Table of contents for 2024-07-01 in Cape Times

PARLIAMENT said preparations were at an advanced stage for the opening of the seventh Parliament and the delivery of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) on Mandela Day. Both Parliament and the Presidency confirmed on Friday that the address, which allows for the president to outline the government’s agenda, legislative priorities and key policy directions, will take place on July 18, which coincides with International Mandela Day. “The opening of Parliament on this day is a fitting tribute as it calls on individuals and communities to take time to reflect on Mandela's values and principles and to make a positive impact on communities and globally,” said the president’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya. Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said the event would be held at the Cape Town City Hall. “Preparations…

AS FORMER agriculture and land reform minister and recently elected National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza faces possible jail time In a David v Goliath court battle, three sheep farmers – Johannes Bezuidenhout, Herold Bezuidenhout and Jan Berg – represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), hauled the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to court after it had not complied with a March court order in which the farmers were to be restored undisturbed possession of two farms. In the latest development, Acting Judge Safia Mahomed, in the Western Cape High Court, ordered 30 days of imprisonment for department respondents who failed to comply with the court order. Responding to enquiries, Didiza said: “Once I study the judgment and its implications, I will advise accordingly.” LRC attorney…

RUSSIA’S Consul General in Cape Town Aleksei Malenko scored an own goal in his article in the Cape Times (June 27). This diatribe regarding the Ukrainian conflict is a fairytale straight out of Noddyland. His suggestion that Nato is somehow responsible for the conflict in Ukraine is disingenuous and a work of fiction. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his dystopian regime would be put out on their ears if free and fair elections were to be held in Russia today. It took the death of Alexei Navalny in a Siberian prison at half his body weight wearing a T-shirt in temperatures sub zero to remind the Russian people that free and fair elections would never be allowed under Putin’s watch. The reason Putin invaded Ukraine in the first place is…

A NUMBER of flawed statements are made by Mr Hadebe against Cape secession and CapeXit in his article on Wednesday’s op-ed page of the paper. The entire premise of his article is to propose that the Western Cape is somehow beholden to the rest of South Africa for it, and the ANC’s failures. His fear of losing the Western Cape is based on his belief that the productivity, competence, economic success, general higher standard of living and the consistent political choice expressed democratically over 30 years, to break away from the clutches of the corrupt and incompetent ANC in the rest of South Africa, is unfair and, of course, racist. His claims of racism are as absurd as the SA Human Rights Commission’s recent embarrassment in which former MP Renaldo…

A Cape Town doctor has been sentenced after entering into a plea agreement with the State in connection with the selling and distribution of scheduled medicine worth about R5 million. Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court sentenced Bert Wolfgang Kirsten on Friday after he pleaded guilty to 1198 counts of selling scheduled medicine as well as 570 counts of money laundering in terms of Section 4 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca). The sentencing was the result of an investigation led by the Western Cape Hawks South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (Saneb) team, Hani said. “This emanates from an incident in October 2018, where scheduled medicine was seized after search warrants were executed as part of a Hawks probe into an alleged illegal medicine…

IT IS unfortunate that some people were “punished” by the apartheid regime not just for fighting that evil system, but also for coming up with a very much inclusive programme. Aggrey Klaaste might not have been the only one, but he was one unique and outstanding individual who was doing two things at the same time: fighting and building. While he was in the Struggle against the apartheid system, at the same time he was bringing to the fore an exercise beforehand, that would be undergone after the Struggle against the apartheid system was over. Not all journalists were exposing, challenging, and fighting the apartheid system, especially the African/Black ones. As much as everyone would like to protect their jobs, there are jobs that leave you without any…

French people voted yesterday in the first round of high-stakes snap parliamentary elections which could alter France’s trajectory and see the far-right party of Marine Le Pen take power in a historic first. President Emmanuel Macron stunned the nation by calling snap polls after the far-right National Rally (RN) party’s strong showing in European Parliament elections this month. With Russia’s war against Ukraine in its third year and energy and food prices much higher, support for the anti-immigration and eurosceptic party has surged despite Macron’s pledges to prevent its ascent. The two-round vote could put the far-right in power in France for the first time since the Nazi occupation in World War II. Polling stations opened across mainland France followed by projections that usually predict the result with a degree…

Hundreds of people marched in the Kenyan capital Nairobi yesterday, in tribute to those who died in anti-government demonstrations last week. According to NGOs, at least 30 people died in protests sparked by a government drive to substantially raise taxes in the country – although the government has not given any official toll. The largely peaceful rallies turned violent last Tuesday when MPs passed the deeply unpopular tax increases following pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Police opened fire on protesters who stormed the parliament complex and a fire broke out. The clashes were unprecedented in the history of the country since its independence from Britain in 1963. On Saturday, a few hundred people gathered in Uhuru Park in central Nairobi. After singing and lighting candles, they waved flags…

