Table of contents for 2024-05-29 in Cape Times

WHILE calm had largely been restored across the Eastern Cape following police and military intervention, at least nine voting stations have been affected by sporadic protest action. This follows unrest due to taxi protests in Mthatha on Monday which led to the complete shutdown of the Mthatha CBD and surrounding areas and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) being unable to operate at more than 100 voting stations on Monday. Eastern Cape Transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose said by yesterday morning law and order had been restored in Mthatha and traffic was free flowing. “Law enforcement officers including members of SANDF are keeping a close eye on developments as rescue teams continue to clear some debris from (Monday’s) violent protests that were characterised with running battles between the police…

In a historic election 30 years into democracy, 27.6 million voters will today cast their ballots to usher in a new government. Briefing the media on the special voting last night, chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the IEC was confident that all preparations were in place for free, fair elections. “A key aspect of our preparations included engaging with various stakeholders which included political parties, independent candidates, the media, security and government structures at all levels, civil society organisations, community organisations, and the voters of South Africa. “A number of state entities and municipalities are supporting the logistics of elections,” he said. Mamabolo said all the 23 292 voting stations will open for voting at 7am and close at 9pm. “It is important to emphasise that eligible voters who…

This week, South Africans will be confronted with a choice: to vote or not. The freedom of democracy bestows upon everyone that choice. The clarion call remains for every registered citizen who is eligible to vote to go and cast a vote; this is your privilege and right. The feast of Pentecost has concluded for Christians. Pentecost takes place 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The celebration is, in essence, about empowering people by the power of God. The baton of leadership was passed on to people of all walks of life gathered on the day of Pentecost, to take the message of good news and hope of the resurrected Christ to everyone. Followers of Jesus Christ were empowered to take ownership and the responsibility of sharing the…

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) said there has been a significant increase in the number of arrests of bogus practitioners by the Inspectorate Office in the 2023/2024 financial year. Two of these bogus practitioners, who the HPCSA says posed a serious risk to public health and safety, were recently arrested in Durban. HPCSA spokesperson Priscilla Sekhonyana said during the 2023/24 financial year, 24 illegal medical practitioners were arrested nationwide. Detailing the most recent incident, Sekhonyana said a 39-year-old woman was arrested in the Durban central area for practising as a medical practitioner while unregistered with the council. Sekhonyana said members of the Inspectorate Office of the HPCSA, in collaboration with law enforcement officials, had investigated a complaint they received about the woman. “The investigation also revealed that…

THE election season peaks today when millions of South Africans head to the voting stations to make their X. Since the turn of the year, political parties have been declaring war against each other and making all sorts of promises – but now it’s in the hands of the voters. However, the big question is who will be named president after the votes are counted later this week. Top contender in the green, black and yellow of the ANC is incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa. Deemed a hero and saviour heading into his first presidential term, he was found wanting during the Covid-19 pandemic when the country needed a decisive leader. Despite surviving the Phala Phala robbery scandal, the people have lost faith in him. Next is DA leader John Steenhuisen.…

Senior British MPs, including the chairs of three parliamentary committees, have questioned fast-fashion giant Shein’s suitability for a London stock market listing and called for greater scrutiny of the Chinese-founded firm. Shein is stepping up preparations for a London listing after its attempt to float in New York faced regulatory hurdles and pushback from US lawmakers. The firm, known for its $10 tops and $5 biker shorts, faced criticism from US lawmakers over alleged labour malpractices, lawsuits from competitors, and use of an import tax exemption. British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt held talks with Shein’s Executive Chairman Donald Tang in February and the firm is keen to list in London, a UK government source told Reuters. Britain is keen to attract more listings after losing out on some big-name flotations…

Paris: Amnesty International held a mock funeral for privacy yesterday at the French capital’s famed Pere Lachaise cemetery, warning of the dangers of using surveillance cameras upgraded with artificial intelligence (AI) during the Olympics. France’s parliament last year approved using the systems during the Games from July 26 to August 11. The government said such technology was needed to manage millions-strong crowds and spot potential dangers, and the smart cameras would not process biometric data or resort to facial recognition. But critics say it opens the way to enabling widespread facial recognition. Amnesty has called on France to ban facial recognition systems in public spaces. | AFP…

