Table of contents for 2021-08-26 in Cape Times

Gardening Lutho Pasiya lutho.pasiya@inl.co.za I imagine there are lots of home vegetable gardeners looking at empty beds now. You may not have considered planting earlier this year, but now, while the weather is still cool to mild, there is still time to plant the wonderful cool-season vegetables. One of the biggest trends in gardening today is growing your own food, no matter what size your garden. Growing your own vegetables ensures they are fresh, have not been sprayed with chemicals, and you save on grocery bills. It is easy to grow vegetables from seed. All you need to ensure is that you sow at the correct time of year and give the seeds a good start with composted soil, sunshine, and access to water. So, what vegetables can you still…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za EFF leader Julius Malema says the party will be open to coalition partnerships after the local government elections, which could see his party play a more central role in leadership positions. Malema said yesterday that the party would engage in coalition talks only on a case-by-case basis in municipalities. He said the EFF was looking to play a bigger role than it did after the 2016 local government elections. The EFF had played a role in 2016 when the DA sought partners to enable it to run the City of Johannesburg and the City of Tshwane. When it agreed to coalitions, no members of the EFF took up leadership positions in the metros. This time, Malema said, the situation would be different. “And this time around, we…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za IN A “travesty” that has particularly grave implications for the safety and security of women, the Western Cape has a backlog of 27 989 Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) cases at the police’s forensic labs, which includes delays in DNA analysis. In a report under the review period April to August 19 this year presented by the police ministry to Parliament’s portfolio committee on police, it was highlighted that there was a total of 90 201 backlogs, of which the Western Cape follows Gauteng’s 53 327 cases. The report showed that forensics registered a total of 114 962 new cases nationally in their system during the same period. Of the 114 962, about 71 304 cases have yet to be attended…

Staff writer ADVANCING Robben Island Museum’s (RIM) innovation strategy through built environment design, smart technologies and optimised operations is the aim for newly appointed executive manager Maphootla Makhoalibe. She was announced yesterday as the first female executive manager since RIM was declared a National Museum in 1997 – a historic move in support of employment equity in the workplace. Makhoalibe joins RIM as the chief infrastructure officer responsible for infrastructure and facilities management on the Island, with effect from August 1. “I would like to thank the Council of Robben Island Museum, as well as the chief executive officer, Mr Mava Dada, for the opportunity…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THE SAPS says it obtained a statement from the driver of the BMW involved in the horrific motor vehicle accident that claimed the life of passenger Kaylyene Damonze, in Bakoven recently. There were reports that the police were looking for the driver last week, as a witness said he saw three people in the car before the driver allegedly fled the scene after the accident. The driver is said to have lost control of the vehicle and drove into a rock on Victoria Road, Bakoven near Oudekraal, according to the police. The 24-year-old sustained fatal injuries and was declared dead on the scene by medical personnel. Damonze was said to be a final year Education student. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi yesterday said Camps Bay police registered…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za STORMWATER management issues have to be sorted out before houses can be built for Dunoon residents – a matter that the Good Party said it warned the City and province about before they bought the wetland. Good Party secretary general Brett Herron has since lodged a complaint with the Public Protector over the land deal, which cost nearly R65 million. He charged that the 17-hectare portion of Racing Park Industrial West land was unsuitable for housing as it was a wetland. “The whole deal is dodgy. The land was purchased at an inflated price. The land was not needed - there is better suited land, in close proximity, already owned by the City. “The relocation of the informal settlement has been urgent since 2017 because of the…

IT IS clear that the ANC’s much-hyped renewal and unity project has been an epic failure, especially if the recent violence plaguing its selection of candidates for the upcoming local government elections is anything to go by. It is no secret that the party cannot self-correct. Just look at the people occupying some of its top positions. The recent events around the selection of candidates make for interesting reading, especially since President Cyril Ramaphosa used his appearance before the Zondo Commission of inquiry to paint a picture of an ANC that is working very hard to renew itself. Reality shows the opposite. Just last week, we reported that the ANC nomination process for a councillor in Ward 15 in Nellmapius near Pretoria took a violent turn when a branch member…

