Table of contents for 2021-07-22 in Cape Times

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa faces a shortage of business rescue experts as financially distressed companies are on the brink of collapse from the double whammy of Covid-19 exacerbated by last week’s looting and unrest. Analysts said yesterday that the ripple effects of the looting would continue to be felt for years to come. The civil unrest South Africa experienced last week has placed 50 000 jobs at risk, according to research published by PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC), and it indicated that national gross domestic product growth could be 0.4 percentage points lower this year. Kylene Weyera, a senior associate in dispute resolution at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, said yesterday that there were 361 licensed business practitioners in the country by October 2020. Only 85 of those were senior practitioners…

From page 1 This evolved into a technology transfer agreement of the vaccine, which has been successfully concluded. Higher Education Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande said the primary goal had always been to ensure through Biovac that South Africa and Africa became active participants in the global vaccine-manufacturing value chain. “We have chosen a backward integration strategy, meaning we are moving backwards from packaging, fill/finish and then to actually manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredients and to develop from scratch our very own vaccines. “I am pleased that in this journey, it is not the first time that Pfizer has shown confidence in our vision and commitment. We have just concluded another Tech Transfer for Prevnar 13 vaccine with Pfizer.” Strive Masiyiwa, AU Special Envoy on Covid-19 and member…

Staff writer THE death toll from the civil unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal has risen to 276, and police are investigating 168 murder cases. This emerged when acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni briefed the nation on the government’s interventions to rebuild the economy following violent protests that led to loss of lives and disrupted economic activity for over a week. “A total of 234 deaths related to the unrest were reported in KwaZulu-Natal. To date, the SAPS is investigating 151 cases for murder, 83 inquest dockets have been opened and 15 arrests related to the cases of murder have been made. “A total of 42 deaths related to the unrest were reported in Gauteng. Of these reported deaths, the SAPS are investigating 17 cases for murder, 25 cases…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za THE Western Cape recorded the highest number of gunshot-related injuries countrywide in a newly published study, with most patients male, and under the age of 35. Researchers from institutions including Groote Schuur Hospital, UCT, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria and University of Oxford examined the burden of gunshot-related orthopaedic injuries across South Africa, using a multi-centre research network over a two-week period in 2019. Results published in the South African Medical Research Journal spanned 37 centres in public hospitals, across the country’s nine provinces, with 135 patients enrolled. The Western Cape reported the highest number of gunshot wound cases (52; 39%), followed by Gauteng (35; 26%) and KZN (29; 21%). The median age of patients was 30.5 years and the majority were male…

MICHAEL BAGRAIM | Highlands Estate The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has been under enormous pressure over the last six months due to the government cutting its budget. The cut has created all sorts of service delivery problems meaning that individual workers have had their cases affected. Over and above this, because of the riots in KwaZulu-Natal the CCMA had to close its offices completely. This meant many cases that were set down could not be heard. The senior management said: “The CCMA cautiously reopens its operations in KwaZulu Natal, following the restoration of order in areas after the social unrest and riots encountered last week.” The work “cautiously” means that they are going to watch the situation very carefully over the next few days. Thankfully…

