Table of contents for 2023-03-06 in Cape Times

CONFIDENCE in South Africa’s private sector regarding the year ahead has declined for the fifth month running to the weakest level since May 2022, in spite of activity rebounding. The S&P Global on Friday released the South Africa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The PMI returned to growth territory in February, printing at 50.5 points after falling to a 13-month low of 48.7 points in January, signalling a slight pick-up in the health of the private sector economy. The latest reading showed that the improvement came as output levels stabilised in February, thereby ending a prior five-month sequence of contraction. S&P said some panellists saw an increase in activity linked to new contracts and higher sales, but others saw a decline amid demand weakness and load shedding. Upturns in the…

Regulations combined with debt relief programme will release funds for critical spares needed ESKOM has expressed hope that the recently gazetted regulations governing the National State of Disaster on energy will enable the power utility to fast-track the end of load shedding. Eskom acting CEO Calib Cassim said on Friday that the regulations, combined with the debt-relief programme, will release funds for critical spares needed to fix generation units much quicker than normal. Last month, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that Eskom will not be spending capital on any greenfield projects for the next three years but will focus on maintenance of the existing generation fleet. This forms part of the conditions attached to the R254 billion debt relief intervention provided by the government in a bid to turn…

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) technology is making headlines all over the world, in particular the powerful chatbot, ChatGPT. The strategic importance of AI technology has been growing exponentially across industries and businesses and created numerous new opportunities. In addition to enhancing decision-making, AI has also increased the efficiency of businesses. Many businesses are exploring and investing in AI solutions, because AI has the ability to automate tasks and processes and achieve cost efficiencies, productivity advantages, and product or service quality that would otherwise not be possible. Currently AI business tools are rolled out at a pace never experienced before. Some of these can without doubt add value to a business. Jasper the writing assistant Writing is an important part of any business such as the writing of documents, blog posts, reports,…

from page 1 this country. It is a blatant violation of democratic norms and values to have people who use in their speech racist tropes, racist language, and racist phrases associated with chapter nine institutions like the Human Rights Commission. The damage done by Ms Kisoon’s words to the image and reputation of the institution is immense. It would be good if the institution could use this incident as an opportunity to engage in a process of reckoning with racism at large in post apartheid South Africa.” Policy analyst, Nkosikhulule Nyembezi said the commission had made the right move in suspending Kisoon. “If the commission had failed to make that move, then it would have passed judgement on itself – and that judgement would have been damning. “Kisoon’s failure to…

PARLIAMENT has defended the selection of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) as an implementing agent for the restoration of the buildings damaged by the fire last year. This, after MPs demanded to know the criteria used to appoint DBSA and why it was chosen. On Friday, Secretary to Parliament, Xolile George, informed the joint standing committee on financial management of Parliament that they had looked for an organ of state to provide infrastructure solutions as it would take the national legislature some time to build project management capacity. George said the DBSA had the capacity to manage project implementation and their fee was fairly competitive. DA MP, Madeleine Hicklin, wanted to know the process followed to appoint DBSA. EFF MP Mathapelo Siwisa said it was concerning that Parliament…

NPA establishing a unit to crack down on ethics and accountability SOME of the country’s prosecutors are committing a miscarriage of justice by not ensuring that justice is being done - they are corrupt or incompetent. This is the perception of some of SA’s magistrates who took part in a survey, “Magistrates’ Perceptions of Prosecutors”, which showed that 81% of magistrates indicated that prosecutors requested postponements too easily, and there was a correlation between this perception and the perception of incompetence and corruption. The 2022 survey by NGO Magistrates Matter, in conjunction with the University of Cape Town’s Democratic Governance and Rights Unit, had 230 responses and is said to be informed by magistrates’ direct experiences. The study found: “A majority of magistrates appear to be doubtful of…

As, I believe, a good citizen with above-average “civic responsibility” towards all my fellow citizens, respectful and cognisant of most of what is going on around me, I am becoming increasingly less tolerant and accommodating towards people who have been duly elected to run this beautiful country but are only hell-bent on enriching themselves, and be damned the rest of us! I do not for one minute believe that Andre De Ruyter “manufactured” any part of his testimony and affidavit tendered to the ANC in lieu of his resignation, and profound accusations of malice and malpractice being perpetrated by factions within the ANC government for their own ongoing gain. I do believe that De Ruyter is intelligent enough to have garnered and documented all the “proof” to substantiate every statement…

