Table of contents for 2024-06-18 in Cape Times

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa will soon be inaugurated, and the Cabinet appointed. It will be critical for the GNU to move with speed to address the key obstacles facing the economy, create decent work and reduce poverty and inequality. Efficient transport infrastructure is fundamental to growing the economy and supporting the social wage the working class depends upon. Transport, from Transnet to Metro Rail, buses and taxis, needs interventions and investments to unlock the economy and improve the lives of workers. The government led by the ANC has made massive progress in overcoming load shedding with its interventions at Eskom. The next crucially urgent entity is Transnet, whose rail and ports are key to ensuring our mining, manufacturing and agricultural exports can reach their markets. An efficient Transnet will ease the…

Trying something for the first time and not succeeding doesn’t mean you should give up. If anything, you need to go back to the drawing board, re-group and try again. Winning the coveted Miss South Africa title is a dream for many women and that is why the organisation allows them to re-enter after a failed attempt. We have seen former Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi and reigning Miss SA Natasha Joubert win the title after the second attempt. Now, former Miss SA contestant Nompumelelo Maduna is back to try her luck once again. The 28-year-old from Rockville, Soweto, who first entered the competition in 2019, said she was inspired by Miss SA 2010, Bokang Montjane, to pursue her dream no matter how long it took. “Bokang gave us a…

National Student Financial Scheme (NSFAS) administrator Freeman Nomvalo will personally assess incidents of King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College students allegedly being evicted by landlords over unpaid rent. This is after pictures of several students sleeping in a hall on blankets were shared on social media. NSFAS has appealed to landlords not to evict students as it would ensure that all outstanding debts were paid. The entity’s spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, said Nomvalo had now instituted an investigation into the plight of the KSD College students in the Eastern Cape. “The administrator is taking these reports seriously and has commissioned the verification of the list of affected students submitted to NSFAS. “The administrator, together with the NSFAS team, will visit the college in the…

Grand coalition now boasts 68% of seats in National Assembly THE ANC’s coalition with the DA, IFP and Patriotic Alliance now collectively boasts 273 or 68% seats in the National Assembly after Patricia de Lille’s GoodParty became the latest to join what has been described as the Government of National Unity (GNU). In a statement yesterday, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said discussions with other parties were ongoing in the spirit of inclusivity. She said the GNU will ensure representation in government and legislatures by all participating parties, making decisions by consensus, with mechanisms for conflict resolution where necessary. “This collaborative initiative is founded on core principles, including upholding the Constitution and Rule of Law, promoting non-racialism and non-sexism, and ensuring social justice, redress, equity, and poverty alleviation. Our aim is…

FOLLOWING the progressive political landscape emerging from the formal constituting and sitting of the newly-elected Parliament has been a moving and satisfying experience, and we owe a genuine debt of gratitude to all who were responsible for organising this historic event in the life of our nation. Familiar words from the marriage service of the faith community to which I belong (Anglican), kept coming to mind as I witnessed the event on television and as I hope and pray for the work of this new government. May those chosen to serve support each other… “From this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till the next general election! We are all in this together – the government…

ANC-NEW plus MK plus EFF equals ANC-old. It will still represent overflowing sewage, potholed roads, load shedding, water problems, unemployment and surging crime. A coalition of the three makes no sense. It’s going backwards. A coalition of the ANC, DA, IFP and ActionSA makes more sense. But the ANC must only shift to the right on condition that the government continues its strong pro-Palestine and Russia stance and designs a BEE that benefits all blacks, not only a few. And white monopoly capital is good, it paid for and is the enabler of trillions in taxes over the past 30 years which paid for the ANC’s looting … and Sassa grants, teachers, nurses, doctors, and all kinds of other government expenditure. Can President Ramaphosa provide leadership like Margaret Thatcher did…

THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has failed in its urgent legal bid to have about R100 million returned to Absa. The money was initially kept in a special Absa Bank account but later paid over to the liquidators of Tariomix. The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Friday struck the NPA’s urgent application from the roll due to the lack of urgency. This means that if the NPA wants to pursue its legal bid to have the money returned to Absa, it would have to re-enrol the matter – this time on the normal court roll, which could take months before it is heard. The NPA told Judge Linda Retief that Absa and the liquidators should be ordered to urgently pay back the money to Absa in light of a preservation…

A way forward may be through pragmatic radicalism in this trailblazing new chapter IT’S JUST as well that it was on Friday the 14th that the new cohort of duly elected parliamentarians were sworn in by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo who went on to vote in a new Speaker and deputy Speaker for the National Assembly, and a second term for a chastised ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa following the 7th democratic general election after the collapse of apartheid in 1994. It’s bad enough trying to tempt fate especially in a hitherto dysfunctional body politic. Perhaps the omens are encouraging on a historic day when the ANC and its main opposition rival, the DA, signed a “Letter of Intent” to form a Government of National Unity (GNU) by agreeing to sharing…

Nuclear-armed countries hiked spending on atomic weapons arsenals by a third in the past five years as they modernised their stockpiles amid growing geopolitical tensions, two reports showed yesterday. The world’s nine nuclear-armed states jointly spent $91 billion (about R1.6 trillion) on their arsenals last year, according to a new report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican). That report, and a separate one from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), indicated that nuclear weapons states are dramatically scaling up spending as they modernise and even deploy new nuclear-armed weapons. “I think it is fair to say there is a nuclear arms race under way,” Ican chief Melissa Parke told AFP. Wilfred Wan, head of Sipri’s weapons of mass destruction programme, meanwhile warned that “we have not…

The Italian coastguard searched off southern Italy yesterday for survivors or the bodies of dozens of migrants feared missing, after two shipwrecks left 11 people dead. With up to 60 migrants potentially lost at sea, the coastguard said it had been looking for “possible missing persons” since late Sunday, “following the shipwreck of a sailing boat with migrants on board, presumably departing from Türkiye”. Rescue efforts began after “a ‘mayday’ from a French pleasure boat” about 120 nautical miles off the Italian coast, it said. The French vessel alerted authorities to “the presence of the half-sunken boat”, before taking 12 surviving migrants on board. They were then transferred to an Italian coastguard boat. One of the surviving 12 died after disembarking. | AFP…

Beijing: Four people were killed, and two others are missing after landslides caused by torrential rains swept through Wuping County, east China’s Fujian province, according to local authorities yesterday. As of yesterday afternoon, a total of 47 800 people in Wuping, Longyan City, have been impacted by the downpours starting from June 16, reports Xinhua news agency. Several towns in Shanghang County suffered road damage and partial interruption of communication and power due to prolonged heavy rainfall. The local flood control headquarters in Wuping initiated a Level I emergency response for heavy rain. | IANS…

MERTHYR TYDFIL: Nigel Farage, whose entry into the election has damaged British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s faint hopes of victory, set out his policy plans yesterday, describing them as the first step to becoming the dominant party on the right of British politics. He said the earlier-than-expected election had come too soon for his Reform UK party but called on supporters of Sunak’s Conservatives to “join the revolt” and pitched Reform as the only ones who could hold to account Labour, whose leader Keir Starmer is forecast to become the next prime minister. Farage has pressured the government over cutting immigration. In Clacton-on-Sea, southeast England, polling shows he could win a place in parliament, but Reform is only expected to win a handful of seats. | Reuters…

OUR NEW AND squeaky-clean Madam Speaker, then standing in for Madam Speaker Baleka Mbete, had an embarrassingly entertaining moment when then as then Deputy President, honourable Ramaphosa had a no holds promotion of Max Condoms on full display in the House. Giggles ran throughout the house as Ramaphosa emphasised the benefits of Max for pleasure that comes in attractive colours, no odour and no vrrrpha (noise) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv88uJJIh_E. On Friday the 14th at the sitting of parliament of the 7th administration, Thoko Didiza was elected as Madam Speaker, and will be in full glare of the nation to direct the affairs of the Legislature well beyond Max for maximum pleasure and maximum protection, the promotion of which she encountered on the 1st of September 2016. The circumstances have changed dramatically,…

