Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-05-19 i Cape Argus

A 47-year-old man has been arrested for kidnapping and murder after the body of his 2-year-old daughter was found inside the ceiling of his house in Alabama near Klerksdorp, police said yesterday. The man allegedly went to his girlfriend’s home in Jouberton near Klerksdorp last Thursday and took their daughter without the consent of her mother, who had been admitted to hospital at the time, police spokesperson Amanda Funani said. “She was discharged on Friday …and started searching for the toddler, but could not find her. “On Saturday, a case of a missing person was opened at Jouberton police station,” Funani said. The father was arrested on Sunday following investigations and was charged with kidnapping after he failed to tell the police where the child was. On Monday, neighbours who…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za HAMAN rights activists in Mitchells Plain have accused the Delft and Mitchells Plain police stations of failing the victims of gender-based violence (GBV) after they allegedly refused to open rape dockets. Activist Lamees Moosa said they worked on two cases where the police refused to open sexual assault cases for the victims who instead told to apply for restraining orders. “A victim in Delft has been living with this man for years and he has been abusive towards her. They do not sleep together but every time he is under the influence of drugs he forces himself on her. He has beaten her up numerous times and upon advising her to lay a charge of rape the police refused and said she should rather apply for…

Conflict Ntombi Nkosi and Samkelo Mtshali The Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) has confirmed that the department has not received any calls from South African citizens who may need to be repatriated following the Israel-Gaza conflict. “Dirco has not received any contact from South Africans who are in Gaza or Israel. Anyone who needs assistance can contact 012 351 1000,” said Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela. A number of South Africans are in Jerusalem and other parts of the Middle East. Speaking to Independent Media yesterday, Archbishop William Slattery said he knew of three South African citizens who had travelled to the region to complete their studies. “There are three students from South Africa studying in Jerusalem, but I have not been in contact with them at the moment,”…

Abu Bakr Solomons | Southfield THE Root of the global crisis is a bankrupt economic system. States tied to the economic agendas of corporations cannot effect real change for ordinary working people. Their job primarily is to entrench corporations’ interests. The US is a prime example. Democrats and Republicans alike are primarily courtiers of corporations tied to Wall Street. In South Africa, corporations swept up prominent black leadership figures post-apartheid to safeguard their economic agendas. Thus, corporations recruited former Struggle stalwarts like Cyril Ramaphosa, Tokyo Sexwale, Trevor Manuel and Mamphela Ramphele, among others, to become their courtiers. As billionaire corporate executives and hedonists the masses are deluded that, although they have became fabulously rich, they still served their interests. They simply do not. No other ordinary South…

THE recent violence against the Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa Mosque area and in different parts of Palestine is a human rights violation, an atrocity that affects universal values of humanity. Given our own history as South Africans, we are morally, ethically and politically compelled to act in support of the Palestinian people. International solidarity extended to us in our Struggle against apartheid South Africa helped to defeat that dreadful regime. It is incumbent on South Africans to play a leading role globally to ensure that apartheid Israel is similarly treated as a pariah state by the international community, facing full economic sanctions, a boycott and an arms embargo. We cannot sit by and watch as the Palestinian people suffer an incremental genocide. I call on our government to ensure that…

Farouk Cassim | Cope, Century View Dear Mr Executive Mayor, On Tuesday, May 18, the Cape Argus published an article titled “Stink raised over ‘illicit’ disposal of effluent”. It is imperative that you give the citizens of our city a full response to the allegations made by conservation group ReThinkTheStink that the City was “caught red-handed disposing of waste water effluent into Table View Nature Reserve and Diep River through an illegal discharge point”. The pollution of Diep River has been a hotly debated matter in our Spatial Planning and Environment Portfolio Committee. If there is any truth to the allegation, it will cause many of us to be as extremely angry as the people who have to live with the daily stench emanating from the Potsdam Wastewater…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za THE Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has called on political parties to inspect the voters’ roll for the municipal elections in October. and to raise objections if voters are registered irregularly. This also applied to personnel recruited to serve as presiding officers and their deputies. The IEC made the statement when it was questioned about voters who resided in a particular ward but voted in another. The IEC was also quizzed about the recruitment of voting staff, including members of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu). EFF MP Mgcini Tshwaku indicated that in KwaZulu-Natal, in particular eThekwini metro, there was a problem of one address being used to register up to 200 people. He added that people conveniently changed their addresses to vote in by-elections in wards…