THE Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon (TTOM) is shaping up to be an elite fest once again, with the cream of South Africa’s long-distance athletes as well some of the world’s most renowned distance runners looking to put their best foot forward. The weekend of Saturday, April 15 and Sunday, April 16, will see the Ultra and Half Marathon respectively taking place. Once again, any athlete who breaks the record in the Men’s or Women’s Ultra Marathon Race can look forward to a record incentive of R250 000 in cash. With prize money for the Totalsports Two Oceans Ultra Marathon at R250 000, any record-breaker could look forward to a R500 000 pay day. Gerda Steyn and ASICS athlete, Irvette van Zyl, who both shattered Frith van der Merwe’s longstanding women’s…

THE nation continues to wait for President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce changes to the national executive. Yesterday, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed that the reconfiguration of Cabinet would happen tonight. While the rest of the changes are left to the public and political analysts to guess, what is certain is that Paul Mashatile, as the ANC’s number two, will succeed David Mabuza as deputy president. Mabuza, meanwhile, will go down in history as the only deputy president to not ascend to the highest office in the land. Another change that is guaranteed is that Fikile Mbalula will be removed as transport minister, because his new role as ANC secretary-general is a full time one. It had been reported that Ramaphosa met ANC officials last Thursday to finalise the changes, but…

Ouagadougou: Burkina Faso has put the North and parts of the Centre East region under curfew to aid the fight against jihadists, according to official documents seen by AFP. The long-running insurgency in the impoverished Sahel nation has left thousands of civilians, police and soldiers dead and forced more than two million people to flee their homes. “In the framework of the fight against terrorism, a curfew is established from 10pm to 5am across all the regional territory from Friday March 3 to Friday March 31,” said a note from the secretary general of the governorate for the North, Kouilga Albert Zongo. The curfews ban the movement overnight of people and the use of two and four-wheeled vehicles | AFP…

Lahore: Police in Pakistan said officers yesterday attempted to arrest former prime minister Imran Khan, who is battling several legal cases as he pressures the government for early elections. Officers arrived at Khan’s home in Lahore, which was surrounded by hundreds of his supporters, but were unable to find him. “A team of Islamabad police has arrived in Lahore to arrest Imran Khan to comply with the court orders,” Islamabad police said in a tweet. “Imran Khan is reluctant to surrender – the Superintendent of Police had gone into the room but Imran Khan was not present there.” The arrest warrant was issued after Khan failed to appear in court. | AFP…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought yesterday to soften international outcry over a call by a far-right member of his cabinet for a flashpoint Palestinian village to be “erased”, saying those remarks were “inappropriate”. But Netanyahu also pushed back against censure of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing foreign powers of playing down Palestinian violence like the February 26 killing of two Israeli brothers in Huwara village that sparked a settler rampage there. Smotrich said last week while he opposed vigilantism, he believed “that Huwara needs to be erased” by Israel. The US State Department called the comments “irresponsible”, “repugnant” and “disgusting” and said Netanyahu should reject them. The UN human rights chief said Smotrich had made “an unfathomable statement of incitement to violence”. With Israeli media speculating that Smotrich,…

South Korea and Japan may be near resolving a dispute over colonial-era forced labour that has overshadowed political and trade relations between the two neighbours, with media reports saying Seoul could announce plans today. The South Korean government plans to announce its solution to the historical and legal dispute over compensating people forced to work under Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of Korea, Japan’s Kyodo news reported, citing unnamed diplomatic sources. The labour dispute and one over women forced into Japanese military brothels have bedevilled ties between the two pivotal US allies for years. South Korea’s foreign ministry, asked about the reported agreement, said negotiations were ongoing. “The government is continuing to consult in various ways between diplomatic authorities at all levels in order to come up with a reasonable solution that…

SUN INTERNATIONAL said successful execution of its strategy last year yielded excellent results, resulting in strong growth in revenue, earnings and signifi- cant reduction in group debt, boosted by casino income. In a trading statement released on Friday, the group said basic earnings per share for the financial year was expected to be a profit of between 211 cents and 234c, which equates to an improvement of more than 100% when compared to the prior year’s profit of 105c per share. Headline earnings per share were expected to be between 213c and 237c, which equates to an improvement of more than 100% when compared to the prior year’s headline earnings profit of 106c per share. Adjusted headline earnings per share were expected to be a profit of between 415c…

MTN RWANDA, the biggest telecoms operator in the East African nation, on Friday said investment in its network and platforms remained a key priority supporting its strategy to achieve 100% population coverage in 2023. In its results for the year to December 31, 2022, the group, which is also known as MTN Rwandacell, said it planned to ensure connectivity across Rwanda’s rural communities to further drive digital inclusion, as well as to grow its subscriber base. Service revenue grew 19.9% to 221.7 billion Rwandan Francs (Rwf) (R3.68bn) last year, but profit fell 12.8%. Mobile subscribers increased by 5.9% year-on-year to 6.8 million, while MoMo subscribers were up by 16.3% to 4.3 million, and the number of merchants rose by 192.6% to 141 222 at period end.…