Kevin Meineke | Hout Bay I AM not a fundi of the laws of football and I do not know what constitutes an illegal or reckless tackle from one player to another. Although I notice that players of the modern game seem to fall down in agony after a tackle, only to rise again a minute later completely cured. How strange! The game between Kaizer Chiefs and Al Ahly was spoilt by sending off a Chiefs’ player for what was deemed an illegal tackle. Chiefs were immediately doomed, as to beat a team of the calibre of Al Ahly with a man short is impossible. Is it necessary to send a player off the field in a final game of a competition? Surely any discipline or punishment needed…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za PROCEEDINGS for the Diocesan tribunal into the alleged rape of the Reverend June Dolley-Major was postponed yesterday as she could not attend due to being in isolation. The tribunal, involving another reverend, was set to go ahead yesterday but due to Dolley-Major having come into contact with a person who had tested positive for Covid-19, and experiencing short breath and a tight chest, a doctor advised her to isolate. The alleged rape took place in Grahamstown nearly 19 years ago. The virtual tribunal, chaired by Bishop Peter Lee, had to be postponed, Dolley-Major’s representative, Chesray Herandien, said. “We received communication quite late on Monday afternoon that she was in contact with somebody that tested Covid positive, and during the course of the week she consulted with a…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za THE bodies of two infants have been discovered within a week in separate incidents in the city. In Island informal settlement, Khayelitsha, a 29-year-old mother was arrested in relation to burying her infant near her shack on Saturday. The body was discovered by police while they were attending to the scene of a separate crime. On Tuesday in Samora Machel, Joe Slovo, another decomposed body of an infant was found wrapped in a green plastic bag at what has become a local dumping site. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said Samora Machel police were investigating the latest incident. “According to reports, residents called the station and alerted them about a possible concealment of birth. Investigations into the matter continue,” said Swartbooi. Samora Machel community leader Xolani Joja said…

MO SENNE THERE is no definitive truth about any given situation – more than one truth can exist simultaneously without invalidating the other. For example: 1. Transformation is needed in South Africa, but the methodology is flawed; 2. #ShutdownSA is not about former president Jacob Zuma; and 3. #ShutdownSA is a result of operant conditioning of the mindsets of South Africans by the government. It is because several things exist on a spectrum that I find myself on the fence about what has turned into “a looting spree”. Normally, I take a position and stand by it, so this has ignited some cognitive dissonance because while I stand by the cause of social justice and transformation, I disagree with the methodology employed and the target group it affects. According to…

London: The UK government demanded yesterday that the EU renegotiate post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland after rioting and business disruption hit the province, but the EU immediately rejected the offer. London stopped short of suspending the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol -- introduced at the start of the year, and which requires checks on goods arriving from mainland Britain – and instead called for “significant changes”. It wants the EU to indefinitely abandon ad-hoc grace periods for certain border checks and freeze legal action launched against the UK for non-compliance, as part of a “standstill period” allowing for fresh negotiations. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said while Britain had negotiated the protocol “in good faith”, its real-world application by the bloc had entailed “considerable and continuing burdens”. “Put simply, we…

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron had ordered a series of investigations after media reported that his mobile phone numbers had been targeted with Pegasus spyware, Prime Minister Jean Castex said yesterday. Le Monde newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Moroccan intelligence services may have monitored Macron’s phones using Pegasus spyware in 2019. According to the news outlet, the phone numbers of the president, as well as then-Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and 14 other ministers, were picked for possible surveillance with the software.…

Dar es Salaam: Tanzania’s main opposition party, said yesterday its leader had been arrested with 10 other party figures, in what it called proof that President Samia Suluhu Hassan was persisting with the authoritarianism of her late predecessor John Magufuli. The Chadema party said leader Freeman Mbowe and the others had been detained before dawn at a hotel in the lakeside city of Mwanza, where they had been planning to hold a meeting to discuss proposals for a new constitution. The arrests followed the detention of dozens of other party members last week for holding a meeting without permission. The Mwanza region’s police commander and the regional commissioner both did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment. On Tuesday regional commissioner Robert Gabriel told reporters that gatherings without government…

NICOSIA: Cyprus has filed a recourse to the UN Security Council over the transfer of part of an abandoned coastal town on the ethnically split island to Turkish Cypriot control, its foreign minister said yesterday. Turkish Cypriot authorities and Turkey said on Tuesday that a small part of abandoned Varosha, left fenced in to rot for 47 years, would come under civilian control for potential resettlement. “This is a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and will have a negative impact on efforts under way to restart talks,” Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said after meeting his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias.…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za PFIZER and Nasdaq-listed BioNTech SE have signed an agreement with the Cape Town-based-Biovac Institute to make up to 100 million doses a year of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for distribution across Africa. Pfizer said in a statement yesterday the agreement with Biovac meant its global vaccine supply chain and manu- facturing network would span three continents and include more than 20 manufacturing facilities. Africa has only so far received about 38 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines on a continent of 1.2 billion people, according to WHO estimates. “To facilitate Biovac’s involvement in the process, technical transfer, on-site development and equipment installation activities will begin immediately,” the group said. Biovac’s manufacturing of the Pfizer vaccine will be the second production plant of Covid-19 vaccine in South Africa – Aspen…

