Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-09-02 i Cape Argus

GIVEN MAJOLA given.majola@inl.co.za THE RATE AT which people defaulted on their loans for the first time decreased in the second quarter of this year, according to the Experian Consumer Default Index (CDI). Although consumer debt remains at R1.9 trillion, the index improved from 4.33 points in March to 4.03 points in June. The improvement was attributed to the stringent lockdown imposed 12 months prior, resulting in a significant reduction in credit extension. Experian Africa’s chief decision officer, Jaco van Jaarsveldt, said new business volumes had decreased since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, reducing the population from which first-time defaults stemmed. “While we have seen the demand for credit improve to pre-Covid levels over the past 12 months, the supply remains constrained due to the continuous conservative lending criteria imposed…

Kedibone Modise kedibone.modise@inl.co.za South African hip-hop artist and composer Siyabonga “Big Zulu”’ Nene released his long-awaited third studio album titled Ichwane Lenyoka on Friday. Elaborating on the title of the album Ichwane Lenyoka, Big Zulu used a snake hatchling as a metaphor. He explained: “A snakelet has to learn to fend for itself straight from birth, unlike a bird that cares for its chicks. So when you bring the analogy back to me, I did not have anyone to open doors for me into the industry and teach me the ropes. “It was all up to me to get in, find out how the industry works. So I’m like that snakelet (ichwane lenyoka) because when I got into the industry, I had to figure out things for myself. The Bergville-born…

Thobeka Ngema thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za THE Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa (Saapa SA) yesterday handed over a memorandum to BP Southern Africa (BPSA), calling for an immediate halt to its plans to apply for licences to sell alcohol at shops on the forecourts of their petrol stations. Saapa SA, along with some of its affiliates, handed over the memorandum at the BPSA head office in Johannesburg. Saapa SA director Maurice Smithers said BPSA executives were working from home, but they had organised one of the security personnel to sign the memorandum, which Saapa SA would email to the company yesterday afternoon. In the two-page memorandum, Saapa SA urged BPSA to rethink its decision to sell alcohol from its shops. “We have also noted the applications by forecourt shops at…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za OVERCOME by emotions and the significance behind the court’s ruling, Anglican Church Reverend June Dolley-Major has expressed her gratitude that she was now allowed to name her alleged rapist. An urgent interdict was sought to gag Dolley-Major in March, at the Western Cape High Court, by an Anglican Church reverend, who she had accused of rape. She alleged the rape occurred in 2002, in Makhanda, and started posting about it on her social media in 2016. The outcome of the case was heard virtually yesterday, with the court dismissing the case – in which the alleged rapist sought to interdict Dolley-Major from posting about him publicly and on social media. Dolley-Major felt that it was not just a personal win, but had given rape survivors hope.…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za AN ex-Transnet executive reportedly received R2 million of the more than R26m he looted from the state-owned company. The money administered composed of 10 000 R200 notes. The unsolicited profits that former Transnet Capital Projects’ chief executive Linyenga Herbert Msagala is accused of were laid bare at the Special Tribunal in a judgment delivered by Judge Lebogang Modiba on Tuesday. Msagala is said to have looted more than R26m from a scheme involving IGS Consulting Engineers and its sole member, Sipho Sithole. Transnet had initially claimed R18.4m from Msagala, his trusts, IGS and Sithole. According to court papers, Transnet wanted the return of various amounts totalling more than R15.6m, which were proceeds of cash cheques drawn against the IGS’s bank account and deposited into the Msagala Investment…

Samkelo Mtshali samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za A FORENSIC pathology expert yesterday told the Pietermaritzburg High Court of several features, in the case of Dr Hoosen Haffejee’s death, which point to homicide. The revelations were made by Dr Shakeera Holland, during the inquest into the death of the 26-year-old Pietermaritzburg dentist, who died while in police custody at the Brighton Beach Police Station, in August 1977. Police initially claimed that Haffejee committed suicide. Their claim was backed by ruling of an inquest held in 1978. At the time, magistrate Trevor Blunden concluded that Haffejee had committed suicide. But several witnesses, who have testified in the current inquest in recent weeks, have ruled out suicide as his cause of death. Aeronautical engineer Thivash Moodley, Haffejee’s siblings Sarah Bibi Lall and Ismail Haffejee, have all dispelled…

