Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-02-18 i Cape Argus

Liam Karabo Joyce liam.joyce@inl.co.za Media personality Somizi Mhlongo will return to the judging panel on Idols SA when its 18th season begins later this year. Mhlongo will be joined by musicians Thembi Seete and JR Bogopa who have replaced Unathi Nkayi and Randall Abrahams whose contracts were not renewed. According to Mzansi Magic, the channel was taking a fresh approach for the new season. Taking to Instagram this week, Mhlongo announced his return and thanked fans for their support. “Be still for I am God … I am someone because of all your prayers,” said the star in a caption for an image of himself and the new judges. In August last year, Mhlongo was shown the door after allegations of abuse were levelled against him by his estranged husband,…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za UCT students have vowed to continue with their protests, adding fee blocks to their list of complaints, which started with the delayed registration processes. Students blocked entrances at UCT yesterday, resulting in the temporary suspension of shuttle services and some classes as the student representative council (SRC) beefed up its protests, alleging that the university had not fulfilled its promise of ensuring all students were registered by Monday. UCT spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said since last week the university had seen some intermittent protest action led by the SRC on campuses. She said the SRC had since last week raised issues related to fee blocks that prevent students with debt over a certain amount from registering at UCT. They had since raised issues related to the registration process.…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za JUSTICE and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola has asked the Constitutional Court to overturn a high court ruling allowing foreign nationals to be admitted and authorised to enrol as non-practising legal practitioners. In September, the full bench of the Free State High Court – Judge President Cagney Musi, Judge Pitso Molitsoane and Acting Judge Germa Wright – declared the Legal Practice Act (LPA) unconstitutional and invalid to the extent that it does not allow foreigners to be admitted and authorised to enrol as non-practising legal practitioners. Lesotho nationals Relebohile Rafoneke and Sefoboko Tsiunyane, who completed the law studies at the University of the Free State, separately applied to the high court to be allowed to practise as lawyers in South Africa. Their application was only partly successful…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za THE Cape of Good Hope SPCA says it is satisfied with the progress made by the Monkey Town Primate Centre in Somerset West in addressing issues in terms of the Animal Protection Act that were violated at the centre last month. Animal charity organisation Paws for Cape Town started a petition demanding that Monkey Town CEO Rene Grobler take active steps to remedy the violations and publicly release a detailed report on its status and a prevention strategy to mitigate a repetition of the said violations. The organisation also demanded that the SPCA prosecute Monkey Town should the Centre fail to remedy the violations. The organisation said it was unacceptable for a centre that housed many animals not to provide suitable conditions for them. Last month…

Musk recalls billionaire who said Tesla would fail Elon Musk has revealed that billionaire investor and vice-president of Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger, once told him that Tesla would fail. On Wednesday, the 98-year-old investor said cryptocurrencies should have been banned and likened them to “venereal disease”. Responding to his comments, Musk, a crypto supporter, recalled when Munger said Tesla could fail. “I was at lunch with Munger in 2009 where he told the whole table all the ways Tesla would fail,” said Musk in a reply tweet. “Made me quite sad, but I told him I agreed with all those reasons and that we would probably die, but it was worth trying anyway,” he added. Now, after a decade, Tesla is one of the world’s top automakers, and Musk is…

PRETORIA “serial killer” Wellington Kachidza has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of extortion, murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and rape in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. The 27-year-old Zimbabwean national appeared in court yesterday, where he handed in his guilty plea for the spate of murders, robbery, contravention of the immigration act, and rapes he committed across Pretoria. Kachidza picked his victims at random from filling stations, retail complexes and train stations, and he committed the murders at various places across the city. He said he lured his victims by telling them he had bought a vehicle but did not have a licence, and wanted someone to help him drive. The court accepted his plea agreement and postponed the matter to today in order to set a date…

SMISO MSOMI smiso.msomi@inl.co.za Banyana Banyana are putting the final touches to their preparations ahead of a much anticipated battle against Algeria as both sides look to seal qualification to the Africa Women Cup of Nations (Awcon). Banyana will want to draw on the memory of their last encounter with the Tennecs, which Banyana won convincingly 5-1 back in 2014. Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies goalkeeper Andile Dlamini believes her team is battle ready and have enough in their camp to perform to the expected levels over the two legs. “We are mentally prepared for the game. The previous match against Zambia (a 3-0 loss) really opened our eyes to a lot of things that we may have been missing.” Algeria have lost just one of their last six matches and scored 28…