ATHENS: Greek firefighters were battling a wildfire south of Athens yesterday amid strong winds, just hours after managing to contain blazes in a mountainous area also near the capital as well as on an island in the Aegean Sea. Dozens of firefighters, backed up by 17 water-carrying aircraft, fought to tame the new fire in a sparsely-populated area near the town of Keratea, some 35km south of Athens. Greek television showed at least one house in flames as smoke from burning pine and olive trees billowed into the sky. With hot, windy conditions across much of Greece, dozens of wildfires broke out over the weekend. | Reuters…

SEOUL: North Korean officials wore pins with a portrait of Kim Jong Un in public for the first time in pictures released by state media yesterday, the latest step in the development of a cult of personality about the leader. The officials, speaking at a key meeting chaired by Kim of the reclusive state’s ruling party, wore the typical party logo pin on the right lapel and, on the left chest, the pin with Kim’s face against a flag-shaped red background. The 10th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea reviews the party’s performance for the first half of the year, North Korean media recently published photographs showing Kim’s portrait hanging next to those of Kim Jong Il and national patriarch Kim Il Sung…

The Proteas Women showed their mettle, fighting back from the cusp of a huge defeat against India in their one-off Test match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai yesterday. The visitors showed great huge application and character to calmly navigate a testing day three dominated by India’s spin bowlers. A crucial record-breaking 190-run partnership between captain Laura Wolvaardt (93 not out) and Sune Luus (109) propelled South Africa from 16-1 to 232-2 at the close of play, needing a further 105 runs to avoid an innings defeat after India enforced the follow on. The Proteas came into the day 367 runs behind India’s first innings total of 603-6 declared, with six wickets in hand. Sne Rana picked up 8-77 as the visitors lost six wickets in 8.4 overs, adding…

The EFF and its secretary-general Marshall Dlamini have indicated that they will appeal the judgment and 18 months’ suspended sentence handed down to Dlamini for slapping a police officer in the face after the 2019 State of the Nation Address (Sona). The party slammed the sentence handed to Dlamini in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Friday. Dlamini’s 18-month prison sentence was conditionally suspended for five years. Additionally, the court imposed a fine of R6 000, alternatively three months in jail. When delivering judgment, magistrate Nasha Banwari said Dlamini’s claim that he was merely protecting the EFF leader Julius Malema from a possible assassination threat was not acceptable. Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said the 47-year-old was sentenced for assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and malicious…

INSTEAD of cutting an already bloated Cabinet, President Cyril Ramaphosa justified increasing the size of his executive by the need to ensure that it was inclusive of all the parties to the Government of National Unit (GNU). From 30 ministers with their deputies, his executives now has 32 ministers, with 42 deputies. Ramaphosa acknowledged that during the course of the sixth democratic administration, they had intended to reduce the number of portfolios. “In some instances, we have considered it necessary to separate certain portfolios to ensure there is sufficient focus on key issues. This Government of National Unity would be bound by certain fundamental principles and would undertake a basic minimum programme of priorities,” he said. He merged the ministries of Electricity and Energy, while separating the Ministry of Mineral…

ALAN Boesak’s opinion piece (Cape Times, June 25) cannot go unchallenged. I find it quite amazing how political developments of the past 30-odd years tend to change our outlooks and the resulting political realignment that we espouse. Despite knowing Dr Boesak’s admirable history in the Struggle, and the subsequent poor treatment he received from the leaders of the ANC, I would now put him squarely in the camp of the EFF, considering the opinions expressed in his article. I was a foot soldier in the Struggle who suffered my fair amount of victimisation and racial oppression in the economic sphere. But having observed the reality of governance across our country for the past 30 years, I find myself moving in the opposite direction to where Dr Boesak seems to be…

THE fact that UCT has cut ties with Israel shows unbelievable short sightedness. Have they forgotten about Albert Einstein, the greatest genius of all time, and winner of the Nobel prize? What about Robert Oppenheimer who worked on the Manhattan project that developed the atomic bomb that ended WW II forcing the Japanese to surrender? Jonas Salk ended the scourge of polio by creating a vaccine to defeat this disease. These men were brilliant Jews among many Israelis who have led the world in medicine, science and physics. Israel was established in 1948 and the barren desert was made to bloom by sophisticated use of water, drip irrigation and desalination. These techniques were offered to South Africa during the recent drought but turned down by the government because it came…

