Table of contents for 2023-04-28 in Cape Times

THUNGELA Resources’ board has opted to maintain a large liquidity buffer in case of further impacts from South Africa’s crumbling rail and power infrastructure. The cash portion came to R5 billion following the R40 per share final dividend declared last month. In addition, the board decided to increase the overall liquidity buffer to R8.2bn through the securing of facilities amounting to R3.2bn, Sango Ntsaluba, chairperson of the thermal coal mining group said in the annual report released yesterday. “Four months into 2023, we are concerned by the challenges that abound, including Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) performance, softening of coal prices and volatility of coal demand worldwide,” he said, adding it was also clear coal prices could not be expected to be as strong this year as they were in 2022,…

AGRICULTURE, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza said the Land Claims Commission would require R65 billion to settle outstanding claims that were lodged by December 1998. This emerged when EFF MP Kenneth Montwedi wrote to Didiza asking whether her department has reported to the Land Claims Court on progress made with the finalisation of land restitution claims lodged by December 1998, as required by the Land Action Movement of South Africa judgments. Mokwedi also wanted to know what date her department envisaged finalising the outstanding claims, and the amount it would cost to finalise them. In her written response, Didiza said the Land Claims Commission reported to the Land Claims Court at six-month intervals regarding the settlement of outstanding old order claims. “This progress includes the backlog reduction…

WHILE South Africa remains a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a statement by the Western Cape premier that the province’s officers would “arrest” Russian President Vladimir Putin has been shrugged off as a pipe dream. The Presidency issued a statement this week confirming that President Cyril Ramaphosa erroneously said the country would pull out of the ICC. “This clarification follows an error in a comment made during a media briefing held by the governing ANC on South Africa’s status with regard to the ICC. Regrettably, the President erroneously affirmed a similar position during a media session on Tuesday”. The development comes as South Africa prepares to host the Brics summit in August, while the ICC has an arrest warrant out for Putin relating to alleged crimes during the…

A FARMWORKER whose girlfriend was allegedly assaulted by his boss, hopes justice will not fail them, as the farmer has now also threatened to evict the couple. According to Jacqueline Jordaan, 31, the Langrietvlei farmer, from Hopefield, who has been released from police custody on warning, has fired her boyfriend, and wants them to leave the property after she lodged an assault complaint with police. The young mother said at around 11am on Saturday, she heard the farmer shouting at her children outside because of litter in the yard. “He blamed my children for the papers. I went outside and confronted him. My problem was his use of language to young children aged 13 and 8. He suddenly grabbed me by the neck and pushed me inside the house where…

SIX people living in makeshift tents on Strand Street in the CBD had to rope in legal help after they were allegedly evicted by Prasa security guards this week. The individuals, who are already subject to the City of Cape Town’s pending legal eviction proceedings, were stripped of their belongings from their informal dwellings situated on railway lines. Desperate for help in their situation, they called on civil rights organisation Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) to help. Prasa, however, said the action was taken to address “the mushrooming crime in the precinct”. Prasa spokesperson, Zino Mihi, said: “Due to crime that is mushrooming in the Cape Town station precinct, Metrorail WC together with other law enforcement agencies such as SAPS, the City of Cape Town Law Enforcement, Rapid Rail Police Unit (RRPU)…

Kidnapped Robert Louis Stevenson Loot.co.za (R340) Graphic Arts Books KIDNAPPED was published in 1886 amid one of the most productive periods of Robert Louis Stevenson’s career. Although it was immediately met with popular success and critical acclaim, the novel was derided for decades as a story for children before being recognised as a major work of English literature. Set in the aftermath of the Jacobite uprising of 1745, and full of a rich blend of English and Scots, Kidnapped is a powerful work. The narrative follows David Balfour, a 17-year-old orphan whose uncle, the wretched and disturbed Ebenezer, conspires to steal the family estate, David’s rightful inheritance. When David discovers his uncle’s plan, Ebenezer tricks the boy and sells him to Captain Hoseason, a slaver embarking for the Carolinas. Blindsided…

