Índice para 2023-02-01 em Cape Times

THE SOUTH African Cereals and Oilseeds Trade Association (Sacota) warned that load shedding was an additional cost to the sector, which would stifle production. Sacota is an association of trading members operating within the grain and agricultural sector in South Africa, and the Southern African Development Community. The organisation’s executive director, Dr André van der Vyver, commenting on the current load-shedding woes in South Africa, said grain and oilseeds were bulk commodities and to handle them required considerable Eskom power at the storage and handling facilities, which could not effectively be substituted by generators. “Generators and solar power systems currently only act as emergency sources. Then you also have the same challenges at offloading, whether it is in the harbour or at the local mills,” he said. Van der Vyver…

POLICE in Cloetesville are investigating allegations that a white cyclist pointed a firearm at a parent during the summer initiation season at Ida’s Valley initiation site last month. It is alleged the man was cycling along the initiation site and met one of the parents who told him he was not allowed at the site. The man is alleged to have then pointed a gun at the parent “for no apparent reason”. Nyanga Initiation Forum chairperson, Mark Khoabane said an attempted murder complaint was lodged at Cloetesville police following the incident. “We then attended to this situation as it was a violation of our rights. “The two gentleman who were pointed at were a parent and a caregiver. It is believed the white guy is mobilising nearby coloured…

PUBLIC Works Minister Patricia de Lille has accused mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis of shifting the blame for who is responsible for making arrangements for the relocation refugees at Wingfield Military Base in Kensington. This follows an apparent video where Hill-Lewis is allegedly recorded, saying the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, and Home Affairs were responsible for the matter. The video has since been taken down by the DA from its social media platforms, according to De Lille. She said the tent was erected at the City’s request and expense on a temporary basis in March 2020. But the City said it neither owned, operated or bore the costs of the Wingfield refugee site any longer. The refugees were relocated to the camp during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic…

The right balance needs to be struck in South Africa’s energy mix of the future The announcement by Eskom that it is making rolling blackouts a permanent feature of our lives for at least two years has put a spanner in the works of any spin job about the willingness or preparedness of the government to fix our power utility. Several ministers were jostling to outsmart one another about when South Africans would be relieved of the unbearable pain occasioned by the “state of darkness”. Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan was the loudest, by his predictable silence, while Minister of Minerals Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, is saying between six and 12 months and Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana bellowed out 12 to 18 months as the timeline. The…

Pope Francis landed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) yesterday for a visit that will highlight the human cost of decades of conflict in the vast central country, which is rich in minerals but where millions are displaced and live in poverty. Francis is the first pope to visit Congo since John Paul II in 1985, when it was still known as Zaire. About half of the DRC’s population of 90 million are Roman Catholics. The 86-year-old pope, who struggles to walk due to a chronic knee ailment, was lowered from the plane, then pushed in a wheelchair onto the red carpet leading to the terminal. Congolese Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde greeted him, then accompanied him as he was wheeled inside. “For me, it’s the first time I’m…

Somalia’s capital Mogadishu was under tight security ahead of a regional summit today on the fight against the jihadist group al-Shabaab. Leaders of some of the nations in an AU force involved in a major offensive against the insurgents “will closely discuss ways to jointly confront the dangers” posed by al-Shabaab in the region, the Somali government said. The army and local clan militias backed by the AU force known as Atmis have been waging an operation against al-Shabaab, which has seen them recapture swathes of territory and several strategic towns from the jihadists. After taking office in May last year, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared “all-out war” on the al-Qaeda linked group, which has been waging an insurgency in the troubled nation for more than 15 years. Although al-Shabaab…

DAKAR: UN experts yesterday called for an independent investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity by government forces and Russian private military contractor Wagner Group in Mali. Mali, whose government took power in a 2021 military coup, have previously said Russian forces in the country are not mercenaries but trainers helping local troops with equipment bought from Russia. Western powers say the Russian forces in Mali include Wagner Group contractors. Mali is fighting against militants linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State who have waged a decade-long insurgency that has spread to neighbouring countries. | Reuters…

