Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-02-16 i Cape Argus

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa last week delivered South Africa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), and the proverbial dust has now settled. This dust may have been kicked up by those who oppose him, his leadership style, his party, the ANC, and the way it is leading this country. Conversely, others were left unimpressed by what was delivered in the address, as it provided them with nothing to make their lives any better or provide genuine hope. The doctor (by marriage) has given a diagnosis. He has pretty much confirmed what most knew and feared. He has also given his prescription. The challenge is that many do not like his diagnosis and call for another doctor. Others accept the diagnosis but do not like the prescription or know from experience that…

Alyssia Birjalal alyssia.birjalal@inl.co.za THE much-anticipated official trailer for the African reality show, Young, Famous & African has dropped – and it ticks all the right boxes. The seven-episode Netflix show follows the OTT lives of star celebrities from across the continent, such as actress and singer Khanyi Mbau, rapper Nadia Nakai, musician Diamond Platnumz, along with Annie Macaulay-Idibia, 2Baba, Zari the Boss Lady, Naked DJ, Swanky Jerry, Andile Ncube and Kayleigh Schwark and promises viewers top-tier entertainment. It’s a glitzy reality series, aka a real-life soap opera, which looks at rivalries, new friendships and romantic connections forming, to stories that made the headlines and the delicious tea being spilled, these African stars will give viewers an intimate insider look into their glamorous lives as they navigate the City…

Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za THE STATE’S case against alleged Ponzi scheme operator Frederick Greyling (alias Frik Strauss) which was set to start at the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court yesterday, has again been postponed – this time until April 12. The latest postponement was allowed by the court to give the Legal Aid advocate more time to conclude consultations with Greyling. Greyling is charged with 20 counts of fraud, contravention of the Banks Act, contravention of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act and money laundering. He last appeared in court in January when the case was postponed until yesterday for the same reasons. In October last year, another hearing of the case was postponed for the complete transcription of the record for the Legal Aid attorney who had come on…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za PREMIER Alan Winde said he is disappointed that President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the state of disaster by a further month. During his State of the Province Address (Sopa) yesterday, Winde said he had asked for a meeting with the president so that they could get the full roadmap for exiting the national state of disaster, including exact timelines. “To be clear, we want the date and the time, and not generalised commitments,” Winde said. Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma made the announcement of the extension on Monday. The state of disaster is now set to expire on March 15. This would result in the country being under a state of disaster for nearly 24 months, as it was first declared at the…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za THE reopening of Rietvlei as a result of pressure from the Milnerton Aquatic Club, which conducted its own independent water quality testing at the wetland, has renewed calls for the scrapping of restrictions on independent water testing. It also raised questions about the City’s testing equipment and testing sites used, including scientists’ ethics and the public availability of water quality tests. The testing of any water body within a nature reserve without written authorisation is prohibited by the City. The City recently reopened Rietvlei following three independent water quality tests conducted by the Milnerton Aquatic Club, which varied from those it conducted. UCT Environmental Humanities South centre director Professor Lesley Green said it was concerning that the findings of the scientific service were again questioned. “As a…

FAROUK ARAIE | Johannesburg The conflict in Ukraine is about power; and regime change involving full spectrum warfare. Those who engage in these acts of war remain undeterred that one single failure can lead to atomic obliteration. Nato’s quest to expand inch by inch into the former Soviet Union’s areas of influence, will lead to the most brutal war in Europe that will exceed the ruin of both world wars. Europe and the world will only experience peace if Nato is disbanded. Nato has outlived its purpose. Nato leaders fail to realise that President Putin is prepared to fight a total nuclear war. His nuclear arsenal is the largest in the world, it has the capacity to kill billions. Prospects for global peace will never attain reality. Numerous…