LONDON: Carbon dioxide emissions from the global electric power sector rebounded in the first half of 2021 to above pre-pandemic levels, according to an analysis, signalling that the world has failed to engineer a “green recovery” and shift decisively away from fossil fuels. As electricity demand jumped from last year’s lows, the London-based think tank Ember found, it outpaced the growth of renewable energy. That pushed global electricity-related emissions 5% above where they stood before the coronavirus outbreak. The new findings have major implications for the upcoming UN climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, where negotiators hope to forge a pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions and keep the planet from warming more than 1.5°C compared with pre-industrial levels. They also suggest that a surge in electric vehicles, which US President…

Western nations rushed to complete the evacuation of thousands of people from Afghanistan yesterday as the August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of foreign troops drew closer with no sign that the country’s new Taliban rulers might allow an extension. In one of the biggest such airlifts ever, the United States and its allies have evacuated more than 70 000 people, including their citizens, Nato personnel and Afghans at risk, since August 14, the day before the Taliban swept into the capital Kabul to bring to an end a 20-year foreign military presence. US President Joe Biden said US troops in Afghanistan faced mounting danger and aid agencies warned of an impending humanitarian crisis for the population left behind. Biden said they were on pace to meet the deadline, set…

Dubai: Dubai authorities yesterday confirmed they have arrested one of Italy’s most wanted international drug barons and his right-hand man, after years on the run. Raffaele Imperiale, considered to be one of Italy’s most dangerous fugitives, was a top operative from the Naples organised crime world. In 2016 he was believed to have fled to the Gulf emirate. A statement said Dubai police had arrested Imperiale. “It also arrested Imperiale’s right-hand man Raffaele Mauriello, who is responsible for plotting and executing murders and assassinations using unlicensed firearms,” the statement added.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za The word ‘legacy’ popped up twice on my radar this week. The first was Netflix reminding me that it was the first anniversary of its broadcast of ‘the Last Dance,’ the excellent 10-part documentary on the Chicago Bulls’ championship years in the 1990s. It is widely regarded as having enhanced Michael Jordan’s legacy, as one of the greatest basketball players ever and one of the most influential athletes of any era. The second reminder of legacy came from reading Mark Boucher’s submission to Cricket SA’s Social Justice and Nation Building project. Boucher has become one of the central figures at the hearings. It was always likely to be the case given his extended playing career and later his coaching one, which has seen him become the Proteas…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE GOVERNMENT will be tightening its belt further this financial year, as downward risks to the fiscus have materialised after it lost a bruising battle with labour unions over wage increases. The National Treasury yesterday confirmed to Parliament that the recently signed wage agreement with 1.2 million public servants would cost the fiscus R20 billion in the 2021/22 fiscal year. Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane said the wage agreement would have an impact on the fiscus, because it was over and above the compensation ceilings that had been tabled in February. The government’s wage bill accounts for about a third of consolidated spending. “The risks have finally materialised now. It’s not ideal to not give inflation-linked increases, but the reality is that we have come to…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za RICHARDS Bay Minerals managing director Werner Duvenhage told journalists yesterday that getting the business back on track following a three-month-long closure is going to be a painful process. Richards Bay, a unit of globally diversified mining company Rio Tinto, said on Tuesday that it was preparing to resume operations after reaching an agreement with its community leaders. The mine ground to a halt amid escalating tensions within its host community at the end of June. “Our key focus right now is restarting our business after being down for almost three months. It is going to be a painful process to restart, but we have tried to maintain our assets as much as possible, but I am sure we are going to have stumbling blocks along the way,…

Marchelle Abrahams marchelle.abrahams@inl.co.za We’ve heard the rumours and had glimpses of an expanding bump but never did we imagine DJ Zinhle would take us by surprise by announcing her baby news with a teaser clip for her new reality show to premiere on BET Africa later this month. Taking to social media, Zinhle shared a promo video for Unexpected. Not giving much away, the Indlovu hitmaker teased fans with what to expect, but many of us were blown away with the final scene showing her gently rubbing what appears to be a baby bump. It was definitely unexpected. Many local celebrity mamas who announced their pregnancies have pulled out all the stops, but Zinhle’s pregnancy reveal is probably the most spectacular we’ve witnessed so far. Coming completely out of…