Paris: Investment in cleaner energy is on the verge of overtaking spending on fossil fuels for the first time ever after exceeding $1 trillion last year. Despite the milestone, spending on energy transition technology must immediately triple to meet the target of net-zero emissions by 2050 to combat climate change, research group BloombergNEF said. Investment in renewables, nuclear, zero-emission vehicles or recycling projects totalled $1.1 trillion, matching spending on fossil fuels. This is up 31% on the previous year. China, the world’s biggest polluter, was the largest investor, the US a distant second and Germany in third position. | AFP…

Cricket South Africa have drawn a line in the sand and showed they are not going to relent for anyone after omitting former captain Dane van Niekerk from the Proteas squad for the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on home soil. The much-anticipated tournament gets under way at Newlands in 10 days’ time when the Proteas face Sri Lanka in the opening match. Van Niekerk – who had led her country in 80 matches across formats – will not play any part in it, though, after failing to meet the fitness requirements. She also missed the recent T20I Tri-series involving the West Indies and India for the same reason. In fact, the 29-year-old all-rounder has only played five ODIs and three T20Is – on the September 2021 tour of…

A rhino poacher’s bid to get a more lenient sentence than the 11 years meted out to him has been shattered on appeal. The judge found that he was “no fallen angel”, and instead upped his sentence to 15 years’ imprisonment. Mfana Kubai was earlier sentenced in the lower court in Limpopo following his conviction with another poacher, Obed Chauke. Both of them tried in vain to appeal their conviction and sentence. The court only granted them leave to appeal to the Thohoyandou High Court in regards to their sentences. But Judge George Phatudi, prior to hearing the appeal against the sentence, wanted to know from the pair why he should not increase the sentence. While both poachers saw the 11 years meted out to them as “shockingly harsh”,…

As President Cyril Ramaphosa has hinted at declaring the energy crisis a national state of disaster, experts have warned that such a move would not address the power cuts currently gripping the country. Just yesterday, Eskom plunged South Africans into stage 6 load shedding until this morning. Stage 5 was implemented continuously from 5am until further notice. As the ANC grapples with ideas on how to resolve the energy crisis, which Eskom said it would take two years to address, Ramaphosa said there was broad agreement to proceed in the direction of declaring the energy crisis a national state of disaster and the legal wheels were already in motion “to establish whether the legal requirements for the declaration of a national state of disaster are met”. Declaring a national state…

SEX trafficking continues to make up most reported cases and prosecutions of Trafficking in Persons (TIP), while labour trafficking prosecutions remains lacking. This is according to a recent repor titled, “Research into the nature and scope of Trafficking in Persons in South Africa: prevalence, insights from the criminal justice system and relevant reporting mechanisms”. The report was a collaboration between Purdue University in the US, the School of Human and Community Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, and Khulisa Management Services, supported by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the US Agency for International Development (USAid). Data sources included a quantitative analysis of media reports, SAPS statistics for 2007- 2021, and human trafficking prosecutions in South African courts in 2021, among others. “The prominence of consumer- level…

IT HAS been about five months since the kidnapping and murder of eight-year-old Lukhololwam Mkontwana – and his family has received no answers to date. As thousands of children returned to school last month, Mkontwana’s family’s fresh wounds were reopened. The eight-year-old’s body was found in September last year dumped near Botha Farm in Philippi, with his hands and feet bound. There was also sellotape wrapped around his face. This was a few days after he was kidnapped by men who allegedly tricked him into going with them in a vehicle while he was playing with his friends a few metres from his home. The kidnappers made a phone call to Lukhololwam’s mother, Noxolo Mkontwana, and allegedly demanded R100 000 for the boy’s safe return. However, the 32-year-old mother…

Economic activity and development are unevenly distributed across regions of the world and within any country. In other words, where someone lives can determine their economic and social well-being. Take gross domestic product (GDP) per capita – the total value of a country’s economic output per person. In 2020, North America and Europe’s GDP per capita was more than 10 times that of sub-Saharan Africa. More than a third (38%) of people in sub-Saharan Africa were living in extreme poverty in 2019. The estimate for the rest of the world was less than 10%. In a recent analysis, we used comparable data from demographic and health surveys to evaluate spatial inequality between regions within a country – such as disparities among South Africa’s nine provinces. We also studied inequality between…

