Table of contents for 2024-02-12 in Cape Times

WHILE promises to end load shedding and drive a green energy transition may sound promising, the measures outlined in the 2024 State of the Nation (Sona) address lack substance. In the Sona last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted reform of South Africa’s energy system, and plans to build over 14 000km of new transmission lines to accommodate renewable energy, with innovative investment models to promote private investment in transmission infrastructure. He also noted that government would support electric vehicle manufacturing in South Africa, and would set up a special economic zone in the Boegoebaai rail and deep-water port project to drive investment in green energy. However, the address lacked detail and concrete action plans. Superficially, the President said some positive things, but many of the points he made were…

Peanut butter is one of the most popular condiments in South Africa. Used in everything from the classic peanut butter and jam sandwich to flavouring cookies, adding protein and healthy fats to smoothies, and enjoyed spread on a banana or apple, peanut butter is a universal part of many people’s diets. Peanut butter is also relatively inexpensive, particularly when considering its nutritional profile and caloric density, so if you are on a budget and want a nutritious, plant-based protein and source of heart-healthy fats, peanut butter can be an excellent dietary staple. But since the news of Pick n Pay recalling three brands of peanut butter over health risks broke on Saturday, February 3, many people have been nervous about purchasing peanut butter jars of the lunchtime favourite, although major…

DEAR President Ramaphosa, allow me to share a few thoughts with you. As you are aware, our beloved country is in dire straits, with corruption and crime spiralling out of control. How did this poor state of affairs come about and who is responsible? We are living in Nelson Mandela’s new democracy, but after 30 years of ANC rule, we are wallowing in the mud. The SOE’s are in tatters. The poor are becoming poorer while the ANC elite live in luxury. We may recall you being Nelson Mandela’s blue-eyed boy and thus we expected so much of you, but alas, you and your party have now fallen from grace. What the ANC conjured up for us was a utopian, socialist pipe dream. Well, this dream is crumbling before…

EVER since the Springboks lifted the Webb Ellis trophy for the fourth time I have remained silent in my letters relating to sport but feel it is now time to vent my delight in one regard and absolute disgust in another. First off, and I must admit here that I have been their greatest critic, Bafana Bafana have exceeded all expectations in reaching the semi-finals of the Afcon cup. They have proved that they can be a dominant force in African soccer and if they continue in this vein perhaps even a showing in future World Cup competitions. They have now proved, under capable management and coaching, that they can do it. I humbly eat my words and congratulate the team, the management and those who have supported them through…

THE National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw) has called for an urgent intervention at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) after it emerged that 86 financial misconduct cases had been reported in the span of four years. The cases, which reportedly resulted in financial losses exceeding R2 billion, were among a number of grievances raised by the union during a picket at the DFFE Cape Town office last week. Nupsaw provincial manager Vuyani Shwane said: “The catalysts precipitating our call to action are multifaceted. “The director-general and minister’s inability to hold certain senior managers accountable and lack of consequence management implementation despite completion of several forensic investigation reports underscore a troubling injustice. “The failure from the offices of the minister and DG to take…

THE Western Cape Liquor Authority (WCLA) issued almost R7 million in fines to licensed liquor outlets across the province between November 2022 and November 2023. Out of the 169 total fines issued, 49 were issued to licence holders in the priority areas, said Marcellino Martin, spokesperson for Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen. Priority areas in the metro are Atlantis, Bishop Lavis, Delft, Khayelitsha, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Harare, Gugulethu and Philippi (Hanover Park). Across the five district municipalities the areas are Beaufort West (Central Karoo), George (Garden Route), Witzenberg, (Cape Winelands), Swartland (West Coast) and Theewaterskloof (Overberg) municipalities. Martin said 6 112 inspections were conducted across the province. A total of 83 non-compliance reports were submitted of which 58 or nearly 70% emanated from the…

The performance of Bafana Bafana at the 2024 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Ivory Coast has ignited a new-found sense of pride and optimism in South African football. While the team did not reach the finals, a bronze medal finish at the expense of the Democratic Republic of Congo is something we can all be proud of. Their remarkable run exceeded expectations and showcased a level of competitiveness and resilience that had been missing for some time. It is clear that Bafana Bafana has finally matured into a team capable of challenging the best on the continent, and this achievement should serve as a catalyst for the South African Football Association (Safa) and the entire footballing sector to push for sustained progress and development. Coach Hugo Broos and his…

