Table of contents for 2023-10-05 in Cape Times

SEVERAL state-owned entities and institutions have failed to submit to Parliament their 2022-23 annual reports within the stipulated September deadline. The ministers under whom these entities fall, have written to Parliament giving reasons for the non-submissions and asked for extensions. Chief among the culprits are Eskom, SAA, Denel, National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas), Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), Compensation Fund, Ingonyama Trust and Government Printing Works, among others. In his letter, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said Eskom’s external auditors had identified matters that still needed further investigations and/or attention. “Eskom anticipates that the annual financial statements will be finalised during October,” he said. “SAA has indicated that the audit had begun later than expected and may only be finalised after the outstanding audits for the previous financial years…

‘A slap in the face of any attempts to build social cohesion’ THE DA-run City of Cape Town has come in for sharp criticism for its sponsorship of a tribute concert with controversial Steve Hofmeyr on the line-up of performers. The Theuns Jordaan concert is scheduled to take place at the DHL Stadium on January 6 with a host of artists expected to perform to an audience of 20 000. However, there has been outrage due to Hofmeyr’s name being on the line-up for the Cape Town show, and a lack of inclusivity for diverse audiences. The show comes weeks after a similar production held at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, in tribute to Jordaan who died at age 50 in 2021 after a short battle with cancer. Alongside Hofmeyr,…

FOR domestic and international visitors looking to experience the true and untamed natural beauty of highveld South Africa, whether on a basic or sophisticated budget, a drive from Johannesburg to the North West province provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to feel truly immersed in South Africa’s rural heritage. A world apart from a coastal, cosmopolitan city like Cape Town, the scenic drive along the N4 and R556 through the Magaliesberg, over the Hartbeespoort Dam and past scores of villages, is a cultural introduction to life amid plains of African bushveld and wildlife. The opportunity to visit the North West came during a media tour hosted by SA Tourism during World Tourism Week, where I, along with several journalists, travelled from Rosebank to Sun City. It’s a 2.5 hour…

THE stigma around sex talk within homes and communities and inadequate counselling around long-term contraceptive options could be among the reasons for a year-on-year decline in contraception use. Comparing the periods 2021/22 and 2022/23, the City’s Health Department noted a 14% decline in use of the MedroxyProgesterone injection which went down from 238 419 to 203 877. The oral pill cycle saw a 10% decline, from 103 301 to 88 508, while IUCD insertions saw a 24% decline, going from 1 156 to 873. Sub-dermal implant insertions saw an 11% decline from 9 110 in 2021/22 to 8 071 in 2022/23. Decline in contraceptive use comes hot on the heels of provincial statistics in June revealing nearly 4 000 children aged 10-19 had delivered babies in the Western Cape within…

THE report into matters related to top cop Charl Kinnear’s assassination has been concluded following a probe established after a scathing Western Cape High Court judgment. This comes as nearly a year since the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) tabled its finalised report into Kinnear’s murder with little progress made to arrest the officers it is said to have implicated. Masemola appointed an investigation team following Western Cape High Court judge Daniel Thulare’s judgment, which shone a spotlight on SAPS officers who became involved in organised crime and corrupt dealings with Cape Town gangs. They apparently also “infiltrated the justice system”. Speaking to the media this week, Masemola said: “I was informed last week that they have finalised this investigation and the report is ready. I am yet to take…

“ORGANISED crime is innovative and incredibly adaptive; it also needs to be addressed that way.” This was the view of advocate Hermione Cronje, consultant to the Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative, a joint initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, as the Mobility Summit came to an end yesterday. Panellists delved into how building and construction service delivery were being impacted by crime syndicates through extortion, theft and vandalism. According to Cronje, organised crime expanded its market from drugs and other serious crimes into procurement, a development which, he said, should have been foreseen. . “The construction Mafia is not new. It is just that now it has been given a name. It goes as far back as 2010. It should have been foreseen. Conventional police will not…

“IT IS through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine; that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.” We begin today’s editorial with these words from Madiba to remind teachers of the responsibility they carry in shaping not only the futures of their learners but of this country. That is why the South African Council for Educators’ (Sace) stats in the first quarter of the 2022-23 financial year on errant teachers paints a worrying picture that our children are at times at risk from the very same people we entrust with their futures. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare to be called to school or informed by…

