Table of contents for 2022-06-15 in Cape Times

TELKOM’S share price took an almost 9 percent dip yesterday on the JSE following the release of its annual financial results, posting a decline in revenue and profit due to global supply chain challenges and chip shortages. In late afternoon trade the share was down 8.75 percent to R36.71, the share being down 14.4 percent over 12 months. In an interview, Telkom chief executive Serame Taukobong said the results reflected the challenging market conditions the company was facing. The mobile operator for the year ended March 2022 recorded revenue of R42.76 billion, 1.1 percent lower than the previous year. Profit also decreased from R2.6bn to R2.4bn. However headline earnings per share increased by 2.5 percent. Earnings before interest, tax, and amortisation (Ebitda) were…

THE ANC Western Cape Interim Provincial Working Committee (IPWC) has moved to suspend the party memberships of Danville Smith and Bulelani Yosana who are facing criminal charges, with a decision against Andile Lili expected soon. The IPWC made the announcements yesterday during a virtual media briefing, following its fortnightly meeting on Monday where reports about the cases and provincial conference were discussed. Embattled Smith, who served in the provincial legislature and as the party’s West Coast regional treasurer, was suspended following his arrest last week on motor vehicle theft and fraud charges, along with two foreign nationals. Smith has since denied any wrongdoing, with his representative disagreeing with the reasoning advanced for his suspension, saying the evidence in the Vredendal matter was “purely circumstantial”. However the ANC’s provincial convenor Lerumo…

AS THIS year’s Youth Day is commemorated under a cloud of record unemployment levels among the country’s young, some youths are demonstrating the significance of self-sustainability to create better lives for themselves. About 9 to 10 million young people of working age are currently unemployed, with youth unemployment described as another pandemic at a staggering 66.5%. June marks the historical national Youth Month, which is being commemorated under the banner “Promoting sustainable livelihood and resilience of young people for a better tomorrow”. This year marks the 46th anniversary of the June 16, 1976 student uprising in Soweto when young people protested against the imposition of Afrikaans by the apartheid regime as a medium of instruction. Mawande Sigwinta from Strand is on a quest, through his organic food farm I-Afrikayam,…

A DIVORCED father who stopped certain payments towards his two children – both over 18 – has been ordered to pay his ex-wife R166 000 within 30 days. If he fails to do this, the sheriff of the court is entitled to take possession of his assets to sell to recoup the money. He stopped the payments because he felt that his daughter did not do as well as he wanted her to do in tertiary studies – thus he was not paying towards it. The husband turned to the Western Cape High Court to have a warrant of execution for arrears maintenance, schooling fees, tertiary education and other amounts set aside. His ex-wife obtained a warrant, because she said she had to fork out for the children, because the…

500g lamb pieces 1 Tbsp oil 1 large onion 2 cups of red split lentils 1 tsp fresh garlic, finely grated or chopped 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated or chopped 1 green chilli 1tsp turmeric ¼ tsp chilli powder 1 tsp salt, or to taste Freshly chopped dhanya Soak the red split lentils in cold water to cover. Peel and chop the onion and add it into a deep pot with the oil. Braise until slightly golden brown. Add the meat, stir fry for about 2 minutes. Pour one cup of warm water over, add the garlic and ginger. Put the lid on the pot and cook until the meat is soft. Stir now and then, adding water if necessary to prevent the meat sticking to the pot. When…

UNDER apartheid we had a system of belief by the Afrikaners in particular, and whites in general, that blacks in this country were an intellectually inferior class that needed to be held by the hand. This hand was that of the custodial white “herrenvolk” in charge of the South African government and state at the time. Since we did not have a revolution in this country, the negotiated settlement dictated that we had a government of succession. With a government of succession, you inherit everything as a new government. One of the risks in a government of succession is that you tend to follow the thinking patterns of that previous regime. One of those thinking patterns, which President Cyril Ramaphosa seems to have inherited, is that you are dealing with…

