Table of contents for 2023-04-20 in Cape Times

THE AFRICAN Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is one of the African Union’s 13 flagship projects comprising its Agenda 2063 initiative aimed at unlocking Africa’s potential as a global economic powerhouse. Once implemented, the AfCFTA will be the world’s largest free trade area, uniting 54 of Africa’s 55 states and all eight of the continent’s regional economic associations in a partnership that aims to create a single continental market representing a population of about 1.3 billion and combined gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately $3.4 trillion. Standard Bank is a key partner of the African Continental Free Trade Area Business Forum taking place from April 16 to 18, 2023, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. As Africa’s largest bank by assets, present in 20 markets across sub-Saharan…

The Hawks are investigating a case of fraud and corruption following the suspension of seven Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMB) officials in connection with the explosion of a sub-station at the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ). The explosion on March 12 led to a blackout in surrounding areas within the Motherwell area, including Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) customers. The damage to the sub-station infrastructure was estimated to be more than R40 million. To reconnect the affected residents and customers, the municipality said a line would be constructed from the nearby sub-station while construction work to rehabilitate the sub-station continued. The municipality confirmed that seven officials from the Electricity and Energy Directorate were suspended on allegations of fraud and corruption on Tuesday. “The suspensions follow after a preliminary investigation into…

Inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverage prices continues to accelerate, with prices increasing by 14% in the last year until March, representing the largest annual increase since March 2009. According to data released by Statistics SA yesterday, milk, eggs and cheese; sugar, sweets and desserts, fruit and vegetables experienced upward inflationary pressure. “The milk, eggs and cheese product group witnessed its annual rate reaching 13.6% from the recent low of 3.7% in April 2022. The reading in March is the highest annual increase since February 2009’s print of 13.9%. “Bread and cereals, meat, oils and fats, and fish bucked the trend, recording slower growth. The annual increase for bread and cereals was 20.3% in March, down from 20.5% in February. “Meat inflation edged lower to 10.6% from 11.4% in February.…

3 tbsp sunflower oil 3 large onions, finely chopped 4 large cloves of garlic, grated 2 tsp freshly chopped or grated ginger 2-4 green chillies, deseeded and chopped 2 medium tomatoes, chopped 2 tsp coriander/koljana 2 tsp cumin/jeera 1 tsp turmeric/borrie 1-2 tsp red chilli powder 1kg crayfish tails, deveined and cut into 2 or 3 pieces, depending on the size 2 tsp salt or to taste 4 tsp plain yoghurt ½ cup water 1 tsp garam masala Dhanya leaves, finely chopped Heat oil in a pot and sauté onions on low heat till light brown. Mix in grated garlic, ginger and green chillies. Fry till golden-brown, stirring all the time. Add tomato and cook till onions and tomatoes are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add small amounts of…

Cape Times readers stand the chance to win a two-night stay at the charming city farmhouse, Antrim Villa, including breakfast, valued at R5 700. Antrim Collection is a conscious hospitality brand that brings guests a unique intention of affordable, sustainable and ethical luxury accommodations, adding something different and positive to a family holiday, a quick business trip to town or even a solo night out for young and old. Antrim Villa is a city farmhouse built in the late 1800s. This Old English Victorian house was originally a family residence. High ceilings and well-kept stuccos give the guesthouse charm and light. Antrim Apartments are luxury and self-catering. Located in the heart of Green Point in walking distance to the Cape Town Stadium and Virgin Active gym, the one and two-bedroom…

The surprise “eleventh hour” application by a Joburg NPO opposing the City’s application to serve eviction notices on homeless people living in the CBD, has knocked the wind out their sails as litigation is further delayed. The City said the notice to oppose from NGO Socio Economic Rights Institute (SERI) “disappointed” them as it now delayed action by several months. It was expecting the court to consider granting a final eviction order yesterday, but the hearing was postponed until early October. This comes after the City was granted an application in the Western Cape High Court last month to serve eviction notices in hopes of removing homeless people from about 10 locations in the CBD. The areas include FW de Klerk Boulevard, along Buitengracht Street, the Foreshore and Strand Street,…

