Innholdsfortegnelse for CA-2021-03-25 i Cape Argus

GLOBAL restrictions implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19 have had a direct effect on manufacturing supply chains, with constraints still evident across South Africa’s manufacturing sector a year after the country first went into a hard lockdown, a first-quarter survey released this week shows. For the second quarter in a row, manufacturers highlighted raw material shortages as a serious impediment to activities, the survey sponsored by Absa and conducted by the Bureau for Economic Research showed. The results of the survey, which covered about 700 business people, between January 18 and March 1, were published on Tuesday. “South African manufacturers are reporting issues in the supply chain that are resulting in raw material shortage constraints negatively affecting their production processes,” said Justin Schmidt, the head of manufacturing at Absa.…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za THE provincial ANC has slammed the Western Cape treasury for failing to protect front-line services from budget cuts in the 2021/2022 annual budget allocation. Bakubaku Vos, ANC provincial spokesperson on Social Development, said this year’s 1.09% decrease (from R2.692 billion in the 2020/21 revised estimate to R2.663bn in 2021/22) in the budget of the Department of Social Development would affect the department’s ability to address challenges including humanitarian relief in previously disadvantaged communities faced with high unemployment, rising levels of food insecurity and increasing cases of gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide. She said more concerning was the decrease of the equitable share for the department and the budget for a victim empowerment programme which deals with issues of GBV in the department increased by only 0.79%.…

THE rule in this wonderful country of ours seems to be: “One step forward, two steps back.” (Cha-cha-cha). It’s been a while since I spent time in the Karoo and there have been great strides in technological advancement since I was last here. Communications, for example, have come a long way. Great towers point skywards from the tops of mountain ranges, beaming wi-fi signals to even the remotest farms. You can sit on the stoep of a farm in the Noupoort district and watch athletic young Russians swatting tennis balls at each other in Dubai. You can tap the screen of your cellphone and send a photograph of a sheep to your daughter in Canada. We’re living in a connected world. Sometimes. The reality is that the wi-fi signal is…

Dr Dennis Walter Smith Sr. Seneca Falls, NY DESIRED balance on this journey called life is a shared yearning. The similarities of personal habits and values common to humans are remarkable, but ironically a casual compliment to a co-worker invites criticism these days! It appears we’ve lost an integral mindset that once appreciated the integrity of social harmony; probably due to prevailing enigmas of poor depleted ethical mechanisms. Goodness towards others decades ago perfumed the common dialogue as social standard. Dishearteningly, contemporary values have drawn strong scrutiny, like the coercion of some government officials that encouraged insurrection upon the face of the US Capitol! The true essence of ethics is uncompromising! The humane pursuit of happiness and the building blocks of social trust are ethical drivers that can neither…

A Nelson Mandela Bay municipality administrative clerk will know her fate in May after she was convicted on several counts of fraud in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Gqebera. In her capacity as the central administrative clerk at the municipality, Stephanie Reeners, 48, accepted payments for new building plans between November 1, 2014 and June 30, 2017, Hawk provincial spokesperson Yolisa Mgolodela said. The municipality was defrauded of R640 607.36 as a result, Mgolodela said. The matter has been postponed and sentencing proceedings against her are set to begin on May 4. | African News Agency (ANA)…

Politics has no place in traditional leadership matters but has been a problem for years Hudson Shiviti On March 10, the Limpopo provincial government took a decision to formally recognise the so-called “Khakhala Traditional Community” and issued it with a certificate as a “new” traditional council. This recognition of Khakhala emanates from the 2019 government gazette 3056, signed by Limpopo Premier Chupu Stanley Mathabatha, on November 29, 2019. The political implication of this decision at best, riddled with political interference by the provincial political authorities, strips the Shiviti Traditional Council of its status as the rightful traditional authority, which covers 14 villages with a population of approximately 30 000 under the Greater Giyani Municipality. Why they changed the tag to this remains a mystery to the people and has…

