Table of contents for 2023-06-20 in Cape Times

SOUTH Africa needed to increase its number of commercial farmers and production – this as the continent suffered a shortage of about 30 million tons of grain in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The sentiment was posed by industry role-players, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s statement that both Russia and Ukraine were major suppliers of grains and producers of fertiliser destined for African markets. “According to the African Development Bank, the conflict has ‘triggered a shortage of about 30 million tonnes of grains on the African continent, along with a sharp increase in cost’. “As a result of this conflict African countries are negatively affected by the rising costs of food and energy,” Ramaphosa said. The president has just returned from Ukraine and the Russian Federation as part of a…

1 medium onion, finely chopped 10ml curry powder 5ml ground cumin 2 small Granny Smith apples, unpeeled and grated or finely chopped +- 450g chicken mince Handful chopped fresh dhania 8 medium-sized cabbage leaves 200ml pouch Creamy Curry sauce Preheat oven to 180ºC. Lightly brown the onion, curry powder, cumin, apple and chicken in a pan for 3 – 4 minutes. Set aside and add the dhania. Peel off 8 complete cabbage leaves and pour boiling water over them to soften slightly. This helps the parcel-rolling. Spoon chicken mixture evenly between leaves and roll them up tightly. Secure with a toothpick if required. Place each parcel, seam-side down and packed close together, into a small casserole dish. Pour over 125ml hot chicken stock. Cover and bake 30 minutes until leaves…

“OUCH!” A common phrase everyone uses at some point to express pain. Whether you’ve just stubbed your toe, are struggling to overcome a nasty migraine, or burned your finger as you removed your favourite dish from the oven – it’s always, “ouch!” But what is pain? The concept of pain was the topic of discussion during the latest instalment of UCT’s inaugural lecture series presented by Professor Romy Parker. Her lecture was titled “Pain management to reduce suffering in South Africa – integrating interdisciplinary research into the health-care professions”. Parker noted that one in every five South Africans were living with pain and patients commonly sought assistance at primary health-care level because of it. But what could be done to support patients with pain? Parker said health-care workers could make…

EASTERN Cape police commissioner Nomthetheleli Mene, has urged her officers to use their in-house programmes when grappling with emotional or mental stress, after an Mthatha constable killed himself in front of family members in Fort Gale. The 35-year-old from the Mthatha Flying Squad and his cousin, 20, were at the police official’s house with their girlfriends on Saturday, when the cousin walked outside and a shot was heard. When everyone ran outside, they found the cousin lying against the wall with a gunshot wound to his head. It’s believed he shot himself with the officer’s service pistol. “According to the witnesses, the police officer, who was in a state of panic, picked up the firearm and took his own life,” said police spokesperson Priscilla Naidu. Police have since opened inquest…

It is no secret and absolutely shattering that morality across the world is eroding. Many people engage in unethical behaviours, often repeatedly, without being overwhelmed by guilt. Moral decay has become a powerful threat to humanity’s well- being. We are living in a demented world whose moral fibres have decayed to an extent that it is threatened with collapse. No society can endure that takes a brazenly defiant view of sex and it’s frightening ramifications for human progress. History has recorded the destruction of such societies over hundreds of years. Sadly this generation has been desensitised to intrinsic evils on all levels of a civil society. These grotesque acts have weakened our moral fibres and are graphically advertised as equality to accomplish evil agendas. We remain defiant as we embrace…

Europe should brace for more deadly heatwaves driven by climate change, a sweeping report said yesterday, noting that the world’s fastest-warming continent was some 2.3°C hotter last year than in pre-industrial times. Crop-withering drought, record sea-surface temperatures and unprecedented glacier melt are among the consequences laid out in a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The continent, which has been warming twice the global average since the 1980s, saw its warmest summer on record last year, with France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK experiencing their warmest year on record. The world has warmed an average of nearly 1.2°C since the mid-1800s, unleashing a devastating cascade of extreme weather, including more intense heatwaves, more severe droughts in some areas and storms…

Stockholm: A military attack against Sweden cannot be ruled out following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a report by the Swedish military said yesterday, stressing the importance of its entry into Nato. The report did not single out Moscow for instigating a potential attack but rather said Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s mounting influence in Asia and the world were responsible for rising insecurity. A commission of experts said the country needed a “bigger army” by 2025-2030, including at least 10 000 conscripts a year, up from the current level of 5 000 to 6 000. Sweden’s full membership has been blocked by Hungary and Turkey. Only full members are covered by full military protection. | AFP…

