Table of contents for 2024-06-21 in Cape Times

THIS IS THE second article in a nine-part series that summarises findings from Just Retirement Insights 2024, a tracking study conducted by retirement income specialist, Just SA. Four out of 10 people aren’t setting goals for retirement Confidence in your skills and abilities to plan for retirement is a subjective measurement, and, as was discovered in Just Retirement Insights 2024, self-confidence can sometimes be unjustified. The study showed that 60% of respondents set goals for retirement. While this is an improvement of 20% compared to the 2018 survey, it means that 40% of respondents don’t set goals, a figure that is far too high, given South Africa’s retirement income crisis. Just more than half of respondents surveyed (56%) said they saved money and planned for the future. This could be…

CAPITAL & Regional plc, a UK shopping centre company that has Growthpoint Properties as its major shareholder, said yesterday that discussions were underway with NewRiver real estate investment trust (Reit) about a potential takeover offer. Capital & Regional said in a regulatory JSE notice that the discussions with NewRiver Reit plc regarding a potential takeover offer had led to an extension of the deadline to make a firm offer or walk away. NewRiver Reit focuses on retail parks, core retail centres and regeneration centres in the UK. Originally set for June 20, 2024, the new deadline for NewRiver to declare its intentions was now July 18, 2024. The company said there was no certainty of a firm offer being made, or the terms of any potential offer. Last month Capital…

The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) urged President Cyril Ramaphosa and ANC premiers to appoint the youth to the executive in national and provincial governments. “The ANCYL calls for the appointment of young people as ministers and deputy ministers by President Cyril Ramaphosa (and) MECs by Premiers,” the league’s president Collen Malatji said at a media briefing. Malatji said they were pleased with the inclusion of approximately 20 young people under the age of 35 as parliamentarians. “This was along with a significant number of individuals under the ages of 40 and 50. “This is a positive step towards ensuring that our leadership reflects the demographics of our society, where the youth form a substantial part,” he said. Malatji noted that 14 of the league’s national executive committee members were MPs…

In South Africa, youth unemployment remains a significant challenge, exacerbated by the prevailing economic climate. Many young people struggle to find a job and secure stable employment, although they enter the labour market with eagerness and a strong desire to learn and contribute. Even those who have obtained tertiary qualifications still remain in their homes without any jobs. While many factors lead to this state of affairs, young people also face stigmatisation (age and experience) when looking for jobs. In celebration of this year’s Youth Month, I would like to focus on this issue. Young professionals, whether from Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges or universities, bring with them a wealth of knowledge and a drive to implement their skills in the workplace. They are motivated to contribute to…

Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) says the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) mischaracterised the nature of the case in its application for leave to appeal against the SCA’s decision concerning the sale of the Tafelberg property in Sea Point and the issue of affordable housing. NU and Reclaim the City (RTC) said yesterday said they had filed for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court against the recent judgment by the SCA in the Tafelberg case. The sale of the Tafelberg property in 2015 triggered a massive outcry and brought to the fore the debate on how public land is used and disposed of, especially in the context of more than a 365 000 housing backlog and continued segregation and inequality in Cape Town In 2020, the province was prevented from selling…

A Tempest of Tea Hafsah Faizal Loot.co.za (R458) Pan Macmillan An intoxicating brew of vampires, and secrets. Author of TikTok sensation We hunt the flame, Hafsah Faizal’s latest teen read, A Tempest of Tea, is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows. On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and a collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it – and she can’t do the job alone. Calling on some of the city’s most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittering vampire society known as…

Still See You Everywhere Loot.co.za (R270) Lisa Gardner Century Lisa Gardner is the consummate thriller writer, pulling you in from the first word. I have been following Frankie Elkin, missing person specialist, with glee. Each search bringing some surprising twists, always learning something new about small town USA, always unpredictable. Such is the talent of this prolific author I am not shy to admit that she is one of my ‘go-to’ authors when I need a good thriller to push the adrenalin button. In Still See You Everywhere a female serial killer – Keahi, the Beautiful Butcher – is on Death Row awaiting execution. With three weeks to go her lawyer gets hold of Frankie in a plea to find the killer’s baby sister Lani, who the killer believes is…

The opening Springbok Test of the year is always a special occasion, but tomorrow’s encounter against Wales is even more significant than usual. It is the first time the Boks will be in action since that memorable October night in Paris last year when they beat the All Blacks 12-11 in the Rugby World Cup final to clinch their fourth Webb Ellis Cup, the second in a row after their 2019 triumph in Japan. It is also different due to the fact that it won’t be played at home, as the massive Twickenham Stadium in London will see two neutral teams fight it out – although with the number of SA expats in the UK capital, there is sure to be considerable Bok support in the stands. In addition, it…

