Table of contents for 2024-02-23 in Cape Times

from Page1 Mbalula said courts were being used to reverse transformation. “A DA-led right-wing force opposed to transformation has launched an ideological offensive strategy that has deliberately and systematically sought to fundamentally distort the deployment strategy for quite some time. “A false narrative has been pushed vigorously in the media about the exact nature and actual practices. “There has also been a concerted effort by the anti-transformation forces to use the courts in their fight to slow down, stop or reverse the transformation agenda,” Mbalula said. DA leader John Steenhuisen is expected to lead a media briefing to announce his party’s next move in “the fight against cadre deployment corruption” today.…

THE Patriotic Alliance (PA) has challenged the DA to produce evidence that it claimed implicated re-elected Beaufort West mayor Gideon Pietersen in fraud. The DA caucus leader in Beaufort West, Schaun Meyers, said Pietersen’s re-election came amid allegations of fraud during his first term in 2021 – and this pointed to “the intent of the PA, ANC and KDF (Karoo Democratic Force) to continue their mismanagement and corrupt practices in the municipality, running it further into ruin”. “Pietersen is accused of entering into an illicit contract. This misconduct has reportedly incurred a cost of more than R77 000 per annum for the municipality. “Furthermore, despite receiving communication from Steven Murray and Associates regarding a pending summons for the outstanding balance owed, the Beaufort West speaker, (Noël) Constable, allegedly failed to…

Even if it means recycling worn-out promises, the party will not go down without a fight EVEN in a budget that sought to rehabilitate the ANC in the eyes of citizens, the party could not resist making the rich, politically connected elite richer while appeasing the poor with the patronage of social spending. Something worn out, something fresh. Something borrowed and something for appeasing first-time and disgruntled voters deserting the ANC en mass. Like a penitent spouse trying to renew some decidedly tattered wedding vows, this week, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered a Budget dressed up as a plea for forgiveness and a cushioned launching pad for the ANC election manifesto. The government is desperate to present itself at the electoral altar on May 29, and on the 30th anniversary…

Israel launched deadly air strikes on Rafah yesterday, after threatening to send troops in to hunt for Hamas militants in the southern Gaza city where around 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge. Major powers trying to find a way to end the destructive Israel-Hamas war have so far failed, but a US envoy was in Israel yesterday in the latest attempt to secure a truce deal. International concern has spiralled over Gaza’s escalating civilian death toll and the desperate humanitarian crisis sparked by the war that followed Hamas’s October 7 attack against Israel. The war has also triggered mounting violence in the occupied West Bank, where three Palestinian gunmen opened fire on cars in a traffic jam yesterday, killing one person and wounding eight, including a pregnant woman. The attackers…

Hundreds of Kenyans paid their respects yesterday as the body of marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, who dreamed of breaking the race’s storied two-hour barrier, was driven to his home village for burial. Kiptum, 24, and his coach Gervais Hakizimana were killed earlier this month when the runner lost control of the vehicle he was driving in the Rift Valley and crashed into a tree. The pathologist’s report said he died of head injuries. Singing hymns and holding hands, mourners accompanied the convoy carrying Kiptum’s flower-lined casket as it departed a morgue in Eldoret. The casket was opened for a viewing in the local county capital on its way to Chepsamo village. Kiptum’s father held the late runner’s 7-year-old son, while women’s 1 500m world record holder Faith Kipyegon…

SEOUL: Emergency departments at all but one of South Korea’s biggest hospitals were on alert yesterday as trainee doctors vowed to stay off the job in protest at government plans to increase medical school admissions to boost the healthcare sector. The protests by almost two-thirds of the country’s young doctors, which began this week, has forced hospitals to turn away patients and cancel procedures. So far, more than 8 400 doctors have joined the walkout, the health ministry said. The government has threatened to arrest the doctors leading the walkout. Some doctors say the increase in admissions would compromise the quality of medical education. | Reuters…