The SA Revenue Service (Sars) has issued an import duty for international online retailers like Shein and Temu. Shein is a global fashion and lifestyle online retailer and Temu is an online marketplace offering heavily discounted consumer goods, imported from China. According to an article published by MyBroadband, Sars is committed to taxing all clothing parcels with an import duty of 45% plus VAT from July 1 this year. This means that clothing parcels below R500, which used to be taxed between 14% and 19%, will now be taxed the same as large orders, that is 45%. This means that consumers will be paying more for international online shopping even on smaller orders. Local retailers, like The Foshini Group (TFG), competing with Shein and Temu, are pleased as the change…

From Page 1 full-time employment, thousands of ghost and unqualified workers, bankrupted school nutrition programmes. Yet the unions are likely to resist any bold changes introduced by a minister from a small party to turn around the situation. “The Public Service and Administration portfolio will be challenging as the DA is impatiently waiting to reverse the cadre deployment of incompetent ANC appointees. It is possible that the IFP will aim for Cogta (Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs) to influence and enhance the role of traditional leaders and protect the ownership of the land under Ingonyama Trust. The IFP’s sensitivity on traditional leadership affairs is likely to benefit traditional leaders nationally and harmonise relations.” Meanwhile, Zille said the DA will not support the impeachment of Ramaphosa until evidence suggested that there…

Many young people expressed that there was no reason to celebrate Youth Day amid ongoing challenges including high unemployment rates, poverty, hunger, drug and alcohol abuse and mental health. Youth Day commemorates the sacrifices of South Africa’s youth in the fight for democracy, an event immortalised by the Soweto Uprising of June 16, 1976. Highlighting some of the challenges faced by young people, including StatsSA data which showed a 45.5% unemployment rate among 15 to 34-year-olds, the Rational Youth Movement’s Doctor Shange said: “There is no reason for us to celebrate, we have been marginalised. The political sector doesn’t speak to the challenges faced by young people. There is high unemployment among young people so they resort to crime. Those who promised to change our lives, the politicians have let…

THE Patriotic Alliance (PA) has remained tight-lipped on its coalition with the EFF and the ANC in the Knysna Municipality after the party recently joined a grand coalition between the ANC, DA, IFP to form what has been termed a Government of National Unity (GNU). Knysna, which has been plagued by poor service delivery, has come under the spotlight in recent months with its municipal manager Ombali Sebola ousted by court order. Following the national elections, which forced the ANC into bed with the DA and other smaller parties, questions have been asked about the future of coalitions in municipalities where the ANC governs with the EFF, with the assistance of other parties. In Ekurhuleni, EFF leader Julius Malema had given the ANC an ultimatum to either reinstate Nkululeko Dunga…

WELL, now that the dust has settled, we can start running the country. Something I have been writing about for ages is that the various parties must sit down around a table and find common ground. The time appears to have come. Putting their egos aside, every party in the GNU supposedly wants the same thing for our country. So they need to start agreeing with one another on certain policies, otherwise the whole movement will fail. We can find that common ground. We all want a better economy; we all want better service delivery; we all want electricity; water; sanitation; transport, jobs, etc. We are all on the same side, it is just how we implement this … With hard work and joining of hands instead of the…

Eskom has said it had stepped up its generation and achieved its target of keeping unplanned outages consistently around 12 000MW, with a low of 9 500MW at some point, though the spectre of load shedding was not completely behind the nation after 80 days without interruption. Eskom Group CEO, Dan Marokane, said the entity was presently comfortable with the progress it had made on its turnaround plan, which had been in the offing since March last year to result in the present efficiencies. “We have said this before, load shedding remains a risk, we are not yet where we have comfortably put it behind us, and therefore whatever we do we should bear that in mind,” Marokane said during a briefing on his 100 days in office. “Equally important…