Israeli forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip overnight, killing three people and wounding dozens of others, according to medics, while tanks deepened their invasion into Rafah in the south, residents said. Israeli planes struck a house in Al-Nuseirat camp, killing two people and wounding 12 others, while tanks shelled areas in Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij camps, wounding many other people, health officials said. Nuseirat, Maghazi, and Bureij are three of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps. In Deir al-Balah, a city packed with displaced people in the central Gaza Strip, an Israeli air strike killed one Palestinian and wounded several others yesterday, medics said. The Israeli military have said forces were continuing their operations across the enclave, targeting militants and military infrastructure in what it described as “precise, intelligence-based” activities.…

Vatican City: A former Catholic Church diplomat and virulent critic of Pope Francis, Carlo Maria Vigano, said yesterday that the Vatican was putting him on trial for denying the pontiff’s legitimacy. The ultra conservative 83-year-old, who was the Vatican’s US ambassador from 2011–2016, said the department of doctrine set out accusations of him “having committed the crime of schism” – splitting the Catholic Church. Vigano railed against Francis’s welcome for undocumented migrants, his “delirious encyclicals” about climate change and authorisation of blessings for same-sex couples, and accused him of promoting his allies. | AFP…

Barcelona: A cruise ship rescued 68 migrants from a fishing boat spotted adrift south of Spain’s Canary Islands with five bodies on board, Spanish authorities and the ship’s operator said yesterday. Rescuers were alerted on Wednesday to the vessel drifting in the Atlantic some 800km south of the island of Tenerife. The cruise ship, the Insignia, was called on to head to the boat’s location to pick up the survivors, Spain’s maritime rescue service said. It took on board 68 sub-Saharan African migrants, including three women and three minors, and recovered three bodies from the fishing boat. Bad weather prevented it from collecting the other two bodies. | AFP…

STANDARD Bank Group has become the latest South African company whose profits are being whittled away by other devaluing African currencies. The biggest lender in Africa by assets said yesterday that its headline earnings grew by only low-to-mid single digits in the five months to May 31 after being negatively impacted by currency movements, most notably in Angola, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia. Other listed companies in South Africa with large business interests elsewhere on the continent that have been similarly affected include Telkom and cellphone companies such as MTN. Standard Bank said in a trading update for the five months to May 31 that on a constant currency basis, headline earnings grew by mid-teens period-on-period. Credit impairment charges were marginally higher, based on restated figures for last year’s five-month period.…

THE DA’s clean sweep victory in the Beaufort West by-elections was a reflection of residents’ disappointment in the parties that failed to deliver on their promises, Stellenbosch University’s School of Public Leadership director Professor Zwelinzima Ndevu said. There were six municipal by-elections held in the Western Cape on Wednesday with 68 741 people registered to vote in Beaufort West and the Cape Town Metro. The resignation of two Patriotic Alliance (PA) councillors and one from the ANC led to the vacancies and bruising defeat as the DA snatched highly contested wards 1, 3 and 6 in the Central Karoo. This shifts the PA, ANC, and KDF council coalition’s power to the DA. According to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) results dashboard, the DA showed 40.23% support in…

A restraint of trade legal dispute between cleaning companies got dirty in the Johannesburg Labour Court. Judge Reynaud Daniels turned down the application in favour of the applicant, which, he said, was flawed on “hearsay evidence”. The dispute is between Pretoria-based small business Duster Dollies Central, who took one of their former employees to court for starting a rival company and Korbika Cleaning. Duster Dollies told the court Erika Behr signed a restraint of trade agreement with them, in terms of which she may not work for a rival company or take their clients, for two years. She, however, left the employment of Duster Dollies and with another business partner, who has not been named, started Korbika Cleaning. Duster Dollies asked the court for an urgent interdict restraining Behr from…

INCREASING the railway network traffic of the subcontinent will be among the key priorities of the new Southern African Railway Association (Sara). This was revealed at a media briefing at The Capital Hotel in Cape Town yesterday where Hishaam Emeran, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) CEO, was elected as the new Sara president. Sara is the association of railway companies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Emeran was previously the vice-president, while now filling his position is Nixon Dlamini, also the CEO at Eswatini Railways. “I am humble to be the president of this important organisation. We are looking at how to improve freight and passenger experience and the co-operation between the neighbouring southern African countries to boost our economies. “Rail transport is crucial for rebuilding…