HAPPY Spring Day to my readers. At the time of writing the mountains across the bay are still blanketed with snow and the air is crisp and icy, but Happy Spring Day anyhow. I have not been totally idle during the past stormy week, in spite of being firmly isolated indoors, cowering from the cold. I have been involved with an interesting bureaucratic battle on behalf of a friend, trying to cancel her TV licence. This may seem like a small, trivial matter, but a neighbour, who is tangled in a similar bureau-web described it as “like trying to get rid of the smell after stepping into a pile of dog poo.” Not easy. It all started quite innocently when my friend decided to give up her home and move…

I have on a few occasions written about teachers who have made a huge contribution to education in South Africa. I was very saddened by the recent death of Mr Wilfred Basil King. He was born on January 16, 1929 and passed away on August 23, 2021. I got to know him when I was a Grade 9 student at South Peninsula High School in Diep River. He spoke impeccable English and I know many of us tried to emulate his English. He was a geography and physical education teacher. He introduced us to box work and arranged an annual box work exhibition on our open tarmac with padded mats. It was something we looked forward to. He always told us life was a challenge and if we wanted to…

Sinenhlanhla Zungu sinenhlanhla.zungu@inl.co.za THE South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has told the select committee on health and social services that at least 31 955 people had improperly benefited from government’s R350 social relief of distress grant at a cost of about R11 million. This was in response to the auditor- general’s earlier finding that at least 67 000 people had improperly benefited from the R350 grant at a potential cost of R23m to the state. Sassa executive for grants administration, Dianne Dunkerley, told the select committee that following the AG’s findings, Sassa moved to investigate and ensure the grants were immediately halted. “As the AG identified these possible overpayments or payments to incorrect beneficiaries, we then stopped any future payments to those beneficiaries so we did not lose any…

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Human Rights Court) holds great promise in protecting human rights and ensuring justice on the continent. But it operates amid resistance by states and this threatens its effectiveness and very existence. The court is the AU’s judicial arm, and sits in Arusha, Tanzania. It is one of three regional human rights courts in the world. The others are the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The African court began operating in 2006. The court entertains cases of alleged violations of human rights stated in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and other relevant human rights instruments that have been ratified by the state concerned. Its judgments are binding. Cases can only be brought…

AU member states will receive an additional 10 million doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines over the next three months through a new partnership between the French government and the AU, The African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and the Covax global vaccine initiative. AVAT has acquired enough vaccines for African countries to vaccinate 400 million people, or a third of the African population, by September next year, at a cost of $3 billion with World Bank backing. | African News Agency (ANA)…

The colonels who rule Mali have repeatedly said they will restore civilian rule in early 2022, but with less than six months to go before promised elections, doubts about the timetable are deepening. Already struggling with a bloody jihadist insurgency, Mali slid into political turmoil last year, culminating in a military coup in August 2020 against elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. In May, the military, irked by a ministerial reshuffle, forced out the interim civilian president and replaced him with the junta’s leader, Assimi Goita. But Mali’s leaders have persistently vowed to stick to an 18-month timetable for the civilian transfer of power – a key demand set by neighbours deeply worried by the turbulence. The official schedule calls for a constitutional referendum on October 31, followed by regional and…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za ARNO Botha was regarded as one of the top loose forwards in South Africa as he came through at the Bulls in the last decade. He made his Springbok debut against Italy in Durban in 2013 as a 22-year-old, having captained the South Africa Under-20 side previously. But he sustained a serious knee ligament injury in his second Test against Scotland at Mbombela Stadium – where he was replaced by Siya Kolisi, who produced a Man of the Match performance – and things haven’t quite been the same for the Limpopo product. A number of other injuries played a big part in that, and following stints abroad at London Irish and Munster, Botha returned to the Bulls last year July – perhaps in an attempt to address…

