Table of contents for 2022-05-19 in Cape Times

Technology, presence and global reach define continent’s future trade ecosystem DELIVERING on Standard Bank’s ambition to build Africa’s dominant business trade platform is not as unlikely as many may think. As a bank committed to driving Africa’s growth, Standard Bank has for decades steadily expanded its footprint and deepened its reach and capability across 20 African territories. Today, the bank is the largest by assets in Africa. Through Standard Bank’s equity partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the biggest bank in the world, the Group represents a formidable continent-wide banking ecosystem, driving Africa’s growth by linking Africans to each other – and Africa with the world. Philip Myburgh, the head of Trade and Africa-China at Standard Bank’s Business & Commercial Clients’ (BCC) division, believes recent developments…

THE OFFICE of Public Enterprises (OPE) was established in 1994 to champion and direct the restructuring of state-owned companies (SOCs) and to ensure their optimal economic and developmental impact. The Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, on May 10, regarding the disposal of the 51 percent shareholding in South African Airways (SAA) to Takatso Consortium, confirmed that they were able to fund the transaction. The following press release was issued. “Note to Editors: This is an explanatory release to all media to highlight the salient points of the presentation to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) by the Minister of Public Enterprises on May 10, regarding the disposal of 51 percent shareholding in SAA. The minister stated: “The intent is for the consortium to acquire a 51…

WHILE the Covid-19 pandemic has paved the way for virtual proceedings, the issue of whether a court should allow affidavits deposed to virtually and signed by means of an electronic signature came under the spotlight in an Eastern Cape court. As things stood before the outbreak of the pandemic, deponents of an affidavit, in terms of legal regulations, signed the documents manually before a commissioner of oaths or by way of affirmation before the commissioner. During lockdown and even after the easing of government’s Covid-19 regulations and restrictions, the practice of remote commissioning of affidavits has become prevalent and is still continuing. Judge GG Goosen, sitting in the Gqebera High Court, was confronted with an application by a bank against a client who fell in arrears with his mortgage payment.…

STATISTICIAN-GENERAL Risenga Maluleke says the Western Cape posed challenges they have never seen before in the Census as whites refused to be enumerated by coloured people and black Africans. He said the coloured community also did not want to be counted by Africans or whites. He made these shocking revelations when briefing Parliament’s public service and administration portfolio committee on Census 22, saying the issue needed to be addressed by the nation. “The coloureds and whites are afraid to go to black African areas. We have never seen this in a census before so the Western Cape is currently presenting serious challenges that go beyond Stats-SA that the nation must address at another level,” Risenga said. They would continue with counting in the province until May 31.“There will be no…

FORMER mayor of the City of Johannesburg Mpho Moerane has died after sustaining serious injuries in a car accident. At a media briefing yesterday, the ANC and Moerane’s family announced that doctors had done all they could for Moerane but he had failed to come out of a coma. Cape Times sister newspaper The Star understands that the former mayor had been on life support machines for some time and had not regained consciousness. His family had been advised by the experienced medical team treating Moerane that there was nothing else they could do for him. Top ANC leaders were seen at the hospital, including former ANC spokesperson Keith Khoza and former Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina. Some media houses had announced as early as Tuesday that Moerane had died. According…

HEALTH authorities in Mozambique have declared an outbreak of wild polio virus type 1 after confirming that a child in the country’s north-eastern Tete province had contracted the disease. This marks the second imported case of wild polio virus in southern Africa this year, following an outbreak in Malawi in mid-February. One case in Mozambique – the country’s first since 1992 – has been detected. The virus was found in a child who began experiencing onset of paralysis in late March. Genomic sequencing analysis indicates that the newly confirmed case is linked to a strain that had been circulating in Pakistan in 2019, similar to the case reported in Malawi earlier this year. The case in Mozambique and the earlier one in Malawi do not affect Africa’s wild polio virus-free…

