Table of contents for 2021-11-08 in Cape Times

| IANS In many households, it is a ritual to step out for a walk after dinner before hitting the sheets. Many also take a quick walk after lunch. The goal? To improve digestion. But, is walking after eating really beneficial for digestion? Turns out it is, and here’s why: After you finish your meals, your body gets to work and breaks down and absorbs the nutrients. A significant portion of the food breakdown or digestion takes place in the small intestine. Research suggests walking after a meal can help in the faster transit of food from the stomach and into the small intestine. How does this help? The faster the food transits from your stomach into the small intestine, the likelihood of common complaints like bloating, gas, and…

From page 1 Many of the families have been contacted by Hawks investigators and families are co-operating fully. But the investigators must accept that families are anxious and have been waiting for a long time. They must do their verification of facts expeditiously and thoroughly.” Khan said many cases were linked because the same perpetrators were involved, hence the approach of the NPA and Hawks could not be on a case-by-case basis. He said they needed the name of the judge appointed or considered, and court dates. “We do not need responses like ‘information is classified’. Minister Lamola or the president or the NPA can declassify the information. This will facilitate the pace. There is a need for specialists such as pathologists, explosive specialists, trajectory specialists. “The president, according to…

SIERRA Leone President Julius Maada Bio said yesterday the West African country “must learn” from the deaths of almost 100 people killed in a fuel tanker truck explosion in the capital Freetown late on Friday. “We are going to concentrate on helping those who are critically injured right now,” Bio said after returning from Britain, where he had been attending the COP26 climate conference. Reiterating the government’s promise of free treatment for the injured, the president added that the country “must learn from this unfortunate incident”. “Let us come together and learn from this, let us say never again,” he said. The blast happened when a fuel tanker collided with another truck at a petrol station on Friday night, according to witnesses. The flames then spread, burning people in cars…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za A GEORGE police officer is expected to appear in the Thembalethu Magistrate’s Court today on charges of assault following a domestic violence incident involving his wife. Ipid spokesperson Grace Langa said they are investigating a case of assault after they arrested the 53-year-old warrant officer on Friday. “The victim alleges that on October 30 at 9pm she came home and found her husband having a party with his friends and he allegedly pushed her against the wall (by) her chest. (The next day) at 7am, the suspect came home and confronted the wife about her phone and in the process he punched her in the face and threw her on the ground,” said Langa. According to Langa, further information on the matter showed the suspect was…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za DISGRACED Bellville lawyer Daniel Gerrit Smit van Wyk has been struck off the roll of attorneys following a string of allegations that first surfaced nearly a decade ago. The Western Cape High Court last week ordered him to surrender and deliver his certificate of enrolment as an attorney, and in the event that it is necessary for a curator to be appointed to take custody of his books, records and client files, the court may be called to assist. The matter was first launched in March 2013 by the then Law Society of the Cape of Good Hope, which wanted to interdict Van Wyk from practising as an attorney and to authorise the Director of the Law Society to take control of his trust accounts as curator.…

Stan Sandler | Constantia IT’S a state of disorder, to say the least, the past elections, that is. To hear each of the political parties claiming some sort of victory out of defeat, when it is abundantly clear that defeat, whichever way it is viewed, is still defeat without any ready acceptance as such. This is across the political spectrum. So what now, going forward? The talk is that of coalitions and herein lies the attendant shambles, succinctly alluded to by political analyst Keith Gottschalk. Smaller parties, seeing the bigger picture, take the initiative by committing their support as coalition partners by demanding in return lucrative positions such as mayor or deputy mayor in trade-offs as supportive coalition partners. This is despite whether or not such coalition partners have people…

Khartoum: Sudanese security forces yesterday fired tear gas at an anti-coup rally by a group of teachers at the start of a two-day civil disobedience call against last month’s military takeover. Dozens of teachers carried banners reading “no, no to military rule” and called for a transition to “full civilian rule” at a rally outside the education ministry in the capital Khartoum. Nationwide anti-coup protests – including by tens of thousands on October 30 – have occurred since the October 25 coup but have been met by a deadly crackdown. At least 14 demonstrators have been killed and about 300 wounded, according to the independent Central Committee of Sudan’s Doctors. “We organised a silent stand against the decisions by Burhan outside the ministry of education,” said Mohamed al-Amin, a geography…