Gcwalisile Khanyile gcwalisile.khanyile@inl.co.za A WELCOME welcome back party for ex-convict Minenhle Mhlengi Shinga, ended in a massacre as unknown assailants stormed the place and opened fire, leaving five dead and three injured in uMlazi, KwaZulu-Natal. In just three days this week, two separate shootings in uMlazi have claimed 13 lives. In the first incident, six people were shot dead in U-section on Sunday. On Tuesday, three gunmen burst into a house in W-section. The victims were found with gunshot wounds to their heads. Three were rushed to hospital, and one reportedly succumbed to gunshot wounds yesterday. Bongani Thabethe, Minenhle Mhlengi Shinga, Mkhulu Boy Terrence Ngcobo and three victims known as Melokuhle, Brazil and Mkhulu Boy, as well as an unidentified man, were killed. Two other victims are still fighting for…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za THE North West ANC says premier-elect Bushy Maape will emerge victorious during an election for the position of premier in the provincial legislature on Tuesday. This despite the fact that they may face fierce competition from opposition parties, which are also expected to nominate their own candidates. ANC Inter-Provincial Committee co-ordinator Hlomane Chauke made the bold remark after Maape was sworn-in – in secret – as an additional ANC member of provincial legislature. Maape served as former premier Job Mokgoro’s adviser prior to him being touted as the premier-elect last month. His swearing-in was shrouded in secrecy after scores of media houses were barred from the ceremony. Maape was sworn-in following a long battle to find a seat for him in the legislature after Mokgoro initially only…

Allan Wolman | Tel Aviv, Israel The Department of International Relations and Co-operation issued a press statement on July 28 condemning the AU for granting Israel observer status. Clayson Monyela, department spokesperson wrote how his government was “appalled” by the AU action. The minister, being a woman, was conspicuously silent this past week as the Taliban took over Afghanistan and in all likelihood, will revert to their old ways. This same ANC minister saw fit to fill half a page in a local newspaper with an attack on the AU but not a word about the plight of Afghan women. One wonders if Naledi Pandor who “stands by the people of Palestine” is as concerned about the predicament of women in Afghanistan as she is about Palestine…

Terence Corrigan | Institute of Race Relations The saga of the amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution continues, with a new iteration on the table. Much will be said in due course about this and what it portends, but a significant change is contemplated in extending the deadline for restitution claims to 1800. The date is seemingly arbitrary (and the inclusion of this provision is clearly outside the committee’s mandate), but it is probably intended to signify that virtually all land taken in the course of colonial – or “white” – expansion out of the original Cape Colony may be subject to a claim. While it will no doubt be ideologically appealing to many – and may arguably be justifiable on moral and historical grounds – in…

Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za OFFICIALS of the provincial treasury have been told that their procurement disclosure reports (PDR) have a tendency to be “highly technical” and not easy for the layperson to understand. Members of the legislature’s standing committee on finance, economic opportunity and tourism made the comments during a briefing by the provincial treasury on its PDR as well as on the department’s work to support the conditional grants transferred to local municipalities. Committee member Andricus van der Westhuizen, of the DA, said: “I am not sure I was completely able to understand everything that you shared with us. For example, the whole issue of benchmarking and the effect that has had on the prices of items that were procured.” Committee member Nomi Nkondlo, of the ANC, said: “While the…

AS WOMEN’S Month came to a close in South Africa, the focus has been on the continued hardships women face, including the constant threat of gender-based violence (GBV) and limited opportunities in a society that remains very male-dominated. Women of colour, in particular, face even more challenges on the road to success. We sat down with one such woman, television personality and presenter on the SABC 3 channel’s Expresso Show, Jamie-Lee Domburg, to talk about life, motherhood, fitness, business and other things her audience might not have known about her. Domburg is pretty much a jack of all trades. She was born and bred in the close-knit community of Steenberg and started as a dancer, drama student and public speaker/master of ceremony in her teens. She later expanded her career…

