Table of contents for 2023-12-11 in Cape Times

This is the first time Eskom gets a permanent head since the resignation of Andre de Ruyter exactly a year ago ESKOM has confirmed that Dan Marokane will be returning to the struggling power utility as its new group chief executive by no later than March 31 next year. This will be the first time that Eskom gets a permanent head since the resignation of Andre de Ruyter exactly a year ago. The Eskom board announced Marokane’s appointment on Friday afternoon, saying he was returning to the power utility after he and three other senior executives were suspended following an ethical stand they took against State capture, fraud and corruption. Marokane, a qualified chemical engineer with an MBA, is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years senior leadership experience.…

AIRPORTS Company South Africa (Acsa) has assured the public that it was ready to welcome large volumes of travellers to its airports across the country this festive season, with contingency plans and strategies in place to deal with the busiest days of the year. Acsa is currently in its peak season, which started at the end of October and runs until the end of March next year, for which preparation started three to four months ago. The group is now ramping up to ensure smooth operations and a seamless travel experience during the busy December-January time frame. Acsa group executive for operations management Terence Delomoney on Friday said their peak season strategy will ensure that the airports were adequately resourced, positioned and capacitated to handle the huge volumes of passengers.…

ABSA GROUP’S second-half credit loss ratio was likely to improve noticeably from an elevated first half, but would remain above its through-the-cycle range targets, the bank group said in an update to its guidance on Friday. The announcement certainly attracted investor attention, as the share price fell 6.31% to R159.64 on Friday, which is a large percentage decline for a JSE-listed bank that counts among the four biggest lenders in the country. The JSE’s Banks Index closed only 0.92% lower. Also expected to impact earnings for the year by about 1% was the groups broad-based black economic empowerment transaction, which, given its effective date of September 1, 2023, was included in the 2023 financial results for four months. | Edward West…

A DUTCH-LED coalition of a dozen nations committed on Saturday to publish an inventory of their own fossil fuel subsidies within a year, with the aim of creating a clear strategy for eliminating them. Governments agreed at the 2021 UN climate summit in Glasgow to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies to help tamp down global warming. But individual countries were left to decide for themselves how to do this. Global subsidies for fossil fuels have since soared, rising by $2 trillion over the past two years to hit a record $7trln in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “We cannot phase out fossil fuels without tackling fossil fuel subsidies,” said Dutch climate minister, Rob Jetten, at the UN climate summit COP28 in Dubai. “We must ensure…

Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande is establishing a steering committee that will consist of representatives from the tertiary sector in efforts to curb any potential chaotic scenes during registration for the 2024 academic year. The terms of reference of the committee have already been finalised, according to Nzimande. A total of about 1.1 million students are anticipated at universities in 2024, with at least 210 000 being new and first-time entry enrolment in the sector. At least 23 universities received 4 446 436 applications. Only nine universities will allow late applications and walk-ins. “A lot of work has been done to prepare for the start of the year. A meeting with registrars to discuss readiness of universities to start the academic year will be held on January 5, 2024. A…

THE genocide and war on Gaza is more than two months old. Zionist occupied Israel is an apartheid state hell-bent on oppression, injustice and war crimes against Palestinians. It should be an eye-opener to the international community, including the US , the EU and all Zionist Israel’s allies. More than 20 000 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed and more than 50 000 Palestinians injured. More than 2 million Palestinians have been displaced throughout Gaza. Over the past 75 years since the unjust formation of the Zionist state of Israel, it has conducted a systematic campaign against a civilian population to drive them out of their homeland. More than 500 villages have been destroyed and more than 70% of the total land of Israel previously…

YOUR commentator Nkosikhulule Nyembezi writes about how his bank account was suddenly frozen without warning, and how others had this happen to them – “Unable to pay for fuel at petrol stations far from home or stranded in shopping centres after the bank froze accounts without warning”. (Cape Times, December 4). Not to mention all the monthly stop orders which will bounce, requiring hours of work to repay the amounts later. On top of which, the queue at any bank branch always means waiting for half-an-hour to get attended to. Advise Cape Times readers that it is prudent to always have accounts at two banks in order to work around such a plight with one of them. It is also prudent to ensure you have a week's supply of…