Ingredients 125g butter, softened 250g Castor Sugar 3 large eggs 165ml Plain Greek yoghurt 2 lemons -- zested 220g cake flour 2 tsp baking powder Pinch salt 8 large ripe figs, 2 chopped and 6 sliced Method Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper. Beat together butter and Castor Sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk in eggs, yoghurt and lemon zest. Sift together flour and baking powder then fold into the wet ingredients. Stir in the chopped figs, then spoon batter into the cake tin, then level the top. Arrange the sliced figs on top of the cake batter. Bake for about 45 – 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the…

THE latest Traffic Index has revealed that traffic in the capital city has steadily increased over the years, making Pretoria one of the most congested cities in the country. According to the 2022 TomTom Traffic index, Pretoria stood at number 147 globally. However, it was flagged as one of the most congested cities in South Africa with an average of 145 hours over a 6-day period spent in rush hour traffic per year. This meant on average, motorists took roughly 16 minutes to traverse over 10km at a mere 32km/h speed. Travel time reportedly increased in Pretoria last year, with the data suggesting that the average time it took to travel 10km had in fact increased by 40 seconds from 2021. The report went as far as narrowing down the…

THE family of slain 34-year-old Cleo Diko, who went missing in October and whose body was later discovered buried in a shallow grave, have finally laid her to rest. The mother of three is alleged to have last been seen with 38-year-old Sandile Jekwa, who was known to her and who has since been arrested and charged with her murder. Following months of searching, Diko’s body was found in January. She was buried at the weekend by her family and loved ones, after extensive DNA and forensic testing had to be done on her body. Diko’s mother, Linda Diko, said she was heartbroken and a wounded mother following the murder of her beloved daughter. “The killer gave me the strength to carry on and fight. “I do not have time…

THE jumping cockroach, called a leaproach, has been discovered at the Steenbras Nature Reserve. It is the first of its kind to be found in one of the City’s nature reserves. “‘We celebrate World Wildlife Day (Friday) and this year we are welcoming an unexpected member to the City’s wildlife population,” said Spatial Planning and Environment mayco member, Eddie Andrews. “The leaproach is a family member of the cockroach, but has developed the ability to jump. “Featuring on the 2011 list of the World’s Top 10 New Species, we are immensely proud to confirm that we have discovered that the leaproach is residing in the Steenbras Nature Reserve. “Although they are known to be found in the Fynbos biome of Table Mountain National Park, we have not sighted them in…

Shift to national interest-based foreign policy could undermine constitutional values The year 2023 is fast becoming a defining year for democratic South Africa’s foreign policy and the future direction of its international relations. In February, South Africa, in its capacity as chair of BRICS for 2023, hosted the first meeting of the group in Bela Bela, while on March 2 the country assumed its seat on the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva for the period 2023 to 2025. Whether by choice or forced geopolitical circumstances or driven by the ideological factionalism and contradictions within the governing ANC government’s stance, especially relating to the US, EU, Russia and China, it is too early to say whether this is merely the product of a confused and perceived aberrant foreign policy or…

Sydney: Tens of thousands of people marched over Sydney Harbour Bridge yesterday as part of the WorldPride festival advocating global LGBTQ equality. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined about 50 000 marchers for the event on the last day of the international festival, which Sydney hosted for the first time. Marchers in festive gear carried LGBTQ flags across the bridge, which was closed to traffic for several hours. The bumper crowd then moved to a city centre park where a concert brought down the curtain on the 17-day festival, which partnered with Sydney’s famed annual Mardi Gras parade this year. | AFP…

Paris: French trade unions are heading for what is expected to be a decisive showdown with President Emmanuel Macron over pension reform, with massive strikes from tomorrow aiming to bring the country “to a standstill”. After five separate days of protests so far this year, this week’s stoppages herald a new phase in the battle between the centrist government and opponents of the changes. These opponents include an overwhelmingly majority of French voters. “We always said that we would go into a higher gear if necessary,” the head of the influential hard-left CGT union, Philippe Martinez, told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper yesterday. | AFP…

Iran has given sweeping assurances to the UN nuclear watchdog that it will finally assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and even re-install removed monitoring equipment, the watchdog said. The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran issued a joint statement on IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s return from a trip to Tehran just two days before a quarterly meeting of the agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors. The possibility of a marked improvement in relations between the two is likely to stave off a Western push for another resolution ordering Iran to cooperate, diplomats said. Iran has, however, made similar promises before that have yielded little or nothing. “Iran expressed its readiness to ... provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues,” the statement…