Reinet Investments says net asset EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za Reinet Investments, a R90 billion investment vehicle chaired by Johann Rupert, said yesterday that the net asset value (NAV) per share of its Reinet Fund had fallen slightly to €30.11 (R517.25) as of June 30 from €31.44 at the end of March 2021. Reinet Investments holds the entire share capital of the Reinet Fund of 171.3m shares. In addition, Reinet Fund Manager holds 1 000 management shares in Reinet Fund. Reinet Fund’s net asset value amounted to €5.16 billion as of June 30, a decrease of €228 million from March 31, 2021. Its net asset value per share represented about a 45 percent discount to Reinet Investments’ share price, trading 0.6 percent higher at R283.64 on the…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za THE Western Cape High Court has reserved judgment on Vinpro’s urgent interim interdict to enable the sale of liquor in the province. Representing around 2 600 South African wine producers, cellars and industry stakeholders, Vinpro had brought forward the application to allow the province to adopt deviations to the national ban, of both off- and on-site consumption alcohol sales. After a full day in court yesterday, Vinpro said its legal teams and that of the government argued before acting Judge Noluthando Nziweni. “We are hopeful for a positive outcome and eagerly await feedback on this important principle that would govern decision-making regarding future wine sales bans,” said Vinpro managing director Rico Basson. “The South African wine industry is at the edge of a cliff, after its revenue…

Staff writer PINELANDS-based Biovac, a specialist biotech company is set to become the first company in Africa to produce an mRNA-based vaccine after it was appointed to manufacture the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine for distribution on the continent. Biovac is set to immediately commence technical transfer activities, which includes on-site development and equipment installation activities. The facility will obtain drug substances from facilities in Europe, and manufacturing of finished doses will commence next year. At full operational capacity, the annual Covid-19 vaccine production will exceed 100 million finished doses, and all doses will exclusively be distributed within the 55 member states that make up the African Union (AU). Biovac expects the facility will be brought into the Pfizer-BioNTech supply chain by the end of the year. President Cyril Ramaphosa…

Anonymous | From an alternative universe where the City actually invests in transport diversification MY BOSS told me that if I was not at work yesterday (Wednesday), I'll lose my job! But the taxis have stopped all transport in and out of Gugulethu. No buses, taxis or even trains. I would ask my brother-in-law to drive me, but his old car broke down again last month and he still doesn't have the money for the new parts. Maybe I’ll listen to my colleague who is always telling me I should ride my bicycle on that new bicycle superhighway the city built when they upgraded the train tracks as part of their “2030 Green New Deal”. It’ll probably take me 20 minutes longer than going with a taxi, but…

Bill Harding | Noordhoek THE emigration figures published on Monday are hopelessly inaccurate. Hundreds of young South Africans, many with tertiary education (paid for), have left this country, never to return. In our own family, three have gone and another two will soon follow. They have been driven away by policies of job reservation, which severely affect their future prospects in this country, a rapidly shrinking economy and rampant crime and violence. In effect, they have no faith in an ANC administration. They’ve left with whatever they own – nothing more than personal effects in a suitcase, so have not had to follow the usual emigration procedures required to move household furniture, motor vehicles and so on. Hence, they have never been identified as “emigrants”. I would, therefore,…