FOLLOWING the introduction of the Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP), the ANC’s first post-democracy policy, which was aimed at getting the country back on its feet following the transition from apartheid, the party introduced its most audacious second policy – the Growth Employment and Redistribution policy. Referred to by its acronym, Gear, this policy was not met with fanfare by the ruling party’s alliance partners – the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). So despised was Gear that it became the tripartite alliance’s weapon against then deputy president Thabo Mbeki and those who were seen to be proponents of the policy in his inner circle, especially the then minister of finance Trevor Manuel and his deputy, Gill Marcus. To this day, Gear…

Pope Francis is not thinking of resigning and is living “a totally normal life” following intestinal surgery in July, he said in a radio interview yesterday. Speaking to Spanish radio network COPE, Francis, 84, dismissed a report that he might step down. He also said he would attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November. He also plans to travel to Hungary and Slovakia this month and visit to Cyprus, Greece and Malta. “My choice of travel to Europe is the small countries,” he said. | Reuters…

BARCELONA players Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba have agreed to salary reductions in order to get new signing Sergio Aguero registered and to extend the club’s limit with regards to financial fair play regulations, the Catalan side said on Tuesday. The gesture comes after defender Gerard Pique took a similar step that allowed teammates Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia and Rey Manaj to register with LaLiga. The details of the wage cuts were not disclosed. Speaking after Lionel Messi's departure to Paris St Germain earlier this month, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said that without the Argentine superstar’s salary, the club’s annual wages were still around 95% of their revenue, exceeding the 70% cap set by La Liga. Barcelona sit fourth in La Liga with seven points from three games. They take…

GIVEN MAJOLA given.majola@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa’s unemployment rate of 34.4 percent in the second quarter of this year could have been worse if it were not for the efforts of women entrepreneurs who strove under difficult circumstances to keep their businesses afloat, the Lioness Business Agility Webinar heard this week. Dr Linda Zuze, a research director for Lioness Data, said it was important to keep in mind the role of women entrepreneurs in these difficult times. “Unemployment among women was at 36 percent, slightly higher. There are millions of women who are excluded from the calculation, because they were no longer actively seeking employment. Those are now grouped as discouraged job-seekers falling out of the 36 percent. So when those discouraged job seekers are factored into the numbers, the actual unemployment…

Liam Karabo Joyce liam.joyce@inl.co.za In May 1995, Nelson Mandela said: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” National Child Protection Week is commemorated in South Africa annually to raise awareness of the rights of children. As we enter Child Protection Week 2021, 14-year-old singer and songwriter Gabrielle de Gama acts as a voice for the youth and draws attention to the dangers of bullying. A victim of bullying since she was in Grade 4, she helps others undergoing a similar experience through her new single, titled Nasty. “I wrote this song in 2020 during the level 5 lockdown. I had been bullied through primary school and, starting high school in a new environment, I tried making new friends.…

