Table of contents for 2022-05-05 in Cape Times

THE high electricity demand in winter means South Africans can expect a dark cold season as Eskom confirmed that load shedding can be expected. The winter profile has a low morning peak at 6am and a high evening peak at 6pm. “These morning and evening peaks increase as it gets colder. The last week of May we have the highest demand for the year,” said the power utility. Load shedding however could not only occur during peak periods, Eskom said. This emerged during a virtual press conference yesterday where Eskom executives updated the media after announcing Stage 2 load shedding until Monday due to severe generation capacity constraints. The latest round of rolling blackouts has been attributed to a shortage of generation capacity owing to delays in returning generators to…

A PIECE of land to relocate people in Langa who had settled on the railway tracks has been identified, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said yesterday. Answering during a question- and-answer session in the National Assembly, the minister said his department was working with the Western Cape government, the Housing Development Agency, the City of Cape Town and the Public Works and Infrastructure Department to resettle the people. These efforts were aimed at clearing the once-busy Cape Central Line that runs through Langa and Khayelitsha, among other areas. He said the Department of Human Settlements had secured a piece of land where they would be moving people in order to comply with the court order. “If you go to Langa you will see the work that we are doing to secure…

A BRUISING tussle is brewing at the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA) as the Deputy Registrar made damning claims that a proposed new structure continued to be used as a defence to axe black women who should be equipped to replace the 67-year-old Registrar who has apparently reached retirement age. Aggrieved Deputy Registrar, Nhlanhla Mthembu has now approached the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria and filed an application challenging herboss’s continued employment. Mthembu,33, has asked the court to declare the extension of registrar Dr Louis Mullinder’s contract beyond his 65th birthday unlawful, and review, correct or set aside the decision to extend it beyond his birthday. She also wants the Health Department - which is the third respondent after AHPCSA - to be authorised to do anything…

Your Tuesday edition “Centre caves in as Cyril faces gatvol factor” refers. It had to come to this. The workers and the various members of trade unions cannot be fooled forever. Many of the workers are facing very bleak times and indeed almost 50% of our country can’t even find menial work. When author Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart, little did he know how dire the situation would become in South Africa when we face an absolute pandemic of unemployment. This situation affects the entire society and there is a complete social breakdown because of the lack of income. Our government and our president are always blaming external factors such as Covid and floods. The situation was broken long before Covid and long before the floods. Hopefully, this year’s…

ONE year later, 3-year-old Nhlelo Chauke, the girl who astonished health-care professionals with her remarkable progress following a severe brain injury, is a shining example of just what a difference rehabilitation can make to the developing brain. Nhlelo was totally unresponsive when she and her family were in a car accident while travelling home from a family visit in Limpopo in January last year. After three weeks fighting for her life at Netcare Montana Hospital, she was transferred to Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital in Johannesburg. It was clear that Nhlelo had a long way to go in regaining brain functionality, said Professor Andre Mochan, a neurologist practising at the paediatric unit of the rehabilitation facility. “She had suffered a diffuse brain injury, where due to the impact of the accident,…

Capetonians got a glimpse into the workings of firefighters when uniformed heroes welcomed the public to a number of fire stations across the metro as part of celebrating International Firefighters’ Day yesterday. The public were invited to visit the Atlantis, Belhar, Bellville, Epping, Goodwood, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Kommetjie Road and other stations. Safety and Security Mayco member JP Smith said opening the doors to some of the fire stations gave residents an opportunity to learn more about the service and what it does. “Our firefighters risk their lives to save others and we ensure equipment will not only assist in the performance of their duties, but also their protection. “These men and women put their lives on the line selflessly and they are there to save the very lives of people…

CHIEF Justice Raymond Zondo’s first test in ridding the judiciary of the perception of being captured will start with getting to the bottom of claims by an activist. The activist apparently knew the outcome of a case involving the public protector even before the Constitutional Court had pronounced on it. Ismail Abramjee, who described himself as a legal commentator, reportedly informed Andrew Breitenbach, a member of the legal council for Parliament, via an SMS, that he “had it on very good authority” that Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s Constitutional Court rescission case was going to be dismissed. This was before Mkhwebane’s interdict case was postponed in the Western Cape High Court after Breitenbach spoke out about the message. After being quizzed about the origins of this information, Abramjee was quick to deny that…

The new Covid-19 infection surge of 137% in South Africa is cause for extreme concern. Under these circumstances it is imperative that President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the nation without delay. It is a proven fact globally that ending the Covid-19 pandemic requires two things; mitigation and vaccination. The extreme urgency of undertaking these twin tasks, and attaining them as completely and quickly as possible, dramatically increased over the past few days as infections soared dramatically. Many parts of the country are in the grip of the fifth wave as infections continue to climb, and a pivotal factor in this steep climb is that a huge portion of the population has discarded mask wearing in public. Covid-19 fatigue is visible everywhere, and the masses have thrown caution to the wind. The…

