Table of contents for CT-2021-04-07 in Cape Times

DINEO FAKU dineo.faku@inl.co.za CANADIAN and JSE-listed Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) surged 11 percent on the JSE yesterday following news that it was expecting a fourfold production improvement and a boost to revenue when it completes the next phase of upgrades to its processing plant. The share rose 11.09 percent to close at R4.91 on the JSE yesterday. Vancouver-based Eastplats said in a statement yesterday that the next phase of Platinum Group Metals (PGM) main circuit work was scheduled to start in May, with commissioning ex- pected in October. “The company esti- mates this will add a further 800 tons of PGM concentrate per month to production, thereby increasing production fourfold and continuing to grow Eastplats’ revenue,” the company said. Eastplats reported a 43 percent growth in revenue…

SANDILE MCHUNU sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za VISUAL International Holdings said yesterday that it expects the suspension of its shares to be lifted by the JSE next week, after the release of its outstanding financial results for the six months to end August 2020, which will make it compliant with the JSE Listings Requirements. The property development company has been suspended by the bourse since the beginning of July 2019, partly due to the late presentation of its financial results. However, the group has made steady progress in getting its shares lifted after releasing its results for the six months to end August 2019 at the beginning of last month as well as its results for the year to end February 2020 on March 25. The group said in terms of para- graph 1.11(c)…

Mark van Dijk You’ve done it. We’ve all done it. Whether it’s pulling an all-nighter to meet an impossible deadline, staying up late to watch a midweek movie or taking the night shift to earn some extra cash, we’ve all deprived ourselves of a good night’s sleep. Those missed hours of rest could have a huge impact on your health and happiness. A good night’s sleep can reduce your stress levels, improve your health and change your life. So how can you get more shut-eye? A 2020 study by researchers at Sweden’s Uppsala University found that when young, healthy men were deprived of just one night of sleep, they had higher levels of tau (a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease) in their blood than when they had a full, uninterrupted night…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za HIKES in the fuel price of up to R1 a litre are set to deal businesses and consumers a massive blow amid already stretched budgets as a result of Covid-19. From today, motorists can expect the price of 95-octane fuel (ULP and LRP) to increase by R1, while the price of 93-octane (ULP and LRP) will rise by 95 cents a litre. The price of diesel will rise by between 63c and 65c a litre. The increases include 16c for the fuel levy and 11c for the Road Accident Fund, as announced by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in his Budget Speech. Khayelitsha Business Forum secretary Thobela Gubudela said the impact on small businesses would be negative across industries. “Like (people) doing scholar transport. Covid-19 already had a…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za NEW moves by music rights publishers may be a step in the right financial direction for local artists as these organisations announced a multiyear licensing agreement with TikTok yesterday. The deal between TikTok, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) and Composers Authors and Publishers Association (Capasso) will ensure songwriters, composers and music publishers the organisations represent will receive royalty payments when their music is used on the platform. “This is an exciting region for us with a huge pool of incredible talent, and we look forward to connecting them with our global audience,” head of music publishing licensing and partnerships at TikTok Jordan Lowy said. Through Capasso’s existing partnerships, the agreement will cover 58 territories across the African continent, covering repertoire belonging to 21 separate…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THE SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) says it has received an “influx” of calls from City of Cape Town employees and members expressing their anger towards mayor Dan Plato’s proposal to skip wage increases for workers this year. Plato made the announcement during the tabling of the City's proposed annual budget on Wednesday, saying that included in the expenditure cuts in the 2021/22 financial year is a R460 million cut in staffing and contracting services, as well as a “zero percent cost of living increase in the salaries and wages provision in the 2021/2022 financial year”. Plato said the City would petition the SA Local Government Bargaining Council to award no salary increases for staff and councillors. Samwu deputy general secretary Dumisani Magagula said workers in the…