THE police’s inability to speedily make breakthroughs in targeted killings involving high-profile individuals makes it easy to be convinced that South Africa is sliding down the dangerous path of becoming a failed state. Criminals have become so brazen that they attack their victims in public spaces in broad daylight. In fact, a Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime report by analyst Rumbidzai Matamba, “The Business of Killing: Assassinations In South Africa”, paints a grim picture. It recorded 141 assassinations in the country in 2022 alone – an average of more than two a week. The latest incident involving former ANC youth league member and Cape Town councillor Loyiso Nkohla at a mobile police station is a murder that should outrage all of us. He was known for having led what…

India is poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation, with almost 3 million more people than its neighbour by the middle of this year, data released on yesterday by the UN showed. India’s population by mid-year is estimated at 1.4286 billion, against 1.4257 billion for China – 2.9 million fewer – in the UN Population Fund’s (UNFPA) “State of World Population Report” for this year. The US is a distant third, with an estimated population of 340 million as of the end of June, the data showed in a report that reflects information available until February. Population experts using previous data from the UN have projected India’s population would surpass China’s this month, but the global body’s latest report did not specify a date. UN population officials…

Britain is anticipating that 56 000 migrants will cross the Channel in small boats to its shores this year, court documents show, meaning it would need to house as many as 140 000 asylum seekers. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping boat arrivals one of his five priorities after the number of migrants arriving on the south coast of England soared to a record level in 2022 of more than 45 000, up 500% in the last two years. Already this year, more than 5 000 more people have arrived in Britain across the Channel. In court documents submitted as part of a case being brought against it at London’s High Court yesterday, the government said as of March it was estimated to be accommodating more than 109 000…

London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declared his wife’s shareholding in a childcare company that could benefit from a new government policy, four years after she invested in the firm, a much-delayed new register of ministers interests has shown, reports said. In a footnote to his entry on the register, Sunak declares that among “a number of direct shareholdings” owned by his wife, Akshata Murty, is a “minority shareholding” in Koru Kids, one of six companies involved in a pilot scheme to incentivise people to become childminders. The UK Prime Minister is being investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over whether he properly declared his wife’s shareholdings. | IANS…

MIAMI: Florida officials were yesterday considering largely prohibiting classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in all grades, expanding on a law signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis that barred such lessons for elementary-age students. The proposed rule, which does not require legislative approval, is part of a broader rightward push on cultural issues that DeSantis has championed for what is expected to be a 2024 presidential campaign. The new regulation would bar teachers from providing such lessons unless the instruction is required by state standards or is part of a health class that parents can opt their children out of. | Reuters…

PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane maintained yesterday that the Section 194 Committee engaged in a “kangaroo court” when it continued with its “committee sessions” on the evidence presented before it. “My view is that a travesty of justice has continued to happen since the previous, I think, 17 days,” Mkhwebane said in an interview with the public broadcaster. She was commenting after the committee “paused” its meetings after evidence leaders concluded with presentations to the members on evidence already presented and before the committee. The inquiry was put on hold after Public Protector South Africa stopped paying Mkhwebane’s legal fees on March 31. This prompted the committee to proceed with receiving presentations from evidence leaders in the absence of Mkhwebane, who has not briefed her legal team, while some intervention was…

AN interim SA Tourism Board is set to be appointed by the end of the week to take care of matters until the institution has a new board. This as the tourism sector yesterday welcomed Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille’s move to sack the SA Tourism Board. The dissolution, officially expected to take place tomorrow, comes after the outcry over the R1 billion English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship deal, incompetence and other allegations. De Lille said an interim board would be appointed by the end of the week. She wrote to board chairperson Thozamile Botha on April 6 and gave the SA Tourism Board until Tuesday this week to say why she should not dissolve it amid a string of serious allegations against its members. De Lille said…

Two suspects arrested in connection with a mass murder in Ocean View walked free after the matter was struck off the court roll yesterday. The two suspects appeared in the Simon’s Town Magistrate’s Court on charges of murder after six people were shot and killed in a residence in Neptune Lane about a week ago. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “The magistrate struck the matter off the roll after a legal representative of one of the accused protested that they were not brought before court within 48 hours.” The suspects, aged 20 and 29, were arrested on separate days during the week, with the MEC of police oversight and community safety, Reagen Allen, welcoming the breakthrough. Ocean View ward councillor Simon Liell-Cock said the fact that the…