North Korea fired a ballistic missile yesterday, Seoul said, a week after Kim Jong-un vowed to boost Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal and just days before the South inaugurates a new, hawkish president. Pyongyang has conducted 14 weapons tests since January, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full-range for the first time since 2017. Last week Kim oversaw a huge military parade, vowed to rapidly expand and improve his nuclear arsenal, and warned of possible “pre-emptive” strikes – as satellite imagery indicates he may soon resume nuclear testing. The test comes days before the May 10 inauguration of South Korea’s President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to take a hard line with North Korea and ramp-up security co-operation with the US after years of failed diplomacy. North Korea fired the ballistic…

New York: Country music icon Dolly Parton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yesterday even though she called herself unworthy of the honour. “I never considered myself a rock artist,” she said. Parton was among a group of new inductees that include the rapper Eminem, the crooner Harry Belafonte, rocker Pat Benatar, the British band Duran Duran and pop singer, songwriter and producer Lionel Richie. Parton, 76, had asked last month that her name be withdrawn from consideration. When the hall of fame rejected her rejection, Parton eventually relented. | AFP…

NEW YORK: Elon Musk said this week that Twitter might charge a “slight” fee for commercial and government users, part of the billionaire entrepreneur’s push to grow revenue which has lagged behind larger rivals like Meta Platforms’ Facebook. “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users,” Musk said in a tweet. Last week, Musk told banks he would develop new ways to monetise tweets and crack down on executive pay to slash costs at the social media platform company. He also planned to develop features to grow business revenue. | Reuters…

New York: The jersey that Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona wore when scoring twice against England in the 1986 World Cup, including the infamous “hand of God” goal, was auctioned for $9.3 million (R143m), a record for any item of sports memorabilia, Sotheby’s said yesterday. Seven bidders vied for the garment. The jersey had been owned since the end of the controversial encounter by opposing midfielder Steve Hodge, who swopped his jersey with Maradona after the game. The previous record for a game-worn shirt from any sport was $5.6m, set in 2019 for a jersey Babe Ruth wore while at the New York Yankees. | AFP…

TB PATIENTS’ will now receive a much shorter treatment regimen that is safer and more effective than the current treatment care, following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) announcement to update global guidance on treatment. Last year, TB-Practecal, a clinical trial led by Doctors Without Borders found that a new all-oral six-month treatment regimen is safer and more effective at treating rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) than the current accepted standard of care. These results signal the start of a new chapter for people with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) who currently face lengthy treatment regimens of up to 20 months that can include painful injections and up to 20 pills a day that can cause severe side- effects on people’s physical, mental and financial well-being. The WHO is now recommending programmatic use of the…

A divorcee was dealt a major blow in the Western High Court when it dismissed her application to have her monthly maintenance increased from R71 000 to R125 000 – with no evidence of why the increase was justified. The woman – whose name is withheld due to the fact that the case concerns divorce action involving three minor children – further sought, among other costs, R56 000 to be paid to her legal counsel for each day the matter remained on trial. Legal costs would amount to R935 000 for preparation and pending divorce action. The separated couple, who were married for five years from 2009 to 2014 out of community of property, parted ways after the woman allegedly engaged in a “clandestine extramarital affair with another man”. In…

WITH the publication of the latest Zondo report, surely the time has come to drop the phrase “state capture” and replace it with “ANC corruption”. If we are talking about cause and effect, state capture is the effect, the cause of which is ANC corruption. The ANC over the last 15 years has been at the centre of the systematic looting of the economy and the raping of the country’s resources and infrastructure. The leadership of the ANC has set the example and ensured thorough their cadre deployment that the culture of corruption and incompetence has spread from its roots to its branches. The party itself is now split to the extent that it is no longer giving confident and inspired leadership to the country, but is rather focusing on…

DETERMINED to enrich the children of Delft with the highest possible quality of education, Hope of Africa ECD (Early Childhood Development) has introduced the community’s first Montessori school. According to the American Montessori Society (AMS), it is a method of teaching which is led by the child “designed to offer children opportunities to develop their own capabilities” to build people who have a strong sense of self. “Each classroom is filled with developmentally appropriate activities that encourage children to interact with specific learning materials, as well as to work cooperatively with others,” AMS said. The schools, where education fees are high, has historically made them inaccessible for children from a financially unprivileged backgrounds. This is the barrier the founder of Hope of Africa is trying to break and within the…

