Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-01-13 i Cape Argus

Liam Karabo Joyce The new school year won’t see just kids starting “big school” and matric learners getting ready for their final lap, it will also see Rachel Kolisi pick up a pen and book. The businesswoman and wife of Springbok captain Siya Kolisi revealed that she finally took the plunge and is going back to school. “I’m officially a student – again! I’ve been wanting to study for a long time, but just haven’t had the opportunity. Finally decided to take a dive and do it,” she said in an Instagram post. She said she is “trying to figure out” how she was going to manage everything and used the moment to encourage her followers to work on themselves this year. “Still trying to figure out how I’m going…

Nomalanga Tshuma nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za AN anonymous tip-off has led to the arrest of a 58-year-old suspected drug dealer in Langa who was allegedly plying his trade from a fruit and vegetable stand. Police spokesperson André Traut said: “Police officers attached to the Provincial Extortion Task Team recently arrested a 58-year-old man on a charge of dealing in drugs in Langa. Officers were busy with crime prevention operations in the community when they received a tip-off that the suspect was using a fruit and veg stand in Bhunga Avenue to sell his illegal goods.” “Upon arrival at the stall, police searched and found packs of various drugs and cash believed to be the proceeds of crime. The suspect will make his court appearance in Bishop Lavis once he is charged.” Meanwhile, in…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za THE Department of Public Service and Administration has put more measures in place to ensure that public servants do not trade with the state. Apart from requiring them to submit financial disclosure forms every year, the department is checking the central supplier database system to pick up those on the wrong side of the law. Public Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo revealed this when responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Mimmy Gondwe. Gondwe enquired about measures the department had taken to ensure there were a no public service employees who were possibly conducting business with the state. Dlodlo said that monthly the department received data from the National Treasury covering all new registrations on the central supplier database (CSD) for that month. “The CSD contains…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za ACTING Chief Justice Raymond Zondo yesterday expressed his shock and disgust at an opinion piece written by Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu attacking African judges and the judiciary. Justice Zondo took the highly unusual step of publicly responding to Sisulu and abandoning finalising the second of the three parts of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, which he chaired. ”No amount of intimidation, no bullying by anybody, and I mean anybody, is going to stop the judiciary from doing its job in accordance with our oath of office,” he said at a virtual briefing. Justice Zondo said he was horrified when he read Sisulu’s article and that it was very shocking to him. ”I never thought that anybody who is part of those structures…

Novak Djokovic yesterday admitted “errors” in his travel papers and for not isolating after a claimed Covid-19 infection, as he battled to stay in Australia and fight for a record 21st Grand Slam. The world number one tennis player said his team had offered fresh information to the Australian government, which was pondering whether to cancel his visa, again, and throw him out of the country. “We are living in challenging times in a global pandemic and sometimes these mistakes can occur,” the unvaccinated 34-year-old said in a statement released as he practised on the courts of the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. The Serbian star flew into Melbourne a week ago claiming a vaccine exemption because of a positive PCR test result on December 16. Border agents rejected…

NON-LIFE insurer MiWay announced late last year that it had appointed Burton Naicker as CEO, to replace René Otto, who retired at the end of 2021. As a founding member and CEO, Otto led the business from a start-up 14 years ago, to the direct insurer it is today. René said: “It was without a doubt the best 14 years of my life. Together with my management team, we built a great business and made a meaningful contribution to the economic and social landscape of South Africa. “I am particularly proud of the strong values-based culture that we built with and for our staff. I believe it is the strongest differentiator between MiWay and most of its competitors.” Burton officially assumed his CEO duties with effect from January 1 and…

WHAT should we as the public expect from the nine provincial education departments and the National Department of Basic Education (NDBE) at the beginning of the 2022 academic year? All learners from Grade 1 to Grade 9 must be accommodated. Some Grade R classes are subsidised, but Grade R is not compulsory. Parents who can afford to pay for Grade R classes at private institutions obviously put their children ahead of those who cannot be enrolled for Grade R. The inequality starts at the earliest stage of schooling. This must be eliminated immediately. Again, one must commend the government for making education from Grade 1 to Grade 9 compulsory and free. After 27 years of democracy, it is high time that pressure is put on the government to make education…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Hawks have appointed their top officials to execute the investigation and prosecution of all those implicated in the Zondo Commission report on state capture. This was revealed in a joint statement issued by the NPA and Hawks yesterday amid apparent pressure from political parties, civil society organisations and labour movements calling for drastic action against the perpetrators of state capture. Last week, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture headed by Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo issued damning findings against various people including former president Jacob Zuma. Justice Zondo found that South Africa was captured by the Gupta family while Zuma was still at the helm. In the first part of three-part report, Justice Zondo found…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za STELLENBOSCH Municipality’s traffic employees have accused the municipality of corruption and claim mistreatment by the management of the traffic department. This after they were allegedly called to sign a contract for a period of a year but were then surprised to find their letters were made out for a three month period. They felt they were forced to sign them as they were told they were their last contracts. Among other problems, they have also complained about the municipality giving them old-smelling uniforms with mold on them. One of the employees, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation, said: “We are working under bad working conditions in this Stellenbosch Municipality, under the management of Stellenbosch traffic department.” The employee said they did not…

