Table of contents for 2024-09-10 in Cape Times

TRANSNET is set to get a R140 million shot in the arm from the about R630m grant funding announced by the EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, towards building up South Africa’s green hydrogen production capabilities, as the EU spreads its sources of clean energy to support the market, which currently consumes 10 million tons of clean energy a year. This comes as the EU yesterday announced two grants with a sum of R633.4m (€32m) in support of South Africa’s green hydrogen agenda. At a briefing on the announcement alongside the Department of Electricity and Energy as well as the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) yesterday, it was said that a R490m tranche was expected to leverage R10 billion in private and public sector…

THE majority of the country’s municipalities may not have enough money to fund the Consumer Price Inflation (CPI)-linked increase for the next five years. This is according to at least one policy analyst reacting to the South African Local Government Association’s (Salga) announcement that it has reached a landmark agreement with organised labour. The agreement follows the expiration of a three-year wage deal signed in 2021. This provides for increases of 3.5% (2021/22), 4.9% (2022/23), and 5.4% (2023/24). It will come into effect on July 1, 2024 and remain in force until June 30, 2029. The new “landmark agreement” was reached at the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) following “intense negotiations” held on July 15-19, 2024, July 23-26, 2024, and August 12-15, 2024. “This Consumer Price Inflation (CPI)-linked…

WHILE the DA asked the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, to urgently intervene in what it deems the Road Accident Fund’s “imminent implosion”, the entity has hit back. It told the minister that there is “no RAF that is about to collapse” and that the fund is now stronger than what it was in previous years. The DA’s Chris Hunsinger wrote a letter to the minister last week in which he drew her attention to the fact that the RAF seems to have halted payments for nearly four months. Hunsinger said this state of affairs seems to point to the fund’s imminent implosion without prompt intervention from either the Transport Minister or the Portfolio Committee on Transport. But the RAF management responded that the last annual report, audited by…

SOME Mthatha organisations in the Eastern Cape led a march in hopes to encourage more extortion victims to open cases while also demanding police make swift arrests. The mass protest action to the local police station by residents yesterday was prompted by reports that a local chief has received threats from alleged extortionists who have demanded that he relinquish his position to facilitate their activities. It also comes a day after police National Commissioner Fannie Masemola visited the area to provide an update on their efforts to deal with crimes connected with extortion. The National Intervention Unit (NIU) has been deployed to the area after local businesses including a medical practice were forced to close their doors due to the escalating demands for “protection money”. Schools have also been affected…

Typhoon Yagi, Asia’s most powerful storm this year, left dozens dead in northern Vietnam and widespread damage to infrastructure and factories as it churned westwards, government estimates showed yesterday. Forty-nine people have died and 22 are missing, mostly because of landslides and floods triggered by the typhoon, the government said. The typhoon made landfall on Saturday on Vietnam’s north-eastern coast, home to large manufacturing operations of domestic and foreign companies. It was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday but the meteorological agency warned yesterday of further floods and landslides. Yagi cut power to millions of households and companies, flooded highways, disrupted telecommunications networks, downed a medium-sized bridge and thousands of trees and brought economic activity in many industrial hubs to a halt. Managers and workers at industrial parks and…

NAIROBI: Kenya’s finance ministry will seek suggestions from the public on new legislation to boost revenue and tackle other challenges, Finance Minister John Mbadi said yesterday, after protesters forced the government to withdraw its financing law. President William Ruto discarded tax hikes worth more than 346 billion shillings (R48 billion) in June after protests that killed more than 50 people. The move left the heavily indebted government with a bigger budget deficit for this financial year, mounting pending bills, and a delay in funding from the International Monetary Fund. Kenyans have until September 20 to submit their views. | Reuters…

Sacramento: Fuelled by excessive heat and drought, several large wildfires raged across the western US yesterday, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes and worrying climate experts about more fires in the coming days. In Southern California, a fire in San Bernardino County scorched about 71km2 with 0% containment, forcing mandatory evacuation orders for over 11 000 people and putting more than 35 000 structures at risk. California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County. The area was under a red flag warning for wildfires. More than 600 firefighters had been dispatched but battled to access the fires. | IANS…

from page 1 of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament to schedule a debate on the Western Cape Government’s decision to cut 2 407 teacher posts, as a matter of urgent public importance. The government’s notice to school principals and governing bodies of the proposed job cuts has led to widespread concern about the impact of this decision on the right of teachers to job security, and of all South Africans to a quality education system. “It is unfair to ask teachers to sacrifice their careers at the altar of a political fight that the Western Cape Government is unnecessarily orchestrating. It is particularly unfair on school communities in less affluent areas, which will bear the brunt of the teacher losses as their parent bodies won’t be able to afford the…