Ralph Sims NATURAL gas is often touted as a transition fuel to use while we move away from coal and oil and as renewable energies continue to mature technologically and economically. But the key point to note is that we simply cannot continue to produce greenhouse gases and the demand for natural gas, as for coal and oil, will soon have to decline rapidly. In its draft package of recommendations to the government, New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission has called for a stop to new connections to the natural gas grid for commercial and residential buildings after 2025. In that context, comparing the retail price of gas with electricity is not useful unless all other costs and likely future trends are considered. Natural gas is extracted from gas fields…

At least 24 people were killed and almost 100 were missing yesterday after a monster cyclone slammed India, compounding the country’s woes as it recorded a new record number of coronavirus deaths in 24 hours. The colossal swirling system dubbed Cyclone Tauktae is the latest in what experts say is a growing number of increasingly severe storms in the Arabian Sea as climate change warms its waters. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power after the storm hit the Gujarat coast in western India on Monday evening, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Winds up to 130 kilometres per hour smashed seafront windows and knocked over power lines and thousands of trees, blocking roads leading to affected areas, officials said. “I have never experienced such intensity in…

Kuala Lumpur: Five suspected members of Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf have been shot dead in a firefight with police on the Malaysian part of Borneo island, authorities said yesterday. Police were attacked by men armed with guns and machetes on Monday when they raided a settlement in Sabah state. “Five male suspects were successfully defeated,” said Sabah police commissioner Hazani Ghazali. They were believed to be from the Abu Sayyaf group, police said, self-proclaimed Islamic militants whose stronghold is in the Muslim-majority southern Philippines. One of them has been identified as Mabar Binda, a militant leader on the Philippine police’s wanted list, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported.…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za The Proteas have committed to a fresh group of players for the tours of West Indies and Ireland after AB de Villiers decided “once and for all that his retirement will remain final”. De Villiers retired from all forms of international cricket in May 2018 but continued freelancing in the various world T20 leagues. The 37-year-old was, however, set to make an international comeback with the ICC World T20 looming, particularly after admitting during the recent Indian Premier League that he had been in talks with Proteas coach Mark Boucher about a possible return to the South African national team. “Last year, he (Boucher) asked me if I would be interested, and I said, ‘absolutely. And come the end of the IPL, we will have a look…

Sihle Mlambo sihle.mlambo@inl.co.za Free State police have arrested 19 people after fiery protests in and around Mangaung on Monday. During the protests, organised under the banner of the Mangaung shutdown, 13 shops were looted and 19 people arrested for public violence, as well as the murder of a teenage boy. The boy was shot by a security guard at a warehouse which residents allegedly stormed on Monday. The guard was arrested and has been charged with murder. Free State police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said police worked around the clock after shops owned by foreign nationals came under attack as protesters tried to loot them. “By this morning, no less than 13 shops were reported to have been looted,” he said. The 19 arrests were for public violence and…

A 34-year-old man, Kibi Josias Leboho, appeared in court yesterday after his arrest last month for allegedly shooting his girlfriend dead in a supermarket parking area where she was in a vehicle with another man. Limpopo spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, said: “The bullet-riddled body of a woman, Tshepo Rakoma, 32, was found inside a motor vehicle in the parking area. “It is alleged that when Leboho arrived at the shopping centre, an argument ensued between the two and he shot the woman several times. She died instantly.” Leboho went to the third floor of the nearby building and threatened to kill himself, but was arrested by police, who recovered a firearm believed to have been used in the murder. Malabi-Dzhangi said the firearm allegedly belonged to…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za THE lawyer whose arrest for fraud and contravening immigration laws prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to authorise the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe the Master of the High Court’s offices will remain behind bars. Bina Masuku, the former deputy master of the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela, who is accused of stealing almost R2 million in inheritances with her boyfriend will remain in custody while the Department of Home Affairs investigates her citizenship. Masuku, an admitted advocate, lost her bid to be released on bail after Mpumalanga High Court Judge Brian Mashile dismissed her appeal of the Mbombela Magistrate’s Court’s decision to deny her bail. The Hawks arrested Masuku in November 2019 with her boyfriend Elvis Kgosiemang, who pretended to be a lawyer. The Department of…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has given the ruling party until tomorrow to file their answering affidavits against claims he has previously made that his suspension is aimed at ensuring that incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa is re-elected in December next year. Magashule’s claims are contained in his 53-page affidavit that was submitted at the South Gauteng High Court on Thursday last week where he asked the court to set aside his suspension. In the affidavit, he has also taken a swipe at the ANC’s Integrity Commission for allegedly failing to give reasons for their step-aside ruling. On Monday, the ANC announced the appointment of top lawyers who will be defending the party in the matter on June 1. After the ANC’s announcement, social media was abuzz,…

