Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-07-26 i Cape Argus

THE Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa), a national employer federation representing the metals and engineering industry, confirmed last week that its chief executive Kaizer Nyatsumba (pictured) has resigned. Nyatsumba had been placed on precautionary suspension at the beginning of May. Seifsa board chairperson Elias Monage said due to recent events, the parties reached a mutual agreement to separate. Nyatsumba, who recently completed his PhD, had decided to return to his consulting company, KMN Consulting. Seifsa wished Nyatsumba well in his future endeavours. The national federation represents 19 independent employer associations in the metals and engineering sector, and has a combined membership of 1 223 companies employing about 167 000 employees. Nyatsumba joined Seifsa on November 1, 2013, as chief executive, and has been at…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za SEVERAL minibus taxi ranks will be closed for two months from today in an effort to bring stability to the industry and end conflict between two taxi associations. The closure will include the B97 route between Bellville and Mbekweni (Paarl), two taxi ranks in Mbekweni, certain local route loading lanes at the Bellville Public Transport Interchange (PTI), the long-distance facility at the Bellville PTI, the “Paint City” rank in Bellville, and an informal rank in Bellville. Transport and Public Works MEC Daylin Mitchell said extra Golden Arrow bus trips had been scheduled between Bellville and Paarl for the duration of the closure. Mitchell, pictured, said commuters would also be able to use Metrorail train services between Bellville and Paarl. “I took this extraordinary step to stop violence…

Nomalanga Tshuma nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za POLICE have arrested four suspects they believed were on their way to rob a business in Parow. The suspects, who were armed with illegal firearms loaded with ammunition, were apprehended on the R300, after they attempted to make a run for it when they spotted the police. Police spokesperson Andre Traut said the suspects were apprehended by police on the R300 after they attempted to evade capture when their plans were foiled. “Lockdown II police arrested four suspects for the possession of an unlicensed 7.65 pistol, 59 rounds of ammunition and an imitation firearm after an armed robbery was foiled. “Officers received a tip-off that suspects in a white VW Polo were planning to perpetrate a business robbery in Parow, and monitored the area. “The suspects…

Naushad Omar | Zeekoevlei, Cape Town I FIND it ridiculous that the private sector is going to rebuild. It’s not the first time that trucks or shops have been looted and burnt. And it will not be the last time. Rebuilding with no guarantees is handing the ANC government a blank cheque. We have them over a barrel. They are under tremendous pressure because of rising debt and a shortage of funds to pay for increasing demands like the Basic Income Grant. It will be equivalent to extending Sassa to all unemployed people – another 12 million men and women. It will have to find another R12 billion a month. One cannot borrow this money, so it will either come from other budgets, increasing taxes or from…

MOTOR vehicles play a role in thousands of deaths and injuries across the country every year. Alcohol consumption also features in the reports of many deaths and injuries. We should be careful, however, not to regard vehicles – or alcohol – as the cause of all these tragic deaths. It is the misuse, in each case, of vehicles and alcohol that causes the deaths: not the products themselves. If cars actually caused deaths you could be sure the government would ban the use of cars. But our leaders have seen fit to ban the sale of alcohol during these Covid-19 times. Why? Surely the logical thing to do would be to enforce stricter regulations governing the use of alcohol, rather than its outright ban. (At the entrance to every shopping…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za THE Milnerton Central Residents Association has sent a request to mayor Dan Plato and Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell for an urgent investigation and intervention regarding Rietvlei reserve pollution as it overflows into the Diep River and Milnerton Lagoon, which the City is under a directive to fix. Head of the association’s environmental portfolio Caroline Marx said the ongoing pollution in the Rietvlei and other reserves calls into question the City's ability to effectively and quickly respond to these problems. Marx said the problem appeared to have been ongoing for weeks with no reasonable explanation provided. “Are they really treated as urgent, given that months often pass before they are fixed? “The City manager and Mayco member Xanthea Limberg do not appear to be…

Kristin Engel kristin.engel@inl.co.za THE City has encouraged all residents and businesses to join their climate action movement following their recently released Climate Change Strategy. This is to adapt to the impacts of climate change, mitigate climate change, significantly reduce carbon emissions and harness opportunities of the green economy. Energy and Climate Change Mayco member Phindile Maxiti said people were already experiencing the economic, social and environmental impacts of climate change and he thus encouraged residents, communities and businesses to join the City’s climate change response and resilience campaign, Let’s ACT For a Stronger Cape Town, informed by their new strategy. Maxiti said a few of their mitigation efforts to reduce carbon emissions included driving energy efficiency in municipal operations, moving towards net zero carbon buildings, procuring energy from Independent…

