Table of contents for 2023-11-21 in Cape Times

Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said the Road Accident Fund (RAF) had carefully considered the matter before cancelling post-retirement medical aid benefits for its employees. Chikunga said the post-retirement medical aid benefit was a historical condition of service benefit provided to employees who were permanently employed with the RAF prior to May 1998. She also said in terms of the benefit, the RAF would subsidise 50% towards the medical aid contributions on and throughout the retirement of such employees until the death of the retired employee or voluntary termination by the employee. “The post-retirement medical aid benefit was discontinued due to not only the dire financial status of the fund, but also the long-term unsustainable financial liability that such a benefit would have on the RAF,” she said. Chikunga said the…

It could take nearly six months to clear the logjam at Piers 1 and 2 THE beleaguered Transnet has said it will push to acquire the required equipment to avoid backlogs as it resolved the Richards Bay Terminal congestion by suspending processing trucks carrying coal to restore order after unprecedented traffic coming into the port. Transnet said it needed to raise funds to address its R50-billion infrastructure backlog. Richards Bay Terminal’s managing executive, Thulasizwe Dlamini, said yesterday that Transnet was suspending ship-booking services for coal loads brought by trucks at least until current bookings, which run up to February 2024, were cleared. “We have seen an unprecedented number of trucks coming to the terminal. We will temporarily freeze vessel nominations,” Dlamini said. This has raised the ire of business, including…

IN A bid to raise awareness of and contribute to efforts towards the early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a study co-authored by a Rhodes University researcher has identified and compiled key symptoms into a guide healthcare professionals can use to diagnose the disorder at various stages of a child’s development. The study, co-authored by Dr Nicola Wannenburg of Rhodes Department of Psychology, was done in collaboration with Professor Roelf van Niekerk from Nelson Mandela University. The World Health Organization estimates that 1 in 100 children suffers from ASD. On the continent, ASD is overshadowed by a greater focus on communicable diseases in health-care curricula, which in turn impedes the possibility of early diagnoses of this neurodevelopmental disorder, the researchers said. The study identified nurses as the target of…

Frikkadels 800 g steak mince 2 eggs 6 – 8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped salt to taste 5 ml black pepper 5 ml turmeric 5 ml roasted masala 5 ml crushed chilli flakes 5 ml chilli powder 125 ml roughly chopped fresh coriander Oil for frying Curry sauce 60 ml oil 2 onions, grated 3 cardamom pods 1 star anise 5 ml turmeric 45 ml roasted masala 10 ml chilli powder 5 ml paprika salt to taste 6 tomatoes, peeled and grated 10 ml grated fresh ginger 30 ml finely chopped garlic Fresh coriander for garnishing Frikkadels Mix all the ingredients, except the oil, together in a bowl. Make small balls from the mixture. Heat the oil in a large pan and shallow-fry until…

South Africa’s economic lifelines, the ports of Durban and Richards Bay, are facing a serious threat that extends beyond the maritime sector – truck congestion. The truck traffic chaos at both these crucial ports has reached alarming levels, posing a dire risk to the country’s economic growth. The recent decision by Transnet Port Terminals Richards Bay to suspend truck processing confirms the urgency of addressing this crisis. The suspension serves as a stark reminder that the arteries of our economy are at risk of clogging, with potential consequences rippling far and wide. Truck congestion translates to delays in cargo movement, resulting in increased turnaround times for ships and a ripple effect on the entire supply chain. This bottleneck not only stifles economic growth but also compromises the reliability and competitiveness…

Waste from at least 19 international brands including Adidas and Walmart is being used to fuel kilns in brick factories in Cambodia, and some workers were falling ill, according to a report by a local rights group released yesterday. The report by The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, commonly known by its French acronym Lichadho, was based on visits to 21 brick factories in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh and neighbouring Kandal province between April and September, as well as interviews with current and former workers. It found pre-consumer garment waste including fabric, plastic, rubber, and other materials from the brands was being burned at seven factories. The factories were burning garment waste to save on fuel costs, it said. “Several workers reported that burning…

Moscow: Russia denied yesterday accusations that it was sending migrants to the Finnish border, after Helsinki reported a surge in asylum seekers trying to get into its country illegally. Finland shut four of its border crossings with Russia last week in response to the influx, accusing Moscow of trying to destabilise the country in retaliation for it joining Nato. “We do not accept such accusations,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday. Helsinki’s ties with Moscow have deteriorated since Russia launched its assault on Ukraine last February. In April, Finland joined the Western-led Nato military alliance, prompting Moscow to warn of “countermeasures”. | AFP…

