Table of contents for CT-2021-04-12 in Cape Times

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za RMB HOLDINGS (RMH) share price rose by more than 23 percent on the JSE on Friday morning after the investment holding company declared a special dividend of R1.13 billion out of income reserves. The special dividend of 80 cents a share comes after the group said the development of a new hub for business, entertainment, retail and residential living in Bucharest (Bucharest development) were not met by the long stop date of March 31. “As such, the RMB board will be returning the capital committed to Atterbury Europe and the Iulius Group, earmarked for the Bucharest development to shareholders as a special dividend,” the group said. However, it added the special divi- dend would be subject to dividend withholding tax at a rate of…

From page 1 “I mean it’s almost like me and you observe something and the whole community goes and opens a case against somebody even if they were not party to the conservation. It’s a matter that should have been dealt with by Nkabinse and Jafta. The others are simply a drum majorette. What is their business?” Seepe added. “But you just locate this within the political dynamics that were taking place at the time. This was pursued because there were some people who feared that Hlophe might end up being the chief justice, and Dikgang was a person who was almost earmarked for the position. So the whole thing was to pave the way for Dikgang to end up being the chief justice. My concern is that the (Hlophe)…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za THE SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) said it would appeal the part of a high court order requiring it to report back every three months regarding access to ivermectin for use as a treatment in Covid-19 patients. This follows a victory for several parties including the ACDP, Doctors for Life, “I Can Make a Difference” group of medical practitioners, AfriForum and others in the Pretoria high court when Judge Cassim Sardiwalla ordered that ivermectin be made available and accessible on prescription in regulated quantities. The court order was as a result of settlement agreements reached between Sahpra, the Minister of Health and the applicants in four cases. “Sahpra is enabling the purpose of treating or preventing Covid-19 at the discretion and responsibility of the prescribing…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za THE DA’s internal interviews for its new mayoral candidate has been postponed to an undetermined date, after the appointed ombudsman ruled that the selection panel did not conform to the candidate nomination regulations. The Cape Town metro has since disputed the ruling, the party’s national spokesperson, Siviwe Gwarube, said yesterday. Candidates for the top job include current mayor Dan Plato, DA provincial leader Bonginkosi Madikizela and MP and constituency head for George 1 in the Western Cape Geordin Hill-Lewis. “The Fedex agreed to appoint Werner Horn as the Independent Ombudsman,” Gwarube said. Horn is a member of the Fedex and deputy chairperson of the Federal Legal Commission. “When the province and the region elected their panel members, they submitted them to the office of the Federal Council…

DURING my childhood, the aunts and uncles became worried about me. I continued to talk about spacemen in spacesuits flying in spaceships to space stations when all their other children stopped talking about fairy tales like this as they grew up. Suddenly, April 12, 1961, happened. Spaceflight was no longer confined to children’s comics – it was now the front-page headlines in the Cape Times and every other newspaper. Everything that I had been talking about was no longer science fiction – it was now facts and events that the science correspondents filed as the day’s news. What made the first man to orbit the Earth even more sensational was that he was not an American astronaut – he was a Soviet (Russian) cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin. In pitilessly anti-communist…

Zanele Mvana zanele.mvana@inl.co.za POLICE are investigating a double murder after two security officers were shot dead and robbed of their firearms in Langa at the weekend. It is believed that the private guards were escorting, as they always do, a bread truck at 6.30am to a shop in Zone 23 on Saturday when they came under attack. Langa Safety Patrol chairperson Bandile Gcuwa said the group was shocked about the incident. The community wants hijackings and the robbing of escort security companies to come to an end, he said. “We are pleading with the truck or security companies to let us know when they are coming to the townships so that we, as the patrol, can escort them. “We know the individuals who committed this crime and we will…

Athandile Siyo athandile.siyo@inl.co.za POLICE and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) members said they were shocked to learn of videos doing the rounds on social media that showed a person dressed as a warder being assaulted by men in orange prison overalls. In one of the videos, three people dressed as inmates are seen assaulting and attempting to pin to the wall the “warder”. In a second video, one of the “inmates” is holding a gun. Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said: “We learnt from the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) statement that these acts were orchestrated, and are in fact not genuine. We are, however, disappointed that such acts could be portrayed, especially at a time when we have been seeing many altercations wherein many of our correctional officials have been…

TEHRAN: Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi said yesterday that an incident had taken place in a part of the electricity distribution network of the Shahid Ahmadi Roshan facility in Natanz, the Fars News Agency reported. He said the incident had not caused any injuries to staff or resulted in pollution. An investigation is under way. The Islamic Republic previously informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about its plans to boost enrichment operations. Reports have suggested the Biden administration won’t lift sanctions against Iran, imposed by previous US president Donald Trump.…