Isle Claire Robertson Umuzi Review: Beryl Eichenberger “NO man is an island, entire of itself …”This famous John Donne quote came to me as I started reading Isle. And it stayed with me. The very notion of being on a small island conjures up a sense of isolation, sitting on the periphery of society, an onlooker perhaps. Claire Robertson is a multiaward- winning South African author who writes with a melodic pen. Haunting, nuanced and meaningful, her prose is a little like the waters that might surround an island, swelling to match the significance of her stories, ebbing to allow one to think through her narrative. Isle is her latest offering and she says the theme is “Making a place for yourself” and “the cost of carving this out but…

Groundswell of support for Basic Income Grant but where will money come from? AMERICAN civil rights leader Martin Luther King jr went to Jamaica for a writing retreat in January and February 1967, where he penned an economic manifesto called Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? “The solution to poverty is to abolish it directly: the guaranteed income,” he wrote. In an article in Look magazine soon after he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, King called for an economic bill of rights that would guarantee an income for all who are not able to work and a job for all people who want to work. More than five decades later, the movement for a basic income grant in South Africa is gathering momentum. Social justice activists…

Tunis: Thousands of Tunisians marched in several cities protesting against the ruling party yesterday, criticising what they said was government failures in the North African nation amid crippling coronavirus rates. In the capital Tunis, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of parliament, shouting slogans against the Islamist-inspired ruling Ennahdha party and Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi. Several protesters were arrested and a journalist was injured when the crowd hurled stones and police fired tear gas canisters. Tunisia has been overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases, including more than 18 000 people who have died. The country’s fractious political class has been unable to form lasting, effective governments. | AFP…

Mike Greenaway Armchair view There will always be disappointment when the Springboks lose a match, but there needs to be measured perspective on the first Test loss to the British & Irish Lions on Saturday. Quite frankly, the Lions were always favourites to win this match because they were much better prepared. It was former England centre Brad Barritt who pointed out that the Lions players had been playing a year of Test match rugby when most of the South Africans had been locked into one long Currie Cup. The Boks were always going to be underdone going into the first Test and this was exacerbated by Covid-related disruptions over the last few weeks. Almost half of the match-day 23 that lost to the Lions had tested positive for the…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za CONSIDERING all the hurdles that the Springbok Sevens team have had to contend with, it will already be a commendable feat if they are competitive at the Tokyo Olympics, let alone win a medal. But captain Siviwe ‘Shakes’ Soyizwapi believes that the Blitzboks’ mental strength will stand them in good stead when they face Ireland and Kenya today, followed by the US tomorrow. The South Africans have had a nightmare experience since arriving in Japan. They had to be split into two groups following coach Neil Powell’s positive Covid-19 test result, which saw him remain in isolation in Kagoshima, where the team held their pre-tournament camp. Some of the squad members are able to stay in the Olympic Village, and those who travelled with Powell from Tokyo…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za SCHOOLS are reopening today, but the concerns about Covid-19 remain even though thousands of teaching staff have been vaccinated. Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said schools were looking forward to welcoming pupils back after the extended holiday. The founder of Parents for Equal Education SA, Vanessa le Roux, said that prior to the closing of schools due to an increase in infections, they had been concerned about whether protocols were being observed in schools, even on a rotational basis, as one of the biggest challenges of schools in poor and disadvantaged communities was overcrowded classrooms with up to 50 pupils a class. Le Roux said teacher unions that supported the plan did not have the interests of their members and children at heart. Educators Union of SA provincial…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za A 36-YEAR-OLD SA National Defence Force (SANDF) captain attached to the Infantry School in Oudtshoorn is expected to appear in the Oudtshoorn Magistrate’s Court today on charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances. The captain was arrested by the Hawks, with the Attaqua K9 Unit, on Friday, after a cash-in-transit heist at a petrol station in Oudtshoorn on Monday last week. Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the suspect would be the fourth suspect to be charged after three suspects were arrested shortly after the incident. She said security guards from Fidelity Cash Solutions had been robbed while collecting cash from a petrol station. Hani said one of the guards was accosted by two armed suspects while on his way back to his armoured vehicle. He was disarmed…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za A HANOVER Park High School has been dealt a severe blow after a burglary at the weekend. During the early hours of Saturday, several computer screens were stolen from the science lab at Crystal High School in Greenturf Road. Crystal High School deputy principal Fiona Blanchard said the break-in occurred at about 4am. The thieves had entered the premises with pit bulls, attacking the caretaker and his security dogs. “Police were contacted while they were busy stealing and damaging the property by the caretaker, who also alerted a community member and repeatedly afterwards, and Philippi police did not arrive until 11am on Saturday.” Ten Smart monitors, keyboards and mouses were stolen. “I hope it helps to know that those are Smart monitors. It has no hard…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za PUBLIC sector unions, that remain undecided over the government's proposed wage increase, have until this week to decide whether they will agree to the 1.5% hike. Wage negotiations have been deadlocked for months as unions remained reluctant to agree to the wage increase offered by the government. Two weeks ago a final offer was placed on the table by the government at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council. The government’s offer includes a 1.5% pay progression. It has also offered its staff, between levels 1 to 12, salary increases of between R1 200 and R1 700, and has indicated that the pay hike will be closer to R1 000 after tax deductions. Nehawu and Popcru, both Cosatu-affiliated unions, had rejected the offer and Nehawu had filed a…

