Table of contents for 2023-07-27 in Cape Times

CIVIL society organisations have reacted with dismay to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) granting Karpowership SA condonation for the late submission of its final Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAr) in Richard’s Bay. The organisations, which have cautioned the public about the deal, launched a joint appeal in May, saying if the condonation was approved it could have far-reaching implications for marine life and fishing communities. They also questioned the government’s support of Karpowership. DFFE this week gave the Turkish company another lifeline to proceed with its application to provide power to South Africa. In a statement, Karpowership SA termed the decision a boost towards the finalisation of their Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMI4P) projects, adding that they will now move forward with a…

WHAT a hideous travesty of justice is the release on parole of the Station Strangler (Norman Afzal Simons) after 28 years in prison. In a just society, he should have paid for his crimes by being executed. So should Zufer Jacob who is out on parole. Under the ANC, society is sick. There is more protection for criminals than for ordinary citizens. For heaven’s sake bring back the death penalty. The cost to the taxpayers for keeping this scum in jail is staggering. Who is to say Simons will not murder again. It seems as if inmates are running the asylum. There is no respect for law and order with Bheki Cele and the police service so corrupt. South Africa is going to hell and until we get rid of…

TOURISM is an immensely important driver of economic growth in the Western Cape. That is why the latest passenger arrival figures for the Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) are so encouraging. According to Wesgro, which has recently published the statistics for June, tourism is roaring back to pre-pandemic levels. We have now moved past recovery and into growth! The international terminal saw a 39% year-on-year growth in June, with over 173 000 passengers moving through the terminal. For the year-to-date, this terminal is showing robust growth of 76% over last year, with over 1.3 million two-way passengers moving through the international terminal for the first half of 2023. And our domestic arrivals are following the same trend, showing a 24% year-on-year growth for the month of June, with over 500…

SOUTH Africa has identified yet another case of cholera, after a man who had a history of travelling from Karachi in Pakistan tested positive this week. This is according to Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla, who called for vigilance and for citizens not to let their guard down. The country recently experienced an outbreak, the hardest hit place being Hammanskraal, where more than 20 people died of the water-borne disease. The country has recorded a total cumulative number of 199 laboratory-confirmed cases since February, the last positive case being recorded on June 19 in Hammanskraal. Phaahla said the 24-year-old man tested positive with a cholera toxin on Monday, but was discharged and is recovering from home. Phaahla said the man arrived in the country on July 16 from Pakistan, which…

A SECURITY service provider accused of duping the Saldanha Bay Municipality into awarding her a R26 million tender has been released on bail at the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court. Wanda McCarthy is alleged to have misrepresented her company during the bidding process, leading to her securing the tender for security services unlawfully. The allegations were reported by a whistle-blower to the Presidential Hotline. The matter was then referred to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for a thorough investigation. It’s alleged that McCarthy’s company had applied for the tender advertised for the provision of security services for Hopefield, St Helena Bay, Paternoster, Vredenburg, Saldanha Bay and Langebaan in 2018. The winning company was required to provide 77 security guards to the towns, inclusive of day and night shifts, and provide labour and…

A WITNESS in a case involving 20 accused facing charges including housebreaking and murder has been granted leave to testify behind closed doors and not have her identity published. This is after the State sought an order that the identity of the witness be anonymous, and that a closed-circuit television be used for her evidence. The criminal case involves members of the Terrible Josters gang, in which 20 accused are facing 145 charges. The witness is expected to testify in relation to four of the accused charged with housebreaking with intent to commit murder, murder, possession of unlicensed firearm, and possession of ammunition. An oral submission and an expert report of a clinical psychologist, a Colonel Clark, was submitted to the court, in which the witness reported that she suffered…

THE inquiry into suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office may be entering its final stretch, but the battle between its chairperson and Mkhwebane is far from over. Qubudile Dyantyi’s latest decision to refuse yet another bid to recuse himself as the chairperson sets the stage for a yet another legal showdown. He maintains that he never acted in any manner that was unfair to Mkhwebane and is of the view that the evidence tendered does not support that there is any prima facie proof of the allegations against him. Those in support of Mkhwebane may now feel strongly justified in their grievance that Dyantyi has unilaterally acted when deciding to turn down the latest bid to have him removed without the input of other MPs. His continued…