THE Kouga Municipality could soon reach Day Zero as the combined level of Impofu Dam and Churchill Dam that supply water to the region in Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis run low, totalling just more than 15% capacity last month. Kouga Executive Mayor Horatio Hendricks said with the current weather forecast of no rain and the above average water consumption rate, there would be no supply of water from the dams within the next 30 days. “The average water consumption across the region remains over 17 000Ml per day – as opposed to the ideal 9 000Ml per day. “Residents are not heeding the call to reduce water consumption at all. We urge all businesses and residents to immediately reduce their consumption levels. It…

THE devastation caused by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal has again reminded us of the importance of our national roads to South Africa’s economy. The national road network of more than 22 000km exemplifies the best of South Africa after 28 years of democracy. South Africa’s national roads are known to be among the best in the world. Roads give us the freedom to connect with loved ones throughout the country. They give us the freedom to transport goods and provisions to different provinces, and to neighbouring countries. They give us the ability to achieve the economic freedom we all want. At the end of every year and every Easter weekend – as we have seen again this year after the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions – hundreds of thousands, if…

The European Commission proposed a gradual ban on Russian oil imports yesterday to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, as Russian forces pounded sites to the east of the country and hit targets in the far west near the EU border. The EU also pledged to “significantly increase” its support for Moldova, Ukraine’s neighbour that has seen a series of attacks in a Moscow-backed separatist region, sparking fears it could be drawn into the conflict. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced the bloc would “phase out Russian supply of crude oil within six months, and refined products by the end of the year”. If approved, the oil ban would be the EU’s toughest move yet against Russia’s strategic energy sector that helps the Kremlin finance its war,…

Mali’s junta said France no longer has a “legal basis” for carrying out military operations in the country after Bamako quit key defence accords, in the latest round of a spat between the two former allies. The announcement late on Tuesday came a day after the junta walked out of several agreements underpinning French and European missions in the jihadist-hit state. Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop declared that it would take six months for the formal end of a 2014 defence co-operation agreement with France to take effect. However, the legal end of agreements signed in 2013 and 2020 on France’s Barkhane and Europe’s Takuba operations in Mali applied immediately, he said. “So, as of May 2, the agreement covering Barkhane and the agreement covering Takuba cease taking an effect with…

Los Angeles: A man armed with a replica gun that works like a knife tackled comedian Dave Chappelle as he performed a stand-up set in Los Angeles this week, police said. Video footage circulating on social media shows that as the comedian was finishing a set during the Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival at the Hollywood Bowl, a male audience member climbed on stage and threw him to the ground. The attacker then ran behind a screen on stage and was detained by security guards. Chappelle, 48, has recently attracted protests for jokes seen to be transphobic but the motive for this attack was not known. Chappelle was not injured. The Los Angeles police department said the assailant was carrying a replica gun that can discharge a knife…

BEIJING: Beijing shut scores of metro stations and bus routes and extended Covid-19 curbs on many public venues yesterday, focusing efforts to avoid the fate of Shanghai, where millions have been under strict lockdown for more than a month. The central city of Zhengzhou earlier also announced restrictions. With dozens of new cases a day, Beijing is hoping mass testing will find and isolate the virus before it spreads. Latest data showed Shanghai found 63 new cases outside areas under the strictest curbs, suggesting it has a way to go before reaching the goal of no cases for several days for curbs to be eased. | Reuters…

Baroka FC gave their Premiership survival hopes a massive boost after recording a vital 1-0 win over Golden Arrows at Peter Mokaba Stadium yesterday. Baroka took the lead in the 30th minute as Bonginkosi Makume made no mistake in converting from the penalty spot. Arrows looked to attack from the off, with Nduduzo Sibiya and Velemseni Ndwandwe producing some good combination play. Sibiya ended up shooting at goal, but experienced Baroka goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane was alert to the danger. Relegation-threatened Baroka appeared to lack confidence in their attacking play and employed a high defensive line, looking to catch Arrows out on the counter. In the 15th minute, Siboniso Conco met a corner from Sibiya, but his effort was saved by Mabokgwane. Just prior to finding their goal, Baroka came close…

FOR many South Africans, particularly those who ticked on the ballot paper for the first time in exercising their universal suffrage 28 years ago, Freedom Day evokes a feeling of ambivalence considering the terrain they traversed in their trajectory to reach the promised land. While the country is polarised by different views of the electorates, some spewing unprintable sentiments about the government of the day, others have confessed hope that despite the wheels of democracy turning slowly, South Africa will gradually realise prosperity. Though some have rejected and some have approved the workings of government machinery, it is worth noting that everywhere in the world, it is difficult to have a socio-homogeneous nation where all the citizens agree in unison about anything the government tells them to do for them.…