Pamplona: Three people have been arrested over the murder of a Philippine provincial governor and eight others, authorities said yesterday. A fourth suspect died in a shoot-out. Another 17 people were wounded in the brazen attack in the Philippines. At least six gunmen armed with rifles and wearing military-style uniforms opened fire in the governor’s home in Pamplona municipality. Governor Roel Degamo, 56, became the latest victim of a recent string of assaults on Philippine politicians. Two of the three suspects arrested were former soldiers. Degamo, 56, was the third politician to be shot since last year’s general election. | afp…

Victorious Cape Town City FC coach Eric Tinkler said his team’s intensity was the decisive factor as his side laboured to a 2-1 win over hosts Maritzburg United in their Premiership match at Harry Gwala Stadium on Saturday. “It was another resilient performance by the boys and it was not pretty,” said Tinkler after the match. “The most important factor was our intensity. We needed to match them in terms of our intensity and in terms of our aggression. We knew we had to win our duels. “It (the performance) was not pretty, but it was a resilient display and we needed to put our foot on the ball a bit better. “ Maritzburg coach Fadlu Davids felt his team dominated from start to finish but they could not exploit…

SWEEPSOUTH, a leading home cleaning service company, wants those who refuse to play by the rules and pay the new national minimum wage to face legal consequences. SweepSouth managing director Luke Kannemeyer said in response to Business Report questions on Friday that the country would also need to guard against employers who may reduce days or hours of work, but then place unreasonable demands on their employees to still complete the same amount of work in a reduced time period. “This highlights the importance of not viewing the national minimum wage in isolation as a benchmark to improve the sector. Fair treatment is as important as fair pay,” Kannemeyer said. Last month, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi raised the minimum wage for farmworkers and domestic workers by a whopping…

from page 1 (NPA) said it was in the process of establishing a unit to focus on ethics and accountability of prosecutors. NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said the system had mechanisms in place for judicial officers to raise any concerns or complaints about prosecutors and these were brought to the attention of the management of the NPA to address. “That system works well and deals with hard facts and specifics. Further, the NPA is in the process of establishing a unit to deal with issues of ethics and accountability of prosecutors, within the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions. “The process is at an advanced stage, as part of the NPA’s objective to enhance its independence, professionalism, accountability and credibility. Real cases or reports of misconduct, ethical breaches…

THE Department of Higher Education and Training’s “dismal failure to uphold agreements” expected to prevent student protest has led to instability at most tertiary institutions, the SA Union of Students said. In January, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande, joined by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, briefed the media and made several announcements, amonh which was that funding decisions would be released on February 6. It was also stated that no funded student with debt would be excluded from registration or accommodation. However, this has not been the case at a number of universities, including UCT, the University of the Western Cape and the University of Pretoria. “The union flagged and bemoaned the planned late release of funding decisions, warning it would send the sector into…

DESPITE the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) putting its acting CEO Chantal Kisoon on precautionary suspension following the allegation that she had referred to senior managers as “black babies”, she is still under fire as experts questioned why she did not resign given the role of the chapter nine institution in fighting racism. The commission said in a statement it would leave no stone unturned in investigating the incident and in dealing with the perpetrator should it be found, in an independent process, that she had indeed used a racial slur and violated the dignity of her colleagues. “The SAHRC as an institution supporting constitutional democracy, wishes to assure the public that it does not condone racism or any other violation of the rights entrenched in the Constitution. “Noting the…

I am outraged at the brutal slaying of Garlandale, Athlone vet Dr Natheem Jacobs. My heart goes out to his family and friends. I never met Dr Jacobs, but media reports state that he was well-liked by friends and family. Crime is out of control. Garlandale is a relatively safe area and crime is minimal in the area, but isolated incidents of pilfering and theft have been reported. SAPS must step up patrols and increase visibility. Hopefully, the ghastly, untimely death of Dr Jacobs will prompt the local neighbourhood watch to regroup and be more effective where vigilance is concerned. This is one death too many. When one has to protect their own property, one asks: “But where is the SAPS when needed most?” Sadly the loss of the good…

Thank you for publishing the letter “De Ruyter distracts from ANC disaster”, which adds to the revelations of ANC corruption made in Annika Larsen’s eNCA interview with former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter. What is just as interesting as this letter and the original interview are the types of responses to the revelations, which fall into either one of two camps. First, there are those who think he failed (mostly ANC supporters and those who depend on ANC or government patronage), and then there are the rest who think that he is a true hero for exposing graft within the key SOE, all the while being undermined by corruption syndicates and even subjected to assassination attempts for whistle-blowing on crime (linked to the ANC). But those who do not like…

