Table of contents for 2023-09-04 in Cape Times

CONSTABLE Donay Phillips and Ashwin Pedro were among fallen police officers President Cyril Ramaphosa paid homage to during an emotional wreath-laying ceremony yesterday. Thirty-four members including four female officers and reservists who died in the line of duty between April 2022 and March this year, were honoured during the SAPS National Commemoration ceremony with their names etched on the Memorial Wall at the Union Buildings in Tshwane. The commemoration is observed on the first Sunday of every September, where grieving families of the men and women in blue lay flowers in the memory of their loved ones. Pedro, 26, was shot dead by an alleged well-known gangster in Parkwood, Grassy Park early December last year. While 35-year-old Phillips died after being shot in the head in an incident at Somerset…

A Bonnievale family is seeking justice after a 14-year-old girl and her grandmother were allegedly attacked by a farmer's pit bulls, leaving the women severely injured. Three siblings, aged 14, 11 and 8 years old were reportedly in fields looking for firewood when they came across the dogs, who charged at them. The 14-year-old tried to fight the dogs, while the younger siblings ran home to call for help. Their 55-year-old grandmother, Thandeku Gladys Xanywa, rushed to the scene but was also injured while trying to fight off the dogs from her grandchild. They were reportedly rescued by farmworkers in the area and rushed to hospital. The grandmother was discharged on Friday while the teen is recovering in hospital. Xanywa said they were left traumatised by the incident and want…

TWO former Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries officials involved in illegally selling back seized abalone to poachers, have been sentenced for corruption and money laundering. Winston Busch and Nomvuyo Motloung pleaded guilty and were sentenced at the Western Cape High Court on Friday. Motloung was sentenced to three years for money laundering, corruption and illegal possession of abalone. Busch was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment for charges related to racketeering, corruption, money laundering and illegal possession of abalone. Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the two were among a group of marine inspectors that the Hawks nabbed in 2018 for colluding with a syndicate of poachers by illegally selling back the seized abalone and escorting illegal abalone shipment. The syndicate, which was apprehend along with the officials, operated in Gansbaai,…

RESIDENTS and civil society organisations who protested against the City’s electricity tariffs have expressed frustration that the municipality issued a media statement in response to their grievances, instead of meeting for meaningful engagement. Last weekend, civil society, union, political parties and residents came together calling for a revision of the entire Electricity Tariff Setting policy and the “inadequate implementation of public participation”, among others. They are opposing the City’s 17.6% electricity tariff hike for 2023/24. This is 2.5% more than the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) approved 15.1%. They also called for a senior-level panel with in-depth knowledge and the necessary authority to champion a remedy of their grievances. In its response, the City maintained its stance on the 17.6% electricity tariff increase. “The City’s tariff increase is…

NO CARING government would jump at shifting the blame to NGOs for failing to enforce its by-laws, especially when vulnerable people’s lives could be at risk. No government worth its salt would find comfort in presenting itself as helpless with all the power vested in it by the Constitution, at a time it is supposed to be taking responsibility and leading by example. The blame game that unfolded following the tragic deaths of 74 people in a building fire in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, says a lot about the calibre of leaders we entrust with the honour of governing this country. But allow us to first convey our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, and to wish the injured a speedy recovery. That so many people perished in one…

In an unprecedented event, Pope Francis and just about the entire Catholic population of a country were in the same room when he presided at a Mass in Mongolia’s capital yesterday. The Mass in Ulaanbaatar’s Steppe Arena was the religious highlight of the pope’s trip to visit the Catholic community of just 1 450. Most of Mongolia’s population of about 3.3 million are Buddhists. Most of Mongolia’s nine parishes are in the capital, but one in a remote area has only about 30 members and Church officials said they expected everyone who could make it to attend. Many Mongolians still live a nomadic tradition to graze their animals and in his homily, the pope used the image to make his point. “All of us are God’s nomads, pilgrims in search…

India switched off its moon rover, the first craft to reach the lunar south pole, after it completed its two-week assignment conducting experiments, the country’s space agency said. The Pragyan rover from the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft was “set into sleep mode” but with batteries charged and receiver on, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) late on Saturday. “Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments!” Isro said. “Else, it will forever stay there as India’s lunar ambassador.” By landing on the moon, India joined the US, China and the former Soviet Union. It went beyond them in reaching the rugged south pole, shortly after Russia’s Luna-25 crashed during a similar attempt. Chandrayaan-3’s soft, textbook touchdown after a failed attempt in 2019…