INSTEAD of employing local people to conduct the census count in the Western Cape, people have been brought in from Limpopo and 208 enumerators have been put up at the five-star Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West with meals being provided and are being paid R260 each a day. The cost of accommodation , transport and salaries probably runs into millions of rand and could have been put to far better use. The final count is unlikely to produce an accurate population number and there are other easier ways of arithmetically estimating the number by starting with the last closing number: add on the new births and legal immigrants, deduct the number of deaths and the number who have emigrated from South Africa, and estimate the number of illegal migrants…

REDUCED cash levels at high risk South African Post Office branches are some of the steps being taken to “lose their attractiveness as targets to robbers”. This comes after an armed robbery at the Eerste River branch on Tuesday, where suspects fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, after shooting and wounding four people – including a law enforcement officer, a security guard and two bystanders. Police have since made a breakthrough, arresting three suspects and recovering the undisclosed amount of money. Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi said two men, aged 21, had since been arrested and detained by SAPS when found in possession, moments after the business robbery. They are expected to appear in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court, once charged. “Police members from Kleinvlei Crime Prevention Unit…

THE move to scrap the controversial proposal to ban cycling on the Sea Point Promenade has been widely hailed, with relieved founder of the popular bicycle rental company Up Cycles, Jared Chaitowitz, saying this should be the beginning of a conversation and action about making the city a properly bike-friendly place. Residents had been asked to comment on the suggested changes which would have meant cyclists, rollerbladers and skateboarders would only be allowed on the narrow sidewalk of Beach Road. The proposal came after conflict between pedestrians, other non- motorised and motorised transport. A concluded preliminary assessment of the comments received from the majority of those who participated in the process revealed 1 953 people support cycling and that bicycles should be allowed along the popular recreational space. Pedal Power…

An insightful account of the life and times of a remarkable and gentle leader Beyond Fear, the autobiography of Ebrahim Ebrahim, is an insightful account of the life and times of a remarkable and gentle leader of the South African Indian Congress, ANC, SACP and Umkhonto we Sizwe. The life of commitment, activism and fortitude of Ebrahim Ebrahim, whom we affectionately called comrade “Ebie”, provides an excellent canvass through which we can better understand our history. He played a pivotal role in the armed Struggle, and very few comrades have survived both the harsh prison known as “the university” of Robben Island, and exile. He was one of the few who was sentenced twice to Robben Island. The book sets the record straight on a number of issues. For instance,…

US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion that would end the recognition of a constitutional right to abortion could imperil other freedoms related to marriage, sexuality and family life including birth control and same-sex nuptials, according to legal experts. The draft ruling, disclosed in a leak that prompted Chief Justice John Roberts to launch an investigation, would uphold a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy and overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that legalised the procedure nationwide. The draft’s legal reasoning, if adopted by the court by the end of June, could threaten other rights that Americans take for granted, according to University of Texas law professor Elizabeth Sepper, an expert in health-care law and religion. “The low-hanging fruit is contraception, probably starting with emergency…

The number of people facing hunger rose to 193 million last year as conflict, climate change and economic crises ravaged people’s livelihoods, the UN said yesterday. While experts have warned that Russia’s war in Ukraine could cause famine, the FAO said in an annual report that nearly 40 million more people were pushed into “acute food insecurity” in 2021. Among the 53 countries facing the problem, the most affected include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Yemen and Afghanistan, where millions face hunger after the country plunged into financial crisis following the Taliban takeover in 2021. The UN noted that several countries battling major food crises obtained almost all of their wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine last year. It warned that the “outlook moving forward is not good”.…

NAYPYIDAW: A Myanmar junta court yesterday rejected an appeal by ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi against a five-year sentence for corruption handed down last week. Since a coup ousted her government in February last year, plunging Myanmar into upheaval, Suu Kyi, 76, has been in military custody and faces a raft of charges that could jail her for more than 150 years. Last week the Nobel laureate was convicted of accepting a bribe of $600 000 (R9 million) cash and gold bars, a charge she said was “absurd”. Suu Kyi had already been given six years in jail for incitement against the military, breaching Covid-19 rules and breaking a telecommunications law. | AFP…

Kabul: Flash floods and storms killed at least 18 people after ravaging several provinces of Afghanistan over the past five days, an official said yesterday. Deputy Minister for Disaster Management Sharafuddin Muslim said the latest deluges wracked the provinces of Faryab and Parwan, as well as various other regions. Muslim said that more than 100 houses were destroyed. Two people remain missing while 30 others have been injured. Relief teams have been despatched to the affected areas with tents and food and the authorities are distributing cash to families of those killed, he said. | AFP…