Suzy Whall | Somerset West PICTURE this: you study four or even more years for a degree. Then after studying you get a job. In this job you help cure cancer, discover a way to live on Mars, build some of the greatest buildings in the world and so much more, all in one career! Yet for all what you do you get no recognition and you are paid way too little for what you have done. Can you guess who you are? A teacher. They study four years to earn their Certificate in Education and sometimes a further two years to get a Masters in Education. They then get a job at a school or university where they inspire and kick start their students' journeys to…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za THE Animal Welfare Society (AWS) says it is closing in on a cat serial killer in Manenberg. The organisation reiterated its urgent appeal to the public to assist with information that could lead to the nabbing of the perpetrator whose modus operandi appears to be cutting up the bodies of cats before disposing of them in residents’ yards. AWS nurse Jaque le Roux said inspectors continued their investigation to lodge a case of animal cruelty. “Our inspectors are circling the area and conducting interviews in the vicinity in which these incidents happen. We urge the public to urgently come forward with any information, and guarantee anonymity. “Inspectors are working around the clock to bring the perpetrator to book,” said Le Roux. In a statement, the AWS said…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za IN what has been described as a historic step in bridging the inequality gap in the education sector, UCT has extended its expertise by developing an online school, with its first intake expected in January next year. The much-hyped R2 095-a-month private school would offer a Caps-aligned curriculum from Grades 8 to 12. However, the Grade 12 intake would be in 2023. It is expected to offer high-quality education with support from experts and teachers. UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng launched the school yesterday, together with partner the Valenture Institute, an education technology company. “UCT is committed to playing our part in addressing the systemic challenges facing our education system. The full curriculum of the UCT High School will be available as an open education resource…

FAROUK ARAIE | Gauteng Peace and harmony are the fundamental pre-requisites of our life and the ideal path to follow. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and to all who lost their loved ones in the battle to contain the anarchy that engulfed our nation. We mourn these losses as we struggle to rebuild our shattered lives. The enemies of freedom have pushed the false narrative that democracy is in decline because it is incapable of addressing people’s needs. In fact, democracy is in decline because its most prominent exemplars are not doing enough to protect it. Death, destruction and killings have torn at many of our relationships and our communities.The fundamental concept of living in peace and harmony is founded upon the triad…

Brisbane was awarded the 2032 Olympics yesterday, triggering wild celebrations and fireworks as it became the third Australian city to host the Summer Games after Melbourne and Sydney. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach confirmed the widely expected result after delegates voted 72 to five with three abstentions at the IOC session in Tokyo. “The International Olympic Committee has the honour to announce that the Games of the 35th Olympiad are awarded to Brisbane, Australia,” Bach said. The announcement was greeted by cheers from the Australian delegates in Tokyo, while in Brisbane fireworks lit up the skies and crowds who had gathered for the vote went wild. Brisbane’s victory looked a certainty after it was unanimously proposed as the single candidate for 2032 by the IOC’s 15-strong executive board in…

BUENOS AIRES: Hernán Mastrángelo, a 100-year-old grandfather in Argentina, has gone viral after it emerged that for years he had been taking handwritten notes of almost every goal scored by local hero and Barcelona star Lionel Messi. Mastrángelo made it his hobby to keep track of each of Messi’s goals, his grandson Julián announced on social media. “I wanted to have scored all the goals that Messi did,” Mastrángelo said. “I always followed the games and if I didn’t have time to watch them, my grandson would tell me about them.” The centenarian wrote down on sheets of paper the name of the rival team, the date and the number of goals, recording more than 700 scored by Messi over the years. When the story reached Messi in the middle…

LAGOS: Police in north-western Nigeria have rescued 100 kidnap victims who spent 42 days in captivity, Premium Times reported yesterday. The operation was carried out by the police and the Zamfara state’s ministry for security and home affairs. Most victims are nursing mothers and children. They were abducted by unidentified assailants who attacked a village in the Mutunji district of Dansadau Emirate on June 8. The police did not pay a ransom to the abductors. Nigeria is battling an increase in armed robberies and kidnappings for ransom, mainly in north-western states.…

