Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-02-17 i Cape Argus

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za TRANSPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula engaged with taxi operators at the Cape Town station taxi rank in a bid to clear their concerns around the Covid-19 Taxi Relief Fund (TRF) scheme, which has created confusion and uncertainty between taxi owners and their drivers. Mbalula embarked on a roadshow with taxi associations, encouraging operators in the province to apply for the funding. The TRF is a financial support scheme introduced by the Department of Transport in collaboration with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) to help mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the taxi industry. It is expected to compensate taxi operators, drivers, queue marshals and staff working at the offices of the taxi associations. Mbalula said they had noticed a lack of applications from the operators. “They…

Kristin Engel kristin.engel@inl.co.za THERE is progress with the NS Qingdao bulk cargo ship’s salvage operation at the Port of Saldanha Bay after a severe maritime emergency that resulted in the ship having to conduct controlled dumping off the West Coast of unstable chemical cargo that caught alight. In January, the ship was authorised by the national Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (Deff), and the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa), to commence with controlled dumping of unstable chemical cargo 250km off the West Coast in 3 000m deep water to prevent the ship from catching fire and further endangering the people on board and the coastline. After numerous challenges of the cargo reigniting and the vessel having to be towed back to sea, Samsa spokesperson Tebogo Ramatjie said the…

Colin Bosman | Newlands Reading about the sex scandal surrounding the second son of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Andrew, leaves one with many unanswered questions. That Jeffrey Epstein was a sleazeball is crystal clear. That Prince Andrew got caught up in the Epstein saga is also obvious. However, many questions come to mind. First, where were the complainant Virginia Giuffre’s parents while she was jet-setting around the world with Epstein and his entourage at the age of 16? According to the tabloids she was to be trained as a “massage therapist” while employed by Epstein! At the age of 16? Where was her mother in all this? Claims that she was “trafficked” by Epstein for nefarious reasons are well documented. On the face of it, however, it appears as…

It is nice to hear and see that students are beginning in 2022 to participate in sporting activities since they stopped at the end of March 2020. Political analysts were saying that society would never be the same again and that the world must change in order to create a better society for the majority of the world’s population. I agree wholeheartedly with them. However, we see the world returning to normal without a concerted effort to fulfil what the pandemic exposed to us. Pupils in South Africa have returned to full classes now despite the inequalities in education. Some schools have applied for exemption from having students back because they feel the teachers and the pupils cannot cope with the large classes. The National Education Department is promising to…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za FOR the past 30 years, the Athlone District Advice Office (NPO) has provided free legal advice and guidance, and assisted the vulnerable and marginalised Athlone community and surrounding areas. Established by then members of the Athlone North Branch of the ANC in early 1992, it was first named the ANC Athlone North Advice Office with the goal of addressing critical issues affecting the impoverished communities ridden with poverty, high crime, unemployment, and substance abuse and injustice. It has since become a non-profit organisation. In celebrating the milestone, the Advice Office is planning to host three major events, starting with an interfaith thanksgiving and followed by a community indaba and a gala dinner. Project director Brian Alcock said the Advice Office was a household name in the community…

KINSHASA: Environmental group Greenpeace said the Democratic Republic of Congo had failed to respect a multimillion-dollar agreement signed with Britain last year to finance protecting its ecologically vital forests. The DRC and Britain approved funds worth $500 million as part of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) two months ago in Glasgow, which hosted the COP26 climate change conference. Greenpeace said Congo’s environment ministry failed to publish before the end of 2021 an audit by the country’s spending watchdog of forest concessions, the agreement’s first milestone. It added that the report has still not been published despite a reminder on January 2. The DRC’s environment ministry said the Glasgow accord did not impose preconditions to unlock funds for forest protection. It said financing forest protection only represented 20 percent of…

Russia said more of its forces surrounding Ukraine were withdrawing yesterday but Nato urged Moscow to prove it was pulling back, saying there were signs that more troops were on the way. Britain joined the US in saying it had yet to be convinced the pullout was real, while in Ukraine, the defence ministry said an unprecedented cyberattack was into its second day. Russia said it had nothing to do with any attack. “We do not know anything. As expected, Ukraine continues blaming Russia for everything,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Its defence ministry published video that it said showed tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery units leaving the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014. Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said a pull-out would be welcome but…