AFTER failing to put measures in place to prevent a “foreseeable” pit bull mauling of her neighbour’s daughter, a woman’s Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) bid failed. Pit bull owner Susanna Swanepoel had two pit bulls in the back garden of her property which had been rearing a litter of puppies when the incident occurred. The girl’s father, Mark Reynecke, had successfully sued Swanepoel for medical expenses and general damages his daughter sustained as a result of the attack “primarily on the basis that the dog attack was foreseeable”. The court also noted that during the trial, Swanepoel did not give evidence of the steps she took to prevent the attack. “Foreseeability is ordinarily established by reference to whether the animal in question has a history of, or predisposition to,…

WOODSTOCK residents were left reeling when a kidnapped hostage was rescued from a rented home in the area. The victim’s active phone led a multi-disciplinary team, which includes the Hawks and Western Cape organised crime unit, to the area on Friday. Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said at about 7pm the Serious Organised Crime Investigation team received information regarding a kidnapping. “This led the team to tracking the hostage’s phone which was active in the Woodstock area. The team tracked the suspects’ location in Woodstock where entry was gained into the premises and the team discovered the hostage tied up in the main bedroom and was successfully rescued then taken to hospital for examination. “The tracing later resulted in the arrest of two suspects who attempted to flee the scene,” said…

The newly formed Government of National Unity (GNU), comprising the ANC, DA, IFP, and several smaller parties, faces a monumental task. Despite significant opposition to this unprecedented coalition, it represents a unique opportunity for South Africa. For the first time since 1994, the ANC will not dominate the National Assembly, signalling a shift towards a more balanced political landscape. This political arrangement extends to provincial governments, as seen in KwaZulu-Natal, where the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, despite receiving 45% of the votes, has been sidelined by a coalition of the ANC, IFP, DA and NFP. The true test of this coalition’s success lies not in its composition but in its ability to address the pressing issues facing the nation, chief among them youth unemployment. The people of South Africa are not…

Tens of thousands of Muslim minority Rohingya are feared to be caught in fighting in western Myanmar, as a powerful armed ethnic group bears down on junta positions in a coastal town on the border with Bangladesh, which is reluctant to accept them. The Arakan Army (AA) – fighting for autonomy for Myanmar’s Rakhine region – said late on Sunday that residents of Maungdaw town, inhabited primarily by the Rohingya, should leave by 9pm (local time) ahead of a planned offensive on the settlement. The AA’s attack on Maungdaw is the latest in a months-long rebel onslaught against the Myanmar junta, which took power in a February 2021 coup, and now finds itself in an increasingly weakened position across large parts of the country. “Due to concerns for the safety…

Paris: France is planning to reduce its military presence in West and Central Africa to around 600 troops in line with President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to limit the French military footprint in the region. In February 2023, Macron announced “noticeable reduction” of French troop presence in Africa, as anti-French sentiment is running high in some former colonies. France will keep only around 100 troops in Gabon (350 today); 100 in Senegal, (350 today); 100 troops in Ivory Coast, (600 today), and 300 in Chad, down from 1 000 now. Until 2022, France had 5 000 troops in the Sahel region as part of the anti-jihadist operation. But it has been pushed out by the juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger that concluded security agreements with Russia. |…

Luxembourg: EU environment ministers yesterday approved a much-fought-over conservation law intended to restore habitats to their natural condition, in a vote that was live-streamed. The purpose of the Nature Restoration Law is to regrow forests, re-wet moors and return rivers to their natural, free-flowing states. The law has proven controversial, particularly because of fears of heavy restrictions on farmers. Ministers for 20 EU member states voted in favour, representing 66% of the population. A decision by EU member states was held up until now because not enough national ministers were prepared to back it. | IANS…

AYO TECHNOLOGY Solutions (AYO) has appointed its board member, advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi as interim independent non-executive chairperson with effect from June 12, 2024, the company said on Friday. Ramatlhodi, a professional businessman, and advocate with more than 30 years’ business experience, joined the board of the JSE-listed ICT investment group as an independent non-executive director on March 7, 2018. He previously served as the premier of Limpopo and held the positions of Minister of Public Services and Mineral Resources, and Deputy Minister of Correctional Services. He was also a member of Parliament. Ramatlhodi is a founding member and the first chairperson of the University of the North Arts and Drama Association and chairperson of the central cultural committee. He lectured in public international law at the University of the North…

