Table of contents for 2022-10-05 in Cape Times

DIVERSIFIED miner Anglo American will establish a new renewable energy business in SA in collaboration with Électricité de France (EDF) Renewables, a global leader in renewable energy. The companies will form a new jointly-owned company, Envusa Energy, to develop a regional renewable energy ecosystem in South Africa, they said in a statement yesterday. According to Anglo American, as part of the agreement, Envusa Energy would launch a mature pipeline of more than 600 megawatts (MW) of wind and solar projects in South Africa, a major first step towards the development of an ecosystem that is expected to generate 3 to 5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030. “This first phase of Envusa Energy’s renewables projects is expected to be fully funded – including by attracting debt financing that…

CONSUMER spending in South Africa is expected to remain depressed due to the elevated cost of living in spite of the drop in fuel prices this month. Analysts said yesterday that while the petrol price cut would bring some relief to motorists food prices were still at unaffordable levels. The Department of Mineral Re- sources and Energy (DMRE) announced the fuel price adjustment for October on Monday, decreasing the petrol price for three consecutive months. The DMRE said the price of 93-octane petrol would drop by 89 cents a litre and 95-octane petrol by R1.02 a litre. The petrol price drops to R23.36 a litre from a record high of R26.74 a litre in July. The wholesale price for illuminating paraffin will fall 61c a litre. Diesel will…

MERGENCE Industrial Group (MIG) has increased its stake to 100% in Lasercraft, a precision sheet-metal and plate engineering company, as part of the group’s growth and expansion into the South African industrial sector, a statement said yesterday. Previously MIG had a 60% stake in Lasercraft, of which 51% is owned by black women, making MIG one of the largest, black-owned and managed diversified industrial groups in South Africa. MIG chairperson Masimo Magerman said the 100% shareholding would enable the group to expand its footprint in the South African and rest of Africa industrial sectors through an organic and acquisition growth strategy. The move also allowed Mergence to diversify to other sectors of the South African economy toward its vision of being an investment holding company, with direct interests in assets…

EIGHT Home Affairs officials have been fired while four were hauled before a disciplinary hearing over issuing of fraudulent passports since the start of the year. This according to Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, who said his department had investigated 185 passports and their numbers were blocked on the National Population Register, and placed on the Movement Control System’s V-Stoplist since January. He also discovered that the department had reversed 553 fraudulent marriages since January. Motsoaledi said whistle-blowers’ allegations pertaining to fraudulent passports were followed up and they also profiled the user IDs of the implicated officials, which revealed that more passports were issued fraudulently. Twelve officials were charged with misconduct, with eight dismissals, and the remainder of the disciplinary hearings were still pending. “The officials and members of…

More than 6 000 adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) were reported to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) following the use of either Pfizer or Janssen (J&J) JCovid-19 vaccines. A total of 2 771 clinical investigations were either concluded or are under way. This was revealed by Health Minister Joe Phaahla in a written parliamentary response to EFF MP Naledi Chirwa’s question. Chirwa wanted to know the total number of adverse effects caused by Covid-19 vaccines that have been reported to the government. She also asked about the number of probed AEFIs. According to Phaahla, between May 17, 2021 and August 8, 2022 there were 6 561 minor and severe cases. He said only severe and serious AEFIs were investigated and a total of 2 771 clinical…

THE Road Accident Fund (RAF) has faced many criticisms during past and present litigation for the way it is run, but a judge in a recent judgment commented that “money in the coffers of the RAF must never deemed to be easy money”. Judge Mareena Opperman, of the Free State Division of the High Court, remarked that “claims must be proven with integrity”. “It is not a get-rich-quick opportunity, and claimants must diligently and with integrity ensure that their costs are limited, and proven to be the damages caused by the incident,” the judge said. Her remarks were sparked by an application from a now 54-year-old man who was in an accident six years ago, when the vehicle he was travelling in collided with a trailer pulled by a car…