NAIROBI: The Kenyan civil aviation authority said yesterday that it had launched investigations into a plane which crash-landed at a military base in southern Somalia with 45 passengers on board. Director-General Gilbert Kibe of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said no injuries had thus far been reported. Kibe confirmed the incident involving a Skyward Express aircraft and added that investigations would establish how the incident happened. Local officials in Somalia said the plane crash-landed at Burahache military camp at Elwak, a few kilometres from the Somalia-Kenya border.…

MIKE GREENAWAY mike.greenaway@inl.co.za SHUTTING down Springbok matchwinner Cheslin Kolbe is a top priority for the Lions in Saturday’s first Test but the Boks face their own challenge in shutting down Kolbe’s opposite number, Duhan van der Merwe. Lions boss Warren Gatland, speaking after naming Van der Merwe on the left wing in a very strong Lions team, has warned his players to keep the ball away from Kolbe. “Stopping Cheslin is going to be a real challenge and the best way to do that is limit the possession he gets,” Gatland said. “Cheslin got one opportunity against us in that South Africa ’A’ game and made the most of it. We can’t afford to do what we did in that ’A’ game and kick the ball down his throat. So…

WYNONA LOUW wynona.louw@inl.co.za Free State Cheetahs 38 Western Province 21 THE Free State Cheetahs secured a 38-21 victory over Western Province in an entertaining Currie Cup encounter in Bloemfontein last night. The Cheetahs wasted absolutely no time as they scored in the very first play of the game thanks to some good interplay, passing and footwork, setting Duncan Saal up to put his pace to use and finish off for a top try. While Province had most of the possession in the first half and had the upper hand at the set-pieces, the hosts played a game that favoured them. The Cheetahs’ defence was rock solid, while the experience of Ruan Pienaar was a major feature in the first half. Clayton Blommetjies was just as dangerous. The veteran scrumhalf…

AMAZULU coach Benni McCarthy has lambasted the random change of formations by his Orlando Pirates counterpart Josef Zinnbauer, saying “I don’t even think he knows the strength that he has in his team because he changes formations week in and week out”. Late in May, last season, AmaZulu and Pirates crossed paths for the last time in the DStv Premiership where the two teams were gunning for a second spot finish. But that battle didn’t end on the pitch, with the Buccaneers keeping all the spoils in Soweto. Instead, it escalated to a fierce post-match interaction between the former Pirates striker and Zinnbauer. Since then, it appears that the former has lost respect for the German’s style of play and team organisation. Speaking ahead of the Carling Black…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za The BANK of Mozambique has appointed Zaitina Raul Chilaule as foreign exchange inspector at Standard Bank South Africa as part of a behind-the-scenes atonement for irregular foreign exchange activities that last week saw the bank in Mozambique fined R66 million, along with the fining and dismissal of two senior executives. Standard Bank has also been suspended for a year from the Mozambican Interbank Foreign Exchange Market. Chilaule’s appointment follows the appointment late last week by Standard Bank South Africa of an acting chief executive at its Mozambique operation following the stern censure by the Central Bank. Banco de Mocambique announced the opening of three “misdemeanour proceedings” against that bank and two of its employees, namely Adimohanma Chukwuma Nwokocha and Carlos Madeira, who were banned from holding…