Presidential guards were holding Niger President Mohamed Bazoum inside his palace in the capital Niamey yesterday, security sources said. The presidency said the guards had started an “anti-republican” movement “in vain” and that Bazoum was well. West Africa’s main regional and economic bloc Ecowas said it was concerned about an attempted coup and called on the plotters to free Bazoum. The AU called on the “treasonous” soldiers involved to stop immediately. The statement followed reports that presidential guards had cut access to the palace and blocked Bazoum inside, raising concern that West Africa’s sixth coup since 2020 could be under way. “The President of the Republic and his family are well,” the presidency said on its social media pages without providing further details. The statement was later deleted amid doubts…

New York: A high-rise crane partially collapsed in New York’s busy Midtown area of Manhattan yesterday, slamming into an adjacent building and sending concrete debris crashing to the street. Residents ran for their lives to escape the falling debris. Four civilians suffered minor injuries when the construction crane’s arm collapsed before 7.30am after a fire broke out in its operating car, officials said. The New York City fire department said the crane was lifting 16 tons of concrete when its cables became weakened by the blaze. The crane operator tried to extinguish the fire but the flames overwhelmed him and he had to leave the crane. He was unhurt. | AFP…

San Francisco: Four US leaders in artificial intelligence (AI) announced yesterday the formation of an industry group devoted to addressing risks that cutting edge versions of the technology may pose. Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI said the Frontier Model Forum would draw on the expertise of its members to minimise AI risks and support industry standards. The companies pledged to share best practices. Objectives of the forum include minimising risks and enabling independent safety evaluations of AI platforms, the companies said. It will also support the development of applications intended to tackle climate change and cancer. | AFP…

Banyumas: Indonesian rescuers raced against the clock yesterday to save eight people trapped in an illegal gold mine on Java, the country’s biggest island, officials said. Unlicensed mines are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago and accidents are frequent. The miners were digging inside a 60m-deep hole in Pancurendang village in Central Java on Tuesday evening when water flooded the illegal mine, police said. With oxygen fast running out and the potential for severe flooding of the mine shaft, the rescue effort was being aided by the military and had turned to getting the water out. Divers would be sent to look for the miners, officials said. | AFP…

Despite July temperatures in Paris sometimes rising above 40 degrees, the IOC president is confident that athletes will sleep comfortably in their non-airconditioned accommodation at next year’s Games, he said on Tuesday. “The organising committee has taken great efforts and many measures … so that they can produce minus-six degrees compared to the outside temperature, maybe even more,” Thomas Bach told reporters during a visit to the site. Paris, like many European cities, has experienced extremely hot summers in recent years, with temperatures rising to 43 degrees in July last year. Bach said he was not concerned about heatwaves affecting the comfort of the 15 000 athletes expected at the Games and the Paralympic Games as the Committee has had to deal with high temperatures and humidity during the Tokyo…

ALTRON Group took the bull by the horns at subsidiary Altron Nexus by retrenchments and putting it up for sale, after the subsidiary did not win an anticipated large contract, while R336 million of provisions had to be raised in the last six months as well. The share price of Altron, one of the largest technology groups on the JSE, slumped more than 9% yesterday morning after it said that it was likely to report an interim group headline loss per share when compared with a profit at the same time last year, much of which was due to the issues at Altron Nexus. The group said in a trading statement that headline earnings a share (Heps) from continuing operations was estimated to increase between 5% and 24% compared…

While school hints at possible action, Education Department wants her barred from teaching A substitute teacher at Crawford International Pretoria College has been dismissed after she was caught in a video that has gone viral writing racist phrases in a class. In the video that has caused outrage, the 82-year-old Grade 8 substitute teacher was captured by a learner writing racist phrases, such the N- and K-word, during an English class on Monday. The footage surfaced on social media later that afternoon, and the teacher was dismissed by the school that same evening. The learners were seen taking out their cellphones and recorded the incident, while some were heard shouting: “Absolutely … this right here … no, no, no … Not in my country, Ma’am”. However, the white teacher seemed…

