Table of contents for 2022-12-12 in Cape Times

PROVINCIAL and municipal traffic officers who recently graduated from the Gene Louw Traffic College will be deployed at various provincial traffic centres and municipalities across the province from today and tomorrow. In launching the provincial Festive Season Road Safety Plan on Friday, mobility MEC Daylin Mitchell said the Western Cape was expecting a huge influx of motorists in and out of the province during this festive holiday season. He commended the Directorate for Traffic Training and Development on their training achievements for the 2022 academic year and said the Gene Louw Traffic College had successfully trained 99 student provincial and municipal traffic officers who graduated on Friday. “(They are) our brand-new boots on the ground, who will be deployed at various provincial traffic centres and municipalities across the province starting…

THE Robben Island Museum (RIM) is taking part in SA Tourism’s “Gimme Summer that Sho’t Left!” campaign targeted at the domestic travel market, and will be offering a free ticket for a child accompanied by a parent on a trip to the iconic island this holiday. “As South Africans from the rest of the country prepare to travel to Cape Town, we are cognisant of limited disposable income and a preference for holiday activities that offer value for money. To this end, and in pursuit of our commitment to make RIM more accessible to locals, it allows us the opportunity to give more people access to an awe-inspiring visit to this iconic World Heritage Site, that prioritises a connection with our public and cultural heritage,” said Siphuxolo Mazwi, RIM senior…

IN WHAT was a major victory for the preservation of African cultures and practices, the Western Cape High Court ordered the Stellenbosch Municipality to allow Basotho and Bahlubi initiation forums access to the Ida’s Valley site. The municipality had informed the forums in October that they would not be permitted entry to the site this year, saying the area had been flagged as a fire risk. The matter which was first reported to the Office of the Public Protector ended up at the Western Cape High Court on an urgent basis. The forums argued that they were barred from the site without being consulted, impacting 140 initiates who have registered for this year’s initiation season. They told the court that the only communication they received was a WhatsApp message from…

IT IS painful to see that many people who fought for freedom are not known or acknowledged, let alone written about and honoured. If they are not honoured, at least they must be acknowledged and the acknowledgement can take different forms, among which one is being written about. Some people, because of both their colour and class, were not compelled to be involved in the Struggle. But they decided to be involved out of respect for humanity. The Communist Party, CPSA/SACP was the first political formation to accept black people in its ranks. Shulamith Muller was a member of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), later renamed South African Communist Party (SACP). Communism entails atheism but there are many cases whereby communists proved to be more caring and concerned…

Britain’s government yesterday rallied to the defence of the beleaguered royal family after a new racism row was sparked by a Netflix documentary. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he would catch up first on Netflix hit Stranger Things in preference to the tell-all programme of Prince Harry and wife Meghan. But he stressed there was no stronger supporter of a multicultural Britain than King Charles III. “And I think the royal family’s attitude to this country reflects the modern country that we see,” Cleverly told Sky News. “That’s my personal experience. But I also think that is something that the whole world sees when they look at us.” | AFP…

NASA’s uncrewed Orion capsule hurtled through space yesterday on the final return leg of its voyage around the moon and back, winding up the inaugural mission of the Artemis lunar programme 50 years to the day after Apollo’s final moon landing. The gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule, carrying a simulated crew of three mannequins wired with sensors, was due to parachute into the Pacific yesterday near Guadalupe Island, off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. Orion was nearing the end of its 25-day mission less than a week after passing about 127km above the moon in a lunar fly-by and about two weeks after reaching its farthest point in space, nearly 434 500km from Earth. After jettisoning the service module housing its main rocket system, the capsule was expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere…

All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said. “The situation in the Odesa region is very difficult,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. “Unfortunately, the hits were critical, so it takes more than just time to restore electricity ... It doesn’t take hours, but a few days, unfortunately.” Since October, Moscow has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with large waves of missile and drone strikes. Norway was sending $100 million to help restore Ukraine’s energy system, Zelenskiy said. Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for Odesa’s regional administration, said electricity for the city’s population “will be restored in the coming days”, while complete restoration of the networks may…

Stockholm: French writer Annie Ernaux hailed Albert Camus as she received her Nobel Prize for literature, 65 years after the author of existentialist classic The Stranger won the same award. “Finding myself here, 65 years later, leaves me with a deep sense of gratitude,” Ernaux told 2 000 guests. She said she felt “astonishment at the mystery of the path of life and hazardous, solitary pursuit of writing and gratitude for allowing me to join Camus … .” Camus, then 44, won the prize in 1957 for his body of work which included novels such as The Stranger, The Plague, plays and essays. Like Camus, born to a poor family in French Algeria, Ernaux’s writing explores her own journey from a working class background to France’s literary elite. She…

