Table of contents for 2024-08-06 in Cape Times

In late April, an advertising billboard went up in San Francisco featuring an inconspicuous phone number and an ominous question: “Still hiring humans?” The billboard quickly went viral on social media when a man recorded a video of himself calling the number, billboard in the background. The call was answered by a surprisingly human-like greeting: “Hey, um this is Bland AI, I’m an AI agent that makes millions of phone calls for businesses and in any voice.” The man in the video went on to have an interactive conversation with the voicebot, which had the uncanny intonations and other speech dynamics of an ordinary human being. This latest trend in artificial intelligence (AI) has demonstrated the break-neck speed at which this technology is developing. While the human-like agent from the…

The first week of August is observed as “Breastfeeding Week” worldwide. This global campaign aims to raise awareness about breastfeeding and its advantages. Running from August 1 to 7, it aims to raise awareness of the health and wellbeing outcomes of breastfeeding and the importance of supporting mothers to breastfeed for as long as they wish. Motherhood is a life-changing journey filled with numerous surprises and challenges. Your diet plays a crucial role in increasing the milk supply. Newborn babies need to be fed after every one or two hours, which can be exhausting and tiring. Mothers are advised to eat a variety of dishes that are enriched with essential nutrients to regain strength. This can help ensure that your produce is sufficient for the baby. Read on to learn…

Social media is buzzing with all sorts of information but a lot of it is misleading, especially when it comes to birth control. On platforms like TikTok and X, you'll find videos blaming hormonal contraception for weight gain, claims suggesting that some birth control methods cause infertility and testimonials linking the pill to depression and anxiety. Instead of traditional contraceptives, many social media influencers are promoting “natural” alternatives, like timing sex according to menstrual cycles, pulling out and praying. This shift from effective birth control methods is worrying as it could lead to more unplanned pregnancies. Concerns about long-term side effects, like cancer or blood clots, are generally unfounded for low-risk individuals. However, not everyone needs or wants to use hormonal contraception. “If you’re comfortable with your period and don't…

THE ANC believes the mounting pressure from its alliance partners Cosatu and the SACP over the formation of what it described as the Government of National Unity (GNU) with the DA is nothing untoward. The SACP in particular has been taking pot shots at the inclusion of the DA in the GNU and has not been shy to state that the ANC should have formed a coalition with like-minded parties the EFF and MKP. However, ANC acting spokesperson Zuko Godlimpi appeared to be calming the storm, saying his party was hopeful that the Tripartite Alliance partners will in due course sing from the same hymn sheet. “I can promise that as time goes on the alliance will be singing one tune about the GNU. There is nothing untoward about what…

Acting judge slams fund when ruling for teen who suffered traumatic brain injury in accident The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has been ordered to pay a Lavender Hill teenager nearly R5 million for severe injuries he sustained in a bicycle accident about seven years ago. Acting Judge Ajay Bhoopchand of the Western Cape High Court also had harsh words for the RAF when awarding the 16-year-old boy R4.9m, saying the boy’s township education did not mean he could not have had a promising career if he had not suffered the traumatic brain injury. The case stems from an accident when the now teenager suffered injuries to his head as an 8-year-old. A neurosurgical assessment revealed that he had sustained a mild traumatic brain injury and he was diagnosed with post-head…

80 ml olive oil 3 large onions, sliced (not chopped) 600 g large brown mushrooms, sliced 2 tbsp fresh thyme 5 ml fennel seeds (or cumin seeds) 15 ml balsamic vinegar 500 g puff pastry, thawed 1 egg, whisked, for brushing 2 tsp sesame seeds, for sprinkling (optional) For the filling: In a large, wide pot, over medium heat, add the oil and the onions. Fry slowly until the onions start to soften and go golden brown – about 10-15 minutes. Add the mushrooms, thyme & fennel, turn the heat up and continue to fry (stirring often) until the mushrooms release their moisture and go soft and dark (about 10-15 minutes). Add the balsamic vinegar and stir until it has reduced. Season with salt & pepper and leave to cool…

MORE than eight in every 10 people experience online fatigue due to participation in online activities. This is according to the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) which yesterday released results from a study on online fatigue among 1 485 respondents across South Africa. The study comes amid an increased trend of remote working, a tendency to work online full-time, as well as online learning, social media usage, online buying and banking, online sales/business, video conferencing, gaming, and streaming content. The study found that high levels of online fatigue are notable across varied types of online activities, such as business meetings, studies, banking, shopping, entertainment, and social media. According to BMR chief executive, Prof Deon Tustin, about eight in every 10 (84.6%) people use digital devices for more than four hours…