South African National Parks (SANParks) has not taken effective steps to prevent irregular expenditure amounting to R523 million in the 2023-24 financial year. The majority of the irregular expenditure was due to the utilisation of expired contracts. This is according to Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke, who was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that disciplinary steps were taken against officials who had incurred irregular expenditure, as required by section 51(1)(e)(iii) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). “This was because investigations into irregular expenditure were not performed,” Maluleke said. Some of the competitive bids were adjudicated by a bid adjudication committee that was not composed in accordance with the policies of the public entity. She put the blame on the failure by the management to implement the recommendations from the…

Education minister now eyes an urgent meeting with Treasury to avert a crisis THE more than 2 400 contract teachers who face the prospect of being unemployed by the end of the year will only know next month whether they will be returning to their jobs when schools reopen next year. This is according to the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) after its engagement with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and other senior officials last week. Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube said the current fiscal challenges experienced across all sectors – which now affect the Education Department and the imminent unemployment of thousands of teachers in the province – are the result of “poor policy choices” by the government. Set on protecting the jobs of teachers, SADTU provincial…

THE Department of Health has activated its outbreak response team in the Western Cape after a 38-year-old man who sought medical intervention at a private medical practice in Cape Town tested positive for mpox. The department confirmed yesterday that this latest case increases to 25 the total number of positive cases recorded in the country since the outbreak in May this year including three deaths. Twelve of these were reported in Gauteng, 11 in KwaZulu-Natal and now two Western Cape. In a statement yesterday, Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said the department called for continued public vigilance in light of the latest case. The upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa resulted in the World Health Organization…

THE murder of a dedicated Elsies River community policing forum (CPF) member in a suspected hijacking at the weekend has been described as a blow to the crime-fighting sector. Clinton Treu was shot dead in Clarkes Estate on Sunday morning. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said officers responding to the scene of the shooting found Treu with a gunshot wound to his head and was declared dead. “Elsies River detectives are hard at work, following up on information at their disposal, in a bid to apprehend the suspects who are responsible for killing a 49-year-old man in Kerner Street in Clarkes Estate.” The motive for this attack now forms part of the police investigation, said Swartbooi. Treu was part of the Community in Blue patrollers, said the CPF. “Treu was killed…

In the wake of the recent ruling by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) on an interdict, which is an interim order to keep Sekunjalo’s accounts open, it is important to note that the Court has not yet ruled on the main case against Nedbank, which still needs to be heard. The Sekunjalo Group, a black-owned conglomerate committed to transformation, remains resolute in its fight for justice against the discriminatory practices of South African banks, particularly Nedbank. Despite the media spin, propagated by journalists like Karyn Maughan, the ConCourt ruling is not the final chapter in this ongoing legal battle. Sekunjalo remains confident that the real fight, which is yet to take place in the Equality Court, will vindicate them and expose the deeply ingrained racial and economic prejudices at play. It…

Pope Francis yesterday called for action on abuse of young people after arriving in East Timor, the Catholic-majority nation that has been shocked by several child sexual assault cases involving clergy members in recent years. The pontiff, 87, is set to host a huge mass today, expected to draw more than half the country’s population, but in a speech made earlier to a smaller crowd of officials he tackled the most sensitive issue of his trip head-on. “Let us not forget the many children and adolescents whose dignity has been violated. The phenomenon is manifesting all over the world,” he said in a speech in the capital Dili. “We are all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for…