Under current archaic arrangement, citizens are neglected as elites tussle for top spot The dramatic scenes that characterised the ousting of the speaker and executive mayors of the City of Joburg and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality in the past few weeks should act as a lesson in how not to configure government, especially at the local level. Instead of residents and service delivery being the preoccupation of parties and councillors, what South Africans have witnessed has been people offering themselves to the highest bidders in pursuance of selfish interests at the expense of those who elected them. The perceived hate against the ANC has been hyped up and then presented as a cover for small parties to gang up against the one that received the highest votes during the recent…

BRUSSELS: The EU summoned Russia’s envoy to the bloc to condemn and reject Moscow’s “illegal annexation” of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, the bloc’s diplomatic service said on Tuesday. Russia declared the annexations on Friday after holding what it called referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine. Western governments and Kyiv said the votes breached international law and were coercive and non-representative. The EU said it urged Moscow to reverse its “unlawful act” and unconditionally withdraw all its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine during Monday’s meeting with Russia’s charge d’affaires, Kirill Logvinov. | Reuters…

Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy is set to grow by 3.3% this year, down from 4.1% in 2021, the World Bank said yesterday, due to slowing global growth, drought, increased risk of debt distress and rising inflation made worse by the war in Ukraine. The 2022 forecast was cut from a prediction of 3.6% made in its last biannual update in April, as the bank slashed projections for Nigeria and South Africa, plus Ghana, which is battling an economic crisis. Chinese lockdowns disrupting supply chains and depressing demand for African commodities, the war in Ukraine and wealthy countries hiking interest rates were all to blame for the forecast downgrade, the bank said. “Elevated food prices are causing hardships with severe consequences in one of the world’s most food-insecure regions,” the World Bank…

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has won the UN refugee agency’s prestigious Nansen Award, receiving praise for her determination to protect asylum seekers while in office. Pointing to the more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers welcomed by Germany in 2015 and 2016, at the height of the migrant crisis sparked by the war in Syria, the UNHCR selection committee hailed Merkel’s “leadership, courage and compassion”. At the time, Merkel who led the German government for 16 years, said the situation “was no more and no less a humanitarian imperative”. UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi hailed Merkel’s determination to protect asylum seekers and to stand up for human rights. “By helping more than a million refugees to survive and rebuild, Merkel displayed great moral and political courage and true leadership,…

When Kaizer Chiefs and hosts Swallows renew their rivalry tonight (7.30pm kick-off), several players who failed to impress in Sunday’s MTN8 semi-final have a chance to make amends. Among those who underwhelmed were the Chiefs strikers Ashley du Preez and Burundian Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana. Du Preez came in for harsh criticism on social media after he fluffed an easy chance when one-on-one with AmaZulu keeper Veli Mothwa. Du Preez’s shot went high over the crossbar. On the eve of the Swallows clash at Dobsonville, Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane rushed to the striker’s defence. Du Preez has had a lean spell since joining Chiefs from Stellenbosch, and after eight matches, he has only scored once. Zwane is confident that Du Preez will bounce back and prove his worth. “He is a big…

THE UPSIDE of the continued use of oil and gas by Africa far outweighs the risk to climate change, CEF Group chief executive Dr Ishmael Poolo said yesterday. Poking a stick at the headlong rush by developed countries into decarbonising their economies, he said in an address to the Africa Oil Week in Cape Town yesterday that instead of South Africa being rewarded for deploying 30% renewables as a percentage of its electricity-generating capacity, the country “is still chastised for its use of its natural endowment of natural resources,” such as the burning of coal. Poolo’s and comments by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe indicate that while renewable energy development may be galloping ahead elsewhere in the world, and will continue in South Africa, traditional fossil fuel energy…