MANILA: The death toll from a Philippine landslide near a gold mine abruptly rose to 54 yesterday, officials said. Nineteen bodies were recovered in the southern mountain village of Masara on Sunday, with 63 other miners and residents still missing, said the municipality of Maco, and provincial disaster official Randy Loy. The landslide buried a bus terminal for employees of a gold mining firm and 55 nearby houses on Tuesday night. Landslides are a frequent hazard across much of the archipelago nation due to the mountainous terrain, heavy rainfall and widespread deforestation from mining, slash-and-burn farming and illegal logging.…

TOKYO: Japan will pledge 15.8 billion yen ($106 million) in aid to Ukraine at a conference to be held in Tokyo on February 19, Kyodo News reported yesterday. The funding will be used for reconstruction in seven areas, including agriculture and the disposal of rubble, Kyodo said. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal are set to attend the conference, along with government and industry representatives from both countries, national broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday. Japan’s Cabinet Secretariat was not available for comment outside of regular working hours.…

Hamas yesterday warned that any Israeli offensive in Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah would threaten talks about the release of hostages seized in the October 7 attacks. “Any attack by the occupation army on the city of Rafah would undermine the exchange negotiations,” a leader in the Palestinian militant group told AFP as Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to extend operations. The Israeli prime minister earlier this week said he had told troops to prepare to go into the city, as part of its aim to destroy Hamas for mounting the deadly attacks on southern Israel. But he has faced mounting calls not to attack the city on the border with Egypt, which has become the last refuge for Gazans fleeing Israel’s relentless bombardment elsewhere in the coastal territory. Foreign governments, including…

ONE-NIL down in the series, the Proteas can at least look forward to a more familiar approach in an effort to tilt the second Test against the Black Caps, at Seddon Park in Hamilton starting tomorrow morning, in their favour. Last week, spinners Mitchell Santer, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra caused a lot of problems for the South African batters, so much so that Proteas batter Keegan Petersen admitted the visitors struggled against the relentless spin of the trio. Chances are, however, that New Zealand captain Tim Southee will opt for an additional pace option for the second match, seeing that the conditions in Hamilton promise to offer the quicks a lot more than the wicket at Mount Maunganui did during the first Test. At least that’s what Proteas…

THE PROGRESSIVE commitments of the State of the Nation Address (Sona) must now be met with resources in the upcoming Budget. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) welcomes the progressive commitments announced in the Sona by President Cyril Ramaphosa as well as its accounting for the work done by the 6th administration as we head towards the elections. President Ramaphosa’s tasks have been the most difficult of any President since our democracy was born in 1994. He inherited a state devastated by a decade of state capture and corruption. Shortly after his taking office, we were confronted by a global pandemic. While workers are frustrated by the many challenges we face and the slow pace at which they are being addressed, we equally acknowledge where the government, led…

THE AGRICULTURAL Business Chamber (Agbiz) welcomed the recognition given to South Africa’s real gains in the area of land reform, responding to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2024 State of the Nation Address (Sona) last week. Agbiz chairperson Francois Strydom said on Friday that as could be expected in an election year, the focus was largely on counting the successes of the sixth administration. “While we would have liked to see bolder steps taken to stimulate our economy, the value of recognising the sector’s efforts towards land reform cannot be overstated. The agricultural sector is highly competitive and capital-intensive. “In the absence of direct State support, inter-generational knowledge and investments are often required to buffer against shocks brought on by a volatile market and climate. “This is a tough environment for new…

It’s only a few months until the next South African Fashion Week season. The dates for the next season have yet to be announced but we know that the fashion season in South Africa is between April and May and October and November. This upcoming season of SA Fashion Week will feature the Mr Price New Talent Search, a competition for emerging designers to showcase their talent to industry experts, the media, fashion buyers and the public. The finalists have to impress the judges with their crafts. Judging this year’s Mr Price New Talent Search competition are Amber Jones, head of buying at Mr Price; Dean Hauptfleisch, head of buying menswear at Mr Price; Anissa Mpungwe, creative director at Anissa Mpungwe Atelier; Tamaryn Whitmore, head of buying ladies wear at…

Auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke said a total of 268 material irregularities on non-compliance and suspected fraud in municipalities resulted in R5.2 billion material financial losses in 2021-22. This comes as 61 accounting officers in municipalities did not take appropriate action when Maluleke’s office notified them of the material irregularities and she has since invoked her powers, including referring matters to public bodies for further investigations. Briefing the standing committee on auditor-general, Maluleke said the amount found to have been lost by her office covered only a sample of transactions and was not the full state of finances in all the municipalities and their entities. She told the MPs that the types of issues her office identified related to payments for goods and services not received; unfair and uncompetitive procurement; ineffective use…