WHILE the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has been applauded for the work it has done through its rapid school build programme, concerns have been raised about the quality of the work. The Western Cape Standing Committee on Education conducted an inspection at Springdale Primary School and Summerdale High School on Tuesday. They are among schools that benefited from the department’s building project. However, the ANC noted during the oversight visit that the newly-constructed classrooms at one of the schools already had cracks. ANC Education MPL Khalid Sayed said they were worried about what they saw at Summerdale High. “This school was built in September last year as part of the rapid build programme. “We found cracks in the walls of all the new classrooms that were built. It was…

Every year, the number of commercial dairy farms in South Africa continues to drop. The leading causes cited are financial and political, but climate change – the cancer hidden in plain sight – is barely mentioned. Climate change has adverse effects on critical components of dairy production, such as feed availability and quality, and the health and reproductive prowess of dairy herds. From a retrospective survey I recently published, it appears that reproductive failures and poor milk production are significant reasons for the culling of dairy cows. Unfortunately, the factors leading to recurring reproductive failures and drops in milk yield over the years have gone largely undocumented by either researchers or farmers. However, several studies have noted that heat stress (a result of climate change) directly affects dairy cows’ reproduction…

Fox News reached a $787.5 million (roughly R14bn) settlement this week in a defamation case brought by voting technology company Dominion that alleged the network knowingly aired false claims linking its machines to a conspiracy to undermine the 2020 US election. The agreement to end the case avoided what most experts suggested would have been a damaging, high-profile trial for the conservative channel in which owner Rupert Murdoch would have been compelled to testify in open court. Judge Eric Davis announced the last-minute agreement after the 12 jurors had been selected and the Delaware Superior Court was readying to hear opening arguments. Fox News said it was “pleased” to have ended the dispute and added: “We acknowledge the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.” Dominion CEO…

LONDON: Pope Francis has gifted fragments believed to be from the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified to form part of a new processional cross which will be used at the coronation of Britain’s King Charles next month. The new cross, made from recycled silver along with Welsh slate and reclaimed wood, was a gift from the king to the Church in Wales to mark its centenary in 2020. It will lead the procession at Westminster Abbey in London on May 6. It features two shards from the relic donated by the pope which have been shaped into a cross behind a rose crystal gemstone. | Reuters…

Jakarta: Mount Semeru in Indonesia’s East Java province erupted 16 times yesterday, spewing hot ash as far as 2km from the crater to the south-east, authorities said. “The first eruption started at 7.10am and the second at 8.40am, with a duration of 82 to 110 seconds,” said the Semeru Volcano Monitoring Post. The mountain, 3 676m above sea level, is in the third danger level. The authorities have asked people to remain vigilant, and in particular avoid its south-eastern sector of 13km, and a 5km radius around the summit. An eruption of Mount Semeru in December 2021 claimed more than 50 lives. | IANS…

SELESTAT: Protesters greeted French President Emmanuel Macron with boos and calls for him to resign in his first public appearance since he signed into law an unpopular rise in the retirement age. Macron was faced with hostile banners and banging on pots outside a factory he was visiting in the Alsace region. Electrical power inside the factory was also cut briefly. Macron signed into law at the weekend the rise in the retirement age which means citizens must work two years longer before receiving their state pension. At the factory visit, after protesters bashed pots and pans, he said: “Pans won’t help France move forward.” | Reuters…

A Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation has found that R5.1 billion of National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funds was incorrectly paid to thousands of non-qualifying students. These 40 044 students who received NSFAS bursaries from 2018 to 2021 attended 76 higher education institutions across the country. Gauteng province led with 17 788 non-qualifying students who were paid at 16 institutions; the Western Cape followed with 5 481 students from 10 institutions and KwaZulu-Natal with 4 409 students at 13 institutions. According to SIU chief investigations officer Leonard Lekgoethe, who briefed the parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts, these were students whose household income was above R350 000 and therefore they would not qualify for NSFAS funding, based on the funding rules. “The students did not submit their parents’ details…