The shortest shipping route from Europe to Asia remained blocked yesterday as eight tug boats struggled to free one of the world’s largest container ships after it ran aground in the Suez Canal. GAC, a Dubai-based marine services company, said authorities were still working to free the ship mid-afternoon, and that information it had received earlier claiming the vessel was partially refloated was inaccurate. The 400m, 224 000-ton Ever Given ran aground on Tuesday morning after losing the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement. About 30% of global container ship traffic passes through the canal each day, carrying everything from fuel to consumer goods. The main alternative route for ships travelling between Asia and Europe, around the…

NAIROBI: Three people died and ten were wounded yesterday after a bus they were in hit an explosive device in the road in Mandera county in Kenya’s north along its border with Somalia, a government official said. It was not clear who was responsible. The area has over several years been frequently hit with bomb and gun assaults by fighters from Somalia’s al-Shabaab Islamist group and hundreds of people have died. Kenyan forces are part of the AU-mandated peacekeeping force Amisom that is helping defend Somalia’s central government from al-Shabaab. The militant group has been fighting for more than a decade to topple Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic Shia law. | Reuters…

Wynona Louw wynona.louw@inl.co.za IF the discussions around the British & Irish Lions tour go to “Plan B”, the series could take place in Gauteng exclusively, with all games possibly played in empty stadiums. Reports from England have emerged stating that if spectators are not allowed, the tour may take place only in Johannesburg and Pretoria to ensure that teams maintain a safe bio-secure environment amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Until now, a number of avenues have been considered to ensure that the tour goes ahead this year. As part of a revised schedule, all eight matches – including the warm-up games and the three Tests against the Springboks – being played in Joburg and Pretoria is another option after an agreement was finally reached that the tour should proceed to South…

Liam Karabo Joyce liam.joyce@inl.co.za After making a name for herself as a celebrated singer, songwriter, actor and performer, Ramelo released her debut single, Heyi Wena. The 34-year-old musician, who hails from Durban but has lived in Joburg for the past 10 years, is no stranger to the music industry having worked under the previous stage name of Lelo Ramasimong. Despite having made a top name for herself as a talented singer and actor on the local theatre scene, Ramelo rose to notoriety when she appeared in the third season of the reality series The Voice South Africa in 2019 – as one of the Top 12 finalists. According to Ramelo, the main inspiration for her single was that 2020 was “a year of many harsh realisations”. “As an artist, I…

Crooks undermining the hard work and high standards of vast majority of lawyers Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za PERSONAL injury lawyers and the Road Accident Fund (RAF) are furious after a number of attorneys allegedly defrauded the entity in the name of claimants – with the Western Cape among the three most affected provinces. In a recent case, the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sentenced Eslin Meyer, 63, to eight years’ imprisonment. He was found guilty of 61 counts of fraud and theft totalling R6.4 million for failure to keep proper accounting records of funds received by an attorney in a trust account. Meyer, an attorney who represented RAF clients and administered deceased estates, operated three trust accounts and two business accounts when he was the owner of Eslin Meyer Attorneys, which…

MY HEART bled to the core as we celebrated International Day of Happiness (March 20). As it says, it’s a day meant for everyone to be happy and recognise the importance of happiness, but in Zimbabwe, that has since lost relevance. The 17 Sustainable Development goals launched by the UN in 2015 seek to promote happiness and eliminate poverty and inequality to achieve well-being and happiness of the whole world, have lost relevance in Zimbabwe. Gross human rights violations and abuses imposed by the government of Zimbabwe are of great concern and breach the fundamental goals to happiness. This year’s theme was “HAPPINESS FOR ALL, FOREVER” and clearly outlined the need for us all to go an extra mile to show love and kindness especially in this year when the…

Cllr Yagyah Adams | Cape Muslim Congress GOOD people do not need laws to tell them to behave, bad people will find a way around the laws. Some of our leading political and business elites have a serious disrespect for ordinary people. Eskom sells electricity to Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe while locals suffer load shedding. We must ask why Eskom sells electricity to other nations when locals have insufficient electricity? The answer is simple. Eskom is not loyal to our nation as it serves a political and business minority. This elite use Eskom to profit and do not care if a business that feeds a few families will survive. Those who control Eskom do not care if we have electricity to study or eat…