Sithandiwe Velaphi sithandiwe.velaphi@inl.co.za SLAIN University of Fort Hare student Nosicelo Mtebeni chose to study towards a law degree because she “did not like seeing an injustice” inflicted on other children. This is according to her aunt Nomvula Beauty Gugushe who spoke at the memorial service of her niece in East London yesterday. Mtebeni, 23, was murdered and dismembered last week. Some of her body parts were found in a suitcase dumped in the street not far from where she shared a room with her boyfriend Alutha Pasile, 25, in Quigney, East London. Pasile was arrested and appeared in court this week on a murder charge. He allegedly confessed to police that he killed Mtebeni after discovering she was cheating. Her murder has left her family and the broader community…

Staff writer WESTERN Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe’s legal team has yet to comment on the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) decision to uphold a recommendation for him to face impeachment. His lawyer Barnabas Xulu said: “How can I comment without knowing the merits of those who are against and for?” The JSC held a meeting yesterday where it took the decision to uphold a report and recommendations of the Judicial Conduct Tribunal, which related to a complaint lodged by 11 justices of the apex court in 2008 wherein they claimed that Judge Hlophe had attempted to influence Justice Chris Jafta and Justice Bess Nkabinde to rule in a particular manner, in a pending case between the National Prosecuting Authority and ex-president Jacob Zuma. The report stated that Judge…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za DELFT grandmother Samaria Dickenson fears her granddaughter Grace Wagener, 14, may be one of thousands of children without a school for next year after all her early applications were unsuccessful and no alternative offered. She also had no success in using the online process. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said it had received around 157 000 applications to date, and placement figures had not yet been finalised as they were still verifying with schools. An anxious Dickenson said: “I tried my best to make sure she would have a school for next year. I went to all the schools very early with all my documents, first approaching her sister’s school because they are siblings. There I was told I must apply online. I went to…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za AHEAD of yet another extreme cold front making landfall today, the rough, stormy seas and adverse weather conditions will also delay deliveries of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a supplier has said. The South African Weather Service (SAWS) said rainy and very cold conditions, with snow over the high-lying areas, would set in over the province from this afternoon through to Saturday. Sunrise Energy said, with its terminal based at Saldanha Bay Port, “the terminal expects to deplete supplies or ‘stock out’ of LPG”. “High sea swells ahead of the cold front have caused the port authority to suspend entry to the port. As a consequence of the port authority’s decision, ships carrying LPG, destined for delivery to the Sunrise Energy facility, have been unable to berth at…

Flag flying in Chinese capital will bring hope to people ravaged by pandemic worldwide At the just-concluded Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, Chinese athletes fully demonstrated the hard work, confidence and openness of the Chinese people. South African athletes also performed equally brilliantly extraordinarily. Their attitude of rising to challenges and winning glory for the country is highly also commendable, whether it is the gold medal-winning swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker or the skateboarder Dallas Oberholzer who regards “skateboarding “as his life”. Following the Tokyo Summer Olympics, the world will have another Olympic feast in February next year – Beijing Winter Olympics. Having hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008, Beijing will again attract the attention of the world. Juan Antonio Samaranch, the honorary lifetime chairperson of the International Olympic Committee, praised the…

FIFTEEN people have died in the Venezuelan Andes after heavy rains triggered mud and rock slides. Several hours of downpours in the Mocoties Valley, a farming region in western Merida state that attracts tourists, caused boulders to tumble down mountainsides, blocking off roads. Jehyson Guzman, an official overseeing Merida on behalf of President Nicolas Maduro, said 15 people had been confirmed dead. Images shared on social media showed a stream of water carrying vehicles down a street in the village of Tovar. Others showed cars buried in mud or stuck between tree roots sticking out of a quagmire surrounded by rocks and furniture. Merida governor Ramon Guevara said the Mocoties river had burst its banks and flooded Tovar, which has been cut off from electricity and telephone coverage. Roads accessing…