Istanbul: Turkish helicopters yesterday scoured the Black Sea in search of 11 sailors who went missing when their ship sank in heavy storms that killed at least nine. The Kafkametler cargo vessel sank with 12 crew on board after hitting a breakwater Sunday while trying to seek shelter from violent winds and waves about 200km east of Istanbul. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the body of one sailor had been recovered and the search for the 11 others resumed yesterday after the storms had died down. The Turkish-flagged ship was transporting ferrosilicon, from the Russian port of Temryuk to Aliaga. Heavy storms left a trail of destruction after lashing most of Türkiye over the weekend. | AFP…

EFF leader Julius Malema and five fellow party MPs yesterday walked out of a disciplinary hearing into their conduct when they disrupted the State of the Nation Address (Sona) by President Cyril Ramaphosa in February. Malema said the hearing was a “kangaroo court” and that he would not be persecuted – in reference to initiator Anton Katz, SC – by a “white man”. This took place after their legal team, led by advocate Thembeka Ngcukaitobi, SC, failed to have the disciplinary hearing postponed to next year. Malema is charged for contempt of Parliament along with EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu, Marshall Dlamini, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, Vuyani Pambo and Sinawo Thambo for ascending to the stage with placards when Ramaphosa was delivering the Sona, and their actions prompted security officers to storm…

RETAIL giant Pick n Pay has indicated its intention to appeal a Western Cape High Court judgment to damage all print works, all printed materials, product packaging, and the like bearing the infringing get-ups similar to its rival Shoprite Checkers’ Forage and Feast products. The battle between the two landed in the Western Cape High Court after Shoprite took issue with Pick n Pay on grounds that the product looked similar. At the centre of the dispute was Checkers’ signature Forage and Feast brand and Pick n Pay’s competing Crafted Collection range of products. Shoprite sought “interdictory and ancillary relief”, premised on alleged infringements based on passing off under common law. Pick n Pay rejected the alleged infringements but lost the court bid despite their arguments in which they said…

The third round of UN global plastic pollution treaty talks has ended with no plan for how to move the negotiations forward, despite a majority of countries supporting a robust treaty grounded in global rules. “Countries with deep petrochemical interests delayed progress throughout the week and blocked the final decision on how to advance work leading into the fourth round of UN talks for a global plastic pollution treaty,” WWF said yesterday. “There will now be no formal work before the next round of negotiations, delaying discussions on critical measures that can end the plastic pollution crisis.” WWF said that every day, more than 30 000 metric tonnes of plastic leak into the world's oceans. In the face of ongoing opposition from a small minority of states, WWF urged high-ambition…

The legal aid lawyer of UWC student Ntembeko Myalo, who is accused of attempting to kill his wife, a Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) student, wants him to undergo a mental health assessment. This was heard at the Bellville Magistrate’s Court yesterday where the 32-year-old made his second appearance on an attempted murder charge. According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila, Myalo provisionally abandoned his bail application, reserving his right to apply for it at a later stage. Myalo’s legal representative also requested that the court refer his client to a district surgeon as further medical issues had arisen. The case has been postponed to November 27. A mob of alleged students had beaten Myalo on November 11, a few minutes after he was seen stabbing his…

Exaggerated perceptions of the continent’s credit risk makes it difficult to attract development finance IF COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2022 was the much-hyped “COP of Africa”, what will the upcoming COP28 in Dubai, UAE, in December 2023 mean for African climate action aspirations? The UAE COP28 presidency has set out its priorities, “a Solutions and Inclusive COP”, albeit in a global climate action discourse beholden to almost daily unfolding events, among them the subdued post-Covid and Ukraine recovery; the downside risks of global economic fundamentals, such as sticky inflation and foreign direct investment flows; and geo- political tension, especially the tragic Israel-Palestine conflagration which has claimed an estimated 15 000 lives and which will inevitably be the great climate detractor in the Dubai deliberations, given the…

Twenty-nine premature babies were evacuated from war-torn Gaza to Egypt yesterday as the Hamas-run health ministry accused Israel of launching a deadly strike on the territory’s Indonesian Hospital. Frantic diplomatic efforts were meanwhile underway to seal a deal for the release of some of the 240 hostages Hamas militants took during their October 7 attacks on Israel. The Gaza health ministry charged that Israel’s army killed at least 12 people in a strike on the Indonesian Hospital in the Palestinian territory’s north, a war zone where entire city blocks have been reduced to rubble. Those killed included patients, said Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the ministry which has reported a death toll of more than 13 000 as the Gaza war rages on into its seventh week. Dozens more were…