Changes to Basic Law have come at the right time and were ‘a step in the right direction’ THIS year marks the 24th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China. At the end of the First Opium War in 1842, the Qing Dynasty ceded Hong Kong to the British who were able to expand the territory considerably until 1898. In that year, Britain obtained a 99-year lease before Hong Kong and surrounding territories were eventually returned to China in 1997. Under China’s “one country, two systems” policy, Hong Kong, together with a number of other regions, have been able to maintain relative autonomy. Hong Kong’s Basic Law was introduced as a constitution of the territory though still subject to the supreme law which is the Constitution of…

There is a link between AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine and very rare blood clots in the brain but the possible causes are still unknown, a senior official for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said yesterday, “In my opinion we can now say it, it is clear that there is an association with the vaccine. However, we still do not know what causes this reaction,” Marco Cavaleri, chairperson of the vaccine evaluation team at the EMA, told Italian daily Il Messaggero when asked about a possible link between AstraZeneca vaccine and cases of brain blood clots. Cavaleri added that the EMA would say there is a link although the regulator would not likely be in a position this week to give an indication regarding the age of individuals to whom the AstraZeneca…

Singapore once again warned the public about the risks of trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, a market that while relatively small in the city-state, has surged in significance over the past year. “Cryptocurrencies can be highly volatile, as their value is typically not related to any economic fundamentals,” Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the chairperson of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said in response to a parliamentary question on Monday. “They are hence highly risky as investment products, and certainly not suitable for retail investors.” He said that cryptocurrency funds were not authorised for sale to retail investors. The MAS also has powers to impose additional measures on digital token service providers, under which exchanges offering the trading of cryptocurrencies are regulated, as needed, according to Tharman, who is also senior minister and co-ordinating…

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden’s administration yesterday expanded sanctions on a powerful Mexican drug cartel, stepping up pressure as its violent campaign prompts growing concern. The Treasury Department blocked any US assets and criminalised transactions with three people affiliated with Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, which was suspected in the brazen assassination in December of a former governor at a tourist restaurant in Puerto Vallarta. The cartel reported to be “a major contributor” to illicit drugs. | AFP…

Stronger-than-expected global economic rebound of 6% has changed the estimate Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised South Africa's growth prospects for 2021 upwards due to a stronger-than-expected global economic rebound of 6 percent. The IMF yesterday said South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) would now grow at 3.1 percent this year, up from a revised 2.8 percent forecast in January due to vaccines concerns. For 2022, the IMF in its World Economic Outlook said South Africa’s economy would advance by 2 percent, up from the previous estimate of 1.4 percent before moderating at 1.6 percent in 2026. The IMF’s outlook is slightly lower than the SA Reserve Bank and the National Treasury estimates, which expect the economy to rebound by 3.3…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za GROWTHPOINT Properties is selling its newly developed specialist surgical hospital in Pretoria, Cintocare Private Surgical Hospital, to its 61.8 percent held subsidiary Growthpoint Healthcare Property Holdings for R515.6 million cash. The 11 000m², seven-floor, specialised surgical hospital development by Growthpoint Properties and Cintocare is the first 5-star-rated green hospital in Africa, and only the fifth in the world with its specialised surgical mix and clinical business model. Growthpoint chief executive Estienne de Klerk said in a presentation yesterday that they had developed the hospital on budget for R470m, and the hospital had opened on December 1 after a delay of about two months in the opening due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the hospital was leased and operated by Cintocare Proprietary, a…

THE DEVELOPERS of the business aircraft Pegasus Vertical Business Jet, which is South African built, are raising funds with an offer of profit sharing for investors. The investors will be participating in a seven-year note. In a statement, the developers said the minimum investment was R10 000. Reza Mia, who conceptualised the aircraft, said the current fund-raising is the third of its kind. “While there is a total of R261 million worth of shares available, the immediate target is R30m to R40m. We have more than delivered on the promises made at our previous fund-raising. It is a big responsibility to work with other people’s money, and we make sure we stretch each rand as far as possible,” he said. Mia said the aircraft was entering its next…

