Table of contents for 2024-01-19 in Cape Times

THE legal battle over the controversial River Club development site is not over yet. Lawyers acting for High Commissioner Tauriq Jenkins, on behalf of the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous Traditional Council (GKKITC), have filed an application for rescission of the full bench judgment which challenged his right to speak on behalf of the group and institute a case against the development. In early 2022, Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath ordered the halting of construction on the River Club site, finding that the fact that the development had economic benefits could not override the fundamental rights of the First Nations People - which were under threat if the development was allowed to proceed. This after the Observatory Civic Association (OCA) and the GKKITC sought to stop the development, which was earmarked…

There were scenes of jubilation and relief at Independent Examinations Board (IEB) schools across the province yesterday as pupils received matric results. With a total of 15 180 candidates, the IEB reported an overall pass rate of 98.46% in the 2023 NSC exams, up from the 98.42% achieved in 2022. At Somerset College, executive head Jacques Nel congratulated the class of 2023. “Your unwavering commitment to tasks, perseverance, and consistent, intentional efforts have truly paid off, resulting in outstanding results. “Each one of you has demonstrated resilience and dedication, setting a commendable standard for excellence. “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the devoted teachers who selflessly shared their knowledge and guidance, ensuring you were well prepared for success. “Their commitment to your education has undoubtedly played a pivotal role in…

THE Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is investigating allegations that some no-fee schools have requested parents to pay registration either for placement or readmission for their children. The department confirmed it had dealt with an allegation of this nature at a school in Worcester. The 2024 academic year started on Wednesday for millions of pupils while some were still trying to figure out where they will attend school. There were queues at department district offices yesterday, with more than 2 600 children still to be placed. The department said it had also received 609 extremely late applications after January 1. MPL Khalid Sayed said while they were concerned about the number of unplaced children, they were also disturbed by reports some no-fee schools were apparently demanding a registration fee. “There…

Show Me the Place Hedley Twidle Loot.co.za (R199) Jonathan Ball “Show Me the Place” is an essay collection searching through history, memory and literature to find glimmers of utopia. The collection is a book of elsewheres; in it, the author charts a journey to find other liveable places and spaces in a troubled world. Whether embarking on a bizarre quest to find Cecil Rhodes’ missing nose (sliced off the bust of the Rhodes Memorial) or bike-packing the Scottish islands with a couple of squabbling anarchists, learning to surf (much too late) in the wild, freezing waters off the Cape Peninsula or navigating the fraught politics of a Buddhist retreat centre – the author explores forgotten utopias, intentional communities and islands of imagination with curiosity, hope and humour. Threaded through the…

The Women Kristin Hannah Loot.co.za (R255) Macmillan The Women is a story of devastating loss and epic love. It is both an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and a story of a nation divided by war. “Women can be heroes, too” – when 20-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on California’s idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different path for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows his path. As green and…

It was just over an hour long, outlined eight tasks, and comprised more than 3 829 words, but what did Cyril Ramaphosa’s January 8 statement to more than 40 000 ANC supporters at a packed Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga contain? In some ways, quite a lot – but in others, remarkably little. What does the prospect of losing power mean for a political party and former liberation movement that feels it was born to rule “until Jesus comes back to Earth”? That question has been haunting the ANC for almost six years, ever since Ramaphosa’s captaincy of the party and the government started to unravel with the deepening of factions and the failure to implement several of its conference resolutions – since 2017 – the period when a probably decisive…

Tens of thousands of public sector workers in Northern Ireland walked off the job yesterday in what one union boss said could be the biggest strike in the province. The mass strike, dubbed a “co-ordinated day of action”, was predicted to cause havoc to already crumbling public services. The walkouts come with no end in sight to a protracted political crisis that has left the UK province without devolved government for almost two years. Around 16 trade unions representing teachers, civil servants, nurses and transport workers were expected to join picket lines and rallies, according to organisers. Six rallies were due to take place across Belfast with another two in Londonderry, also known as Derry, and one in Enniskillen. Trades union chief Owen Reidy said he expected yesterday to be…