WORLD Hypertension Day on May 17 was dedicated to raising awareness about hypertension, often called a silent killer. This health condition is a leading cause of premature deaths worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, about 1.28 billion adults aged 30 to 79 are living with hypertension. Sadly, only 46% of these individuals are aware of their condition. Diet plays a critical role in managing and reducing hypertension, according to the Discovery Health Medical Scheme. They share advice. Impact of diet on blood pressure What you eat can greatly influence your blood pressure. Adopting a healthy eating plan can reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure and help lower existing high blood pressure levels. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (Dash) diet is a well- established guideline aimed at…

ATTEMPTS by RISE Mzansi to dissuade the public from voting for rival party ActionSA through negative SMSes has been described as nothing more than “old politics” . Yesterday scores of South Africans woke up to SMSes saying: “Don’t vote for ActionSA: they are partners with the DA in the MPC. A vote for ActionSA is a vote for the DA. “We need new leaders. Vote RISE Mzansi.” ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said RISE Mzansi’s series of paid attack SMSes was a “clumsy attempt” to manufacture reasons why people should not vote for them. Beaumont said if anything, the truth was that while Rise Mzansi had attempted to position itself as a party led by the voices of the people of South Africa, it was in fact ActionSA that was…

POLITICAL parties have declared more than R170 million in donations for their political activities ahead of the elections today. The Electoral Commission (IEC) has released its published declarations report detailing which political parties attracted the most donations to their purse for the 2023/24 financial year. Political parties in South Africa are obliged to disclose donations they have received above R100 000 as well as who funded them. “The total declared value of donations has for the very first time since the inception of the Party Funding Act (which requires donation declarations over a certain threshold) surpassed the R100 million mark in any one quarter,” said the IEC. Releasing the data on Friday, the IEC said R100 000 was cumulative and should be declared immediately when the total value…

IT WAS like a breath of fresh air to read that Spain, Ireland and Norway have opted to recognise Palestine. The question, however, is: What took them so long? Following the 1967 annexation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza by Israel, the Palestinians have basically been in captivity in Gaza after having been herded there like sheep. What took 57 years and this war of attrition to wake the West up to the fact that Palestinians have a legal and moral right to have real freedom? That Israel will remain in place is a fact of life, albeit with clipped wings insofar as Palestine is concerned. Israel exists only by the good grace of the US. America is sick and tired of the unrest in the Middle East…

THE South African government has joined several countries and organisations in condemning Israel after an airstrike that killed more than 40 people including children at a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians in a designated safe zone in Rafah. The attack came two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in Rafah. It is reported that more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population had sought shelter before Israel’s incursion into Rafah. The Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) yesterday said the continued attacks on innocent civilians posed an extreme risk, including to humanitarian supplies, basic services in Gaza, the survival of the Palestinian medical system, and the survival of people. “The current conditions confirm that South Africa is justified for approaching the…

Voters will be confronted with stark choices of ‘continuity’, ‘confidence’ or ‘change’ IT WOULD be downright presumptuous to tell any of South Africa’s 27 672 264 registered voters which party to cast their vote for in today’s potentially historic general election – the seventh since the advent of post-apartheid democratic polity in 1994. Voting supposedly is a very personal affair confined to the conscience and socio-political-cum-ideological preference of the individual voter in the privacy of the ballot box, enshrined in any self-respecting democratic constitution as an inalienable right of citizens concomitant with a beauty parade of freedoms and equalities – freedom of voter registration, of association, of speech, of forming parties, of electoral campaigning, and equitable access to state and commercial broadcast and print media outlets, albeit in proportion to…

Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli strike killed at least 21 people at a displacement camp west of the southern city of Rafah yesterday, days after a similar strike that set ablaze a crowded camp in Gaza’s far-southern city, killing 45 people according to Palestinian officials, and sparking global outrage. Mohammad al-Mughayyir, a senior official at the agency, said 21 people had been killed in an “occupation strike targeting the tents of displaced people west of Rafah”. Palestinian militant group Hamas also said an Israeli strike had caused “dozens of martyrs and wounded” in the area. Israeli tanks were “stationed on the al-Awda roundabout in the centre of the city of Rafah,” a witness said. A Palestinian security source confirmed tanks were in the centre of Rafah where Israeli…

Torrential rains brought by cyclone Remal caused a collapse in a stone quarry in India’s state of Mizoram, killing 15 people and trapping seven, while eight more died in landslides and other accidents elsewhere in the remote region, officials said. Weather authorities said the powerful cyclone had weakened into a depression after devastating regional coastlines the previous day, when it killed at least 16 and cut power to millions in parts of eastern India and neighbouring Bangladesh. But harsh weather was hampering efforts yesterday to rescue at least seven people trapped in the quarry on the outskirts of Aizawl, the capital of northeastern Mizoram, disaster management officials said. “There have been incessant rains in the wake of cyclone Remal, which led to the quarry collapse,” one of them told Reuters,…

LONDON: Britain’s opposition Labour Party said yesterday that it would prioritise economic stability if it won a national election on July 4, and its finance policy chief said she would focus on spurring successful businesses. Less than a week after Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called an early election, Labour has told voters they can trust a “changed party” to govern. The party said it could provide the stability needed for investment. In response, the Conservatives said business was concerned about Labour’s plans to protect workers’ rights, saying “Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan that businesses can rely on”. | AFP…

HONG KONG: Hong Kong national security police arrested six people across the city yesterday under a new security law for alleged seditious intent, including a pro-democracy barrister already behind bars. Security Secretary Chris Tang said the six were suspected of using a Facebook page to “advocate hatred” against the governments in Hong Kong and China, which took back control of the former British colony in 1997. Tuesday marked the first arrests under the new law, which was enacted in March and is commonly referred to as Article 23. It includes penalties of up to life imprisonment for five categories of crime including treason and insurrection. | Reuters and AFP…

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis used a derogatory term towards the LGBT community as he reiterated in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops that gay people should not be allowed to become priests, Italian media said this week. La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest circulation dailies, both quoted the pope as saying seminaries, or priesthood colleges, were already too full of “frociaggine”, a vulgar Italian term roughly translating as “faggotness”. “The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of a term, as reported by others,” the Vatican said in a statement yesterday. | Reuters.…

Nara Smith certainly knows how to captivate an audience. Known as the ultimate TikTok tradwife, Nara, 22, has inspired millions of people with her youthful charm, soft-spoken demeanour, elegant style and delightful array of recipes that blend tradition with modern taste. We take a look at some of the cook's mind-blowing creations that left people astonished and salivating. Bubblegum This month, Nara took to TikTok in her usual mellow fashion as she began preparing yet another home-made concoction in the kitchen. But viewers’ jaws dropped when she revealed what she was making – bubblegum. She detailed how she made green apple and cinnamon vanilla-flavoured gum for her sister. “My sister was in town to visit and she’s been craving bubble gum so bad," Nara explained. "But she ran out so…

AfriForum says it will discuss the possibility of turning to the Constitutional Court after it failed in its Supreme Court of Appeal application over a complaint of hate speech against the EFF for singing the song Dubula ibhunu. Justice Halima Saldulker dismissed the appeal application after AfriForum’s complaint was initially unsuccessful in the Equality Court. The literal English translation of the Struggle song is “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer”. In a statement, AfriForum said the judgment had “let farmers down (and) emphasises the importance of taking safety into one’s own hands”. The hate speech complaint by AfriForum centred, in the main, on the song, which was sung by EFF’s president, Julius Malema, and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi. AfriForum pointed to six occasions on which Malema had chanted the song, albeit that…

