Table of contents for 2021-09-14 in Cape Times

From page 1 Cosatu will assist its workers and refer the matter to the CCMA,” he said. District Secretary of the SACP, Lucky Bopape echoed these sentiments, saying the company has resorted to “abusive master slave tactics”. “As the SACP district we are shocked by the conduct of Pomona Farm management in refusing workers the right to work due to vaccination. “In our view this is an abuse of power and a violation of labour rights. The company should do more in addressing internal bargaining issues and not resort to abusive master-slave tactics. Rather they must focus on the education of workers and the importance of vaccination during this period of Covid,“ Bopape said.…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za THE Electoral Commission in the Western Cape is calling on all eligible voters to register or re-register if their details have changed through the Online Voter Registration facility available 24/7 to existing and first-time voters. The province’s 1 577 voting stations and registration venues open from 8am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. In May the IEC in the province indicated that 3 million people were registered to vote with 3 490 aged 18 to 19-year-old, and they are hoping to increase this figure with the upcoming registration weekend. “In light of this, the Online Voter Registration facility is part of the Electoral Commission’s on-going commitment to provide greater accessibility and convenience to voters. It follows the implementation of a range of other digital service channels over…

Siphokazi Vuso siphokazi.vuso@inl.co.za VACCINATE or face being banned from work. That is the stern warning a farmer has issued to his employees, sparking outrage from workers’ unions who have described Rob Duncan’s threats as “abusive master/slave tactics”. His workers at Pomona Farm in Piketberg told the Cape Times that they were issued with a letter, warning that if they don’t take the vaccine, they will lose their jobs. “Vaccination for anyone who is 18 years and older has been open and we have registered and transported everyone who has asked. I have asked all people who do not want to vaccinate to come and give me reasons for not wanting to vaccinate. To date, only two people have come to see me and I have spoken to two others.…

TRACI HURLING Kealeboga Xulu is a young software developer and entrepreneur from Joburg. At 22, she is the founder of Kijanii Group, which has several subsidiary brands with Kijanii Tech as its flagship company. Kijanii Tech is an international service provider that offers domain hosting, custom software solutions, cloud computing and many other services that we tech-outsiders do not understand. Xulu started a tech company because “it felt like the natural thing to do”. Since she was a little girl she was interested in technology, often spending hours playing video games with her little brother. In 2017, Xulu taught herself how to code and since then, has dedicated her life to technology. She believes that everyone should be able to code because it is a form of empowerment in…

Odwa Mkentane odwa.mkentane@inl.co.za THE body of an unidentified man believed to be the victim of a mob justice attack was discovered in a stream in the Covid-19 informal settlement yesterday morning. The gruesome discovery was made by children playing near the water, who quickly notified residents. This after the body of 15-year-old Asonele Wanga was discovered in the stream on Sunday. Wanga, together with Yonela Mdladlama, 22, Sabelo Rasameni, 21, Maphelo Mazamisa, 23 were killed in an alleged mob justice attack and thrown into the water earlier this month. In a separate incident, four men were allegedly beaten and set alight by residents in Samora Machel. In an unrelated incident over the weekend, a teenager alleged to have been robbing an elderly woman was attacked by residents in Marikana and…

Candidates should remember nothing is more important than the sanctity of life THOSE of us who are serious about our country succeeding in all its endeavours were relieved the Judicial Service Commission, entrusted with the selection of our Constitutional Court judges, will have another chance next month to select five to fill the positions of our retiring chief justice and four of the other 11. The most important aspect that our apex court has ever dealt with since its inception after the dawn of our democracy in 1994, is the issue of the death penalty. Nothing else can ever be more important than the sanctity of life, and acting against the taking of life. All 11 of them, at the time, did our country, and indeed the world, a great…

KABUL: Afghan security personnel attacked a band of kidnappers in the northern Balkh province to try to rescue the two people they held, killing seven people including the five kidnappers, provincial official Mawlavi Zabiullah Nurani said yesterday. He said the kidnappers captured two people possibly for ransom in Dasht-e-Shur area outside Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital. “Five kidnappers abducted two men. Security staff attacked the abductors in Dasht-e-Shur area, killing the abductors but unfortunately the two abductees were also killed in the firefight,” Nurani said. One of the security personnel sustained a minor injury in the rescue mission.…

