Table of contents for 2024-08-23 in Cape Times

from page 1 to search for the toddler. The body of the child was found in a large pool of water. Some community members reached out to me once they became aware of what happened in hopes that I could look into the City policies and see if the family can be assisted with funeral arrangements. “That area is Phumlani Mqashi part of Covid (settlement). The area is a wetland that is waterlogged. The child’s death is tragic and painful. Those shacks should not be there because it gets flooded during heavy rain and sometimes water comes out through stormwaters and other ways,” he said. Madikane said there was an intergovernmental project to relocate some shack dwellers that was announced following the last devastating floods. “We were told the project…

The levels of workplace transformation in South Africa painted what the Department of Employment and Labour described as a disappointing picture, with white people still occupying the lion’s share of all positions at the top management level at 62.1%. The department also conceded that the state failed to meet its own Cabinet-set targets of achieving 2% representation of employees with disabilities. It currently stands at 1.2% of the total workforce in 2023. Innocent Makwarela, the department’s deputy director for Employment Equity (EE), disclosed these figures when speaking at an EE workshop this week. The workshop followed the release of the 24th Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) annual report, which showed that white people represented 62.1% and the Indian population group represented 11.6% of all positions at the top management level.…

A DIVORCED Cape Town father was so set on securing a place in an upmarket school for his child who just turned three and is still in nappies, that he turned to a court for consent to send the child to the school against the mother’s wishes. He turned to the Western Cape High Court to force the mother to allow him to enrol the child so that when she reached school going age she could attend the school, which he regarded as the best. The father said the school had been patient by keeping the registration of the child on hold, but he feared that other children may soon fill the spot. In his urgent application, the father asked the court to either force his ex-wife to sign the…

THE Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training wants a forensic investigation into the R136 million National Treasury provided the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to improve failing ICT systems as it appears this was never done. This was the request from the new committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie to the Department of Higher Education and Training. He had committed to ensure accountability during his tenure as the chairperson. Embattled NSFAS appeared before the committee on Wednesday to provide an update on funding of students for the 2024 academic year and progress in resolving some challenges faced by the entity including institutional and administrative issues. Administrator Freeman Nomvalo said they have been sorting out the ICT systems to enable them to answer appeals and other matters. He admitted that it…

Weeping becomes a river Siphokazi Jonas Loot.co.za (R145) Penguin If a Shakespearean actor, a Christian missionary and a Xhosa praise poet walked into a bar, their conversation would sound something like the poems in this collection. Siphokazi Jonas is a weaver of seemingly discordant worlds; growing up in an Afrikaans dorpie during the transition years of a newly democratic South Africa and going on annual holidays to a village made this a necessity. Her work as a spoken word poet often fuses poetry, theatre and film, and she brings this genre-mixing to the page by using the intsomi form to weave the narrative of her poems together. Jonas’s poems explore the impact of linguistic and cultural alienation as a black learner in former Model C schools in the 1990s and…

War Dogs - A Modern Breed of Heroes Tony Park, Shane Bryant Loot.co.za (R521) Ingwe Publishing In a country like Afghanistan, all that stands between the coalition troops and death is a four-legged creature. Highly-trained dogs and their handlers are the ones that search for the deadly explosive devices or the concealed weapons when they are out on patrol with combat troops. This is a super-perilous duty, often putting troops in the direct line of fire, and making them the high priority targets for the Taliban insurgents they are up against. In this often nail-biting book, Shane Bryant, a former Australian Army dog handler spent 10 years in Afghanistan with the elite American special forces and their four-legged friends Ricky and Benny, managing the teams. This is his story and…

THIS year is a critical time for South Africa as the country celebrates 30 years of democracy. The three decades offer us a moment to reflect on our progress in the efforts towards gender equity in all spheres of life. For example, there have been positive shifts and policies that have greatly contributed towards increasing the involvement and inclusion of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem). But the shifts are not enough. In her 2017 article, “Looking through the Glass Ceiling: A Qualitative Study of Stem Women’s Career Narratives”, Mary Amon highlights how, despite efforts having been made to advance women in Stem, many continue to lack social capital, which leads to challenges of work-life balance. Such challenges lead to some women struggling to attain and maintain leadership…

Canada’s top two railroads locked out more than 9 000 unionised workers, triggering an unprecedented rail stoppage that could cause billions of dollars worth of economic damage and roil North American supply chains. The companies, Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), and the Teamsters union blamed each other for the work stoppage after multiple rounds of contract talks failed to yield a new agreement. “Throughout this process, CN and CPKC have shown themselves willing to compromise rail safety and tear families apart to earn an extra buck,” Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) president Paul Boucher said, adding that the parties were continuing the talks. The two railroads said in separate statements that they bargained in good faith and had made multiple offers with better pay and…