I READ the article in the December 6 edition about the dire straits our water quality is in and that almost half the country has water that is unsafe to consume. How far have we fallen under the ANC? My brother worked for Rand Water and used to tell me not to bother to buy the expensive bottled waters on the shelves because the water coming out of our taps was the purest and cleanest in the world. And one of the cheapest. He , I might add, was retrenched with so many others so comrades could fill the positions and look at Rand Water now. People were put into positions they simply couldn’t cope with, so didn’t bother to do their work, didn’t do maintenance and…

SOUTH African men face a massive, disproportionate burden of homicide, which reflects their neglect in prevention and policy responses to violence. This is according to a recent study by researchers from UCT and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) titled “South Africa’s male homicide epidemic hiding in plain sight: Exploring sex differences and patterns in homicide risk in a retrospective descriptive study of post-mortem investigations”. Globally, homicide is the third leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 44, with the heaviest burden in low- and middle-income countries. South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates at six times the global average. Professor Richard Matzopoulos, lead author and honorary professor in UCT’s Division of Public Health Medicine and director of the SAMRC’s Burden of Disease Research…

RECENTLY, I penned an article reflecting on the “political legacy” of the late Prince, Chief, Traditional Prime Minister of KwaZulu, President Emeritus of the IFP, and Member of Parliament, Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi: decide which title you want to use. The man loved titles and thus clung to power until he drew his last breath. Nonetheless, IFP MP and spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa, who I regard as a pontificator out of foolish bravery and inability to read for comprehension, took it upon himself and wrote a propagandist response to the article, distorting my views. Nonetheless, history is my best teacher to never waste my precious time engaging indoctrinated persons who have never demonstrated an iota of thinking power; however, pontificators don’t know the Italian renowned white supremacist who assisted the IFP in…

Egyptians began voting yesterday in a presidential election set to hand Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a third term in power, as the country grapples with an economic crisis and a war on its border with Gaza. If Sisi wins a new six-year term, his immediate priorities would be taming near-record inflation, managing a chronic foreign currency shortage and preventing spillover from the conflict between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Voting is spread over three days, with results expected on December 18. Patriotic songs played as polling stations opened yesterday in Cairo, where pictures of Sisi proliferated in the weeks leading to the election. Riot police were deployed at entrances to Tahrir Square in the capital’s centre. Critics see the election as a sham after a decade-long crackdown on dissent. The government’s…

The president of the UN’s COP28 climate talks urged negotiators to compromise yesterday, as efforts to reach a deal on phasing out fossil fuels met resistance from top oil exporter Saudi Arabia. Less than 48 hours before today’s scheduled deadline, UAE COP28 chief Sultan Al-Jaber said: “I want everyone to show flexibility to act with urgency and to find the common ground. The time has come for us to shift gears. The time has come for us to deliver.” Jaber organised a majlis, a traditional Gulf Arab meeting held in a circle, with ministers in a bid to reach a compromise. “Failure is not an option. What we are after is the common good. What we’re after is what in the best interest of everyone, everywhere,” he said. “We…

ABUJA: Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said yesterday that the West African bloc Ecowas should try to re-engage regional countries under military rule and support them to achieve “realistic and short” transitions to democracy. Niger in July became the latest Ecowas member to undergo a coup when soldiers from the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum and set up a transitional government. Speaking at an annual summit in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, Ecowas chairperson Tinubu said that the bloc should re-engage “with countries under military rule on the basis of realistic and short transition plans that can deliver democracy and good governance”. | Reuters…

Washington: At least six people have been killed and 23 others injured after severe storms tore through the US state of Tennessee. Three people, including a child, died after a tornado struck Montgomery County on Saturday afternoon, while three more deaths were reported in the suburbs of Nashville, the capital of Tennessee. The weather was part of a cross-country system expected to bring severe thunderstorms, high wind and tornadoes. The storms came nearly two years to the day after the National Weather Service recorded 41 tornadoes through a handful of states, including 16 in Tennessee and eight in Kentucky. | IANS…

FRIDAY’S scheduled meeting of Tongaat Hulett’s lenders to decide the future of South Africa’s biggest, but indebted sugar group was put on ice due to court applications against the company brought by the Sugar Association of South Africa (Sasa) and rival foods group RCL. RCL subsidiary RCL Food Sugar & Milling, and Sasa launched the applications to prevent the meeting of Tongaat’s creditors to vote on two bids for Tongaat, one from RGS Group Holdings (which comprises mainly a family sugar and foods business from Mozambique) and Vision Investments (which is linked to businessperson and ANC funder Robert Gumede) who wish to bring Tongaat out of business rescue. This followed the rejection by the High Court last week of an application earlier this year by Tongaat’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs)…