This week I am coming out guns blazing against a parastatal or SOE. I shall refer to conversations I have had via all the social media. I am appalled that a public utility is allowed to operate so crudely in a democratically-free country. Citizens have experienced nothing but malfeasance, cronyism, BEEEE, jobs for pals, salaries to people who don’t exist, billing that is based on guesswork and an unfailing tantrum on a yearly basis for increased tariffs. They scream louder and louder like an obscenely bloated Oliver Twist for “more”. I am referring, of course, to Eskom. I received a monstrous bill for R3 635.72 for a domicile occupied by one person, whose only tap into power is the circulation-system in a private pool, and the normal day-to-day…

BISHOP VICTOR PHALANA | Chairperson: Catholic Bishops in South Africa WE ARE aware that the recent crisis has been fuelled by a complexity of factors, both historic and more recent, themselves linked to ongoing conflict over the st atehood of Israelis and Palestinians. However, at the fundamental level, decades of occupation of Palestinian territories remain at the heart of the issue (Middle East Council of Churches, May 11, 2021). It is critical that Israel ends its occupation and reconsiders its decision to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, which in principle blocks the future of two states living side by side in peace and security. The planned evictions of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem must cease. Similar to our…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons THE Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) is of the view that the National Health Insurance (NHI) should only fund mechanisms for health in the country. This comes as Parliament’s portfolio committee on health was yesterday briefed by the HPCSA and other stakeholders regarding the NHI Bill. The objective of the bill is to provide universal access to quality health care for all South Africans as enshrined in the Constitution. HPCSA president Professor Simon Nemutandani told the committee that they welcomed NHI because it will aid in reducing inequalities between the public and private sectors; ensure quality assurance for universal health coverage and enforce Professional Codes of Conduct and Ethics. Nemutandani suggested that the NHI be funded through the tax of all employed South Africans. Private medical…

It is, once again, the month of May and there are many preparations being made for the celebration of Africa Day. I do not subscribe to the logic of having a specified day or month to celebrate Africa. But importantly, the present state of the socio-political and economic landscape of Africa leaves nothing to celebrate. It baffles me that there is notable hype surrounding this so-called Africa Day celebration, especially considering the state of decay in the continent. I am aware I sound rather negative, but this is how I feel about the continent which almost 1.3 billion people, including myself, call home. There are several issues that we can talk about that go to ascertain that there is indeed nothing to celebrate today in Africa but the fact is…

One of the proposals in the Green Paper was whether polyandry should be legalised Ever so often the debate around issues in the public domain will get South Africans hot under the collar. Perhaps that’s a sign that our democracy remains vibrant, and the citizenry vigilant to the issues which affect them. Recently the calls for public comment by the Department of Home Affairs on its latest Green Paper elicited a flurry of debate because one of the proposals in the paper was whether polyandry should be legalised. Before last week many South Africans had never heard the term, but as soon as it was explained that a change to the Marriages Act, as suggested in the Green Paper, would allow a woman to marry more than one husband, the…

The Israeli military struck the homes of 12 senior Hamas commanders in the Gaza Strip over a period of 24 hours, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said yesterday. The homes hit by IDF fighter jets included those of the deputy commander of the Hamas northern brigade in Gaza City, a company commander in Khan Yunis, and a leader of the Hamas reserve battalion. The commanders had used their houses as command posts and operations bases, the IDF claimed. The UN aid agency said yesterday more than 52 000 Palestinians had been displaced by Israeli air strikes that had destroyed or badly damaged nearly 450 buildings in the Gaza Strip. About 47 000 of the displaced people had sought shelter in 58 UN-run schools in Gaza, Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for…