A group of 10 retired top US military officials endorsed US Vice-President Kamala Harris in a letter made public yesterday, saying she is the only presidential candidate fit to serve as the nation’s commander in chief and calling her Republican rival Donald Trump “a danger to our national security and democracy”. The letter, signed by retired General Larry Ellis and retired Rear Admiral Michael Smith, among others, cited Trump’s comments disparaging members of the military and his own “chaotic approach” to Afghanistan ahead of the US withdrawal, including negotiating a deal with the Taliban that allowed 5 000 of the group’s fighters to return to the battlefield. In contrast, they wrote, Harris “has demonstrated her ability to take on the most difficult national security challenges in the Situation Room…

Stockholm: An exiled Iranian opposition group said yesterday that its offices in Stockholm were firebombed overnight. According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the political wing of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), the building had been hit “with several Molotov cocktails” in a “terrorist attack” the group blamed on Iran’s intelligence service. Police were investigating. The MEK backed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the 1979 revolution that ousted the shah but swiftly went into opposition, and was blamed for a series of attacks that rocked Iran in the early 1980s. | AFP…

Paris: The descendants of the Eiffel Tower’s designer say they will fight to stop the Olympic rings being left on the tower as the mayor of Paris plans. The family of the legendary engineer Gustave Eiffel said they “oppose any alteration that negatively impacts respect for the work” of their ancestor, adding they had already consulted lawyers about blocking the change. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo plans to keep the massive multicoloured rings that were attached to the tower for the Paris Olympics until at least 2028. But the descendants argued that the symbol “creates a strong imbalance” in the tower’s shape. | AFP…

White-ball coach Rob Walter has remained steadfast in his bid to grow the Proteas’ depth of talent in line with “Project 2027”. Despite the Proteas being trounced 3-0 in the recent T20 series against the West Indies – the second successive drubbing sandwiched between the dream run to the ICC T20 Men’s World Cup final – Walter is steadfast in his aim to develop the next tier of players below the first-choice starting XI. None of Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Tabraiz Shamsi, Gerald Coetzee, David Miller or Heinrich Klaasen feature in either of the ODI or T20 squads selected to face Afghanistan and Ireland in the United Arab Emirates later this month. Instead, Walter has added some fresh faces in the form…

THE TECH GIANT has “heard concerns from victims, experts and other stake- holders” over the years when it comes to intimate imagery of people being shared online without their consent and has teamed up with StopNCII.org to combat the issue. In a blog post, Microsoft said: “On July 30, Microsoft released a policy White Paper, outlining a set of suggestions for policymakers to help protect Americans from abusive AI deepfakes, with a focus on protecting women and children from online exploitation. Advocating for modern- ised laws to protect victims is one element of our comprehensive approach to address abusive AI-generated content – today, we also provide an update on Microsoft’s global efforts to safeguard its services and individuals from non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII). We have heard concerns from victims,…

from page 1 that he was in contact with his lawyer regarding the matter and they were “drafting a response”. “I am still an employed member of the SANDF and do not want to jeopardise (anything),” said Hector. Earlier this year, Hector confirmed he was restricted from speaking to the media but said he wanted answers and “deserved to know the truth”. SANDF said: “Whilst this incident remains one of the most tragic events in the history of the SA Navy, and the emotions of family members who lost loved ones are understandably affected, there were some accusations made by Commander Romero Hector against the person of Chief of the South African Navy, Vice-Admiral Monde Lobese, that should be addressed. “Commander Hector is not truthful in his claims of not…

The Public Service and Administration Department has reported a 53% decrease in long-overdue disciplinary case backlogs, attributed to a pilot project launched late last year. At the ethics week launch in Pretoria, Salomon Hoogenraad-Vermaak, chief director of the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity, and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (TAU), said that by the end of March, the department had identified 250 long-standing cases in national departments. “When we were done, the two people allocated with the work uplifted 133 cases, which is 53% resolution rate. For provinces we identified 172 cases that they resolved and they could manage to resolve 40% of their cases,” Hoogenraad-Vermaak said. He also said based on what they introduced from the beginning of the 2024-25 financial year on case backlogs, there was a definite decrease in…

JACOB Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has successfully defended its decision to axe 10 MPs, with the Western Cape High Court finding that their court papers omitted important factual issues. The 10 MPs turned to court in their bid to be reinstated and stop the filling in of their positions by the National Assembly. Their move came after they were notified by National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza last month that the party’s chief whip Sihle Ngubane informed her that their membership was terminated and all internal processes were exhausted. Their application, one to stop the filling of their parliamentary seats pending the consideration of the application to review and set aside the termination of their membership to the party and the National Assembly, was heard by the Western Cape High…