THE withdrawal of funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) by the US and other imperialist countries like the UK, France and Germany represents their direct collusion with apartheid Israel in the terror campaign against the Palestinians with impunity. Such punishing withholding of life-saving funds would amount to an act of collective punishment both to UNRWA and to over two million Palestinians, over half of whom are women and children. Due to apartheid Israel’s continued indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate denial of aid in Gaza, the Palestinians face hunger, starvation, imminent famine and outbreak of diseases. Why are the US and its allies suspending funding to UNRWA based on apartheid Israel’s accusations? According to reports, there is no established or official involvement between UNRWA and Hamas,…

A STORY in Tuesday’s edition, “Thousands of jobs may be on the line in the platinum metals mining sector”, refers. This story and many others that the Cape Times has carried over the last five years is telling us that the mining industry is seriously threatened. Unfortunately, mining is the backbone of job creation in the country and is now in serious reverse mode. Mining abroad has grown from strength to strength and various jurisdictions are reporting growth in employment in their mining industry. In essence, our government has interfered so badly in the mining industry that it has decimated the entire sector. Mining contributes to various other industries. These industries are also suffering and job losses will escalate across the board. The reality is that our ANC…

One month following a breakthrough in the Crossroads triple-murder case, which claimed the life of off-duty LEAP officer Siphelo Magwa, two additional suspects aged between 30 and 35 will face court proceedings. The arrests were made on Friday by the provincial serious and violent crime unit in collaboration with Crime Intelligence, concluding an eight-month-long manhunt. “Police acted on information received from Crime Intelligence that one of the outstanding suspects was at a medical facility in Crossroads. They acted on the information, and found the suspect who was then apprehended. Further investigation led the team to a residence in Mitchells Plain where another suspect was found. The investigation continues,” said FC Van Wyk. The two suspects are expected to appear in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court today. Magwa, who was attached to…

THE Department of Forestry and Fisheries has warned the public not to consume dead marine species as they could be toxic. This after a large number of fish and lobster washed up at beaches along the West Coast. Other marine animals found dead include prawns, crabs and cuttlefish, from the Berg River mouth area close to Velddrif, and mostly inside the estuary. A number of lobsters were also discovered at the mouth of the estuary and adjacent shoreline. The department's spokesperson, Peter Mbelengwa, said this was due to the annual red tide. “The appearance of washed-up lobsters carries significant health risks, rendering them unsuitable for consumption. Uncertainty surrounding their time of death, coupled with potential contamination by algal toxins, poses dangers to human health. Ingestion of these toxins can lead…

Remove the leaders who have brought our country to its knees by their lies and greed PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s 6th State of the Nation Address (Sona) was an insult to the nation. The ANC is more concerned with “staying in power” in the upcoming elections than in providing the framework for democracy to reign supreme within which our people can truly be free and prosper. Ramaphosa’s speech might have had moments of promise but ultimately, it fell short of addressing critical issues plaguing South Africa. While he touched upon some key areas of concern, there were glaring omissions and a lack of concrete plans to address the country’s most pressing challenges, that served to highlight the string of broken promises the ANC has achieved in this administration. His storytelling, because…

THE UN has expressed concern about escalating unrest in Haiti’s major cities, where more than 1 100 people were killed or injured in the first month of this year. “Outbreaks of deadly violence have caused major disruptions to humanitarian operations,” the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. “There are more than 313 000 people displaced around the country.” A spokesperson said road blockages and movement restrictions had impacted health-care workers and compromised access to essential social services. Difficulties accessing roads and ports had also affected the delivery of life-saving relief.…

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is working “tirelessly” to resolve the Red Sea crisis, which is severely disrupting the global transport of goods, its head Arsenio Dominguez told AFP. Yemen’s Huthi rebels, supported by Iran, have launched dozens of attacks against ships in the Red Sea since November, targeting boats headed for Israel in an act of “solidarity” with inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, which is in the grip of the war between Israel and Hamas. Despite retaliatory strikes by the US and UK, the rebels are still launching attacks, firing at US ship “Star Nasia” and UK vessel “Morning Tide” on Tuesday. The IMO, the United Nations agency responsible for security at sea, is working to ensure that “parties continue to talk so that the situation does not degenerate…

ATHENS: The Olympic Stadium in Athens, shut down last year over roof safety concerns, will reopen by April, the Greek prime minister said yesterday. “The stadium will reopen from the end of March or mid-April at the latest,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis posted on Facebook. The Athens Olympic Athletic Centre said earlier the roof of the stadium and that of the nearby Velodrome “do not meet the regulatory permitted levels of static adequacy”. The 69 600-seat arena was built in 1982 and remodelled for the 2004 Athens Olympics with an 18 000-ton steel roof designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.…

