Table of contents for 2022-01-31 in Cape Times

Helmo Preuss THE $750 MILLION, or R11.68 billion, loan to South Africa approved on January 21 follows many months of negotiations with the multilateral financial institution. It will boost the January foreign reserves by an equivalent amount and reduce the call on the domestic bond market as well. The World Bank loan follows that of the BRICS New Development Bank loan of $0.4bn received on November 15, 2021. That loan only matures in September 2046. In its media release, the Treasury said the World Bank loan would support the government’s efforts of protecting the poor and vulnerable from the adverse socio-economic impacts of the pandemic and supporting a resilient and sustainable economic recovery. In other words, this money will most likely be used to extend the Temporary Employer/Employee…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za ABOUT 600 people have been displaced after a fire destroyed 152 homes in Masiphumelele at the weekend. The City’s Fire and Rescue spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse said no injuries or fatalities were reported. “At 1.23am on Saturday, the City’s Fire and Rescue Service was alerted that there were informal structures on fire in Masemola Street. Fifteen fire fighting appliances from various Fire Stations; and 50 firefighters extinguished the blaze by 7.24am,” said Carelse. Resident Ayanda Jaco said he lost everything including his work uniform and ID documents in the fire. “I was just coming from my friend’s house when I saw a fire. “I quickly ran into my house to see what I could take out but unfortunately everything was burnt including my work uniform, ID card, and…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za AGGRIEVED Metrorail employees have lifted the lid on how a senior Prasa board member allegedly meddled in the appointment of Metrorail’s Western Cape regional human resources senior manager Mark Horne, who they claim did not meet the minimum requirements – including being in possession of a matric certificate. Metrorail spokesperson Nana Zenani could not produce any of Horne’s qualifications when requested to do so, including the “advice results” under the matric category, in a list of requirements for the job. “Mr Mark Horne was appointed following the necessary policies. Human resources would not contravene their own protocols in this regard,” she said. Under Horne’s name, it’s stated “no” under the “relevant B-Degree in human resources”, but he does have five years’ experience in the HR environment and…

THERE was a time when I was colloquially labelled a “bergie” or “pharaphara” in Cape Town. Had I been in Johannesburg, it would have been “Sgidla Waar”, which loosely translates as “where do I sleep, tonight”, or a “hobo” if I lived in other parts of the world. Every granny, child and person has a fixed idea of someone who fits this category of our society that we meet at most sets of traffic lights or at your front gate, begging for anything that can be used for survival. What springs to mind when you think of these people? I’m guessing crime, drug addiction, property devaluation or plain nuisance come to mind. These are just some of the stereotypes I faced a few years ago, before I enrolled for and…

Martin Briggs | Onrusrivier LANGEBAAN is situated 120km north of Cape Town, just off the R27 and about 28km from Vredenburg, and 20km from Saldanha Bay. The lagoon stretches for 17km from Saldanha Bay, past Langebaan to Geelbek in the south. The Langebaan lagoon was formed by the rising and falling of sea-levels during prehistoric times. This is unlike most lagoons which form where freshwater rivers enter the sea. As a result, Langebaan lagoon is purely a saltwater lagoon. As far back as 500 000 years ago, early homo sapiens were probably present in the area, living in groups and hunting small game, displacing carnivores, such as lions from their kills and gathering plant foods. They made fire for protection and cooking, and probably made simple shelters from…

Mashudu Sadike TWO Beitbridge border post security officers arrested for alleged corruption have been remanded in custody in the Musina Magistrate’s Court. Tshilidzi Samuel Masutha, 35, and Ronewa Makhovha, 31, were remanded until February 2, for a formal bail application. According to the Hawks’ provincial spokesperson, Captain Matimba Maluleke, the pair was arrested on January 26 by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation members on allegations of corruption, theft of a motor vehicle, contravention of Section 88 of the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1974, and defeating the ends of justice. He said on December 18 last year a suspicious international truck driver Kholisani Nkomo was allegedly stopped by SA Revenue Service (Sars) officials at the Beitbridge border post search point. “It is reported that the truck was impounded for…