WYNONA LOUW wynona.louw@inl.co.za ONE need only look at last year’s results between Western Province and Griquas to know why their Currie Cup meeting in Kimberley today is going to be a good one. Going into this clash, the men from Kimberley have every reason to feel confident about their chances against Jerome Paarwater’s team. Last year, Griquas overcame Province 30-28 in Cape Town, before soaring to a 46-25 triumph in Kimberley in August. Now, heading into today’s game, Griquas have the added bit of confidence knowing that they secured a 41-30 win over the Pumas in their last match, while the Capetonians’ most recent result was a 35-20 defeat to the Sharks at Kings Park. But can Griquas make it three on the trot? A major positive for WP is…

NEW Zealand Rugby secured a lucrative but controversial investment yesterday from US private equity firm Silver Lake after allaying fears from the players’ union that the deal risked tarnishing the famed All Blacks’ legacy. The partnership will see Silver Lake put NZ$200million into a joint commercial entity, which will remain majority-owned by New Zealand Rugby. Institutional investors will be given the opportunity to purchase a further NZ$100m stake later this year, although New Zealand Rugby will retain ownership of around 90%. New Zealand Rugby described the deal as “transformational” for the cash-strapped body, ensuring financial stability and providing money for priorities such as women’s and grassroots rugby. “This partnership presents rugby with an extraordinary opportunity to secure its future and unleash its true potential -- we are truly excited by…

AFTER months of speculation and uncertainty, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton have seemingly put paid to any talks of retirement with a two-word post on their Twitter account on Wednesday afternoon. The Silver Arrows’ official account simply posted “Year 16” with a picture of the seven-time world champion in his new overalls for the 2022 season. Hamilton has largely kept out of the public eye since his dramatic and controversial title loss at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December last year, where he lost a record-breaking eighth world drivers’ title to Dutchman Max Verstappen. In recent weeks, the Brit has been spotted more on social media, and at Mercedes’ F1 base in Brackley in the UK, but there has been no official word as to whether he would…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za THE case against Piketberg police constable Richard Smit accused of killing his girlfriend Natasha Booise last month was postponed to February 24 after his legal representative, William Booth, booked off sick. Smit appeared in the Piketberg Magistrate’s Court yesterday for a formal bail application. The court had initially scheduled February 24 for a bail judgment. Smit is facing seven charges including the murder of Booise, two counts of attempted murder of Roslin Kaaiman and Erin Plaatjies, discharging of a firearm in a public area, handling of a firearm while under the influence of a substance which has an intoxicating or narcotic effect and two counts of assault. A Schedule 6 Certificate confirming that the accused would be charged under Schedule 6 for the murder of Booise was…

Overcrowding is forcing parents to protest Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za Several schools in the Western Cape are so overcrowded that learners are being squeezed out, never to return. The situation has forced learners and parents to protest against the overcrowded classes in different areas this week. Among those were Wesbank and Ilingelethu secondary schools in Malmesbury and Ceres Secondary School, as they were affected by the massive overcrowding, and now other schools with similar issues were threatening to join the protest. Community leader Reverend Christopher Maans, from Malmesbury, said that at the Wesbank and Ilingelethu secondary schools some learners had to sit on the floor while up to three pupils squeezed into a seat at one desk, and there was also a shortage of teachers. “Our schools no longer have the…

Matthew Petersen matthew.petersen@inl.co.za “I HAVE had the privilege of meeting Michael Jordan and also had the basketball court in Gugulethu named after me, but nothing comes greater than knowing I will be donning the South African flag and representing my country.” This is what it means to Vincent Ntunja, the assistant coach of Gugulethu-based basketball team the Cape Town Tigers, to be representing South Africa at the Basketball Africa League (BAL), the continent’s most prestigious basketball competition. The team’s journey to the BAL 2022 started after they won the 2021 South African National Basketball Championship. They were entered into the 2021 qualifying stage held in Soweto. In the Elite 16, they secured third place in the east division to secure their qualification in the competition for the first time. They…