THE Russian Children's Center in Cape Town is pioneering a unique educational approach, blending traditional and modern methodologies to cater to the growing interest in Russian language and culture within the city. As Cape Town emerges as a key BRICS municipality, the centre is not only serving the local Russian-speaking community but also building bridges with local schools, preschools, and cultural organisations. This broadens its reach and deepens its impact on the educational landscape. The development of business and trade relations between Russia and South Africa has led to a steady increase in the Russian-speaking population in Cape Town. Alongside this growth, there is a rising demand for educational and cultural services that celebrate Russia’s rich cultural heritage and the distinctive beauty of the Russian language. What started nearly a…

Rugby superstars, Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Cheslin Kolbe, and retired Springbok, Tendai Mtawarira, were unveiled by the Springboks official fuel supplier, Engen, as brand ambassadors. The four icons of the game joined forces with Engen to celebrate the rich heritage and spirit of rugby in South Africa. Engen managing director and CEO Seelan Naidoo commended the four Springboks for bringing pride to South Africa through their contributions to the world champion Springbok rugby team, as well as their ability to inspire and connect with people across cultures and backgrounds. “As a company synonymous with high performance and reliability, Engen is incredibly honoured that Siya, Eben, Cheslin and Tendai have chosen to represent our brand to help us fuel growth and progress in communities across South Africa. “The four living…

If the Springboks were a political party in government, South Africa would undoubtedly be a more peaceful, prosperous, and united nation. This observation stems from the national rugby team’s incredible success and ability to put aside differences – be they racial, cultural, or historical – in pursuit of a common goal. Comprised of black, white, and coloured players, the Springboks have done what many have deemed impossible: worked together as a cohesive unit to become the best rugby team in the world. Their World Cup victory in France was not a fluke but the product of years of hard work, discipline, and unity. Beating the all-conquering New Zealand four times in a row since 1949 is a feat that has catapulted the Springboks to legendary status. There are vital lessons…

Apple yesterday was set to unveil its iPhone 16 line-up, focusing on how its flagship device’s features have been infused with artificial intelligence (AI), rather than its usual emphasis on hardware upgrades. The event at the tech giant’s Apple Park headquarters follows its developer conference in June during which the company unveiled Apple Intelligence, its take on generative AI that can conjure text, images and other content on command. It had also showed off an improved version of voice assistant Siri, featuring an integration with ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The refresh comes as iPhones face stiff competition from HuaweiHWT.UL in China, where consumers are hankering for more AI features and are willing to pay for them. Huawei itself has scheduled its own product announcement mere hours after…

LONDON: Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, said yesterday that she had finished her course of preventative chemotherapy for cancer and would be carrying out a handful of public engagements later this year, but said her path to full recovery would be long. Kate, 42, wife of heir-to-the-throne Prince William, underwent major abdominal surgery in January which revealed the presence of cancer and has been undergoing treatment since then. “The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown … The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you,” she said. | Reuters…

BEIJING: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez yesterday called Monday for a “fair trade order” during a visit to China, where he met leader Xi Jinping and aimed to boost ties despite a tariff stand-off between Beijing and the EU. Xi called on the two sides to “jointly promote development in AI, the digital economy, new energy and other hi-tech fields”. Sanchez’s trip will also take him to Shanghai today and tomorrow, where he will meet local officials and businesses and inaugurate a new Cervantes Institute cultural centre. Sanchez also met with the Spain-China Business Advisory Council, amid efforts to “deepen trade and investment relations”. | AFP…

The new school year in the Palestinian territories officially began yesterday, with all schools in Gaza shut after 11 months of war and no sign of a ceasefire. As fighting continued, Israel announced new orders to residents of the north Gaza Strip to leave their homes in response to rockets fired into Israel. The Palestinian Education Ministry said all Gaza schools were shut and 90% of them had been destroyed or damaged in Israel’s assault on the territory, launched after Hamas gunmen attacked Israeli towns in October last year. The UN Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, which runs about half of Gaza’s schools, has turned as many of them as it can into emergency shelters housing thousands of displaced families. In addition to the 625 000 Gazans already registered for school…