A NIGERIAN citizen who is accused of being a member of the Neo Movement of Africa, also known as the “Black Axe”, was granted bail with strict conditions. He was detained in jail after claims that the movement scammed romance victims in the US, via the internet and cellphones. The applicant was provisionally arrested, along with several other people. This was after the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape earlier received a request from the US in this regard, pending his possible extradition. There has been no formal request for his extradition, and because a magistrate had refused him bail, he had to remain behind bars. He successfully turned to the Western Cape High Court to appeal against the magistrate’s decision and to request bail. The court, on…

LISTENING to Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa justifying why his department wants to construct a R22 million monumental flag, you would be easily fooled into believing South Africa has no other pressing crises that need his urgent attention. You’d be convinced our arts industry is not on its knees and artists are not going to bed on empty stomachs and having their cars and homes repossessed. You’d not think that some of the country’s theatres have permanently closed shop due to a lack of government support and the looting of money meant to help them overcome the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic presented. You would also believe our sports facilities, especially in rural areas and townships, are world class – if they exist at all – and our athletes…

The Taliban in Afghanistan have mediated a temporary ceasefire between Pakistan and a local Pakistani Taliban militant group following talks between the two sides in Kabul, an official said yesterday. The Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has carried out some of the bloodiest attacks inside Pakistan since 2007. It is not directly affiliated with the Afghan Taliban, but pledges allegiance to them. “During the talks, in addition to significant progress on related issues, a temporary ceasefire was also agreed upon,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter. Pakistan carried out a number of operations against the TTP, but despite reducing the militant group’s footprint, it has not been able to fully stop attacks which in recent months have begun to rise again along its western border. A…

LONDON: Diana Ross is set to perform as part of the BBC’s Platinum Party At The Palace concert. The Motown legend and former Supremes star will make her grand return to the UK at Buckingham Palace on Saturday, June 4, as part of the four-day Bank Holiday celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign on the British throne. The singer hasn’t performed on British soil since 2007. Diana, 78, was due to tour in 2020, but it was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Viewers at home and the 10 000 concert-goers attending can expect three stages and epic 3D projections beamed across the palace. | Bang Showbiz…

LONDON: A 13-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of committing terrorism offences as part of an investigation into the sharing of extreme Islamist material online, British police said yesterday. The boy was arrested on Tuesday at an address in west London on suspicion of dissemination of terrorist material. He has since been released on police bail. “While it is still very rare for such a young person to be arrested for a terrorism offence, in recent times we have seen a worrying increase in the number of teenagers being drawn into terrorism,” said Richard Smith, head of London police’s Counter Terrorism Command. | Reuters…

Seoul: South Korean game companies are increasingly setting their eyes on projects centered on virtual human character development, aimed at carving out new endeavours in non-gaming areas such as music and marketing sponsorships. Netmarble announced its plan to introduce its virtual character Rina, developed by its subsidiary Metaverse Entertainment Inc, earlier this year and plans to launch a female K-pop group project centered on the character under a partnership with entertainment agency Sublime Co. Smilegate Holdings, the developer and publisher of online multiplayer titles such as Crossfire, announced its virtual human, Han YuA. | IANS…

LONDON: Smoking rates have declined globally for the first time on record, according to a new report on tobacco use from a public health campaign group and US academics. However, the figures from the Tobacco Atlas report also mask growing numbers of smokers in parts of the world, and increased tobacco use among teenagers in almost half of the countries surveyed. Globally, there are 1.1 billion smokers and 200 million more people who use other tobacco products, the report from Vital Strategies and the Tobacconomics team at the University of Illinois at Chicago found. That represented a decline in smoking rates from 22.6% of people in 2007 to 19.6% in 2019, they said. | Reuters…

A STELLENBOSCH University student has detailed how a white fellow student allegedly humiliated his Indian peer, bringing her to tears at the university’s Law Dance last week. The university confirmed yesterday it was investigating the incident, the second such incident to emerge in a number of days at the institution, following a viral video showing Theuns du Toit humiliating a fellow black student, Babalo Ndwayana, by urinating on his study materials while he was asleep in a room at a residence on campus. “University authorities are in discussion with individuals, attendees of the dance, faculty leadership and student representatives to ascertain the facts at hand as well as more information about the formal complaint by the affected student,” SU said. Authorities met with the affected student, and she had been…