MICHAEL BAGRAIM | Cape Town I HAVE always enjoyed David Biggs’ column and often cut it out for my scrapbook. However, I must take issue with him with regard to his generalisation about politicians. I cannot do any better other than quote from the world’s greatest philosopher, Plato: “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are being punished by being governed by those who are dumber.” In essence, when you divorce yourself from the affairs of state, you land up with a governing party like we have today.…

TWO MEN have been handed life sentences in the Ladysmith Regional Court for killing their employer. Philani Thulani Mbhele and Sanele Amos Madide were also each sentenced to 15 years for robbery and 15 years for obstructing the course of justice in connection with the June 2016 murder. Natasha Kara, the KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said Dawood Warasally, the owner of a Ladysmith security guarding company, was out paying wages to his employees in the northern KZN area when he was attacked. Mbhele and Madide had been stationed at a vacant hotel. Warasally had called them earlier in the day to inform them that he would come to them to pay them their wages. | Mercury…

ANC MPL and leader of the opposition Cameron Dugmore said his party has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to declare a Special Provincial Official Funeral Category 2 for the late Struggle icon Cecyl Esau. “This is indeed recognition for his fearless contribution to the anti apartheid Struggle to liberate our country and the role he has played since the dawn of democracy. By honouring the heroes of our Struggle in this special way President Ramaphosa has recognised the contribution and sacrifices Esau made. Freedom was not free and did not come on a plate. It had to be fought for. And this is what comrade Cecyl and many others have done. Never forget what they fought for and make sure that we pick up his spear and not rest until…

Cape Town mayor Dan Plato is perhaps the luckiest mayor of a major city in South Africa. Apartheid’s legacy and a lack of political will from the DA to change the status quo brought us someone like Plato. His second stint as Cape Town mayor is as unremarkable as his first: a steady hand, don’t rock the boat and occasionally attack the poor in word and deed. Surrounded by an army of aides, advisers and spin doctors he doesn’t have to say or do much. Occasionally he pops out from the comfort of his plush office on the sixth floor of the Civic Centre for a photo opportunity, perhaps to remind Capetonians that the city does have a mayor. Prone to gaffes, Plato, unlike his Greek namesake, has a limited…

Kenya has ordered the closure of two sprawling camps that host hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighbouring Somalia and given the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) two weeks to present a plan to do so, the interior ministry said. The Dadaab and the Kakuma refugee camps in northern Kenya together host more than 410 000 people, a small proportion of whom are from South Sudan. Authorities in Nairobi first announced their intention to shut the Dadaab camp, which is closer to the border with Somalia than Kakuma, back in 2016, citing national security concerns. Fred Matiang’i, the interior minister, has given the UNHCR 14 days to draw up a plan for the closure of both Dadaab and Kakuma, his ministry said in a tweet, adding that there would be no…

HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities halted the use of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech yesterday, citing defective packaging, in a move that triggered scenes of confusion in inoculation centres across the city. The suspension comes as the Asian financial hub has faced a sluggish take-up due to dwindling confidence in China’s Sinovac vaccine and fears of adverse reaction. Inoculation centre staff turned away people booked to take the BioNTech vaccine, with many Hong Kong-ers unsure of the reason and asking for explanations. | Reuters…

1 The immediate benefit of a victory over Ghana will be that South Africa will head off to Sunday's final Group C match against hosts Sudan needing just one point to secure one of two slots to qualify for a place in the 2021 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Cameroon next January. Herman Gibbs 2 South Africa, with a lone 1996 Afcon conquest, have a Fifa world ranking of 71, whereas four-time Afcon winners Ghana slot in at 52. A victory for South Africa will secure a bag full of ranking points, and South Africa will move into the 60s when the rankings are updated next month. 3 Four members of South Africa's ‘foreign legion’ – Bongani Zungu, Keagan Dolly, Dean Furman and Thulani Serero – have not…