SOUTH Africa needed to encourage the manufacturing of local goods rather than export raw material and then buy back the finished products, says South African Association of Ship Operators and Agents (Saasoa) chief executive Peter Besnard. It was imperative the country encourage investment, reopen factories, create employment and cast aside or amend the rigid labour-related regulations in place, he said in an interview with Business Report. The mindset of all South Africans needed to change, Besnard said. “As you are aware, the Covid-19 pandemic plunged the country into utter despair, completely derailing many industries. “To the extent that some have been unable to recover and were forced to wind down their plants, and with it (brought) further unemployment woes to a population that has increased to 60 million.” The…

THE business rescue plan to restructure the Post Office has been approved and will see the reduction of the branch network to about 600 branches that will be staffed by about 5 000 employees around the country. According to unions, this could see 6 000 employees being retrenched. This is according to a statement released on Thursday by joint Business Rescue Practitioners of the Post Office, Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons. The practitioners said they were pleased that their plan was voted for by the majority of creditors at a meeting last week. Rooplal said they believed that their strategy could restructure the Post Office into a future-proofed business that could provide inclusive communications for all. He said the Post Office fulfilled an important social mandate intended to provide key…

POLICE Minister Bheki Cele has expressed confidence that the additional 10 000 police officers who will be on the ground this week will deal a “heavy blow” to crime this festive season. This, as police strategic interventions such as Operation Shanela saw police go head-to-head with alleged hard core criminals with more than 62 of the criminals killed during shoot-outs with police. Thousands of suspects have also been arrested for various serious crimes with the latest incident being yesterday morning when a high profile taxi boss allegedly linked to various crimes in and around Cape Town was arrested at a hiding place in Pretoria. He will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court today facing a possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition charge. Speaking at a police ministry festive season…

KARIM Khan, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor, failed in his duty to act on the dreadful situation in occupied Palestine, including the Gaza Strip. Khan’s recent trip to apartheid Israel and the occupied West Bank raises more questions about the ICC and its role to prevent the genocide unfolding in Gaza. With volumes of documented evidence, both in written format as well as video clips, of the brutal apartheid Israeli occupation and the ruthless military onslaught on the people living in Gaza, which perfectly defines the description of a genocide, Khan’s remarks in favour of apartheid Israel and its Western allies are a gross travesty of justice. The atrocities and the bombings in Gaza have never before in history been recorded with such instantaneousness, or in real time. Khan…

PUBLIC hospitals across South Africa are in a shambles – all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are the same or non-existent. So how is the ANC going to make/get the NHI to work? Nothing the ANC controls is a success. There is no service delivery in the areas they control, water is in dire straits, Sassa is a mess, and many more. I see this is going to be a complete disaster. The UK has an NHS and they have problems – and it is a better-run country than this. The ANC is doing this in the hope of garnering more votes in 2024.…

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has been accused of not performing adequate line testing before relaunching the Shosholoza Meyl service after a passenger train had to cut its trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town short due to “infrastructure challenges”. Prasa recently announced the return of the Shosholoza Meyl routes, which would run to Cape Town and Durban from Johannesburg for less than R1 000 a trip. However, the first trip to Cape Town since its relaunch had to be cut short and forced commuters to travel the rest of their journey by buses on Friday, due to stolen cables. The EFF labelled the inconvenience for commuters as a “perennial failure” due to the collapse of Prasa and has now threatened legal action against Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga.…

THE meaning and purpose of yesterday’s International Human Rights Day commemoration was nothing short of rhetoric, especially when millions of innocent Palestinians are victims of Israeli human rights violations that the world powers, including the US and Britain, are seemingly endorsing. The commemoration came just 24 hours after Britain abstained while the US vetoed a UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and a halt to the war that has killed more than 17 400 Palestinians and about 1 100 people in Israel since October 7. The same nations do not hesitate in punishing any country they deem to be in violation of human rights. To them, the meaning of human rights differs depending on who you are and where you are from. Ask our neighbours Zimbabwe…