YOUR Monday editorial “Incompetent ministers must face the chop” refers. It is quite right to state that the ANC needs to consider discharging government ministers who are not fulfilling their obligations. This, if properly researched, would lead to every single minister losing their positions. This would include the president and his deputy. In fact, if one looks at the situation carefully, most of the members of Parliament in the ANC have steadfastly, despite all odds, supported wrongdoing, fraudulent activity, cadre deployment and indeed the collapse of service delivery in South Africa. No other government in the world would survive what we have witnessed over the past 15 years. Only in South Africa do we lurch from one disaster to the next. Hopefully the citizens of South Africa punish the government…

AFTER reading an article written by or composed for Vladimir Putin in the Cape Times recently I wanted to puke! The article was nothing but nonsensical Russian political spin designed to bamboozle the uninformed. Suggestions that Russia is the great saviour of the African continent is a blatant lie. Why does Putin not rather explain his illegal murderous attack on his neighbour Ukraine, let him explain the tens of thousands of young Russian men he has sent to their deaths in defence of his unholy war. Let him explain his deadly attacks on innocent Ukrainian people in residential areas. Let him explain why he is in Ukraine in the first place . Putin’s mentality and actions are a chapter straight out of George Orwell’s book entitled 1984 where freedom of…

THE Fisherman’s Lane upgrade project is in its final stages, bringing long-anticipated relief to residents. For years Strandfontein residents had called for action from the City, raising concern about the collapse of Fisherman’s Lane, known as Broken Road, and the deteriorated infrastructure and general safety. Work started on the site in October. Strandfontein Community Police Forum (CPF) chairperson Sandy Schuter said: “It feels as if finally promises are at least starting to manifest. It is still in its shaping stages but getting there. “Because it has never been upgraded since it was a broken road with no lights or toilets, that's why we pushed in that direction. So it looks a lot better. From our side we are just hoping for safety to be upgraded especially for the sake…

THE Camps FC has thanked the public for lifting the spirits of the seven players of the club who were unable to compete in Sweden’s Gothia Cup youth soccer tournament due to being denied visas by the Swedish government. Last month, the Swedish Migration Court denied the young players travel documentation because their unabridged birth certificates did not contain their biological fathers’ details. Efforts to resolve the issue, including affidavits from the children’s fathers consenting to the trip, were in vain. An appeal at the Migration Court of Appeal was also denied. The heartbroken team, which returned to Cape Town on Monday, had to travel without their teammates. Magnus Petrone of the Embassy of Sweden in Kenya, said for South Africa and many other countries in Africa, visa applications to…

Global fertiliser suppliers have made incredibly high profits in 2022/23 on the back of price spikes attributed to the Russia-Ukraine war. The profits of the world’s top nine producers trebled in 2022 from two years previously. The margins and impacts have been even greater on fertiliser supplies to African farmers. Moreover, the super-high profit margins are being sustained in 2023 in many African countries even while international prices have come down. The harvest season has recently come to an end in most countries in southern Africa, with farmer margins and production being squeezed by high input costs. The wide gaps between fertiliser prices in the region and international fertiliser prices point to major issues within the supply chain, with excess margins of some 30 to 80% being earned on sales…

African leaders will look to Russian President Vladimir Putin for concrete promises on grain supplies at a summit starting today, with some also likely to seek clarity and assurances on the future of Wagner mercenaries in the continent. The gathering in St Petersburg will take place 10 days after Putin quit the Black Sea agreement that had enabled Ukraine – like Russia, a major grain exporter – to ship food out of its southern ports despite the 17-month-old conflict. Chicago wheat futures Wv1, a benchmark of global prices, have risen around 20% since Russia ended the deal on July 17. They are now at their highest levels since February, though well below their peaks of 2022. Putin wrote in a pre-summit article on the Kremlin website that the arrangement had…

A fire blazed on a ship off the Dutch coast with nearly 3 000 vehicles on board yesterday, killing one person and injuring several others, the coastguard said. The fire began on Tuesday night on the 199m Panama-registered Fremantle Highway, which was en route from Germany to Egypt, forcing several crew members to jump overboard. Rescue ships sprayed water onto the burning boat to cool it down, but using too much water risked its sinking, the Dutch coastguard said. A salvage vessel hooked on to stop it drifting. “The fire is most definitely still not controlled. It’s a very hard fire to extinguish, possibly because of the cargo the ship was transporting,” said Edwin Versteeg, a spokesperson for the Dutch Department of Waterways and Public Works. The coastguard said that…