TAFELSIG residents are reeling in shock after a fire claimed the lives of three people, including two minors aged 12 and 13 years. The three family members died after the fire gutted two structures. Community worker, Wihdaad Williams, said victims’ family and residents were shattered by Friday’s incident. “This is not the first incident, and we are heartbroken. We still have people who have nowhere to stay due to previous fires. It is always sad to lose a loved one, especially when they are so young. The families are lost for words, and I will be going there to provide counselling again later. I can’t even begin to imagine their pain right now, the whole community is just shocked,” said Williams. The City’s Fire and Rescue spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, said…

MODERATE spanking of children as a form of discipline in the home was declared unconstitutional in 2019, but corporal punishment remains a form of discipline. In 1996, the SA Schools Act banned corporal punishment in schools, while the issue of spanking in the home as a form of discipline remained contentious. Stats SA last week released a report that found that in 2019, just over 1 million out of 13 million school-going children aged 5-17 reported that they had experienced some form of violence in school. Spanking in the home as espoused by the Joshua Generation Church saw it taken to task in 2015 by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which found the church’s parenting manual that promoted corporal punishment, to be in violation of the Constitution. The SAHRC…

More often than not, the instigators of political violence are insulated from the turmoil of their actions while ordinary people suffer from their self-centred interests masquerading as public interests. The same is true and can be said about the Russian-Ukraine war. Last year, a country in Europe, not particularly popular and not yielding global traction, made it to our TV screens with breaking news of being attacked by Russia. The Russia-Ukraine war could have been avoided had Volodymyr Zelensky not been apolitical and notwithstanding that Putin/Russia’s lack of diplomacy (was) justified. Russia attacked Ukraine for its intention of joining Nato. Russia justified the attack arguing that the West had deceived it for having the intention of expanding its military alliance eastward after the Cold War concluded. Nonetheless, it is important…

TUNIS: Hundreds of opposition supporters defied an official ban on their protest against Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday after some of their leaders were arrested, breaking through a police barrier in central Tunis to rally in the city’s main street. Earlier, police warned them that their demonstration was illegal but added that they would not stop them by force. Up to a thousand protesters then pushed through the cordon, chanting “Shut down the coup” and “We want the release of the arrested”. The National Salvation Front coalition combines Tunisia’s biggest party, the Islamist Ennahda, the Stop the Coup protest movement and some other political parties who demand that Saied step down. | Reuters…

China said yesterday that its military spending would rise at the fastest pace in four years, warning of “escalating” threats from abroad at a meeting of its parliament that will hand Xi Jinping a third term as president. The increase in the world’s second-largest defence budget came as Beijing announced an economic growth goal of around 5% for this year – one of its lowest in decades. The country’s planned budgets for the year put defence spending at 1.55 trillion yuan (R4 082 trillion), a 7.2% rise and the quickest rate of increase since 2019. It officially rose 7.1% last year. Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang told delegates to the National People’s Congress (NPC) that “external attempts to suppress and contain China are escalating”. “The armed forces should intensify…

The Greek prime minister yesterday asked for forgiveness from the families of the 57 dead in the nation’s worst rail disaster ahead of a major rally by students and rail workers in Athens. “As prime minister, I owe it to everyone, but especially to the victims’ relatives, (to ask for) forgiveness,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote in a message addressed to the nation. The crash between passenger and freight trains has sparked widespread outrage across Greece. “For the Greece of 2023, two trains heading in different directions cannot run on the same line and no one notice,” Mitsotakis said in the message posted on his Facebook page. Relatives and loved ones of those killed in Tuesday’s devastating crash were expected to gather yesterday for a memorial outside Larissa station, central Greece, near…

Kuwait’s crown prince re-appointed Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah as prime minister and asked him to nominate a cabinet, state news agency KUNA reported yesterday, more than a month after the government resigned due to renewed friction with Parliament. A long-running stand-off between the government and the elected Parliament has hampered efforts by the wealthy Gulf Arab oil producer to push through fiscal reforms, including a debt law allowing Kuwait to tap international markets. Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah moved last year to end feuding by naming Sheikh Ahmad as premier, dissolving Parliament and calling early polls, in which opposition members made gains. Tensions resurfaced when lawmakers pressed the government sworn in last October for a debt relief bill, under which the state would buy Kuwaiti citizens’ personal loans, and…