LONDON: Britain’s first scheduled flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda was to depart yesterday, with the government warning that anyone who avoided it through last-minute legal challenges would be put on a later plane despite an outcry from critics. With just hours to go before the flight was due to depart from London, lawyers for human rights groups and campaigners took their case to the Supreme Court, only for the judge to reject it. But several individuals have successfully argued that they should not be deported to Rwanda on health or human rights grounds, meaning the numbers due to depart have dwindled from 37 to 7. | Reuters…

ABUJA: Online platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Tiktok will be required to register and open offices in Nigeria and appoint contact persons with the government, draft regulations from the information technology development agency show. The code of practice for “interactive computer service platforms/internet intermediaries” was meant to curb online abuse. This includes disinformation and misinformation, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said. Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Google and TikTok are popular in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with more than 200 million people. | Reuters…

Ukraine said yesterday its forces were still holding out inside Sievierodonetsk and trying to evacuate civilians after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the devastated eastern city in a potential turning point in one of the war’s bloodiest battles. Russia said it would give Ukrainian fighters holed up in a chemical plant inside the city a chance to surrender today and civilians would be let out through a “humanitarian corridor”. The city’s Ukrainian mayor, Oleksandr Stryuk, said: “The situation is very difficult but there is communication with the city”, despite the last bridge over the Siverskyi Donets river having been destroyed. “Russian troops are trying to storm the city, but the military is holding firm.” Ukraine says more than 500 civilians are trapped inside Azot, a chemical factory where its…

PRICELESS! That is the word Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber used when asked about the significance of Saturday’s all-South African United Rugby Championship final, even if it means he is not going to have a great deal of time with a full squad to prepare for the first Test against Wales on July 2 in Pretoria. While Nienaber awaits a host of Stormers and Bulls players, he says he has had to be inventive at the ongoing Bok preparation camp and has had to use some Pretoria club players for the opposition because even the Blue Bulls Currie Cup team is busy preparing for a semi-final. When asked if he would prefer to have a full squad currently training, Nienaber said: “I would rather have it this way. “The big-game experience…

Ireland 213/8 South Africa 217/1 SA won by nine wickets and win three match ODI series A 165-run second wicket partnership between Lara Goodall and Andrie Steyn helped South Africa to a comfortable victory in the second One-Day International against Ireland in Dublin yesterday. In the process the Proteas wrapped up the series with one match to spare. The pair, both pushing for spots in the side ahead of the return of some of the star players for the England tour in a few weeks, batted efficiently as South Africa reached the required total with 11.2 overs to spare. Goodall, who made a career best 93 not out, has found some good form since the second T20 International and her innings yesterday, which came off 99 balls, included eight fours…

MULTIAWARD-winning film and theatre-maker Sipho Nuse, 25, who is set to première his short film Inkaba at the Garry Marshall Theatre in California tomorrow says the opportunity is a dream come true. Nuse, who hails from Nyanga East, is an active film-maker with two short films which have been screened locally and internationally. His debut film Jabu holds three awards – Best Film at the 1Minute International Film Festival, Cape Town 2018; Best Young Filmmaker at the 1Minute International Film Festival Sofia, Bulgaria 2019 and Best Action Drama Film at the Cotê d’Azur festival, France. His latest short film Inkaba echoes the struggles of young people living in townships amid violence and gangsterism. “I grew up in a township that offered some challenging circumstances. In my everyday reality I…

EBRAHIM Ebrahim’s extraordinary memoir, Beyond Fear, has had me spellbound, and I am on my third reading of it. I have asked myself why this story is so compelling. The conclusion I came to is that Ebrahim was actually a real hero – a person of extraordinary courage and admired for his brave deeds. In this moment of extreme disillusionment with our body politic, he takes us back to a time when our Struggle for liberation was glorious – he is the embodiment of what was so noble and just about our Struggle. Former Constitutional Court Justice and Struggle icon Albie Sachs describes Ebrahim in his forward to the book as the “quiet hero”, and asks the question: “How does a kidnapped freedom fighter who has knowledge of the names…

Continuing native landlessness should be subjected to a referendum for resolution This year marks 67 years since the original Congress of the People declared that: “the land shall be shared amongst those who work it”. This bold statement, made amid heightened repression by apartheid colonial agents, marked a commitment that some steps, albeit limited, would be taken to confront the first sin of apartheid colonialism – violent land dispossession. It is common cause that colonialists descended on to our land, and subjected natives to relentless attacks aimed at dispossessing them of their land. In return for the hospitality that natives showed them when they first arrived on our shores, the colonialists declared war on them. Wars of resistance led mainly by native kings and chiefs ensued in the defence of…