Sacha van Niekerk sacha.vanniekerk@inl.co.za IF YOU are a pet parent, beware of the poisonous plants that could harm your cats and dogs before you fill your home with fresh and lively greenery. 10 house plants that are poisonous to cats and dogs: 1. Lilies Although lilies may be a beautiful way to add freshness and colour to your home, your pets may not think so. Both lily-of-the-valley and the gloriosa (or lame lily) are poisonous to cats and dogs. All parts of the plant – including the pollen and stamens, the flower petals, sepals, leaves, stems and bulbs – are dangerous to your pets. If ingested, they can cause gastrointestinal upset, depression, anorexia and tremors. The common household plant contains toxins that do not agree with cats and dogs, causing…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za THE mounting tensions between the Community Policing Forum (CPF) board, police management and the Community Safety Department resulted in their being summoned by Parliament’s portfolio committee on police to clarify their roles and responsibilities across the police value chain and to strengthen policing in the province. CPF board chairperson Fransina Lukas said the meeting was requested by the CPF, and the portfolio committee granted them an opportunity to present their case. Lukas said all 16 clusters were part of the meeting held by the committee this week, and the issues raised included funding, training and support to CPF structures in the province, and political interference by certain ward councillors with neighbourhood watch (NHW) and CPF structures. Committee chairperson Tina Joemat-Pettersson said the committee was concerned by the…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za WHILE more familiar parties confidently announced their mayoral candidates for the Cape Town City Council, not much was known about the lesser or newly formed party candidates vying for the same position. Now the Spectrum National Party (SNP), which officially registered in November 2019, has announced founding president Christopher Claassen as its mayoral candidate. This will be the first time the party has contested the position and it will do so in all 116 wards in Cape Town, as well as in six provinces. A pastor as well as a businessman in the security industry for 26 years, Claassen said he would also be running for president in 2024. “Make free land available for the homeless and start a co-operative project where all the citizens who…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za IT REMAINS to be seen if former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize will face any charges or be prosecuted. This comes as the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) yesterday conceded that Mkhize could have committed crime in the R50-million communications contract the Health Department previously awarded to service provider Digital Vibes. Briefing Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) yesterday, SIU head Andy Mothibi said the corruption-busting unit continued to obtain information on the matter even after it recently submitted its final report to President Cyril Ramaphosa. “There are still allegations coming in. We will soon be pronouncing,” Mothibi said. He was briefing Scopa on investigations into the procurement of personal protective equipment for Covid-19 and the Digital Vibes saga. The head of the investigating unit said although…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za THE former managing director of the Life Esidimeni Group has continued to deny that mental health patients were transferred from the facility to various NGOs without medication and medical records. Dr Morgan Mkhatshwa took the stand yesterday at the Life Esidimeni inquest held virtually by the High Court in Pretoria. The inquest is investigating whether anyone should be held criminally liable for the deaths of 144 patients who were transferred to NGOs in 2016. The Gauteng Department of Health terminated its contract with the company in an attempt to save costs six years ago. Mkhatshwa yesterday faced cross-examination from the legal representatives of various witnesses. Advocate Rendani Munzhelele, representing former NGO social worker Daphney Ndlovu, questioned him on the allegations that patients were transferred in a poor…

For want of maintenance, only one out of six cranes are functioning in the Port of Cape Town – a symptom of the ANC’s neglect and squander. Ships are moored outside the port because it is costly and pointless anyway to berth. Some ships bypass Cape Town and sail on to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), or Walvis Bay – or even return to their port of embarkation. Our deciduous fruit cannot be exported and our imports are delayed by months. Farmers are deprived of income and industrialists cannot operate their factories. Where, oh where, is the minister of trade and industry? For want of a secure computer system, our ports were forced to close for two weeks, which created a domino effect leading to traffic bottlenecks of trucks trying to…

Farouk Araie | Johannesburg. The administrations of GW Bush, Tony Blair and Barack Obama are responsible for the current bloodshed and monumental tragedy afflicted on the innocent people of Afghanistan and the Middle East. This trio should be charged for war crimes and crimes against humanity. They relied on information they gathered from the internet to wage illegal wars across the planet.They and their intelligence institutions in conjunction with Nato, created, nurtured and armed all the unconventional military groups that dot and now dominate over 50 conflicts raging in parts of the world. In the aftermath of its Afghan debacle, the US left behind $85 billion worth of military hardware.The list is staggering: 2 000 armoured vehicles; 75 989 transport vehicles; 45 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters; 50 MD53 Scout…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za THE Milnerton Central Residents Association (MCRA) has vowed to fight what it said was a shocking proposed development on erven 222 and 223 in Weir Road that features a six-storey building in the middle of a single residential (SR1) neighbourhood. The association said the proposed development would be detrimental to Milnerton. Chairperson Bouwer van den Eems said the complete incompatibility of the development with the rest of the area had been met with disbelief by the MCRA and residents. “MCRA strongly believes that a moratorium on development approvals should be implemented with immediate effect. The Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works is not coping with current uncontrolled densification and consequently spilling thousands of litres of poorly treated effluent into the Diep River estuary and Milnerton Lagoon, resulting in E.coli…