SA’s fragile state makes his people-centred call resonate across the political landscape IT WAS dark before dawn on the path leading to the second inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa, a leader who promised us a New Dawn six years ago. Politics needs light and shade, as decisions on forming this unity government are complicated, and judgements are subtle. We will all wake up every day in the coming months to a president of a multiparty government who paints the boldest of brush strokes on the courageous path to forge co-operation between fractured political persuasions in a historic moment that takes us away from a political landscape characterised by single-party dominance. The leader who divides and inspires many yearning for an effective government that must tackle poverty and inequality entertains and…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wanted to build a “reliable security architecture” in the Asia-Pacific region during a state visit to Vietnam yesterday, part of a trip to Asia seen as a show of defiance to the West. A day after signing a mutual defence agreement with North Korea, Putin received a 21-gun salute at a military ceremony in Vietnam, was embraced by two of its Communist leaders and lavishly praised by one of them. Putin had contributed to “peace, stability and development” in the world, Vietnam’s president said. Putin’s visit has drawn criticism from the US and its allies, who treat the Russian leader as a pariah and have protested that he should not be given a stage on which to defend Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia and…

World leaders, health groups and pharmaceutical firms announced $1.2 billion about (R21bn) in funding at a summit yesterday to produce vaccines in Africa, which is facing numerous health crises including rising cholera outbreaks. The African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator “will be an essential step towards a genuine African vaccine market”, French President Emmanuel Macron said at the opening of the summit in the Paris. Three quarters of this funding will come from Europe, Macron told the summit, which was also attended by leaders from Botswana, Rwanda, Senegal, Ghana, as well as visiting ministers, health groups and pharmaceutical firms. Germany will contribute $318bn to the scheme, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. France put in $100 million and the UK $60m, while other donors include the US, Canada, Norway, Japan and the Gates…

NEW DELHI: The heatwave gripping northern India has killed nearly 200 homeless people in New Delhi over the last week, a group dedicated to helping the homeless said. As many as 52 bodies were brought to hospitals in the past two days, reports said yesterday. A total of 192 homeless people died in New Delhi between June 11 and 19, according to government figures. India has recorded more than 40 000 suspected heatstroke cases and at least 110 confirmed deaths between March 1 and June 18, when north-west and eastern India recorded more than twice the usual number of heatwave days. | Reuters…

LONDON: Climate activists gained access to a UK airport yesterday and sprayed private jets with orange paint a day after Stonehenge was attacked. Environmental protest group Just Stop Oil claimed US pop star Taylor Swift’s private jet had landed at Stansted airport, in Essex, “mere hours earlier”. Swift has attracted criticism over her use of private jets. Police said her aircraft was not at the airport at the time of the incident. Swift is on tour in the UK. Police said they had arrested two women, Jennifer Kowalski, 28, and Cole Macdonald, 22, who demanded that Britain’s next government commit to phasing out fossil fuels by 2030. | AFP…

DESPITE advances in financial inclusion, boosted by digital and mobile finance platforms that are blossoming across the region, authorities in southern Africa should enhance competition in banking systems. This was according to Absa Bank chief strategy and sustainability officer Punki Modise, who said that there were varying levels of debt-to-GDP ratios across African countries, while some regional sovereigns such as Kenya, Ghana and Egypt have adopted unsustainable debt strategies. Standard Bank said yesterday that currency volatility in some regional markets had intensified in the first five months of the current year. This comes as South African banks expect non-performing loans to escalate in their home market. Nonetheless, regional financial experts reckon that robust competition in South Africa’s and regional financial ecosystem will improve bankability in the private sector and improve…

All eyes will be on President Cyril Ramaphosa when he makes imminent Cabinet appointments following consultation with political parties that form part of the Government of National Unity (GNU). Ramaphosa will have a few considerations to make, noting that, unlike in the past, he would not only have to consult the ANC alliance partners, the SACP and Cosatu. Among his considerations will be the size of the incoming Cabinet, key ministerial positions to reserve for the ANC and a number of posts to assign to each of the parties, and the possible inclusion of non-MPs in his new executive. Some parties and interest groups are lobbying him to trim the Cabinet. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told the SABC that Ramaphosa would constitute a Cabinet that would be reflective…

Renaldo Gouws’s inciteful remarks against black people call into question whether the DA was a transformed party Pressure is mounting on the DA to call out and remove racists in its ranks following the suspension of MP Renaldo Gouws for using derogatory language, including the k-word, in a video inciting violence against black people. “Alright so there’s a couple of things I want to say. Kill the f***ing k****rs, kill all the f***ing n****rs. That’s all I gotta f***ing say. Kill all the k****rs! Kill all the f***ing n****rs!” he can be heard saying in the video. Gouws first denied having made such a video when contacted by IOL and also insinuated the video may have been manipulated by AI technology. The video was retrieved from the internet archive, which…

