Table of contents for 2021-12-01 in Cape Times

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za ICT TECHNOLOGY investment group AYO Technology Solutions posted muted results for the year to August 31, after facing many challenges, including to its reputation, and the effects of Covid-19 on the economy. Notwithstanding this, a final divi- dend of 30 cents per share was declared, which brought the total dividend for 2021 only marginally lower to 95c from 100c in 2020. Chief executive Howard Plaatjes said yesterday that the pandemic triggered reductions in IT spend, leading to a loss of some customers and non-renewal of maturing contracts, which affected the bottom line. This was exacerbated by the material adverse impact of unwarranted media attention and hangover from the Mpati commission on the group’s reputation. However, he said they had maintained a positive attitude, the balance sheet…

Christine Quinn has blasted trolls who have accused her of faking her traumatic pregnancy. The Selling Sunset realtor was forced to take to social media to call out the “beyond sick” messages she had been inundated with in her DMs, after her dramatic birthing experience with her son, Christian Georges Dumontet – who was born via an “emergency crash C-section” in May – was featured in the latest season of the hit Netflix series. Sharing one of the messages she received, Quinn responded: “K y’all are beyond f****** sick”. On Twitter, the 33-year-old reality star demanded those who disrespected her to apologise. “For all y’all still mad on pregnancy gate, please go look at my IG stories. And apologise. This is seriously so hurtful.” One of the users had called…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za WHILE other Western Cape universities have given signs that they will move towards mandatory vaccinations for staff and students in 2022, Cape Peninsula University (CPUT) is encouraging voluntary vaccinations. The UWC council became the first to approve an interim Covid-19 vaccination policy for next year. The policy has a “soft mandate” where all staff and students will have to be vaccinated in order to enter campus and attend any university events. It will also apply to the placement of students at all its residences. The “hard mandate” will require students in certain faculties and programmes to be vaccinated in order to register at UWC. According to UWC spokesperson Gasant Abarder,: “Where an employee, student, service provider or visitor seeks an exemption from the policy, they must apply…

MICHAEL BAGRAIM | Highlands Estate YOUR Monday edition “Covid-19 vaccines could be mandatory” refers: We need to differentiate between mandatory vaccination and measures to make vaccination a condition of access to workplaces etc. The two concepts are vastly different. Our labour laws will support compulsory vaccination in order to access certain workplaces under certain circumstances. The Constitution does protect bodily integrity and should an individual wish to remain unvaccinated that is their choice. However, access to public places can be controlled after consultation with all the individuals concerned. This consultation might produce a certain amount of access control for those who are unvaccinated. Our labour laws will strongly support the health and safety legislation and the health and safety regulations. If one unvaccinated employee will create a compromised…

Owen Simons | Retreat THE Mayor's clear message of service delivery to all communities is hugely encouraging. Since the inauguration of Council on the 18th of November, I came across at least three ward councillors who had initiated outreach to their respective communities on Facebook, and had included their contact details in their posts. If this is an indicator as to how City councillors are moved to do their jobs going forward, then I find it hugely encouraging. I would urge every single ward councillor in the City and beyond to follow suit. Your position asks it of you. Your communities expect it of you. As an active citizen and social justice activist who assists various communities on a daily basis with service delivery logs ( C3's) and…

Marsha Dean marsha.Dean@inl.co.za FOURTEEN-year-old pro cricketer in the making, Angalakha “Bavuma” Ntsondwa, is making waves after scoring 100 runs at a 35 over match in the under-15 team against Ottomans Cricket Club at the weekend. The Wynberg High School pupil said it was his first century and he was very appreciative of everyone who had invested time towards his training. Angalakha started playing cricket for the Khayelitsha Cricket Club at the age of eight, and has been with them ever since. “I like playing cricket because I get to enjoy myself. ”I am inspired by professional cricket players,” he said. He added he revered several top players, including Protea Quinton de Kock. “I train 3-5 days a week, which includes physical training, fitness, batting and wicket keeping. “My wish is…

Better safe today, than sorry for the rest of one’s life SOUTH African health authorities announced the detection of a new Sars-CoV-2 (Sars-2) variant of concern on November 24 and within hours airlinks to some European countries and the US from seven southern African countries were slammed shut, in some cases only weeks after they had finally reopened. Whether this is an overreaction or not, it will have negative consequences for economies across southern Africa, especially those that rely on tourism. This is despite only South Africa and Botswana reporting cases of the Omicron variant in the region to date. The first case was detected by the Harvard HIV team in Botswana on November 9. Within five days of its announcement from South Africa, more than a dozen countries had…