As EVERYONE should be aware, we have national minimum wage legislation in South Africa, which was first introduced in 2019 and is now destined to increase to R23.19 per hour next month. Employees must be paid at least four hours of work per day even if they work less. Also, for the first time, we have parity with domestic workers and farm labourers. The exception is that those in the public works programme will earn a minimum of R12.75 per hour. It is a criminal offence for employers to pay less than the national minimum wage even if the parties agree to accept a lower wage. That agreement is null and void and against public morals. An employer must pay the minimum wage and may not deduct monies for transport,…

“We, the people of South Africa, recognise the injustices of our past (and commit to) improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person …” Recognising the injustices of the past means identifying those individuals and communities who suffered severely in the past. Among those, I remember widowed women who were prevented from keeping council houses after their husbands died. They were loaded onto government (“GG”) trucks and dumped in many sites all over South Africa. They were regarded as “ surplus people”. Hence, an advocacy NGO by that name was established, which documented these forced removals all over the country. The Anglican priest Father Cosmas Desmond also documented these people’s lives in his book, The Discarded People. Some of us have relatives who…

Fake news is flooding Africa’s conflict-ridden Sahel, according to experts, sowing discord and confusion in the increasingly volatile region. Doctored news bulletins and altered photos often spread like wildfire on social networks in the impoverished region, where access to traditional media is patchy. Jihadists are waging a brutal insurgency across much of the vast region, having first emerged in Mali in 2012 before spreading to Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of people have died and around 2 million have been displaced by the conflict, despite the presence of thousands of French troops. Fake news has thrived on the turmoil, notably videos and photos that are altered with the aim of casting France or regional West African alliances in a poor light. Experts say the phenomenon is becoming even more frequent.…

Nomalanga Tshuma nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za BISHOP LAVIS police have requested the public to assist with information in an investigation into the dumping of a foetus at a sewage plant in Borcherds Quarry, Airport Industria. The foetus was discovered by security guards on duty at the facility earlier this week, leaving community leaders in shock and searching for answers that could help the police to apprehend the persons involved. Bishop Lavis CPF chairperson Graham Lindhorst said: “I’m shocked. It’s not every day that we hear about such cases.” Meanwhile, across the city, safe havens for vulnerable children are working to remain open and offer safe spaces for abandoned children at a time most crucial to them. In Kraaifontein, Badisa Scottsdene says that while things have quietened down over the past few months, the…

Honours pledge to spearhead a ‘new way’ Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za IN A shake-up of the existing structure of the provincial government, Premier Alan Winde has announced the establishment of new departments as part of his stated pledge to spearhead a new way of work in the province. The announcement was contained in yesterday’s State of the Province address (Sopa) which Winde delivered at the Velddrif Town Hall yesterday. The changes to the composition of the provincial executive council come as part of his efforts to streamline service delivery. They include a new department solely responsible for infrastructure, which will be crafted out of a merger of the existing departments of Human Settlements and Public Works which will be hived off from Transport. “The Infrastructure Department will be tasked with…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@iinl.co.za PREMIER Alan Winde says he is still waiting for a report into sexual misconduct allegations against suspended Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz. Winde has also highlighted gender-based violence (GBV) as a major problem in the province. Fritz was suspended last month after it was brought to Winde’s attention that he had allegedly groomed young staff members. During his State of the Province Address yesterday, Winde stressed the need for urgency to fight GBV. “Currently, in my own cabinet, allegations of this nature have been made against MEC Albert Fritz. I have therefore suspended the MEC and instituted an independent investigation by Advocate Jennifer Williams, which is currently under way to determine the veracity of the allegations. I hope to receive this report soon so I can consider…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has commended the Gauteng government for acting against nine officials implicated in the personal protective equipment (PPE) tender irregularities in the province. The commendation came after the office of Premier David Makhura announced that nine officials were served with precautionary suspensions. The suspensions came days after President Cyril Ramaphosa said that his office had set up mechanisms to monitor implementation of the recommendations of the SIU, and ensure that government departments and entities acted against those who had violated regulations and broken the law. Makhura’s spokesperson, Vuyo Mhaga, said the SIU had uncovered serious irregularities in the awarding of contracts for the refurbishment of the AngloGold Ashanti Hospital on the West Rand. The SIU had been investigating allegations of irregularities…