Penelope Andrews Since the dying days of apartheid in the mid-1990s, and at several pivotal moments since, South Africans have yearned for some measure of accountability for the ravages of apartheid. After all, the end of a system declared a crime against humanity by the UN had to yield an inevitable reckoning and accountability, especially for its victims. The first opportunity for accountability for apartheid crimes in democratic South Africa came with the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, released in 1998 and 2003. The universal expectation was that those denied amnesty at the commission for apartheid-era atrocities, or those who refused to appear before it, would be held accountable by the criminal justice system. A slew of prosecutions would have been in order. Regrettably, such accountability did not…

On the afternoon of December 30, security forces banged on the windows of Khartoum Teaching Hospital then fired tear gas into an emergency room packed with protesters injured in a nearby demonstration. “We were around the corner trying to hide, it came right past our heads,” said a nurse who asked to withhold her name for fear of retribution. “We couldn’t breathe and had to rush out.” Attacks on medical facilities seen during an uprising in Sudan three years ago have re-emerged during rallies against an October coup, deepening anger among the protest movement and further straining a chronically under-resourced health system. The coup ended an agreement between the military and major political parties to share power after a 2019 uprising that toppled Omar al-Bashir after three decades of autocratic…

ESHLIN VEDAN eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za WHILE the big guns mostly avoided each other in the Nedbank Cup last-32 draw held in Sandton yesterday, there are still some interesting clashes to look forward to. The more decorated teams should mostly win their games, but knockout tournaments always produce upsets and there are bound to be a few, especially with the pandemic having taken a toll on the overall structure and quality of several teams. Kaizer Chiefs face TS Galaxy in a repeat of the 2019 final which famously produced one of the biggest upsets in South African football as the then Championship side got the better of Amakhosi. In another clash that promises much, attack-minded Cape Town City have been drawn against Premiership high-flyers Royal AM. City coach Eric Tinkler is aware that…

Kedibone Modise kedibone.modise@inl.co.za Media personality and businesswoman Pearl Thusi has accused her employees of stealing from her. In a series of tweets, the Behind The Story host expressed her disappointment at the people she trusted with her “property”. “My home staff has been stealing from me. I’m hacked,” said the TV star. “The saddest thing is when staff in your home steal from you, it’s like losing family. “And without proof of who did it, you have to pay for their crime to let them go or deal with the CCMA. That’s actually crazy. “The stuff is just missing and no one knows what happened, but they’re the only other people with access to the property missing. I’m actually hurt. I really cared for these people,” said the star. “Home…

Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za POLICE Minister Bheki Cele’s office has confirmed he will investigate the City’s Safety and Security Investigations Unit’s (SSIU’s) operations. Cele’s spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said yesterday a decision had been taken to look into the matters raised by Good Party secretary-general Brett Herron who had written to Cele asking him to investigate the legality of the SSIU. Yesterday Herron said although he had not been alerted directly to the fact that the minister intended to investigate, he welcomed the news. “Crime prevention cannot be achieved through unlawful means,” he said. Herron said in his letter to Cele that the SSIU was a policing/intelligence structure that operated outside the parameters of the Police Act and, unlike the Municipal Police Service, was not subject to provincial oversight. The City meanwhile…

Planned work is ‘necessary maintenance’ Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za ANTI-NUCLEAR activists calling on Eskom to suspend its plans for Koeberg’s refurbishment, starting on Monday, have “jumped the gun”. The National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) said the replacement of the six steam generators at Eskom’s ageing 1 840MW Koeberg nuclear power station, set to begin on January 17, was necessary maintenance work and not the long-awaited, controversial refurbishment. Eskom’s current operating licence for Koeberg expires in 2024 and the refurbishment is required by the NNR. NNR spokesperson Gino Moonsamy said the work had nothing to do with long-term operations. “All they are doing is a planned refuelling outage. In terms of long-term operations and plant life extension, which is what everyone is very much interested in at the moment, Koeberg has applied to…