Donald Trump said yesterday that “total” presidential immunity against criminal prosecution should apply even if his actions “cross the line.” Republican Trump is running for a White House comeback in November while fighting 91 criminal charges in four separate cases that include allegedly seeking to overturn his 2020 election loss and hoarding top secret documents at his golf resort. In a social media post, Trump argued that as president, he enjoyed complete immunity from prosecution, and he urged the Supreme Court to rule in his favour. He suggested that US presidents need immunity to be able to make hard decisions. He likened the situation to the police, who must keep working despite the “occasional rogue cop.” A federal appeals court in Washington is currently considering Trump’s claim. |…

Los Angeles: California has a more than 95% chance or greater of a damaging earthquake over the next 100 years, according to a new US Geological Survey (USGS) map. Nearly 75% of the US could experience damaging earthquakes and intense ground shaking, threatening the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the next century. More than 50 scientists and engineers worked on the latest USGS National Seismic Hazard Model. It suggested that California and Alaska faced a greater degree of shaking. The study showed that 37 US states had earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5 in the past 200 years. | IANS…

Kampala: Ugandan opposition leader and former presidential candidate Bobi Wine said yesterday that police had surrounded his residence and put him “under house arrest” ahead of a planned protest. Opposition politicians had planned protests yesterday against the poor condition of roads in Uganda, which is hosting two global summits this week. Wine challenged veteran President Yoweri Museveni in Uganda’s last election in 2021, calling for an end to his iron-fisted rule. Former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change opposition party said yesterday that he, too, was not allowed to leave his house. Opposition parties have accused the government of detaining homeless people and razing thousands of kiosks in a clean-up ahead of two summits in Kampala. | AFP…

THE DA’s position on Palestine and the war in Gaza is among a long list of reasons listed by former MP Ghaleb Cachalia for his resignation from the party. DA leader John Steenhuisen removed his public enterprises shadow minister from his ‘cabinet’ in November last year for breaking ranks with the party over its stance on the Israel-Palestine war, after he posted: “I will not be silenced. “Israel is committing genocide. Full bloody stop,” on social media platform X. In a 30-page document, including the resignation, a letter to the chairperson of the Federal Executive, Helen Zille, and various appendices, Cachalia said: “I have been accused of contradicting DA official policy and contravening a caucus injunction to only allow the shadow minister for Dirco (Department of International Relations and Co-operation)…

While Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi maintains he did not call for the “scrapping” of the Independent Examinations Board (IEB), the proposal for the two matric exam systems, including the National Senior Certificate (NSC), to be amalgamated for the promotion of equality has sparked debate among education analysts. Lesufi, the former MEC for Education in Gauteng, took to social media to question why the country had two matric exams – one for public schools and the other for private schools, adding that the time had come for all children to write the same exam, like they do at universities and colleges. “Everything is the same, besides the name of the exam. The pass mark is the same, the curriculum is the same. The standard bearer is the same (Umalusi). We can’t…

Despite confirming its readiness for the new academic calendar, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane has pleaded with parents and learners to give his department three to 10 days to sort out delays. On Tuesday, spokesperson for the provincial department Steve Mabona, in spite of reports of widespread dissatisfaction with the placement of learners and some parents threatening to take the department to court, said all the learners who applied through its online application process had been placed, including those who applied late. “We have placed everyone. We can also confirm that more than 34 000 late applications were recorded since we opened the system on December 18, 2023. Late registration applicants are automatically placed after choosing a school,” Mabona said on Tuesday, a day before schools reopened. However, the…

EDUCATION in KwaZulu-Natal continues to improve with the latest Grade 12 results showing that the province registered yet another increase in the pass rate. The 2023 Grade 12 results show that the province registered another impressive rise in the pass rate to an all-time high of 86.4%, an increase of 3.4% from 2022. Last year it recorded one of the biggest jumps, going from 76% the previous year to 83%. Nationally, the 2023 NSC overall pass rate was 82.9%, up from 80.1% in 2022, and 76.4% in 2021. Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga congratulated the matric Class of 2023 yesterday for defying the odds and making the country proud in spite of the many challenges they faced. She noted that for the past 10 years, the NSC pass…