Ebrahim Wydeman | Cape Town THE old apartheid atrocities that played out in our sad past just do not want to disappear in this neck of the woods – Cape Town. And, let me add, this part of our country where it was felt the most. The fact that the leadership in the Western Cape has to be white explains my grief. Presently, there is this idea to locate a homeless group in Strandfontein – a perceived coloured area – with understandably satisfactory opposition. These homeless are from the coloured people of Cape Town. So they need to be relocated from supposedly white areas. This does not sit very well with me at all! We used to be tagged The Cape Flats, meaning that is where coloured people…

Len Bennett, Author of “UNFINISHED WORK” | Ottawa, Canada It was disappointing to read the vehemence displayed by Iqbal Jassat, Michael Lynk and Virginia Tilley over Israeli building projects. This has been elevated out of proportion. It gives the PA and Hamas the impression they have to do nothing and Israel will be squeezed into submission. Michael Lynk knows that Article 80 of the UN Charter, once known unofficially as the Jewish People’s clause, preserves intact all the rights granted to Jews under the Mandate for Palestine. So, in 1947, when the UNGA passed Resolution 181, partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, it was a suggestion, not law. Similarly, when on December 23, 2016, the UNSC passed the infamous Resolution 2334, condemning Israeli “settlements”, it cannot…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za With almost 1 million vaccinated in the Western Cape against Covid-19, anti-vaxxers and those opposed to masks defied all Covid-19 health protocols to protest their opposition on the weekend. About 200 activists protested along the Sea Point Promenade on Saturday, waving placards, shouting slogans, and spewing vaccine conspiracy theories. The protest was part of a global “Worldwide Demonstration” for “freedom and human rights”, according to an associated Facebook post. Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said the action was peaceful and monitored by the police. Law enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason confirmed their presence at the protest, and said no issues arose. However, those who gathered were not compliant with lockdown protocols, as were seen in close proximity, refraining from mask wearing and physical distancing. On why this was…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za STAFF at tertiary institutions across the country will be vaccinated against Covid-19 this week. Even though communities had been using tertiary sites as vaccination centres, Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande said those sites would now be used to vaccinate staff. Nzimande made the announcement at the weekend, and said that some institutions had already started with the vaccination of staff on Saturday. He said those institutions included the False Bay TVET College at a site in Woodstock, South West Gauteng TVET College at a site in Roodepoort, Tshwane North TVET College at a site in Centurion, and the University of Johannesburg at a site in Midrand. “I say formal because in several respects, our sector has already undertaken important work to support the national…

WHO will lead us? If you have not asked this question at least twice in the last two weeks, you have obviously not lived in this country for very long. We have a profound and prolonged leadership crisis in the political ecosystem of our country. Who will lead us is not questioning who is in charge. It is a cry, seeking to find those who have the vision and skills to fix the broken things in our country, with the necessary courage to lay down their lives in the process – because it may well cost them their lives. We have reached that point. I was part of a pre-school experiment in 1967, initiated by the late Dr Frank Quint at Hewat Training College. About 30 children, all aged five,…