MELEKHOVO: Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared before a Russian court yesterday to defend himself against new charges of extremism that could extend his prison term by decades. The hearing took place at the IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, 235km east of Moscow, where Navalny is already serving sentences totalling 11.5 years. His supporters accuse Moscow of trying to break him to silence his criticism of President Vladimir Putin. Journalists were not admitted to the courtroom. Navalny contested the authority of the Moscow city court judge to try him in a penal colony far from the capital. | Reuters…

LONDON: Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is set to sign a lucrative sponsorship deal with Dior. The 41-year-old former actress is in talks with the French fashion house in a deal worth up to $20 million (R363m) over three years. Her new agent, Ari Emanuel, the chief of talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME), is working on rebranding Meghan as a fashion influencer following her and her husband Prince Harry losing their $25 million Spotify deal last week. A Beverly Hills socialite said: “There have been rumours for weeks that she’s about to sign a deal with Dior.” If the deal comes off, Meghan will be joining an extensive list of A-listers who have represented Dior, including Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence and Johnny Depp. As a Dior fan, Meghan has…

AS WESTERN Cape Premier Alan Winde and his delegation returned from the US yesterday, the provincial government was mum on the costs incurred on his trip to “save” the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Winde led a delegation of the provincial government and Wesgro representatives to promote the province as a trade and investment destination, as well as assure the US government that the province remained committed to Agoa. Asked about the costs of the US trip, Winde’s spokesperson Regan Thaw said Winde and his delegation returned yesterday. Thaw also said Winde flew commercial business class and took one support staff member from the Office of the Premier, who flew commercial economy class as part of the delegation. “The premier will report back on the trip at a later…

IN A WEEK of wet and slippery roads across the metro, the City’s safety and security directorate said it was “utterly shocked” to have arrested 73 people for drunk driving. The City’s law enforcement officers made 379 arrests and issued 40 653 fines for various transgressions – including 73 arrests for drunk driving and 10 for reckless and negligent driving. “We’re dealing with a lot due to adverse weather conditions, and then you have those among us who insist on creating additional problems by behaving badly. “It’s utterly shocking to see how many drunk drivers continue to be arrested week after week. “It’s hard enough operating a vehicle in good weather conditions when you’re sober, but doing so while impaired in the type of downpours we’ve seen recently is stupid…

GALE-force winds and heavy rainfall that continued across the province yesterday caused further damage to formal and informal housing structures, electrical and communication infrastructure, and uprooted trees. The Department of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning said the West Coast had been hard hit by widespread flooding, making many roads and bridges inaccessible. In Citrusdal, humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers used a helicopter on Sunday to deliver supplies to affected residents. As mop-up efforts got under way in Cape Town yesterday, the City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate encouraged residents to report sewer overflows and spills so they could be attended to. “We need residents to be our eyes and ears on the ground to report concerns/defects so it can be addressed by our relevant maintenance teams. “With…

A FOOT chase following allegations of shoplifting ended fatally for Reagan Fredericks, 30, whose body was found in the Keyser River in Steenberg on Sunday night. A resident made the discovery after a four-day search involving diving units and rescue teams. Fredericks’s family and friends were too distraught to speak to the media yesterday. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi confirmed that Fredericks landed in the river when he and a friend jumped into the water after being accused of stealing from a small business. “Reports suggested that two unknown males were accused by members of the public that they stole items from a nearby business premises in Steenberg on June 14,” he said. “The community members chased the pair and in the heat of the moment the two suspects jumped into…

AS MOST parts of the Western Cape suffer floods and more rain is expected, one’s mind casts back to the floods in KwaZulu-Natal in April last year. Climate change is real and it would seem that our coastal regions in particular are coming under significant onslaught from the weather. Yet we need to keep reminding ourselves that climate change is man-made. Another man-made environmental disaster waiting to happen remains nuclear waste. In this respect and unsurprisingly Japan, and how it disposes of nuclear water waste, remains one of the biggest threats to that region and our world’s oceans. In fact, instead of focusing on Russia and China, one would have expected the recent G7 leaders’ summit held in Hiroshima, Japan, to address the host country’s flagrant disregard for our oceans…