PetroSA’s Xoliswa Mpongoshe has been appointed council chairperson at UWC. Outgoing vice-chancellor professor Tyrone Pretorius made the announcement at the weekend following a council meeting on Tuesday. Mpongoshe, a distinguished UWC law graduate, is expected to bring a wealth of experience as an executive leader specialising in corporate governance, corporate law, commercial law, risk management and sustainability. “Her impressive career spans both the private and public sectors, where she has held key executive positions at various blue chip companies in South Africa, as well as strategic state-owned enterprises. “Ms Mpongoshe has served as chief compliance and risk officer at Transnet, acted as CEO at Transnet on several occasions, and was the executive of corporate services at PetroSA. Currently, she has been seconded to the newly established South African National…

A TENDER calling for a “panel of referral advocates” who would be briefed on all state litigation for the next three years was overturned by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. Judge Anthony Millar commented in his judgment, delivered on Friday, that the tender was for a period of three years and once it was awarded and the panel established, it was a closed panel. “The effect of this, in circumstances where the tender provides that the OSA (Office of the State Attorney) will brief referral advocates who have less than a year’s experience, is to exclude all newly qualified referral advocates for a period of three years until a new tender is issued,” he said. The judge said the state as the largest user of legal services in the Republic…

THIRTY runs from 30 balls. That was the equation for the Proteas to be crowned world champions for the very first time. Surely, not even the Proteas could lose it from here. Years of disappointment were about to be erased at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Captain Aiden Markram's men were not just playing for themselves. They were carrying every Protea that had come before them on their backs. It was for every South African that had made their way to Barbados. And for the 60 million people back home. By now, of course, we all know about the drama that transpired, and the absolute disbelief when Suryakumar Yadav completed a miraculous catch on the boundary. The dream was over. David Miller, the Proteas’ most experienced T20 international ever and…

The first round of Iran’s presidential election revealed shrinking support for both reformists and conservatives even though some voters are pushing for change by backing the sole reformist candidate, analysts say. Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist contender, and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili led the polls held on Friday to replace the late ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month. Friday’s vote, marked by a historically low turnout, “clearly shows that both reformists’ and conservatives’ bases have considerably shrunk,” said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group think tank. In the lead-up to the election, Iran’s main reformist coalition supported Pezeshkian, with endorsements by former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani, a moderate. “The reformists brought out the big guns and tried their best to mobilise their base,”…

Kanyabayonga: The M23 militia group continued to gain ground in the war-torn east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more towns falling into the hands of the rebels, a source said yesterday. Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of backing the Tutsi-led M23 rebel group which has seized swathes of eastern DR Congo in an ongoing offensive launched in 2021, something Kigali denies. Yesterday, the M23 moved into the town of Kirumba, in North Kivu province. On Saturday, it seized the strategic town of Kanyabayonga, home to more than 60 000 people, causing thousands to flee. Other towns near Kanyabayonga have also been seized by M23, according to security sources. | AFP…

NEW DELHI: The death toll from this week’s sudden heavy rain has climbed to 11 in New Delhi, including four citizens who drowned in submerged underpasses, reports said, while flight operations stuttered. New Delhi, which endured one of its worst heatwaves in history earlier this month, faced the biggest downpour in decades on June 28, with rainfall in a single day surpassing the city’s average for the entire month. The torrential rain caused a fatal roof collapse at one of the terminals of Delhi’s main airport, disrupted flights, flooded underpasses, and led to massive power and water outages in parts of the city. | Reuters…

It has been eight long years since the Springboks last tasted victory over Ireland in a rugby Test match. That was during a three-Test series back in 2016 on home soil that started with a loss before they fought back to win the final two matches against a battle-hardened Irish side. But on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria (5.05 pm kick-off), the South Africans will have to win from the first battle to keep their hopes alive of winning the two-Test series against the world’s second-ranked team. The flyhalf and midfield are most likely the two positions the Springbok coaches had to think about the longest before revealing the side for the showdown in the Jacaranda City. While there are certainly some strong candidates waiting in the wings for…

The margin between victory and defeat at an elite level of professional sport is often minuscule. Hundredths of a second wins Olympic 100m sprint gold medals. It is equally true in the swimming pool. The diameter of the rim can be the difference between attaining an NBA championship ring or not. And the width of the touchline can potentially win or lose a Rugby World Cup. That’s the nature of top-level competition. And the Proteas certainly discovered that on Saturday in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Requiring 16 runs off the final over for a first Cricket World Cup crown, David Miller slapped Hardik Pandya’s first ball down to long-off. At first glance it looked like it was set to go all…

THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has welcomed the recent Western Cape High Court ruling which dismissed with costs an application by Ezaga Holdings which sought to interdict the implementation of the Werksmans Attorneys report. Ezaga Holdings is one of the service providers which was contracted to disburse funds to National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) beneficiaries. Early this month, NSFAS administrator Freeman Nomvalo cancelled Ezaga Holdings’ and three other service providers’ contracts following the recommendations contained in the Werksmans Attorneys report. Other service providers affected by the cancellation were Coinvest Africa, Norraco Corporation and Tenet Technologies, after it was reported that these companies were appointed irregularly. On June 12, the High Court ruled that there was no urgency to the application brought by Ezaga Holdings, this after a review application…