DUBAI: Hundreds of buyers queued overnight outside a Dubai-based developer’s office for a chance to snap up luxury waterfront homes, the latest sign of a frenzy gripping one of the world’s hottest property markets. Government-backed Nakheel PJSC sold all houses on offer in the first two phases at the Bay Villas development within hours. The project on Dubai Islands will feature more than 500 homes, with prices starting at $1.2 million (about R23m) apiece. The most expensive properties will cost upward of $4m. Nakheel, the developer of Dubai’s artificial palm-shaped islands, last year launched a project that saw buyers queue up in 38°C heat for $5m homes. | The Washington Post…

from Page1 in, including funding models that are proposed in the NHI. “At the moment, what we are trying to say to Health is that we will focus on doing those preliminary things, including upgrading the infrastructure in preparation for that roll-out. “Otherwise the actual costing, taxation and so on will come later,” he said. On e-tolls in Gauteng, Godongwana said they had an agreement with Premier Panyaza Lesufi that provided for a 70-30 split settlement. “We have made our own commitment and the province has got to give us money,” he said. Godongwana also said Gauteng had to answer who will do the maintenance of the e-tolls. “This is a discussion they are having with the Department of Transport. Unless the agreement is tied down, I can’t make a…

DESPITE President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signalling of early childhood development (ECD) as a key priority in his State of the Nation Address, the 2024 Budget failed to allocate the funds necessary to fulfil all children’s rights to quality ECD services. This is according to the Campaign for Real Reform for ECD which noted the ECD subsidy remains pegged at R17 per child per day for the sixth year in a row. “During the same period, food prices have increased by about 39%. This means that in 2024/25, it will be even more difficult for ECD programmes in poor communities to provide a safe environment, nutritious food, decent working conditions, and age-appropriate stimulation,” the campaign said in a statement. “Worse, the subsidy only reaches about 35% of eligible children who are attending…

THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will administer the new funding loan scheme with banks assisting to provide backup support and other services, Parliament was told. Discussions with the banks have started, they have signed non-disclosure agreements and Section 70 (PFMA) discussions with National Treasury were being prepared. This, as the implementation of the first phase of the funding model is under way with 22 245 loan applications received as of February 12. About 139 students have already been provisionally funded, 12 890 were awaiting evaluations. According to Higher Education deputy director-general for universities Dr Marcia Socikwa, discussions with partner universities was also ongoing. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) briefed the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education this week over the comprehensive student funding model for post-school…

POLICE have made a breakthrough in what is believed to be a syndicate allegedly selling and supplying explosives used in cash-in-transit (CIT) armed robberies, ATM bombings and illegal mining. The four are expected to appear before the Welkom Magistrate’s Court today on charges relating to contravening the Explosives Act 26 of 1956. The three men and a woman were arrested in Welkom, Free State, during a tracing operation by SAPS Eastern Cape Crime Intelligence, members of the National Intervention Unit (NIU) from Pretoria, as well as SAPS Free State Explosives section on Wednesday. They were found with 40 explosives and a number of explosives accessories, said police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe. She said the suspects are believed to be involved in a number of cases where explosives were used in committing…

Twenty-Seven Minutes Ashley Tate Headline The small town of West Wilmer has been struggling to answer one question: on the night of the crash that killed his sister, why did it take Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help? If he'd called sooner, his sister Phoebe might still be alive. As the anniversary of Phoebe's death approaches, Grant is consumed by his memories and the secret that's been suffocating him for years. But he and Phoebe weren't the only ones in the car that night. Becca was there too. She's the only other person who knows what really happened. Everyone remembers Phoebe, but local girl June also lost someone that night. Her brother, Wyatt, has been missing for 10 years. Now that her mother is dead, June has no…