Lagos: Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has recalled the country’s ambassadors from abroad as part of steps to rejig his new administration and ensure efficiency in the foreign service. Since taking office in May, Tinubu has announced a series of reforms to boost the economy and spur investment, but these have caused a surge in living costs. The Presidency said the recall was issued after Tinubu’s “careful study” of situations at Nigerian consulate offices and embassies worldwide. But Nigeria’s permanent representatives to the UN in New York and Geneva were exempted from the recall, because of the UN General Assembly being held later this month. | AFP…

LOS ANGELES; Adele could earn “close to £1 million (about R23m) a night” for a new run of Las Vegas shows. The 35-year-old singer, who has 10-year-old son Angelo with ex-husband Simon Konecki, opened her Weekends with Adele concert series in Sin City towards the end of last year and the shows are to come to an end in November, but bosses are desperate to sign her up for another run and would make her an offer she would find difficult to turn down. A source said Adele loves performing in Vegas. | Bang Showbiz…

A SUPERMARKET giant will have to compensate in full all damages suffered by shopper, Maria Williams, after she slipped and fell in one of its stores. Williams, widow of late rugby star Chester Williams, was victorious in her case against the Pick n Pay store, located at N1 City Mall, where she was known to be a frequent shopper. On November 13, 2017, Williams visited the centre with her sister and after completing their shopping went to the till to pay but while there, Williams realised she had forgotten an item and went back into the store to get it. “She set off down aisle No 4 to collect the item and returned to the till up a different aisle – No 5 apparently. While walking back to the till…

Pharmaceutical retail giant Dis-Chem has disputed claims by the Information Regulator of South Africa after it was issued an Enforcement Notice for contravening various sections of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). According to the Information Regulator, in April and May last year, Dis-Chem’s third-party service provider, Grapevine, suffered a cyber attack. “On May 1 Dis-Chem became aware of the security compromise, through SMSs sent to some of its employees, and on May 5, Dis-Chem then notified the Regulator in writing of this.” “Approximately 3.6 million data subjects’ records were accessed from Dis-Chem’s e-Statement Service database which was managed by Grapevine. The affected records in this database were limited to names and surnames, e-mail addresses, and cellphone numbers of the data subjects.” The Regulator said it conducted its own…

ANC confronted with harsh reality of state of country’s economy WHATEVER feel-good factor the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa may have harboured in hosting the 15th BRICS Summit and the precursor state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in August – no doubt touted as a diplomatic triumph given the expansion of the Bloc by six new members – quickly dissipated as the ruling ANC is confronted with the harsh reality of the state of the country’s economy and public finances, especially its onerous and growing sovereign debt burden. The President no doubt as he was showing his VIP Chinese guest the Jacaranda lined splendours of the Union Buildings and Pretoria, was buoyed following the apparent exoneration by SARB that “there was no perfected transaction and thus the SARB cannot…

Nearly four million Syrian students in government-controlled areas returned to school yesterday, braving the effects of war, a devastating earthquake and a deep economic crisis. But many children do not have classrooms to go to in a country where many educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed and 90% of people live under the poverty line according to the UN. Syria’s education ministry on Saturday called on schools “not to enforce strict school uniforms … and to reduce the necessary supplies” for students, the SANA state news agency reported. These measures were introduced “in light of the difficult economic conditions facing the country and as part of an effort to reduce the financial burden on the population,” SANA said. “More than 3.7 million students are starting the 2023-2024 academic year,…

LONDON: British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said yesterday that the government would move to fix unsafe school buildings quickly. This, after some 100 schools were told to shut some buildings due to old and crumbling concrete. The order last week for schools to vacate buildings with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) came just days before the start of a new term for most children. Hunt said that a majority of the 104 affected schools, out of a total of 22 000 across England, would be able to operate largely normally. RAAC was commonly used to build walls, floors and ceilings during the 1960s-80s but is today deemed much weaker.. | AFP…

Seoul: North Korea staged a “simulated tactical nuclear attack” drill at the weekend with mock atomic warheads attached to two long-range cruise missiles that were test-fired into the ocean, state-controlled media said yesterday. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the operation on Saturday was a “counteraction drill” in response to joint military activity by US and South Korean forces that the agency said had escalated tensions. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said an unspecified number of cruise missiles were launched towards the Yellow Sea. Their specifications were being evaluated. | AFP…