China and the US agreed yesterday to stabilise their intense rivalry so it doesn’t veer into conflict but failed to produce any major breakthrough during a rare visit to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed “progress” after shaking hands with Blinken at the Great Hall of the People, a grand venue usually reserved for greeting heads of state. The top US diplomat and Xi both stressed the importance of having a more stable relationship, as any conflict between the world’s two largest economies would create global disruption. However, China refused to entertain Washington’s bid to resume military-to-military communication channels and cited US sanctions as the obstacle. The two sides appeared entrenched in their positions over everything from Taiwan to trade, including US actions…

At least 54 people died in a district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh over the past few days, reports said yesterday, as authorities probed if the loss of lives was due to the heat- wave in the region. Another 45 people died in neighbouring Bihar state. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert warning last week for extreme heat in some regions, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The government said it was investigating the cause of the deaths that occurred over three days last week in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district, about 970km south-east of New Delhi. The government fired Diwakar Singh, the chief medical official at the main state hospital in Ballia, for saying that the deaths were due to heat. Temperatures have soared close…

Kathmandu: The death toll in Nepal from weekend floods and landslides rose to six, officials said yesterday, as rescuers continue to search for 28 missing people. A worker at a hydropower project on the Hewa River in Nepal’s eastern Sankhuwasabha district was found dead, while 17 other staff have been missing since Saturday. Every June to September, monsoon rains wreak widespread death and destruction across the country, but fatal floods and landslides have increased. Nepal’s army said it rescued 12 people by helicopter after they were trapped by landslides in Panchthar district, where two people had died. | AFP…

LONDON: Britain’s Marks & Spencer yesterday became the latest supermarket to cut food prices, adding to signs that a surge in inflation is set to abate. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s key pledge to halve inflation in 2023 has been undermined by high food inflation, which was running at over 19% in April, according to official data, and 17.2% in May. Any signs that it could abate in the coming months are being watched by the Bank of England, MPs and consumers. M&S said it had cut the price of 70 staple products, such as beef mince, Greek style yoghurt, salmon fillets, chickpeas and tortilla wraps, by between 3% and 25%. | Reuters…

WEAK management practices and failure to monitor contractors resulted in dead people, and others with invalid ID numbers, emerging as beneficiaries of disaster relief aid in eThekwini Municipality. This is one of the findings by Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke in a report that she presented to the ad-hoc joint committee on flood disaster relief and recovery last week, into the progress made in the recovery process after last year’s floods. The report, a second one on how provinces including KwaZulu-Natal, particularly eThekwini, and the Eastern Cape had spent money meant to assist those displaced by the floods in April last year, showed there had been little improvement with regard to the problems identified in the first report. More concerning was the revelation that KZN had spent less than a tenth…

Thousands of residents evacuated from their homes as more rainfall is expected THE cost of the destruction caused by the series of cold fronts that continue to make landfall over the province is expected to run into millions of rand. The agriculture and rail sectors yesterday said they were still counting the cost of the damage, while formal and informal housing structures, and electrical and communication infrastructure continued to take a beating. Agri Western Cape chief executive, Jannie Strydom, said: “At this stage for the agricultural sector there is a huge challenge with infrastructure damage, and specifically along the rivers where irrigation infrastructure has been damaged and will have to be replaced. Access roads are a major challenge at this stage for farmers to get their produce off the farm…

WITH winter having a negative impact on blood reserves across the province, the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) has appealed to donors to step forward. There was a critical shortage in the O and B blood groups, with only a two-day supply left, the service said. A-positive blood stocks were also under severe pressure as only a three-day supply was left. “The winter is having a severe effect on our bloodstocks and we are amid a severe blood stock shortage,” said Marike Carli, a spokesperson at WCBS. “The WCBS is appealing to all donors to donate blood as blood stocks are critically low.” WCBS said it always aimed to have a blood stock level of five days. The winter weather is not conducive to going out, and with the continuing…

WHAT began as a cross-continent love story has ended in an acrimonious divorce action, with the Western Cape High Court ordering two former lovers to finally go their separate ways. Money and a dispute over an off-shore investment pushed the 71-year-old ex-wife to haul her terminally ill 74-year-old ex-husband to the high court, with the court eventually decreeing the divorce, with each bearing their own legal costs. “This highly acrimonious divorce action commenced with the plaintiff (wife) instituting proceedings against the defendant (husband) on March 7, 2016. “Save for the contributions paid by the defendant towards the plaintiff’s costs, which she may retain, each party shall pay their own costs, including any reserved costs orders,” the court ordered. The couple met in 2002 at a party in Tel Aviv, Israel,…