Hundreds of foreigners working in Myanmar, including UN agency staff, have been moved to safety as an insurgency against military rule gathers pace, opponents of the junta said yesterday. An alliance of ethnic minority insurgents allied with a pro-democracy parallel civilian government launched an offensive late last month in the biggest challenge to the ruling military since it seized power from elected leaders in a 2021 coup. Hundreds of foreigners, most from neighbouring countries, have been trapped by the fighting, particularly in Shan State on the north-eastern border with China and Kayah State, on the eastern border with Thailand. China said yesterday that it was helping foreigners to get out of Myanmar and told its nationals to relocate from areas of conflict. Myanmar’s civilian government-in-exile said anti-junta forces in Kayah…

NEW DELHI: India’s capital Delhi re-opened schools and some building sites yesterday amid signs of receding air pollution, although it remained classified as hazardous, while a toxic foam besmirched stretches of the Yamuna river flowing through the city. The world’s most polluted capital resumed its annual battle on pollution this month, despite government pledges to improve. Yesterdays air quality index (AQI) of 336 was down from Thursday’s level of 509, but still “hazardous”, Swiss group IQAir said. The foam comes from sludge and untreated waste, said a former Delhi government official. | Reuters…

BRUSSELS: The global average temperature on Friday last week was more than 2°C hotter than pre-industrial levels for the first time on record, Europe’s Copernicus climate monitor said yesterday. Months of extraordinary heat is expected to make 2023 the hottest year in history, with droughts, massive wildfires and fierce storms ravaging swathes of the planet. Global temperatures on November 17 were 2.06°C above the pre-industrial average, said Samantha Burgess, the deputy head of the EU’s Climate Change Service. Scientists say studies suggest the temperatures this year could be the warmest in more than 100 000 years. | AFP…

WORKING as a full time lecturer at a university while also working full time as an accounts director at another company, without disclosing to the university that she had a second full- time job, has resulted in the university giving the lecturer the boot. Dr Sibongile Vilakazi turned to the CCMA to fight against her sacking, but the commissioner found that her dismissal was both substantively and procedurally fair. Aggrieved with this finding, Viklakazi turned to the Labour Court in Johannesburg, where she asked that the CCMA’s findings be overturned. Vilakazi was initially employed by the University of Witwatersrand in its Business School section as a part-time lecturer because she also worked for Alexander Forbes. She later resigned from Alexander Forbes, opting to take up full-time employment. Her duties included…

More than 2.9 million eligible voters showed up at voting stations across the country at the weekend to register for next year’s general elections or update their personal details to ensure their vote is correctly counted. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) also confirmed 196 511 voters used the online portal to do the same. The IEC held its first voter registration weekend on Saturday and Sunday in anticipation and preparation for the 2024 national and provincial elections. The total registration activity over the two days was 2 904 037. Eligible voters who registered for the first time totalled 568 374. This accounted for 19.57% of total registration activity. Voters who reregistered in the same voting district numbered 1.4 million, and those who reregistered in…

NEARLY three decades into democracy, the post-apartheid government is still struggling to undo inequalities in the schooling system that the apartheid regime created. This is according to a report released yesterday by Equal Education (EE) titled: “Schooling under unusual conditions: Research into how school infrastructure shapes teaching and learning in South Africa”, which looked into the relationship between the physical conditions of the school environment and teaching and learning. The report examined how school infrastructure shapes teaching and learning, and how addressing infrastructure conditions can improve learning outcomes. Key findings include that not having enough classrooms, having overcrowded classrooms, and facilities in poor condition harms the motivation of both learners and teachers. EE explained that during apartheid, education was used as a political tool to discriminate against and hinder the…

With less than 5% of South Africa’s healthcare budget directed towards mental health care, encompassing contributions from the private sector, the South African Society of Psychiatrists (Sasop) aims to discuss interventions that delegate healthcare services to less specialised health workers on a community level at their congress, which kicked off yesterday. With the theme “Shifting the Paradigm towards Community Health and the Unheard Voices in Mental Health,” the congress, on until Thursday at the Century City Conference Centre, aims to speak to the urgent need to expand perspectives and inclusively integrate diverse voices in enhancing mental healthcare in South Africa and address the resource shortage. The congress will see psychiatrists, mental health activists and community members, both locally and internationally, in attendance. Sasop’s incoming president, Dr Anusha Lachman, said mental…