Britain is expected to be the only major industrialised country to see its economy shrink this year after the impact of Liz Truss’ brief premiership prompted a sharp growth downgrade from the International Monetary Fund. Adding to growing political pressure on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the sacking of the Conservative party chair Nadhim Zahawi, the IMF warned yesterday that it expected the UK economy to contract by 0.6% this year, 0.9 percentage points worse than it had pencilled three months ago and slower even than sanctions-hit Russia. The IMF said that while the prospects for every other member of the G7 group of leading developed nations had improved or remained unchanged since October, rising interest rates and higher taxes had made the outlook for the UK gloomier. Pierre-Olivier…

LOS ANGELES: Actor Alec Baldwin and armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will be charged on Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Western Rust in 2021, a New Mexico prosecutor said. The charges follow 15 months of speculation on whether the District Attorney would find evidence Baldwin showed criminal disregard for safety when a revolver he was rehearsing with fired a live round that killed Hutchins. The actor has denied responsibility, saying he cocked the revolver, but never pulled the trigger, and it was the job of Gutierrez-Reed and other weapons professionals to ensure it was unloaded. The most serious charge, carrying five years in jail, would require prosecutors to convince a jury Baldwin was not just negligent, but reckless in his use…

ANTANANARIVO: Tropical storm Cheneso had killed 30 people in Madagascar, 20 were missing and thousands had been displaced, authorities said. Cheneso, which made landfall on January 19, was Madagascar’s first tropical storm of the year. The Indian Ocean island nation is typically hit by a series of such storms each year. The government said in a report released this week that nearly 37 000 people had been displaced by the storm, which caused flooding and landslides. It had announced a death toll of 16 last week. At least 138 people were killed and about 130 000 were left without homes in January and February last year after four major storms hit Madagascar. | Reuters…

Kano: An angry mob clashed with police this week in the northern Nigerian city of Kano to protest a visit by President Muhammadu Buhari, as anger grew over a controversial currency swop that caught many people by surprise. Police fired shots in the air to disperse young protesters who hurled stones and screamed anti-Buhari slogans over the scarcity of a new naira currency, introduced to replace the old ones by the country’s central bank. The currency swop aims to give authorities greater control over monetary policy to combat inflation, and tackle the amount of counterfeit bills circulating in the country. But the sudden introduction has caused long queues. | AFP…

ORION Minerals managing director and CEO Errol Smart said yesterday: “I believe Orion is now well on its way to achieving its goal of unlocking the incredible base metals potential in the Northern Cape.” In its quarterly update released yesterday, the group said it made significant progress in the quarter, finishing the year with a series of important funding. Key achievements during the December quarter included securing a funding package to progress pre- development activities at the Prieska copper-zinc project “and the completion of permitting and early-stage funding for our second base metals hub at the Okiep Copper Project”. These milestone funding arrangements also saw the introduction of the Industrial Development Corporation as a new development partner at Okiep, Smart said. “The combined pre-development funding being provided by Triple Flag…

FORMER DA leaders Herman Mashaba and Mmusi Maimane have cast a shadow of doubt over new City of Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad’s vision to rescue Africa’s economic hub from its rapid decline. Mashaba, who leads ActionSA, has not minced his words about Amad’s political trajectory, as far as his endorsement from the ANC is concerned. This came in spite of a congratulatory message that ActionSA shared with its followers after Amad was elected the new mayor. The fresh criticism coincided with Amad’s swearing-in on Monday. “You’ll have to be honestly a fool to think that the municipality is in good hands under mayor Amad or under the ANC,” Mashaba told Newzroom Afrika. “We are really in for a rough time for the next few years. The DA is responsible for…