BERLIN: Scientists are racing to collect ice cores – along with long-frozen records they hold of climate cycles – as global warming melts glaciers and ice sheets. Some say they are running out of time. And, in some cases, it’s already too late. Late last year, German-born chemist Margit Schwikowski and a team of international scientists attempted to gather ice cores from the Grand Combin glacier, high on the Swiss-Italian border, for a UN-backed climate monitoring effort. In 2018, they had scouted the site by helicopter and drilled a shallow test core. The core was in good shape, said Schwikowski: It had well-preserved atmospheric gases and chemical evidence of past climates, and ground-penetrating radar showed a deep glacier. Not all glaciers in the Alps preserve both summer and winter snowfall;…

YANGON: Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was unable to appear at a court hearing yesterday for health reasons, a member of her legal team said, describing her condition as dizziness caused by motion sickness. Suu Kyi, 76, who has been detained on various charges since her overthrow in a February 1 military coup, did not have the coronavirus but felt ill having not travelled in a vehicle for a long time, lawyer Min Min Soe said. The popular Nobel Peace Prize winner has spent about half of the past three decades in various forms of detention over her non-violent struggle against dictatorship and her health is closely watched. “It is not serious sickness ... She suffered car sickness. “She cannot stand that feeling and told us she wanted…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za VUKILE Property Fund said the trading metrics at its retail properties were largely back to pre-Covid levels. The owner of 45 shopping centres in South Africa, including Mdantsane City and Gugulethu Square, and 18 centres in Spain, said yesterday in a pre-close statement for the six months to August 31 that 473 shops across six of its retail centres had been affected by the violence in July. The group expected Sasria insurance reinstatement claims of some R125 million, and loss of rental claims from the violence of about R57m, the statement said. Full year 2022 turnover was averaging 4 percent higher than the comparable period in 2020. Collections were strong at 98 percent. Vacancies were marginally up to 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent in the…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za THE former director-general of clinical services at the Gauteng Department of Health was questioned at the Life Esidimeni inquest on why he had recommended an NGO which reported on the 10 deaths of psychiatric patients. Dr Richard Lebethe took the stand at the inquest yesterday. He was the acting head of clinical services when the Life Esidimeni project was undertaken by the Gauteng department of health. The inquest is investigating whether anyone should be held criminally liable for the deaths of 144 psychiatric patients who died after they were moved to several NGOs in 2016. The hearings are being heard virtually by the High Court in Pretoria. Lebethe, during questioning, repeatedly distanced himself from active involvement in the project to move psychiatric patients from Life Esidimeni.…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-Leigh.Solomons@iinl.co.za ONLY 50 out of more than 10 000 police officers charged with violent misconduct were suspended over the last nine years. Police Minister Bheki Cele disclosed this when responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Andrew Whitfield. Whitfieldhad asked the minister to provide the number of suspended officers accused of rape, murder and assault pending investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), among others, between 2012/13 and 2020/21. He also asked whether there were instances where officers were accused and suspended twice during the period. Cele’s response showed that a total of 10 086 officers were charged with death as a result of police action, rape, assault or torture. There were only 50 suspensions since 2012. In total, 910 officers were charged with deaths resulting…

Marking 44 years since the death in police custody of Steve Bantu Biko on September 12, internationally- renowned educational activist and researcher Julian Kunnie looks into the legacy of the Black Consciousness Movement leader in a series of articles, this being the second. PHILOSOPHICALLY, Steve Biko’s movement was key in the building of black self-esteem and mental liberation of the colonised. This was especially for the youth and workers who viewed themselves through the eyes of the oppressor. They internalised the values psychologically and materially of white colonisers, prerequisites for any oppressed people, particularly black, who often tragically believe that their way out of the morass of racist oppression and economic subjugation is through imitating white capitalist and elitist culture. Biko was the opposite, a grass-roots activist who spent time…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za MURDER-accused and alleged rapist Teshwill van der Rhede, 32, will remain in custody after the case against him was postponed at the Bredaasdorp Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Van der Rhede, who is accused of the murder of Elim woman Charlene October, faces charges of murder, housbreaking and theft. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila previously confirmed Van der Rhede, who was known to the victim, appeared on further charges in a non-related rape and family violence interdict matter. The case against Van der Rhede was yesterday postponed to October 21 for further investigation. He allegedly broke into a tuckshop on October’s premises before entering her home and murdering her while she was home alone with her one-month-old granddaughter. The granddaughter was found unharmed just hours after October…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za CALLS have been made for whistle-blowers to be protected as the suspects accused of the murder of former Gauteng Health top official Babita Deokaran appeared in court yesterday. The six men made a brief appearance in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with the murder of Deokaran – a former chief director for financial accounting in the Department of Gauteng Health. Deokaran was shot and killed outside her Winchester Hills home on August 23, in what is believed to have been a well-orchestrated hit. She had just dropped off her child at school and was travelling back along with a female friend when her alleged killers pumped multiple bullets into her body. At the time of her death, Deokaran was one of the key witnesses…