Kristin Engel kristin.engel@inl.co.za A NEW Cape Town internet provider, TooMuchWifi, which aims to bring affordable wi-fi to townships while hiring previously unemployed people from these townships, has pledged to support communities by offering scholarships to learners who lost their parents in communities served by the provider. The internet provider awarded its Gato Thomson scholarship to two academically gifted high school learners – Ithinathi Khusela from Langa, and Asemahle Gama from Khayelitsha – to attend UCT’s private online high school. The scholarship honours TooMuchWifi CEO Ian Thomson’s father, whose parents died when he was 13, and the community that supported him. Thomson’s wife and partner, Ceylan Thomson said: “On top of having their school fees paid, the students will each receive a laptop, an uncapped internet line, and all the other…

Iain Dale | Parklands I’m NOT sure that Ebrahim Essa has got it quite right with regard to working longer hours at less pay in order to put food on the table. Rather thinking out of the box in order to get more people jobs would be to firstly look at manufacturing, where 24x7 is necessary, and instead of three shifts, have four shifts of six hours each, granted for less pay, but more people employed. Possibly more difficult for conventional 8 to 5 jobs, unless perhaps making that a 10-hour day with two shifts of five hours each. Or maintain the eight hours and have an overlap of say an hour or so, alternatively five hours one day and four hours the next, again creating more jobs.…

It is my view that we have not acknowledged our teachers (educators) sufficiently, correctly and loudly enough. I would tamper with the lyrics of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance that “… the policeman’s lot is not a happy one…” to “ … a teacher’s lot in the RSA is not a happy lot.” To start with, the role of teachers became enmeshed with the national strategy of economic recovery when we did not know enough to keep schools open or not. Education is not, nor should it ever be part of the armoury of a nation engaged in confronting an epidemic. The teacher’s role was almost reduced to the farcical national debate on the sale of alcohol in respect of the national health imperative. “Education is…

Now that the State of the Nation Address delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa has come and gone, our province turns its attention this week to the State of the Province Address. Sadly, we enter Sopa 2022 with a community safety MEC, one of our province’s most critical departments, under suspension for allegedly violating the safety of young women in his office and department. Yet we must not be oblivious to the internal fights within the DA for control of this department’s budget now that it has grown significantly over the past few years. One of the critical mechanisms in keeping our communities safe and which has been starved by the department are community policing forums (CPFs). Just last December, writing in these pages, I lamented the fact that the DA…

Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za THE Western Cape High Court has dismissed a bid by investment and financial services scheme Rockland Asset Management and Consulting (RAM) to get rid of the court-appointed curator of two trusts it founded and managed. These two trusts are known as bewind beneficiary trusts and trade as the Rockland Targeted Development Investment Fund (TDI) and the Rockland Property Investment Fund (RIF). In a bewind trust, the founder transfers the ownership of assets or property to beneficiaries of the trust, but control over the assets or property is given to the trustee, or curator as in this case. RAM’s collective investment scheme business was placed into curatorship in 2012 and 2013 by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), formerly the Financial Services Board, after an investigation found the…