The Hungry table Fatima Saib Loot.co.za (R275) Penguin Food and memory are inextricably linked; flavours and dishes evoke emotion, rooted in nostalgia or specific experiences. The Hungry Table embodies this idea. For Fatima Saib, food exists as a backdrop to her childhood memories, intertwined with her precious relationship with her father. Derived from this culinary inspiration, the book expertly weaves story and memory through a journey of more than 90 contemporary recipes, most with a nod to the author’s South African-Indian heritage. With this in mind, the book is divided into five chapters, each tapping into a feeling. “The Basics” offers an array of chutneys, sauces, pickles and flavour-enhancers to round off any dish. “Togetherness” is an ode to food that is best shared among friends and family, like hot…

The return of detective Jake Jackson in the second of this detective series takes readers on another crime adventure. Author Stig Abell once again draws readers in with his gripping plot and masterful storytelling in Death in a lonely place. Retired cop Jake Jackson is enjoying his off-grid life in the countryside – no technology, no mobile phone, no TV and no washing machine. Jackson enjoys the calmness of the lake and reading from his new library of crime fiction that his uncle left to him as part of the inheritance. Abell does a great job in emphasising the beauty and isolation around the farmhouse Jackson inherited. But this peace and serenity does not last long, as Jackson is soon roped in to solve a crime involving a child kidnapping.…

The frequent killings of suspects in Kwazulu-Natal and elsewhere places the use of force by the police once again in the spotlight. Some assert that the killings are a result of the “trigger-happy” police officers’ “shoot-to-kill” approach, as mentioned by some politicians. Others applaud the police because they don’t have faith in the criminal justice system and perceive these killings as instant justice because they are sick and tired of crime. It is thus crucial and in the best interest of the police members and the public to explore the legality of the police’s use of force. In South Africa, police officials are legally authorised to apply force when necessary according to section 205(3) of the Constitution, 1996. The provision states, among others, that the police must “protect and secure…

Thousands of mostly young demonstrators took to the streets across Kenya yesterday to protest tax hikes, blowing whistles and chanting slogans in a vivid show of anger by Gen-Z protesters against the government. Police in the capital Nairobi fired tear gas and water cannon against groups of protesters near parliament, but apart from isolated scuffles earlier in the day, the action, dubbed “Occupy Parliament”, remained mostly peaceful. Led largely by young Kenyans, the demonstrations began in Nairobi on Tuesday before spreading nationwide on Thursday. They have galvanised widespread discontent over President William Ruto’s economic policies in a country already grappling with a cost-of-living crisis. Hours after Tuesday’s demonstrations, which saw hundreds of youth face off against the police, the cash-strapped government agreed to make concessions, rolling back several of the…

The AU was studying a request from Somalia yesterday to slow down the withdrawal of its forces deployed in the country against Islamist militants, officials from the body said. Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, has been waging a deadly insurgency against the fragile central government in Somalia for more than 17 years. UN resolutions called for forces in the AU peacekeeping mission, ATMIS, to be reduced to zero by December 31 through several withdrawal phases, handing over security to the Somali army and police. The third and penultimate phase was to see the departure of 4 000 soldiers by the end of this month. However, an AU said last month, the Somali government asked the organisation’s Peace and Security Council to extend the presence of half of the troops by…

London: The campaign director for Rishi Sunak’s ruling Conservatives has stepped aside following reports that he and his wife were under investigation for allegedly betting on the UK general election date. Conservative Campaign Headquarters yesterday said that Tony Lee “took a leave of absence”, and the Gambling Commission was looking into “a number of individuals”. The commission is also looking at claims that another would-be MP who served as Sunak’s ministerial aide, made a £100 (R2 300) stake on the date before it was called. Political bets are allowed in the UK, including on the date of the election, but using insider knowledge to do so is against the law. | AFP…

BEIJING: The Chinese foreign ministry said yesterday that exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism the Dalai Lama must “thoroughly correct” his political views as a condition for contact with China’s central government to resume. Formal talks between China and the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, and his representatives have been stalled since 2010. The Dalai Lama stepped down in 2011 as the political leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile. US lawmakers are asking President Joe Biden to sign a bill pressing China to secure an agreement on Tibet, and said they would not allow China to influence the choice of his successor. | Reuter…

There will be some expected growing pains at Twickenham for the Springboks tomorrow afternoon, but the opening Test against Wales should provide more answers than questions for Rassie Erasmus and his players. In their opening Test of the year, the Boks will take on an inexperienced Wales outfit in London (3pm SA time), and although they are also without some stars, the world champions will want to set an early standard by dominating proceedings. For several players, tomorrow’s duel against the Dragons can set the tone for their season and how they will fit into the returning Erasmus’ plans as he builds a squad for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. No one will be more eager to return to the field than Bok hooker Malcolm Marx after a…