Nomalanga Tshuma nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za BRACKENFELL police are still hunting for two more suspects who were part of a foursome that brazenly robbed the local post office of thousands of rand. The incident, which occurred this week, reportedly saw four men rob the post office at gunpoint before making a seemingly clean getaway. However, several hours later metro police officers apprehended two of the suspects on the R300 close to the Van Riebeeck off-ramp. Metro police spokesperson Ruth Solomons said: “Officers were busy with a crime prevention patrol when they received information about a suspicious vehicle in the area. “Following up on the tip, officers spotted the vehicle on CCTV cameras driving away from the scene of the armed robbery earlier at Brackenfell Post Office. Officers followed the vehicle and were able…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za IT’S now a guessing game regarding the next move by former president Jacob Zuma. This comes as Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen yesterday dismissed Zuma’s application to appeal the ruling on his bid to force National Prosecuting Authority senior prosecutor advocate Billy Downer SC to recuse himself from his arms deal corruption trial. Yesterday, Judge Koen ruled that he saw no prospects of success even if the matter was heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal, and that the high-stakes corruption trial must go ahead. He insisted that Zuma’s legal team should ensure that the former head of state avails himself on the said date so that the trial, which he previously said had been long delayed, could proceed. In his 61-page judgment, Judge Koen said…

Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za LEADER of the provincial opposition Cameron Dugmore (ANC) has accused Premier Alan Winde and the DA in the province of engaging in a cover-up with regard to the sexual misconduct scandal involving suspended Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz. Leading the debate on the State of the Province Address at the Velddrif Town Hall, Dugmore said that while more than a month had passed since the issue came to light, the provincial legislature had still not discussed the issue, and accused the DA of using delaying tactics. He urged Winde, acting DA provincial leader Tertuis Simmers and Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez to be honest and transparent with the legislature and to reveal when they first heard the complaints about Fritz. “We expect more from you. The leaders…

Mfezeko Bunu | KHAYELITSHA South Africa needs real change and real fast. The governing party continues to host the State of the Nation address (Sona) every year even though it has been proven this expensive event does not yield real change to the lives of the poor. This is by no means the fault of the ANC government, but this failure to bring about meaningful change is as a result of the system of governance that has always been in place in this country. Every person who has financial backing can form a political party so they can also be in government to loot the fiscus. South Africa currently has 504 political parties registered with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), and 325 political parties contested the 2021 local…

MICHAEL BAGRAIM | Cape Town WITH reference to “President vows war on red tape, graft” (Cape Argus, February 11). At last the Presidency has recognised that red tape is a job creation retardant. The Western Cape province government has proved this time and again. Over and above this, the Presidency also has acknowledged that the government does not create jobs but the private sector does. To take it one step further, President Ramaphosa also agreed that it was small business that was going to create the jobs for the future. To put all these promises together is not an expensive task. I’m not sure why we need to have another think tank and discussions for a hundred days. Unfortunately, these discussions get bogged down like they have always…

Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za TWENTY members of the Ruyterwacht Tenants Forum (RTF) held a protest outside Parliament yesterday demanding the properties they live in be given to them, because some of them have paid rent for decades to Communicare. They had gathered to witness the handing over of a memorandum to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. In the memorandum, the tenants claim, among other things, they were being victimised by Communicare and challenged the organisation to prove its ownership of the properties which they claimed were owned by a defunct body set up during apartheid times. Last November, the Land Claims Court instructed the Deeds Office to provide all the documents relating to Communicare’s ownership of selected properties. The matter is still unsettled. RTF leader Reginald Cedras said they had…

Matthew Petersen A FOOTBALL academy in Masiphumelele has stepped up to help the township’s youth to become more than just soccer players by partnering with a UK-based football outfit. The Ubuntu Football academy was started in 2011 as a response to the lack of male role models in many of Cape Town’s impoverished communities. Ubuntu Football incorporates a holistic approach towards improving the lives of boys aged between 12 and 18. It offers a number of programmes, with football and education the primary focus. It offers the boys elite football training sessions run by top coaches, who aim to instil the discipline in the boys needed, and give them the skills required, to become professional footballers. It has partnered with Football DNA in the UK and FK Bod/Glimt in Norway.…