NEW DELHI: India’s parliament yesterday authorised a no-confidence vote against Narendra Modi’s government by an alliance of opposition parties, to force the prime minister to address ethnic clashes in a north-eastern state. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a clear majority of 301 members in the 542-seat lower house of parliament, so the no-confidence vote will not affect its stability. The opposition wants to trigger a debate about violence in the remote, BJP-ruled Manipur state, where more than 130 people have been killed and 60 000 displaced since May. It is seen as a rare security failure by Modi’s government, ahead of the May 2024 elections. | Reuters.…

LONDON: A tearful Kevin Spacey was found not guilty yesterday by a jury at a London court of committing historical sex offences against four men A jury acquitted the Oscar-winning US actor of nine charges, including sexual assault, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity. Spacey, 64, began to cry and mouthed “thank you” to the jury, before wiping away tears. He shook hands with his lawyers before leaving. During the four-week trial, jurors were told by prosecutors that the actor had aggressively groped three of the men between 2004 and 2013 in Britain. The fourth said Spacey performed oral sex on him while he had passed out. Spacey told the court one of the complainants had…

Australia’s injuries continue to mount at the Women’s World Cup, with forward Mary Fowler and defender Aivi Luik joining Sam Kerr on the sidelines for today’s Group B clash against Nigeria (noon kick-off) but captain Steph Catley said spirits remain high in her 10th-ranked team. Fowler and Luik suffered mild concussions in separate incidents during Tuesday’s training, while Kerr – the team’s leading scorer with 63 goals – has a calf injury that kept her out of Australia’s 1-0 win over Ireland in their opening game. She will be re-evaluated after the Nigeria game. “Morale is high. There’s not too much I need to do, to be honest. I think everyone’s very focused,” said Catley, who scored the lone goal via a penalty against Ireland. “Everyone knows we need to…

Heinrich Klaasen is fast developing a reputation that will give spinners the world over sleepless nights. The Proteas middle-order batter is taking no prisoners and is sparing not the finest slow bowlers the world has to offer. Klaasen’s latest casualty is Afghanistan’s superstar Rashid Khan. Playing for the Seattle Orcas in Major League Cricket in the US, the ginger-haired right-hander tore into Rashid en route to a 44-ball 110 not out (9x4, 7x6) on Tuesday night. It was a belligerent batting display, especially with Klaasen having reached only 13 off his first 12 deliveries. But from thereon, the MI New York bowlers took a pounding, particularly Rashid, who was belted for 26 runs in the 17th over as the Orcas chased down 195 to win by two wickets with four…

THE provincial Health Department has highlighted a concern of having to shift from hospital-based treatment towards treating patients in communities, as they struggle to get patients to complete their TB treatments. However, this presented its own challenges, including the change of cellphone numbers, home addresses and some areas not being accessible due to gangsterism. The ad-hoc committee on TB-related matters at the Legislature was briefed yesterday by the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness on the prevalence of TB across the province before and after Covid-19. According to the department’s Dr Nousheena Firfirey, every time the country had a new wave of Covid-19 cases, TB testing decreased. “The longest period of increase in testing occurred between March 2021 to November 2022. “Though the relative increase in the rate of…

275g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 8 spring onions, chopped 350g Cheddar cheese, grated 125g back bacon, diced 4 eggs 1 tsp sea salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 tbs vegetable oil 60ml buttermilk Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease a large loaf tin. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined. (You don’t need to pre-cook the bacon, cooks in the bread and provides moisture and flavour.) Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the bread. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. A perfect loaf to slice and pack for…

A WISE man once said: “Prevention is better than cure!” This is a much-supported statement in the health and wellness fraternity because prevention has been proven to save lives. While cure can have much the same implications as prevention, it is still advisable and better to seek treatment options than be a statistic of death which could have been prevented. It is also worth noting that there is an increase of deaths related to cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer and diabetes. These are considered to be non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and they cannot be passed on from person to person. While there is much effort given to make the general public aware of diseases such as the most recent cholera outbreak in Gauteng, Covid-19 and HIV and Aids, there is…