Rafieka Williams rafieka.williams@inl.co.za THE police officer who discovered the decomposing body of Sesi Sibanyoni testified in the Western Cape High Court yesterday. Abraham Mtsweni has been charged with two counts of rape and murder of his girlfriend, after Sibanyoni’s body was found in her Maitland flat on July 29, 2019, three days after he had visited her from Pretoria. Sampie Evertson was the first police officer to arrive at the scene after Maitland police station received complaints from Sibanyoni’s friends and colleagues that she was not responding to calls, or to visitors outside her flat. Evertson told the court that when he arrived at the flat the door was locked. He found Sibanyoni’s body covered with blankets. He noticed that she had on only a grey robe and a top.…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za A MITCHELLS Plain high school teacher has filed a complaint with police, alleging that a department head at the school had continually sexually harassed and assaulted her. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is also investigating. It said this was the latest after 19 unrelated sexual assault cases and 15 cases of sexual harassment were reported to it since the beginning of last year. The victim, 24, who cannot be named, said she resigned in November last year as she could not bear working around the alleged perpetrator. She alleged that in the few months she worked at the school, he continually harassed and violated her. She said the incidents started two weeks after she started work in February last year. He was one of two department…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa continued to come under fire yesterday, with the opposition laying the problems of the country at the door of the ANC. But Minerals and Energy Gwede Mantashe came to the government’s defence and accused the DA of the divide-and-rule strategy. EFF MP Omphile Maotwe attacked Ramaphosa, saying a number of state-owned entities were in a state of collapse since he took over. DA MP Samantha Graham slammed the government for incompetence over the fire at Parliament. Mkhuleko Hlengwa of the IFP accused the ANC of backtracking from Ramaphosa’s statement last Thursday that it was the private sector that created jobs and not the government. National Freedom Party MP Manzoor Shaik Emam said ANC divisions affected the stability of the country and if not…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za THE City is making a new HIV preventive strategy available at its facilities for HIV negative people to prevent them from contracting the virus. The City’s health department is now offering Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a daily tablet of antiretrovirals to be taken by HIV-negative people. The move comes during STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) and Condom Awareness Week running from last Thursday to today. Mayco member for Community Services and Health Patricia van der Ross said if taken correctly on a daily basis, PrEP is “very effective” in preventing HIV. “Your sexual and reproductive health is your responsibility. Visit your nearest clinic with any concerns or questions, and do what is necessary to protect yourself and those you love.” Symptoms of an STI may include vaginal discharge,…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za PUPILS at Gordon High School in Somerset West received counselling and police were out in force yesterday after a matric pupil was stabbed to death on his way to school. The 18-year-old was allegedly stabbed by his fellow learner and died at the scene. Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said two suspects aged 14 and 18 were brought in for questioning and a murder docket was opened. Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond confirmed that the increased violence in the community as a result of alleged gang warfare had resulted in a loss of teaching and learning time. Hammond said the school would be open today. She said pupils received the necessary counselling support and there was a high police presence. Community leader Athi Ndwebi…

Cllr Yagyah Adams | Cape Muslim Congress After centuries of divide and rule, we were recently told by some politicians that we are a nation. The reality is that South Africa is not really a homogeneous nation and few want to speak about this because even less people know how to solve our problems. To explain nation building is theoretically misleading, and giving realistic examples is a more practical way of clarifying the issues. Example, President Ramaphosa spoke at the State of the Nation about the need for business to create jobs. It’s clear that the state cannot create jobs since the corruption, maladministration, fruitless and wasteful outlay and overall chaos in so many government departments is shocking. Business must create jobs as the government cannot create jobs…

Keith Gottschalk | Chairperson – Off-the-Wall Poetry, Claremont OFF-THE-WALL Poetry is saddened by the report of the premature death at 46 of Primrose Mrwebi (Cape Argus, February 15). We have fond memories of how, during the early 2000s, Primrose hosted our poetry readings in two pubs, and played a leading role alongside the late Hugh Hodge in running our open mic sessions. We affirm her contributions to poetry in Cape Town, and send condolences to all her family, colleagues and friends. May they all have long life.…

Russia said yesterday it was pulling back some of its forces near the Ukrainian border to their bases, in what would be the first major step towards de-escalation in weeks of crisis with the West. The move came amid an intense diplomatic effort to avert a feared Russian invasion of its pro-Western neighbour and after Moscow amassed more than 100 000 troops near Ukraine’s borders. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday for talks. The crisis, the worst between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War, reached a peak this week, with US officials warning that a full-scale invasion, including an assault on the Ukranian capital Kyiv, was possible within days. Russia has rejected the accusations while saying movements of forces on its…