A bitter husband who says his wife only married him so that he could take care of her and for him to get her out of her premarital debt, has turned to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, for an order that she forfeit her portion of their joint estate because they were married in community of property. The husband told Judge Brad Wanless that the marriage was doomed from the start as their problems started on their wedding night. His wife made it clear from the beginning that she did not love him, he said. She also stated this in her personal diary, he added. According to the husband, he showered her with gifts before and shortly after the marriage, but he soon fell into debt due to the fact…

CHINA’S cashless society has set its sight on becoming the world’s biggest economy through a drastic acceleration of the latest set of reforms and modernisation of the world’s second-largest economy. The third plenum of the 20th central committee of the communist party of China (CPC), from July 15 to 18 – resolved to deepen reforms comprehensively. This is in order to advance Chinese modernisation, according to a communique from the third plenary session of the CPC’s central committee chaired by the secretary-general, Xi Jinping, who is also the country’s president. The important address that revealed plans to put China on a new economically upward trajectory was delivered by the CPC’s Central Committee head, President Xi, in person. The revelation of the plans has set tongues wagging globally. It shows that…

Lebanon yesterday received emergency medical supplies to equip its hospitals for possible war injuries and Beirut airport was teeming with people trying to leave the country amid fears a full-scale conflict was on the horizon. Tensions in the region have spiralled in the last week following the killing in Tehran of Palestinian militant group Hamas’ head, and an Israeli strike on Beirut’s suburbs that killed a top commander in Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah. Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate against Israel for the killings, prompting concerns that the multiple fronts being fought in parallel to the Gaza War could escalate into a full-blown regional war. Hospitals in southern Lebanon, where most of the tit-for-tat exchanges between Hezbollah and the Israeli military have taken place, are worn down by a…

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer yesterday vowed “swift criminal sanctions” following an emergency meeting on the far-right riots that broke out across England last week over the murder of three children. The prime minister met ministers and police chiefs to discuss how to quell the violence that first broke out in Southport, northwest England, last week. At the weekend, several police officers were injured and scores of people were arrested as mobs throwing bricks and flares clashed with officers, burnt and looted shops, and smashed the windows of cars and homes. Starmer said that specially trained police officers were ready to be deployed. Clashes erupted in Southport after three young girls were killed and five more children critically injured during a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.…

LAGOS: Protests in Nigeria over the soaring cost of living ebbed yesterday, with only a few hundred people turning out following a deadly crackdown by security forces. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the capital Abuja, Lagos and other big cities during the protests against economic hardship and crime, which started last week. Amnesty International said at least 13 people have been killed in clashes with police. A tough police response and a call for a protest pause by President Bola Tinubu appeared to have dampened the demonstrations, which came after data showed inflation hit a 28-year high of 34.19% in June. | Reuters…

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the delivery of 250 new tactical ballistic missile launchers to front-line troops, state media said yesterday, which Seoul said could be used to threaten South Korea. The launchers have been described as a modern tactical attack weapon personally designed by Kim and ready to be transferred to Korean People’s Army units on the border with the South. North Korea said it test-fired a new tactical ballistic missile last month. Kim blamed the US for creating a “nuclear-based military block” that forced him to strengthen military capabilities. North Korea has condemned joint drills between the US and South Korea. | Reuters…

The construction mafia in Cape Town regularly operate through legally registered entities with valid bank accounts and tax clearance certificates, making it difficult to detect any connections to criminal activities through standard procedures, said Atterbury Group CEO Louis van der Watt. Van der Watt made the comments as the City, Atterbury, Old Mutual Properties and others yesterday announced they were joining forces to eradicate construction mafia in development projects. This followed a series of meetings to address the involvement of alleged underworld-linked businesses in property development projects, with the role players committing to prevent any future engagement with alleged criminal enterprises in development and construction projects, they said in a joint statement. The statement comes after reports this year that entities and associates linked to a Cape Town gang boss…

Eskom’s efforts to “protect public procurement programmes and improve their prospects of success” have been dealt a blow as private independent power producer (IPP) projects race to grab up already limited grid space, after the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) rejected Eskom’s application for grid capacity reservation. Eskom had in May this year applied to reserve and/or preserve grid connection for IPP projects participating in the procurement programmes of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) (section 34 IPP projects). This comes as the Seventh Bid Submission Phase of the DMRE Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) to facilitate the procurement of up to 5 000 megawatts is currently open and expected to close on August 15. In its application, Eskom said: “It is in the…

From 15 days to just 23 hours -- that’s the median turnaround time for full TB diagnosis that includes resistance testing to the most important TB drugs, according to a new groundbreaking study. Published in the Open Forum Infectious Diseases journal last week, the findings represent a significant leap forward in the fight against TB. The study was co-led by Helen Cox, a professor in the Division of Medical Microbiology at UCT, and is part of the TB-CAPT Consortium, funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership. Globally, the largest barrier to providing effective treatment for the 410 000 individuals estimated to develop multidrug or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) annually is rapid and effective diagnosis; only two in five are diagnosed with rifampicin resistance and receive any second-line TB…