ROME: Turkey has frozen a deal to buy helicopters worth €70 million (R1.2 billion) from Italian company Leonardo after Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi criticised President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, two newspapers reported yesterday. According to La Repubblica and Il Fatto Quotidiano, Turkish authorities are demanding an official apology from the Italian government and will not be content with clarifications through diplomatic channels. Last week Draghi called the Turkish leader a “dictator”. Turkey slated his remarks as “unacceptable populist rhetoric”. At least three Italian firms operating in Turkey have also received a notice from the Turkish government.…

Three suspects were shot dead yesterday during an encounter between terrorists and security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian district. While acknowledging the police and other security forces for showing patience during the operation, the Kashmir range Inspector-General of Police, Vijay Kumar, appealed to the youth who had joined the terrorists to shun violence and return to mainstream life. He said society needed them, and most importantly their parents wanted them by their side. “We will welcome and accept them with open arms,” he said. The police said that on Saturday a joint cordon-and-search operation was launched by the police and army. During the search operation, terrorists were located and given an opportunity to surrender. However, they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party, which retaliated. In the initial retaliatory…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za PHUMELELA Gaming and Leisure is set to lose one of its prized assets, the Arlington racecourse in Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, when it is put up for auction on April 23. It will be the country’s first horse racing track to go under the auctioneer’s hammer. The 62-hectare property in Walmer has been described by Broll Auctions as the developer’s dream as it is the last large piece of land within the hub of the main city, less than 10 minutes from the airport, and making it ideal for residential estate development or an industrial park. The expected auction of the Arlington racecourse comes after South Africa’s largest horse racing and tote betting operator was placed under business rescue on May 8 last year…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za DISINVESTMENT in coal assets by two major firms this week was not a threat to power generation in South Africa and coal would be in the mix for the foreseeable future, analysts said last week. They said the the move away from thermal coal was simply a climate change-forced decision and a gradual transition which recognised the country’s decarbonisation commitments as per Paris Accord. The country was crafting a pathway to a transition to renewable energy by 2030. Last week, two major developments occurred in the space of coal mining in South Africa. Anglo American plc announced plans to spin off its thermal coal opera- tions to Thungela Resources following years of pursuing a responsible transition away from fossil fuels. Anglo said that the demerger…

John Kemp THE GLOBAL energy system has become greener over the last decade, but most countries are nowhere near on track to achieve net zero emissions by the middle of this century. Net zero has become symbolically and diplomatically important for po- licymakers, but the goal will remain far out of reach without much faster change. In recent years, energy consumption has become less carbon-intensive, but not fast enough to offset the rapid increase in energy use as a result of rising populations, incomes, and demand for energy services in developing countries. Worldwide energy consumption rose at a compound annual rate of 1.9 percent in the 10 years before the Covid-19 pandemic while energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rose at an average rate of 1.4 percent. Replacing coal-fired…

Vuyolwethu Fundam Vuyolwethu.Fundam@africannewsagency.com GLOBAL sports brand Puma released Dua Lipa’s first solo campaign on Wednesday, for the launch of the new Mayze sneaker. The Mayze is a mix of archive inspirations and contemporary Puma classics; it is also part of Puma’s ‘She Moves Us’ platform. Led by the global pop star, ‘She Moves Us’ is a communications platform where Puma celebrates women who move together to achieve and connect – through sport, culture and values. The design of the Mayze features a stacked mid-sole with a split, derby style, and a heel tab. The classic stacked sole is versatile and can be worked into any look, Dua Lipa told magazine Puma CATch-up. “The Mayze is the perfect fit, it works for me on stage and off,” she said. Last month,…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za SOUTH AFRICA is richer as a nation for Struggle activist and education expert Graeme Bloch’s intellectual and organisational leadership in the education sector, ushering the country towards adopting policies that opened the doors to millions of historically excluded citizens. This was according to President Cyril Ramaphosa in paying tribute to Bloch, who died aged 65 on Friday, following a battle with illness. Bloch was part of the formation of the End Conscription Campaign, later a member of the United Democratic Front (UDF), and was detained and arrested several times for his involvement in the democratic movement. He was banned from 1976 to 1981. A graduate of the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he specialised in economic history, Bloch lectured at the University of the…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THE SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) has expressed doubt over the City’s budgetary public participation process, saying it hoped it was not simply a mandatory exercise. The City of Cape Town has called for public comment on the proposed tabled Budget by April 23, before the final budget is approved. The draft budget was tabled by mayor Dan Plato during a virtual sitting recently. Samwu deputy regional secretary Bridgette Nkomana said: “When it comes to public participation, the City of Cape Town is not really seeking for the public’s opinion. Just by the way they organise these public meetings and seek comments. If you have no access to technology, your voice is shut.” Mayco member for finance Ian Neilson said the City had made R3.4 billion…