‘Municipality was simply cold and aloof’ After a further tongue-lashing from Western Cape High Court Judge Daniel Thulare, Stellenbosch Municipality has lost its application for leave to appeal a judgment ordering it to grant unrestricted access to family members and caregivers of initiates at the Idas Valley initiation site. The principal of the Basotho tribe, Rash Makhubela, had urgently approached the court last year after the initiation forums were informed at the last minute that they would not be given access to the site, with the municipality saying the area had been flagged as a fire risk. In his judgment last month, Judge Thulare found that Stellenbosch Municipality was simply “cold, aloof” and unjustifiably removed from its obligation to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the values to which South Africa…

The beloved and endearingly named “Akker Brood” has returned to satisfy the cravings of the Nissenville community in Ladismith. The Flink family business and bakery has been producing 200 loaves of bread every day after operations ceased for about seven years. Bakery owner and manager Raymondo Flink said they are hopeful about their family bread satisfying their community again after the business suffered financial difficulty. “We had to stop production due to a number of reasons, but it also owed to the competition in the market when more and more ‘corner’ shops started sprouting in the area. My late father, nicknamed ‘Akker’, stopped the bread production but our bakery continued baking cakes and other sweet treats,” said Flink. The domino effect began when 11 soup kitchens, who got their…

Where is the shared and inclusive growth for all of us? Over the Easter weekend, I was invited to speak with my colleague, Honourable Member of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature Nomi Nkondlo, at a packed business breakfast hosted in a Nyanga church by Pastors Nhlanhla and Xoliswa Nkala. It was an honour to share a platform with successful entrepreneurs like Thandi Matoti Mvalo, Nomakhosazana Limani and Akona Mbadamana, who shared their inspirational stories of resilience, courage and perseverance. Access to finance, access to markets and building the bridge between the formal and informal economy, especially the revitalisation of the township economy, was the recurring theme. This got me thinking about the great unequal economic landscape of the Western Cape, especially in Cape Town, and the growing disparities between the…

Sudanese troops battled waves of attacks yesterday by a paramilitary force trying to seize the army’s headquarters, while the failure of a US-brokered ceasefire hampered efforts to evacuate foreigners and residents trapped in the capital. Continuous bombardments and loud blasts could be heard in central Khartoum around the compound housing the army HQ and also at the main airport, which has been fiercely contested and put out of action since fighting erupted at the weekend. Thick smoke billowed into the sky and the streets were largely empty in Khartoum. Gunfire rattled in the south of the city, a witness said, while the army appeared to retake a key military airport in the country’s north, images on TV network al Arabiya showed. Earlier in the week, Sudan’s military ruler General Abdel…

Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin yesterday lost an appeal against what his supporters say was a politically motivated decision to jail him for eight and a half years for criticising Moscow’s assault on Ukraine. The former Moscow councillor’s appeal was rejected as authorities take a crackdown on freedoms in Russia to an unprecedented new level, with independent media shut down and key opposition figures behind bars or in exile. Speaking in court, Yashin said he had been put behind bars for “speaking the truth” over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine and Russia. “The sentence delivered against me is amazing: eight and a half years for a 20-minute speech on the internet,” he said. “In prison, I met murderers, rapists, and robbers who have received lesser sentences for their crimes.” Last year,…

WASHINGTON: Anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy jr, a member of the US political dynasty, yesterday announced a long-shot bid to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. Kennedy, 69, faces little chance of success, but his campaign could help him to advance claims that childhood immunisations pose health risks, a theory that has been discredited by multiple scientific reviews. Kennedy has been banned from YouTube and Instagram for spreading misinformation about vaccines and the Covid-19 pandemic. He said he wanted to “end the corrupt merger between state and corporate power”. He is the nephew of former president John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, and the son of former US senator Robert F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968. In 2017, then president Donald Trump…

DUBLIN: Global airline capacity will be lower than expected this year and stay constrained until 2025 at the earliest, warned IATA director general Willie Walsh, due to delays in new aircraft deliveries and a lack of availability of spare parts. Airlines, hoping to put years of pandemic restrictions behind them, expect travel demand to recover to 2019 levels and above this year. But the lack of planes to meet demand could put a brake on growth. Aircraft manufacturers Boeing Co and Airbus are feeling pressure from bottlenecks in supply chains and that is leading to delivery delays. Walsh said he did not expect chaos at airports this year. | Reuters…