Fight against graft cannot be entrusted to political leaders alone CLIMATE action and the resurgent Covid-19 variant, Omicron, may be the defining challenges confronting humanity, potentially for years to come. Judging by Transparency International’s just-released Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2021, an equally entrenched blight that continues to affect the world is corruption. And the signs are that it is getting worse. Love it or hate it, the CPI has become the moral compass of the annual state of integrity in global governance and public affairs. Corruption’s political and socio-economic impacts are so pervasive that it directly affects the daily lives of millions of ordinary citizens through the diversion of scarce resources, thus undermining delivery of essential services primarily through non-transparency, state capture, cronyism and public procurement profiteering involving the private…

Londonderry: The Northern Irish city of Londonderry began commemorations yesterday of one of the darkest days in modern UK history when, 50 years ago, British troops without provocation killed 13 unarmed civil rights protesters. The anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” comes with Northern Ireland’s fragile peace destabilised by Brexit, and with families of the victims despondent over whether the soldiers involved will ever face trial. Charlie Nash saw his 19-year-old cousin William Nash killed as members of the British Parachute Regiment fired more than 100 high- velocity rounds on January 30, 1972, at the demonstrators in Londonderry, known as Derry to pro-Irish nationalists. “We thought there might be rioting, but nothing, nothing like what happened. We thought at first they were rubber bullets,” Nash, now 73, told AFP. “But then we…

Sydney: The Australian founder and global head of Pentecostal megachurch Hillsong announced yesterday that he would step down while he faces a trial over charges that he covered-up his father’s child sexual abuse. Pastor Brian Houston said Hillsong’s lawyers had advised him to hand over leadership of the church during his criminal trial. Houston was charged in August 2021 with concealing information from police about alleged child abuse by his father, Frank. Frank Houston had been accused of sexually abusing a young boy in the 1970s.…

POLICE in Macau, the world’s biggest gambling hub, said yesterday that they had arrested two men for alleged illegal gambling and money laundering, as authorities step up a crackdown on illicit capital outflows from the Chinese mainland. “One of the men involved was responsible for operating an illegal gambling syndicate while the other offered assistance,” the police said in a statement on their official Wechat account, without naming either man. Local media said one was Levo Chan, chairperson of Tak Chun Group, Macau’s second-biggest junket operator. Tak Chun did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Analysts said the arrests heralded a new era of zero tolerance for the promotion of gambling in China, where all forms of gambling are illegal, and officials seek to cut outflows of funds.…

SEOUL: The maximum speed of the intermediate-range ballistic missile that North Korea tested earlier yesterday was estimated as Mach 16, or 16 times the speed of sound at take-off, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, citing a military source. Intelligence services of the US and South Korea assume that the rocket is similar to the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile that North fired in November 2017, the source added. Earlier in the day, the South Korean joint chiefs of staff said that Pyongyang had launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea from North Korea’s Jagang Province area.…

Colombian international winger Luis Diaz signed for Premier League side Liverpool yesterday from Portuguese side FC Porto, which will place further doubt on the future of their Egyptian star Mohamed Salah. The 25-year-old Diaz signed a contract till 2027 for a reported fee of £37.5million (about R784m), with a further £12.5m (R261m) in potential bonuses. “I'm very happy to sign for Liverpool,” he said yesterday via the club’s official Twitter account. There is no resolution in sight to protracted talks over a contract extension for Salah, who is presently away at the Africa Cup of Nations. “Liverpool Football Club have completed the signing of Luis Diaz from FC Porto, subject to the successful granting of a work permit and international clearance,” Liverpool said in a statement on their website. “He…

Thobile Mazibuko thobile.mazibuko@inl.co.za BEAUTY trends are forever evolving. The pandemic taught us that while make-up is good, natural skin and hair is the best. If you’re looking at keeping your skin natural and hair healthy, these are some of the grooming trends you should look out for this year. Skincare will retain its dominance Skincare has been the star of the beauty world throughout the pandemic. There was a rise in good quality skincare regimes, and with natural skin still on-trend, it is set to remain the dominant beauty category of 2022. Sustainability Most consumers have requested that brands that are not yet eco-friendly jump on it as soon as possible. Ethically-sourced ingredients and vegan formulations have pushed beauty brands to re-think the way they manufacture their products. While we’ve…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za Late last year, former president Jacob Zuma and his legal team put a spanner in the works of his arms deal corruption trial when they applied to have Billy Downer, the senior prosecutor of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), removed as the prosecutor of the high-profile case. Zuma argued that Downer did not have the title to prosecute him, and he further alleged that from as early as 2001, Downer had contaminated the case by leaking critical information to the media and CIA spies. Zuma alleged that the leaking of information by Downer continued until August last year, when Downer allegedly leaked Zuma’s medical records to a journalist. The application for recusal was then heard, and on October 26, Judge Piet Koen dismissed it and ordered that…

