Índice para 2022-12-15 em Cape Times

CONSUMER prices have softened to a five-month low in South Africa as global inflation is starting to show signs of slowing down, in spite of food and transport prices exerting upwards pressure. According to Statistics SA (Stats SA) yesterday, headline consumer price inflation (CPI) cooled slightly to 7.4% in November from 7.6% in October. This was the lowest reading since June but slightly lower than the consensus forecast of 7.5%. But inflation still remained above the upper limit of the South African Reserve Bank’s 3% to 6% target range, which could pave the way for yet another interest rate hike early next year, though less aggressive than the 75 basis points increase the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee announced at last month’s meeting. Nedbank economist Johannes Khosa said they were…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been accused of failing to resolve the energy crisis which continues to leave millions of South Africans in darkness daily. Eskom announced yesterday that it was experiencing a major backlog of faults in the Cape metropole and parts of the Western Cape, which could lead to long-duration power interruptions and extended restoration periods. “Eskom technicians are working tirelessly throughout the week to address the backlog and restore electricity supply as soon as possible to customers. “Eskom urges customers to remain patient and follow the channels made available to log a fault,” the power utility said. Speaking at the Letsema campaign in Philippi last week, Ramaphosa said there were various issues plaguing Eskom, which included “elements of sabotage”. Political analyst Sipho Seepe said Ramaphosa promised a “clean…

SINCE going live in the first week of December, a new phase of the gunshot detection system ShotSpotter has detected 68 gunfire incidents and 224 total shots fired in Hanover Park. ShotSpotter is an acoustic gunshot detection system that alerts law enforcement authorities to gunfire incidents as soon as they happen and aims to assist authorities to respond more effectively to escalating gunshot incidents in hotspot areas. An initial phase of the project that ran from 2016 to 2019, where the ShotSpotter technology was installed and operational in Hanover Park and Manenberg, resulted in over 200 lives being saved and the recovery of illegal guns increasing five-fold in these areas. The new phase of the project deploys ShotSpotter technology in a 9 square kilometre area in Hanover Park and is…

Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the Hawks’ SA Narcotics Enforcement Bureau and Counter Narcotics and Gangs units worked together following up leads on a previous matter in Bellville. At the premises in Century City, they found 12kg of cocaine worth an estimated R10.8m, 2 500 mandrax tablets worth an estimated R100 000 as well as 18kg of tik worth an estimated value of R5.4m. Hani said the brothers appeared in court yesterday. “Two brothers have in a space of one day been arrested again, on a charge of drug trafficking and will be appearing in the Cape Town Court. This comes after their initial arrest on December 11.”…

A Dangerous Business Jane Smiley Loot.co.za (R564) Knopf A MASH-UP of a Western, a serial-killer mystery and a feminist-inflected tale of life in a bordello. The novel is set in the wide-open town of Monterey, California, in 1852. Heroine Eliza Ripple is a recent widow. Back home in Kalamazoo a few years earlier, the teenaged Eliza was pushed into marriage by her parents, who were dazzled by the social and financial credentials of a stranger in town named Peter. Predictably, Peter turned out to be a con man – and one who was sexually brutish to Eliza, to boot. Entranced by the mirage of the Gold Rush, Peter dragged Eliza to Monterey, where he was promptly shot in a bar fight. Eliza didn’t shed many tears. Indeed, widowhood improved her…

IF ONE requires proof that Gwede Mantashe wouldn’t recognise true democracy if it bit him on the backside, his threat to expel MPs who vote for Cyril Ramaphosa to face impeachment, is that proof. His threat, therefore, made the vote pointless. As usual, an open ballot serves no real purpose because dissenters will always fear ostracisation from their own party, or even expulsion. Only secret ballots reveal the truth. So, it’s toe the party line, or else! Threats like that are those of a dictator, Mr Mantashe. And no, the party doesn’t come first: the country comes first. It’s unfortunate that not only do you not understand the concept of democracy, it seems that most of those who vote for the ANC don’t either. This is why, as the former…

YOUR Monday edition (“Sexual offence backlogs stand at 37 715 says Cele, while labs saddled with thousands of samples”) refers. One can only imagine how long it would take for courts to handle 37 000 cases. Over and above this, where are these people at the moment? The alleged culprits are probably walking around the streets free to do what they are very good at doing. If in fact they are in the system and in holding cells, then you can imagine what it is costing the state to keep these 37 000 people sitting there for months if not years. The whole system is rotten and needs a radical change of government.…