ACCUSED child killer and rapist Moyhdian Pangkaeker faced more criminal charges as his trial got underway at the Western Cape High Court yesterday. Pangkaeker, who pleaded not guilty, now faces 27 charges, including the murder and rape of Tazne van Wyk, 8, who went missing on February 7, 2020 after she had left her Ravensmead home to buy an ice lolly at a nearby shop. According to court documents, Pangkaeker lured Tazne from Clare Street, Connaught Estate before he disappeared with her. “He lured her away in a manner unknown to the State and took her with him via Connaught Road, Parow to Parow Station. He took the deceased to Worcester where he raped and killed her. He cut off her right hand and hid her body in a storm…

Concerns about mineral resource scarcity are widespread and, at the same time, many countries, such as Australia, Canada and China, are investing significantly in strengthening their mining-related research, development and innovation (RDI) capabilities. This makes cost and differentiation competitiveness a challenge for South Africa. South Africa holds more than 80% of the world’s platinum reserves, but extraction is inhibited by challenges that include safely accessing mineral deposits at increasing depths, low efficiency and productivity combined with high production costs, ageing infrastructure and skills shortages. We must admit that holding 80% of the world’s platinum reserves is of little value if the country cannot benefit from their extraction and beneficiation. Changing the way we mine means equipping ourselves with information about the host rock that would enable efficient and accurate decision-making.…

Finland and Sweden yesterday submitted a joint application to join Nato as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forces a dramatic reappraisal of security in Europe. The reversal of the Nordic countries’ longstanding policy of non-alignment came as Ukraine opened the first war crimes trial of a Russian soldier since the invasion began. Vadim Shishimarin, 21, from Irkutsk in Siberia, pleaded guilty to killing an unarmed 62-year-old man in Ukraine’s Sumy region on February 28 – four days into the invasion. “By this first trial, we are sending a clear signal that every perpetrator, every person who ordered or assisted in the commission of crimes in Ukraine shall not avoid responsibility,” prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said. Russia’s government has no information on Shishimarin, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, adding that many such…

Belarus had introduced the death penalty for attempts to carry out acts of terrorism, Russian news agencies reported yesterday, charges that several opposition activists face in the ex-Soviet country. Belarus – a close ally of Russia that has supported its military offensive in Ukraine – is the only country in Europe that continues to carry out executions despite calls for a moratorium. “Lukashenko signed a law on the possibility of the death penalty for an attempted terrorist act,” the RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing an online government portal. It said the law would come into force 10 days after its publication. Two years ago, Belarus faced protests against the re-election of strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for more than two decades.…

MANILA: Philippines president-elect Ferdinand Marcos jr yesterday said his country’s ties with China will expand and “shift to a higher gear” when he takes power, signalling intent to advance outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte’s pro-Beijing agenda. Marcos, 64, who won last week’s election by a landslide, said he held “substantial” talks by phone yesterday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who assured him of support for his “independent foreign policy”, and agreed to hold more comprehensive discussions. The son and namesake of the former dictator said Xi acknowledged his late father’s role in opening diplomatic relations between China and former US colony the Philippines. “I told him, we must not allow what conflicts or difficulties we have now between our two countries to become historically important,” Marcos said. The Philippines and China…

THE companies responsible for the construction of the Cape Town Stadium have reached a R135 million settlement with the City in the civil case against them over allegations of collusion and bid-rigging. The City said it has been determined to recover some of the billions it spent on building the 2010 World Cup stadium which began in 2007 and after the initial construction budget estimated at R2.9 billion, had ballooned to R4.5 billion. In a joint statement yesterday, the city council, WBHO, Stefanutti Stocks and Aveng Africa announced that they had reached an agreement to settle the dispute, which dates back to 2014. “While both the City and the contractors remain confident of their respective legal positions, it has been mutually agreed that it is in the best interests of…