Staff writer CALLS have been made for senior officials in suspended MEC Albert Fritz’s previous department of Social Development to answer to questions around a “sex-for-jobs scheme” by allegedly organising employment for his ‘victims’. This after Premier Alan Winde in a statement yesterday confirmed the serious allegations against suspended Western Cape Community Safety MEC were of sexual misconduct. In a statement Winde said he has deep respect for the people who have come forward, for their persons, for their privacy, and for the bravery they have shown, and does not feel it is fitting to expose further details about what has allegedly been inflicted upon them. “Following my hand-over of the details to the advocate (Jennifer Williams), I do not foresee me having any other role, as this process is…

MICHAEL BAGRAIM | Highlands Estate YOUR Wednesday edition “stopping oil surveys a major blow” refers: It is always important to try to explore every single avenue which would create jobs. However, in this instance there appears to have been research showing that the surveys would have created enormous damage to sea life. The public obviously have a legitimate right to demand a halt to surveys if it was going to damage the environment. There is always an extreme difficulty when one has to weigh up the creation of jobs as opposed to the damage to the environment.…

Chevon Booysen Chevon.booysen@inl.co.za JAILED child killer Melvyn Volkwyn’s application for leave to appeal against his conviction and sentencing has been denied in the Western Cape High Court. Volkwyn was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of toddler Orderick Lucas who went missing on March 24, 2019. The toddler’s body was found eight days later in a stormwater drain just metres from his grandparents’ home when children who had been playing in Wittebol Street, Melton Rose, tried to retrieve a ball. Volkwyn had maintained his innocence throughout the trial. His defence attorney, Susan Kuun, averred that the court had misdirected itself by finding, “that with the proven facts and on the totality of evidence, the only reasonable inference that can be drawn is that (Volkwyn) killed…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THE City says fraud and money laundering accused councillor Nora Grose’s many years of experience qualifies her for a position on the municipal public accounts committee. Grose was elected to the committee during a council meeting on Thursday. Grose and Reuben Swartz appeared in the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court in November on charges of fraud and money laundering relating to allegations of misappropriating City funds intended for food relief. They have both been released on R10 000 bail. The Good party has called for Grose to be removed from the position, saying she does not meet the criteria for membership as per the terms of reference adopted. However, the council’s speaker, Felicity Purchase, said Grose’s many years of experience qualified her for the position. “All councillors are…

THERE are two forms of the “war of position”; literal and figurative. An IsiXhosa idiom goes “ungabokhwaza ungekaphumi ehlathini”, which translates as “don’t make a noise if you are not yet out of the woods”. Maybe it is wise for people to undergo a certain metamorphosis for their sake, and for the sake of our communities. It is within this context that you should learn that you do not form a party or any other formation out of anger or revenge, or for yourself, but for the benefit of the people. From its inception ActionSA has been talking about deploying qualified people for service delivery. Isn’t that cadre deployment? One concern with its cadre development has been the fact that it is centred on educated people, engineers etc, and that…

India’s capital is shivering through an unusually harsh bout of winter cold, blamed for killing scores of homeless people and leaving other hard-up residents struggling to keep warm. The sprawling megacity’s 20 million inhabitants are accustomed to year-round weather extremes, from blistering summer heat to torrential downpours and thick, toxic smog at the end of autumn. Still, the bracing chill and blustery rains this month have been an ordeal for many, with Delhi on Tuesday recording its coldest January day in nearly a decade. “There’s no denying that it’s very cold,” 30-year-old Mukesh said from his bed at a homeless shelter on the weekend. He and a small group of the shelter’s residents have taken to huddling around an improvised wood fire, a scene repeated around the city’s kerbsides each…

OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family have left their home in the capital city amid the trucker protest against coronavirus restrictions. They were moved to a different location in Ottawa, it was reported at the weekend, while trucks with banners denouncing Trudeau and public health measures were gathering in front of parliament. Media outlets had reported that thousands of truckers and hundreds of other demonstrators were gathering in Ottawa, in protest against Covid-19 measures. Also on Friday, Trudeau said that the truckers’ anti-science, anti-government, and anti-society ideas presented a threat not only to themselves but also to all Canadians. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, endorsed the protest, tweeting, “Canadian truckers rule”. So far, 82% of Canadians aged 5 and up have been vaccinated. The…

MEXICO CITY: A homemade bomb exploded as the governor of the Caqueta department in Colombia was travelling in a convoy claiming the lives of two police officers and leaving three injured, national police chief General Jorge Luis Vargas Valencia said early yesterday. “We condemn the cowardly terrorist act that killed our patrolmen William Echeverria and Miguel Bernal in #Caqueta,” he said on Twitter. The police chief added that the law enforcement officers ensured the safety of Governor Arnulfo Gasca Trujillo, who was not injured and was reported to have been airlifted to an army brigade in Caqueta’s capital of Florencia.…

MANILA: The Philippines’ justice ministry has ordered law enforcers to investigate a post on the social media platform TikTok threatening to assassinate presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos jr, acting on a tip-off received by its cybercrime unit. “If a bomb joke is actionable, so is a threat of assassination,” Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters. Charito Zamora, the head of the DOJ’s cybercrime unit, said her office received a “text report” from a citizen on Friday about a TikTok post which said: “We are meeting to prepare to have BBM assassinated. Get ready.” Her office has referred the matter to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za In all likelihood the pitch conditions for the Proteas’ two-Test series against New Zealand at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval will favour the seam bowlers but in the unlikely event of a spinning track being unveiled, Simon Harmer is making a genuine play to be included in the tourists’ starting line-up as the second spinner. Harmer celebrated his recall to the Proteas Test squad after a six-year spell out of the international wilderness with a match-haul of 8/103 this past weekend to spearhead the Titans to an innings and 153-run victory over the Knights at the Manguang Oval in Bloemfontein. After the Titans posted a mammoth 515/9 declared, courtesy of Sibonelo Makhanya’s maiden first-class century for the Sky Blues (111), Harmer went about his business and was particularly impressive…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za NEARLY seven years after the fact, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), last week issued an unusual public censure to African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) and its then sponsors, the PSG Group. The censure revolves around a 2015 share deal with SAAB Grintek Defence in which AEEI’s then corporate sponsors, PSG, did not advise the company to inform its shareholders or seek their approval, for a R120 million share deal that included a call option. The question, Dr Iqbal Survé, chairperson of Sekunjalo Investment Holdings (SIH), a shareholder in AEEI, has asked, is why now, and why use his name to drive the headlines? Commenting to Business Report, Dr Survé said he believes the JSE’s timing is all to do with the concerted effort by motivated parties…

Chevon Booysen Chevon.booysen@inl.co.za ALLEGED Parliament arsonist Zandile Mafe will have to wait until later this week to hear if his bail application, which went ahead at the weekend, will be granted. Judgment in the matter was reserved until Friday. The State alleges that Mafe, who took the stand on Saturday during bail application proceedings in the Cape Town Regional Court, confessed to setting Parliament alight and gave reasons why he had done this. According to the reasons offered by Mafe in the alleged confession: “It was the right thing to put the Parliament on fire, as it does not work for people like him who are suffering”. Mafe allegedly further demanded in his alleged confession the immediate resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa, the release of convicted murderer Janusz Waluś and…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za AFTER being alerted to alleged racism, fraud and corruption at the Old Apostolic Church of Africa two years ago, the CRL commission now says it cannot investigate the matter. In an extensive complaint submitted to the commission in 2020, attorney and former priest Mark Hess detailed alleged irregularities in the governance of the church, along with systemic discrimination. He claimed the church’s white minority allegedly used the organisation as a vehicle to enrich themselves at the expense of their majority, black members. The complaint followed several years of investigation by Hess, and revealed a number of church properties in areas including Constantia, Bergvliet and Stellenbosch, sold for far below the market value to management staff who later sold them at a profit, according to Hess. In August…