NEW DELHI: A 24-year-old woman died in hospital, one week after she set herself on fire outside the Supreme Court in the heart of Delhi. The deceased woman, along with a male accomplice, revealed on a Facebook live session on August 16 that she was hopeless about getting justice in her rape case against Atul Rai, a parliamentarian from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The woman who hailed from the city of Ghazipur had suffered 85% burns over her body, NDTV reported. As per the allegations, police officials in the city of Varanasi, where she filed her complaint against Rai in 2019, were colluding with the politician and his relatives.…

SEOUL: South Korea’s childbirth rates hit a record low in the first half of this year, fueling concern about the so-called demographic cliff, statistical office data showed yesterday. The number of newborn babies stood at 136 917 in the January-June period, down 3.5 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest first-half figure since data began to be compiled in 1981. The newborns kept skidding amid the growing social trend of delayed marriage and the falling number of women who are of childbearing age. The number of marriages diminished 11.9 percent over the year.…

AFTER the pains of last season’s frustrations in the Premiership that led to Kaizer Chiefs supporters marching on to the club’s offices in Naturena, the Amakhosi faithful can start smiling again after a 2-1 win over Baroka FC yesterday. There were times, particularly during the first half of yesterday’s match, that applause and vuvuzelas from an empty FNB Stadium could almost be heard purring in appreciation every time new signing Keagan Dolly touched the ball. Dolly’s vision is unparalleled in South African football and the 28-year-old through his movement, understanding of angles and beautifully precise passes raised Chiefs to a level where they were playing the champagne football of years gone by. Baroka simply could not live with Chiefs, and in particular Dolly, in this rampant mood. From…

Upward revision will be pleasing to ratings agencies but still shows rising debt, warns economist Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za The rand strengthened yesterday, dipping below the R15-mark against the dollar following reports that South Africa’s economy was bigger than previously estimated. Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday said the economy was actually 11 percent larger in 2020 than previously estimated. StatsSA’s upward revision followed its normal five yearly rebasing and benchmarking exercise. The stats agency said the revised estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 was R5.521 trillion, an increase of 11 percent, compared with the previous estimate of R4.973trln. The rand flexed its muscles against all G10 currencies after having retreated to a near 6-month low last week after a risk-off sentiment in global markets on Delta variant concerns. FXTM’s…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za SUSPENDED ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s legal team accused three Johannesburg High Court judges of judicial bias in his suspension case – which he took to the courts to overturn. Magashule returned to the Johannesburg High Court yesterday, where he sought leave to appeal its decision to uphold his suspension from the ANC. Magashule was suspended by the governing party in May, in a letter signed…

Staff writer THE MANENBERG serial cat killer has struck again, killing their 43rd feline in the space of two months. A suspect was taken in for questioning last week, but has since been released from custody. The Animal Welfare Society of SA yesterday said this time the perpetrator(s) beheaded a tiny ginger kitten, leaving its severed head on the doormat of a resident of 3rd Avenue, Sherwood Park. They are still unsure of the whereabouts of the remainder of the kitten’s body. “We have decided to significantly ramp up our investigative efforts and adopt a far more robust approach. As such, we have implemented an immediate self-imposed general media blackout on any further coverage of this case, until we have something substantial to report,” AWS said. Two dogs were confiscated…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za THE scoping phase of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is currently under way for the proposed development of a crematorium in Strand, which some residents say will compromise the air quality of homes and residents nearby. In a formal objection to the Blue Crane Funerals (BCF) proposed crematorium in De Kock Street, a group of Strand residents said Section 18(1)(a) of the National Health Act (NHA) provides that a cremation facility must be located at least 500m from any habitable dwelling. “(The City) needs to note that a RDP development is located less than 200m away, in the same street. “The Strand Muslim Primary School is located approximately 300m away and residents in George Street, Hammond Street, Van Rheede Street and Nolte Street are all located…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za AN ARTIST has gone back to Woodstock to create a mural reading “Freedom for Palestine”, after the City last week removed a similar painting for being unlawful. Spokesperson for City law enforcement, Wayne Dyason, said people wishing to paint murals must apply for a permit. “The mural was removed because no permission was granted. The other paintings were removed as well, because none of them were permitted,” he said. An artist on Tuesday re-did a mural on the same spot, saying in a shared video that their voices cannot be silenced. Another artist from Woodstock, Loveleigh, said their freedom of speech was being taken away. “It’s weird because why can’t we express ourselves in public spaces? Their argument is they are taking the mural off because road-facing murals…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za A CORROBORATED timeline of events by “credible State witnesses” was the nail in the coffin for murderer Melvin Volkwyn, as the Western Cape High Court yesterday found him guilty of the murder of toddler Orderick Lucas. Volkwyn, who had maintained his innocence throughout the trial, listened with his head dropped, as he was convicted by Judge Nolundi Nyati. In her judgment, Nyati said Volkwyn “was not telling the truth” and his version of events, in which he maintained that he handed Orderick back to his mother Davidene Lucas over a wall on the Monday morning after he took the toddler into his care the previous day, was “inconceivable”. “All fingers point to (Volkwyn), and his actions were intentional. “He took Orderick to his house after buying drugs…