I REFER to your Friday edition: “Youth can still change grim joblessness picture”. It should be said and praised that the scheme put together by the Western Province Government for the youth is fantastic. First, the youth are given encouragement and training and help with their CVs and second, they are able to at least access some money for decent clothing for interviews and transport. Everything else put together for the youth has been fantastic in trying to ensure that young people find jobs as quickly as possible. The next step is to ensure that small businesses are encouraged to employ youth who have no substantive CV. The future of youth employment is through the small business sector and it is this sector that needs to be helped as much…

Former Pretoria midwife Yolande Maritz, who allegedly caused several babies to either die or be born disabled, will finally appear in the court later this month. Maritz, a disgraced and deregistered nurse, will finally face prosecution for allegedly administering medication to pregnant women that is suspected of causing birth complications. AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit (PPU) has been pressuring the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to enrol the case. Two mothers who are allegedly victims of Maritz’s conduct, Carien Möller and Alysia von Kloëg, have also been on a quest for justice. Maritz has been summoned to appear in court on July 24 on assault charges. Möller and Von Kloëg filed criminal complaints in 2020 and 2022 respectively, claiming that birthing complications under Maritz’s care led to the…

Israeli forces advanced further yesterday into the Shejaiya suburb of northern Gaza and also pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south, killing at least six Palestinians and destroying several homes, residents said. Israeli tanks, which moved back into Shejaiya four days ago, fired shells towards several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, the residents said. Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his position that there was no substitute for achieving victory in the war against Hamas. “Our forces are operating in Rafah, Shejaiya, everywhere in the Gaza Strip. Dozens of terrorists are being eliminated every day. This is a difficult fight that is being waged above ground, sometimes in hand-to-hand combat, and below ground…

Hurricane Beryl became a very dangerous Category 4 storm in the Atlantic Ocean and was expected to bring life-threatening winds and flash flooding to the Caribbean’s Windward Islands as it rapidly strengthens into today, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. The first hurricane of the 2024 season was located about 565km east-southeast of Barbados on Sunday morning, with maximum sustained winds of 215km/h, the NHC said in an advisory. It is rare for a major hurricane to appear this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. Yesterday, Beryl became the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record, beating Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 on July 8, 2005, according to NHC data. Hurricane warnings have been issued in Barbados, St Lucia, S…

Thionville: A person was killed and five wounded in north-eastern France when several masked gunmen opened fire at a wedding ceremony, police sources said yesterday. Sources suggested that the attack in the north-eastern city of Thionville was linked to a settling of scores between drug traffickers. The shooting took place at a reception hall overnight between Saturday to Sunday, with around a hundred people in attendance. Two people were seriously injured and one of them was in a critical condition. The perpetrators of the shooting have fled the scene. The assailants arrived in a 4X4 vehicle, “probably a BMW”, the source said. | AFP…

Vienna: Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban yesterday announced the formation of a new EU parliamentary alliance with Austria’s far-right party and the Czech centrist group of ex-premier Andrej Babis. Orban, whose country takes on the EU’s rotating presidency today, has long railed against the “Brussels elites”, accusing Brussels of fuelling the war in Ukraine. Hungary has vowed to use its EU presidency to push for its “vision of Europe” under the motto “Make Europe Great Again”. The new alliance, “Patriots for Europe”, will need support from parties from at least four other countries to be recognised as a group in the EU parliament. | AFP…

The Proteas’ run to the ICC T20 World Cup final ended in defeat, however, there were many memorable moments, in spite of the disappointment of losing out on tje silverware once again. Here, Ongama Gcwabe looks at those moments, both the highs and lows. Disappointments Not backing themselves In their first World Cup final, the Proteas needed to play with freedom as they were the underdogs. Almost no one expected the Proteas to win the World Cup, more especially playing against the best T20 team in the world, India. However, the Proteas held themselves back in the final as they allowed Indian quick Jasprit Bumrah to bowl at them without showing any creativity. With Bumrah clearly leading the Indian attack, singling him out for an onslaught would’ve put the Proteas…

By this stage of the European Championship, favourites France and contenders Belgium would have wanted to be well into their stride and hitting their straps as they enter the knockout stages. Instead, the neighbours go spluttering into the last 16 and a head-on collision in Düsseldorf today after both failed to finish top of their first-round group. France’s much-vaunted attack is suffering from a crisis of confidence and coach Didier Deschamps, usually a steady hand guiding the squad, looks unsure of what his next move will be. Belgium will have had some motivation sucked out of their cause after an astonishingly hostile reaction from their own supporters after they limped into the next stage of the tournament in Germany. Despite Wednesday’s draw with Ukraine assuring them progress, they were…