Staff writer CRIME scene experts were last night looking for clues at the Pepperclub Hotel following the shocking death of rapper AKA’s 22-year-old fiancée Anele Tembe. The musician, whose name is Kiernan Forbes, had been left inconsolable, the Forbes and Tembe families said in a joint statement, expressing their grief at the “untimely passing” of their “beloved fiancée, sister and daughter-in-law”, who apparently fell from the 10th floor of the five-star hotel in the CBD yesterday morning. “We are still in shock with our emotions, as she was an exceptional and gifted young woman, with so much life ahead of her. She had a sweet nature about her and was always nurturing to those around her. “Her fiancé, Kiernan Forbes, is currently inconsolable and is surrounded by family and…

Liudmila Chernova Serbia is marking the 60th anniversary of the first manned flight into space by issuing postage stamps depicting three Soviet pioneers of space travel, Serbia’s Post General Director Zoran Djordjevic said. On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin pronounced his famous "Poyekhali!" (Let's go!) as the Vostok spacecraft lifted off the ground, taking the first person to space. “Today, 60 years later, Gagarin’s face on the Serbian stamp propelled philately in Serbia into orbit,” said Djordjevic, who served as minister of defence and of labour in previous governments. “On April 12, 2021, the national postal service of Serbia will release a special edition of commemorative stamps celebrating the flight of Yuri Gagarin into space.” Djordjevic said that besides Gagarin, stamps were made with the likeness of Gherman Titov,…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za CHILD rights groups have called for urgent intervention in areas where violent crimes are rife, after three children witnessed their fathers being shot dead in separate incidents last week. Angelo Kube, a Cape Coloured Congress (CCC) member and businessman was killed in a hail of bullets on Thursday evening in Elsies River while sitting in his Toyota Avanza. His two daughters aged five and 12 were wounded during the incident. According to the CCC’s regional chairperson, Graham Malgas, the 44-year-old father was visiting his mother with his family in Donegal Avenue, Connaught Estate. “Angelo’s wife was inside the house with his mother. He was shot more than five times in his upper body. “One of the children has already been discharged while another is still in hospital,”…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za THE protection fee trend has extended to e-hailing drivers, as Bellville police arrested three suspects following the kidnapping and extortion of a driver recently. Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said the suspects, aged 26, 28 and 40, are believed to be affiliated to a local taxi association, and allegedly posed as clients luring the e-hailing taxi operator to a specific location in Bellville. Upon arrival they ordered the man to drive to the taxi rank where a substantial amount of money was demanded for his release, she said. “Bellville police were alerted and their investigations led to the arrest of the suspects and the impounding of a Toyota Avanza. The same vehicle is believed to have been used in a similar incident involving another e-hailing taxi vehicle also…

ON April 10, 1993, Chris Hani, then SACP general secretary, member of the ANC national executive committee and former chief of staff of MK was assassinated in front of his home in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. Hani’s murder 28 years ago threatened to derail a fragile negotiation process but also robbed the country of one of the most popular figures in the ANC. In his book, Long Walk to Freedom, former president Nelson Mandela wrote: “The assassination of Chris was an attempt by white supremacists to arrest the inevitable. They preferred that the country descend into civil war rather than have the majority rule by peaceful means.” Mandela addressed the nation on the night of Hani’s killing and called for calm, saying “our whole nation now teeters on the brink of disaster”.…

BEIJING: A flood at a coal mine in China’s Xinjiang region has trapped 21 miners at a depth of about 1.2km underground. According to the state news agency Xinhua, the flooding happened late on Saturday when 29 workers were updating the coal mine shaft in the Changi prefecture in the Autonomous Region’s north. Eight workers managed to escape, while the other 21 remain underground. Rescue efforts are under way, with three sets of drainage equipment rescuers working to pump water out of the shaft. Attempts to establish contact with the miners are under way, the agency reported.…

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis made a rare Sunday outing from Vatican grounds to celebrate a mass on “divine mercy” with prisoners, refugees and health workers. The service was held in a church just off St Peter’s Square in front of a reduced congregation of about 80 people, due to Covid-19 restrictions. Among them, there were inmates of two Roman prisons and one youth detention centre; refugees from Syria, Nigeria and Egypt; and nursing staff from a nearby hospital. The pope stressed the importance for Christians of serving others. “Let us not live a one-way faith, a faith that receives but does not give,” he said.…