This opinion piece is neither a follow-up nor a reminder to the readers of the opinion piece I wrote in 2013. Far from it. I am the first one to concede that the anthropology of society is often situational. Perhaps in 2013, when I scribed it, the pulse of South African citizens had focused on some incidental critical priorities. The land question drips out of our saliva at the slightest opportunity we get to engage on serious matters of national interest. In Parliament and other fora, no discussion ends without traversing the land issue. What prompts me to enter the ring without being invited to engage on the land issue is the energy exuded by two young intellectuals who once led the ANC Youth League together: one as the president…

With untreated sewage in the water and rubbish piled on the sand, pollution on Tripoli’s Mediterranean coast is denying residents of the war-torn Libyan capital a much-needed escape. The environment ministry last month ordered the closure of a number of beaches along the 30km Greater Tripoli coastline, despite the summer heat. “The situation is catastrophic,” said Abdelbasset al-Miri, the ministry official in charge of monitoring the coast. “We need quick solutions for this problem because it harms the environment just as much as it harms people.” Daily discharges of untreated sewage from the capital’s 2 million population make this the most polluted section of the 1 770km coastline. Cans, plastic bags and bottles plague the water and shore. On one beach, near a large hotel, open-air rivulets channel untreated wastewater…

BANGKOK: Thai authorities yesterday hunted a group of police officers wanted for allegedly suffocating a drugs suspect to death with a plastic bag in an incident captured on camera. An investigation was ordered after video footage of the incident went viral on social media. The clip shows a group of men – allegedly including the chief of a district police station in northern Nakhon Sawan province – wrapping a plastic bag around the man’s head while questioning him on August 5. The suspect loses consciousness and some officers try to resuscitate him, the footage shows. As many as 13 officers could be involved in the case.…

LIMA: Peru supports international efforts to settle the political crisis in Venezuela and is ready to host negotiations between the government and opposition, the country’s newly-appointed Foreign Minister Oscar Maurtua de Romana said. “We offer Peru’s support so that this process yields results, including eventually the possibility to become an alternate place of negotiations,” the minister said during his address during the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday. After a prolonged hiatus in negotiations, the government and opposition of Venezuela, resumed talks earlier in August.…

ZAAHIER ADAMS STELLENBOSCH FC leaped into second place on the DStv Premiership table with a plucky 1-0 victory over 10-man TS Galaxy at the Danie Craven Stadium yesterday. For the second match in succession Stellies faced a team that had a player red-carded, but unlike last Saturday when they failed to take advantage of their numerical superiority against Orlando Pirates in Soweto, they made sure this time around with Ashley du Preez scoring the winner in the 55th minute. Owen da Gama’s team were always going to face an uphill battle after losing defender Pogiso Sanoka in the seventh minute, and had actually done well to keep the hosts scoreless until close to the hour mark. Stellies, though, were not to be denied their first victory of the season. “I…