Weeks of violent protests by young men in Gaza have sent a message about the dire financial squeeze in the Israeli-blockaded enclave, economists and even some senior Israeli officials believe, and relief measures may be in the offing. Ostensibly the protests, organised by youth groups but backed by Gaza’s ruling Islamist movement Hamas, were about the treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and visits by Jewish groups to the Al Aqsa mosque compound, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews, who know it as the Temple Mount. But a senior Israeli official noted the relative restraint by Hamas, which did not officially join the protests itself or launch more rockets at Israel. He suggested the more immediate reason for the unrest was less long-time grievances and more Gaza’s…

PARIS: French singer and model Carla Bruni said yesterday that she had fought off breast cancer as she called on women to get regular screenings in Breast Cancer Awareness Month. “Four years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” said the former first lady, who is married to ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy. She said she went through surgery, radiotherapy and hormone therapy. “I was lucky – the cancer was not yet aggressive,” she said, adding that it was caught early because she went for breast checks on the same day each year. | AFP…

BRUSSELS: Envoys of the EU’s 27 member states yesterday reached a deal on sharing out the task of caring for refugees and migrants in crisis. The agreement, which will form the basis of negotiations between member states and the European Parliament, would give countries options to adjust asylum and migration rules in times of crisis. Member states facing large flows of migrants could speed up procedures and ask for solidarity contributions from other EU countries, in terms of relocating asylum seekers or financial help. The meeting was the last chance to seal a deal before the bloc’s 27 leaders meet in Spain’s Granada today, where they are to discuss irregular migration. | Reuters…

TAITUNG: Typhoon Koinu headed towards southern Taiwan yesterday, bringing heavy rain and winds and causing the cancellation of more than 100 flights as well as the suspension of work and schools. Koinu is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s southeastern coast near the city of Taitung today as a category 3 typhoon, but then weaken as it crosses the island’s southern tip and enters the Taiwan Strait, according to Tropical Storm Risk. The heaviest rain will fall along mountainous and sparsely populated parts of Pingtung county in the south and the east coast but the typhoon will also affect the major southern port city of Kaohsiung. | Reuters…

FIRSTRAND yesterday said Alan Pul- linger will step down as group CEO after a career at the financial services firm spanning 26 years, and will be succeeded by Mary Vilakazi, currently group chief operating officer (COO) effective from April 1, 2024. Vilakazi will lead a company valued at more than R355 billion, which is the owner of RMB, WesBank, Aldermore and FNB. Last month FirstRand posted a 12% firming in normalised earnings, which amounted to R36.7bn and yielded a similar rate of growth in annual dividends at 384 cents for the full year to the end of June 2023. Pullinger said: “The depth and quality of the FirstRand management team means that stepping down as CEO, and the subsequent changes that this decision prompts, is a seamless…

THE 2023 Poetry Africa Festival kicks off today at the UJ Arts & Culture Centre in Joburg, with a line-up boasting local and international poetry stars including Eugene Skeef from South Africa, Rudy Francisco of the US and Amee Slam of Ivory Coast. This is only the beginning of the 13-day festival, which will then move to Durban before coming to a grand finale in Bloemfontein on October 17. Over 100 poets from 20 countries will be gracing the festival with performances, and the organisers, the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, are also exploring the boundaries between genres with their array of cross-over events. One such event is The Four Horsemen – a theatrical production that tells the gripping tale of the end of the world…

FRENCH-owned company, TotalEnergies, with partners Shell and PetroSA, has been granted environmental authorisation to drill up to five oil wells 60km off Cape Point, after Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) Minister Barbara Creecy rejected an appeal brought by environmental lobby groups. The appeal to stop TotalEnergies from drilling Block 5, 6 and 7 off the Cape coast was the latest in a series of actions brought by the groups who seek to halt energy companies from exploring for new offshore discoveries at the foot of Africa. But Creecy in a decision following the appeal said she was satisfied that the impacts of noise and light have been “adequately assessed and mitigated to ensure low impacts on the receiving environment”. In a joint statement, the groups, including small-scale fisher organisations,…