Three of Africa’s top netball nations – South Africa, Uganda and Namibia – will be fighting it out for top honours in the SPAR Challenge International Tri-Nations series at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from today until Wednesday. The Proteas are ranked fifth in the world, the Uganda She-Cranes are seventh and the Namibian Debmarine Desert Jewels are 23rd. The tournament is very important for all three nations, who will all be seeking to boost their world ranking and gain vital international experience after a year in which the Covid-19 pandemic played havoc with preparations for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, and the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023. The Baby Proteas and the President’s XII will also be taking the court during the tournament.…

Crooks undermining the hard work and high standards of vast majority of lawyers Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za PERSONAL injury lawyers and the Road Accident Fund (RAF) are furious after a number of attorneys allegedly defrauded the entity in the name of claimants – with the Western Cape among the three most affected provinces. In a recent case, the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sentenced Eslin Meyer, 63, to eight years’ imprisonment. He was found guilty of 61 counts of fraud and theft totalling R6.4 million for failure to keep proper accounting records of funds received by an attorney in a trust account. Meyer, an attorney who represented RAF clients and administered deceased estates, operated three trust accounts and two business accounts when he was the owner of Eslin Meyer Attorneys, which…

Aishah Cassiem aishah.cassiem@inl.co.za | Investigations Unit LOCAL Government MEC Anton Bredell is busy determining whether Laingsburg municipal manager Jafta Booysen had misrepresented his suitability for his job when he was interviewed in 2019. “Booysen was during his job interview aware of the investigation reports conducted with the orders of the BWM and the Western Cape Government (WGC) and is herewith accused of not disclosing the information to the Laingsburg municipality,” said Bredell in correspondence to Lindi Potgieter, Speaker of Laingsburg municipality. Findings against Booysen included tender corruption and not disclosing money, sponsors, and gifts he received from businessmen he illegally awarded tenders to. Potgieter and DA MP Deidré Baartman last month questioned Bredell over the allegations against Booysen following media reports. While Potgieter wrote with urgency to Bredell’s office,…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za ALMOST 37 000 public servants who applied for the R350 Special Relief of Distress (SRD) grants could face the music for allegedly attempting to defraud the state. They had allegedly applied for the non-income grants despite being employed. These revelations were made by Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu in her written parliamentary reply to questions posed by DA deputy spokesperson on public service and administration Mimmy Gondwe. According to Zulu, up to 36 972 state employees had applied for the SRD grants last month alone which prompted Gondwe to ask her ministry to act swiftly. Gondwe called on the Social Security Agency of South Africa (Sassa) and the Department of Social Development (DSD) to urgently solicit the assistance of the Department of Public Service and Administration in…

During my 39 years of teaching in a government school from 1977 to 2016 and up to now I have often wondered who was to blame for the rotten state of education in South Africa. When this matter comes up in different discussion circles the Education Department is the answer most people come up with. Among reasons cited: • Not enough of the budget is spent on education. • Too few teachers. • Lack of high schools. • Shortage of maths and physics teachers. • Lack of sporting facilities. I agree with all of the above. These are things all school communities must be more vociferous about. Covid-19 has certainly brought this to the fore. But the government is not solely to blame for our schools not succeeding. As teachers,…

WISEMAN GABAVANA | Delft As A nation, we celebrated Human Rights day this month. The history of human rights in this country left many families with deep wounds; there were massacres in Sharpeville, Bisho and Langa, but in my view, I think it is also important to mention the Marikana massacre which took place after South Africa became a democracy. This year our country is having local government elections while we are confronted with this brutal pandemic called Covid-19. On the other hand, our country is experiencing an ever higher level of inequality, caused by unemployment and many other factors. As we approach local government elections, one must understand that, political rhetoric by our leaders in government is no longer relevant – people are only interested in the…