AS THE government tries to intensify its Covid-19 vaccination programme, politicians need to step aside and let individuals who are trusted by the public take centre stage in convincing people to get inoculated. Despite having sufficient vaccines and vaccination sites in almost every corner of the country, the government’s vaccination programme has been moving at a snail’s pace. Vaccine hesitancy among men, the youth and older people has caught the government by surprise. Clearly, the social media misinformation campaign is winning. During his address to the nation on Sunday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa presented statistics collected in the Western Cape. They show that most of those admitted to hospital due to Covid-19 in the province were unvaccinated. He said that between August 14 and 20, the Western Cape Department…

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s coalition and the main opposition bloc yesterday signed a co-operation pact to ensure stability during the Covid-19 paandemic, an agreement that could also help the premier win a confidence vote. Ismail Sabri took office last month with a slim parliamentary majority, becoming the third prime minister in as many years, but the constitutional monarch has called for him to face a vote of confidence to prove he has majority support in parliament. The bipartisan pact signed yesterday covered six areas, including strengthening a Covid-19 plan, Ismail Sabri said.…

Hanoi: Fifteen people including a 7-year-old boy have been found inside a refrigerated truck in Vietnam after they tried to escape areas of the south badly hit by Covid-19, state media said yesterday. Vietnam has been battling a devastating fourth wave of the virus since April, and tens of millions of people are under stay-at-home orders. On Sunday police in Binh Thuan province discovered the group of 15 inside a vehicle that had aroused suspicion as it tried to pass a virus checkpoint on its way north. A passenger said they had asked the driver to turn off the truck’s refrigeration system as it had been too cold..…

Heavily-armed gunmen stormed a jail in Nigeria’s central Kogi state, freeing scores of inmates, a prison spokesperson said yesterday. It was unclear who the gunmen were but central and north-west Nigeria have been terrorised by criminal gangs for years. “The medium Security Custodial Centre in Kabba, Kogi State, has been attacked by yet to be identified gunmen and 240 inmates forcefully released,” Nigeria’s correctional service spokesperson Francis Enobore said in a statement. At about 10.45pm on Sunday, he said, numerous attackers “engaged the armed guards in a fierce gun battle”. The gunmen invaded the prison, which had 294 prisoners, including 224 pre-trial detainees. Investigations were under way yesterday to find the escapees, he added. In a separate incident, a military base in north-west Zamfara state was attacked at the weekend.…

Two Florida pupils are held at a juvenile detention centre after being accused of planning a mass school shooting inspired by Columbine. The 14-year-old and 13-year-old boys, whom The Washington Post is not naming because they are minors, are eighth-graders at Harns Marsh Middle School in Lee County, about two hours away from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a gunman killed 17 people in 2018. They were charged with conspiracy to commit a mass shooting and have been ordered to be held at a juvenile detention centre for three weeks, according to the county sheriff’s office. Police investigations suggested the boys had looked for guns on the black market, studied ways to build pipe bombs and researched the 1999 school shooting that occurred at Columbine High School in Colorado,…

Being disrupted by hecklers while serving for the match only made Daniil Medvedev’s first grand slam title that much sweeter when it came on Sunday at the expense of Novak Djokovic in the US Open final. World No 2 Medvedev ripped top-ranked Djokovic 6-4 6-4 6-4 to deny the Serbian star the first grand slam sweep since 1969 and a men’s record 21st career major title. “He definitely was not at his best. We saw him playing better,” Medvedev said. “Question is, if he would be, would I be able to cope up with him? We can never know now. I’m just happy to win.” The breakthrough came in Medvedev’s third slam final after losses to Rafael Nadal in the 2019 US Open final and Djokovic in February’s Australian…

Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United and the Premier League after 12 years away could not have gone more perfectly on Saturday. Two goals on his second debut for the club in a 4-1 win over Newcastle United was just what the adoring United fans wanted to see. His first strike perhaps gave an indication of what role the 36-year-old will play this time around. The Portuguese forward showed great striker instincts to tap home after Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman had fumbled the ball. It was a poacher’s goal that his manager was proud of and one that indicated Ronaldo is now less about the trickery and step-overs and more of an old fashioned, out-and-out hitman. “People will say that first goal is just a tap-in but there is more…