THE Competition Tribunal will today hear Sekunjalo Group of companies’ bid to extend the current interim relief preventing a number of banks from closing the black-owned group’s bank accounts. The interim order granted on September 16, 2022 and extended in March this year, came as a result of several of South Africa’s banks closing transactional facilities for each of the companies within the Sekunjalo Group. The interim relief ordered that the bank accounts that had been closed, be reopened with the same terms and conditions as before the closure, and prevented the banks involved from closing any of the Sekunjalo accounts for a period of six months, or until the investigation being conducted by the Competition Commission was concluded, or whichever came first. Since the investigation has not yet…

COMMUNITY leaders in Mfuleni have decried the lack of police visibility following the killing of three people in the area earlier this week. This is after six gunmen shot and killed the victims at Fountain Heads in New Beginnings on Tuesday. According to police spokesperson Andrè Traut, detectives attached to the Serious and Violent Crimes Unit are pursuing all leads. “It is believed that six armed men approached the three victims aged 29, 30 and 44 at around 3pm while they were sitting in their vehicle, killing all three on the scene. “The suspects fled in a Toyota Avanza and are yet to be apprehended. The motive for the murders is yet to be established,” he said. The killings are the latest in a spate of mass murders in Cape…

WHAT started out as a heart-warming gesture of inclusion during matric ball season turned into a devastating blow for Chelse-Leigh Tiemie, a 17-year-old living with a disability, when Heideveld Senior Secondary allegedly uninvited her days before the event on Tuesday. Chelse-Leigh suffered severe brain injury following a hit-and-run on Duinefontein Road in Heideveld on October 17, 2020. She was a pupil at the school at the time, but has since been at home on the road to recovery. She is wheelchair and bed bound, has had to learn how to eat and is still in the process of learning how to sit up, stand and talk. The family maintained a warm relationship with the school until the matric ball incident. They said the school had allowed her to get a…

Real obstacles to growth are not debt-related Cosatu rejects the National Treasury's reckless attempts to impose misguided austerity budget cuts across government in the run-up to the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The federation is deeply dismayed that the Treasury has written to all state institutions instructing them to slash budgets by up to 15%, freeze all vacancies and infrastructure roll-out programmes. While we appreciate the very real fiscal constraints facing the state and the need to cut fat and reprioritise expenditure, the solutions offered by the Treasury of slashing expenditure and further decapacitating the state when the economy is in desperate need of stimulus and a well-oiled and capacitated public service, will only serve to choke the economy and further weaken an already enfeebled government and undermine its ability…

“I DON’T regret standing up for choosing governance over grievance.” That is how Kevin McCarthy reacted to his axing this week as speaker of the US House of Representatives in a brutal, historic rebellion by far-right Republicans accusing him of a string of broken promises and furious at his co-operation with Democrats. The manoeuvre laid bare the chaotic levels of infighting among Republicans heading into the 2024 presidential election, with its likely candidate Donald Trump making history of his own as the only former or sitting president to face criminal indictment. The first ousting of a speaker in the House’s 234-year history on Tuesday was supported by only a handful of right-wing Republican hardliners. However, the House is almost evenly divided and with Democrats joining eight rebel Republicans rather…

Italian authorities were investigating yesterday the cause of the horrific crash of a bus carrying foreign tourists on the outskirts of Venice which killed 21 people including several children and injured 15 others. The electric bus crashed through the guardrail and off an overpass late on Tuesday in the Mestre district, slamming into the ground more than 10m below and catching fire. Five Ukrainians, a German and the Italian bus driver were among those killed, Venice’s prefect Michele Di Bari, the local representative of the interior ministry, said yesterday. He did not comment on the nationality of the others killed. The accident happened on a straight and normally very busy road that connects Mestre to Venice and runs alongside a railway. “We presume the driver may have fallen ill,” Veneto…

LONDON: David Beckham shaved off his famous blond curtains hairstyle to “rebel” against Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The former footballer, 48, has opened up about his changing image in his new Netflix documentary Beckham and revealed his most drastic change happened during his stint at the Premier League side in 2000 when he decided to lop off his hair for a buzz cut after having a fiery row with his coach during a training session. It led to a tense stand-off with Ferguson after the footballer turned up wearing a hat. Beckham’s former teammate, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, said: “David had a hat on and Sir Alex asked him to take his hat off. (David said) ‘No!’” The change of style overshadowed the team’s performance on the pitch and…