Lebanon cannot pull itself out of its economic crisis without a new government to transform the country and launch long-stalled reforms, a senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. The country defaulted on its debt last year, sending its currency crashing. Its economy shrank by 25% in 2020, the IMF said in a report last week. A stand-off over the make-up of a new government has intensified in recent months, delaying a revival of funding talks with the IMF. “The change of direction … requires a comprehensive approach,” the director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, Jihad Azour, said. Reforms should focus on the financial sector, public finance, governance, corruption and loss-making utilities that have contributed to a surge in debt, he said. “In (the)…

Zaahier Adams Mamelodi Sundowns head into their DStv Premiership clash with Chippa United in East London today in a rather unfamiliar position. The league champions suffered their first defeat in 28 competitive matches last Friday when they suffered a 2-0 reversal to CR Belouizdad in their last game of the CAF Champions League group stages. The loss did not hinder Sundowns' progression to the next round, but it still left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Brazilians. "We face Chippa United on the back of a defeat and the mood is extremely sombre. We haven't felt like this in a very long time. There is of course a feeling of unhappiness in and around the workspace," said assistant coach Rhulani Mokwena. But often a lion is at its…

Herman Gibbs Swallows FC snapped a winless nine-match streak in the DStv Premiership competition with a 1-0 victory over basement dwellers Black Leopards at the Dobsonville Stadium yesterday. The nine-match winless streak included eight draws and one defeat - their only one for the season. This win allows Swallows to move up two places on the log, from sixth to fourth place. Relegation-threatened Leopards remain rock bottom on the standings. At the start, both teams tried to make a statement of their attacking intent via lively early sorties into the penalty areas. However, no scoring opportunities emerged, and defences easily dealt with the early incursions. In the opening 20 minutes, Leopards hardly looked a side holding up the Premiership table and looked comfortable on the ball. They won the midfield…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za PURPLE Group’s profit soared to R15.2 million in the six months to February 28 compared with R900 000 in the same period last year after a near tripling of the EasyEquities online share trading business. Group revenue increased by 79.5 percent to R100.6m. Attributable profit increased 884.1 percent to R8.3m compared to a profit of R0.8m in the comparative period, the results released Friday showed. Basic and headline earnings per share increased to 0.85 cents a share compared to 0.09c per share in the prior comparative period. EasyEquities revenue increased by 197.6 percent to R85m and its taxed profit increased to R22.3m compared to R0.08m in the comparative period. Platform assets increased by 70.3 percent to R26.9bn and funded retail investment accounts…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za LOCAL film Two Hues has received its second global recognition, winning the Best Directed Short Film at the North Europe International Film Festival in London at the weekend. It made it into the official selection, and was screened throughout the week at the festival, which took place online due to Covid-19. In January it won Best Short Film in Paris. The 15-minute film delves into the world of the feminine psyche and explores the duality of patriarchy. It is co-directed by Dominique Roxanne Jossie and award-winning film-maker Weaam Williams, who was also nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Short Film. Williams said she was still on a high and incredibly proud of the nomination as it was her first on-screen acting role. “This has been an…

Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za FIVE years in the making, Manenberg children have now taken the reins from their mothers, assuming leadership roles and working to inspire others to remain off the streets. They are now in charge of the Taking Back our Children campaign, which was launched five years ago by women who pledged to expose children to better ways of life through community involvement. Now renamed the Manenberg Children’s Movement, campaign leader Amelia September said the children at the helm were organising their own events such as soccer matches and modelling contests. The women still provided a large mentoring role, and oversaw the children’s accomplishments, she said. At Colleen Court yesterday, hundreds of children gathered to mark the campaign’s anniversary. There was a DJ, live band and entertainment – all…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za FOR machinist and family breadwinner Rachmat Williams, a 5.5% wage increase – which amounts to R50 – will not make much difference in her life. This comes as Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) concluded its outstanding wage negotiations for the Woven Cotton textile sub-sector, after it was frozen as a result of Covid-19. Workers would now receive a 5.5% wage increase, with effect from March 1, 2021. “We don’t get enough. We were supposed to get back-pay since it was approved last year, but we just got the increase which is about R50. It is too little. I support a household of six and food is expensive. If I look at my income and expenses, I don’t get anything out,” the machinist of 21…