Believe it or not, the internet – that global network of information and communication that rules our lives – mirrors the social hierarchy of our physical world. For a start, you will always find the naive beginner on Facebook or social media who we geeks (read: seasoned or know-it-all users) call a newbie. They try to friend (with) every and anybody. They then “grow up” and commence the painful unfriending process. We geeks call this digital rightsizing – getting the right group of friends you talk to, who listen and talk back with respect. What about other online “bies”? Here are a few festive examples I made while imbibing my favourite beer. Take the wanna“bie”. These are shameless, desperate social climbers who follow and latch on to public figures’ walls…

Meta Platforms was accused in a lawsuit filed in Kenya yesterday of letting violent and hateful posts from Ethiopia flourish on Facebook, inflaming the Ethiopian civil war. The lawsuit, filed by two Ethiopian researchers and Kenya’s Katiba Institute rights group, alleges that Facebook’s recommendations systems amplified violent posts in Ethiopia, including several that preceded the murder of the father of one of the researchers. “Not only does Facebook allow such content to be on the platform, they prioritise it and they make money from such content,” said Mercy Mutemi, the lawyer representing the two Ethiopian researchers. The lawsuit also said Meta failed to exercise reasonable care in training its algorithms to identify dangerous posts and in hiring staff to police content for the languages covered by its regional moderation hub…

DOHA: World Cup organisers said yesterday that an urgent investigation had been launched into the death of a Kenyan security guard who fell from an upper floor at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. John Njau Kibue, 24, suffered critical injuries at the weekend, hours after Argentina beat the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. The organising committee said that despite efforts of paramedics, he died in hospital on Tuesday, after being in the intensive care unit.” Organisers had said before the latest fatality that there had been 37 deaths of World Cup workers in Qatar, but only three involving “work-related” accidents. | AFP…

Seoul: The US military launched a space force unit in South Korea yesterday that will help better detect ballistic missile launches from North Korea. North Korea has carried out a record-breaking blitz of weapons tests this year. About 28 500 US troops are stationed in the South to help protect it from the nuclear-armed North with which the South is technically still at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The new unit in South Korea is one of few space force units to operate outside the US. South Korea launched its own space squadron earlier to bolster space command co-ordination with the US. | AFP…

Eskom board says there is no immediate plan to appoint Mpho Makwana as interim CEO André de Ruyter’s sudden resignation as Eskom Group CEO yesterday has exposed the chasm in opinion about the direction of the country’s renewable energy programme within South African business and industry. The business sector expressed mixed feelings yesterday about De Ruyter’s resignation as Eskom CEO. De Ruyter, who has been under immense pressure due to the ongoing electricity crisis, submitted his resignation earlier this week to the Eskom board. When he first took office in January 2020, De Ruyter set himself a target of 18 months to end the country’s persistent load shedding and ramp up the utility’s maintenance programme. His failure to meet his ambitious target and Eskom’s serious challenges became the stick…

RETAILER Pick n Pay said yesterday as it opened its 300th stand-alone store in South Africa that its clothing unit sourced more than 40% of its range locally and remained focused on its growth. In a bid to develop local designers as part of its strategy, Pick n Pay Clothing said in a statement that it had collaborated with South African designer Gavin Rajah for its Futurewear collaboration initiative to curate exclusive collections at affordable prices. Pick n Pay Clothing general manager, Hazel Pillay, said: “We rely heavily on our local manufacturing base to create consistency. This has helped us largely mitigate the impact of global supply challenges that the industry has experienced over the past three years. We’ve grown local content from 28% three years ago to 40% now,…

THOUSANDS of ANC delegates are heading to the party’s 55th elective conference to be held at Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, which starts tomorrow and ends on Tuesday. The conference comes as the organisation is deeply divided as factions fight for the soul of the ANC. It also takes place as the party is being hauled to court over the nomination of candidates to the national executive committee (NEC) and some leaders being disqualified from standing for election. Yesterday, senior party official Dakota Lekgoete said they were ready to hold the national elective conference after branches held more than 4 200 branch general meetings and nominated their preferred candidates. Lekgoete said accommodation and transportation had been organised for the delegates, who started arriving yesterday. “We expect all things to run…