Viwe Ndongeni-Ntlebi viwe.ndongeni@inl.co.za Have you ever wondered what’s that smell everytime you visit an old age home? Scientists have confirmed there’s an odour associated with ageing. Old person smell (OPS) has been scientifically proven to be a part of the natural process of ageing. Truth is, “old people smell” –which is arguably not the nicest or most respectful way to talk about our elders – is a real thing. According to a study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, older people emit a smell characteristic of their old age, referred to as “old people smell”. The study explains that people produce a chemical compound, 2-nonenal, which is something that comes about when omega-7 fatty acids on the skin break down through oxidization. As you get older, your skin starts…

Athandile Siyo and Zanele Mvana THE police’s response to extortion (protection fee) that some businesses are forced to pay is often hampered by fear-driven reluctance of victims to report such cases, police said. “Inroads are being made and our endeavours to police extortion have resulted in numerous arrests. It is worthy to mention that the SAPS response in relation to investigations of extortion is often constrained by the reluctance of victims to report these cases to police. “Fear is often cited as the reason for the non-reporting of cases and information collated by police is often from third parties but not primary victims of extortion,” police said. This emerged following the murder of a 28-year-old man who was shot dead on Monday in an alleged extortion-related incident at NY1…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE “voice of the unborn baby” has finally been heard. Parents opting to bury the remains of a dead foetus, even if the unborn child is less than 26 weeks old, may now do so. In the past, a foetus less than 26 weeks old was discarded as medical waste. While this judgment is considered a victory for prospective parents, the North Gauteng High Court excluded them the right to bury their unborn children in the case of medical terminations, including abortions. A group called the Voice of the Unborn Baby, as well as the Catholic Archdiocese of Durban, challenged the constitutionality of some of the provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act (Badra) as it related to how the remains of a spontaneous pregnancy loss…

Athandile Siyo athandile.siyo@inl.co.za THE Samora Machel Community Police Forum (CPF) and area councillor have expressed concern over the increase in crimes in the area, many of them mob justice attacks. This follows the murder of a 41-year-old man whose body was discovered by residents on Sunday in Eyadni informal settlement. Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said Samora Machel police were investigating the murder. “According to reports, members received a complaint of a body that was lying between the shacks. On their arrival at the scene, they found the man lying on his back between the shacks. The paramedics were called but declared the man dead. “The injury was an open wound to the head, possibly assault. At this stage the suspects are unknown and the motive is yet to be…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za A MULTIMILLION-rand cash injection for upgrades at the Saldanha Bay harbour will aim to address spatial justice between commercial and local businesses and the community. During a site visit at Saldanha Bay Harbour yesterday, Public Works and Infrastructure Minster Patricia de Lille, together with Deputy Minister Noxolo Kiviet and Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, head of infrastructure investment in the presidency, emphasised the need to bridge the gap between commercial businesses and local SMMEs which are set to benefit from the R96 million infrastructure upgrade. The two harbours form part of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure’s Small Harbours Repairs and Maintenance projects where 62 gazetted projects fall within the Infrastructure Investment Plan. The Saldanha Bay Harbour project, expected to be completed by March next year, will also…

IS THE ANC sliding towards extinction? For most of the country’s history since democracy began about 30 years ago, such a question verged on the preposterous. The ANC is on the verge of a cataclysmic split, that could change the face of our politics. Our politics today is dominated by leaders who are accomplished liars. How can lying demagogues find traction in a society with a proud history of democracy and empiricism? Are the masses in our corruption enmeshed country insensitive to falsehoods? The ruling party needs to cleanse it’s contaminated soul. Toxic leaders who cling to power to evade accountability, must be jettisoned into oblivion. These shameless populists, explicitly pit a mythical people against an equally mythical elite, blatant disregard for facts underscores their authenticity in the eyes of…