THE CRIME-ridden Browns Farm community in Philippi have welcomed the opening of a long-awaited satellite police station in the area. Notorious for murder and other serious offences, the area was red-flagged as a crime hotspot with police declaring last year that e-hailing drivers, courier and online marketplace sellers should not go there. The City has at times had to withdraw services and temporarily shut clinics. Western Cape police top brass, including provincial Commissioner Thembisile Patekile along with his deputy of Vispol, Mpumelelo Manci, visited the area as the station was opened on Friday. The station is housed at Browns Farm Library, one of many changes to the facility since it was broken into in August last year. Some residents asked Patekile about what prompted authorities to identify the area. “We…

THE National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) says it has rebuilt and restored some of its critical information technology infrastructure and systems severely affected by a cyberattack. As of August 1, some services have been brought back online in a phased manner, beginning with academic and larger laboratories countrywide, the laboratory service said. These services included laboratory registration, results processing and reporting via the Laboratory Information System. “This means that healthcare professionals can now obtain patient results online through the NHLS Laboratory Web Results Viewer, giving them access to crucial patient information needed for patient care continuity. “Bringing the Laboratory Information System back online is expected to significantly reduce the pressure and backlog associated with manual processes used by NHLS laboratories to collate and communicate results to physicians, streamlining the process…

ALLEGATIONS of racism have surfaced in various schools, highlighting the urgent need for parents to play a proactive role in preventing such behaviour among their children. The belief that behaviour is learnt is at the core of this issue. If parents focus not only on raising respectful, hardworking children but also on nurturing learners not to harbour racial prejudice, we can cultivate a more inclusive, harmonious school environment. One stark example was at Table View High in Cape Town, where a substitute teacher allegedly used the k-word during a matric history lesson on Black Consciousness. Such incidents underscore the importance of addressing racism head-on. Similarly, the Department of Basic Education in Gauteng suspended the headmaster of Pretoria High School for Girls following a racism-related incident. These events reveal systemic issues…

The Algerian and Taiwanese boxers embroiled in a dispute over gender in sport at the Paris Games were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after a sex chromosome test ruled both of them ineligible, the International Boxing Association (IBA) said yesterday. A storm erupted over the participation of Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting at the Olympics after Khelif’s Italian opponent pulled out of their bout less than a minute into the fight after taking a barrage of punches. The boxing competition at Paris 2024 is taking place under International Olympic Committee rules after the IOC stripped the IBA of its status as the sport’s global governing body over governance and finance concerns. In a shambolic press conference, IBA chief executive Chris Roberts said he could not disclose the…

WASHINGTON: Secretaries of state from five US states urged billionaire Elon Musk yesterday to fix social media platform X’s AI chatbot, saying it had spread misinformation related to the November 5 election. After Democratic US President Joe Biden stepped aside as presidential candidate on July 21 and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris, the chatbot, Grok, falsely told social media users that Harris had missed the ballot deadline in nine states. “This is false. In all nine states the opposite is true,” an open letter from the officials from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington, Michigan and New Mexico said. The officials said X should direct Grok users to CanIVote.org, a non-partisan website on US voting information. | Reuters…

BRASILIA: Armed men backed by farmers in trucks and tractors attacked indigenous people reclaiming land in Brazil’s farming state of Mato Grosso do Sul at the weekend, injuring 11 of them. Officials said yesterday that five of the 10 people injured on Saturday were taken to hospital after the first attack in the Douradina district. As Brazil’s farm frontier has advanced towards the Amazon, disputes over land claimed by indigenous people have multiplied. Violent land disputes have increased with a debate over the movement to limit indigenous claims to ancestral lands in a Conservative Congress backed by Brazil’s powerful farm lobby. | Reuters…

The SA20 will enter its third season from January 9 next year, having injected a heavy dose of excitement into South African cricket over the last two years, with the third edition promising nothing less. The Sunrisers Eastern Cape backed up their inaugural win of the tournament with yet another impressive showing in the second edition. They walked all over the Durban Super Giants to clinch their second title by a massive 89 runs. Under the leadership of Aiden Markram, they have set the bar very high, and for the past two seasons many have tried to dethrone them but without any success. The Eastern Cape side have laid down their marker as the undisputed heavyweight champions of SA’s premier T20 competition. Ryan Rickelton was in the form of his…

The EFF in Gauteng blames the death of its regional deputy secretary Moshe Mphahlele on the private security company that was on the scene during a peaceful protest. The party said the security company did not have any justification for using live ammunition, as the situation was calm and non-violent. EFF spokesperson Dumisani Baleni said it was alarming that this “reckless shooting” took place in the presence of state security agencies. “It is infuriating and tragic that state security officials would delegate the responsibility of protecting our people during a peaceful protest to brutal private security companies, which have consistently demonstrated a disregard for human life. “Fighter Moshe Mphahlele was a revolutionary ground force of the EFF, a dedicated community activist who committed his life to improving the living conditions…