IN an affidavit filed in the Western Cape High Court, former provincial legislature Speaker Masizole Mnqasela has made damning allegations that Premier Alan Winde asked him resign as Speaker but remain a Member of legislature, as this would be “easier for the party to manage”. Mnqasela has filed an urgent application at the Western Cape High Court seeking to interdict the recent appointment of Daylin Mitchell in the Speaker position. Mnqasela said he was shocked by Winde’s alleged statement. “Mr Winde indicated that he had ‘serious news’ which he needed to share. He explained that he had been provided with serious allegations against me by the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) administrative officials. Then he made a statement to the effect: ‘I have two options; step aside as Speaker…

Because I couldn’t kill you Kelly-Eve Koopman Loot.co.za (R228) MF Books In the shattered fantasy of rainbow-nation South Africa, there are many uncomfortable truths. Among these are family secrets – the legacies of traumas in the homes and bones of ordinary South African families. In this debut collection, feminist and Khoi San activist Kelly-Eve Koopman grapples with the complex beauty and brutality of the everyday as she struggles with her family legacy. She tries unsuccessfully to forget her father – a not-so-prominent journalist and anti-apartheid activist, desperately mentally ill and expertly emotionally abusive – who has recently disappeared, leaving behind a wake of difficult memories. Mesmerisingly, Koopman wades through the flotsam and jetsam of generations, among shipwrecks and sunken treasures, in an attempt at familial and collective healing. Sometimes tragic,…

Cleaner's Boy – A Resistance Road To A Liberated Life Patric Tariq Mellet Loot.co.za (R240) Tafelberg IT is through that choice of taking a resistance road, the one less travelled, that I got to experience a liberated life. Patric Tariq Mellet took his first steps on this road at the tender age of 8 and by 13, he engaged in his first consequential and difficult political act. He organised a fast in his high school to protest the killing of anti-apartheid cleric, Imam Abdullah Haron in detention. The match had been lit. Arbitrarily classified as ‘white’ despite his heritage and family, he was ordered to join the armed forces. He refused as he could not take up arms against his own people. Instead he joined resistance as an…

ON DECEMBER 5, Education MEC David Maynier delivered his adjustment budget speech at the Western Cape legislature. The purpose of the speech was to give hope to parents, teachers and children. The MEC attempts to give hope by “setting a bold new education agenda” of appointing more teachers, building more schools and increasing the budget allocation by 0.07%. The pandemic taught us how fragile the school system is. Closing schools for less than three months caused “severe learning losses” that “will have serious knock-on effects as these learners progress through their school careers”. While the school system incurred serious losses through the pandemic, emerging education modalities such as home education, cottage schools, online schools, co-work spaces, tutor centres etc, grew explosively and proved anti-fragile. However, the lesson learned by the…

I read a disturbing article in a community newspaper referring to the City of Cape Town closing down or prohibiting about 30 recyclers, who collect waste from a Muizenberg landfill site, from making a living in our times of excessive high cost of living and borderline food security. (This is due) to infighting among these recycling businesspeople. Many years ago, I was a frequent dumper at this site and there was a independent recycling business with workers who, on a tender basis, did fantastic business and also employed (jobless) workers. When that reycling business tender expired, then for years – and I speak under correction – no new tender was awarded to anyone. So, tons and tons of valuable reycled items are buried, which is a national disgrace and…

Load shedding stole limelight when world’s top brains in science celebrated achievements BAFANA Bafana failed to make it to the Fifa World Cup, but South Africa still scored an own goal when Cape Town played host to the world cup of sciences last week. It’s not acceptable when more than 900 global citizens descend on our doorstep to celebrate innovation; our country subjects them to load shedding. For better or worse, the relationship between Eskom and its citizens is a marriage in a dark hell. The challenges facing the planet are stark. Africa was well represented at the World Science Forum (WSF) celebratory showpiece featuring 118 nations, prompting a surprise welcome from the country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, followed by Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation, under…