One in three people working in Australia’s Parliament have experienced sexual harassment, a report published yesterday said, following an independent inquiry into parliamentary workplace culture. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who ordered the review in February after his party came under pressure over its handling of an alleged rape inside the building, said the findings were “appalling” and “disturbing”. The review detailed widespread improper behaviour, and found that more than half of the people who responded had experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment, bullying or actual or attempted sexual assault. “Such experiences leave a trail of devastation for individuals and their teams and undermine the performance of our Parliament to the nation’s detriment,” it said. Morrison said that Parliament must clean up its act. “Like anyone who works in…

MASERU: Lesotho’s former prime minister Thomas Thabane was charged yesterday with the murder of his estranged wife, Lipolelo. Thabane, 82, is accused of hiring hit men to kill Lipolelo, 58, in June 2017, two days before the prime minister’s inauguration. He appeared in the High Court boardroom in Maseru on yesterday – not in the courtroom as normal practice would dictate. Reading out the charges, High Court clerk Tebello Mokhoema said Thabane “did unlawfully and intentionally cause the death of Lipolelo Thabane” on June 14, 2017. Five co-defendants in the trial include Thabane’s young wife Maesaiah, who was controversially granted bail in June. The other four are suspected hit men allegedly hired by Thabane and Maesaiah to kill Lipolelo Thabane. Lipolelo and Thomas Thabane had been embroiled in bitter divorce…

Prague: A Czech arsonist who killed 11 people after starting a fire in a block of flats in 2020 has been sentenced to life in prison. Six people, including three children, died in the fire. Five others jumped to their deaths to escape the building in the eastern city of Bohumin in August 2020. The arsonist, Zdenek Konopka, 55, had struck a plea deal with the prosecutor to avoid a standard trial. Konopka, who already had a criminal record, set fire to the door of a flat on the 11th floor where 15 people were at a birthday party. He could not cope with the fact that his wife had left him to live with her son and his girlfriend in the flat. His wife and son died in the…

Ramallah: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned Israel not to undermine the vision of the two-state solution, which is backed by the international community. “Undermining the two-state solution would motivate the central council of Palestine Liberation Organisation to take decisive decisions,” Abbas said on Monday. The warning came just days after Israel approved the construction of 372 settlement units in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Xinhua news agency reported. The Palestinians “won’t accept the continuation of the (Israeli) occupation of the land and the Palestinian people forever”, he added.…

Staff writer IN RECOGNITION of the fact that many women and children face violence and are taken advantage of every day and not just over the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Independent Media flighted episode one, The Crisis, of its docuseries yesterday, dealing with the spectre of human trafficking in South Africa. Titled Baby Trade – Tracking the Truth, this is an eight-part digital series prompted by the front-page story that made headlines around the world – the Tembisa 10, born to Gosiame Sithole on June 7 at a hospital in Gauteng. The story was at first welcomed with celebration but was swiftly derided as “fake news”. Without doing any investigation to prove otherwise, some South African media castigated Independent Media and Piet Rampedi, editor of Pretoria News,…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za DISRUPTIONS to data collection, status testing, and the deterioration of patients’ mental health have been highlighted as among the challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. As the world marks World Aids Day today under the theme “End inequalities. End Aids”, industry experts have said that while the uptake of services rebounded in June 2020, coverage levels remained far below those before Covid-19, and the true extent of the pandemic’s impact remained unknown. Unicef, the UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide, noted that in 2020, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 89% of new HIV paediatric infections. Some 88% of Aids-related child deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa. During a briefing on how Covid-19 had made the need for HIV control even more critical, epidemiologist…

Barbie Sandler | Constantia I READ with interest the article by Mr Nyembezi on "Era of utopian romance around school uniforms is long passed". Now I agree with him on the costs. It is simply not fair in this day and age for parents to have to fork out huge amounts for their child's uniforms. I wanted to help my domestic worker when her daughter was going to a new school and was horrified by the prices, apart from the fact she was supposed to go to a supplier in Durbanville? Not easy for her to get there. I also rang the school to find out about a second-hand clothes shop at the school, and the secretary said they had no such shop. Why not? Private…

Bill Harding | Noordhoek ON Saturday I tuned in early to catch the Barbarians game against Samoa. What I saw was the most diabolical spectacle – a team of SA ladies playing a Barbarians side. With 20 minutes to go, the score was 52-0. Understandably, I changed channels after learning the main game had been cancelled... Our team was hopelessly devoid of any basic skills. A primary school team would have put them to shame. And thousands of spectators paid to watch!! Until they improve dramatically they are not worthy to be called “Springboks”. The title “SA Ladies XV” would be more appropriate.…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has expressed concerns about thousands of learners who remain unplaced for the new academic year due to late applications. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) briefed the committee yesterday on its state of preparedness for the 2022 academic year. Inland schools are expected to reopen on January 12 and coastal schools on January 19 if there are no Covid-19 related disruptions. According to the DBE presentation, Gauteng has the highest number of unplaced learners for next year with more than 276 000 pupils followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 226 142 and the Western Cape with 29 550. “Late applications continue to be a problem despite massive advocacy on application cut-off dates by provinces. These are two-fold, parents who ignore the published closing…

loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za | POLITICAL BUREAU PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane yesterday revealed that the Hawks and the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) are investigating the company that donated a herd of cattle worth R1.5 million to former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead. Mkhwebane said she had obtained evidence sourced independently and which was also provided to her showing that it is apparent that Zuma did receive 25 Bonsmara cattle and one bull from Agridelight. She said this was confirmed by the payments made for the cattle by Agridelight, the delivery of the cattle and the submission of the company’s managing director, Bolokang Derrick Montshwe. “Although Montshwe contends that he personally donated the cattle to the former president, his use of Agridelight’s FNB account, and not his personal account, to…

Those familiar with this space will remember our leader last Thursday urging African countries to begin a process of being self-reliant by using the resources at our disposal and stop the reliance on donations, especially from our former colonisers. Even before the ink on that leader had dried, the world, especially European countries, started shutting their borders to the southern African region after our world-class scientists announced on Friday the discovery of a new variant, now named Omicron. With no scientific evidence at their disposal, others like the US, Brazil and Canada followed suit, punishing us for being transparent when disclosing the detection of the latest variant. It’s still unclear where Omicron originated. But what has been puzzling is that European countries, especially the UK, Netherlands and Germany, were already…

The UK government confirmed yesterday that it would be seeking to increase the maximum punishment for a range of child cruelty offences as part of the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which was going through Parliament. Under the changes, anyone who causes or allows the death of a child or vulnerable adult in their care will face up to life imprisonment, rather than the current 14-year maximum penalty. “The law must provide maximum protection to the most vulnerable. So, we are increasing the maximum penalty for child cruelty causing or allowing serious physical harm from 10 years to 14 years, and the maximum penalty for causing or allowing the death of a child from 14 years to life imprisonment,” Justice Minister Dominic Raab said. The Tony Law is…

The efficacy of coronavirus vaccines will decrease with the emergence of the new Omicron variant, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel has said. “I think it’s going to be a material drop [of effectiveness]. I just don’t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I’ve talked to ... are like ‘this is not going to be good’,” Bancel said yesterday. The Moderna chief said the high number of spike protein mutations along with the variant’s quick spread in South Africa may warrant modification of the current vaccines line-up next year. He added that most experts were not expecting such a highly-mutated strain for a year or two and scientists were con- cerned about Omicron’s 32 mutations. Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified…

Washington: Nasa early yesterday postponed a space walk outside the International Space Station by two of its astronauts after receiving a “debris notification” for the orbital outpost. Astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron were due to head outside the space laboratory yesterday on a 6½-hour space walk to replace a faulty radio communications antenna. “Nasa received a debris notification for the space station,” the space agency tweeted.“Due to the lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk … teams have decided to delay the November 30 space walk.” Earlier last month, Russia destroyed one of its own satellites in a missile test, generating a cloud of debris that Nasa said had “increased the risk to the station.” |…

Islamabad: At least 20 people were injured yesterday morning after 30 vehicles piled up due to dense fog at three different locations in Pakistan, police said. An official from the patrolling police told local media that the vehicles, mostly cars, piled up on M-2 motorway at Kala Shah Kaku and Qila Sattar Shah areas in Sheikhupura district of the eastern Punjab province due to dense fog. Several cars also collided with one another on M-1 motorway in the country’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province due to dense fog, leaving more than six people injured, Xinhua news agency reported.…

Herman Gibbs herman.gibbs@africannewsagency.com IN the aftermath of the much-publicised Fifa disciplinary committee meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, last Tuesday, the South African Football Association (Safa) have been ignored, amid veiled signs that the world-governing body might be dealing with more than just a complaint about a dubious referee. Two weeks ago, Safa lodged a protest with Fifa following the controversial handling of Bafana Bafana’s World Cup qualifier against Ghana in Cape Coast by Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye. Ever since, Safa and the South African football fraternity have been on tenterhooks, as there has been nothing but stony silence from the world’s governing body. Speculation is that the silent treatment could be a thought-provoking sign that Fifa are dealing with more than just a formal complaint about a biased referee. It has…

THE RAND YESTERDAY surprised on the up as it dipped below the R16-mark as the markets shrugged off the latest develop- ments around the Covid-19 Omicron vari- ant and the record unemployment numbers. Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday revealed that the unemployment rate had escalated to 34.9 percent in the three months to September, the highest level since 2008. StatsSA said 660 000 people lost their jobs during the third quarter, with the number of discouraged work seekers dramatically increasing by 545 000. Currently, there are more than 7.6 million people of working age who are unem- ployed in South Africa. Despite this, the rand made a spectacular recovery following a retreat to R16.21 to the dollar earlier in the day as caution lingered in markets after…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za A NEWLY-elected councillor in the Matzikama municipality has accused its leadership of trying to pursue a “political agenda” after he was not invited to, or informed of a RDP housing handover in his ward at the weekend. The Matzikama Municipality handed over the first RDP houses in Vredendal North on Thursday, when a 16 Days of Activism event was also held. Ward 3 councillor Sampi Tshabalala said he was not included in either programme. The events were attended by the mayor, deputy mayor, speaker and municipal officials. Tshabalala said he only heard of these programmes through residents. “One of the community members sent me an advert and asked me about it, and that was the first time I saw it. There was a municipality logo on the…