THE EFF in the Western Cape have welcomed an Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (Ipid) decision to prosecute a police officer who allegedly shot at their members during protest action at Groote Schuur Hospital. Around 100 hospital porters who lost their jobs, reportedly without explanation following a change in recruitment agencies that led to some staff not being rehired, held demonstrations at the hospital in March last year. At the time, the Cape Times reported that 14 protesters were arrested and police used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. EFF provincial chairperson Unathi Ntame said the decision to prosecute would send a “strong message that the South African Police Services should never be weaponised against citizens”, who were exercising their constitutional right to be heard. “As the vanguard of the working…

THE diplomatic fallout involving South Africa and Poland is the latest indication that Africa’s most industrialised economy is being ostracised for its non-aligned stance in the Ukraine/Russian war. On Friday, the government announced that a plane carrying the security personnel accompanying President Cyril Ramaphosa on a peace mission to Ukraine was held up in Poland, in an incident that sparked a diplomatic squabble. A charter flight carrying security forces and journalists was blocked on landing at Warsaw Airport, with the Polish authorities not allowing those on board to disembark. According to media reports the Polish authorities had raised concerns over the weapons and ammunition of the Presidential Protection Unit on board the charter aeroplane as these were deemed illegal in that country. The incident has served as a disruptive side-show…

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed yesterday for countries to step up aid pledges for Sudan, where a conflict between rival military factions has forced some 2.2 million people from their homes and sparked a major humanitarian crisis. The UN says about $3 billion (about R54.5bn) is needed this year for humanitarian relief inside Sudan and for refugees fleeing the country, only a fraction of which has been funded. “Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region,” Guterres told a fund-raising conference hosted by Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and the UN. “I appeal to you all today to provide funding to deliver lifesaving humanitarian aid and support to people living in the most difficult and dangerous conditions,” Guterres said. Germany announced…

Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank killed five Palestinians including a militant yesterday, in a raid that saw seven Israeli security personnel wounded and rare helicopter fire. The sound of gunfire was heard across Jenin as wounded Palestinians continued to arrive by ambulance at the northern West Bank city’s Ibn Sina hospital into the early afternoon. Crowds, among them Palestinian gunmen, gathered outside Jenin government hospital, as the funerals of those killed in 11 hours of fighting began. The Palestinian health ministry said five people had been killed and at least 91 others were wounded in the violence. It named four of those killed: 15-year-old Ahmed Saqer, Khaled Assassa, 21, Qais Jabareen, 21, Ahmad Daraghmeh, 19, and Qassam Abu Saria, 29. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed Abu Saria as…

NAIROBI: Kenya yesterday signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU that will guarantee duty-free access for its farm produce into its biggest export market. European goods entering Kenya will see tariffs reduced over a 25-year period under the agreement, officials said at a ceremony in Nairobi. The deal took seven months to negotiate, making it one of the fastest the EU has ever struck, officials from both sides said. Kenya, Africa’s seventh-largest economy, is a major exporter of tea, coffee, flowers, fruits and vegetables. The EU accounts for 21% of its overall exports. Kenya is also negotiating a trade and investment deal with the US. | AFP…

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron has created a brouhaha in his country after being filmed downing a bottle of beer with Toulouse’s rugby players after they clinched the domestic league title at the weekend. Video emerged on social media showing the president being handed a bottle of Corona in the Toulouse changing room after the end of the game at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday. After being urged to down it in one, Macron drains the bottle in 17 seconds to cheers from the Toulouse coaches and players after victory over La Rochelle. | AFP…

Hugo Broos keeps proving that he has nerves of steel because he had no right to play – let alone start – Bathusi Aubaas in Saturday’s clash. In a country where Bafana Bafana selection was based on popularity rather than merit, Broos changed that narrative upon his arrival – selecting players based on the latter, regardless of their clubs. And while that was the right approach and something his predecessors should have adhered to, every coach has his trusted lieutenants that he knows will deliver for him on the field. That’s why when Aubaas’ name appeared in the starting Xl against the mighty Morocco for the first time, it didn’t only confuse fans but the person who wrote the list as he credited him as an Orlando Pirates player which…