Fast-fashion retailer Shein found two cases of child labour at its suppliers last year, it said in its 2023 sustainability report, as it stepped up audits of manufacturers in China to assuage criticisms of its low-cost business model ahead of a planned flotation. Shein said in the report yesterday that it had suspended orders from the suppliers that had employed children under 16, sourcing from them again only after they had strengthened their processes, including checking workers’ identity documents. The company said both cases had been “resolved swiftly”, with remediation steps including ending underage employees’ contracts, arranging medical check-ups, and facilitating repatriation to parents or guardians as necessary. Shein said 3 990 audits were conducted in 2023. | Reuters…

Paris: A Paris court yesterday rejected an appeal by a French-Vietnamese woman who has been trying to sue Monsanto and other makers of Agent Orange for the chemical’s use in the Vietnam war. Tran To Nga, born in what was then French Indochina, accused 14 agrochemicals firms of causing grievous harm to her and others by selling Agent Orange to the US military, which used the herbicide to devastating effect in Vietnam. She lost her initial case in 2021, when a French court ruled that the companies enjoyed legal immunity from prosecution because they worked for a sovereign government. The Paris Court of Appeal used the same argument. | AFP…

Gaborone: A massive 2 492-carat diamond, the second largest in the world, has been discovered in Botswana, the Canadian mining company that found the stone announced yesterday. The diamond was discovered in the Karowe Diamond Mine in north-eastern Botswana using X-ray detection technology, Lucara Diamond Corp said. Lucara did not give a value for the find or mention its quality. But in terms of carats, the stone is second only to the 3 016-carat Cullinan Diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905. The diamond is as large as the palm of a hand. Botswana is one of the world’s largest producers of diamonds. | AFP…

UNDER-construction government projects worth hundreds of millions of rand in the Pietermaritzburg city centre have been disrupted by “communities” looking for job or business opportunities. There are currently 12 projects under way in ward 27 of the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Eight of them have endured disruptions. Some of these projects are of critical importance in that they are meant to revive the “crumbling” image of the CBD of the provincial capital. Public Works MEC Martin Meyer yesterday visited the Thembalethu Heritage Building site. Shortly after he arrived, a small group of protesters gathered outside the gate, displaying placards demanding they be considered for opportunities on the site. Meyer engaged with the protesters, saying he respected their right to demonstrate peacefully, but not to resort to threats or violence. The Thembalethu…

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said yesterday as a Cabinet committee dealt with the cost of living implications for citizens, it would have to engage not only the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) tariffs, but also the cost of electricity. Addressing a Cabinet post-briefing, Ntshavheni said it was not ideal to have exorbitant tariffs in the current environment. Eskom has submitted to Nersa a revenue application asking for a 36.15% price hike in electricity for 2025/26. “In this current environment, it is not ideal to have exorbitant tariffs. It is not just Cabinet supporting municipalities,” she said. “There are ministers who are working on the cost of living adjustment. We started on the fuel, but part of the extension of that work is to cover electricity and…

Ingredients 2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced into rounds 60g honey, plus 1 tablespoon 75g butter, softened 1 blood orange, zested and juiced 3 large free-range eggs, separated 100g almond flour 90g polenta 200g fresh ricotta, drained Salt, a pinch 110g caster sugar Raw shelled pistachios, roughly chopped, to decorate Crème fraîche, for serving For the syrup: 150g caster sugar 2 blood oranges, juiced Method Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper. Layer the blood orange slices in the cake tin in two layers. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon honey and set aside. Beat the butter, remaining honey and orange zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well between each addition. Transfer…

The provincial government has welcomed the resumption of the exporting of thoroughbred horses from South Africa to the EU after a 14-year absence as a development which will significantly boost the local economy and create jobs locally and in other provinces. A consignment of 32 horses departed to the EU on Saturday. Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer said: “This was the first direct export of horses to the EU since December 2010. “It was the result of many years of hard work through a public-private partnership between the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Services, the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, SA Equine Health and Protocols (SAEHP), and sectors of the equine industry. “I am also excited that further exports are planned for as early as mid-September, which signals…