Francesca Villette, Mayibongwe Maqhina and Siyabonga Mkhwanazi SOUTH Africans are in for a tough festive season after the country’s unemployment rate reached the highest since 2008, while overstretched motorists are expected to dig even deeper into their pockets as the petrol price breached the R20/litre barrier for the first time in history. This comes at a time when the country’s tourism sector predicted another jobs bloodbath after a number of countries closed their borders over the Omicron variant, ahead of South Africa’s peak tourism season. The quarterly labour force survey released yesterday showed the unemployment rate had increased by half a percentage point to 34.9% in the third quarter of 2021 – the highest since 2008. The number of employed persons decreased by 660 000 in the third quarter of…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za AS part of the 16 Days of Activism for no violence against women and children campaign, NPO Ilitha Labantu, in collaboration with Site B police and the Community Police Forum (CPF) hosted an anti-GBV motorcade yesterday. The #Uthuleleni campaign motorcade kicked off at Site B police station by engaging with residents about violence against women and children. Ilitha Labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said a lot could be done to strengthen ties between the organisations, government and the private sector to end GBV. “(This) is a call to action to denounce all acts of violence against women and children. Ilitha labantu works with other stakeholders including Saps to try to end violence and also to capacitate communities to end the scourge of GBV,” said Monakali. He said levels…

THE summer holiday period is nearly upon us and, after a gruelling year, it is a welcome opportunity for some much-needed rest and relaxation. The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, compounded by the loss of family members and widespread retrenchments, have resulted in high stress levels for individuals around the world since 2020. At the start of the pandemic, many thought it would last for two to three months before things returned to normal. Yet despite the roll-out of vaccines, it could continue well into 2022 and beyond. As a result, people have found themselves in an ongoing stressful situation, managing high workloads with no boundary between work and home, and home-schooling children while simultaneously taking care of household chores, among other stressors. Research indicates that people who have been…

Tegucigalpa, Honduras: Once Xiomara Castro’s expected election victory is confirmed, making her Honduras’s first woman president, she will immediately face a daunting panorama of challenges. With more than half the votes counted, experts say Castro’s 20 percentage point lead is “irreversible.” Castro is likely to face some tough obstacles when taking office as head of a country wracked by gang violence, drug trafficking, corruption and widespread poverty. According to Transparency International, Honduras is 157th out of 180 countries in its corruption perception index, making it one of the most graft-tainted places in the world. Under outgoing President Juan Orlando Hernandez, the anti-corruption fight in Honduras suffered several blows in 2020. First, a regional anti-corruption commission was disbanded, then congress passed a new criminal code to lower graft sentences, and…

LOS ANGELES: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has wished his ex-wife, Dany Garcia, a happy birthday. The Red Notice star, 49, posted an Instagram video praising the film’s producer and his business partner – who he was married to between 1997 and 2007, and has daughter Simone, 20, with – and the “long road” they have travelled together. The actor wrote on her 53rd birthday: “What a long road of business and enterprise we have built. Happiest of birthdays @danygarciaco.” He enthused about the “privilege” of having Dany in his life since he was a teen.…

FOR 19-year-old Burundian Adelphine Nimfasha, regularly carrying more than twice her own weight in rice on her father’s bicycle proved to be excellent – albeit unusual – preparation for becoming a professional cyclist. On Sunday, Nimfasha came sixth in Africa’s first international women’s cycling competition after a fall cost her the lead she had held for most of the way. “I didn’t give up but rose up, took my bicycle, and proceeded to finish the race,” said Nimfasha, who finished in the top three in national competitions in Egypt and Nigeria before the latest competition, held in her home country. Her determination earned her the road cycling “combativity” award. Two Kenyans and a Ugandan won the top three prizes. Cycling is gaining popularity as a sport in Burundi, where bicycles…

WELLINGTON: Coastal sea temperatures around New Zealand have risen well above average recently, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)’s meteorologist said. Meteorologist Ben Noll said that water temperatures have ranged from 1.1-1.4ºC above average for November, with daily sea surface temperatures more than 3ºC above average around the western and northern North Island and eastern South Island over the last week. Marine heatwave conditions, classified when the sea temperature is above the 90th percentile for at least five days, have been observed in waters offshore of all regions of New Zealand.…