China’s top health body said yesterday the true scale of Covid-19 infections in the country is now “impossible” to track, with officials warning cases are rising rapidly in Beijing after the government abruptly abandoned its zero-Covid policy. Beijing’s decision to scrap mass testing and quarantines after nearly three years of attempting to stamp out the virus has led to a corresponding drop in officially reported infections, which hit an all-time high only last month. But those numbers no longer reflected reality because testing is no longer required for much of the country, China’s National Health Commission said yesterday. | AFP…

KYIv: In the wake of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s fragile energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for 50 million LED lightbulbs which would save about one gigawatt of power and reduce the current shortfall by 40%. Since Russia launched its large scale missile strikes in October, millions across Ukraine are without power with winter temperatures plunging to below zero. “The damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has caused a shortfall of about 2.5 gigawatts of power,”said Zelensky. “We need… transformers, equipment for restoring high-voltage networks, gas turbine units … and emergency support from the European energy system.” | IANS…

The US has warned that China and Russia are destabilising Africa with their growing inroads as it rolled out the red carpet this week to the continent’s leaders and pledged billions of dollars in support. Forty-nine African leaders flew into the Washington cold for the first continent-wide summit with the US in eight years as President Joe Biden seeks to use personal diplomacy to win back influence. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, at a panel with several African presidents at the start of the three-day summit, charged that US rivals had a different approach. Austin said China was expanding its footprint in Africa “on a daily basis” through its growing economic influence. “They’re not always transparent in terms of what they’re doing, and that creates problems that will be eventually destabilising,”…

As the news spread that the CEO of power utility Eskom, André de Ruyter had resigned, labour unions and the SA Youth Economic Council said while his exit was expected, Eskom must act to end load shedding. Numsa said the Eskom board must act with urgency to announce a replacement, even if on a temporary basis. The replacement must have the skills and capability to continue all efforts to reduce load shedding. Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said, “The resignation of De Ruyter is a major blow for Eskom and the efforts to address the energy crisis we are facing on an ongoing basis. While this is a blow, it is hardly surprising, given the irresponsible comments made by some in government and some other sectors. “Business remains committed to working…

Four years later, under the leadership of Ramaphosa, unemployment figures have grown, and currently stand at 32.9%. Despite grand plans for more jobs with which President Cyril Ramaphosa came in – as a businessman with economic prowess making big promises to change the country’s trajectory to one of prosperity – unemployment statistics show things have only become worse. When former president Jacob Zuma left office early in 2019, the unemployment rate stood at around 27%. Four years later, under the leadership of Ramaphosa, unemployment figures have grown, and currently stand at 32.9%. This despite the launch of the Jobs Summit in 2018 where the president brought together government, business, labour and community organisations to advance job creation. He stressed that jobs, especially for the youth, would be a priority. Meanwhile,…

UNDER-FIRE President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to suspend Western Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe days before the ANC’s elective conference has raised suspicions that he may be anticipating a court challenge in that court over the Farmgate scandal. “Furthermore Ramaphosa’s suspension of Judge Hlophe is clouded by reasonable suspicion that there may be a conflict of interest, in the same way his suspension of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane was biased and conflicted. Ramaphosa’s suspension of Judge Hlophe is characterised by an attitude of retaliation because it was the Western Cape High Court which found that Ramaphosa’s suspension of Mkhwebane was unlawful and based on bias, because she decided to probe allegations surrounding Phala Phala farm,” said the EFF. Judge Hlophe is expected to be hauled before impeachment proceedings early…

AMID an outcry over the suspension of ATM withdrawals for Sassa beneficiaries, Postbank maintains it is a necessary measure only for the month of December to curb fraud. Criminal elements attacking Postbank’s network resulted in the suspension of the grants funds ATM channel, as the financial service provider said its “early alert system detecting unusual activities that demonstrated possible ATM fraud” called for swift action. “To protect the integrity of the payments we, therefore, had limited choices but to temporarily suspend ATM funds access only for the December month to curb the possible fraud. Law enforcement is engaged with the matter as is a team of external forensic experts,” said Postbank spokesperson Bongani Diako. According to Diako, most Sassa beneficiaries using the Sassa gold card had already been paid when…