South African football is again on a collision course with Nigeria. In the recent Africa Cup of Nations, Bafana Bafana lost 4-2 to the Nigerians in a penalty shoot-out when the semi- final ended 1-1 after extra time. Now Banyana Banyana could come up against the west African nation to decide their fate in trying to qualify for this year’s Paris Olympics. Banyana continue their journey this afternoon, when they take on Tanzania in Dar es Salaam in the first leg of the third round of the African qualification tournament. The second leg will be held next Tuesday in Mbombela, and if they get through these fixtures, they will go into the fourth and final round, where they will face the winner of Cameroon v Nigeria in early April. There…

Poland’s prime minister said yesterday that the Polish and Ukrainian governments would meet in Warsaw on March 28, but did not accept a request by Ukraine’s president for urgent talks on border blockades by Polish farmers. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Wednesday for Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Polish President Andrzej Duda and EU officials to come to the Ukrainian-Polish border to discuss the protests by farmers angered by what they say is unfair competition from Ukraine. Zelenskiy made it clear he wanted talks before tomorrow’s second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “I have agreed with the prime minister of Ukraine for a meeting between the two governments, which will take place in Warsaw on March 28, and I hope that by then technical talks will lead to a…

ChatGPT spewed nonsensical answers to users’ queries for hours on Tuesday into Wednesday before eventually returning to its senses. OpenAI, which makes the world-leading generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool, said a software tweak had “introduced a bug with how the model processes language. We rolled out a fix and confirmed that the incident was resolved,” it added. ChatGPT was giving “peculiar” responses, generating non-existent words, incomplete sentences and general gobbledygook, developers using the tool said in a discussion forum on the OpenAI website. It wasn’t until more than 16 hours had passed that OpenAI updated the page with a message that ChatGPT was operating normally. OpenAI recently concluded a deal with investors that valued the start-up at $80 billion (about R1.5 trillion) or more. | AFP…

BEIJING: Five people were killed when an empty cargo ship struck a bridge in southern China yesterday, causing part of it to collapse, authorities and state media reported. The container vessel was travelling between the cities of Foshan and Guangzhou when it rammed into Lixinsha Bridge. The boat “came into contact with the bridge pillars, causing the roadway above to collapse”, it said The collision sent five vehicles tumbling off the bridge. The deceased included the driver of an empty bus, the driver of an electric scooter, and three people in a small goods vehicle, CCTV said. | AFP…

San Francisco: US President Joe Biden called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB” at a public fund-raising event this week, which the Kremlin decried as “shameful”. The 81-year-old leader has had harsh words for Putin since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, including calling him a “butcher” and a “war criminal”. “We have a crazy SOB like that guy Putin, and others,” Biden said at the event in San Francisco. Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Biden’s invective was a huge shame for the US. “It is clear that Mr Biden is demonstrating Hollywood cowboy-style behaviour to serve domestic political interests,” he said. | AFP…

ANC accuses DA of being behind ‘real plan’ to declare transformation unconstitutional AHEAD of its manifesto launch in Durban tomorrow, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula played down the role of the party’s deployment committee, saying it did not micromanage ministers or party president Cyril Ramaphosa. He said state capture could not be attributed to the cadre deployment policy, saying the Gupta brothers had carefully orchestrated and executed that system of corruption along with their network of enablers in the government and big corporations. The committee’s role in deploying people to state-owned enterprises and other state entities has come into sharp focus in recent weeks when, after a lengthy court battle, the Constitutional Court ordered the ANC to hand over its deployment records, from 2013 onwards, to the DA…

AS the search for Joslin Smith reached its fourth day, her family in Middelpos maintained hope that she would be located soon. A police helicopter joined an extensive search, hovering over areas around Saldanha Bay, while numerous residents actively aided search-and-rescue personnel on the ground. Search efforts extended to fields, bushes, and ponds, employing the use of drones. Joslin went missing on Monday. Her mother Kerry last saw Joslin when she returned to work at 12pm and left her in the care of her boyfriend. Later in the afternoon, the Grade 1 Diazville Primary School pupil was allegedly seen by some residents walking with a boy or man whose identity is not yet known. At the time of Joslin’s disappearance, she was wearing a light blue T-shirt and light…