Rescuers searched for dozens missing in the remote islands of southeast Indonesia yesterday, as reinforcements arrived to help in the aftermath of a tropical cyclone that killed at least 119 people. Helicopters were deployed to aid the search. Ships carrying food, water, blankets and medicine reached ports previously blocked by high waves whipped up by tropical cyclone Seroja, which brought heavy rain, triggering deadly floods and landslides on Sunday. Indonesia’s disaster agency BNPB revised upwards the death toll from the cyclone in the East Nusa Tenggara islands, after earlier saying 86 had died. Seventy-six people were still missing. “The rescue team is moving on the ground. The weather is good,” BNPB spokesperson Raditya Jati said. Search and rescue personnel, however, had trouble transporting heavy equipment for use in the search.…

UN teams have received “worrying” reports that Tanzania has rejected over 1 000 people seeking refuge from insurgent attacks on a town in northern Mozambique, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said yesterday. The March 24 attack on the town of Palma, adjacent to gas developments worth $60 billion (R871bn), sent the town’s residents fleeing. Some headed north towards Tanzania, aid workers said. The UNHCR earlier said it did not have access to the border or affected areas. Last week a boat with 45 fleeing Mozambicans docked in Tanzania, and were given food and shelter. The UNHCR said the attack on Palma had forced at least 11 000 people out of the area, with thousands more still trapped there. Civilians have been arriving in areas of relative safety further south by…

WITH two years to go to the Netball World Cup 2023, Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa, confirmed the dates for the sport’s premier international championship yesterday. Mthethwa also revealed the Netball World Cup Board that will be responsible for organising the logistics of the event to be hosted at the International Convention Centre in Cape Town. The six person board announced by Mthethwa will consist of board chairperson Patience Shikwambana, COO of Sascoc; representative of the major of Cape Town, JP Smith; Dr Lyndon Bouah, director of sports and recreation of the Western Cape; Netball South Africa (NSA) president Cecilia Molokwane; COO of NSA Blanche de le Guerre; and deputy-director general of sport, Sumayya Khan. As explained by Mthethwa, the board will be responsible for “strategic overall guidance and compliance;…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za A NEW study released yesterday showed that South Africa grew its exports of pulp and cereals by more than double during the first half of 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The global study, Trade in Transition, showed that South Africa’s exports of pulp – the raw material for toilet paper – and cereal increased by 163 percent and 113 percent year-on- year, respectively, in the first half of 2020. These export increases by South African companies were part of nearly 32 percent of firms that expanded international sales in the first half of 2020, according to multinational logistics firm DP World. The study was commissioned by DP World and conducted by the Econo- mist Intelligence Unit among 3 800 senior…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za WHILE hospital emergency rooms across the province were not overwhelmed by a massive surge in alcohol-related injuries, drunk driving offences still dominated over the Easter weekend. President Cyril Ramaphosa had over Easter placed a four-day ban on alcohol for off-site consumption and a curfew for on-site sales in efforts to curb reckless behaviour on roads and public sites amid Covid-19. According to provincial health department spokesperson Mark van der Heever, 13 of the busiest trauma units across the province saw 1 358 cases over the long weekend. “The overall sense is that while the trauma units remained busy, they were not overwhelmed as initially anticipated. Our medical emergencies in hospitals remained busy but also not overwhelmed. “We thank the citizens of the Western Cape for heeding the…

Ingredients Method 1½ cups Spekko Jasmine Rice salt to taste 4 tbsp condensed milk 350ml evaporated milk 100g chopped pistachio nuts 100g dried cranberries edible flowers to garnish Put the rice in a bowl and rinse in cold water. In a medium-sized pot on medium to high heat, cook the rice in 3 cups of water and salt until all water has cooked away – do not strain the rice. You want it to be sticky. This is the cold version so allow the rice to cool. After the rice has cooled, add the condensed milk, 50g pistachio nuts, 50g dried cranberries and 100ml evaporated milk, and stir until just combined. Spoon the rice mixture into a large round pudding bowl and sprinkle over the remaining pistachios and cranberries and…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za AMENDMENTS to the Integrated Environmental Management Plan to manage impacts associated with the development of the first phase of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the Northern Cape, without further environmental approval required, have been published. In a statement, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (Deff) said the adoption of Amended Chapter 2 and Chapter 5 of the Integrated Environmental Management Plan for Phase 1 of the SKA and amendment to the conditions of exclusion were published by Minister Barbara Creecy in terms of the National Environmental Management Act in the Government Gazette on March 25. An amendment to the originally adopted plan was requested by the National Research Foundation, the organisation responsible for the development of the SKA, Deff said. “The amendments are necessary…