With his hands on all the levers of power in Russia, Vladimir Putin appears unbeatable in a presidential election but opposition activists scent a chance to show he is vulnerable. Putin declared his candidacy for another six-year term on Friday and there is no serious rival to challenge him, with opposition leader Alexei Navalny serving more than 30 years in prison and other critics also jailed or in exile. With the Kremlin in full control of state media and able to decide who can and cannot run, the Navalny camp says this is not a real election. But it sees the 100-day campaign window as a rare opportunity to draw Russians into a political conversation and convince them that the Ukraine war and the economic strains it has brought are…

Los Angeles: Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters spent his day off from his band’s Australian tour to give back to those in need amid a local heatwave. A charity foundation that helps feed the hungry, said that Grohl was among the volunteers who prepared and served an array of BBQ staples at Melbourne’s Federation Square. Grohl spent 18 hours preparing meat, served guests for more than two hours and handed out 430 meals. Earlier this year, he provided 450 meals to shelters in Los Angeles during a storm. | IANS…

HONG KONG: Three Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were arrested yesterday, just before voting began in a “patriots only” district election that has marginalised formerly popular opposition figures in the city amid a national security clampdown. The pro-China government has been seeking to boost turnout, as some observers see large numbers spurning the polls, in contrast to the last council elections in 2019, during Hong Kong’s mass pro-democracy protests, which drew a record 71% turnout and a landslide victory for the democratic camp. Police said they had arrested the three for “attempting to incite others to carry out acts that disrupt district council election”. | AFP…

SAN FRANCISCO: Social media platform X yesterday showed the account of US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to have been reinstated after a poll organised by owner Elon Musk backed his return after a ban of nearly five years. “The people have spoken and so it shall be,” Musk posted in reply to a poll on Saturday on whether to reinstate the Jones account. Close to 2 million votes were cast, with 70% voting in favour of Jones’ return. Jones’s account with username “@RealAlexJones” now shows his last post from September 6, 2018, the day the former Twitter, permanently banned his account and website Infowars, saying the accounts had violated its conduct policies. | Reuters…

Disgruntled South Africans may punish ANC at polls for tariff hike, warn analysts INCREASES in electricity tariffs will only add to the dissatisfaction of South Africans who might seek to punish the ANC at the polls next year, but the final verdict is still out, say political analysts. A recent high court judgment paved the way for Eskom to increase tariffs by a cumulative 33.8% in the next two financial years when earlier this month it dismissed the judicial review applications on the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) revenue determination and tariff approval of Eskom’s MYPD5 application for the 2023/24 and 2024/5 financial years. Nersa said on Friday that it welcomed the Gauteng High Court’s decision. The first tariff increase in the MYPD5 of 18.65% came into effect…

I AM writing to express my deep concern regarding the escalating issue of sewage pollution along the seafront of Cape Town. The beauty of our coastal areas, which should be a source of pride for the city, is being marred by the evident disregard for the health of our marine ecosystem. Recent observations of sewage pollution along the seafront have been disheartening. The impact on marine life and the potential threats posed to public health are alarming. Equally concerning is the potential economic fallout, especially for Cape Town’s vital tourist industry. Cape Town’s seafront is not only a local treasure but also a major attraction for tourists from around the world. The degradation of our coastal waters poses a significant threat to the tourist economy of the city. Tourists visit…

YOUR Friday edition, “Pathetic Master’s Office must just close” refers. This is absolutely true, but unfortunately it is true of government entities across the board. We have seen absolute mayhem and destruction in almost every single administrative office linked to all of the state-owned enterprises and government departments. The Department of Employment and Labour runs entities such as the Compensation Fund and the Unemployment Insurance Fund. These offices are dysfunctional and are, quite frankly, not only useless but destructive. People across the country are complaining that they get no answers, they get no results and they get no satisfaction whatsoever. I personally have written more than 15 000 emails to the various entities. By the time I get to write about the complaint, people have sometimes struggled for…

