Table of contents for 2022-11-04 in Cape Times

THE discovery of 21 bodies in a shaft of the Amatshe mine in West Village, Krugersdorp has been shrouded in mystery, with police not ruling out more being discovered. On Wednesday, the police reported the discovery of 19 bodies, which was followed by the discovery of two more yesterday. Rescue workers and members of the forensic investigations team were still combing the area of the open shaft mine in search of more bodies yesterday. As the search continues, members of the rescue team and other stakeholders tried to drain excess water that is said to have contributed to the deaths of the miners. Gauteng police spokesperson Brenda Muridili said evidence suggested that the bodies had been moved to where they were found. They were placed in white body bags…

IN A BRUISING battle of the 'soul', the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has clipped Chicken Licken's wings as it attempted to prevent Greek street food outlet, Soul Souvlaki, from using what it claimed was its trademark. Chicken Licken's appeal to stop Soul Souvlaki from using the word “soul” was dismissed with costs. The appellant, Golden Fried Chicken (Pty) Ltd, which trades as Chicken Licken through a number of food outlets, has registered the words “soul” and “soul food”, according to court papers. Soul Souvlaki, which has several stores in Johannesburg, has been using its name since 2012. Chicken Licken has claimed a trademark on “soul” since 1994, and registered “soul” in 2001. It claimed Soul Souvlaki was “infringing its trademark” and approached the high court in Gauteng to interdict…

A woman who trafficked her underage niece for sexual purposes has failed the appeal against her 12-year jail sentence in the Western Cape High Court. Zukiswa Bangi had facilitated an “arranged marriage” for her minor niece, who was placed into her care after the child’s father died. The “husband” raped and assaulted the minor and also kept her captive against her will. According to the judgment by Judge Derek Wille, Bangi was convicted on a single count of the alleged illegal trafficking of the complainant for sexual purposes. Bangi had faced five criminal charges. “The appellant was (31) years old at the time of the alleged commission of the offence and the complainant was only (15) years old at the time of the offence committed against her by Bangi. The…

Door to Door By 1983 I was pretty immersed in the Struggle and heavily involved in grassroots organising in my community, but a lot was happening on the ground elsewhere as well, much of it a response to the increased repression. The government’s moves to introduce a tricameral Parliament, in effect trying to play ‘divide and rule’ between the majority African population and the Indian and coloured minorities, actually galvanised a lot of resistance, and we saw the formation of the United Democratic Front during that time, and also efforts to bring young people together on a more united platform. The ANC tradition of making a statement on January 8 every year was always a special day for me because it coincided with my birthday. In fact, sometimes, my birthday…

Dreamland Nicholas Sparks Loot.co.za (R240) Sphere A poignant love story about risking everything for a dream and whether it’s possible to leave the past behind. Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, until tragedy grounded his aspirations. Now the head of a small family farm in North Carolina, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in St Pete’s Beach, Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home. But when he meets Morgan Lee, his world is turned upside-down, making him wonder if the responsibilities he has shouldered need dictate his life forever. The daughter of affluent Chicago doctors, Morgan has graduated from a prestigious college music programme with the ambition to move to Nashville and become a star. Romantically and musically, she and Colby…

JERUSALEM: A near-final tally of votes yesterday showed former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on track to re-election with a clear parliamentary majority, boosted by ultranationalists who want tougher crackdowns on Palestinians. In the latest violence, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including an Islamic Jihad militant in the occupied West Bank and a Jerusalem man who police said had stabbed an officer. Tuesday’s ballot saw out the centrist incumbent, Yair Lapid, and his rare alliance of conservatives, liberals and Arab politicians which, over 18 months in power, had made diplomatic inroads with Turkey and Lebanon and kept the economy humming. But with the conflict with the Palestinians surging anew and touching off Jewish-Arab tensions within Israel, Netanyahu’s rightist Likud and kindred parties took 65 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, according…

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed yesterday hailed the peace accord signed between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, describing it as “monumental”. “The agreement signed today in South Africa is monumental in moving Ethiopia forward on the path of the reforms,” Ahmed said in a statement. The two sides signed the peace accord in Pretoria – to end the two-year-long conflict – after days of negotiations led by the AU. The negotiations were facilitated by Olusegun Obasanjo, the AU high representative for the Horn of Africa and former president of Nigeria. | Xinhua…

SOUTH Africa’s new batting superstar will be the headline act in the CSA T20 Challenge final in Potchefstroom tomorrow in which the Multiply Titans, from Tshwane, face the HollywoodBets Dolphins from Durban. A tournament that had largely played out anonymously in front of only a few hundred spectators at the JB Marks Oval over the last three weeks suddenly captured the country’s and the cricket world’s attention on Monday thanks to 19-year-old Dewald Brevis. His 162 off 57 balls had social media aflutter and drew attention away from the T20 World Cup taking place Down Under. That match between the Titans and the Knights saw a world record aggregate of runs, and certainly Viacom18, the new investors into the SA20 League, would have been delighted about the product they…