Tendesayi Kufa-Chakezha, Cheryl Cohen, Sibongile Walaza, Nicola Chiwandire, Waasila Jassat SARS-CoV-2 is known to infect children of all ages, from newborns to older adolescents and teens. But children have not been the drivers of the pandemic to date. Among children, the likelihood of infection, disease or death generally increases with age. Older teens and adolescents are acquiring Covid-19 at rates similar to adults in some instances. By mid-June 2021, South Africa had conducted 12.3 million tests and detected 1.8 million cases. Children 19 years or younger accounted for 13.4% of tests conducted, 10.2% of new cases reported, 4.2% of Covid-19 associated hospital admissions and 0.7% of Covid-associated deaths. This is in spite of children this age accounting for 36.6% of the South African population. This age group was 3.7…

Lawmakers from France’s upper and lower houses of parliament were yesterday seeking to agree a deal to allow the adoption of legislation making vaccine passports vital for French daily life in the battle against Covid-19. The talks between members of the National Assembly and Senate come a day after France was again shaken by nationwide protests against the rules that saw over 160 000 rally and dozens arrested. President Emmanuel Macron last week ordered that the health pass, proof of a double vaccination or a negative test, would be required for the French to visit venues such as a cinema or nightclub and ultimately bars and restaurants. The announcement was a move by Macron to make vaccinations the number one weapon against Covid-19 as new variants emerge, essentially requiring…

Jerusalem: Israel’s environmental protection ministry said yesterday it was delaying the implementation of a proposed oil transport deal with the United Arab Emirates, freezing a project that has angered environmentalists. The agreement followed the UAE and Israel establishing diplomatic ties last year. But activists have warned of potential threats to the northern Red Sea corals off the Eilat’s coast. Environmental organisations challenged the plan in court, citing the risks of a devastating spill. | AFP…

Ramaphosa announces more social relief measures as Covid numbers drop Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za President Cyril Ramaphosa, last night, though cautiously so, moved the country from level 4 to level 3, easing some restrictions on alcohol sales, large gatherings and movement of people between provinces. He warned that although figures in Gauteng, the epicentre of the third wave, had significantly dropped, figures from the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and, to a lesser extent, Northern Cape were giving him cold comfort. Based on the recommendations of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19, and inputs from the President’s Co-ordinating Council, he said the hours of curfew would stay the same – 10pm to 4am. “Non-essential establishments like restaurants, taverns, bars and fitness centres may be opened. These establishments will, however,…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@iinl.co.za THE Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is mum on when it would approach the courts to postpone this year’s local government elections. “At the moment, we are unable to provide a firm date. The IEC has made an undertaking to provide feedback on a regular basis to South Africans,” IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said yesterday. This comes as the IEC on Friday said it would adopt the recommendation of retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke. Moseneke recommended that the elections be postponed to February next year, adding that it would not be safe to proceed with them in October in the wake of an increasing number of Covid-19 infections and deaths. Meanwhile, political analyst Protas Madlala said political parties who were in favour of the postponement…

Mayor Dan Plato IN REFERENCE to the article, “Backlog of 35 000 potholes in need of repairs across the city” (The Cape Argus, July 22). The City’s Transport Directorate’s service delivery report clearly states there are 7 846 notifications that remain outstanding, contrary to claims from misleading politicians that there is a backlog of 35 000 potholes. The 7 846 backlog has been further reduced to 6 963, despite ongoing heavy rainfall in Cape Town over recent weeks. The City received a total of 35 954 pothole notifications between January 2020 and March 2021 – 28 108 of those notifications were completed as per the table on page 4 of the City’s report. Thus, our completion rate was 78.2% for this period. Since March that figure has been further reduced…

HARRY SEWLALL I Sandton Dear Mr President, you recently invited South Africans, including members of the intelligentsia, to make their input on rebuilding the country after the failed insurrection a fortnight ago. Kindly allow me, as a retired professor, to suggest the following: 1. Stop this charade of police searching households for looted goods immediately. Instead of trying to prosecute 3 000 looters, you should be rounding up the suspects who instigated the insurrection. Charge them with sedition or treason and jail them. 2. Reshuffle your Cabinet immediately. Your predecessor reshuffled his Cabinet on far less pretext, wiping out millions from the JSE overnight. 3. End cadre deployment – the bane of this country. You have people in government who have neither the credibility nor the qualification for…