The Bitterness of Olives Andrew Brown Karavan Press The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown is a haunting book – shockingly real in bringing the perspective of people living in a country split through its very foundations when strikes are a daily occurrence and when the worst kind of inhumanity can happen through a mere word. When righteous belief transcends logic – we are seeing it now as the situation in Israel and Palestine escalates. The cover of the book was almost prophetic, as Brown himself says – “it is surreal” – as the tragedy of a terrorist onslaught on Israel unfolded some few weeks after the book was published. Brown’s experience as an anti-apartheid activist, advocate, police reservist and successful author has provided an experienced but objective eye.…

A Calamity of souls David Baldacci Loot.co.za (R260) Macmillan A murder case sets a duo of white and black lawyers against a deeply unfair system as they work to defend their wrongfully-accused black defendants in this courtroom drama from best selling author David Baldacci. Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a black man charged with killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realises that what is at stake…

When growing up, youngsters tend to watch their sporting heroes on television – or live at a match venue – and then go home and try to copy what they saw on the pitch or court. One of those memorable moments arrived for Bafana Bafana when they earned a penalty against Mali in their Africa Cup of Nations opener in Korhogo, Ivory Coast on Tuesday night. First it looked like Teboho Mokoena was going to take the spot-kick as he claimed the ball, but when we looked again, it was Percy Tau lining up the shot. Considering the prowess of the Al Ahly star, Bafana fans would have expected him to bury the ball into the back of the net. Alas, it was not to be as Tau skied the…

Generative artificial intelligence could transform healthcare through things like drug development and more rapid diagnoses, but the World Health Organization (WHO) stressed yesterday that more attention should be paid to the risks. WHO has been examining the potential dangers and benefits posed by large multimodal AI models (LMMs), which are relatively new and are quickly being adopted in health. LMMs are generative AI which can use multiple types of data input, including text, images and video, and generate outputs that are not limited to the type of data fed into the algorithm. “It has been predicted that LMMs will have wide application in healthcare, scientific research, public health and drug development,” said WHO. The UN health agency outlined five broad areas where the technology could be applied: diagnosis; scientific research…

Mombasa: A Kenyan court yesterday charged the leader of a starvation cult with terrorism over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 94 suspects pleaded not guilty to charges of radicalisation. He was also charged with “organised criminal activity”. Mackenzie is said to have incited his acolytes to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus”. He was arrested last April after bodies were found in the Shakahola forest near the Indian Ocean, with autopsies revealing that the majority of the 429 victims had died of hunger. Others appeared to have been strangled, beaten or suffocated. | AFP…

Paris: Ukraine’s defence minister warned yesterday about his country’s ammunition shortage in its battle against Russia, as Western allies met in Paris to discuss new artillery supplies. “A shortage of ammunition is a very real and pressing problem,” Rustem Umerov said after speaking by video link to a US- and French-led gathering of the Ramstein contact group, which is made up of 50 countries supporting Ukraine. France said it would cover the cost of 12 new guns out of 78 it could make this year. The EU had promised to deliver one million shells by spring, but MPs say only 300 000 have been delivered so far. | AFP…

Jos Buttler cut a despondent figure for close on two months as he trudged through India during England’s failed World Cup defence last year. The strain was certainly evident on the face of England’s white-ball captain as his personal performances suffered in the process. There seemed to be some light at the end of the tunnel on England’s tour to the Caribbean, though, where Buttler seemed to slowly rediscover his touch. The right-handed batter, therefore, arrived in South Africa for the second edition of the SA20 to not only find some runs but, more importantly, to rediscover his love for the game. It helped that he was coming to a country where the sun is shining, there are some amazing golf courses and some of the best vineyards in the…