EVERY year on May 22 we celebrate the International Day of Biological Diversity. The theme for 2022 – “Building a shared future for all life” – reminds us that the fates of insects and humans are entwined. Their future is our future. The reason for this is that while we may see an occasional butterfly flutter past or a bee drinking from a flower, there are a myriad of them and other little creatures busy at work pollinating flowers, engaged in soil formation and keeping pests at bay. This unseen multitude is busy working day and night to keep the tapestry of life intact, not least because they are also food items for fish, frogs, lizards and many birds. Yet the insect world is in crisis as their populations plummet…

THE quick-thinking of an e-hailing driver in Philippi thwarted a would-be robber who was filmed being dragged half hanging out of the vehicle for more than 500 metres. Following the incident, the criminal was allegedly further assaulted by irate residents. According to resident Thulani Bongo, the incident on Tuesday afternoon occurred at a place that is a known hotspot for smash-and-grabs and hijacking of e-hailing drivers. “My friends who were driving behind the car said about three men requested a ride and when the driver saw he was going to be robbed he drove away. However one of the men had already placed his hand inside the car through the window, but the driver closed it in time, trapping the criminal’s arm. The driver continued to drive along the street…

They have learned nothing and forgotten everything voters told them SO FAR, this has been a big month in South African politics. If that makes you fear you have missed something, don’t worry. You have not. For that is just the point. This has been an important month for the governing ANC and other major political parties, such as the EFF, to start trying to regain control of the political agenda by speeding up the implementation of the Zondo Commission report recommendations. But the efforts of both parties failed to get off to a good start. That failure matters because it will shape our politics. Take ANC NEC member Tony Yengeni’s filing of a complaint with the Judicial Services Commission against Chief Justice Raymond Zondo over some of the findings…

A 16-year-old British schoolboy who is on a quest to become the youngest person to fly around the world solo, landed his small plane in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, yesterday. Mack Rutherford, who started his journey near the Bulgarian capital Sofia in March, is looking to clinch a Guinness World record currently held by compatriot Travis Ludlow, who was 18 when he completed a circumnavigation last year. “I’m hoping, with this journey, to inspire young people to follow their dreams,” Mack said after clambering out of his two-seater single prop ultralight aircraft, at Wilson Airport. The plane’s manufacturer, Shark Aero, deemed the journey too risky and declined to partner with the project. “Mack is no doubt a skilled pilot. However, we do not feel comfortable pushing the age limit to the…

The world’s oceans grew to their warmest and most acidic levels on record last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said yesterday, as UN officials warned that the war in Ukraine threatened global climate commitments. Oceans saw the most striking extremes as the WMO detailed a range of turmoil wrought by climate change in its annual “State of the Global Climate” report. It said melting ice sheets had helped push sea levels to new heights in 2021. “Our climate is changing before our eyes. The heat trapped by human-induced greenhouse gases will warm the planet for many generations to come,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement. The report follows the latest UN climate assessment, which warned that humanity must drastically cut its greenhouse gas emissions or face increasingly…

JAKARTA: Indonesian rescuers were battling to free a ferry with more than 800 people yesterday after it ran aground on a submerged island off the country’s southernmost province, a local official said. The KM Sirimau has been marooned for two days with 784 passengers and 55 crew members on board after it got stuck along a 184km route. As the vessel does not seem be leaking, the rescue operation has focused on attempting to dislodge the ferry to allow it to continue its journey rather than evacuating everyone, say officials. But efforts to free the ship from the submerged island using a towboat have so far failed, the head of search and rescue said. | AFP…

MEXICO CITY: Tropical cyclone Yakecan, which continues to rage across south-eastern Brazil, has damaged power lines and left 182 000 consumers without electricity, Brazilian utility company CEEE Equatorial said yesterday. The cyclone made landfall on the coasts of southern Brazil and Uruguay on Monday. “At the moment, the (climate) phenomenon is moving to the capital area, and is also affecting the south and north shores,” the company said. The Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology, Yakecan carries winds up to 100km/h and heavy rains. | Sputnik…