Table of contents for 2023-03-01 in Cape Times

THE senior investigator at Public Protector South Africa made a revelation yesterday, saying they did not determine the veracity of complaints from a whistle blower and evidence obtained on the so-called SARS “rogue unit”. This emerged when Bianca Mvuyana was giving evidence while being questioned by evidence leader advocate Nazreen Bawa on her second day of testimony in the impeachment inquiry into the fitness of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to hold office. Mvuyana told the inquiry that they had met one of the complainants. They had also received emails sent via internet cafe email addresses. Asked if they verified the complaints and evidence, her response was: “We did not determine their veracity”. One of the pieces of evidence received was the recording of purported officials that served on the SARS…

YOUR Tuesday, February 28, edition “RAF backlog matter still unresolved” refers: It is no surprise to read about the enormous backlog and destroyed administration of the Road Accident Fund. Like all other public entities and state-owned entities, it has been hollowed out and broken. Unfortunately, the appointment of cadres and people who are not qualified to do their jobs has been the common practice over the past 20 years. Few people are appointed as being “fit for purpose”. You cannot blame the individuals as they have never been trained and nor do they have the qualifications. One has to blame the government for the destructive way in which they have approached each institution. The RAF is just one example of a hollowed-out governing structure. Hopefully in 2024, the voting population…

Five suspects appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court yesterday after being found in possession of items belonging to missing German tourist, Nick Frischke. A credit card believed to belong to Frischke was among items discovered by police in Hangberg yesterday. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the suspects have been charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances. “Igshaan Fisher, Jason Abrahams, Vanroy Petersen, Carlo Guenantin and Melvin Guenantin appeared at the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances. “They were found in possession of items belonging to German national Nick Frischke. “Their case has been postponed until March 6 for further investigation,” Ntabazalila said. Frischke, who was in the country on holiday, was last seen leaving his B&B in Pinelands about two weeks ago. The search…

Incident twisted and used to attack and smear China Recently, a Chinese civilian unmanned airship strayed into the US due to force majeure. The US took advantage of the incident and went all out to stage a ridiculous political farce. Nearly a month later, the incident is still being hyped up, highlighting the dangerous imbalance in US policy towards China. Disregarding the facts and distorting the truth After the incident occurred, the Chinese side, in a responsible attitude, immediately made a thorough inquiry and informed the US side. China confirmed that the airship was owned by a private Chinese enterprise and used for meteorological scientific research purposes. Due to the influence of the westerlies and limited self-control capabilities, the airship veered off its scheduled route and strayed into the US…

A transgender woman in Scotland convicted of raping two women before beginning to transition was yesterday jailed for eight years, in a case that has stoked political controversy in the UK. Isla Bryson was handed the prison sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, and will also spend a further three years “on licence”. The 31-year-old was convicted last month of raping two women in 2016 and in 2019 while still a man known as Adam Graham. The case garnered widespread attention and a public outcry after Bryson was initially held in a women’s prison, before the Scottish government reversed course and removed the rapist from the facility. After details of the contentious case emerged last month, the Scottish Prison Service decided transgender women with a history of violence against…

NICOSIA: Nikos Christodoulides was sworn in as Cyprus’s president yesterday, promising to make finding a solution to the “Cyprus problem” his top priority. Christodoulides, 49, inherits a deadlock in reunification talks on the ethnically split island, labour disputes over high inflation, and challenges of irregular migration. Cyprus has an executive system of government, with power invested in the presidency and its council of ministers. Backed by centrist and right-wing parties, Christodoulides won 52% of the vote over his main rival, leftist-backed Andreas Mavroyiannis. | Reuters…

CROTONE: Italy arrested three people who are suspected of trafficking up to 200 migrants aboard a boat that smashed apart on rocks off southern Italy on Sunday, killing at least 64 people, police said yesterday. Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Lippolis said a Turkish man and two Pakistani nationals had sailed from Türkiye despite the terrible weather. They were identified by the survivors as “the main culprits of the tragedy”. “They allegedly asked the migrants for about E8 000 each for the deadly journey,” said Lippolis. One of the Pakistanis was a minor and police were searching for a fourth suspect, a judicial source said. | Reuters…

MOSCOW: A hacking attack caused some Russian regional broadcasters to put out a false warning yesterday urging people to take shelter from an incoming missile attack, the emergencies ministry said. Among the regions was Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. Radio stations played a loud siren sound with a message stating: “Attention, attention. An air alert is being issued. Everybody head to shelters now. Attention, attention. Missile threat.” Gazprom Media, which operates regional TV stations, said its infrastructure had been “attacked”. | Reuters…

IN WHAT has been described as a harrowing experience, Presiding Officers of Parliament and fellow MPs were left in “inexplicable shock and anguish” following the sudden passing of National Council of Provinces (NCOP) member Maurencia Gillion during a training workshop yesterday. “Nothing could have prepared any of us here for this. “To lose a Member of Parliament is very sad, but to lose her in this manner is just harrowing. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Hon Gillion and pray for their strength to surmount this unbearable pain," said National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and NCOP chairperson Amos Masondo. The training workshop was organised by the NCOP at the Cape Town City Lodge, said Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo. “Hon Maurencia Natalie Gillion, who was attending the…