WE WOULD like to express to Schmidhauser, on behalf of the children and staff at Leliebloem House, our heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all the company has done in support of our work. The company’s keen interest in our work and the tangible support it gives us inspires all staff at Leliebloem House to continue to pursue pathways for success for our children, despite the many difficult days we encounter. We would like to acknowledge Schmidhauser for coming on board with its significant contribution of securing our facility with LED flood lights and trimming our trees, which was warmly received and appreciated. Thank you for being a champion of our cause and contributing to the well-being of our beneficiaries. The holistic model we embrace at Leliebloem House has…

THE three men arrested for the shooting of 5-year-old Ditebogo Junior Phalane from Soshanguve during the hijacking of his father’s car have abandoned their bid to be released on bail after they disclosed other matters with similar charges. All three men informed the court yesterday that they would be abandoning their bail bid as they had other pending matters against them, which they would be appearing for this year. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, speaking after the men appeared in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court yesterday, said the men had been positively linked to the shooting of the young boy on May 10. The trio, Elia Moeko, 36, Ali Sithole, 30, and Nido Gumbe, 29, would face charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances, she said. Gumbe,…

THE last census, conducted in 2021, revealed that 63% of South Africa’s population is made up of younger people aged between 15 and 34. With the voting age being 18 and focusing on the national and provincial government elections this week, naturally, young people have an instrumental role to play in who governs this country. The face of South African politics does not reflect our demographics. Young people are shut out of opportunities and are often used as voting fodder. They are a great source of mobilisation and awareness for political parties, but when the time comes for them to occupy decision-making spaces, they are often overlooked. A lot has been said about “2024 being our 1994”, but who is the “our” being referred to? It is young people. During…

A landslide in Papua New Guinea is feared to have buried more than 2 000 people, with experts pointing to colossal tectonic forces, tribal clashes and mosquitoes to make sense of the crisis. One of the most disaster-prone nations in the world, Papua New Guinea occupies a slice of the southwest Pacific frequently battered by earthquakes, flooding and volcanic eruptions. But even by these volatile standards, the emergency in the highlands of Enga province could rank among the country’s most lethal natural disasters. The bustling highlands community on the shoulder of Mount Mungalo was destroyed when a landslide struck in the early hours of Friday morning. Scores of homes and the people sleeping inside them were buried beneath an avalanche of boulders, mud and uprooted trees. Papua New Guinea sits…

Zimbabwean wildlife authorities are eyeing trophy hunting export markets in the East as some European countries move to ban trophy imports, an official said yesterday. The European Parliament called in 2022 for a ban on the import of trophies derived from species listed by Cites, an international agreement that aims to ensure that trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife director-general Fulton Mangwanya said that talks in Livingstone, Namibia to support trophy hunting were ongoing between Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, 50 people were killed in elephant attacks in 2023. “We should be allowed to be hunting more so that we do the management of reducing these animals which are killing our people,” Mangwanya said. | Reuters…

DUBAI: A Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier off the Yemeni coast took on water after being targeted with three missiles, maritime security and shipping sources said yesterday. The ship issued a distress call, saying it had sustained damage to the cargo hold and was taking on water about 54 nautical miles southwest of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah. Greek shipping sources said the vessel was sailing to a port nearby to assess the damage. It was headed to the United Arab Emirates. UK Maritime Trade Operations said the crew were safe. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have launched drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians. | Reuters…

MADRID: The Medusa Beach Club in Spain’s Palma de Mallorca, which collapsed last week killing four people, did not have a permit to serve customers on its rooftop, the city’s mayor said yesterday. Two German tourists, a Spanish waitress of Senegalese origin and a Senegalese man were killed when the two-storey beachside restaurant building caved in on May 23. Mayor Jaime Martinez Llabres said yesterday investigations showed the combined excessive weight of a total of 21 people on the rooftop caused the collapse. The accident occurred as Spain’s Mediterranean Balearic islands prepare for a tourism season expected to bring in millions of visitors. | Reuters…