No sooner had the cruise ship Aidamar left Cape Town for Walvis Bay and Europe on Monday morning than MSC Sinfonia arrived with an almost full complement of passengers after a short blue-water voyage. While the Passenger Terminal has been quiet on some days, it has also processed hundreds of passengers during a relatively busy time. On other occasions, two cruise ships have been in port simultaneously, one at the Terminal and the other at D Berth. The season has escaped the serious wind delays experienced three years ago, when ships were wind-bound for several days, creating a build-up of shipping and requiring tugs to keep the large, high-sided ships alongside. However, the south-easter season is not over and delays could occur in the weeks ahead. If my recollection is…

AS DEATHS from Covid-19 continue to rise globally, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) has registered Paxlovid, an antiviral medicine manufactured by Pfizer, to treat the infectious disease. Paxlovid contains Nirmatrelvir (150mg). Sahpra says it is used for the treatment of mild to moderate Covid-19 in adults who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk for progression to severe Covid-19. Paxlovid comes in tablet form and is taken for five days, with morning and evening doses. Expected side effects include hypersensitivity reactions, diarrhoea, vomiting, and altered taste. A shelf life of 12 months is approved for Paxlovid when stored at or below 25 °C. “Sahpra is committed to fast-tracking the registration of all health products that are of an urgent nature such as (those…

A JEALOUS rage that ended in murder has landed Phillip April a life-long prison term after he was sentenced in the Western Cape High Court yesterday for the 2019 killing of his ex-girlfriend. April pleaded guilty to the murder of Alison Plaaitjies, denying that it was premeditated and offering a plea explanation in which he said he and the slain teacher were romantically involved at the time of her murder. He said that during a heated argument, he stabbed her to death. The State, however, rejected his “watered down” plea explanation. Acting judge Nontuthuzelo Ralarala sentenced April to life imprisonment and five years direct imprisonment for the premeditated murder of Plaatjies, and for the theft of her vehicle that he drove for two days after the murder. National Prosecuting Authority…

Pakistan is gripped by a major economic crisis, with the rupee plummeting, inflation soaring and energy in short supply as International Monetary Fund officials visit to discuss a vital cash injection. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for months held out against the tax rises and subsidy slashing demanded by the IMF, fearful of backlash ahead of elections due in October. But in recent days, with the prospect of national bankruptcy looming and no friendly countries willing to offer less painful bailouts, Islamabad has started to bow to pressure. The government loosened controls on the rupee to rein in a rampant black market in US dollars, a step that caused the currency to plunge to a record low. Artificially cheap petrol prices have also been hiked. “We’re at the end of the…

Striking workers disrupted French refinery deliveries, public transport and schools yesterday in a second day of nationwide protests over President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to make people work longer before retirement. Huge crowds marched through cities across France to denounce a reform that raises the retirement age by two years to 64 and which is a test of Macron’s ability to push through change now that he has lost his working majority in parliament. On the rail networks, only one in three high-speed TGV trains were operating and even fewer local and regional trains. Services on the Paris metro were thrown into disarray. Marching behind banners reading “No to the reform” or “We won’t give up,” many said they would take to the streets as often as needed for the government…

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida came under fire yesterday from the opposition over allegations that his son used taxpayers’ money for sightseeing trips oversees while on duty. Kishida’s son, Shotaro, 32, who serves as his secretary, was alleged to have visited tourist hot spots in Paris, London and Ottawa at the taxpayers’ expense and used a government-owned vehicle, while the prime minister was carrying out official duties overseas in January. It is a further blow to slumping approval ratings for Kishida’s cabinet, following many high-profile scandals. | IANS…

Peshawar: A suicide blast at a mosque inside a police headquarters in Pakistan that killed more than 90 people was a targeted revenge attack, a police chief said yesterday. Between 300 and 400 policemen had gathered for afternoon prayers at the compound’s mosque on Monday in Peshawar when an entire wall and most of the roof were blown up. Authorities are investigating how a major security breach could happen in one of the most tightly controlled areas of the city. Police put the latest death toll at 95, with more than 221 wounded. Corpses were still being pulled from the wreckage of the collapsed wall and roof. | AFP…