A Kenyan church leader was arrested yesterday over the “mass killing of his followers”, the interior minister said, just days after a cult leader in the same region was detained. Authorities evacuated more than 100 people who had been “holed up” in Ezekiel Odero’s New Life Prayer Centre and Church in the town of Mavueni, minister Kithure Kindiki said on Twitter. Mavueni is about 66km from the Shakahola forest where another pastor, Paul Mackenzie, is accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves to death ahead of what he predicted would be the end of the world on April 15. At least 98 members of Mackenzie’s Good News International Church have died and the death toll has been steadily rising since authorities started exhuming mass graves on Friday. Odero was…

East Africa’s worst drought in at least 40 years, which has displaced more than a million people and pushed millions more to the brink of famine, would not have happened if not for human-caused climate change, a network of extreme weather scientists said yesterday. Rising global temperatures, largely from burning fossil fuels, have disrupted the weather patterns that bring rainfall to Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, the scientists found. Last autumn, the once-dependable rains failed for a record-setting fifth season in a row. Hotter conditions have also caused more moisture to evaporate from the landscape, desiccating croplands and causing millions of livestock to starve. With global temperatures about 1.2°C higher than the pre-industrial average, the scientists say, droughts like this one are 100 times more likely than they would have been…

STOCKHOLM: Spotify Technology said yesterday it was investigating some issues with its web page, following reports the audio streaming platform was down for thousands of users. There were more than 15 000 incidents of people reporting issues with Spotify, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports. Earlier this month, the company had experienced a brief outage, which impacted more than 20 000 people in the US and over 8 000 in the UK at the peak of the service disruption. Spotify in April crossed the half-billion mark for monthly active users for the first time. | Reuters…

AS THE nation marked 29 years of freedom yesterday, many South Africans did not feel “free”, while the “working class and the poor have been side-lined to the periphery” over the past three decades. Freedom Day is the commemoration of the first democratic election in South Africa on April 27, 1994, in which anyone could vote regardless of race. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) noted that the right to freedom was curtailed by the danger of moving around. “In an era where there is rampant lawlessness and where women and children are not free to walk or play outside their homes without fear of being accosted by criminal elements, the country as a whole needs to reflect on the value of freedom, especially in poorer communities where people…

THE country celebrated Freedom Day yesterday, with President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the nation; laying out his plans for the country moving forward; and reminding South Africans about their history. For a country that had promising leaders during the Struggle who listened to the marginalised people, victory was near. However, as things stand, not much can be celebrated as the nation experiences crises of poverty, poor service delivery, corruption and crime. The increase in crime has robbed the country of a young and brave leader, Loyiso Nkohla. As a former ANCYL member and activist and founder of the Ses'khona People's Rights Movement - an organisation that advocates for the right of historically disadvantaged people in townships, Nkohla was a man who stood for what he believed in. This was evident at…

THE City has been ordered by the Western Cape High Court to take steps to curb criminal activity on vacant land next to an apartment block in District Six. This after the body corporate for The Six complained that the City owned the neighbouring site, but has refused to act in relation to their complaints of activities that constituted societal, health, environmental and safety risks. The activities, alleged in court papers, included dealing in and consuming drugs; open fires left unattended; public urination and defecation; nudity; and abundant trash, among others. The site includes seven undeveloped erven forming a large open field as well as a parking lot on the corner of Sydney and Keisergracht Streets, Zonnebloem. The land has been awarded to successful land claimants in terms of agreements…

The Man who shook mountains – In the Footsteps of My Ancestors’ Lesley Mofokeng Loot.co.za (R185) Jonathan Ball SEASONED journalist and author Lesley Mofokeng’s new book, The Man Who Shook Mountains: In the Footsteps of My Ancestors, is another timely reminder of the almost forgotten self-sustenance and reliance many communities achieved in the decades before the end of apartheid. And more importantly, in this case, one of the larger-than-life characters and community builders who helped cushion some of those seeking salvation and refuge from the effects of apartheid and rabid racism following forced removals after the declaration of their land as “black spots” by the hated regime and then dumped in the reserves. Mofokeng’s is a detailed account of his paternal grandfather’s life of service to the community of Gelukspan…