London: Former vocalist and founding member of British reggae group UB40, who rose to fame in the 1980s with hits like Red Red Wine and Can’t Help Falling In Love has died at the age of 64, his band confirmed. Terence Wilson – who went by the stage name Astro, performed with UB40 until 2013, when he formed a breakaway band. “We are absolutely devastated and completely heartbroken to have to tell you that our beloved Astro has today passed away after a very short illness,” his current band, also called UB40 said on Twitter.…

At least two investigations, one of them criminal, were under way yesterday into the deadly stampede during rap star Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival that killed at least eight people and injured dozens in Houston. Officials in Houston said autopsies on Friday’s victims were being performed as soon as possible so their bodies could be returned to family members, with the identities of some of the dead expected to be released yesterday. The dead were young, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said earlier: two were aged 14 and 16, two were 21, another two were 23, with a seventh aged 27. An eighth victim has yet to be identified, he added. Harris County Judge Lina Hildago called for an “objective, independent” investigation into the tragedy, as she spoke about the rap…

London: More than 28 million years of life were lost in premature deaths in 2020 in 31 upper-middle and high-income countries, a new study has found. Except for Taiwan, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and South Korea, all other countries examined had more premature deaths than expected in 2020, with a higher rate in men than women, it said. The highest rates of excess premature deaths were in Russia, Bulgaria, Lithuania and the US. Excess years of life lost to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 were more than five times higher (2 510 per 100 000) than those associated with the seasonal influenza epidemic in 2015 (458 per 100 000).…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za Here’s a stat: South Africa has lost just one of their last 12 T20 Internationals. In that sequence there are two wins against the West Indies, a series sweep of Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and a victory over a powerful England side in a high pressure World Cup match. Aiden Markram is now, according to the ICC rankings, one of the top 10 batters in the game and Tabraiz Shamsi is undoubtedly one of the best bowlers. In this World Cup, Temba Bavuma has enhanced his reputation as a captain. He’s played some vital knocks. He’d like to improve his strike rate and he will put in the work to do so, however what he has done off the field, has been remarkable. He has…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za Finance minister Enoch Godongwana will have to play open cards to convince investors and ratings agencies that South Africa’s finances are stable amid some of the worst economic indicators in decades. Unemployment has worsened to record levels, with more than 7.2 million people of working age officially jobless as the Covid-19 pandemic culled many businesses. Eskom’s ongoing power cuts are also constraining economic growth, which could possibly push South Africa’s sovereign debt deeper into sub-investment territory. Godongwana will on Thursday table his maiden Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) after his eccentric predecessor quit the post in a huff when trade unions shot down his austere budgets. The MTBPS sets the tone for the country’s fiscal policy and the government’s spending priorities for the next three years, and…

Staff writer THE National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has noted a 1.2% increase in Covid-19 positivity in the country. The Institute reported at the weekend that 358 new Covid-19 cases had been identified in South Africa, which brought the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 923 751. The majority of new cases today were from Gauteng (30%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (18%). The Free State accounted for 15%; Western Cape, 11%; Mpumalanga, 10%; Eastern Cape, 6%; North West and Northern Cape accounted for 4% each; and Limpopo for 3% of new cases. The National Department of Health latest figures show a further 24 Covid-19 related deaths were reported, bringing total fatalities to 89 319 to date. Separately the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) said that the Sisonke booster trial…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE families of the Cradock Four are yet another step closer to finding justice as the decision on whether to prosecute those behind the murders is expected to be made by December 2. The families of the martyrs Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Sparrow Mkhonto were recently informed of this decision by Justice Minister Minister Ronald Lamola. Speaking at the inaugural Fort Calata memorial lecture in Cradock, Eastern Cape, on Friday, Lamola confirmed that a judge will be appointed to look into why the Cradock Four murders and those of many other anti-apartheid activists were not prosecuted. The joint initiative of the Fort Calata Foundation and Rhodes University took the form of a panel discussion centred on the theme “The Quest for Justice”. Goniwe and…