R14.3bn paid to public servants due to ill-health Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za PUBLIC Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo revealed that hundreds of thousands of public servants racked up R14.3 billion in leave taken due to ill health and incapacity in a period spanning 19 months since the outbreak of the pandemic. The cost in the normal sick and incapacity leave excluded the benefits claimed by public servants in the Defence Department and the State Security Agency. Dlodlo revealed this in a response to parliamentary questions from DA MP Mimmy Martha Gondwe who enquired about the number of employees who had taken leave due to ill health and incapacity since the outbreak of the pandemic. She also asked for the breakdown of the number of public servants in each national…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za EMPLOYEES of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) will soon have up to five armed bodyguards to escort them between their workplaces across the country and their homes. The close-armed protectors will guard the more than 500 SIU employees and are expected to detect threats faced by staff during investigations. Their main objective will be to protect an employee and the employee’s immediate family. Among the SIU’s staff compliment are a variety of skilled and semi-skilled professionals, including forensic lawyers, forensic investigators, forensic accountants, forensic cyberexaminers, and forensic data analysts. The SIU plans to appoint private companies, which will be responsible for providing a minimum of five close- armed protectors as and when required by the unit. The close-armed protection service must be provided to SIU employees, based…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za THE second day of the high court hearing into the Zulu royal family court case ended with a stalemate on key matters as no judgments were handed down on the validity of the marriage of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini and his first wife, Queen Sibongile Dlamini-Zulu. The other matter before Judge Isaac Madondo, KwaZulu-Natal’s deputy judge president, at the Pietermaritzburg high court was whether the court should grant an interdict to prevent Misuzulu’s coronation as the next king of the Zulu nation pending a court determination on whether the 2016 will of the late king was valid or not. Yesterday's hearing started with Judge Madondo handing another legal setback to Queen Sibongile after he turned down her last-minute bid to allow her to amend her court…

THE establishment of yet another anti-corruption agency in South Africa will not be a simple task, with possible difficulties in identifying its power relationships with the other agencies. At the end of the previous millennium and beginning of this one, there was a wave of anti-corruption agencies being set-up all over the world. One reason for that was the adoption of the UN Commission Against Corruption. The second reason, especially in Eastern Europe, was the desire of countries to join the EU. In the beginning, there were no criteria that countries had to meet with regards to fighting corruption in order to join the EU, but eventually the establishment of such agencies was required. There are two different types, the first being preventative agencies, which do not have any law-enforcement…

MALI beat title hopefuls Tunisia 1-0 after a tale of two penalties yesterday as the Africa Cup of Nations moved to Limbe in Cameroon’s south-west, a region on edge due to the conflict led by anglophone separatists. Ibrahima Kone’s spot-kick shortly after half-time was the difference in a Group F game, but Tunisia could have earned a draw only for Wahbi Khazri to have his late penalty saved. Mali held on despite having substitute El Bilal Toure sent off late on, and the result is a setback for 2004 champions Tunisia, as another of the leading contenders struggled in the heat and humidity of a mid-afternoon kick-off. After an average of a goal a game in the first nine matches of the tournament, this was another lacking goal-mouth action,…

ZAAHIER ADAMS at Newlands Third Test, Day 2: India 223 (Kohli 79; Rabada 4/73) and 57/2 South Africa 210 (Petersen 72; Bumrah 5/42) SOUTH Africa are going to have to find another hero today if they are to remain in the contest in this series-deciding third Test. At the Wanderers last week it took a stern conversation between captain Dean Elgar and his chief fast bowler Kagiso Rabada that lit the fire at the Bullring. That responsibility may fall at the feet of Rabada once again, but it could be anyone of Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Duanne Olivier or Keshav Maharaj. At this stage, with South Africa trailing by 70 runs with India just two wickets down in their second innings, they would not care who steps up beacuse this…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za CONSIDERING the Bulls’ struggles on their United Rugby Championship (URC) tour, it was almost a blessing in disguise for prop Gerhard Steenekamp that he had to return home – to get married. The Currie Cup champions had been dismantled by a high-octane display from Leinster to go down 31-3 in Dublin last September, and a long three weeks lay ahead for the Pretoria side. Instead, Steenekamp was able to fly back to South Africa for his wedding to now wife Elbie the following weekend, and missed the games against Connacht, Cardiff and Edinburgh. “It’s much more enjoyable than what people made it sound like before the time – no, I’m just joking,” he said when asked how married life has been treating him. “It’s very, very nice,…

THE next month promises to be the most challenging for Liverpool in recent times. It could define their season and determine whether they will have to settle for a top-four place or challenge for the Premier League title. Liverpool enter their league clash against Brentford this weekend in less than ideal form. They are without a league win in their last three top-flight games, having drawn against Chelsea and Tottenham while they lost to Leicester in that time. They are now 11 points adrift of league pace-settlers Manchester City, albeit with a game in hand. With Manchester City now starting to look like they are sailing to the Premier League title and Chelsea and Liverpool looking to be their closest competitors, there is very little opportunity for the latter two…

ATHLETIC Bilbao midfielder Raul Garcia has condemned the decision to play the revamped Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, saying that “football now is all about making money and finding sponsors”. “It’s a complete nonsense,” said Garcia in Bilbao as he prepared to travel to Saudi capital Riyadh, where his side face Atletico Madrid today. Real Madrid and Barcelona played yesterday. The final is on Sunday at a sold-out King Fahd Stadium. “Maybe I’m old school, but soccer has changed and the fans have been forgotten. I don’t think I need to say that, anyone can see,” Garcia added. Spanish FA (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales on Tuesday defended playing in Saudi Arabia, saying the tournament was a way of generating income for some of La Liga’s more modest clubs. “We…