AS I keep saying, the more one reads the news, the more one is gobsmacked at ministers’ responses. In the “Cape Times” yesterday (Tuesday), our minister of Public Enterprise Pravin Gordhan, admitted that former Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter spoke to him about alleged corruption practices by a senior government official at Eskom. His response was: “Yes, he made allusions about certain individuals but it was precisely that. Illusions.” But excuse me, Mr Gordhan! Your government put Mr De Ruyter in Eskom to turn it around. He comes to you with evidence of corruption and you do nothing? Do you not listen to whistle-blowers? That is the problem in this country. Whistle-blowers are going to be few and far between as they get little help from the powers that…

The court challenge against sections of the Immigration Act that requires foreign parents or caregivers, even if they work in SA, to stop working and leave the country if they get divorced or no longer live with their spouse, has landed in the Constitutional Court. The apex court heard the matter yesterday, for confirmation of an order by the Western Cape High Court, which found that sections 11(6), 18(2) and 43 of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002, read with certain regulations under the Act, were inconsistent with the Constitution. The matter stems from parents Tereza Rayment and Richard Anderson, who were both foreigners, split from their South African partners. Each foreign national would have been granted a spousal visa in terms of section 11(6) of the Act, and had…

OF THE one million children who experienced violence at school, close to 84% experienced corporal punishment by teachers, followed by verbal abuse by teachers (13.7%) and physical violence by teachers (10.6%). This is according to the Children Exposed to Maltreatment 2021 report, released by Statistics South Africa yesterday. Despite the abolition of corporal punishment in South African schools in 1997, it was still used as a form of discipline, Stats SA noted. The report shows that the most common form of violence experienced by children was corporal punishment by teachers. About 6 in 10 children who experienced corporal punishment by teachers at school in 2019 lived in rural areas. Maltreatment at school includes corporal punishment or physical violence by teachers, physical abuse by other learners or verbal abuse by either…

Provisional results from Nigeria’s disputed presidential election showed Bola Tinubu from the ruling party closing in on victory yesterday, a Reuters tally of votes in 33 of the country’s 36 states and the federal capital Abuja showed. Tinubu’s potential victory extends the All Progressives Congress party’s (APC) grip on power in Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation, although he inherits a litany of problems from outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari. Nigeria is struggling with Islamist insurgencies in the north-east, armed attacks, killings and kidnappings, conflict between livestock herders and farmers, cash, fuel and power shortages and perennial corruption that opponents say Buhari’s party has failed to stamp out, despite promises to do so. With only four states left to declare results, Tinubu was ahead with about 34% or 7.6…

More than a thousand Kenyan traders protested in the capital Nairobi yesterday against a new Chinese-owned retail shop they accuse of undercutting them with ultra-low prices. Traders in Kenya and other rapidly growing economies in Africa have protested periodically against their Chinese competitors. Kenya’s relationship with China was in focus during last year’s presidential election, won by William Ruto. Ruto promised to publish government contracts with China agreed under his predecessor and to deport Chinese nationals working illegally. The Kenyan traders have been angered by a newly opened China Square retail shop on the outskirts of Nairobi, whose prices for everyday goods like curtains imported from China are on average 50% cheaper than those brought in by local traders. Clad in overalls used in their retail outlets, the traders marched…

New York: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has admitted in a deposition that hosts on his Fox News network promoted the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, court documents show. The 91-year-old billionaire said some anchors had “endorsed” the falsehood, according to a filing by vote machine maker Dominion, which is suing Fox for defamation. Murdoch denied that the conservative network in its entirety had pushed Trump’s baseless claim that he had lost to Joe Biden because of widespread fraud. The media titan said he had doubted Trump’s claims. “I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it, in hindsight,” Murdoch testified. Dominion sued Fox News in a Delaware court in 2021 for $1.6 billion. It alleges the 24-hour news behemoth promoted Trump’s false…

Darwin: Authorities have warned monsoonal flooding is likely to become more widespread across Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) after rural communities were cut off. More than 200mm of rain has fallen across the NT over the past week, with more expected as an active monsoon trough produces thunderstorms. More than 20 river catchments have been impacted by the heavy rains and several have broken their banks, flooding roads and isolating outback communities. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a moderate flood warning for the Daly River and a severe weather warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall in six districts. | IANS…

“We back the players we sign and if we didn’t back you, we would not have signed you.” That was the clear message Springbok hooker Joseph Dweba received from the Stormers coaches when he started with the United Rugby Championship-winning team this season. And that backing from his coaches gave him the belief to play his rugby, and throw in at the lineout, in his own unorthodox way without the fear of having to change to what the team wanted. “My throw-in style is different to other hookers and others are different to mine,” Dweba said. “But when I got here (to Cape Town), I had a conversation with the coaches and coach Rito (Hlungwani, forwards coach) he told me he wants me to enjoy my rugby again as I…