From page 1 According to De Beer, the court was also erroneous in granting the order for interviews to be restarted, in the absence of parties affected by the decision, and on the basis that the court granted the order as a result of a mistake. “The hearing, at which the purported settlement agreement was made an order of the court, was unlawful,” he said. The LFN believes that the JSC and Casac concocted a settlement and that they are to blame for what it referred to as a “travesty”. “Such conduct needs to be investigated and possibly referred, as this court pleases, mero motu (of its own accord) by the court, to the Legal Practice Council and the bar,” De Beer argues in his court papers. He continued:…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za THE Paarl family of 27-year-old Siphokazi Booi, as well as residents have been left anxious as the man accused of her murder intends to apply for bail. Booi’s boyfriend Sithobele Qebe, 30, appeared at the Paarl Magistrate’s Court yesterday where his case was postponed to September 17. He also faces charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after he had allegedly attacked the 27-year-old a month before her death. Qebe was arrested in White City, Mbekweni last Monday after the shocking discovery of Booi’s charred remains in a wheelie bin near the local train station. Her friends last saw her apparently arguing with the Qebe in his shack. Irate residents had demolished his home and set alight his car after the body was found.…

Okuhle Hlati okhule.hlati@inl.co.za MORE Western Cape schools are coming under scrutiny for alleged corruption and mismanagement, with the principal at Zwaanswyk High School in Tokai the latest being under fire. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has also been slammed for an alleged lack of action against principal Shandré Otto, accused of financial mismanagement and abuse of power. A source who reported the allegations to the department said to their knowledge, nothing was done. “There was an alleged investigation in June 2021 but up until now nothing has transpired into a concrete outcome. Furthermore, I have received no documentation that provides proof of any investigation and consequent sanction on this matter. It seems delaying tactics are being used so that the case can be dropped.” Former pupils and their parents…

INGREDIENTS METHOD 1 large broccoli head 1/2 cup breadcrumbs 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese 1 egg 1 spring onion black pepper to taste oil to grease the baking tray Break the broccoli head into florets, add them to a pan of boiling water. Cover with a lid and leave to cook until soft – it takes about 10 minutes or less. Chop the broccoli finely, you should get about 2 cups of chopped broccoli. Leave to cool. Add the broccoli to a bowl, add the cheese, chopped spring onion, breadcrumbs, egg and black pepper, and mix everything well. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Grease a baking tray with vegetable oil, then shape small balls out of the broccoli mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly golden brown, turning them…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za ARBITRATION proceedings in the matter of fired top cop Jeremy Vearey, which had been expected to continue for two days, concluded yesterday and will now await an outcome from the commissioner at the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC). Yesterday’s proceedings followed a postponement in the matter after a Covid-19-related issue delayed the case last month. Vearey’s representation and the police have now submitted their heads of arguments, and will await the outcome to decide whether Vearey ought to be reinstated, following his dismissal from his position as Western Cape head of detectives earlier this year on the grounds of misconduct for “disrespectful” posts he made on social media – which “brought the SAPS into disrepute”. Advocate Johann Nortje, for Vearey, confirmed that the hearing had…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za DIVORCE is costly, and ensuring that the estranged spouse continues to live the same lifestyle as before the break-up can eat into your pocket, a Johannesburg banking executive has discovered. The husband, identified in a Johannesburg High Court judgment as Mr JC, will have to pay his wife more than R2 million come October 1. He will then have to pay at least R88 000 a month towards his wife’s maintenance and that of his two children, apart from school fees and other expenses. This is pending the conclusion of the divorce, when it will again be calculated what his wife and children are entitled to. Acting Judge SDJ Wilson said applications under Rule 43 sought only to arrange the parties’ financial affairs equitably for what…

EVENTS leading up to the local government elections of 2021 have been, for lack of a better word, chaotic. Justice Dikgang Moseneke’s recommendations to postpone the elections to early next year due to fears of election fairness amid Covid-19, and the subsequent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) bid to have the elections postponed as per Moseneke’s recommendations, threw a spanner in the works. We now know that the elections will take place on November 1 this year, following the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of the IEC’s bid. The pandemonium in the run-up to the local government elections (LGE) will certainly play a part post-elections. It will be interesting to see how political parties respond to election results – questions of the freedom and fairness of the elections will certainly dominate post-election…