THE debt to water boards has risen to more than R21 billion as defaulting municipalities fail to pay up. In her first briefing since taking office, Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina detailed various sector challenges and reported that the department received 400 calls in the past month. “We have met and had robust engagements with our seven water boards on their plans, the projects they are undertaking, and the challenges they face in their effort to provide potable bulk water services to their customers, who are municipalities and industries within their areas of service. “Apart from the grants which the national government provides to municipalities to address water and sanitation infrastructure backlogs and to provide free basic water to the indigent, the water sector has to be self-financing…

The development of legislation to assist coalitions should not be an opportunity for those in power to consolidate and shrink political competition under the guise of wanting stability. This was according to civil society organisation My Vote Counts in its submission on the Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Act, 2024 (Coalition Bill). The Coalition Bill is expected to provide for a legislative framework to guide the formation and the management of coalition governments. According to the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Department, the bill came as a result of an increased number of “hung councils from 24 in the year 2000 to the recently 81 municipalities affected post the 2021 local government elections”, among other reasons. The bill seeks to amend the Structures Act by providing for a definition…

The executor of a deceased estate has failed in her attempt to get a pension fund to pay a death benefit into a third-party bank account. Deputy Pension Funds Adjudicator, Naheem Essop, ordered the Old Mutual Superfund Pension Fund to pay the deceased’s death benefit into the estate bank account. Following the member’s death on September 24, 2000, the death benefit was transferred to the fund, the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (OPFA) said. The fund resolved to pay the benefit to his surviving children in equal shares. The complainant who is the executrix of the deceased’s estate and represents his beneficiaries, claimed the Old Mutual Superfund Unclaimed Benefits Preservation Pension Fund had failed to pay the death benefit of R599 440.36 to a third party as nominated by…

New minister exudes a freshness but also a naivety, probably due to inexperience IT’S always a hard act to follow in the footsteps of a respected foreign policy icon whose stance in bringing balance, equity and a sense of moral relevance to a range of issues endeared her to millions at home and abroad. When President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Ronald Lamola as the new minister of international relations and co-operation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in July to replace the enigmatic Dr Naledi Pandor, did he envisage policy continuity to stem an inevitable cajoling from his main GNU partner, the DA, rightly or wrongly perceived as pushing the foreign policy interests of the West, judging by its stance on the vexed issues of Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza…

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule ended yesterday as she fled more than a month of deadly protests and the military announced it would form an interim government. Hasina had sought to quell nationwide protests against her government since early July but she fled after a brutal day of unrest on Sunday in which nearly 100 people were killed. “We want a corruption-free Bangladesh, where everyone would have the right to express their opinion,” said Monirul Islam, a 27-year-old man among thousands in the streets near the prime minister’s palace. Bangladesh’s army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a broadcast to the nation on state television that Hasina had resigned and the military would form a caretaker government. “The country has suffered a lot, the economy has been hit, many…

Hurricane Debby made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast early yesterday, knocking power out for hundreds of thousands of people as the US southeast braced for potentially historic levels of rain and major flooding. Debby barrelled ashore in the state’s Big Bend region as a Category One hurricane, the lowest on a five-stage scale, fuelled by an unusually warm Gulf of Mexico. Governor Ron DeSantis warned yesterday that there was a threat of “significant flooding events” in the coming days. More than 300 000 customers have lost electricity so far, according to tracker poweroutage.us. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned of life-threatening storm surges along the Gulf coast, with 1.8m to 3m of inundation above ground level in some areas. The storm will probably cause catastrophic flooding with “potentially historic heavy…

Istanbul: Türkiye’s government yesterday called officials from Instagram to a meeting, four days after blocking the social media platform for unspecified reasons. Instagram, suspended in Türkiye since Friday, has been accused by the authorities of censorship and of failing to remove posts the authorities deemed offensive. An estimated 50-60 million of Türkiye’s 85 million inhabitants subscribe to Instagram. This is not the first time that Turkish authorities have temporarily blocked access to social media sites, including Facebook, X and Wikipedia. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is regularly accused of muzzling freedom of expression. | AFP…

KYIV: Ukraine yesterday denied any involvement in northern Mali fighting that led to the death of Malian soldiers and Wagner fighters last month, describing Mali’s decision to cut diplomatic ties over the incident as “short-sighted and hasty”. Mali has announced it is ending diplomatic ties with Ukraine, reacting to comments by Ukraine’s military intelligence that Malian rebels had received the “necessary” information to conduct the attack. Mali’s northern Tuareg rebels said they killed at least 84 Russian Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers over days of fierce fighting in the north of the country | Reuters…