Two minors handed suspended sentences over torching of two trains A FAILURE of crime intelligence and poor monitoring by the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) to find the suspects responsible for the decade-long arson attacks that brought Cape Town’s railway system to its knees has been blamed for the prolonged “sabotage” of the train system. A Cape Times investigation this week showed that no major arrests, prosecutions, or links have been made relating to the arson attacks that have cost the economy billions of rand. Three years prior to Covid-19, more than 200 trains were torched across the country, of which at least 170 were in the Western Cape. Only two minors were handed a five-year suspended sentence each, after they were found guilty of torching two trains causing…

I am most disgusted at the appalling condition of the Newlands railway station subway. In the centre of the subway is a water overflow which gives off a terrible stench of sewage. In an effort to improve walking in the subway, someone elevated the centre by placing used vibracrete poles and half bricks to create a kind of “walkway”. My wife and I are in our late seventies and it is extremely difficult, challenging and dangerous to negotiate this makeshift “apparatus” at our age. The subway was clear of water/sewage at 2pm on February17 when my wife and I walked to the cricket stadium to watch the T20 Women’s tournament. When we returned at about 9pm the subway was ankle deep with filthy water. We had no option but to…

I suffered a stroke at a funeral service on Saturday February 17. At first I was confused that I could not articulate the words of the prayers. My loving family told me that I had suffered a stroke. I was puzzled because I had to walk/run 10km that morning. That Sunday we went in search of a doctor to confirm the stroke. We found a Dr Baard who confirmed the same and then rushed off to Victoria Hospital. The next day I went to Lady Michaelis Primary Health Care facility for the prescribed medicine. Long story short, we landed up at the Groote Schuur Hospital where I was examined by Doctors Samuel Sardut and Evans before having a brain scan. Dr Sardut's bedside manner was impeccable. The point is that…

THE CAPE Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata), which has rejected the City of Cape Town’s development plans to include a MyCiTi station at the Nyanga public transport interchange (PTI), says they are still awaiting the final design outcome. The City shared the first design of a proposed major revamp of the Nyanga taxi rank in November, where public transport services like minibus taxis, the Golden Arrow Bus Service (Gabs) and MyCiTi buses would be located in one area. The concept design for the upgrade was also made available for comment. Cata spokesperson Nkululeko Sityebi said plans to upgrade their taxi rank were welcome, however they “could never agree to MyCiTi operating in the same precinct as them”. “We already have Golden Arrow Bus Services (Gabs) that operates in the area, so…

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Northern Ireland yesterday to convince pro-UK unionists to back his breakthrough deal with the EU that overhauls post-Brexit trading rules in the province. Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Monday proclaimed a “new chapter” in relations after years of Brexit tensions as they agreed the new pact. It follows more than a year of tense talks over the “Northern Ireland Protocol”, which has unsettled the province 25 years on from a historic peace deal that ended three decades of armed conflict. Agreed in 2020 as part of Britain’s EU divorce, the original pact kept the province in the European single market for physical goods and subject to different customs rules than the rest of the UK, angering pro-UK unionists there…

Two more people in Equatorial Guinea have died of Marburg haemorrhagic fever, a cousin of the Ebola virus, bringing the death toll to 11, authorities say. “Two days ago, the monitoring system recorded eight notifications, including the deaths of two people with symptoms of the disease,” Health Minister Mitoha Ondo’o Ayekaba said yesterday. Forty eight contact cases had been documented, four of whom have developed symptoms, and three who have been quarantined in hospital. The Marburg virus is a rare but dangerous pathogen that causes severe fever, often with bleeding and organ failure. Authorities have declared a health alert in the remote northeastern province of Kie-Ntem province and in the district of Mongomo, which are on the border with Cameroon and Gabon. Measures include a lockdown plan implemented in collaboration…

TEHRAn: Iranian authorities have confirmed they are investigating reports that several schoolgirls were poisoned as “revenge” for the role the young women played in the recent protests against the mandatory hijab. Iran’s deputy education minister, Younes Panahi, said “after the poisoning of several students in (the city of) Qom, it was found some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed”. Dr Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi, a member of parliament’s health commission, also confirmed that the poisoning of schoolgirls “in cities such as Qom has been done intentionally … They want to take revenge on schoolgirls who are the pioneers of the recent protest.” | IANS…

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s government said yesterday it was banning strikes in several key sectors, a day ahead of a planned one-day national stoppage called by unions to protest against painfully high taxes and utility bills. Anger towards President Ranil Wickremesinghe is growing as his government slashes spending and hikes taxes to secure an IMF bailout after more than a year of economic and political upheaval. Wickremesinghe’s office said he used his executive power to invoke an “essential services” order that effectively outlawed the planned trade union action. He declared “public transports, delivery of food or drink, or coal, oil, fuel … as essential services”. | AFP…