SOUTH Africa’s mining sector delivered a sterling performance in the past year, despite several local and global challenges, and all stakeholders received much-welcomed value, according to the PricewaterhouseCooper’s (PwC’s) SA Miner 2022 report. The report released yesterday gives an analysis of the mining results, and other factors including the economic context, infrastructure-related challenges in the sector, and industry and market analysis. Minerals account for more than half of South Africa’s export revenue. In 2021, the two largest export categories – precious metals and stones as well as ores, slag and ash – contributed 43.2% of total export revenue. Mineral fuels, including coal, accounted for a further 8.3% of export revenue, the report said. According to the report, the industry’s financial performance exceeded expectations on most fronts. “Distributions to shareholders more…

THE US Embassy in Pretoria has hinted that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) will not interfere with the South African law enforcement authorities in their investigation of the Phala Phala burglary saga. In June, the DA outlined a plan to hold President Cyril Ramaphosa accountable for his “failure” to lawfully report the theft of millions of US dollars from his farm in Waterberg, Limpopo, more than two years ago”. Leader of the opposition party, John Steenhuisen, publicly introduced what he termed, “nine steps to holding President Ramaphosa accountable”, which included writing to the FBI asking it to investigate the matter. US Embassy spokesperson David Feldmann acknowledged receiving the request from the DA, but declined to indicate whether the FBI had taken any steps in investigating the matter. In his…

A 3-month-old infant was found abandoned with an apology note written by her mother, who explained in it that she felt she had no choice after failing to get assistance from social services. The baby was found near a stream by a man who was picking mangoes in a soccer field in Dawncrest, Verulam. “I have spoken twice with social workers, they are delaying to assist. I know this looks bad but I had no option, the system is fragile and we can’t even abort safely any more, hospitals have strict rules,” the mom said in her letter. The letter, handwritten in English, expresses the writer’s guilt and failed efforts to reach out to social workers. The writer also pleads with whoever finds the baby to call the authorities. The…

DA AND Cederberg Eerste (CE) councillors have been accused of trying to sabotage the Cederberg Municipality by not attending council meetings. Patriotic Alliance (PA) Deputy Provincial Leader Sammy Claassen said their actions were “a deliberate act of sabotage to make the municipality ungovernable”. “It is clear that these councillors are acting on the advice and in consultation with the senior leadership of the DA in the Western Cape Government. “They all in the same Whatsapp group to overthrow the democratic local government system in the Cederberg Municipality. “This is the 4th consecutive council meeting that they have missed. This is a deliberate act of sabotage to make the municipality ungovernable. The Western Cape Government and in particular MEC Anton Bredell must account for and explain his role in this orchestrated…

Washington: Former US president Donald Trump has sued CNN, accusing the cable television news network of defamation and seeking $475 million (about R8.4 billion) in punitive damages. Trump, in the lawsuit filed in a US District Court in Florida, accused CNN of waging a campaign of “libel and slander” against him because it “fears” he will run for president again in 2024. In a follow-up statement laced with outrage, Trump said that “in the coming weeks and months we will also be filing lawsuits against a large number of other fake news media companies”. Trump had a caustic relationship with CNN and other major news outlets during his term, branding them “fake news”. | AFP…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is out of money to spend on recovery from recent devastating floods, its climate change minister said yesterday, urging prompt international help at the UN launch of an aid appeal as the funds the country needs were ramped up five-fold. The UN revised up its humanitarian aid appeal for Pakistan five-fold to $816 million (roughly R14.4bn) from $160 million, as a surge of water-borne diseases and fear of growing hunger pose new dangers after weeks of unprecedented flooding linked to climate warming. “We have no space to give our economy any stimulus,” the climate change minister, Sherry Rehman, told the conference. | Reuters…

GENEVA: A World Health Organization spokesperson said yesterday it was setting up tents to treat cholera in Haiti and would also request the supply of oral vaccines against the disease, which has unexpectedly returned to a country paralysed by a gang blockade. The disease killed about 10 000 people through a 2010 outbreak that has been blamed on a United Nations peacekeeping force that was stationed in Haiti. The UN in 2016 apologised for the outbreak, without taking responsibility. The last case was reported three years ago. The country has so far reported at least seven deaths and the WHO warned that some early cases may have gone undetected, with more expected to emerge. “It’s very important now to get assistance on the ground as soon as possible,” Christian Lindmeier…

Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss defended her contentious plan to kick-start economic growth through tax cuts, despite expectations yesterday of a second damaging U-turn. Fresh from a humiliating climbdown on cutting income tax for the richest, Truss and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng were set to bring forward a major debt reduction plan, the Financial Times and others reported. Its unveiling will come later this month rather than on November 23, and will be accompanied by independent forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in a bid to calm febrile financial markets, the reports said. There was no immediate comment from the government, as Truss and Kwarteng prepared for another difficult day at the ruling Conservatives’ annual conference in Birmingham, central England. But Mel Stride, the Tory chairperson…

If the emphasis of this series against India was more about finding answers ahead of the T20 World Cup later this month than actually winning it, then Rilee Rossouw has certainly nailed down the No 3 spot for the tournament in Australia. Such is the options South Africa have at their disposal at the top of the order, that Rossouw’s two ducks at the start of the series had left his place open to debate. But after a blitzkrieg yesterday where the powerful left-hander blasted, smashed and boomed a 100 not out from 48 balls with eight sixes and seven fours that discussion is now closed. Rossouw’s dynamism powered SA to a mammoth 227/3, and ultimately a comfortable 49-run consolation victory. It would be easy, perhaps valid, to suggest that…

THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) will continue raising interest rates well into 2023 in a bid to stabilise monetary policy and restore price stability amid persistently high inflation. The SARB Governor Lesetja Kga-nyago yesterday said that domestic inflation outcomes have worsened as higher global food and Brent crude oil prices weighed on prices. Inflation in South Africa climbed to 7.6% in August, a slight moderation from the 7.8% hit in July, and a full 1.9 percentage points above the inflation outcome of January. Headline inflation is expected to average 6.5% in 2022, up from 4.5% in 2021, and to remain above the midpoint of the target range of 3 to 6% into 2024. As inflation and expectations of future inflation increased, the SARB’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised…

OCEANA Group plans to sell off its cold storage business, Commercial Cold Storage Group, or CCS Logistics, for R760 millon, so that it can focus on new opportunities in the fish protein sector. The business would be sold to the minority interests in CCS Namibia, net of the value accruing to minority interests in the Namibian (CCS Namibia 31%) and Duncan Dock (CCS Ports 30%) operations. The implied 100% enterprise value including minorities of the transaction was R895m. Oceana said the purchaser was a special purpose vehicle owned by a consortium comprising Old Mutual Life Assurance Company, acting on behalf of the Infrastructural, Developmental and Environmental Assets Managed Fund (Ideas), and the African Infrastructure Investment Fund 4 Partnership (AIIF4). The main beneficial owners of the consortium members are Ideas Fund,…

PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and the government have 20 days to provide both confidential and non-confidential records to the parties that hauled them to court over the controversial sale of SAA. This is contained in a Western Cape High Court order after Toto Investment Holdings launched an application to interdict the implementation of the transaction with a strategic equity partner in SAA, pending a review application. It also wanted disclosure of all documents on a non-confidential basis in the SAA-Takatso Consortium share sale deal. The government sold 51% of shares in SAA to a strategic equity partner, Takatso consortium following the business rescue process. Last week, Gordhan, who has refused to share details on the deal, told the MPs that by the end of the year or soon afterwards,…

THE imminent reopening of the Glencore-owned Astron refinery in Cape Town has been welcomed by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe. As the country remains in the grip of load shedding, Mantashe yesterday opened the Africa Oil Week (AOW) Conference at the CTICC. The conference brings together petroleum industry captains, government leaders, academia and non-governmental organisations to deliberate on various matters in the oil and gas sector. Mantashe said discoveries of significant oil and gas in neighbouring Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries were encouraging as they would strengthen energy production. “The imminent reopening of the Glencore-owned Astron refinery in Cape Town is welcome news. When it closed due to an accident, it ran on West African crudes, and we expect it to continue where it had…