Only Big bumbum matters tomorrow is anything but a light-hearted read. Damilare Kuku’s novel lays bare the societal flaws surrounding body positivity and the global standards of what is deemed an acceptable body type, particularly in the eyes of men. It also sheds light on the powerful role social media and influencers play in shaping these perceptions. Newly graduated from university, 20-year-old Temi believes she has a clear plan for her future. However, after seeing an ad on Instagram, she becomes fixated on getting a Brazilian butt lift (BBL). Temi is convinced that surgically enlarging her buttocks will make her more acceptable and lovable to a man. The drama unfolds when, after her father’s will is read, Temi decides to reveal her intentions to the family. This book is by…

Charl-Pierre Naudé is the author of three volumes of poetry in Afrikaans and one in English. His long awaited novel The Equality of Shadows is one of the recommended reads this week. Q: What initially inspired you to write this novel, and how did the central idea come to you? Was there a particular moment or story that sparked the concept? A: When we as humans create meanings or certainties, there is a lot that we have to keep outside for those meanings to arise. So I think the impulse underlying The Equality of Shadows is a search for hidden patterns that might inform life. And I search for these patterns in the things that happen to people. Q: The characters in your novel are compelling and multifaceted. Can you…

The Future: More than 80 key trends for South Africa Dion Chang, Bronwyn Williams, Faeeza Khan Loot.co.za (R255) Tafelberg The 2020s were meant to usher in a “roaring new decade”. Instead the world was hit with a pandemic and a two-year lockdown which caused untold changes in our thinking and behaviour. Instead of a bright new future, we were confronted by the possibility of WW III, an AI apocalypse, global climate catastrophe, and we turned to algorithms to provide us with a grasp on our lives and future. Dion Chang’s business, Flux Trends, spots global trends and offers ways to introduce these into corporate culture. Trends spells out six pillars: technology; retail and marketing; economy; natural world; diplomacy; and socio culture. The book is divided into these six sections, each…

WHILE Springbok fans have been rejoicing the Test wins over Australia over the past fortnight, there were a few giant leaps forward for the women’s game in South Africa as well this week. The Springbok Women’s team has been improving steadily over the last few years, and is currently ranked 12th in the world in the 15-player format, and qualified for the recent Paris Olympics in the sevens arena. But now, with Women’s Month still being celebrated in Mzansi, the SA Rugby Union has added considerable weight to the Women’s Boks coaching ranks to be real contenders at next year’s World Cup in England. The governing body has brought in former Lions head coach and Springbok assistant Swys de Bruin as a “performance coach” – which effectively puts him in…

Israeli forces pressed deeper into areas of the central and southern Gaza Strip as they battled Hamas fighters, while Palestinian health officials said yesterday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 27 people across the enclave. The new escalation comes hours after US President Joe Biden pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the urgency of sealing a deal for a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages, the White House said. Months of on-off talks on a ceasefire have circled the same issues, but Israel and Hamas have stuck firmly to their demands. In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, a strike on a house killed 11 people, including children and women, the bodies of some of whom had been burnt, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Civil…

San Francisco: Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk yesterday said that if all goes well, there would be hundreds of people with Neuralink brain chips within a few years. The brain-computer interface company has confirmed early progress with its second participant. The chip can help restore full body control in people suffering from paralysis. Last month, the second participant received his Neuralink implant and has been improving his ability to play video games and learning how to use computer-aided design software. The first recipient had enabled “telepathic control of a computer or phone just by thinking”.…

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday accused Kyiv of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power station, 50km from where Ukrainian forces were mounting a cross-border offensive. The claim comes after the IAEA said its chief would visit the facility next week, with Russia having sounded the alarm since Ukrainian troops and tanks stormed into its western Kursk region on August 6, where Kyiv has laid claim to dozens of Russian border settlements. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday visited the Sumy border region, from where Ukraine is pouring troops into Russia, and Russia claimed to have captured another village in the eastern Donetsk region. | AFP…

The Proteas’ road to their Barbados redemption begins just 290km away in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago tonight (9pm start, SA time). It was only six weeks ago that the Proteas came closer than ever to lifting the T20 World Cup trophy when they went down by seven agonising runs to India in the final at the Kensington Oval. But now back at the Brian Lara Stadium, where they rolled Afghanistan to win their first World Cup semi-final, they will press the restart button. And that’s why the three-match T20 series is of great consequence to Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter. “We’re only 18 months away from the 2026 World Cup in India in 2026, and we’ve got nine series between now and then,” Walter told the media ahead of the…