From page 1 ’’It appears that Moody’s is seeing what STOP CoCT sees. The poor economic growth against the background of instability in the country and the ongoing increases in tariffs each year is seriously putting the City’s financials at risk,” she said. Neilson said the City’s cash position also remained positive to meet its ongoing creditor’s obligation and other future obligations such as bond repayments. In addition, the City’s cash liquidity was sufficient to continue the roll-out of the City’s 2021/22 capital programme. The working capital is currently equal to approximately 1.9 months of expenditure. “The National Treasury guidelines are that municipalities should have working capital of between one and three months of expenditure, which is within this norm and considered appropriate at this time,” he said. The…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za EXACTLY 14 days since he was jailed, former president Jacob Zuma is today set to make his first in-person public appearance at Nkandla, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, to attend a family funeral – although this is subject to approval from the Department of Correctional Services. Yesterday, the department confirmed that it had received Zuma’s compassionate leave application, in which he has asked to be temporarily released from his Estcourt prison cell, in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, to attend the burial of his younger brother Michael. By late yesterday, it was not clear whether the national department had given the nod to the request or not. However, the department did confirm that Zuma had applied and his request was being considered by authorities, though there was no final decision.…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za THE City has come under fire from housing activists for its draft Unlawful Occupation By-Law, which they said would encourage widespread illegal evictions and drive more poor and working-class families into homelessness. The by-law would create several offences that carry the sanctions of a fine or imprisonment of between six months and two years, or both, the activists said. “The draft by-law is published in a context of rampant spatial inequality, a massive shortage of well-located affordable housing and amid fierce criticism of the deplorable conduct of the City’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit and law enforcement officers during unlawful evictions,” NGO Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) said. The organisation added that it reflected an approach to informality that echoed “the apartheid government’s displacement and forced removal of black and coloured…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE Covid-19 vaccination roll-out programme in the Metropole has suffered a setback, as thousands of people scheduled to receive their jabs have missed their appointments due to ongoing taxi violence. It remained unclear last night when the violence, which has claimed more than 80 lives since the start of the year, will end – as rivals Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta) continued discussions. The provincial Health Department yesterday said that 3 000 less vaccines were administered on Tuesday and other health services were affected, with the clinic in Gugulethu closed. The City’s Nyanga clinic was also forced to close due to staff shortages and for safety reasons. Health Department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said the recent disruption in…

Bill Constantine | Oranjezicht AS I observe example after example of the inept and incompetent performance of our government officials and public administrators and, most recently, their grossly inadequate “too little, too late” response to the looting and damage to infrastructure, I’m reminded of the well-known folk song, Where Have all the Flowers Gone, with the ending refrain, When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn? The principle of “prevention” seems to be absent in the lexicon of most of our public officials and administrators. Instead, they repeatedly focus attention and valuable resources on cleaning the mess left, rather than trying to prevent it from happening in the first place. Word is getting out that key government officials were aware of the potential for orchestrated public rioting and…

Barbie Sandler | Constantia EDUCATION, education, education? Is that where we have gone so wrong as a country? Our children have learnt nothing about right and wrong. We send children to school and they learn by rote but really come out of school knowing not a lot about life – how much it costs to run a household, or bring up a child; how the country runs. But they can quote how many wives King Henry the 8th had. Maybe it’s time we started from grassroots teaching them morals, ethics, the difference between right and wrong? But then again I see a few looters (not many) but certainly those who had had an expensive education at a private school and still felt it was okay to loot? I…

Lwazi Sikwebu | Johannesburg IT SEEMS to me (sadly) that His Royal Highness (HRH) King Misizulu Zulu kaZwelithini (Bayede, Ndabezitha, Wena we Ndlovu), was not intentionally prepared for leadership. The blame goes not to HRH, but to all the royal institutions in South Africa. I doubt if there was any intentional preparation, over 47 years, for HRH to assume leadership, of whatever form. I am not quizzing his preparation for the throne. I know that no one knew that he would be the one to ascend the throne and that any one of his siblings could have ascended the throne. This is where my difficulty lies. If anyone could have ascended the throne, then why did we not make sure that every single one of the next-in-line generation…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za UNDERTAKERS grappling with the impact of the third wave of Covid-19 infections say they are concerned with the sharp increase in burials. This as the City of Cape Town said cemeteries were experiencing incremental increases in the number of burials. From just over 300 in a week towards the end of June, the number of burials last week climbed to 483, the City said. Undertakers United Front Western Cape co-ordinator Pastor Kenny McDillon said the organisation was experiencing a huge number of burials on both weekdays and weekends. “It’s a concern and we’re handling the matter as it comes. We’re hoping and praying as far as cemeteries are concerned, the City work staff can keep on supplying and digging the graves,” he said. McDillon said another concern…