Sinenhlanhla Zungu sinenhlanhla.zungu@inl.co.za KWAZULU-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala partnered with the Moti Cares Foundation to put into action a social relief strategy that has brought hope to a number of residents after the violent protests, looting and deaths. Zikalala’s Development Trust and the Moti Cares Foundation, a charitable trust established by the Moti Group, donated two million planned meals, along with blankets, equipment essentials and sanitary towels to those severely affected by the unrest. Ashruf Kaka, the chief adviser of the Moti Group, said: “A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in KZN … As South Africans, we must work together in the spirit of compassion and ubuntu to help families and households in urgent need.” The trust and foundation estimated that the donated goods would last each beneficiary three months. The…

Bloody Sunday The Nun, the Defiance Campaign and South Africa's Secret Massacre Mignonne Breier Tafelberg Review: Barbara Spaanderman SOMETIMES a book grabs you by the scruff of your neck, forces you to sit down, read and pay careful attention, and it won’t let you go until you’ve reached the last page. Mignonne Breier builds her story up over several chapters about what happened on November 9, 1952, in a location attached to East London. To assist the reader, maps of East London and associated locations are included. Breier explains how she got to know about the Catholic nun who worked in East London, in Duncan Village, and the massacre that took place in 1952. Her parents worked in mission schools in the Transkei and Ciskei, and then moved to Grahamstown…

THE Springboks might have fallen after the first salvo was fired and their trenches stormed, but there is no reason to believe that the war has been lost – not yet, anyway. The Boks lost the first Test to the British and Irish Lions 22-17 on Saturday at Cape Town Stadium. It would be easy to blame the officiating, the Covid-19 disruptions and the lack of time to prepare, but if we are honest the South Africans just weren’t good enough, especially in the second half. They controlled the game with maturity during the first 40 minutes, and were calm and collected, but the relentless pressure, physicality and pin-point accuracy in the second stanza by the Lions resulted in the Bok effort crumbling before our eyes. Nevertheless, there was just…

Ethiopia’s Amhara region yesterday called on all armed residents to mobilise for battle against rebels from conflict-hit Tigray, calling it a “survival campaign”, state media reported. Amhara borders Tigray to the south, and the two regions are embroiled in a decades-old land dispute that has become central to the eight-month-old war in Tigray. Yesterday’s statement from Amhara regional president Agegnehu Teshager echoes a call made on Friday by the president of Ethiopia’s Afar region just east of Tigray. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray last November to oust the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a move he said was in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps. Fighting dragged on for months before the war took a turn in June, with pro-TPLF fighters…

Tokyo: A Frenchman on hunger strike in Tokyo seeking access to his children – a boy, 6, and a girl, 4 – said an appeal from President Emmanuel Macron to Japan’s leader had “changed nothing”, as his protest entered its third week. Vincent Fichot, 39, says his two children were abducted by their Japanese mother, and he has been on hunger strike since July 10 in a bid to be reunited with his family. For two weeks, the former finance worker, who has lived in Japan for 15 years, has sat night and day outside a train station near the Olympic Stadium. Macron held talks on Saturday with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Joint custody in cases of divorce does not exist legally in Japan, where parental abductions are common…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za SHE had just smashed the Olympic record in the 100m breaststroke, but Tatjana Schoenmaker was not getting carried away with her performance and medal prospects at the Tokyo Olympics yesterday. The 24-year-old from Pretoria produced the race of her life to set a new Olympic mark of one minute 04.82 seconds, which eclipsed American Lilly King’s previous standard by 0.11 seconds, to win her heat and advance to the semi-finals, which took place early today, with the final tomorrow at 4.17am. The 200m starts on Wednesday, with Schoenmaker’s heat at 12.45pm, with the semi-finals on Thursday (4.54am-5.01am), and the final on Friday (3.41am). In fact, Schoenmaker was so reluctant to talk up her chances of a medal in the 100m that she said she just wants to…

Wynona Louw wynona.louw@inl.co.za Pumas (10) 23 Tries: Penalty try, Westeraadt, Fouche Penalties: Labuschagne, Marais Western Province (16) 37 Tries: T Leyds (2), De Wet, Roos Conversions: Swiel (4) Penalties: Swiel (3) Western Province got back to winning ways with a convincing 37-23 bonus point Currie Cup win against the Pumas in Nelspruit yesterday. Province have won just two of their five matches to date and suffered back-to-back defeats to Griquas in Cape Town and the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in their last two Currie Cup encounters. In the build-up to this clash, WP forwards coach Rito Hlungwani raised their exit play and attack as two big work-ons following the trip to Bloem, and while it was a closely-fought encounter in the first half yesterday, they did much better on attack,…