Staff writer SUSTAINABLE water supply efforts in the Witzenberg region were given a boost at the weekend when the National Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and Witzenberg Local Municipality turned the sod on the R48 million Tulbagh Bulk Water Supply Project. DWS co-funded R43 million with Witzenberg Local Municipality contributing R5 million. The Witzenberg Local Municipality experienced serious water problems during the 2004/05 drought period, specifically in the town of Tulbagh. An investigation was conducted in 2008 which quantified all available water resources, including surface and ground water. The investigation found that there were major inadequacies around the available water resources in Tulbagh, Wolseley, and Prince Alfred Hamlet (PAH). To augment water supply, the department co-funded the construction of the Tulbagh Bulk Water Supply Project through the Regional…

Staff writer THE Goodman Gallery presents Gabrielle Goliath's newest video installation work Chorus with members of the UCT Choir sounding a lament for murdered student Uyinene Mrwetyana to local audiences later this month. On August 24, 2019, Mrwetyana, a 19-year-old student at UCT, was raped, tortured and bludgeoned to death by Luyanda Botha, who worked at her local post office. The following day Botha dumped her remains in an open field, dousing her body with petrol and setting it alight. Mrwetyana’s murder sparked a public outcry: vigils were held, people wore black, thousands gathered in protest outside Parliament and nationwide. In Chorus, members of the UCT Choir sound a lament for Mrwetyana – not as a song, but the internally generated resonance of a hum, collectively sustained as a mutual…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za THE POLICE ministry will have to cough up damages after a teenager was left permanently paralysed when he was shot by an off-duty police officer who was not licensed to carry the duty pistol concerned. The teenager’s mother, Fundiswa Ralarala had instituted legal action against the ministry on behalf of her son, Sonwabile Ralarala after former officer, Mandla Mahlanza, who had got into an altercation with another person at a Khayelitsha tavern, had drawn his Z88 pistol and fired a number of shots in public, resulting in her child’s paralysis. Acting Judge of the Western Cape High Court, Alma de Wet, ordered that the Minister of Police was answerable to the question of liability and that the ministry was ordered to compensate the teenager for such damages…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE Durbanville community is in mourning following the death of a 66-year-old man who was attacked by two pit bulls that escaped from their Hadida Street home at the weekend. While the investigation into how the dogs got out of the yard is under way, it is believed the lock of the gate was broken. At about 1pm on Friday the dogs ran into the street and came across the 66-year-old man in front of the home he was renting. According to Durbanville station commander, Marchell Rhode the dogs attacked him by biting his face, head and feet. Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk spokesperson said an inquest case was being probed and a post-mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death. This after reports that…

THE biggest vote at last week’s local government election was a no-vote, with millions of South Africans not registering, or those who registered not pitching up at the polls to participate in what is their democratic right. The statistics point to a dismal turnout at the polls, and it would be overly simplistic to describe this reluctance to vote as mere apathy. Close to 26.1 million South Africans registered to vote, with a total of 12.3 million people actually casting their votes. Overall, the ANC clinched 161 municipalities of the 213 councils that it was contesting, while the DA walked away with 13 municipalities, and the IFP 10. There are 66 hung councils, indicative of the nature of this election where in many municipalities there was majority by…

China’s weather agency issued the winter’s first snowstorm orange alert, the second-highest level, yesterday while nationwide cold wave alarms fuelled concerns over traffic disruptions and flu outbreaks amid rising Covid-19 cases. The National Meteorological Centre forecast blizzards in north-eastern China, with some regions getting 45mm of snow over 24 hours and heavy snow across the northern part of the country. The capital Beijing welcomed its first snow of the season 23 days earlier than normal years, while temperatures last night were expected to fall to their lowest for the period in the past decade. A cold snap is also sweeping from Beijing to Shanghai to Guangzhou, pushing down temperatures by as much as 14ºC on Sunday, the weather agency said. The cold wave, which could increase the risk of flu,…

BANJUL: Gambian President Adama Barrow will face five challengers in an election on December 4, the first vote in 27 years not to include exiled former leader Yahya Jammeh, who fled the country after refusing to accept his defeat five years ago. Barrow will be judged on his progress in dragging the country out of a Jammeh era characterised by harsh political crackdowns, fear and financial plunder. The election is being held under conditions of economic hardship after the Covid-19 pandemic kept European tourists away from Gambia’s beaches. Candidates include Barrow’s former political mentor Ousainou Darboe, 73, as well as Essa Mbye Faal, who served as chief counsel of Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission that chronicled the abuses of Jammeh’s rule. Also running is Mama Kandeh, who came third…