Morocco’s unexpected march to the World Cup semi-finals can be attributed partly to a policy of deliberately seeking out talent in the diaspora to strengthen the national team and give them a better chance of success. Fourteen of Morocco’s 26-man squad were born outside the country, more than any other team at the tournament in Qatar, providing an eclectic mix of players from growing migrant communities across Europe who have helped them break new ground. The shock 1-0 quarter-final win over Portugal on Saturday made Morocco the first African and Arab country to reach the last four of a World Cup. Canadian-born goalkeeper Younes Bounou has conceded only one goal, Madrid-born Achraf Hakimi has been outstanding on the right flank, Dutch-born Sofyan Amrabat a powerful midfield enforcer and French-born Sofiane…

Premier Fishing and Brands’ (PFB’s) minority shareholders are being offered R1.60 a share in terms of a scheme by major shareholder African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) prior to a proposed delisting of PFB. The offer represents a substantial premium to the share price of 99 cents on Friday. The offer is also a 23% premium to the R1.30 that the share was trading at on November 9, when AEEI first announced it was considering making an offer to buy the shares in PFB not held by AEEI and shareholders acting in concert with AEEI. AEEI owns 146.2 million out of the 260m issued shares in PFB, or 56.23% of the shares in issue. Minority shareholders hold 6.14%, while Sekunjalo Investment Holdings and asset management firm 3Laws Capital South Africa respectively…

THE ANC will hold its 55th elective conference this weekend with “blood and severe incompetence all over its face.” The country under its leadership is a “Gwara-Gwara”-like state which embodies a demoralised land of disorder and decay. This is how former Statistician-General Dr Pali Lehohla viewed the ANC when delivering the keynote address at the 2022 Chief Albert Luthuli Memorial lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal at the weekend. “By its own admission the ruling party, the party of Chief Albert Luthuli finds itself in the strangest of places and the President of both the party and country His Excellency Ramaphosa had this to say about this situation and I quote President Mbeki’s 2021 lecture: ‘As the inheritors of the legacy of Luthuli, Tambo and Mandela, we must be honest…

EASTERN Cape Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth is being held liable for the negligence of hospital staff at Frere Hospital after a baby was injured during birth. The Eastern Cape High Court (Bisho) found it was the negligence of medical staff who did not follow the correct procedures which led to the infant’s arm injuries. Judge John Smith held the MEC liable for damages and the legal costs of the mother on behalf of her minor child. Judge Smith ruled: “There is also little doubt that the medical staff’s negligence was the cause of (the child’s) brachial plexus injury. The hospital staff were negligent in failing to assess whether the plaintiff... had risk factors for shoulder dystocia. Had that been done timeously, a caesarean section could have been performed, which would…

FISHING rights organisation Masifundise has again called for the recognition of inland fishers after three fishers were charged with “unlawfully entering or remaining in a special nature reserve or world heritage site” in the Eastern Cape when fishing to survive. On November 16, three inland small-scale fishers from Norvalspont were charged. They were each fined R1 000, to be paid on December 6, or to appear in the Venterstad Magistrate Court on December 13. The small community of Norvalspont is located in the Northern Cape, bordering the Eastern Cape and Free State. Fishing in the Orange River and at Gariep Dam provides livelihood and food for the inland small-scale fishers of this community. “These three fishers cannot afford to pay the fine, and have been forced to access the…

CHURCH leaders who continue to put the lives of their congregants at risk during baptisms should be charged and prosecuted for breaking the law. It was reported last week that 15 people drowned in Joburg’s Alexandra informal settlement during a flash flood along the Jukskei River. They were swept away during a baptism ceremony. Also last Thursday, one person died and a pastor went missing after a baptism at the Inanda Dam near Durban. The pastor’s body was recovered a few days later. It is clear that authorities can no longer turn a blind eye to the drownings of church members. First and foremost, we need to state up front that it is not our aim to curtail people’s religious rights and beliefs. This is a fundamental right enshrined in…