Leonard Sorinase | Mabopane IT IS sad that most of the bad people are simply getting away with it. I think Jacob Zuma and his peers must go straight to hell. The ANC has become a circus. How can a normal person raise a placard with a “hands off our leader” – who is corrupt – message on it? I wish I had powers to take all the people straight to prison because we are slowly, but surely, heading the Zimbabwean way. We want to see things changing. We want to see the president of this country doing his best to send all the criminals to prison, every municipality in this country that is under the Zuma faction is just the worst of everything.…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za PARLIAMENT’S portfolio committee on higher education, science and technology is upset the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) has failed to appear before it over student and worker grievances. Committee chairperson Philly Mapulane said the university had failed to honour the committee’s invitation to attend a meeting this week, with the university’s alleged excuse that it was short notice. “We are getting increasingly tired with the kind of excuses we get from CPUT every time we invite them to a meeting,” said Mapulane. He said they sent them (CPUT) an invite last week for Tuesday’s meeting, which was sufficient notice, especially given the fact they didn’t have to prepare any presentation. “All that needed to happen was for them to present themselves and to answer…

THE SAPS have arrested two more members of the notorious Boko Haram gang accused of terrorising community members and forcing business operators in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria to pay regular “protection fees”. The two appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday facing a raft of charges including robbery, racketeering and contravening the Security Act, Gauteng police spokeswoman Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said. The Pretoria gang has no links with the infamous Jihadist terrorist organisation of the same name operating in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Another pair linked to the notorious gang was arrested earlier this month as police intensify a crackdown against the group. The two suspects who appeared in court on Tuesday were arrested on March 18, Peters said. The case was postponed to April 12.…

Masingita Masunga Human Rights Month is celebrated but no commentary focused on the rights of persons with disabilities, argues Masingita Masunga. Here I was on a date when my date looked me in the eye and said: “I have never been with a woman with a disability before, therefore, I don’t know how to treat you. Please teach me to treat you the way I should.” I bet you would like to know my response and what happened to us. Askies, I am not going to say because that is not the point of this article. I welcome and appreciate those honest questions, and generally, welcome the sometimes uncomfortable conversations. Especially when they are about how people should interact with me. Do I get upset, hurt, disappointed, offended and…

Myanmar’s junta yesterday freed hundreds of demonstrators arrested during its months-long crackdown on protests, while businesses in Yangon were shut and streets deserted in response to a call by anti-coup activists for a silent strike. Several buses full of prisoners drove out of Yangon’s Insein jail in the morning, said witnesses, who included lawyers for some inmates. There was no immediate word from authorities on how many prisoners were freed. A spokesperson for the military did not answer calls. “All the released are the ones arrested due to the protests, as well as night arrests or those who were out to buy something,” said a member of a legal advisory group who said he saw around 15 buses leaving. In the biggest city, Yangon, a call by pro-democracy activists for…

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may struggle to secure enough seats in Parliament to stay in power, incomplete results of Tuesday’s election suggested, even as he claimed victory in the country’s fourth elections in two years. His announcement came within two hours of exit polls on Israel’s main three TV channels which indicated no immediate winner in the unprecedented elections amid a prolonged political deadlock. His right-wing bloc is course to win 59 seats – two short of the threshold, the BBC reported. An Arab party which is projected to win five seats could hold the balance of power. The final outcome will determine the course of Israel’s relations with the Palestinians. | IANS…

LONDON: Britain will introduce new rules for those seeking asylum, making it more difficult for refugees entering illegally to stay in the country, interior minister Priti Patel said yesterday, calling it a firm but fair system. “Profiteering from illegal migration will no longer be worth the risk, with new maximum life sentences for smugglers,” she said. Since Britain completed its exit from the EU, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been keen to set out a new independent vision for the country, unveiling new policies on defence, foreign affairs to immigration. | Reuters…

Lizelle Lee The Proteas women’s team created history on their tour in India over the past few weeks by winning both the ODI and T20 series. Zaahier Adams picks his five standout performers in what was a superb team effort. The powerhouse opener has always been integral to her side's success through the explosive starts she provides, but Lee took it to a different level in India. Her career-best 132 not out in the third ODI was arguably the best innings ever played by a Proteas women's cricketer. The fact that it spearheaded a successful run chase made it even more memorable. Her cumulative total of 288 runs at an average of 144 in the series was monumental, which propelled Lee to the world No 1 ranking on the…