Madrid: Mallorca police arrested 12 passengers and were seeking 12 more at the weekend who fled a plane during an emergency landing in an “unprecedented” incident possibly linked to illegal immigration, officials said. The unauthorised exodus followed a passenger apparently being taking ill on a flight from Morocco to Turkey, with the plane forced to stage an emergency landing at Palma de Mallorca, one of Spain’s busiest airports. “Twelve people have been arrested and 12 more have yet to be found,” Aina Calvo, the Spanish government’s representative in the Balearic Islands, said.…

SYDNEY: A 25-year-old woman, Joanne Zhu, residing in Sydney became a millionaire overnight after winning the grand prize of $1 million (R15m) for the Million Dollar Vax Campaign in Australia. “Am I dreaming, is this real? I cannot believe it,” the winner said as quoted by Sky News Australia. She noted that she will use the money to treat her whole family to a nice trip in a five-star hotel for the Chinese New Year, if borders are open, and will invest the rest so that she can make more in the future. The Million Dollar Vax Campaign was started in October by a group of corporations and philanthropists as a means to boost vaccination rates in the country.…

Marchelle Abrahams marchelle.abrahams@inl.co.za Oh the joys of parenthood. It seems like time goes by in a blink of an eye and before you know it, the kids are grown and have flown the nest. It’s no wonder we want to savour every moment and milestone. Lucky for us, in the age of social media, we get to be included in those precious moments. Murdah Bongz is relishing his role as father to little Asante and wants to share it with the world. The Black Motion star just recently welcomed the birth of his baby girl with fellow muso DJ Zinhle, real name Zinhle Jiyane. Baby Asante is now two months old and the couple are as smitten as ever with the new addition to the family. Taking to Instagram, Bongz…

From page 1 coalitions was to avoid extending the lifespan of corrupt organisations. However, coalition decisions would not be rushed, he said. The DA’s federal executive met yesterday at Nkululeko House to discuss various negotiations. Its spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube said the purpose of the meeting was for the party’s leadership to reflect on the election and make important decisions pertaining to the constitution of various governments in many parts of the country. The DA wants coalition partners in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro in the Eastern Cape, several municipalities in the Western Cape, the Gauteng metros and other municipalities in various provinces where the ANC lost support at the polls. Steenhuisen said it was encouraging to see growth in peri-urban and rural black areas, where a sample of more than…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za CALLS to decommission the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station have grown louder, following an airborne contamination incident that resulted in several staff members being sent for tests to determine whether and how much radioactive isotope I-131 was absorbed into their bodies. In a statement issued to stakeholders on Friday, Eskom said on October 28 at around 3pm, the ventilation system for the Koeberg Security Central Alarm Station (CAS) was tested, using the radioactive isotope I-131 as a tracer to represent the type of contaminant that needs to be filtered in the unlikely event of an accident at Koeberg. “The CAS is located in an on-site building adjacent to the plant, and the ventilation system is tested every 18 months. “During and following the test, airborne samples were taken…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE SA Revenue Service (Sars) has come to the aid of parents who send their children to special needs schools. The parents will get increased tax rebates, making it more affordable for them to send their special needs children to the schools. Sars agreed to the step after its earlier decision to reduce the tax rebates was challenged in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria this week. The application was brought by the Equal Education Law Centre, represented by the Centre for Child Law. Johannesburg special needs school Glenoaks as well as a number of parents of the learners at the school joined the proceedings. The application against Sars was aimed at enabling parents to financially provide their children with access to basic education by way of a…