Acne is among the most common skin diseases in the world. It has been known that hair follicles assist in the development of a pimple, but new research suggested the skin cells outside of these hair follicles play a larger role. The findings were published in Science Translational Medicine. “These findings may transform the way we treat acne,” said Professor Richard Gallo, of the Department of Dermatology at University of California San Diego School of Medicine. “Previously, it was thought that hair follicles were most important for acne to develop. In this study, we looked at the cells outside of the hair follicle and found they had a major effect on controlling bacteria and the development of acne.” The cells are called fibroblasts, common in connective tissues throughout the body.…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za International students have expressed their joy at being part of the intake at Cape Town universities, three years after the Covid-19 outbreak in 2019. Stellenbosch University (SU) said it had seen the largest intake of international students, from France, Germany, Sweden, the US, the Netherlands and Austria. SU senior director Robert Kotze recently welcomed more than 420 international students for the official start of their face-to-face on campus. “International students are our connection to the world. As we remain open to learning from (them), we hope (they) too will remain open to learn from this experience,” Kotze said. Janna Keiser, a second-year anthropology student from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, expressed her joy. She said having lost what feels like a lifetime, she was excited…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za KAIZER Chiefs’ discerning fans might have not been to the stadiums for some time but some are making their voices heard regarding Stuart Baxter’s lacklustre coaching by joining an online petition for the Brit to be sacked. In the petition on change.org, which was a little short of 100 signatures to reach its target of 75000 yesterday morning, the group is advocating for Baxter to be axed, and for his assistant Arthur Zwane to be roped in immediately as his successor. The author of the petition believes that “if Stuart Baxter is sacked as a head coach, a lot of people will benefit”, especially Chiefs supporters who are “tired” as their “health is being affected” by the club’s continuous decline. Chiefs’ barren run could extend to seven…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za THE Bulls are sweating on the availability of veteran flyhalf Morné Steyn for next weekend’s United Rugby Championship clash against Zebre in Italy. The 37-year-old pivot received a red card when he was sent off for a dangerous tackle in the 11th minute of the Bulls’ showdown with the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld last Saturday. Steyn went high on Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am, and it looked like a swinging arm as well as making contact with the Springbok centre’s neck area in what was an uncharacteristic loss of concentration and unnecessary aggression from the usually laid-back No 10. The fact that it was also a late tackle left referee AJ Jacobs with little option but to flash the red card. The Bulls were stung by Steyn’s departure,…

SARACENS’ £32million takeover by a consortium including World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar has been completed, it was announced on Wednesday. In October, the English Premiership giants first unveiled a takeover plan that saw Saracens owner Nigel Wray, who has backed the club financially since 1995 and recruited Pienaar as a player, agreeing to sell his controlling stake. Saracens, confirming the deal had gone through, said in a statement: “The board of Saracens Group Holdings Limited is pleased to announce the completion of the previously announced transaction regarding the refinancing of the group and the acquisition of a controlling stake in the group by Kimono House Limited. “Kimono House is owned by a consortium of investors including Dominic Silvester, Neil Golding, Nick Leslau, Paul O’Shea, Francois Pienaar and Marco Masotti.” Pienaar,…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za DAY one at Hagley Oval produced the most dismal batting performance by South Africa since Mark Boucher took over as coach at the end of 2019. In that period, much has been said and written about the regular batting collapses the Proteas had suffered. To be fair to Boucher, it was a problem that had already started before his appointment, so blame for it can’t be laid entirely at his door. Yesterday’s 95 all out in 49.2 overs was the worst performance in that period. You need to go back to Nagpur in 2015 to find the last time SA were bowled out for under 100 in their first innings of a Test match. That was on a pitch that was subsequently sanctioned by the ICC for…

Rafieka Williams rafieka.williams@inl.co.za THE trial of alleged gang leader Elton Lenting and 19 others continued in the Western Cape High Court yesterday, where the State brought an application for certain witnesses to testify anonymously in order to protect their identities. Some of the witnesses were victims of crimes allegedly committed by the accused. The State intends to use video footage and intermediaries for these witnesses to testify due to the nature of the crimes inflicted against them. State prosecutor advocate Peter John Damon called clinical psychologist Kirsten Clarke to the stand to give testimony in support of his application. Clarke served as a section commander in the investigative psychology unit where she dealt with psychologically motivated crimes. A report compiled by Clarke in which she interviewed one of the witnesses,…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za WITH the launch of his third book, deafblind former Catholic priest Cyril Axelrod hopes to show a life filled with colour and adventure, as well as a greater insight into the lives of the deafblind community. Axelrod, the author of And the Journey Begins, launched its sequel, Still on that Journey, at Park Inn by Radisson, Newlands, on Wednesday. Turning 80 next week, he was born deaf and has ministered to deaf and deafblind communities across the world, including South Africa, China and the UK. In 1980, Axelrod was diagnosed with Usher syndrome, which leads to progressive blindness, and became completely blind in 2000. Axelrod uses his hands to interpret the sign language used by a speaker or through his communication assistants. “I was born with Usher…

Nomalanga Tshuma nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za INSPIRED to make a difference in the lives of babies left abandoned, a young Woodstock resident has turned her house into a safe temporary home. In March last year, during the heightened peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Genevieve Bootcov, 27, launched her own safe home for children in need, resigning from being a night nurse to provide a full-time temporary safe care home for babies from birth to two years. Almost a year later, Bootcov’s passionate project has grown into a non-profit organisation that has fostered at least eight babies who needed a loving home. Bootcov said her journey into being a safety parent started with a child she met while volunteering during the start of the coronavirus pandemic. “I never saw myself doing this, but…