France’s Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera wore a sweater with rainbow-coloured sleeves to France’s quarter-final game in Qatar on Saturday in an apparent message of support for gay rights. Oudea-Castera, a former professional tennis player, watched as France beat England 2-1 for a place in the semi-finals. LGBTQ+ rights and the use of the rainbow symbol have been a recurrent point of discussion at the World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal. Before the tournament, France saw calls for a boycott of the competition. President Emmanuel Macron, who argued “we must not politicise sport”, is set to travel to Qatar on Wednesday to watch France play Morocco in the semi-final. | AFP…

Italy, which has vowed a tough line on immigration, took in more than 500 migrants yesterday as two charity rescue ships were allowed to dock at ports in the south of the country after several days at sea in bad weather. The Geo Barents ship, operated by the Doctors without Borders (MSF) charity and which had 248 migrants aboard, arrived in Salerno in the southwestern region of Campania, MSF said. On the other side of the country, the Humanity 1, another rescue vessel run by the charity SOS Humanity, docked in the port city of Bari after the Italian authorities agreed to grant it permission. The journey had been very tough and the ship had faced 3m-high waves and strong winds, SOS Humanity said in a tweet, confirming its arrival…

Beijing’s Covid-19 gloom deepened yesterday with many shops and other businesses closed, and an expert warned of many thousands of new coronavirus cases as anger over China’s previous Covid-19 policies gave way to worry about coping with infection. China dropped most of its strict Covid-19 curbs last Wednesday after unprecedented protests, but cities already battling with severe outbreaks, like Beijing, saw a sharp decrease in economic activity after rules such as regular testing were scrapped. Anecdotal evidence suggests many businesses have been forced to close as infected workers quarantine at home while many others are not going out because of the higher risk of infection. Zhong Nanshan, a prominent Chinese epidemiologist, said the Omicron strain of the virus prevalent in China was highly transmissible and one infected person could spread…

As Kylian Mbappe was being muzzled by England’s defence, it was France’s old guard who took the defending champions through to the World Cup semi-finals in a nerve-racking 2-1 victory on Saturday. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, midfielder Antoine Griezmann and striker Olivier Giroud were all influential in a thrilling match, playing their roles close to perfection to see off an England team who were left thinking they deserved better. Lloris, identified as the weak link by British media, pulled off superb saves to deny his Tottenham Hotspur teammate Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham either side of the interval. The 35-year-old Lloris was celebrating a record 143rd cap and just like in 2018, he showed he was reliable in the big moments. Against one of the top midfields in the tournament, France…

A HIGHLY anticipated sitting at the Western Cape Legislature to appoint a new Speaker is expected to proceed today, despite former legislature speaker Masizole Mnqasela filing an urgent interdict to prevent the proceedings. Embattled Mnqasela turned to the Western Cape High Court on Friday to prevent the DA from nominating someone to fill the vacancy resulting from an alleged cessation of his DA membership. The interdict also aims to prevent Secretary of the Legislature, Advocate Romeo Adams, from taking steps to fill in the vacancy pending the outcome of the hearing against Mnqasela. Part of the relief is that the DA pays costs of the application. Early in December the DA terminated Mnqasela’s membership and instructed that he reapplies. Despite Mnqasela allegedly responding through a letter demanding the withdrawal of…

1 large fresh chicken 1 tray of traditional roasting vegetables olive oil for drizzling Stuffing 50g Nik-nak cheese snacks 125g diced bacon 1 small onion 1 medium ripe banana, peeled and diced juice and grated rind of a lemon 1 large egg optional extras: 3 small lemons, halved Prepare a kettle-braai with 2 firelighters and a 1/3 bag of briquettes piled generously around two edges, and open- burned until flames die down and the briquettes have turned grey. This provides for an indirect-method of roasting. Remove giblets Combine the stuffing ingredients and spoon firmly into the chicken cavity. Close up the cavity using toothpicks. Coat the chicken liberally with lemon-pepper. Place the chicken onto the kettle-braai grid along with an open tray of Traditional Roasting Vegetables, drizzled with olive oil.…

“I AM pleased the world is recognising South African whistle-blowers, it’s tragic that the South African government and the business community is not doing the same.” These were the words of whistle-blower and author of the book, Deep Collusion: Bain and the capture of South Africa, Athol Williams, after he won two international awards for blowing the whistle on state capture and corruption in 2019. Williams’s disclosures about US-based consultancy Bain & Co formed a central plank of the Zondo Commission’s investigations which found Bain’s involvement with the SA Revenue Service (Sars) was unlawful. Bain has been banned from competing for government contracts in both the UK and South Africa, and Williams was involved in both campaigns. He was awarded the 2022 Blueprint for Free Speech Special Recognition Award from…