The Omicron variant is dominant in South Africa and worldwide. It is highly transmissible but associated with less severe disease in the South African context. Hospitalisations and deaths are still seen worldwide, though, particularly among the unvaccinated and vulnerable groups. So there is no room for complacency. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant worldwide, together with increased global vaccination, should result in high levels of immunity worldwide to Sars-CoV-2. This is likely to change the face of the pandemic to less severe infections, less pressure on health-care facilities and an easing of restrictions. This does not mean that Covid-19 is over. We are still likely to experience periods of increased cases, smaller-scale outbreaks and even the development of new variants. Recent evidence shows that HIV- infected people who have…

The AU is urging its international partners to overhaul the way they finance peace and security operations to help the continent counter the growing problems of terrorism, extremism and coups more effectively. The AU needs “adequate, predictable and sustainable funding” to play a more proactive role in maintaining security, and wants access to the obligatory payments countries make to finance the UN budget and peacekeeping operations, said Bankole Adeoye, the continental body’s peace and security commissioner. “Peacekeeping is not what we need, it is peace enforcement,” Adeoye said ahead of a two-day summit between European and African leaders in Brussels today, that seeks to reboot ties through a pledge of major investment. Without a shift in how security operations are conducted, the world is signing up to “a lifetime of…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za KAIZER Chiefs had every right to miss coach Stuart Baxter, but that doesn’t mean they should have rekindled their relationship with him. He was an ex for a reason. And that’s why they could have opted for Arthur Zwane this season instead. After being bundled out of the Nedbank Cup by TS Galaxy, Amakhosi are on course to go seven seasons without silverware. This defies their tag of being “The Cup Kings of South African football”, following illustrious historic success. During this dry spell, they’ve had as many as five coaches. Some appointments were questionable. The latest one was that of Baxter who rejoined the team last year. Sure, Baxter was the last successful coach at the club between 2012 and 2015. He won two titles and…

MICHAEL SHERMAN michael.sherman@africannewsagency.com CHRISTIAAN Bezuidenhout will lead the charge of five South Africans in action at The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in California from today. The 27-year-old has played exclusively on the US PGA Tour in 2022, and seems to be rounding into form. Since a sixth place finish at the SA Open in December, Bezuidenhout has produced finishes of 17th, 40th, 46th and 14th in his last four events. His tie for 14th at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am two weeks ago was particularly encouraging. Bezuidenhout carded rounds of 71, 70, 66 and 69 to finish on 11-under-par for the week. For his efforts, Bezuidenhout is 82nd on the FedExCup rankings in the early stages of the season. As the world No 56, Bezuidenhout will also be the…

SOME anti-transformation individuals will often mock Bafana Bafana and say they would have been achieving better results had they been similar to the Springboks and Proteas. These individuals will also often argue that there is not fair representation of minorities in South African football, yet nine times out of 10 can’t even name the minority players in SA football, or who have played and continue to play for Bafana. This leads to doubt over whether they actually supported Bafana when they were a relatively okay team by world standards in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Yes, SA football is not where it should be and it gets embarrassing at times. There are flaws with the system and can do with a lot of improvement. We should be competing among…

Jamal Grootboom jamald.grootboom@inl.co.za Local media personality Minnie Dlamini and television producer Quinton Jones have announced that they’re getting divorced in a joint statement shared on social media. Taking to her Instagram page on Tuesday, the Becoming Mrs Jones star shared a statement detailing the reasons behind the couple calling an end to their marriage. “In the last 2 years, our family has experienced incredible joy and devastating loss. During this time, we found comfort in knowing we had each other. “Despite our better efforts to absorb the changes in motion, the emotional burden and the post-traumatic distress of our individual loss outweighed our will.” Dlamini goes on to explain that after “months of separation and consultations with our family and a counsellor” they had taken the decision to file for…

Rafieka Williams rafieka.williams@inl.co.za STATE prosecutor Lenro Badenhorst highlighted the way residents run towards gang shoot-outs without regard for their safety. Badenhorst was questioning a witness called by the defence in the murder trial of Adrian Carelse and Raydin Lekuta. The two are charged with 18 counts of murder, attempted murder, aiding and abetting criminal gang activity, promoting criminal gang activity, possession of unlicensed firearms and unlawful possession of ammunition. Shaneez van der Westhuizen, from Hanover Park, told the court she had abandoned the safety of her home after she heard shots fired in the area. She said on the night of October 5, 2018, she was putting her children to bed when she heard the shots. She went to her front yard gate as the shots were still being fired.…

Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za PREMIER Alan Winde has said the provincial government needed a strong opposition in the legislature focused on providing alternative policies to those presented by the government benches. He said a good opposition was one that brought its ideas to the legislature and tried to convince the government by following the rules of debate and did not reduced debates to unparliamentary language to make its points. Winde was replying to yesterday’s debate on his State of the Province address (Sopa) which had seen shouting and accusations from both sides of the house leading deputy speaker Beverly Schäfer to threaten to adjourn the session. “If we want to improve the lives and the lot of our citizens, earn their trust and show them that in actual fact they did…

Bruce Chinnia | Phoenix In South Africa, nearly a million teenage girls become pregnant every year. These young women and their sexual partners are less apt to finish high school or go to college. They and their children are more likely to have an income that’s below the poverty level. Their children are more apt to be born prematurely and have a low birth weight, and they are two times more likely to suffer abuse and neglect compared to older mothers. The sons of teen mothers are two times more likely to end up in prison than the sons of mothers who are 20 or older. The daughters of young teen mothers are three times more likely to become teen mothers themselves when compared to mothers who had…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za The Cape Coloured Congress (CCC) has accused the City of enforcing Covid-19 protocol on racial lines. This came after a minstrel procession was curbed by law enforcement in Bo-Kaap on Sunday due to Covid-19 regulations. “However, the CCC notes that these rules are not enforced on white-owned events and businesses of the city centre. “White-owned businesses may cordon off streets and revel in alcoholic trading, flaunting Covid-19 rules in clear view of the same law enforcement. This is evidenced in the bars and clubs of Long Street as well,” the CCC said. CCC leader Fadiel Adams said: “The mayor can close Long Street with City aid and City finances so white people can party with no masks on and it’s fuelled by alcohol. But we are not…

AN ORDER handed down by Judge Matthew Francis in the Western High Court on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, revealed that transformative justice has an important role to play in South Africa’s banking sector. In a David and Goliath battle, and to ensure empowerment and transformation, as well as stop abuse by South Africa’s all-powerful banking fraternity of socio-economic inequity, the wider Sekunjalo Group has launched several legal actions. Judge Francis was ruling on a group action suit brought by several companies (43) within the Sekunjalo Group against Nedbank. These include the listed entities: African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI), and Premier Fishing and Brands (PFB). Nedbank has issued companies affiliated to the broader Sekunjalo Group with notice to terminate their banking facilities, citing that its reputation was in jeopardy in dealing…

Stockholm: The torrent of man-made chemical and plastic waste worldwide has massively exceeded limits safe for humanity or the planet, and production caps are urgently needed, scientists have concluded for the first time. There are an estimated 350 000 different manufactured chemicals on the market and large volumes end up in the environment. “The impacts we’re starting to see today are large enough to be impacting crucial functions of planet Earth and its systems”, said Bethanie Carney Almroth, co-author of a new study. The study, by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, comes ahead of a UN meeting in Nairobi at the end of the month on tackling plastic pollution “from source to sea”, UN Environment Programme head Inger Andersen said on Monday. Chemicals and plastics are affecting biodiversity, piling additional stress…

OUR continent is the most vulnerable to climate change, warming faster than the global average temperature, and the least able to afford the cost of implementing policies and practices that collectively make up what is called “adaptation” to climate change. Without immediately embracing a revolutionary approach, we will cause our own demise. We must agree it is African biodiversity, habitats and livelihoods that are most threatened by climate change. While climate change is accentuating the biodiversity crisis, we also threaten African habitats with loss and degradation when they are not managed in accordance with best scientific knowledge. Water supplies are jeopardised and food insecurity grows when biodiversity is lost. Livelihoods are imperilled when fishing areas, forests and grasslands are polluted or over-exploited, especially by large companies that dispossess indigenous inhabitants.…

Correspondent HE left the comfort of his plush offices in Johannesburg in search of an indigenous heavyweight boxer who would make South African and eventually world boxing proud. But after two years, Rodney Berman of Square Ring, instead of announcing his so-called “amazing” heavyweight, he stumbled on a gem of a middleweight in Phikelani Terence Khumalo in Clermont, west of Durban. “I had to dig deep into the rural areas of Durban for something that would excite me. It’s a hot-bed for the class boxers who are not exposed to the big fight fans and promoters,” Berman said. “I was told to hook up with someone I hadn’t met before and the excitement began building in me. My expectation was to meet the ‘gem’ – the dream of my life’s…