Geneva: Red Cross yesterday stressed the need for “extraordinary steps” to increase access to Covid-19 vaccines around the world, including speeding up negotiations towards waivers. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement called for states and pharmaceutical companies to move much faster towards evening out glaring inequities in access to the jabs around the world. Among other things, countries should accelerate thorny negotiations at the World Trade Organization towards removing intellectual property protections for vaccines, it said. “Millions of lives depend on it and on the equally important transfer of technology and knowledge to increase manufacturing capacity worldwide,” said Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.…

HERE at Independent Sport we have begun a Springbok ‘Form Team’ selection every week ahead of the British & Irish Lions tour. And while players who are in red-hot form each week in the Rainbow Cup SA competition may not necessarily make it into the Bok side in July and August, should the most consistent of those players be part of the mix? The real question is, should new Bok coach Jacques Nienaber stick with the 2019 Rugby World Cup champions, or introduce some fresh blood to take on the Lions? The easy answer would be to pick the team that beat England 32-12 in the final in Yokohama on that unforgettable November night, but the current situation is not as straight-forward. Nienaber should be careful of just employing the…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za LEGAL experts say the surprise bid by former president Jacob Zuma to eject advocate Billy Downer SC as the lead prosecutor in his corruption, fraud and money laundering trial is a rugged road that will be too difficult for him to navigate. The warning comes after the former head of state and his legal team on Monday notified the Pietermaritzburg High Court that they intended to use the law to force Downer to stand down. Zuma is accused of pocketing millions in cash bribes and receiving other material benefits from convicted Durban businessman Schabir Shaik. With Judge Piet Koen giving Zuma’s legal team, led by advocate Thabani Masuku SC, until next week Wednesday to file their affidavits and spell out why Zuma wants Downer to go, for…

The Hawks said yesterday they had arrested two men for allegedly being in possession of abalone worth more than R9.9 million. Spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the suspects, aged 28 and 35, would appear in the Atlantis Magistrate’s Court today in connection with possessing and transporting illegal abalone. Hani said the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team, Crime Intelligence and officials from the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries had received information that illegal abalone was being transported. During an operation, a white Hino truck and a white Audi were identified while travelling on the N7 in the direction of Malmesbury, Hani said. The Hawks stopped both vehicles at a garage near Philadelphia. The team found dried abalone in a hidden compartment underneath the truck. The vehicles were impounded and taken…

SOLIDARITY chief executive Dr Dirk Hermann said the trade union would serve court papers on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu over hiring of Cuban engineers to help fix leaks and other water problems, including the Vaal River spillage. Solidarity said the legal process included the disclosure of information, an interdict to stop the deployment process of the Cuban engineers, and an application for a review of the government’s decision. The legal action comes after Sisulu did not meet a deadline to submit a proposal to defuse the dispute, Hermann said. Solidarity has also brought an application for the deployment of the Cuban engineers to be stopped pending the review application. “Solidarity will also argue that it would be unlawful for Cubans to undertake and sign off on…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za FORMER National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete has admitted to ignoring a whistleblower's tip-off about the arms deal. She also shockingly said that she would do it again if given the opportunity. Mbete testified at the Zondo Commission last night. She fielded questions on Parliament’s oversight – or lack thereof – during the state capture years under Jacob Zuma’s leadership. Mbete told the commission that when stories of state capture first came to light, they may have not been taken seriously because there was not enough evidence to back up the claims at the time. She recalled an instance during her tenure as deputy speaker in Parliament and how she found a piece of paper slid under her office door that contained “scary details” regarding the arms deal.…

Ben Levitas of Oranjezicht perpetuates the narrative created by Zionists all over the world. Their view of the Palestinian genocide starts when Hamas shoots the first rocket. According to them Hamas is the organisation that likes to see children die as it creates sympathy for their cause. In his letter dated May 17, 2021, he goes on to say that the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves and that Hamas should build bomb shelters to save Palestinian lives. I laugh cynically reading his comments, but it is not a joke as it is actually quite pathetic, and this is an indication of how the Zionist mind works. It is quite clear that to the Zionist mind the Palestinians have already been dehumanised. The fact that unarmed worshippers in Al-Aqsa…

