Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-12-31 i Cape Argus

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za The Jacob Zuma Foundation says it is concerned that the SAPS is moving at a snail’s pace in investigating criminal charges its patron, former president Jacob Zuma, has laid against National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) advocate Billy Downer SC. In October, Zuma turned to the Pietermaritzburg police station to lay criminal charges against Downer, who he has accused of leaking confidential information about his arms deal corruption trial and the state of his health. In his affidavit to the police, Zuma alleged that Downer, the senior NPA prosecutor who first successfully prosecuted Schabir Shaik (Zuma’s former financial adviser, who is accused of bribing him together with Thales, a French arms firm), started the patterns of the leaks to the media and CIA spies as early as 2001. It…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za WITH people gearing up to usher in the new year under the current curfew, the public has been urged to celebrate responsibly and consider their own safety and that of those around them. Last night, Police Minister Bheki Cele, as part of the Safer Festive Season, conducted an inspection tour, led by police provincial commissioner Thembisile Patekile, of the police’s operations in the city. They sought to ensure residents and visitors of their safety before New Year’s Eve celebrations. This week, calls grew for President Cyril Ramaphosa to lift the curfew before New Year’s Eve. The country is on lockdown level 1 with the curfew from midnight to 4am. The City and the province have also called for the curfew to be lifted before New Year’s Eve,…

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu’s passing has robbed South Africa, the continent, and the world of an icon of rectitude, a reservoir of wisdom, a spiritual leader and a moral compass. The Arch, as he was affectionately known, had a strong aversion to social conflict while embodying a deep sense of justice. These qualities propelled him to the forefront of the fight against the pernicious system of apartheid and injustice wherever it reared its head. While advocating for peace, he recognised it was unattainable without social justice, for which he campaigned vigorously. The apartheid regime pulled out all the stops to no avail to silence him, arguably because he consistently chipped away at the cornerstone of the racist doctrine of a God-ordained hierarchy of races. Archbishop Emeritus Tutu believed that…

Sonri Naidoo sonri naidoo@inl.co.za THE SA National Civic Organisation in the North West has condemned the chilling murder of a teenage girl whose decomposed body was discovered in the room she was reportedly renting with her boyfriend in Lomanyaneng village near Mahikeng. The body of 15-year-old Tshegofatso Agnes Matibako was discovered last Thursday in a two-room house after neighbours noticed flies in the window and called the police. “After breaking the padlock, we finally gained access into the house. The deceased’s body, which was in a bad state of decomposition, was found lying naked on the mattress in one of the rooms. The deceased was identified by her brother as Tshegofatso Agnes Matibako,” said police spokesperson Captain Sam Tselanyane. Tselanyane said that Matibako’s boyfriend, a Lesotho national, was a person…

Rafieka Williams rafieka.williams@inl.co.za THE basic education sector has faced a number of challenges at schools across the Western Cape, including violence, unplaced learners and rotational timetables. SA Democratic Teachers Union provincial secretary Jonovan Rustin said: “The biggest challenge we’ll face at the start of the year will be the issue of unplaced learners. We have been having this year on year and have consistently called on the department to ensure that all learners are placed on the first day of school. “We have seen violence in schools still being very prominent. We are saying to communities that schools should be safe havens, schools should not be vandalised. We know that learners have lost out on a huge part of the curriculum and we are always going to play a catch…

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been found guilty in New York of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell faces spending the rest of her life behind bars after the 12-person jury convicted her on five of the six counts she was facing, including the most serious charge of sex trafficking a minor. The conviction on Wednesday, just days after she turned 60 on Christmas, caps a remarkable fall from grace for the Oxford-educated daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell, who grew up in wealth and privilege as a friend to royalty. She sat passively in the Manhattan courtroom, slowly removing her mask to take sips of water, after Judge Alison Nathan read out the verdicts, reached…

Gontse Riet gontse.riet@inl.co.za ENFORCEMENT and emergency services will be focusing on public spaces and party hot spots in the lead up to New Year’s Day celebrations. Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said enforcement and emergency services were gearing up for an increase in visitors to public spaces and party spots. “Beaches will be a particular focus area, but City swimming pools and other public amenities too,” said Smith. The public is reminded that they have to abide by the disaster management regulations in place. “The discharge of fireworks is not permitted without a permit, and the City no longer provides designated fireworks areas. “Alcohol is also not permitted on the City’s beaches or any other public space,” said Smith. Mayco member for community services and…

Hundreds file past simple pine coffin to honour the Arch, ‘last of the great giants’ of the Struggle Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za HUNDREDS of people from all walks of life braved a steady morning drizzle in central Cape Town yesterday to pay their last respects to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu as his body lay in state at St George’s Cathedral before his funeral tomorrow. For many, filing past the simple wooden coffin was a personal pilgrimage in tribute to a man they admired and loved. Capetonian Bradley Hermans said: “He’s the last of the great giants and I am fortunate enough to live in the province where he resided. I saw it as a blessing and an honour to be here, and I had said that come rain or shine I…

THE Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State (hereafter, the commission) was established in February 2018 by the former president Jacob Zuma after being compelled to do so by the Pretoria High Court. The commission is guided by the findings and recommendations made by former public protector Thuli Madonsela in her “State of Capture” report of 2016. Thus far the commission has had 430 public hearings and heard the testimony of more than 330 witnesses. It has cost about R1 billion, and its term has been extended five times. The commission will be approaching the Pretoria High Court for an extension of its term by a further two months. It will not require additional funding and intends…

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin emphasised the need for diplomatic solutions ahead of their latest phone call yesterday aimed at defusing tensions surrounding the Ukraine conflict. The call comes after Moscow earlier this month presented Western capitals with sweeping security demands, saying Nato must not admit new members and seeking to bar the US from opening new bases in ex-Soviet countries. The call also comes ahead of talks between representatives of the two rivals in Geneva in January, with Washington saying it expects to discuss the Ukraine conflict and Moscow insisting its security demands be contended with. Biden, who is at his home in Delaware for the New Year’s holiday, planned to stress that Washington is looking for a “diplomatic path” out of the crisis,…