HEAD of the ANC’s economic transformation committee, Mmamoloko Kubayi’s assertion that President Cyril Ramaphosa should be uncontested in his bid for a second term as party president has been slammed as “undemocratic and dictatorial.” Kubayi appears to be involved in fierce contestation for the party’s deputy president position, with other challengers including ANC Treasurer Paul Mashatile, Oscar Mabuyane, Ronald Lamola and Stella Ndabeni- Abrahams. In an interview this week Kubayi, who is also minister of Human Settlements, said she believed a president who was allowed a second term uncontested would become immune to factional self-interests. She said she did not know whether her view would be seen as non-democratic, but she felt that if a person contested the first term and won, then that person must not be challenged for…

FIVE years ago the Cape Flats community, gripped by gangsterism, dreamed up the idea of turning the “battlefield” of Lavender Hill into a space of hope. Recently they celebrated the realisation of their dream with the placement of the first container classroom unit. Spearheaded by two organisations, In Place of War and Rise Above Development (RAD), with generous funding from the Linbury Trust, a new cultural centre, sports facility and community garden in the heart of Lavender Hill – known as the Urban Youth Oasis, is coming to life. The centre, constructed from re-purposed shipping containers, will be home to a music studio, computer lab, library, internet cafe, outdoor theatre and sports facilities. It will house a state-of-the-art music studio, a music computer room and an area where live performances…

THE Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has defended the validity of controversial collaboration and donor-funded (DFSs) schools using Section 23 of the South African Schools Act (Sasa). Education advocacy group, Equal Education (EE) and SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) took the WCED to the Western Cape High Court to challenge the introduction of these schools which they labelled as “experiments”. Judgment has been reserved to 2023. Two new types of public schools: collaboration and donor-funded (DFSs) schools were established in 2016 after changes to the Western Cape Provincial School Education Amendment Act of 2018. EE and Sadtu want the court to declare the schools unconstitutional. The WCED initially stated in its papers that collaboration and donor-funded schools were not public ordinary schools, but made a U-turn and in its heads…

Double or Nothing Kim Sherwood Loot.co.za (R240) Harper Collins The start of a brand new trilogy following MI6’s agents with a licence to kill, that blows the world of James Bond wide open. Bond is missing – 007 has been captured, perhaps even killed, by a sinister private military company. His whereabouts are unknown. Meet the new generation of spies. Johanna Harwood, 003. Joseph Dryden, 004. Sid Bashir, 009. Together, they represent the very best and brightest of MI6. Skilled, determined and with a licence to kill, they will do anything to protect their country. Tech billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise claims he can reverse the climate crisis and save the planet. But can he really? The new spies must uncover the truth, because the future of humanity hangs in the…

MUCH like the public interest is fundamental to the global accountancy profession, making a difference to the lives of citizens is a key driver in public sector auditing. When the heads of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) across the globe reflect on the impact of their audit work, the question whether the work of their institutions touches the lived realities of citizens is often top of mind. This notion is so central to the field of public sector auditing that the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (Intosai) published a specific auditing pronouncement on it: INTOSAI-P 12 The value and benefits of supreme audit institutions – making a difference to the lives of citizens. This very quickly became a blueprint for Intosai as it strives to build capacity and enhance the…

Almaty: A methane explosion at a coal mine in central Kazakhstan killed at least five people and injured another four yesterday, officials said. “A sudden release of gas during the drilling of a drainage well led to the deaths of five workers” in the Lenin mine belonging to ArcelorMittal, Ruslan Imankulov, a spokesperson for the country’s emergency ministry, told AFP. Imankulov added that “four people were hospitalised and 106 were evacuated”. Mine accidents are frequent in the countries of the former Soviet Union due to the dilapidation of facilities and a lax approach to safety | AFP…

Paris: Europe must act immediately to prevent a shortage of natural gas next year as Russia slashes deliveries in the wake of the Ukraine war, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned yesterday. The region could lack 30 billion cubic metres that it needs “to fuel its economy and sufficiently refill storage sites during the summer of 2023, jeopardising its preparations for the winter of 2023-24,” the Paris-based agency said in a report. The IEA said that the shortfall would occur if Russia stops pipelines deliveries and China steps up its imports of liquefied natural gas, which Europe has relied upon to replace Russian supplies. | AFP…