Jerusalem: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel was considering deporting 1 000 Eritreans who took part in “riots” in Tel Aviv over the weekend that injured dozens, including Israeli policemen. Clashes erupted on Saturday when a demonstration against an Eritrean government event turned violent, injuring nearly 140 people, including a dozen Eritrean asylum seekers who were hit by Israeli police gunfire. The clashes began when hundreds of anti-government Eritreans came to prevent the event from taking place in Tel Aviv, the commercial centre of Israel. | AFP…

THE US DOLLAR will eventually be dethroned as the dominant global currency and the BRICS can create viable alternatives, said Jeffrey Sachs, a world-renowned economist and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. “The BRICS can create viable alternatives to the dollar. In this sense, yes, the dollar will be dethroned as the overwhelmingly dominant global currency,” Sachs said. “That is inevitable in the long run in any event, given the declining share of US gross domestic product and global trade." The BRICS would hasten the transition to a multi-currency system, and the US dollar would still have its role, but a much smaller one among many currencies, Sachs added. Former chief economist of Goldman Sachs Jim O’Neill said the US dollar could be dethroned only when China wants…

A LAW-enforcement officer is recovering in hospital after he was shot while off-duty in Eersteriver at the weekend. The officer – the third to come under fire in just over a month – was shot in Hillview on Saturday. The incident follows the murder of Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) officer, Zanikhaya Kwinana who was shot and killed on August 4 when he and his colleagues came under fire while on patrol in Nyanga, amid a volatile taxi strike. Kwinana died hardly a week after 30-year-old Leap officer Toufeeq Williams was killed by a suspected stray bullet during alleged gang-related shooting in Mitchells Plain. Police yesterday said the circumstances leading to the shooting of the officer were under investigation. Spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said the incident was reported at about…

FOR THE past few years, a new type of influencer (definition: a person with the ability to influence how others behave because they have built a reputation based on their knowledge and expertise, generally on social media platforms) has emerged. They are called finfluencers; and as the name suggests, these individuals focus on the niche area of personal finance, investing, and creating personal wealth. Within this finfluencer social media world, there are also different subsets of individuals that focus on investing, the F.I.R.E (financially independent, retire early) movement, the debt-free community, investing in real estate, frugality, and living sustainably. Most finfluencers started out on YouTube where they post videos, however, platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have also seen an increase in people posting financially-related content. These finfluencers range…

Russian drones targeted Ukraine’s southern Odesa region in the early hours of yesterday, with Moscow hitting a Danube port on the border with Nato member Romania in an attack condemned by Bucharest. Moscow has hit Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Black Sea and on the Danube for weeks, since exiting a key deal that allowed the safe passage of ships carrying grain. The attack came on the eve of a summit in Russia between Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hopes to revive the grain deal. President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that he discussed “ways to ensure the functioning” of a maritime corridor set up by Kyiv to ensure safe navigation with France’s Emmanuel Macron. The Odesa region attacks also came as Kyiv has claimed some successes…

An Australian icebreaker was sailing to Antarctica yesterday in a rescue mission to evacuate a researcher with a “developing medical condition” from a remote station. Icebreaker RSV Nuyina departed from Tasmania last week to rescue an unnamed individual from Casey, a research base on the frozen continent 3 443km away, the Australian Antarctic Programme said. The researcher “requires specialist medical assessment and care in Australia for a developing medical condition”, a programme spokesperson said. The name of the condition was not given. The ship has a top speed of around 16 knots, meaning the rescue could take several days. The Nuyina was equipped with helicopters on board to help the evacuation effort, the spokesperson said in a statement Saturday. The researcher’s family is being kept informed of the situation, the…

TAIPEI: Domestic flights were cancelled and almost 4 000 people were evacuated as Typhoon Haikui barrelled into south-eastern Taiwan yesterday, bringing torrential rain and strong winds. Haikui made landfall in the mountainous and sparsely populated far southeast of Taiwan yesterday afternoon, the first typhoon to directly hit Taiwan in four years. Counties and cities in the region cancelled classes and declared a day off for workers. Haikui is a much weaker storm than Typhoon Saola which hit Hong Kong and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Saturday. Taiwan’s government said that 3 729 people had been evacuated, mainly in the south and east. | Reuters…

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the UN to reform in line with 21st century realities to ensure the representation of voices that matter, according to an interview published yesterday. A “mid-20th century approach cannot serve the world in the 21st century”, said Modi, who will host a summit of the Group of 20 big economies from next weekend. Modi, leader of the world’s most populous country and aspirant to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is seeking to boost India’s status and promote its causes, such as relief for unsustainable debt at the summit. He reiterated his support for the AU to become a full member of the G20. Modi called for global co-operation in fighting cybercrime, saying: “Terrorists using dark net, metaverse,…