What happens on vacation Jo Watson Loot.co.za (R219) Headline Journalist Margaret needs a holiday. After a difficult couple of years, some R&R is on the cards, and she’s taking her mom with her. Luckily, the office Quiz Night is coming up and the prize is an all-expenses-paid trip to Zanzibar. Good thing Margaret has never met a quiz question she didn’t like. But Margaret has also never played against Jagger Villain. For the last six months, they have shared a desk and not a day has gone by when he hasn’t driven her to distraction. The idea of sharing anything else with Jagger is unthinkable. But if she’s going to get what she needs from this trip, Margaret might have to compromise. Away from the office and in a tropical…

Khanisuse eli xhego phambi komabonakude liyasisitha sifuna ukubukela! Lenza ntoni libe litaka-taka nje, alizukuwa? Phofu xa liwile lizakuba yimhemhe kabani? Ingathi liyazithanda nezinto nje ingakumbi amehlo? Lilidala nje? Lingayokuculela ootshomi noontanga balo eHom nje? Sincedeni thina sikhathele ngumadala, please! You can hide anything about yourself, but you cannot hide who you really are. Unfortunately, the worst part is to be surrounded by people who cannot alert you when you’re going to the peak. This could be because they fear you, hero-worship you, or are just pleasing you. Some are dependent on you. Be that as it may, any normal or sober-minded human being should seek to age gracefully, not disgracefully. But it is unfortunate that one of the things some people cannot control in them is greed. If one of…

US officials have postponed a meeting in Uganda about an HIV/Aids programme in the East African country because they need time to assess the impact of an anti-LGBTQ bill soon expected to become law there, a US State Department spokesperson said. The bill was passed by Uganda’s parliament on March 21 and sent to President Yoweri Museveni for assent, but he sent it back asking for changes that would tone it down. The US President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (Pepfar), which spends $400 million (R7.3 billion) in Uganda annually, informed Ugandan partners that a meeting was being postponed in light of the potentially imminent signing of the law. The State Department spokesperson said yesterday that the decision did not amount to freezing or cutting Pepfar services in Uganda, but…

Abuja: Three humanitarian workers and two contractors have been abducted in north-east Nigeria where the military is fighting a jihadist insurgency, aid officials said yesterday. Both Boko Haram, which kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, and Iswap, linked to the Islamic State group, operate in the region. The Nigerian aid workers were with FHI 360, a US non-profit organisation. Ngala is in Borno State, near the border with Cameroon. Christy Delafield, an FHI 360 spokesperson, said the staff members were working to provide life-saving medical care in the region. “We are not sure who is responsible,” said another humanitarian official. | AFP…

MADRID: Police in Seville are investigating the death of a horse from apparent heatstroke as it pulled a carriage laden with tourists through the southern Spanish city during a record heatwave. Bystanders tried to revive the animal with water after it collapsed next to a busy road, a video posted on Instagram on Wednesday showed. The horse died during the city’s April Fair celebrations, which last year attracted an estimated 500 000 revellers to the hottest region in Spain. Temperatures in Seville were expected to hit 36°C yesterday, and the city has brought in extra healthcare workers to deal with heat exhaustion during the festival. | Reuters…

EFF leader Julius Malema said while there was no contestation that yesterday was Freedom Day, many South Africans had aspirations, asking to what extent they should celebrate the day, without having achieved economic freedom in their lifetime. “1994, on April 27 ushered political freedom. We still need economic freedom for total emancipation of our people,” Malema said when addressing the funeral of EFF member Koketso Mojatau. In a statement, the red berets said the declaration of Freedom Day was premature because the core objectives of the Struggle against colonial dispossession and apartheid had not yet been achieved. “Instead of the democratisation of wealth, the provision of free quality healthcare, education, housing and a corruption-free society, which were the core objectives of the revolution, South Africa is characterised by…

‘A journey filled with misery’: Cape Town moms speak of their never-ending grief FOR TWO Cape Town mothers whose newborn babies were kidnapped by women pretending to be good Samaritans, the fear of never seeing their children again grows stronger every day. This Sunday marks the one-year anniversary since 2-month-old Kai-Isha was kidnapped in a grocery store in Bishop Lavis by a stranger who pretended to be a good Samaritan. Kai-Isha’s mother, Francis Meiners, said she wasn’t looking forward to Sunday. “The journey has been filled with so much uncertainty and misery. “I have my ups and downs, mostly downs. In February, my daughter turned a year old and I never got a chance to be with her. “She must be walking and even learning to talk now. We…