EVERY flaw to be found in the market is exaggerated in voters. The same consumer who cannot make a rational decision in a supermarket is even less likely to make a rational decision at the polls. This is why MK got 14.5% of the national vote. This is important to bear in mind, as political commentators make statements such as “market fundamentalism has no future in our electoral system”. I agree and we have never had anything resembling market fundamentalism in South Africa … Ever. Not even close, and I’m not aware of any party advocating for it. I’m so tired of cries about neo-liberalism, when the State debt has been swelling like Jacob Zuma’s ego after the results were announced. Voters are not one thing: they are millions of…

From Page 1 results captured at the voting districts differed with those that were reflected on the leader board of the IEC. “In some instances, the differences were vast while in others the differences were minor.” Nhleko said the IEC must explain these discrepancies. According to Nhleko, the MK Party commissioned a technical report on the IEC election system. He also said what the report says was not just shocking but demonstrated clearly that the elections did not meet the constitutional standard of a free and fair election. Nhleko said it was important that the IEC produces its own technical report to address the many questions asked by his party in its original objections. The IEC is yet to submit its affidavit to the application brought by the MK Party.…

THE key working relationship between the EFF and the ANC in eThekwini Municipality has been dismantled, with the Red Berets announcing the party is pulling out of the relationship. The EFF said the ANC would now have to rely on its partners in the Provincial Government of Unity (PGU) to govern the province’s biggest municipality. Prior to last month’s elections, the EFF had registered gains in the province in the national and local government elections with the party hoping to double its representation in both the provincial legislature and in high municipalities like eThekwini. However, with the ANC angling towards a national and KwaZulu-Natal coalition that does not include the EFF, the writing was on the wall for their working relationship. The developments in eThekwini come after the ANC fired…

THE MK Party has told the Electoral Court that the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) could not lawfully declare the election results free and fair where there was “clear evidence” of massive fraud, rigging and manipulation in managing the elections. This is the argument advanced by the party’s national organiser, Nkosinathi Nhleko, in court papers for the party’s urgent application in the Electoral Court on Friday. “These acts were brought to the attention of the IEC. The IEC failed to address them and, in a gadarene rush, unlawfully announced the election results in clear violation of its supreme constitutional duty as set out in section 190 of the constitution,” Nhleko said. He insisted that the IEC was prohibited from announcing the results as free and fair if there was unresolved…

I OFTEN wonder why your readers never stop to ask pertinent questions regarding the Hamas versus Israel Defence Force war. Why is it that the residents of Gaza City, Rafah and other towns do not take refuge underground? There is a whole other city tunnelled underground – hundreds of kilometres of tunnels, with rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, meeting rooms, all furnished for use. Why couldn’t the ordinary residents take shelter there? Why doesn’t/didn’t the neighbouring Arab Muslim countries offer to take the Gazans in? Why do they refuse to allow them into their countries? Why weren’t the children of Gaza sent to these Muslim countries for safety? Maybe looking at some Palestinian history might give answers. In 1970, after Jordan had taken in Palestinian refugees, the Palestinians tried to overthrow the…

Brand public relations is not just about managing crises or maintaining reputation anymore – it’s about proactively and strategically building a brand’s identity and value over time. If brand PR is not executed optimally, it can pose significant risks to a business. A poorly managed PR strategy can lead to a tarnished brand image, decreased customer loyalty, and ultimately, a decline in market share, according to The Allure Group (TAG), a communication agency based in Johannesburg. Brand PR aims to develop and sustain a positive image of the brand, creating a strong, recognisable identity that resonates with customers and distinguishes the brand from competitors. The goal is to increase brand awareness, foster customer loyalty, and establish an emotional connection with the audience, says Bonnke Shipalana, the Founder and Group CEO…