THE Proteas Women are Down Under for their multi-format cricket tour, which will get under way with a three-match T20I series, followed by a three-match ODI series, before the tour concludes with a one-off Test. The 15-player squad departed in two groups for the white-ball leg of the tour this week. The first group, which included captain Laura Wolvaardt, left on Wednesday, while the second group departed yesterday. One of the key players on the tour of Australia will be all-rounder Nadine de Klerk, who has had a great season thus far. Since the tour of Pakistan that marked the beginning of the season for South Africa, De Klerk has been among the runs and the wickets. When the team was without the experienced all-rounder Chloe Tryon, De Klerk was…

A SIZEABLE number of SABC viewers who watched their programmes on the OpenView platform were excluded from watching the Rugby World Cup 2023 final due to MultiChoice’s market dominance and its decision to block OpenView from broadcasting it. This was the argument presented yesterday to the Competition Tribunal by eMedia Investment, owner of OpenView. As a result of this event, and looming changes in the market with the switch from analogue public broadcasting to digital expected this year, Hosken Consolidated Investments subsidiary eMedia Investment, owner of OpenView, went to competition authorities to seek relief against DStv operator MultiChoice SA Holdings, and the SABC. As with 90% of all major sport events, MultiChoice had acquired the pay-to-air and free-to-air television rights for the matches, and it sub-licensed the major games to…

OPPOSITION parties have urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to use next month’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) to declare a provisional election date. Ramaphosa is consulting with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on a date for the elections, which must be held within 90 days of the end of the current legislature’s term in May. The IEC has suggested May 22 as the date for the elections, but the ultimate decision rests with Ramaphosa. The IEC has said the elections will be held between May and August to elect a new National Assembly, and the legislature in each province. Parties are wary that if Ramaphosa officially promulgates the election date during the Sona on February 8, this will bring the voter registration window to a close. They are…

The class of 2023, which was at the eye of the Covid-19 storm, has turned out to be the best-performing cohort of matrics, achieving the most distinctions and Bachelor’s since the advent of democracy. This group produced an 82.9% pass rate compared with 80.1% the previous year, an improvement of 2.8%, said Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga yesterday as she announced the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results. The Western Cape once again produced not one but two overall top-performing matriculants in the country. They were Melissa Muller from Rhenish Girls’ High School public school in Stellenbosch, and Ethan Myers from Herzlia High School, an independent school in Vredehoek. The Free State was the best-performing province, achieving an 89.0% pass rate, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 86.4%, Gauteng at 85.4%, North West…

REDDAM House campuses were abuzz with excitement yesterday as pupils received their Independent Examinations Board (IEB) National Senior Certificate matric exam results and celebrated top achievers. Across the Constantia, Atlantic Seaboard and Durbanville campuses, the schools reported 120 matrics achieving 308 distinctions, averaging at 2.57 distinctions per pupil, with 39 pupils achieving four or more distinctions. And having achieved their goals – in some cases, even more– some of the top achievers said they were relieved that the wait for their results was finally over. Joseph Carmody from Reddam House Constantia achieved a national ranking within the top 5% in six or more subjects, placing him on the IEB Outstanding Achievement List. He achieved nine distinctions. His highest mark was 99% for Maths. Donna Schmidt, who achieved eight distinctions, said…

Called by the Wild Conraad de Rosner, Graham Spence, Elaine Bell Loot.co.za (R229) Jonathan Ball The story of the conservationist who pioneered the use of dogs in combating poachers in South Africa’s game reserves. One of Conraad’s first brushes with the reality of life at the front line of conservation was when he shot the leader of a poaching gang in Windy Ridge Game Reserve in his teens. Much of Con’s work involving dogs is a continuous struggle against industrial-scale bushmeat poachers, an even greater threat to wildlife than rhino horn poachers as the overburdened courts seem interested only in endangered species. He also works to catch poachers of critically endangered pangolins, the most trafficked animal in the world. Con decided to use his almost telepathic rapport with dogs to…