Around 120 000 birds have died or been destroyed at two Western Cape poultry farms due to avian flu. The provincial veterinary services issued a warning on Wednesday for the public and the agriculture sector to be vigilant after bird flu cases were detected at commercial layer farms in the Paardeberg area, in the Drakenstein and Swartland local municipalities. According to Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer, the first outbreak was confirmed on April 21 and the second on April 25. He said the exact strain involved was still unknown and is being investigated. “Highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks have been occurring worldwide and were detected in poultry in other South African provinces earlier in 2023 and throughout 2022. However, the Western Cape has not seen the virus in commercial poultry since…

The Undiscovered Country Mike Nemeth Loot.co.za (R385) Morgan James When Randle Marks buried his abusive father three years ago, he thought he had escaped the gravitational pull of his dysfunctional family. Living in Florida, Randle was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, served his time, wrote a book about his scientific work, and laid plans to marry his college sweetheart. Then his new beginnings were interrupted by his mother’s medical emergency. He is summoned to his boyhood home of Augusta, Georgia to face long-suppressed memories, contemptuous siblings, and his dying mother’s desperate attempts to conceal her secrets and preserve her dignity. He battles dispassionate doctors reluctant to waste resources on a terminal patient and discovers his mother’s fate may not be an act of God. While investigating her medical…

Love In The Time Of Serial Killers Alicia Thompson Loot.co.za (R248) Penguin Turns out that reading nothing but true crime isn’t exactly conducive to modern dating – and one woman is going to have to learn how to give love a chance when she’s used to suspecting the worst. PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She’s even analysing the genre in her dissertation – if she can manage to finish writing it. It’s hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn’t had a relationship with for years. It doesn’t help that she’s low-key convinced that her new…

The Sudanese army pounded paramilitaries in the capital Khartoum with air strikes yesterday while deadly fighting flared in Darfur, as a fragile US-brokered ceasefire entered its final hours. Ahead of the expiry of a three-day truce at midnight, the army said late on Wednesday that it had agreed to talks in neighbouring South Sudan on extending it “at the initiative of IGAD”, the East African regional bloc. There have been multiple truce efforts since fighting broke out on April 15 between Sudan’s army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. All have failed. The fighting has continued despite the US-brokered ceasefire that took effect on Tuesday, with warplanes patrolling the skies over the capital’s northern…

The US this week pledged to give South Korea more insight into its nuclear planning over any conflict with North Korea amid anxiety over Pyongyang’s growing arsenal of missiles and bombs. The announcement, which included a renewed pledge by Seoul not to pursue a nuclear bomb of its own, emerged from White House talks between US President Joe Biden and South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol that covered issues including North Korea, semiconductor chips and trade, and the Ukraine war. Yoon said he and Biden had agreed on steps to strengthen South Korea’s defences in response to the threat posed by North Korea. “Our two countries have agreed to immediate bilateral presidential consultations in the event of North Korea’s nuclear attack and promised to respond swiftly, overwhelmingly and decisively using…

LONDON: The British government yesterday succeeded in limiting the length of an upcoming strike by nurses, after the health department took legal action against a trade union over the dispute. The Royal College of Nursing had called a 48-hour strike from the evening of April 30, which for the first time would involve staff from emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care and other services that were previously exempt. However, Britain’s health department said that industrial action on May 2 would be unlawful because a vote to strike is only valid for six months after a ballot of trade union members. | Reuters…

KYIV: Ukraine’s prime minister said yesterday he had invited Pope Francis to visit Ukraine and had asked for help in repatriating thousands of children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied land since Moscow’s invasion. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a news conference in Rome that he had held talks at the Vatican and discussed Kyiv’s peace formula to end the 14-month-old war. “We discussed the peace formula, and a potential path and assistance from his holiness and the Vatican,” Shmyhal said. Pope Francis, 86, has said previously that he wanted to visit Kyiv and also Moscow on a peace mission. | Reuters…