Colombo: Crisis-hit Sri Lanka is asking civil servants to take an extra day off each week to grow crops in their backyards in a bid to forestall a looming food shortage. The island nation’s worst economic downturn has left several staple foods in short supply, along with petrol and medicines, and rampant inflation is ravaging household budgets. The cabinet said the extra day off would be a “solution to the food shortage that is expected to occur in the future”, the statement read, adding that cutting down on civil servant commutes would also help reduce fuel consumption. The UN said four out of five people were forced to skip meals.| AFP…

US President Joe Biden will make history next month with a direct flight between Israel and Saudi Arabia where he will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, abandoning efforts to ostracise the oil kingdom’s de facto leader over the murder of a dissident. The White House ended weeks of speculation yesterday, announcing that Biden will travel to Israel, the Palestinian West Bank and Saudi Arabia from July 13 to 16. This will be Biden’s first trip to the Middle East as president and in addition to meetings with individual leaders in all three places, he will attend a regional Gulf Co-operation Council summit in Saudi Arabia. There is widespread expectation that Biden hopes to secure a boost in Saudi oil production, in an attempt to tame spiralling fuel costs and…

LONDON: Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday said she was nearly ready to give more details on how the nation’s devolved parliament could move ahead with a new independence referendum without the consent of the British government. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party, which is in opposition in Scotland, oppose a referendum, saying the issue was settled in 2014 when Scots voted against independence by 55% to 45%. But pro-independence parties won a majority in the Scottish parliament in an election held last year, which Sturgeon said gave her an “indisputable democratic mandate” to push ahead with plans for a second referendum. Sturgeon, leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), is aiming to hold a vote by the end of 2023, even though Johnson has refused…

At last! To all Springbok fans out there, get set for a new-look game plan from the World Champions in the lead-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup. No more box-kicks, aimless kicks downfield, Faf de Klerk taking his time to clear the breakdowns … Okay, Okay, perhaps I’m getting carried away a bit. But there’s no doubt that the Bok squad Jacques Nienaber (and Rassie Erasmus) selected for the 2022 international season has some key elements that indicate the Boks are going to expand their horizons on the attacking front this year. Yes, the ‘old guard’ are still there, and social media pundits are still frustrated by the presence of Willie le Roux; while some are still questioning Jesse Kriel, Jasper Wiese, Rynhardt Elstadt, Herschel Jantjies and even captain…

THE African Transformation Movement (ATM) has submitted a new request to Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula calling for Parliament to investigate President Cyril Ramaphosa in relation to millions of dollars “concealed” in furniture on his Phala Phala farm - until it was allegedly stolen by a gang conspiring with his domestic worker in 2020. This comes after the Speaker had declined earlier requests by the ATM and the UDM for the initiation of parliamentary action concerning reported allegations against Ramaphosa. Mapisa-Nqakula declined the ATM’s request on the grounds that it “did not constitute nor was it accompanied by a substantive motion for a Section 89 enquiry to be initiated, as required in the Rules”. “Further, there was no provision in the Executive Members' Ethics Act (1998) for the referral to the National…

Properties were damaged due to flooded roadways and blocked drains in Kleinvlei, Ravensmead, Goodwood, Strand, Riverside, Bonteheuwel, Belhar, Maitland and Bellville South yesterday, while an animal hospital was also affected by flooding in Kaapzicht. The City’s Road Infrastructure Management Department was also sent to clear roadways and unblock drains in informal settlements affected in Delft, Khayelitsha, Nomzamo, Crossroads, Philippi, Gugulethu and Nyanga. By midday, weather-related power outages were experienced across the city. “During the last 24-hour measuring period, rainfall stations in the Cape Metropole recorded between 34 and 123mm of rain in a short period which severely tested the capacity of the storm-water systems,” the City’s Disaster Management Service said. “At this stage there are no life-threatening situations, only damage to properties,” the City added. Cape Town Traffic Services said…