Gifts Laura Barnett Loot.co.za (R188) Weidenfeld & Nicolson She’s struggling to choose a gift (a watch? a wine subscription? a weekend bag? all too much?) for her old school friend, Peter, who’s just moved back from London following a messy divorce. Peter doesn’t have a clue what to get for his teenage daughter, Chloe. Furious with her mother, Chloe has decided to up sticks and move to Kent with him, but he worries that he really doesn’t know her at all. Chloe wants to buy something special for her grandmother, Irene, who lives alone on the other side of town. Irene doesn’t get out much these days, but she’d really like to find the right gift for Alina, who’s so much more than a carer, really – always stops to…

The RCS Gugs Race is set to return in-person on Friday for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. Under the theme, “Run for Unity”, the Gugulethu-based race will take place on the Day of Reconciliation, which celebrates South Africa’s transition to democracy. Gugulethu Athletics Club chairperson and race organiser Aubrey Shoko answers a few questions about one of the most popular events on the road-running calendar. Q: Can you share some history around the Gugs Race and how it came to be? A: The RCS Gugs Race was established as the Amy Biehl Race in 2000, to honour the American human rights activist and Fulbright Scholar who was murdered in Gugulethu in 1993. The objective was to promote positive relations among South Africans. Now in its 21st…

MY WIFE and I have long dreamed of travelling to South Africa and began planning our visit nearly a year ago. We started with a fantastic week-long safari at the Kruger National Park and from there things quickly went downhill. On our drive back to Johannesburg, fuel was siphoned from our rental car while we stopped for coffee in Haenertsburg. Our troubles continued when we arrived in Cape Town. About 15 minutes after leaving the airport and driving on the N2 near Nyanga, a man standing on the side of the road maliciously hurled a large rock at our car. Luckily it didn’t kill us, but it did break the side-view mirror. We filed a police report immediately after arriving in Stellenbosch. The police were friendly, but shrugged and noted…

Listening to ANC MPs defending and voting to shield a wounded president who is trying by all means to avoid accountability, you get a sense this is a scenario South Africans are all too familiar with. Readers with keen interest in the Nkandla scandal and how then-National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete used every trick in the book to protect erstwhile president Jacob Zuma from being held accountable, will have an idea of where this is bound to end. What we do know is that it’s not going to be a happy ending, either for the country or President Cyril Ramaphosa. But judging by the chorus of no’s by ANC MPs in shooting down the adoption of the Section 89 panel report, which found Ramaphosa has a case to answer over…

A small boat loaded with migrants heading for British shores from France capsized in the freezing waters of the English Channel yesterday, resulting in four deaths, the British government said. Lifeboats, helicopters and rescue teams working with the French and British navies responded to the incident, which took place as immigration to Britain organised by people- trafficking criminal gangs has become in priority issue for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government. “At 03:05 (GMT) today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress,” a government spokesperson said in a statement. “After a co-ordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident.” An investigation was under way,…

Washington: US President Joe Biden has signed a new landmark bill which establishes statutory authority for same-sex and interracial marriages. Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act this week, saying: “Marriage is a simple proposition. Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person you love? It’s not more complicated than that.” The new law mandates that states honour the validity of out-of-state marriage licences, including same-sex and interracial unions. The legislation was introduced after a conservative Supreme Court justice signalled that rulings on marriage equality and contraception should be reconsidered. | IANS…

JUBA: Violence in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state has killed 166 civilians and displaced more than 20 000 since August amid an escalation in clashes between armed groups, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said yesterday. Violence is rife in parts of South Sudan where clashes triggered by domestic disputes over grazing areas, water, cultivation grounds and other resources often turn deadly. The UN said the conflict was a continuation of fighting that started in August in a village in Upper Nile, and has since spread to other parts of the state and areas of Jonglei and Unity states. The latest bloodshed risks spreading beyond the region. | Reuters…

AUCKLAND: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern suffered a rare lapse in composure this week when she was caught on a hot mic referring to a rival MP using a pejorative word to compare him to a part of the male anatomy. A seven-minute battery of questions in Parliament from David Seymour, who leads the libertarian ACT party, prompted the out-of-character outburst from the young liberal leader. Turning to her deputy, Grant Robertson, Ardern muttered under her breath – although not inaudibly enough for entry into official parliamentary records – “he’s such an arrogant [expletive]”. Seymour said the prime minister texted later to apologise, and he replied, wishing her “a Merry Christmas”. | The Washington Post…