SANPARKS has bid farewell to senior section ranger Hilton Blumeris, who retired this week after 41 years of dedicated service. Blumeris started his career in 1980 with the Cape Peninsula National Park, as it was known then, as a law enforcement officer in the Silvermine area and he was promoted to section ranger when the transition from City to SANParks took place. “Through his determination and hard work, he was promoted to senior section ranger in 1998, responsible for the conservation department in Silvermine. In 2004 he was transferred to the Kloofnek area where he was stationed as a senior section ranger for the Visitor Safety Department and he has been in this position to date,” SANParks said. Blumeris said: “It’s been an honour to do this work for 41…

A mother and son are expected to appear in the Somerset West Magistrate’s Court on Thursday after they were arrested on charges of dealing in drugs. In a statement released on Wednesday, provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) Zinzi Hani said the suspects, aged 63 and 35, were arrested during an intelligence operation. The operation was conducted by the Hawks’ Narcotics Enforcement Bureau in Cape Town in conjunction with Crime Intelligenceand the Somerset West Crime Prevention Unit after they received information on suspects who were allegedly cultivating cannabis at their residence in Arum Avenue in Somerset West on Tuesday. Hani said a search warrant was obtained and the premises were searched by officials. She said a hydroponic cannabis laboratory was uncovered along with cultivated cannabis under…

Israel said yesterday it would expand Gaza’s fishing zone, increase its water supply and allow more Palestinian traders and goods to enter Israel, even as violence persisted on the border. The Israeli military body in the occupied Palestinian territories said the number of Gazan merchants with permits would be increased from 2 000 to 7 000. In May, Israel and Hamas reached a truce. But incendiary balloons still fly from Gaza towards Israel, with Israel often retaliating with air strikes. | AFP…

As US forces withdrew from Afghanistan, precipitating the chaotic collapse of its government, another American ally watched warily and hoped that its fate will be different. The painful memories of an earlier American military drawdown are still fresh for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in north-eastern Syria. Former US president Donald Trump blindsided his generals three years ago by announcing a withdrawal of the 2 000 US troops allied with the SDF in fighting the Islamic State. Although he was later persuaded not to remove the entire force, he did cut it by more than half the following year and, in doing so, cleared the way for the SDF’s adversary, Turkey, to invade part of the territory. The American move was widely criticised as a betrayal of the Kurds, who…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za DALE Steyn took enjoying life away from cricket seriously. He surfed, he ran his dogs through Tokai forest, speared his leg with a hook while catching tiger fish in the Okavango, caught a crocodile (a baby one, not a man eating giant like some overseas made it out to be), played street football barefoot with kids in Dhaka and enjoyed a midnight burger at a fast food joint during a Test match in London. On the field cricket was a serious business. Off it, he made a point of getting away. Now he can do so properly, although, given his social media comments and the fact he’s thrown himself into doing analysis for website espncricinfo.com, you suspect he’ll never leave the sport entirely. It will be difficult…

ETHIOPIAN Tadu Nare is the favourite to win the Cape Town Spar Grand Prix 10km Ladies race at Greenpoint on Saturday. The 20-year-old Nedbank athlete won the opening race in Pietermaritzburg two weeks ago by more than a minute, storming to victory in 32:22 ahead of South African Glenrose Xaba (Boxer), who finished in 33.40 minutes. The path to another victory has opened after several top contenders withdrew from the Cape Town race. Namibian Helalia Johannes and Comrades Marathon winner Gerda Steyn are recovering from excellent performances in the Tokyo Olympics marathon, while Irvette van Zyl is injured. It will allow Nare to consolidate her lead in the race for the overall title, although she may face some stiff opposition on a flat course in Cape Town. Xaba, who is…