Provincial authorities say further arrests are expected after two suspects were apprehended for their alleged involvement in the issuing of fraudulent roadworthy certificates for scholar transport vehicles operating in the province. A 41-year-old local bus operator and a 57-year-old suspect were arrested last week and appeared in the Bonnievale Magistrate’s Court. The arrests follow a joint investigation by Provincial Commercial Crime Investigation Unit, the Western Cape Mobility Department, Provincial Traffic, Western Cape Education Department, Local Criminal Record Centre Cape Winelands, Worcester Flying Squad, the National Department of Transport, National Crime Intelligence Cyber Unit and the Asset Forfeiture Unit. “During the investigation, it was revealed that fraudulent roadworthy certificates were being issued for Western Cape registered vehicles in another province, without the vehicles being physically presented for a roadworthy test,”…

PRIVATE hospital group Mediclinic says an independent investigation into allegations of patient bill manipulation continue four months after the probe was launched. This is after a whistle-blower came forward saying they had worked as a clinical case manager and coder at Mediclinic hospitals and alleged patients’ conditions were manipulated to either bill at an alternative reimbursement model (ARM) or coding was used to “carve an account out” to fee for services where the loss would be too significant for the hospital. The whistle-blower revealed allegations related to concerning practices at six hospitals in the Western Cape and Gauteng. Allegedly, case managers were instructed to open in-hospital accounts for deceased patients from the emergency room, particularly for high-cost resuscitation medication, which resulted in higher losses for the hospital. At Mediclinic Cape…

Israeli forces yesterday fought Palestinian militants around southern Gaza’s main city, as the UN chief decried divisions that had “paralysed” the Security Council’s response to the over two-months-old war. Hamas, whose deadly October 7 attacks triggered the conflict, said yesterday that Israel had launched “very violent raids” targeting the biggest southern city of Khan Yunis and the road from there to Rafah, near the border with Egypt. Amid dire warnings of food shortages and mass displacement in Gaza as a winter chill sets in, Bushra Khalidi of aid group Oxfam warned that the plight of trapped Palestinians “is not just a catastrophe, it’s apocalyptic”. A source close to Hamas and Islamic Jihad said both militant groups were engaged in “fierce clashes” with Israeli forces near Khan Yunis. Palestinian militants reported…

The Philippines and China traded accusations yesterday over a collision of their vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea as tensions over claims in the vital waterway escalate. The Philippine coast guard accused China of firing water cannons and ramming resupply vessels and a coast guard ship, causing “serious engine damage” to one, while China’s coast guard said the Philippine vessel intentionally rammed its ship. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for over $3 trillion (R57 trillion) of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China’s claims had no legal basis. Beijing and Manila have been playing cat-and-mouse around the uninhabited Second Thomas Shoal in the Philippines’ exclusive…

New York: Donald Trump has nudged ahead of Joe Biden in national polling for the 2024 presidential election, a survey revealed, a day after the US president branded his predecessor as “despicable”. The Wall Street Journal poll shows Biden with the lowest approval rating of his presidency, a finding broadly in line with other recent studies that have sparked concern in Democratic circles less than a year before voters go to the polls. It shows Trump leading Biden by four points, 47% to 43%, the first time this survey has shown the former president is favoured in a head-to-head test of the likely 2024 White House match-up, the WSJ said. When five third-party and independent candidates are included, Trump’s lead hits six points. | IANS…

Tehran: Iran has reinforced its air defence capabilities by adding combat drones equipped with air-to-air missiles to its arsenal, state media reported yesterday. “Dozens of Karrar drones armed with air-to-air missiles have been added for air defence in all border areas of the country,” the official IRNA news agency said. The drones, with an operational range of up to 1 000km were exhibited yesterday during a televised ceremony organised at a military academy in Tehran. The Karrar interceptor drone, the first version of which was unveiled in 2010, has been equipped with a “Majid” thermal missile with a range of 8km “made entirely in Iran”. | AFP…

Prolific striker Khanyisa Mayo added insult to injury on a miserable night for Cape Town City, with a red card in the dying minutes of Friday’s iKapa derby against Stellenbosch in the Winelands. With play well into injury time, Mayo went down in the opposition’s penalty area, and referee Philangenkosi Khumalo yellow-carded him for what he perceived was an overly dramatic attempt to deceive the match officials. The yellow card for simulation was his second in the match, and he was sent off. It was unlikely that Mayo could have prevented Stellenbosch from winning, but now he is slapped with an automatic two-match suspension. It is a bitter pill to swallow for City, who will play Mamelodi Sundowns in a top-of-the-log clash later this month. Mayo will also miss the…