SAN JOSE: Nicaraguan opposition activist and one of the founders of the Nicaraguan Exile Unit Joao Maldonado is in critical condition after sustaining gunshot injuries in Costa Rica. The political activist was injured on Saturday when two motorcyclists opened fire on Maldonado’s car as he drove through his neighbourhood in Costa Rica, according to reports. Maldonado sustained four gunshot wounds and underwent surgery. The activist had been organising a demonstration against the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in Costa Rica’s capital of San Jose before the incident.…

Monrovia: New witnesses testified yesterday in a war crimes case in Liberia’s capital, a police investigator said, in the latest stage of a landmark trial against ex-rebel Gibril Massaquoi. The hearing before a Finnish court marks the second time its judges have travelled to Monrovia in the case against Massaquoi, who is accused of committing rape and ritual murder during Liberia’s brutal civil war. Around a quarter of a million people were killed between 1989 to 2003 in the West African country, in a conflict marked by merciless violence and rape, often carried out by drugged-up child soldiers.…

VENEZUELA’S power system has come under a “terrorist attack” resulting in power outages in several regions, including the capital city, Venezuela’s Electricity Minister Nestor Revelor said. It is “a new attack on the country’s national electrical system”, he said, adding it was a “terrorist attack”. On Sunday, at least seven states experienced a partial power outage. Seven other states experienced problems with internet connectivity. The power outages were caused by an explosion at a big substation in the city of Santa Cruz in the Aragua state, the minister said and noted that the transformer was attacked. “We have restored [the power supply] in the metropolitan district” and are in the process of fixing the others, he said. In March 2019, Venezuela had two big-scale power outages. The first, an accident…

While fewer than 1 in 5 of Norway’s inhabitants (about 17%) have an immigrant background, they now receive well over half (58%) of all the social financial assistance available in the country, new statistics have indicated. On behalf of the national-conservative Progress Party, Statistics Norway has taken a closer look at the use of social benefits in Norwegian municipalities over the period 2009-2019. This includes all means of temporary support given to people unable to provide for their own subsistence. Over the 10-year stretch, the number of welfare recipients with an immigrant background has increased over 70%, while recipients among the general population have become fewer. This coincided with a period of record-high immigration, including the 2015 migrant crisis, the newspaper Nettavisen reported. In 2009, just over NOK 1.8 billion…

After a summer of eye-catching moves across Europe, the continent’s top clubs begin the long road to Champions League glory today as fans return after a 2020/21 competition held largely behind closed doors. A flurry of transfer activity, headlined by Lionel Messi ending his long association with Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Manchester United, guarantees plenty of fresh intrigue. The opening round of group stage fixtures doesn’t disappoint either, with Barcelona taking on Bayern Munich for the first time since a humiliating 8-2 defeat in the quarter-finals two years ago. Liverpool and AC Milan, clubs with a combined 13 European Cups between them, square off at Anfield in just their third competitive meeting - after the 2005 “Miracle of Istanbul” and Milan’s revenge in the 2007 final. Holders Chelsea…

Wynona Louw wynona.louw@inl.co.za There weren’t that many positives to focus on in the Springboks’ 28-26 Rugby Championship defeat by Australia at the weekend. Sure, they got three tries off line-out drives, which again showed what a weapon the attacking set-piece is, but even in areas where you would confidently tip the Boks to have the upper hand, it wasn’t the case. So, with a chance to save face in Brisbane on Saturday, here are three questions to consider before the Boks’ fourth Rugby Championship fixture. 1. Should Pollard get the boot? While it wouldn’t be fair to put the blame for the Boks’ agonising loss solely on Handre Pollard, there is no denying that his goal-kicking was a major contributing factor. But perhaps more concerning than his performance last…

Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter believes his attacking trio of Keagan Dolly, Khama Billiat and Samir Nurkovic will develop into a potent unit, despite shooting blanks in the 2-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versveld. Chiefs were dominant in this pulsating league encounter, and created plenty of opportunities on the night, including a missed penalty from substitute Lebogang Manyama during the final 10 minutes of the game. Dolly’s arrival at Naturena during the off-season has certainly raised the tempo of Chiefs’ play, with the former Sundowns playmaker wasting little time in connecting with his old mate Billiat. The duo share an electrical chemistry on the field with the pair often playing neat small touches between themselves to unlock the opposition’s defence. They have now incorporated Nurkovic into…