ON the eve of Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile’s unpacking of provincial crime statistics which he said encompassed a challenging three months, a cop attached to the Table View police station was shot and killed. The 54-year-old captain was attacked and murdered at Site 5 informal settlement on Sunday. His service firearm was stolen by assailants who are yet to be arrested. “The police member reported on duty in the morning and at about 4pm he went into that area. He was supposed to knock off at 6pm. It’s those informal settlements where there is lack of accessibility, a deep area where you have to leave your car far. I was told the vehicle he drove was parked about 300 to 500m from where he was attacked and killed.…

The 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) held from November 5-10 in Shanghai was a great opportunity for promoting South Africa’s export potential. The country was one of five countries invited to showcase its goods and services. It seems that many South African delegates representing different companies went to the CIIE. The year has been a busy one for bilateral relationship between China and South Africa. It started off in January 2023 with the commemoration of 25 years of official diplomatic relations between the two countries and culminated in President Xi Jinping’s state visit on the eve of the 15th BRICS Heads of State Summit in August. In-between, there were a flurry of bilateral meetings on trade, Africa and other issues related to the strategic partnership that bond the…

Libertarian outsider Javier Milei swept to victory in Argentina’s presidential election on Sunday, vowing to halt decades of economic decline in a country reeling from triple-digit inflation. The self-described “anarcho-capitalist” pulled off a massive upset by ousting the populist Peronist coalition which has long dominated Argentinian politics. With 55.7% of the vote, Milei thumped his rival, Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who won 44% of the vote and rapidly conceded defeat. “Today begins the reconstruction of Argentina. Today begins the end of Argentina’s decline,” Milei said in his victory speech. “The model of decadence has come to an end.” Latin America’s third-biggest economy has suffered decades of crises under interventionist governments big on welfare that resort to printing money to finance spending, fuelling inflation, while borrowing heavily only to default on…

In Spain, the world’s biggest olive oil producer, supermarkets are locking up bottles of the staple cooking oil as prices surge and theft increases. One-litre bottles of extra-virgin olive oil are selling for as much as €14.5 (about R290) in some stores, propelling olive oil into the category of products retailers fit with security tags, along with liquor and appliances. “We are seeing a major surge in shoplifting,” said Ruben Navarro, the CEO of Tu Super supermarket chain. Olive oil prices, now officially at €8 a litre, have surged by 150% in the past two years in Spain as a drought in the south has dented the olive harvest. Since September, Tu Super has been chaining 5-litre bottles of olive oil together and padlocking them to shelves. Last month, two…

JUBA: Attacks by rival factions of the Dinka ethnic group in an area claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan killed at least 32 people over the weekend, a local official said yesterday. Deadly violence is common in the oil-rich Abyei region, where Twic Dinka from South Sudan’s neighbouring Warrap State are locked in a dispute with Ngok Dinka from Abyei over the location of an administrative boundary. On Sunday, Twic Dinka armed youth attacked several Ngok Dinka villages northeast of Agok town. Abyei has been claimed by Sudan and South Sudan since the latter declared independence in 2011. | Reuters…

BARCELONA: Colombian pop star Shakira yesterday reached a settlement to avoid a trial in Barcelona over charges she failed to pay E14.5 million (R291.6m) in Spanish income tax between 2012 and 2014, arguing it was triggered by personal reasons. As part of the deal, she accepted the charges and a fine of half the amount owed, more than E7.3m. She also accepted another fine of E438 000 to avoid a three-year prison sentence, the judge said. The prosecutor’s office was seeking up to eight years in prison and to claim back the taxes it said she owed. It alleged that Shakira spent more than half of each of the years in question in Spain and was resident in the country. | Reuters…

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has ample belief that his troops will overcome the adversities they’ll face in their World Cup qualifier against Rwanda in Butare today. Over the years, South Africa has been called a ‘footballing nation’ but while that might be argued by the fans and aspiring footballers as fact, Bafana have done little to live up to that belief on the field, with their last success nearly 30 years ago at the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations. Their World Cup qualifying campaigns have also been awful during that period and it’s been 21 years since Bafana qualified for the showpiece event through the qualification process, having only played in the 2010 finals as hosts. Enter the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and Bafana are hoping to make up…