The Enemy Beside Me Naomi Ragen Loot.co.za (R249) St Martin's Press Inspired by true events, Naomi Ragen’s The Enemy Beside Me is a powerful, provocative novel about two people fighting for reconciliation over unforgivable crimes of the past. Taking over from her father and grandfather as the head of the Survivor’s Campaign, an organisation whose purpose is to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, Milia Gottstein has dedicated her life to making sure the voices of the Holocaust victims will never be silenced. It is an overwhelming and heartbreaking mission that has often usurped her time and energy as a wife to busy surgeon Julius and a mother and grandmother. But now, just as she is finally ready to pass on her work to others, making time for her personal…

Core values need to be firmly in place when they leave home THE transition from high school to higher education is one of the most significant steps in a young person’s life. It represents a coming-of-age journey usually associated with great excitement and big dreams, but also with a fair amount of trepidation and uncertainty. Very often students find themselves ill-prepared for this important phase in their lives, causing even the most promising to struggle. The old African proverb, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, is true of a university context too. Because it requires nothing less than the combined effort and input of schools, parents, communities, alumni, higher education institutions, and the students themselves to ensure that they are adequately prepared for a successful journey from first…

Israeli strikes have killed dozens more people, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said yesterday, including in the territory’s south where Israel has intensified operations. In the occupied West Bank, where violence has surged alongside the war in Gaza, an Israeli raid continued into a second day around Tulkarem, an official said. Palestinian sources reported a sixth person had been killed in the operation. The latest violence came as medicine for hostages held by the militants and fresh aid for civilians entered the Palestinian territory under a newly brokered deal, mediator Qatar said. The measure provided at least some relief in a region where tensions flared further following Pakistani strikes on an Iranian border region, and new US military action targeting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. Gaza’s health ministry said 93…

BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday urged Britain’s unelected upper house of parliament to pass his contentious plan to send migrants to Rwanda, saying it was the will of the people. The premier was speaking the day after he survived a key test of his leadership by fending off right-wing rebels to win a crunch parliamentary vote on the issue. Sunak, who became prime minister in October 2022 after winning an internal party contest in the wake of Liz Truss’s short-lived tenure, said the elected House of Commons had supported the legislation with a “very strong majority”. Sunak said they would keep working on the Rwanda plan even before the upper house voted on the legislation. Conservative Party rebels had threatened to kill the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration)…

PARIS: French police officers protested yesterday to press their claim for extra pay during this year’s Paris Olympics, underlining the threat of strikes and disruption to the Games. Authorities are scrambling to agree to pay deals with a host of public-sector trade unions which are demanding bonuses for working during the July 26-August 11 Olympics. Several police unions have urged officers to show “minimum activity” , with protests called for in front of police stations nationwide. France is banking on its first Olympics in 100 years to showcase its best and is desperate to avoid reinforcing France’s reputation for violent street protests. | AFP…

Guayaquil: The Ecuadoran army and police yesterday launched an operation in a vast jail complex in the port city of Guayaquil, the nerve centre of a drug war between the government and powerful criminal groups. Video released by the army showed hundreds of soldiers pouring into the prison, from which gang boss Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, escaped last week. The jailbreak sparked a government crackdown and fierce retaliation from the criminal groups who have made Ecuador a hub for the global export of cocaine. The operation came a day after a prosecutor was gunned down in his car in Guayaquil, the latest in a series of high-profile assassinations in Ecuador. | AFP…

Elton Jantjies’ ailing rugby career took another massive knock after the Springbok received a four-year suspension yesterday for a doping violation that happened last year. According to the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids), Jantjies tested positive for clenbuterol in June. In the end, the former Lions flyhalf did not contest the charge. The 2019 World Cup winner admitted last year that he had tested positive for the banned anabolic agent, which is used for treating asthma, burning fat and increasing stamina. The 33-year-old pivot – who was part of the Boks’ 2019 Rugby World Cup-winning squad in Japan – then released a statement on the positive test, saying he was “shocked” and that he would have his B-sample tested. But Saids confirmed to Independent Newspapers, when the news…