SUNRISE Energy said the Competition Commission’s recommendation this week that Vita Gas be fined for market dominance abuse would give other importers in the Western Cape an opportunity to utilise its terminal to import liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which might lead to better gas prices. Responding to further questions from Business Report following the commission’s referral of the matter to the Competition Tribunal, Sunrise chief executive Monde Tyusha said yesterday that the decision might not necessarily lead to increased throughput at Sunrise’s import terminal, but it would ensure competition within the market. “Better pricing might result in increased market demand,” he said. Sunrise owns and operates the terminal on an open access basis, meaning that capacity must be shared among all users and prospective users in proportion to their needs.…

SOCIAL Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has ordered Sassa to conduct an analysis of the payment of the current iteration of the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grants. “I am not really happy with the numbers that have been applied and approved. I am looking at the last iteration with the numbers that were right up to 11 million,” Zulu said. She made the statement when she was responding to oral questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday. Good Party MP Brett Herron said Zulu had in October stated that changes envisaged to the regulations governing the payment of the grant would allow more people to qualify. He asked about the number of beneficiaries currently receiving the R350 grant under the new threshold, and the details of any changes in…

THE Eskom board would soon assess the performances of the power utility’s executives, including chief executive Andre de Ruyter, who is facing mounting calls to be sacked over the country’s worst load shedding ever. Responding to oral questions in the National Assembly yesterday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said De Ruyter was appointed on a five-year contract in January 2020 and reports to the newly-appointed board. He asked that the board be given space to assess what needs to be done to improve efficiency of existing plants and effectiveness of management and operators at all levels. “This is a process, I believe, which they have started on or will be embarking on soon,” he said. When EFF leader Julius Malema interjected, he insisted that the assessment of the performance of the executive…

SOCIAL activist group Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) has slammed the City of Cape Town for “reneging on their commitment to use the Green Point Bowling Green as a site for affordable and mixed-income housing”. The City invited interested parties to add their public comments on the further leasing of the land to three institutions on a short-term lease. The City, however, contended that a portion of the land, which they manage, was earmarked for mixed-use development and affordable housing. In a statement, NU said yesterday that the City’s leasing of the land at R3 000 per year provides “no benefit to the wider Cape Town population” and the “ongoing approach to the bowling green and other well-located pieces of public land demonstrates a worrying lack of vision and urgency”. Head of…

Across The Kala Pani Shevlyn Mottai Loot.co.za (R209) Penguin Books In 1909, four women board a ship in Madras to cross the Kala Pani, the “black water”, to Natal. Lutchmee, a young widow, has escaped her vengeful mother-in-law and self-immolation on her husband’s funeral pyre. Vottie, from the Brahmin caste, is an educated girl whose abusive husband tries to hold on to his caste at all costs. Chinmah, heavily pregnant when she boards the ship, is married to an older man as part of an unpaid debt. Dazzling but shy Jyothi is single. On board the ship, the women will form friendships and alliances. They will help each other through trial and trauma, even after they arrive and are separated. Like many Indians desperate to escape unbearable conditions in their…

But many real risks remain to the government’s revenue and expenditure projections THE 2022 Medium-Term Budget Policy (MTBP) Statement delivered by Minister Enoch Godongwana on October 26 offers hope for South Africans. Taxes are not expected to rise over the medium term. The social relief of distress grant was extended by another 12 months. More money was allocated to build, improve and replace infrastructure. More money was allocated to combat corruption and to hire more police officers to combat crime. And the balance sheets of some state-owned companies will improve, allowing them to focus on building and maintaining roads, generating and transmitting electricity, moving more people and goods by rail, and getting more goods through our ports quicker and cheaper. Government debt will likely not become unsustainable in the…

New Delhi: Parents in the Indian capital have started worrying about their school-going children, as Delhi recorded the “severe” category in the Air Quality Index (AQI) meter yesterday. Delhiites woke up to a thick envelope of smog as air quality in the national capital and in adjoining regions, dipped into severe category again. The dip in air quality was attributed to unfavourable meteorological conditions with slower wind speed and a sudden spike in stubble-burning incidents. Several residents have reported breathing difficulties, with the elderly and schoolchildren being the worst hit. | ANI…

One of the teams between Orlando Pirates and AmaZulu will soar to cloud nine after the MTN8 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium tomorrow. MIHLALI BALEKA looks at three match-ups that could be key in delivering the first silverware of the season to one of the sides before the festive break. Nkosinathi Sibisi v Gabadinho Mhango Sibisi has been in fine form for Pirates since his move to the club before the start of the season, such that he’s the only ever-present player at the back. He’ll have to be at his best in his first cup final, having come short with Golden Arrows before, especially with Mhango looking to haunt Pirates. Mhango was a Buccaneer last season, but his relationship with the coaches saw him being in and out…