THE Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) says a traditional surgeon and two traditional nurses have been apprehended in connection with the death of one of two initiates in the Eastern Cape. This comes as the winter initiation season officially kicked off last month, which Contralesa had said was off to a good start until the latest incidents, allegedly involving bogus initiation schools. Contralesa secretary-general Zolani Mkiva said: “Two deaths have been reported, one in a village in the Port St Johns area. He (the initiate) was dehydrated by the time they took him to the health facility, he was already struggling to breathe, so he died. “Three arrests have already been made. The traditional surgeon as well as two traditional nurses have been apprehended with the help…

Around half the world will face governmental elections this year. Potentially at stake: global peace, which is in jeopardy, provoked mostly by a leadership crisis and a divergence between what ‘rulers’ want and what people need. That things need to change is a given, otherwise we would not be at the point where the world finds itself now. The common denominator in all this, is leadership. The recent elections in South Africa are a case in point. They are a stark reminder of how our ongoing struggle with leadership – or the lack thereof – impacts voting decisions and therefore everyone’s future. They also provide crucial insights that can inform and inspire nations worldwide. South Africa’s elections have underscored a pervasive leadership vacuum, characterised by widespread disillusionment and a lack…

Israel struck Gaza yesterday and witnesses reported blasts in the besieged territory’s south, but fighting has largely subsided after a day of relative calm and as Muslims marked Eid al-Adha. In a holiday message late on Sunday, US President Joe Biden called for the implementation of a ceasefire plan he outlined last month, saying it was “the best way to end the violence in Gaza” and to help civilians suffering “the horrors of the war between Hamas and Israel”. A daytime “pause” for aid deliveries announced at the weekend by Israel’s military around a southern Gaza route appeared to be holding, while elsewhere in the Palestinian territory strikes and shelling have decreased. In Gaza City, medics at al-Ahli Hospital said at least five people were killed in two separate air…

A freight train smashed into the rear of a stationary passenger train in India’s West Bengal state yesterday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, police said, in an accident that railway authorities blamed on driver error. Media showed images of the pile-up, with containers from the goods train strewn nearby, and one carriage left nearly vertical after the accident, which comes just over a year after a signalling error caused one of India’s worst rail crashes. Fifteen bodies were pulled from the mangled carriages, said Abhishek Roy, a senior police official in the eastern state’s district of Darjeeling, the site of the accident. Fifty-four people were injured and rescue teams from the police and national disaster response force were working to clear debris from the derailed carriages, Roy…

ROME: Ten migrants died in the Mediterranean after their boat was flooded with water, but 51 other people aboard the vessel were rescued, a German charity said yesterday. RESQSHIP, which operates a migrant rescue ship called Nadir, said on social media platform X it had found the 61 people on board a flooded wooden boat, with the 10 dead trapped in its lower deck. The UN has registered more than 20 000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014, making it the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world. Earlier this month 11 bodies were recovered from the sea off the coast of Libya. | Reuters…

Los Angeles: A fast-moving wildfire has burned over 12 200 acres (about 49.4 square km) at the weekened in Southern California, forcing at least 1 200 people to evacuate from a popular recreation area, authorities said. The wind-driven wildfire, dubbed the Post Fire, started Saturday afternoon in Gorman, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Cal Fire warned residents to remain vigilant and be prepared to evacuate if fire activity changes. The South Coast Air Quality Management District urged residents to limit their exposure by remaining indoors. | IANS…

THE joint top goal-scorers at the last European Championship will face each other as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal play Patrik Schick’s Czech Republic in their Euro 2024 Group F opener today. Ronaldo and Schick both scored five at the Covid-delayed Euro 2020 finals and are likely to shoulder the goal-scoring burden for their sides this time around. The tournament could be Ronaldo’s international swansong, although the 39-year-old appears as hungry for goals and adulation as ever as he prepares to kick off his sixth Euros. While he may have moved away from Europe’s elite to play in Saudi Arabia, the goal-getting instincts of the leading scorer in men’s international football seem as sharp as ever. Having finished second-top scorer in qualifying with 10 goals and smashed 35 in 31 league games…