The best way to bury your husband Alexia Casale Loot.co.za (R255) Viking A DARK comedy about four women coming together to heal the damage their husbands have done – and hide their bodies once they’ve killed them. When Sally kills her husband with a cast-iron skillet, she’s more fearful of losing her kids than of disposing of a fresh corpse. But Sally isn’t the only woman in town reaching the brink. Sally finds herself leading an extremely unusual self-help group, and among them there are four bodies to hide. Can they all figure out the perfect way to bury their husbands – and get away with it? First to join is former nurse Ruth, who met her husband as a single mom. Now her son is grown and her husband’s…

Glorious Exploits Ferdia Lennon Loot.co.za (R255) Fig Tree In ancient Sicily, after Athens’ failed invasion in 412BC, thousands of soldiers are imprisoned in Syracuse quarries. Lampo and Gelon are local potters, young men with no work and barely two obols to rub together. With not much to fill their time, they take to visiting the nearby quarry, where they discover prisoners who will, in desperation, recite lines from the plays of Euripides in return for scraps of bread and a scattering of olives. And so an idea is born: the men will put on Medea in the quarry. A proper performance to be sung of down the ages. Because after all, you can hate the Athenians for invading your territory, but still love their poetry. But as the performance draws…

CHIEF Justice Raymond Zondo and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola may have committed a gross disservice to South Africans in appointing retired Justice Zak Yacoob to look at appeals in the Constitutional Court. The appointment smacks of irregularity, no matter how one looks at it. Be it from a political alignment point of view or a judicial decorum point of view, it spells “irregular”. The Code of Judicial Conduct states, among others, that a judge must not become involved in any political controversy or activity unless it is necessary for the discharge of judicial office, or use or lend the prestige of the judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge or others. Justice Yacoob’s history of controversial incidents, including verbal altercations and alleged attempts to influence legal proceedings,…

Animal activists have fashion brands squarely in their sights this Milan Fashion Week, hoping to pressure Italian brands Max Mara and Fendi to give up fur in future collections. An activist from Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) stormed the Fendi runway on Wednesday brandishing a sign saying “Animals are NOT clothing”. And a coalition of pro-animal groups stepped up their campaign yesterday against Max Mara. Over 1 500 international fashion brands, including some of the most prestigious, have renounced fur in recent years, due to concerns about animal cruelty, changing trends and new synthetic alternatives. Yesterday a hot-air balloon with the message “Max Mara Go Fur-Free” floated above the company’s headquarters in Emilia Romagna for the second day running. The stunt was backed by the Fur Free…

JAKARTA: Indonesia has been struck by a tornado of a scale previously unrecorded in the country that slightly injured at least 33 people and damaged buildings, government officials said. After the violent wind swept the town of Sumedang in West Java province on Wednesday, a climatologist at government research body BRIN, Erma Yulihastin, said the agency would “reconstruct and investigate the tornado”. In a post on X, she said it was similar to the violent winds that often occur in the northern hemisphere. Until now, only smaller tornadoes, known as “angin puting beliung” have been recorded in Indonesia. | Reuters…

CAPE CANAVERAL: A Houston-based company was set yesterday to land America’s first spaceship on the moon in more than 50 years, part of a new fleet of Nasa-funded, uncrewed, commercial robots meant to pave the way for astronaut missions this decade. Intuitive Machines will guide its lander Odysseus, orbiting at about 92km from the surface, to a gentle touchdown near the lunar south pole. As the vehicle approaches the surface, Odysseus will shoot out an external “EagleCam” that captures images of the lander in descent. Its destination, Malapert A, is an impact crater 300km from the lunar south pole. Nasa hopes to eventually harvest ice there for both drinking water and rocket fuel. | AFP…