Kevin Meineke | HOUT BAY I REFER to Brian Ingpen’s enlightening and communicative weekly shipping articles, particularly those of January 12 and 26, in which he makes comments about the postponed or cancelled seismic oil surveys off the coast of South Africa. He puts forward some valid thoughts. He also refers to the cost of bringing crude oil to SA from the Middle East. Another relevant point. As SA has perfected the process of converting coal into petrol and with huge coal reserves, why does SA continue to import this oil at an uncontrollable prescribed price? Surely the answer is for SA to stop exporting our coal and expand SASOL by three or four times and/or build additional plants so that all of SA’s fuel needs can be…

Marsha Dean marsha.dean@inl.co.za A BELHAR mother says she is still in shock after her 10-year-old daughter drowned at Gordon’s Bay beach during a family outing with friends to the coast at the weekend. Leeyonce van Rooien died on Saturday morning while swimming with her 11-year-old brother Leonardo and two friends. “We told them not to go swimming because they had just finished eating; they told us they were going to the park to play,” said Leeyonce’s devastated mother, Nolene van Rooien. Van Rooien said Leonardo returned alone and told the adults “they are in the water, they’re busy drowning”. When Van Rooien and neighbour Carmen Davids reached the water they saw the two friends in difficulty but could not spot Leeyonce. “I couldn't see her and the lifeguard kept saying…

CHILDREN should be able to go to school with the understanding that it is a place of safety where the focus is on education, with the outcome being that they can further their studies and contribute to society at large. The South African education system has numerous challenges, including inadequate infrastructure at schools in rural and peri-urban areas. A constant threat at some schools is their vulnerability to crime. Horrific crimes leave long, lingering psychological effects on teachers and pupils, yet many schools are ravaged by criminal elements. This despite there being fencing around schools, and even when there are security guards present. At Dassenhoek High School in Durban last week, four pupils were stabbed by robbers who had been targeting pupils and teachers at the school. “The learners stood…

Mexico’s national guard, army, and general prosecution officers seized over six tons of methamphetamine including 2 408 kilograms in liquid form at a collection centre in the town of Carboneras, in the state of Sinaloa, the defence ministry said. The operation was carried out last week as part of the National Strategy for Public Security. During the search, the law enforcement officers found “3 907 kilograms of methamphetamine and 2 408 kilograms of methamphetamine in liquid state, an amount that is taken into account to estimate its volume, which when crystallised would have a weight of 1 926 kilograms,” according to a statement released at the weekend. Before the raid, army units set up a security fence around the building and after that, the officers conducted the search and seized…

Sudanese security forces killed a protester yesterday as they cracked down on thousands marching for civilian rule, medics said, taking the number killed since last year’s military coup to a least 79. Pro-democracy activists have upped calls for protests to restore a transition to civilian rule since the October 25 military takeover. The coup derailed a power-sharing arrangement between the army and civilians, painstakingly negotiated after the 2019 ousting of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir. Yesterday’s demonstrations took place in the capital Khartoum, the neigh- bouring city of Omdurman, Gedaref state in the east, and the northern cities of Atbara and Dongola, witnesses said. Sudanese authorities warned protesters against heading towards Khartoum city centre as security forces sealed off streets leading to the presidential palace. But protesters in the capital converged…

Buenos Aires: Argentina has expressed strong opposition to the UK’s recent installation of new anti-aircraft weaponry on the disputed Falklands Islands. The Argentine Foreign Ministry noted that the Sky Sabre ground-based air defence system newly deployed triples the range of the former Rapier system. Argentina “rejects in the strongest terms the new deployment of British military weapons in the Malvinas Islands”, over whose sovereignty the two countries have been locked in a dispute and fought a war in 1982.Argentina calls the disputed islands as Malvinas. The recent deployment is “a new, unjustified show of force”, the Ministry said.…

WASHINGTON: New York’s airports said that they plan to gradually restore air traffic starting early hours yesterday after a heavy snow storm that lashed the US East Coast the day before. On Saturday, the John F Kennedy international airport said that over 76% of 877 regular flights were cancelled over the weather conditions. Passengers of the JFK and LaGuardia airports were recommended to check the status of flights. “We’re expecting a slow start to flight activity Sunday morning 1/30 with a gradual increase as the day progresses,” the airports said on Twitter.…