THE Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed an appeal by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) against a Western Cape High Court order which found that prohibiting the sale and export of tobacco products during the national state of disaster was unconstitutional and invalid. Respondents in the matter were farmers, processors, manufacturers, retailers and consumers. In the SCA, Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma contended that the reasons for Regulation 45 were to protect human life and health and reduce the potential strain on the health system, and that the medical evidence at the relevant time showed that the use of tobacco products increased the risk of developing a more severe form of Covid-19. The Minister argued that smokers with Covid-19 had higher ICU admission rates,…

THE decision to allow controversial businessperson Hamilton Ndlovu to pay back R158 million received through fraudulent personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts, instead of charging him criminally and subjecting him to the courts, says a lot about our criminal justice system. Last week, a Special Tribunal ordered that Ndlovu only reimburse taxpayers and get blacklisted from doing business with the state. This was after benefiting from a R172m contract awarded by the National Health Laboratory Service. In a tweet, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) boasted that it would auction Ndlovu’s luxury properties worth R32m. Ndlovu shot to fame when he posted a picture and videos of a string of luxury vehicles he had bought in May 2020 using the PPE loot. In a country reeling from tender fraud and corruption involving…

Moscow: The Kremlin says London has not asked Russia to intervene and help save two Britons sentenced to death by pro-Moscow separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine. Such a request should be lodged with the separatist authorities of the breakaway region of Donetsk that tried Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner for fighting with the Ukrainian army,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Aslin, Pinner and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim were accused of acting as mercenaries for Ukraine and sentenced to death. Denis Pushilin, leader of the separatists, has accused British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of ignoring the two British men’s fate and failing to contact the separatists. | AFP…

Ouagadougou: Burkina Faso yesterday began three days of national mourning after suspected jihadists killed at least 50 civilians in one of the worst attacks since the military seized power in January. Strongman, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, issued a decree late Monday ordering the entire country to observe the period of mourning until midnight tomorrow The landlocked Sahel state is in the grip of a seven-year-old jihadist insurgency that has claimed more than 2 000 lives and forced some 1.9 million people to leave their homes. The attack targeted the village of Seytenga in the Sahel region at the weekend.| AFP…

The search for missing British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest was nearing the end yesterday, as the area left to search grows smaller, a spokesperson for indigenous group Univaja said. Phillips and Pereira went missing more than a week ago along a remote stretch of the Itacoai River in far western Brazil near the border with Colombia and Peru. Eliesio Marubo, a lawyer for Univaja, said that indigenous searchers tipped off the authorities after discovering traces of the men in the area, helping to focus the search. Federal police have denied subsequent reports that two bodies had turned up in the search. Brazilian federal police said that they expect to conclude this week the forensic analysis of a blood sample collected from the…

Dear John Dobson Let’s start at the very beginning. Thank You “Dobbo”. You and your Stormers team have put smiles on the faces of Capetonians again. After two years of enduring a pandemic that knocked us right in the gut like Morne du Plessis’ tackle on Naas Botha all those years ago, there is now something to look forward to with renewed optimism. We may not be sitting alongside some of our loved ones that formed the heart and spirit of that famous old ground in Boundary Road anymore, but they are surely looking down from above on your shiny new home with so much joy at what has already been achieved. None more so than “Dobbo Senior”, your reverent late father Paul. Rugby is ingrained into this city’s DNA.…

Real Madrid’s new signing Aurelien Tchouameni said Kylian Mbappe asked if he would sign for Paris Saint-Germain, as the 22-year-old was unveiled at Madrid’s training ground yesterday. Madrid won the race to sign Tchouameni, one of the world’s most highly-rated midfielders, from Monaco in a deal worth around €100-million (about R1.7-billion). His arrival comes after Mbappe rejected Real Madrid to sign a three-year contract at PSG. Madrid have also signed Antonio Rudiger this summer, the defender joining from Chelsea on a free transfer. “Kylian decided to stay at PSG and he already knew I was going to leave Monaco at the end of the season,” Tchouameni said, after being introduced by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. “He wanted to know if I would go to PSG but I told him…