action. The family has carefully guarded the 54-year-old’s privacy since the accident. Little information has been given publicly on his condition. Reports suggest he has memory,…

BERLIN: A court in the German city of Braunschweig has thrown out rape and sexual offence charges against Christian Brueckner, who has been formally identified as an official suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, his lawyer said yesterday. The court’s decision means that legal authorities in Braunschweig have no jurisdiction over the case of “Maddie”, the British girl who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 at the age of 3, lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher said. German prosecutors last year said they had charged Brueckner with three offences of aggravated rape and two of sexual abuse of children in Portugal between 2000 and 2017,not linked to Maddie. | Reuters…

COPENHAGEN: Toymaker LEGO said yesterday it had agreed to buy e-methanol, a lower-carbon alternative to conventional plastic, for its colourful plastic bricks when the world’s first large-scale plant starts operations next year. Privately-owned renewable energy firm European Energy, which is developing the plant in Aabenraa, Denmark, said Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk will also buy its e-methanol to substitute fossil-based plastic in medical devices. Some 100 million tons of methanol is produced from fossil fuels each year, two-thirds of which is used in the chemical industry, and the rest in transportation, according to European Energy. | Reuters…

PROTEAS star Quinton de Kock says he is “chilled” about not having played a match in the Indian Premier League this season and is instead focusing on improving his fitness. De Kock has not been a regular starter at the IPL since his debut season a decade ago in 2013, with the dynamic opening batter/wicketkeeper playing integral roles for previous teams Royal Challengers Bangalore and five-time IPL Champions Mumbai Indians before moving to Lucknow Super Giants last season. He had an immediate impact at LSG, forming a potent opening combination with captain KL Rahul that drove the team all the way to the play-offs last year. De Kock’s contribution was immense with the left-hander scoring 508 runs at an average of 36.28 and a strike rate of 148.97, including a…

PARLIAMENT could not ignore the allegations against Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan by suspended director-general Kgathatso Tlhakudi around the sale of SAA shares. This was the opinion of parliamentary legal advisor Andile Tetyana when advising the public enterprise committee in handling Tlhakudi’s public disclosure made late last year. “There is information that has been put in front of you by a very senior accounting officer of a government department and the issue is simple: can you just dip your heads in the sand and ignore it?” Tetyana said. He also said the Zondo Commission had in its report questioned where Parliament was when state capture happened. “The reason we are saying that you can't just look the other way is the fact that the committee will have to engage with…

Jailed rapist and former cop Ralph Ndlala’s appeal against his conviction and eight-year prison sentence has been dismissed by the South Gauteng High court. The former cop from Soweto was found guilty of raping his 23-year-old victim – his friend’s girlfriend – in 2015. The State alleged that on January 10, 2015, he unlawfully and intentionally commit an act of sexual penetration with the victim identified as FD in court papers, while Ndlala pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him. Ndlala in his plea explanation said that the alleged sexual intercourse took place with the consent of the complainant. To prove its case, the State led the evidence of four witnesses, which included the complainant. Ndlala – who was out on bail until the outcome of his appeal…

The grieving family of slain social activist Loyiso Nkohla has expressed how this was a “difficult time” for them as they tried to come to terms with his murder. A statement was issued yesterday afternoon by Prince Sivile Mabandla on behalf of the Mabandla and Nkohla families. The families implored law enforcement agencies to deal with Nkohla’s killers. “The long arm of the law will reach those that had a hand in this gruesome, fatal act,” they said. Nkohla, 40, was shot and killed in broad daylight on Monday by gunmen who stormed the former Browns Farm police station as he was about to conduct a meeting concerning the relocation of shack dwellers who built their structures on the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) central railway line. Two…

WITH the true extent of learner dropout rates in the country unclear, calls have been made for regular and robust research to monitor and address the issue. During a National Assembly committee briefing on Tuesday, the Department of Basic Education data revealed that at least 400 000 children who started Grade 1 in 2011 (1 177 089) did not make it to Grade 12 (775 630) in 2022. Numbers reported for dropout rates in 2021, when Basic Education Deputy Minister Reginah Mhaule briefed the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), showed that at least 200 000 had dropped out of school. In the same year, the National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (Nids-Cram) study indicated that an additional 500 000 pupils, aged 7 to 17, dropped out of…

The Dead Are Gods Eirinie Carson Melville House “I do not remember our love unfolding, that we got to know one another and in time became friends. I only remember that she came through the door, and it was there, huge and permanent and first.’’ These words are from Ann Patchett’s 2004 memoir, Truth and Beauty,’ about her impassioned friendship with Lucy Grealy, who died a few years before its publication. Eirinie Carson’s striking debut, The Dead Are Gods, is another fervid outpouring of friendship, grief and love. Carson’s memoir is a testament to the ways rare friendships can make and unmake us as fully as any fiery romance or formative familial relationship. The Dead Are Gods is a tender portrait of Larissa, nicknamed “Larry”, sometimes “shmoo” or “poo poo”.…

Explosions and gunfire resounded in Sudan’s capital yesterday as fighting between the forces of two rival generals showed no signs of abating ahead of festivities marking the end of Ramadan. Over 300 people have been killed since the fighting erupted Saturday between forces loyal to Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Some of the fiercest battles have taken place in the capital Khartoum, a city home to five million people, most of whom have been cloistered in their homes without electricity, food and water. As battles raged, Burhan dismissed any prospects for negotiations with Daglo, telling Al Jazeera yesterday he sees no option but “decisive military” action, adding that that he was open for mediation. The…

In 2023, only 39% of respondents in a survey said religion was very important to them, compared to 62% who said that in 1998, according to The New York Times this week. The survey was conducted on about 1 000 US adults last month by The Wall Street Journal and NORC at the University of Chicago about the importance of different values to Americans. “When you look at the full results, the picture becomes a bit more complicated,” with 60% of respondents saying that religion was either somewhat or very important to them, and only 19% saying religion was not important to them at all, said the article. Mark Chaves, a professor of sociology at Duke Divinity School who directs the National Congregations Study, said: “America can still be a…

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrestled yesterday with the fate of his deputy Dominic Raab after an investigation concluded into alleged bullying by the Conservative minister. Raab, who is justice secretary as well as deputy prime minister, has been under a cloud for allegedly victimising his civil servants in three different government departments. Sunak retained “full confidence” in Raab but was “considering the findings”, he said. Raab is expected to face dismissal if the complaints are upheld, with the Conservatives already staring at heavy losses in local elections on May 4. | AFP…

DHAKA: Bangladesh is being forced to cut power to millions of people as a relentless heatwave leads to a surge in demand for power and thereby creates massive electricity supply shortfalls during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadaan. Greater use of irrigation pumps by farmers and an increase in commercial activity during Ramadaan have also contributed to increased power demand. Power shortages have been most severe at night. Temperatures soared to 42.8°C on Wednesday in the west of the country. Overall electricity supply fell short of demand by 6.6% over the seven days to Wednesday, government data showed. | Reuters…