A resurgent Sharks side is standing in the way of the Stormers completing another win over a South African side in the United Rugby Championship (URC). The return coastal derby is set to take centre stage in Durban on Saturday (kick-off 5.05pm), where the home side, coming off good wins in the EPCR Challenge Cup, will look to make some headway in the URC where they currently sit bottom of the points table. John Plumtree’s men have won only one URC match this season and will need that momentum from the Challenge Cup to carry over into their abysmal URC campaign. The Sharks held their own against the Stormers in Cape Town late in December – suffering a narrow 16-15 defeat without their resting Springboks – and they will target…

The Kardashians are known not only for their beauty but also for their impressive business models. Kris Jenner doesn’t play when it comes to her children’s success. She makes sure everyone thrives in their respective careers. With the assistance of her mother, Kim Kardashian worked with multi-award-winning musician Usher on the latest campaign for her underwear brand, Skims. Usher is the face of the new Skim men’s underwear collection set to drop just in time for Valentine’s Day. This coincided with the release of his album, Coming Home, on Saturday. “My name is U.S.H.E.R. What I do is entertain. I’m wearing Skims cotton boxers. I feel good,” said the singer. Using him as the face is a genius marketing tool for the Kardashians and the cherry on top, he will…

EFF leader Julius Malema, who has described KwaZulu-Natal as a key battleground for this year’s national general elections, has told his party’s provincial leaders that he expects nothing less than a provincial ballot win. Malema, addressing thousands of supporters during the manifesto launch at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, said provincial chairperson Mongezi Twala must lead the party to victory at the elections. The party has deployed deputy president Floyd Shivambu to the province to head the election campaign as it sees an opportunity to grow its votes in a ballot that will be hotly contested. Malema said KZN is the home of the EFF as the province is where the party grew the most in 2019. “In the 2019 provincial and national elections the EFF got more than 350…

Experts weigh in on Eskom’s Stage 6 load shedding implemented at the weekend THE boiler tube failures that Electricity Minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa blamed for the recent bout of severe power cuts, reaching Stage 6 at the weekend, were preventable, according to civil nuclear engineer Hugo Kruger. “It’s (the current load shedding) due to not handling the control parameters properly, it is not due to the ageing of the plant. It tells me that Eskom’s entire reliability maintenance and boiler tube prevention programme collapsed,” he said yesterday. In a media briefing, Ramokgopa said there had been nine units failing simultaneously due to boiler tube leaks, which contributed to a loss of 4 400MW in a space of two days and the higher stages of load shedding. “We are expecting to…

IT WON’T be the winners’ gold medals dangling from their necks when Bafana Bafana walk in through the arrivals hall at the OR Tambo International Airport early on Wednesday morning. But the country’s senior national football squad are surely still due a heroes’ welcome following their impressive showing at the Africa Cup of Nations at which they finished in a credible third place. When they left for the Ivory Coast early in January, not much was expected of Hugo Broos’s team, with most South Africans believing progression past the group stage would be a big achievement. And with good reason too, for Bafana had failed to qualify for the previous tournament and had done very little to inspire confidence. But the silver-haired Belgian had faith in his players, who in…

THE discovery of two hidden rooms containing disturbing images and materials at Wilgenhof Men’s Residence (Stellenbosch University) last month has rekindled conversations about hazing and hazing practices. Wilgenhof, with a manifesto emphasising it as a place of belonging where all are free to be themselves, is described as a “house of horrors”, as punishment was seemingly doled out to male students as determined by an informal disciplinary committee. Hazing is an ancient, universal practice. The need to join a group is an aspect of humanity. Hazing in educational institutions tends to occur as part of the hidden curriculum, in a cyclical nature, for example, at the beginning of an academic year. The goal of participating in hazing activities is to be admitted and accepted in the group. By participating, prospective…

VALLADOLID, Spain: US actress Sigourney Weaver on Saturday won the International Goya Award in recognition of what the Spanish Film Academy dubbed an impressive career during which she brought to life “independent, complex and strong female characters”. The 74-year-old, best known for playing Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise, is only the third recipient of the honourary prize, which since its creation in 2022 has been awarded to Cate Blanchett and Juliette Binoche. “I am always looking for stories about and for women, to remind us of how powerful women are in all kinds of surprising ways,” Weaver told a star-studded audience at the Goya Awards gala.…

MANILA: The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday accused Chinese vessels of “dangerous” manoeuvres during a nine-day patrol near a reef off the coast of the Southeast Asian country. The Philippine vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was sent in early February to patrol the waters around Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground in the South China Sea, and deliver provisions to Filipino fishermen and ensure their safety. The reef has been a flashpoint between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Since then, Beijing has deployed patrol boats that Manila says harass Philippine vessels and prevent Filipino fishermen from reaching the lagoon where fish are more plentiful.…