World Cup glory beckons for African stars WHO would have thought that the Al Thumama stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday would sow the ambitious green shoots of a great new era and powerhouse of the beautiful game on the continent of Africa? When Morocco beat Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-final of the Fifa World Cup 2022 to reach the semi-finals against France this Wednesday, it became the first African, Arab and Muslim majority nation to do so in the history of the tournament, whose self-serving bosses only granted Africa a guaranteed place at the event in 1970, following a boycott by the African nations of the 1966 World Cup in England. When the “world’s richest person” Elon Musk tweets “Congrats Morocco”, then you know that you are making waves…

LONDON: Any peace talks in Ukraine cannot be a fig leaf for Russian rearmament, British foreign minister James Cleverly said yesterday, adding he had not seen any signs that Moscow would enter into negotiations in good faith. Britain wanted to see peace talks “sooner rather than later”, he said but reiterated that Ukraine should set the parameters for any talks held. “Any negotiations need to be real … and meaningful. They can’t just be a fig leaf for Russian rearmament and further recruitment of soldiers. “I’m not really seeing anything coming from the Russian side that gives me confidence that Vladimir Putin is entering these talks in good faith. The wider rhetoric is still very confrontational.” | Reuters…

A Japanese start-up’s spacecraft was launched to the Moon yesterday in the country’s first-ever lunar mission and the first of its kind by a private company. The launch was carried out by Elon Musk’s SpaceX in Cape Canaveral in the Florida, US, after two postponements for additional pre-flight checks. The spacecraft, produced by Tokyo-based startup ispace, blasted off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 2.38am local time. So far only the US, Russia and China have put a robot on the lunar surface. The startup’s CEO, Takeshi Hakamada said the ispace mission is called Hakuto-R (“white rabbit” in Japanese). ispace says it “aims to extend the sphere of human life into space. | AFP…

“Everything is increasing except our wages,” said Ethiopian porter Zerihun, summing up the financial crisis facing the Horn of Africa nation as it reels from rocketing inflation and an economic slowdown. After a decade of dynamic growth during the 2010s, Africa’s second most populous country has suffered multiple shocks, including the Covid-19 pandemic, a record drought, a two-year war in its northernmost region of Tigray and the global impact of the invasion of Ukraine. Annual average inflation is expected to hit 30% in 2022 (compared to 26% last year), driven by an increase in food costs. “Groceries, food, rent, all prices have gone up,” said Zerihun, 30, a father of two working at the sprawling Merkato market in Addis Ababa. Were it not for handouts from the Addis Ababa municipal…

Leading American sports reporter Grant Wahl, who last month had a run-in with Qatar’s World Cup organisers over a rainbow LGBTQ shirt, died while covering a tense quarter-final match, his family said. Wahl, 48, helped build soccer’s popularity in the US through his vivid reporting for Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports and other media. Wahl collapsed in the press tribune during Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands game. The Wall Street Journal said he had suffered a suspected heart attack. Wahl’s wife Celine Gounder, a renowned epidemiologist, said on Twitter: “I’m in complete shock.” | AFP…

Theunis de Bruyn says the Proteas won’t flinch in the face of what many anticipate will be a barrage of Australian aggression in the three-match Test series that starts on Saturday. De Bruyn, who scored a breezy 88 off 86 balls in the Proteas’ only tour match before the first Test at the Gabba, said it was teams that have stood up to Australia, which have been successful there recently. “You have to stand (your ground),” De Bruyn remarked. “If you look at the teams that have been successful here over the last few years - India and South Africa - Virat (Kohli) brought that to the India team, to bring it to the opposition’s faces. It doesn’t have to be verbally, but (through) body language and eye contact.” SA…

Titans 157 Bosch 36*, Ferreira 30; Burger 3/21, Linde 3/46, Mpongwana 2/24 WP 158/3 De Zorzi 88 not out, Vallie 30; Dala 1/23 Western Province won by 7 wickets Western Province had been on a dream run heading into yesterday’s One-Day Cup clash against the Titans at Newlands They had won two consecutive four-day games - both in excess off an innings - and been on a three-match winning streak in the longer white-ball format. However, they knew that after years in the doldrums that this resurgence would only really start to be taken seriously around the rest of the South Africa if they overcame their arch-rivals from Tshwane. Wayne Parnell’s team duly delivered the answer with a seven-wicket thrashing of the Titans to entrench their position at the top…