CUBA is a small island developing state that faces the vulnerabilities inherent to that condition and suffers the effects of the longest and most comprehensive system of unilateral sanctions ever applied against any country in history. Added to the above are the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, whose effects have been used deliberately and opportunistically by the US to reinforce its economic, commercial and financial blockade on our country in a cruel way, with the clear purpose of causing more hardship to the Cuban people. The situation has seriously affected the normal functioning of our economy, by severely reducing income from exports of goods and services, access to fuel, food and medical supplies. On Sunday, July 11, disorder occurred in some Cuban localities, including acts of vandalism by criminal elements…

THE South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) should be commended for being quick to denounce the violence and looting that gripped KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng. It should be applauded for being part of the solution when the unrest threatened to destabilise the country. Our wish is that it would take a similar stance in the taxi violence in the Western Cape which has claimed the lives of more than 80 people, including innocent commuters and bystanders, since the start of the year. While taxi drivers in KZN and Gauteng were hailed heroes, it is a different story in the Western Cape. The war between the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and Congress of Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) over routes has been devastating to innocent commuters. A four-month-old baby was…

Families in Lebanon are now spending five times the minimum wage on food alone, a report found yesterday, as inflation caused by the country’s worst-ever economic crisis soars. Lebanon is battling what the World Bank has described as one of the planet’s worst financial crises since the 1850s, with more than half the population living below the poverty line. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value against the dollar on the black market since 2019, and Lebanese with deeply devalued salaries in the local currency have seen their purchasing power plummet. According to the latest prices in July, “a family’s budget just for food is around five times the minimum wage”, the Crisis Observatory at the American University of Beirut said. Most families in Lebanon would…

Venezuela’s vice president said the socialist government is “girding itself for battle” in case the highest court in Britain recognises opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate leader, in a case that could determine the fate of gold worth $1 billion (R14.63bn). A British legal battle lasting more than a year has ended up at the Supreme Court in London for four days of deliberations that started Monday. At the heart of the case is who has the power to direct the release of Venezuela’s 32 tons of gold reserves: the government of President Nicolas Maduro or former National Assembly speaker Juan Guaido, who claimed election fraud and declared himself interim president, a move recognised by 50 countries. “Venezuela is girding for an historic battle for the gold that…

BEIJING: The death toll from heavy rains in China’s central province of Henan reached 25, while seven people are missing, a spokesperson for the provincial water resources department said yesterday. Earlier, 12 deaths and five injuries were reported. More than 160 000 people were evacuated, according to the provincial authorities. Since July 16, more than 1.24 million people have been affected by the extremely heavy rainfall and about 164 710 people have been moved to safe places, said Xu Zhong, director of the office of Henan provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.…

Amsterdam: Hundreds of mourners yesterday attended the funeral of slain Dutch crime reporter Peter R de Vries, who was gunned down in broad daylight in an Amsterdam street two weeks ago. A long queue began forming at 7am outside the Dutch capital’s landmark Carre Theatre, with those in line saying they want to pay their final respects to a Dutch “hero”. A prominent reporter who had been involved in a court case against one of the country’s most wanted drug barons, De Vries, 64, was shot five times on July 6. He died in hospital nine days later. Brenda van Coevorden, 66, said: “I am so sad that we’ve lost an icon.”…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za AIDEN Markram is happy to adapt to a new role for South Africa’s T20 side even if that means it doesn’t allow him to ‘get his eye in’ at the crease. With Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Janneman Malan, Reeza Hendricks and Markram in the Proteas T20 squad, South Africa possess a lot of openers. But there are fewer options for the middle order, particularly a player who can propel the ball to and over the boundary. In addition that player needs to do so as soon as he gets to the crease. Even the Proteas’ ‘finisher’ David Miller needs a few deliveries to ‘get his eye in’. The lack of options in the middle has led to Markram being asked to make some adjustments. “I’ve…