Staff WrITER WORK-related diseases and injuries were responsible for the deaths of 1.9 million people in 2016, according to the first joint estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO). According to the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury, 2000-2016: Global Monitoring Report, the majority of work-related deaths were ascribable to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. “It’s shocking to see so many people literally being killed by their jobs,” said WHO director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Our report is a wake-up call to countries and businesses to improve and protect the health and safety of workers by honouring their commitments to provide universal coverage of occupational health and safety services.” The study considered 19 occupational risk factors, including exposure to long working…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za POLICE are investigating a case of culpable homicide following an accident on the N1 in the direction of De Doorns from Worcester, claiming the lives of four people. Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said the accident was reported at 5.40pm on Friday along the N1 in Kanetvlei, De Doorns. “According to reports a truck was driving with two trailers on the N1 Road in the direction towards Touwsriver when this accident occurred with a taxi,” Van Wyk said. A man in his seventies and a woman in her mid thirties died on the scene while 12 others were injured. “Twelve passengers of the taxi as well as the driver sustained multiple injuries and were transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. “Two other passengers, one male…

Staff writer TWO young elephants received a warm welcome to the Aquila Private Game Reserve and Spa following their recent translocation. “Aquila Private Game Reserve is proud to have been the first Western Cape private game reserve in 270 years to reintroduce the Big 5 to the Cape after colonial hunters shot and killed most of these species in the Western Cape,” Aquila Private Game Reserve owner Searl Derman said. He added that the translocating of 14-year-old elephants was a mammoth task, and expressed the excitement of the reserve’s teams in the successful release of these elephants at Aquila. “No expense was spared to ensure a team of researchers, vets and conservation staff kept a keen eye on the process while monitoring the behaviour”. One of the new elephants introduced…

What message did SA’s 26.1 million voters send out on November 1? THE people have spoken. Long live democracy! But what message did South Africa’s 26.1 million registered voters send out at the nationwide local elections on November 1? The message at best was mixed! Voter turnout, confirmed by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), was at an all-time low of 47.1% which means that less than half of eligible voters – 12.3 million South Africans according to IEC chairperson Glen Mashinini – voted and a whopping 13.8 million did not bother to do so. Such a level of voter apathy for a nascent democracy in its 27th year is disconcerting. Whether this is an aberration or a new trend in South African electoral dynamics only time will tell. But…

The UN Mission in Iraq yesterday condemned the assassination attempt targeting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and called for calm and caution. “The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) condemns in the strongest terms the assassination attempt against Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. The mission expresses its relief that the prime minister was not hurt in the drone attack on his residence in Baghdad,” the mission said. Al-Kadhimi’s house in Baghdad was targeted by drone and rocket attacks early Sunday, Al Arabiya reported. The prime minister was taken to hospital for treatment from where he announced that he was doing fine. “Terrorism, violence and unlawful acts must not be allowed to undermine Iraq’s stability and derail its democratic process,” UNAMI stressed. The mission joined the prime minister in calling for…

Hakim Alileche left a successful career in graphic design and moved to the Algerian countryside to produce “magic potion” – organic olive oil that has won him international recognition. The 48-year-old says he chose the Ain Oussera plateau for its cheap land and water supply. His oil won first prize at the Dubai Olive Oil Competition in the Extra Virgin Early Harvest category in February 2021 and in May he won silver at the Japan Olive Oil Prize. “These honours really reassured us because it means we were right,” he said. The farm of some 40 hectares has over 15 000 olive trees, and so far 9 000 have started producing. “I started planting them bit by bit from 2005. I like farming and I’ve been fond of olive trees…

BOGOTA: Colombian authorities have captured the suspected organiser of the attack on President Ivan Duque’s helicopter in June, Defence Minister Diego Molano said. “We tracked him down and captured him. Alias ‘Aurelio’, the alleged mastermind of the terrorist attack on the helicopter of President @IvanDuque on June 25 in Cucuta,” Molano tweeted at the weekend. A helicopter with the president, several ministers and local officials on board was shot at from the ground when they were travelling in the northeastern Norte de Santander department. There were no injuries. Aurelio is alleged to be a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).…

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government rejected fresh accusations of corruption yesterday after a newspaper investigation found major donors to his Conservative Party were offered seats in parliament’s upper chamber. The government has been embroiled in a corruption row over the past week, with Johnson forced to abandon plans pushed through parliament to protect one of his MPs found to have broken lobbying rules. The Sunday Times reported all but one of 16 Conservative treasurers over the past two decades had donated over £3 million (R60m) to the party and had then been offered a seat in the House of Lords.…