Former EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu has hit back at EFF leader Julius Malema after the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) leadership announced him in their top eight structure yesterday. Shivambu, who was named as the MKP national organiser, deserted Malema to join former president Jacob Zuma’s party recently, creating animosity between the two long-time friends. Malema, while addressing the EFF’s ground forces forum in Orlando, Soweto, on Monday, said he had been betrayed. However, Shivambu hit back at Malema, intimating that he had not been in politics to nurse Malema’s ego. “I hear people saying I have betrayed an individual, but nowhere in their statement are they saying I have betrayed the revolution. I will never betray the revolution. “I am not here to satisfy one’s ego. The business of…

The Hidden Girl Lucinda Riley, Harry Whittaker Loot.co.za (R260) Pan Macmillan BORN and raised in a small village on the Yorkshire moors, Leah Thompson grows more beautiful with each passing day. When she catches the attention of the influential, troubled Delancey family, she knows her life will never be the same again. Years later, Leah has taken the modelling world by storm and is living in the lap of luxury. But her past follows her like a dark shadow, mysteriously intertwined with the tragic tale of two young siblings in Poland during the Second World War. As two generations of secrets threaten to explode, Leah is haunted by a fatal, forgotten prophecy from her past and must fight to challenge the destiny that has been mapped out for her in…

Leo Deon Meyer Loot.co.za (R260) Jonathan Ball Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido are languishing in Stellenbosch. Run-of-the-mill police work in the leafy university town is a far cry from their previous lives in the elite Hawks. But when a student is found dead on a mountain trail, the two detectives find themselves trying to unpick a stubbornly difficult mystery. In the north of the country, meanwhile, a beautiful wildlife guide is recruited by a group of special forces soldiers to act as a honeytrap, part of a dangerous multi-million-dollar heist that goes tragically wrong. Then back in Stellenbosch, a local businessman is found murdered in what looks like a professional hit – suffocated by fast-action filler foam sprayed down his throat. A message to keep silent, but about what? You…

Long-standing rivalry between Nigeria and SA fuelled tensions MY INITIAL indifference to former Miss South Africa contestant Chidimma Adetshina’s case was short-lived, as the fervent discussions and debates that ensued caught my attention and sparked my curiosity. This prompted me to engage in some careful introspection about the broader implications for South Africa and its people. Rather than reiterating the familiar facts of the Adetshina case, I endeavour to offer a more reflective analysis, teasing out the potential significance of this incident for South Africa’s collective identity, institutional frameworks and social cohesion. Firstly, the Adetshina incident and the ensuing debate have highlighted that South Africa continues to wrestle with complex and contentious issues, including identity, nationalism, ethnicity and Afrocentrism – often uncomfortably so.…

The daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother, both immigrants, Kamala Harris reflects the US’s changing demographics. Accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination as their presidential candidate last night, she is to represent the country’s fastest-growing racial category. About 42 million Americans now identify as multiracial, or 13% of the country, according to the US Census Bureau. That is up from 2% in 2000 when the census first allowed people to select multiple races. America has long been a self-styled “melting pot” of people who trace their origins around the world, but in practice some states legally segregated citizens by race until the civil rights laws of the 1960s and laws prohibiting interracial marriage were not overturned until 1967. Social change since, though, has been rapid. Barack Obama was elected…

The body of UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch was recovered yesterday from his sunken yacht off Sicily, as the search continued for the last of the six people missing. Specialist divers were still looking for a missing woman, a coastguard official said, with a source having earlier indicated Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah had yet to be found. On Wednesday they pulled up four bodies from the wreck of the “Bayesian”, while another was brought to shore in Porticello, on the north of the Italian island near Palermo, yesterday. This brings the death toll to six, after the body of a man believed to be the yacht’s chef was found after the ship went down in a storm before dawn on Monday. The 56m British-flagged sailing boat had been anchored 700m…

LONDON: The number of British visas granted to foreign health and care workers and family members of international students fell sharply after the previous Conservative government imposed restrictions to reduce net migration. High levels of legal migration have long dominated Britain’s political discourse and were one of the major drivers for the Brexit referendum in 2016. Britain granted 89 095 health and care worker visas in the year ending in June, down 26% compared with a year earlier. The total number of visas issued to foreign students to study at British universities was 432 25 in the year ending in June, down 13% compared with a year earlier. | Reuters…

Algiers: An Algerian oil tanker set sail yesterday for power-hungry Lebanon, official media said, with 30 000 tons of fuel destined to restart turbines in the country grappling with years of economic meltdown. Clashes in Lebanon’s south since last October has added to the troubles of a country whose economy collapsed five years ago and where power blackouts are routine. Algeria’s President Abdelmajid Tebboune decided to help after Lebanon’s state-run electricity company said turbines would stop due to lack of fuel. Lebanese, long used to long power cuts, have relied on small electricity generators.…