Zelda VenteR zelda.venter@inl.co.za FORMER Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli has been given a month in which to launch his application for the State to pay for his fraud and corruption trial. As the charges against him stem from the time that he was employed by the State, he felt it should foot his legal bill. This order was made by Pretoria high court Judge Bert Bam yesterday. This was after the prosecution opted not to formally proceed with its application for an order that Mdluli finalised each of his interlocutory applications by June 18 so that the trial could go ahead on October 4. This order followed a morning of hefty argument from the Mdluli camp, which asked that Judge Bam recuse himself from presiding over any aspect of the…

DA leaders who say they are offended by Tony Leon’s diatribe against former party leader Mmusi Maimane should leave the party if they really mean what they say – unless the official opposition publicly sanctions Leon. Leon, who led the DA before being succeeded by federal chairperson Helen Zille, was quoted in the media as having said that Maimane’s ascendancy to the party’s top job was “an experiment gone wrong”. Leon’s statement echoed Zille’s sentiment in May 2019 that one of her failures as a party leader was her inability to stop the DA from degenerating into the “ANC/EFF’s race narrative arena”. For his part, Maimane said Leon’s statement was not only offensive, but dehumanising as well. Expectedly, the majority of the current and former black DA leaders are angry…

R&B artist Akon has yet to come anywhere close to realising his ambitious vision for a “futuristic” city powered by a cryptocurrency called “Akoin” and built on land given to him by the Senegalese government. But that’s not stopping the singer from making plans to build a second Akon City – this time in Uganda. The East African nation has agreed to identify “a place suitable in Uganda that has not less than one square mile, which will be made available to him and his team,” Isaac Musumba, Uganda’s minister for urban development, said this week. Akon will be in charge of attracting investment and managing the project, and will consult with the Ugandan government to come up with a theme for the “satellite city”. “We would like to emulate…

Riyadh: Only pilgrims and worshippers who have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus or have recovered will be allowed into the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced. Permits for Umrah (the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca) and to visit the Grand Mosque will be granted to those who have received two Covid-19 vaccine injections; those who have received a first dose at least 14 days before their visit to Medina and Mecca; and those who have had the virus and recovered, the ministry said on Monday. | IANS…

THE announcement of the dates for the Fifa World Cup qualifiers last week would normally bring about great excitement for any football fan, but it had the opposite effect on me. As a proud South African, I will never forget the 2010 tournament in this country. I can still hear the slogan ‘Feel it, it is here!’, and how the crowds streamed through the Fan Walks to the Cape Town Stadium. And of course, Siphiwe Tshabalala’s thunderbolt against Mexico … But here we sit, Mzansi, in ‘sak en as’ (sackcloth and ashes) as they say, after Bafana Bafana failed to even qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. So, to even contemplate another qualifying campaign is tough for a South African fan. Bafana have now missed out on…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za A SERIES decider is a heck of time to be experimenting with your back-up bowlers, but South Africa have been forced into exactly that scenario for today’s third ODI against Pakistan at SuperSport Park. Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje all touched down in Mumbai yesterday morning to go into quarantine ahead of the IPL which starts on Friday. They’re joined by David Miller and Quinton de Kock, who played an influential role in getting South Africa back into the series at the Wanderers on Sunday. That’s half the team that played in the first two matches absent for the last match of the series, with Janneman Malan likely to open the batting alongside Aiden Markram in De Kock’s spot, while Kyle Verreynne will probably slot…