THE ANC has been challenged by Ace Magashule, who has taken it to court. He has broken every rule in the book and shows no respect towards it. If anyone broke the rules of any club or association they are a member of, they would be suspended and dismissed. The ANC has no teeth or backbone to do this, and has allowed him to dictate his terms of engagement. So how will this play out. Factional infighting and wasting taxpayers’ money on court cases. While this happens, the citizens of SA suffer. How long will this circus carry on? IJ Saks | Tableview…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi HUMAN Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has offered the construction sector a lifeline with the government inviting it to discuss measures to revitalise it. The sector had been reeling in the past few years with some major players shutting down due to the tough trading conditions. The jobs bloodbath in the sector came before Covid-19 last year and the virus worsened its financial position. During the Budget vote of her department yesterday, Sisulu told Parliament they want to help the sector to be revived. “The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted and intensified South Africa’s structural inadequacies and the potential to address these depends on the implementation of key reforms outlined in the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan 2020. “We would like to make ourselves available to assist them to get…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za THE ANC’s caucus in the Gauteng legislature has labelled the DA’s failed motion on e-tolls as opportunistic and frivolous. The opposition party failed to convince the ruling party to support its motion seeking to scrap e-tolls and deem them a “failed financing model”. DA MPL Solly Msimanga introduced the motion at the Gauteng legislature yesterday. The e-tolls matter has been a strongly debated issue in Gauteng since the introduction of the scheme in December 2013. The ANC in Gauteng has taken a different stance to its national party members on how e-tolls should be dealt with. The province has promised to scrap the scheme. The EFF supported the DA’s view that e-tolls should be scrapped, and the party threatened mass action if people were blocked from renewing their…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za DEFENCE and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula yesterday said the reduction of over R15 billion in the medium-term expenditure framework had placed the department in a very difficult position. “We must inform this House of the negative impact our declining allocation has had and will continue to have on the Department of Defence in general – our military capabilities in particular and our ability to meet our operational responsibilities assigned to us as well as our international obligations,” Mapisa-Nqakula said. She made the statement when she delivered her budget vote speech that was marked by yet another budget reduction for a third year in row. Mapisa-Nqakula said their capital budget had effectively been reduced to a trickle and the operating budget was under extreme pressure. “Under these…

A UCT professor has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, the world’s oldest scientific academy. William Bond, Emeritus Professor at the university’s department of Biological Sciences, is the seventh South African to be awarded the honour. The university said Bond was recognised as a global authority on open ecosystems and his research into the forces that shape global vegetation, including wildfire, CO2 levels and herbivores is credited with transforming the understanding of how these systems materialised. “I was inspired to become an ecologist by my older sister who read widely as a journalist and always portrayed ecology as an important field, but I only appreciated its scope and scientific fascination decades later.” He said he looked up to other fellows from the society and specifically Charles Darwin.…

International support to the continent needs an overhaul – here’s what needs to change MANY African countries still rely heavily on foreign aid. However, several studies have shown that foreign aid has failed to deliver sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. The fact that foreign aid as currently practised has failed to achieve its poverty reduction targets in Africa is clear from the data. More than 75% of the world’s poor live in Africa today. In 1970, the figure was 10%. Some forecasts suggest it could rise to 90% by 2030. Africa is the only continent in the world where official aid inflow outstrips private capital inflow by a large margin. This is problematic since no country in the world has achieved substantial development based on reliance on aid. This…

PARIS: The square in front of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris has been closed to the public after tests again revealed high concentrations of toxic lead particles, Paris police said. The fire that ravaged the 13th-century monument two years ago melted 300 tons of lead panelling in the roof, spewing the metal across large swathes of the city. But the lead risks delayed work on clearing debris and launching the restoration effort for the gothic landmark, which President Emmanuel Macron wants open for visitors in time for Paris’s hosting of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the blaze, but they have said an accident, possibly caused by a short circuit or discarded cigarette butt, remains the most likely explanation.…

MIHLALI BALEKA @Mihlalibaleka SOUTH African Football Association president Danny Jordaan has lauded the decision by Hollywoodbets to become the first sponsor to back women’s football in SA after establishing the Super League. Two years back, Safa formed the National Women’s League which was an upgrade from the Sasol League. But they failed to find a sponsor as they had to fork out the winnings of R500 000 to champions Mamelodi Sundowns from their own pocket. But this week, Safa announced a historic partnership with Hollywoodbets who changed the National Women’s League to the Hollywoodbets Super League. The partnership is for a period of one year, while Hollywoodbets will invest over R17million into the league. From the R17m, the champions will pocket a cool cheque of R2m, the runners-up will bag…