Brett Herron TWO months into the new school year, and after a massively disruptive schooling year, 6 000 children still do not have access to a school. In scenes reminiscent of apartheid-era farm schools, or pictures you would expect to see of deeply rural parts of our country, children sit and learn under trees, because the school available to them does not provide mother tongue schooling – in this case isiXhosa. These scenarios sound as if they are happening in a predominantly rural and less affluent province in our country. But these are violations of the rights of children that are happening in one of the most developed and affluent parts of our country. Right here in the Western Cape and in parts of Cape Town. The lack…

THE Extraordinary Double Troika Summit of SADC leaders hosted by chairperson President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique last Thursday in Maputo was anything but that. Instead, it raised more questions than it offered solutions on how to stop the deteriorating security situation in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado, where self-styled al-Shabaab militants have been waging a murderous insurgency against government forces since 2017. The only “actions” to emerge from the six participating leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, was couched in cryptic Troika speak that only they and their apparatchiks presumably understand. There is no articulation of what “an immediate SADC Organ technical deployment to Mozambique” means. That SADC Organ for Politics, Defence and Security was launched in 1996 “to support achievement and maintenance of security and rule of law in…

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates has selected the first Arab woman to train as an astronaut, expanding into the space sector to diversify its economy. Emirati national Nora al-Matrooshi, 27, a mechanical engineering graduate working at Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company, will join Nasa’s 2021 Astronaut Candidate Class in the US. In February a UAE probe reached the orbit of Mars, the Arab world’s first interplanetary expedition. The UAE plans to launch a moon rover by 2024 and envisions a Mars settlement by 2117. Nora was one of 4 300 applicants assessed on scientific acumen and education.…

The Indian capital of New Delhi is witnessing its fourth Covid-19 wave as a single-day spike of 10 732 new Covid-19 cases was seen, in contrast to last month when less than 200 cases were being reported every day, the national capital’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said yesterday. Ruling out the option of lockdown to contain the Covid-19 spread, the minister appealed to the people at large to go for vaccination, and follow Covid-19 protocols like wearing masks and washing hands regularly even after taking vaccine jabs. People should also avoid unnecessary travel out of their homes, he added. According to him, nearly 65 percent of the patients suffering from the pandemic were aged less than 35 years. “Today, we are facing a strange situation. Now we…

AS THE world follows the often-emotional testimony in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of murdering George Floyd, members of Floyd’s family watch a live feed in a separate room in the courthouse. Frequently by their side is civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who heads the family’s legal team. Floyd and his brothers often slept in the same bed as children, with Floyd playing the role of protector, Crump says. “For us, it’s a case. It’s a cause. It’s a hashtag,” Crump said. “For them … it’s their blood.” Floyd, an African American, 46, died after Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes. His death, captured on bystander video, sparked worldwide protests over racism and police brutality. Chauvin, who…

Mihlali Baleka Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has lauded her players’ teamwork after the senior women’s national team claimed a comfortable 3-1 win over neighbours Zambia in an international friendly at Bidvest Stadium on Saturday afternoon. After being inactive for over a year since winning the Cosafa Championship title in Gqeberha late in 2019, Banyana returned to action this past weekend, hosting Zambia, who’ll be playing in the Tokyo Olympic Games from July. The Copper Queens drew first blood with captain and striker Barbra Banda putting her side in the lead with a screamer. Banyana, though, responded as Spanish-based defender Noko Matlou scored a brace before half-time. The South Africans wrapped up the match in the second half with golden girl Thembi Kgatlana getting on the scoresheet with her second…

David Havili's extra-time drop goal earned the Crusaders a 30-27 Super Rugby Aotearoa win over the Hurricanes yesterday as Scott Robertson's side avoided losing successive games for the first time in over three years. Havili stroked his kick between the posts at Wellington Stadium moments after the start of the additional 10-minute 'golden point' period with the clash having finished level at the completion of regulation time. The Crusaders had suffered a surprise loss to the Blues last week and looked destined to slip to consecutive losses for the first time since March 2018. But the win keeps the Crusaders clear of the Blues at the top of the standings while the Hurricanes are rooted to the bottom, with just one win all season. The visitors had looked set to…

South African rugby woke up yesterday to the bad news that the Rainbow Cup that was to take place in April and June is almost certainly cancelled. The Rainbow Cup, featuring the European teams that have just completed the PRO14, was to be a one-off “bridge” competition for the Stormers, Sharks, Bulls and Lions to enter European rugby, but reported objections from the England government have jeopardised the competition, which was due to kick off April 24 and run through to a June 19 final. The four South African former Super Rugby teams are later this year set to join the Welsh, Irish, Scottish and Italians PRO14 teams in an expanded PRO18. It was reported in the UK over the weekend that the government of England had told…