MOSCOW: If Ukraine were to become a member of the EU, it would be entitled to €186 billion (about R3.7 trillion) over seven years, which would make all existing member states contribute more but receive less from the bloc’s budget, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing calculations by the EU Council. Ukraine’s prospective membership would make it the bloc’s largest recipient of agricultural subsidies and push France off the top spot. It would also cause payments to current recipients to drop by 20.3% per hectare of agricultural land. Ukraine would also be entitled to €96.5bn from the EU’s common agricultural policy. | Sputnik…

Former Springbok wing Courtnall Skosan hopes to put in the hard work for his new side, the Stormers, and be in contention for their first match of the new United Rugby Championship (URC) season. And should he get the nod to jog out on the wing, it will be a return to Ellis Park for the former Lions speedster when the two sides square up in the opening game of their respective seasons on October 21. Skosan (32) played his domestic rugby at the Lions for more than a decade before embarking on a stint at English Premiership side Northampton Saints in 2022. He recently returned to his native Cape Town and will feature this season for his boyhood team. Although he would cherish the opportunity to make his debut…

A NEW music concept, Interlace Live, is debuting at The Masque this month. The show is a platform for avid music lovers or those just looking to experience something new, to discover talented local artists who are ready to make their mark in the music industry. Presented by Interlace and The Masque, Interlace Live will take place on October 13 at The Masque in Muizenberg. “Our main goal is to inspire and encourage more people to support local upcoming artists,” said Mark Mwaba, musical director and producer of Interlace Live. “We firmly believe that the best way to discover great music is by giving these talented individuals a chance and creating a strong community that embraces their artistry. “By attending our show, you not only get to enjoy amazing live…

Two preview screenings in Stellenbosch during Woordfees 2023 will offer audiences a first look at a groundbreaking new feature-length film currently being shot in the province. Speak Me A Speech, the new film from Cape Town’s CineSouth Studios, produced in association with Wits University’s Tsikinya-Chaka Centre, is still in production, with shooting scheduled to continue to the end next year. The 42-minute preview created by Speak Me A Speech director Victor van Aswegen for Woordfees from material filmed for the project to date gives a foretaste of the film that will be released only in 2025. The Woordfees preview screenings start at 2pm on October 10 and 13 in the Neelsie Cinema on the Stellenbosch campus, and will be followed by a Q&A session, with the director and producers Chris…

AUDITOR-General Tsakani Maluleke has found the SABC finances in such a mess that she could not express an opinion when she conducted an audit on its 2022-23 financial statements. The worst audit opinion known as a disclaimer is a regression from the qualified audit opinion the public broadcaster obtained in the prior year. “I was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion on these financial statements,” Maluleke said in her report contained in the annual report tabled in Parliament. In her report, Maluleke said the SABC incurred a profit loss of R1.127 billion as at March 31, 2023 and its current liabilities exceeded the current assets by R612 million. “The public entity was, therefore, commercially insolvent because it was not able to…

This marked the biggest cruise season the terminal has seen to date, according to Wesgro’s Economic Impact Study. Doubling the number of ship calls seen between 2016 and 2019, where each season averaged between 35 and 40 ships arriving at the port, the study revealed an estimated economic injection of over R1.2 billion into the province’s economy. The study further found that for every 30 arriving cruise passengers, the Western Cape cruise industry created one full-time job. This has resulted in a total of 1 800 local jobs created during the 2022/23 season. Additionally, expenditure by cruise lines was nearly evenly matched by the expenditure of passengers and crew on shore. International spending recorded an excess of R612 million, compared to the local expenditure of R132 million over the same…

HOUT BAY basketball coach Marvin Minnaar has been found guilty of the rape, murder and kidnapping of 12-year-old Sibusiso Dakuse. Sibusiso went missing in Imizamo Yethu in February 2020, after he was seen playing after school. Minnaar is believed to have lured Sibusiso and took him to Kronendal Farm where he raped and strangled the child. His body was later discovered among the reeds on the farm following search efforts from the police and the community. Forensic pathologist Dr Bronwyn Inglis previously told the court, from her examination of Sibusiso’s remains, her findings were consistent with murder by strangulation. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the case was postponed for probation officer and clinical psychologist pre-sentencing. “Marvin Minnaar has been convicted of kidnapping, rape and murder. His case has…