ELDERLY people in the Eastern Cape’s Amathole District Municipality said they drew hope from the Older Persons Amendment Bill, as they often fell victim to violent crimes perpetuated by young people using drugs. The elderly people appealed to the government to provide them with more protection as they become increasingly vulnerable to a host of crimes including rape, assault, attempted murder and burglary. They shared their experiences with the National Assembly’s committee on social development when it conducted public hearings on the amendment bill in Butterworth on Tuesday. The committee said the residents welcomed the opportunity to make proposals and suggestions on the bill. “Some of them shared their painful rape experiences at the hands of heartless young people. “They highlighted their experiences of abuse to demonstrate the extent of…

A MAN who fell into arrears with his car payment and was faced with a judgment against him to return the vehicle, succeeded in his bid to have the judgment overturned as the Sheriff had attached the original summons to the outer gate of his premises. Nonhlanhla Gamede told the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, that he only became aware of the judgment about a year later, when the bank had removed the vehicle from his house. He then asked his attorney how this could have happened. It turned out that Wesbank had obtained a judgment against him in his absence. Gamede on the other hand, said he knew nothing about the summons issued against him, thus he did not defend the application. The Sheriff of the court, who had to…

Navigating this path of reform will require strong leadership, and a disdain for laziness The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) provided intriguing insights into the Chinese socialist modernisation process, which are worth discussing at length. General Secretary Xi Jinping made it abundantly clear: China’s modernisation, an endeavour that is conducive to accelerating the cultivation and reconstruction of micro market entities, is a result of many decades of determined exploration and practical experience by the CPC and Chinese people. This modernisation process has been firmly anchored in the unique characteristics of China’s historical and socio-political context. A transformative lesson that we in South Africa can draw from this is the immense value of understanding and embracing our unique national characteristics to drive forward our state-owned enterprises…

A powerful storm pounded the northern Philippines yesterday, killing at least two people, toppling trees and knocking out power as thousands sheltered with neighbours or in emergency evacuation centres. Typhoon Doksuri was “slowly moving away from Dalupiri Island”, off the northern tip of the main island of Luzon, and into open waters, the state weather agency said. The agency earlier warned of “violent, life-threatening conditions” as severe maximum sustained winds of 175km/h and heavy rain pounded the lightly populated region. A woman selling bread rolls died when she was hit by a falling coconut tree in the northern province of Isabela yesterday, provincial disaster official Constante Foronda said. A 16-year-old boy was crushed to death yesterday when a landslide struck a house in the northern mountain city of Baguio, city…

Lebanese officials were in a last- minute scramble yesterday to avoid leaving the crisis-hit country’s central bank without a leader when governor Riad Salameh’s 30-year tenure ends next week. The prospect of a vacuum at the top of the central bank has added to concerns about the further fragmentation of the state as it barrels towards a fifth year of financial turmoil. Politicians remain split over whether to appoint a successor or allow the bank’s first vice-governor to take over as laid out in law, reflecting wider divisions that have also left the presidency vacant and the country without a fully empowered cabinet for over a year. Iran-backed Hezbollah and its Christian ally the Free Patriotic Movement are against appointing a new governor, while speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and…

ANKARA: Türkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Ankara, officials said. Abbas is paying a visit to Türkiye and had previously met Erdogan on Tuesday. Abbas and Haniyeh have been unable to repair a rift since 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip. Abbas’ Western-backed Palestinian Authority remains dominant in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Abbas agreed with Haniyeh, who resides between Qatar and Türkiye, to hold a meeting of factions in Cairo at the end of July, to discuss the conflict with Israel. | Reuters…

WILMINGTON: US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and prosecutors agreed to a plea deal over Hunter’s failure to pay income taxes yesterday. The original agreement fell apart when the judge expressed concerns about a provision in the deal that allowed Hunter to evade being prosecuted for a gun-related charge in a separate case. Under the more limited deal, he has agreed to plead to charges that span from 2014 to 2019 and include conduct related to tax offences, drug use and gun possession. | Reuters…