FORTNITE developer Epic Games has announced that there are now more than 500 million game accounts. According to technology news website The Verge, it is a notable milestone as Epic continues to build the Epic Games Store as a competitor to Steam and bring in new players for titles such as Fortnite and Rocket League. The company did not share further details about that 500 million, however, so it is unclear how many of those accounts represent segments, such as people who play only Epic’s own games (such as Fortnite) or those who have used only Epic’s store. The company has put a huge number of resources behind growing its PC games store – and therefore, getting more people to sign up for accounts – since it launched…

Electronic Arts has delayed the launch of The Sims 4’s wedding-themed DLC after reversing its decision to skip a Russian release. Alongside developer Maxis, the publisher decided not to drop the content in the country, which was initially said to be due to Russia’s restrictive laws for LGBT+ content. However, Russian gamers were confused, as they pointed out that not only were other countries not skipped, but its laws don’t apply to games rated 18+ in the region, which means The Sims 4 would be exempt. Now, EA has confirmed My Wedding Stories will be released “unaltered and unchanged” as part of a global drop, on February 23. In a statement, EA said: “At the time, we believed that our team could not freely share the storytelling of same-sex couple…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za ONE year ago, the Western Cape administered the highly-awaited Covid-19 vaccine doses to health-care workers at the Khayelitsha District Hospital, with President Cyril Ramaphosa present. As of Monday, 4 821 094 Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to the general public, excluding those who participated in the Sisonke Study. Provincial Health Department spokesperson Mark Van Der Heever said the entire international and national uptake of vaccination had not met the expected targets due to a number of reasons, including hesitancy. In the province, 4 809 843 had received at least one dose and 2.3 million, or 46.6%, were fully vaccinated. “These include the vaxi taxi going into hard-reached areas and low-uptake areas as well as going into people’s homes to provide the life-saving vaccine,” Van der Heever said.…

Superstar Tiger Woods remains confident that he will return to top-flight competition, but the timetable remains a mystery one year after a car crash left him with devastating leg injuries. “I can come back, yes,” Woods said on Wednesday on the eve of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, where the 15-time Major champion is the tournament host. The 46-year-old reiterated that he doesn’t envision playing a full US PGA Tour schedule, and admitted that so far he has no idea when he will be ready to return. “I wish I could tell you when I’m playing again,” Woods said. “I want to know, but I don’t. “My golf activity has been very limited. I can chip and putt really well and hit short irons very well, but I…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za IN what will hopefully solve a lot of issues for South African teams with regards to refereeing interpretations, the United Rugby Championship’s head of referees Tappe Henning will spend time with the match officials in South Africa for the next block of games in March. Henning spent many years as a referee in the country before moving to Scotland as that country’s referee commissioner. The 60-year-old was appointed as the URC referees boss in December, and the governing body announced yesterday that there will be neutral referees in the games that will be played between South African and European teams next month. After all four SA teams complete a week-long trip overseas next week, they will enjoy another bye before getting back on to the field. On…

MATSHELANE MAMABOLO EDWARD Mothibi gasped in disbelief and Gift Kelehe voiced his disappointment at what he felt was a “downgrading” of the Comrades Marathon as the greatest ultra-marathon following the announcement yesterday that the prize money for winning this year’s race will be R260 000. Mothibi, who banked a cool R500 000 for his victory in the last normal running of the event termed the Ultimate Human Race, could not hide his surprise at hearing that he would be paid around half of that if he successfully defends his title. Kelehe, a champion in 2015, questioned the logic behind the Comrades Marathon Association’s (CMA) decision to cut down the prize money while incredibly asking athletes to pay 100% more than they did in registering for the 2020 race that had…

LIVERPOOL have the chance to cut Manchester City’s Premier League lead, albeit briefly, to six points tomorrow as they continue their distant pursuit of the champions. Despite his team winning their last four games, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says City will not be peering anxiously in their rear-view mirror. But a home game against relegation strugglers Norwich City, a couple of hours before Manchester City play out-of-form Tottenham Hotspur, offers an opportunity just to dial up a little pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side. Not that Klopp will have much faith in Tottenham throwing a spanner in the works of City’s well-oiled machine. If Liverpool’s form is impressive, City’s is simply extraordinary, having won 14 of their last 15 league games and drawing the other. What is more, they looked unstoppable…