THE taxi industry in the Western Cape has expressed its readiness to be formalised saying it means a change in the way they operate by taking full advantage of available technology and being subsidised. According to South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) chairperson Mandla Hermanus, they inherited a business model that was now faced with challenges. Hermanus shared these views at the Urban Mobility Summit where a panel including city officials, transport experts and other stakeholders were discussing the transformation of the taxi industry through formalisation and modernisation. Public Transport Component Lead for National Treasury, Haniefa Gaibe said the business model needed to change with taxi owners considering themselves as business owners. “In that, now government can say ‘how can we support you as small business owners’.” Discussion of subsidising…

AS THE country approaches 30 years of its young democracy, it is disheartening to see that our baby democracy that once crawled in excitement is now limping in agony as it is exposed to many new problems. Over the years the government has done an excellent job in introducing new campaigns and socio-cultural practices aimed at promoting and celebrating our hard-earned democracy. As we gazed into the future pre democracy, as a nation we were hopeful. A few years into democracy, we were a thriving nation united in the colour scheme of a Rainbow Nation. The future looked bright. The rand was strong, the economy was intact, and we held our truth and reconciliation moments with a view of rehabilitating our blemished past so that we could forge forward as…

Pope Francis called on Catholic leaders yesterday to set aside politics and work to make the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming for all, as he opened a global meeting that conservative critics say risks “poisoning” the faith. Delivering a homily in St Peter’s Square at the start of the first global gathering of Church leaders, or synod, for four years, the pope said bishops should avoid “human strategies, political calculations or ideological battles”. “We are not here to carry out a parliamentary meeting or a plan of reformation,” he said in the homily of the Mass, which the Vatican said was attended by a crowd of 25 000. The synod was not an attempt to “depart from the sacred patrimony of the truth received from the Fathers”, he said. But…

An Iranian teenager is in critical condition in hospital, rights activists said yesterday, after falling into a coma following what they said was a confrontation with agents in the Tehran metro for violating the hijab law. Armita Geravand’s case is raising concerns that the 16-year-old might face the same fate as Mahsa Amini, 22, whose death in a coma last year in the custody of morality police sparked months of nationwide protest. While authorities have denied claims by rights groups that Armita went into a coma after a confrontation with officers enforcing the Islamic dress code, Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw posted a picture of her lying unconscious in a Tehran hospital. An Iranian journalist was briefly arrested on Monday when she went to the hospital to enquire about Armita’s situation.…

LONDON: British police said yesterday they had opened an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital where nurse Lucy Letby, who murdered seven babies, had worked. Letby, 33, was convicted in August of killing 7 babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and attacking six others in 2015 and 2016. She has been jailed for life and told she would never be released. Police said they had now opened an investigation into the hospital. After Letby’s conviction, the government said it would hold an inquiry into the case amid accusations from senior doctors that concerns about the nurse were not heeded by hospital bosses. | Reuters…

Manchester: British PM Rishi Sunak yesterday axed a key section of England’s new high-speed railway, diverting billions of pounds instead into improving existing transport routes in the north. Addressing his Conservative party’s annual conference in Manchester, Sunak said HS2 would no longer run on high-speed rails to the city in northwest England, with the government spending the £36 billion (R845bn) on improving current train and road networks. HS2, Britain’s second high-speed train line, has suffered massive delays and ballooning costs but will still run between London and the nation’s second city, Birmingham, from the end of the decade. | AFP…

The Cricket World Cup begins today in Ahmedabad, western India, the largest city in the state of Gujarat. From there, it will go to points north, south, east and west around the country. South Africa start their expedition on the sub-continent on Saturday in Delhi – the populous nation’s capital – and will travel a further 6 999km to complete their nine group matches. It is fair to say this World Cup might be won by the team who survives the travel fatigue best and not necessarily the most skilled team out in the middle. Unlike in 2011, when cricket’s ultimate jamboree was last held in these parts and matches were shared between neighbours Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the entire tournament will now be staged solely in Mother India. The…