ACCUSED girlfriend murderer and former cop, Richard “Makka” Smit, will head to the Western Cape High Court for trial proceedings against him. Smit faces six criminal charges – assault, murder, attempted murder, driving under the influence of liquor, handling a firearm under the influence of liquor and contravening the Firearms Control Act for pointing a firearm. Smit is alleged to have, on January 2, shot and killed Natasha Booise, 32, in Piketberg while she was on an outing with family in the town. According to the court indictment, Smit assaulted Booise by grabbing her hand and then killing her by shooting her in public. He also faces a charge of attempted murder after he shot at Roslin Kaaiman. He had shot at the women with a 9mm firearm, a Z88…

Lundi Zweni, who already faces a string of charges relating to a mass shooting in Gugulethu, has now been linked to the killing of multiple people in Khayelitsha. Zweni was arrested and added as the fourth accused in the case involving Yanga “Bara” Nyalara, Wandile Tofile and Manelisi Ngumla. He made his first appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court yesterday along with Nyalara and Tofile, wearing luxury brands. Only Ngumla appeared via AVR from Pollsmoor prison. Initially Nyalara was charged alone on 12 counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder, a count of illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition. The case was postponed to November 14 due to outstanding ballistics and cellphone analysis reports. Zweni and Ngumla were remanded in Pollsmoor, while Nyalara and…

Feminism is a word that has been frequenting our modern lives lately. From Twitter to church, feminists are the topic on people’s lips. There are many who claim to be feminists themselves, but in reality many people don’t actually understand what feminism is. Feminism is a movement that aims to establish the socio-economic, political and institutional equality of the sexes. Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights in a patriarchal, male-centred and sexist world. When I say “women”, I mean “females”, but it is also valuable to understand that all genders are inherently protected in the true definition of feminism (although LGBTQIA+ communities lead the advocacy for the equality of non-binary and queer people). Feminism is not just about the rights of women, but about the societies that create stratified…

STOCKHOLM: Scientists Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics for their advances in quantum mechanics on the behaviour of subatomic particles, opening the door to work on supercomputers. The awards were given for “experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science”, the award-giving body said. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the laureates – Aspect is French, Clauser American and Zeilinger Austrian – enabled further fundamental research and also potentially cleared the way for new technology. | Reuters…

North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years yesterday, prompting Tokyo to activate its missile alert system and issue a rare warning for people to take shelter. The latest launch – which the US branded “reckless and dangerous” – comes in a record year of sanctions-busting weapons tests by North Korea, which recently revised its laws to declare itself an “irreversible” nuclear power. The last time Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan was in 2017, at the height of a period of “fire and fury” when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un traded insults with US president Donald Trump. South Korea said the intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) flew about 4 500km – possibly a new distance record for North Korean tests, which are…

Paris: Woody Allen, 86, has begun shooting his first French language film in Paris, as the Oscar winner remains largely ostracised from Hollywood over a longstanding assault allegation by his adopted daughter. Wasp 22 is “a black comedy in the spirit of Match Point,” Allen said. The film is his 50th, and features Valerie Lemercier, star of last year’s Aline. Allen has seen Hollywood largely turn its back on him following a renewed accusation by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, that he sexually assaulted her when she was a girl. He has always denied it all. | AFP…

African countries will use the COP27 climate talks in Egypt next month to advocate for a common energy position that recognises fossil fuels are necessary in the short term to expand economies and electricity access, the continent’s top energy official has said. The African position, criticised by environmental groups, could overshadow global climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh seeking to build on the previous Glasgow summit and make good on financing targets by rich nations to poorer countries that have fallen far short of the promised $100 billion a year by 2020. “Some countries may have to use fossil fuels for now; it’s not one solution fits all,” said Amani Abou-Zeid, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy. “It is not time to exclude, but to tailor solutions in…