Innholdsfortegnelse for 2024-04-26 i Cape Argus

TIMES are tough but never more so than for media personality Phat Joe, who has landed in hot water for allegedly failing to pay the rent on his luxury Sea Point flat. The well-known TV and radio presenter, whose real name is Majota Khambule, and his family have reportedly been evicted from their home, which cost more than R40 000 a month to rent. According to online news reports, Phat Joe allegedly failed to keep up with his rent, which accumulated to over R600 000 since he last paid in November 2022. The 49-year-old has reportedly claimed that someone had been trying to extort him and fed lies to the courts to have him evicted. Phat Joe was reportedly handed an order by…

A BELLVILLE South man has been sentenced to 25 years behind bars after pleading guilty to mercilessly beating his 93-year-old grandmother to death. Nearly three years after the shocking murder of Cynthia Doubell, her stepgrandson, Keagan Samuels, 27, has come clean about the circumstances surrounding her death. The body of the woman, affectionately known as “Oumie”, was discovered on August 1, 2021, after she had reportedly been attacked by Samuels in her home. Her death sparked outrage amid claims that she had also been raped as Samuels handed himself over to police. Samuels later appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court where he abandoned his bail application and the case was later transferred to the Western Cape High Court. He was initially charged with rape, but this was later withdrawn. He…

LAWYERS for the Noordhoek Environmental Action Group said they were studying a Western Cape High Court judgment before deciding on whether to appeal an order that gives the City the go-ahead to build a road linking residents of Masiphumelele to the greater Noordhoek area. For about eight years, the construction of the road was met with opposition by some Noordhoek residents and the action group, who said the road would lead to the local extinction of western leopard toads. The City had planned and applied for environmental approval in 2017 to extend Houmoed Avenue to provide residents from Masiphumelele with better access to Noordhoek and its surrounds, and to give police, the fire service, and ambulances quick access during emergencies. However, the action group appealed the environmental approvals that were…

THE Bela Bill battle is far from over. In a new twist in the adoption of the controversial Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, the National Council of Provinces Select Committee on Education and Technology this week amended proposed changes to the South African Schools Act. In the amendments tabled on Wednesday, the committee handed authority back to School Governing Bodies (SGB) to decide on the language policy of public schools. However, the provincial heads of department (HOD) would still have powers to decide if a school can have one or two languages. The bill had proposed transferring decision-making authority on language and admission policy from the SGBs to the HODs, in order to address “discriminatory admission practices”. Critics of the proposal said the bill, which would see national government once…

Edinburgh: The leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) yesterday ended a coalition deal with the Greens, leaving him facing fresh pressure as the head of a minority government in Edinburgh. The announcement by First Minister Humza Yousaf came a week after the devolved government abandoned a climate pledge, sparking tension with its junior partner. It is the latest setback for the SNP, which has been hit by internal squabbling, resignations, fraud claims and a fall in support before this year’s UK general election. AFP…

AS VIRGIN Active Club members threatened to cancel their gym memberships over a new “inclusive policy” allowing transgender individuals into the changing room of their choice, LGBTQIA+ advocates said they hoped other workplaces and companies would learn from the move. The club was drawn into a public row this week over its announcement to allow those who have completed their full transition to access bathrooms that correlate with their changed legal gender. This led to some club members taking to social media expressing their dissatisfaction with the decision. A user on X (formerly known as Twitter), said they were not satisfied with the club for allegedly allowing a transgender woman to use the ladies’ rooms at the Claremont branch. The user said a 50-year-old male, who allegedly identified as a…

A THIRD shooting in less than a month has left the Lansdowne community shaken. In the latest incident, a man was driving along Turfhall Road on Wednesday when an unknown assailant climbed out of a vehicle behind him and sprayed him with bullets. The suspect reportedly ran back into the getaway car and fled the scene. Police spokesperson, Joseph Swartbooi, said the circumstances surrounding the incident were under investigation. “Upon arrival near the corners of Racecourse and Flamingo Roads at around 7.50pm, they found the body of an unidentified male inside a motor vehicle who sustained multiple gunshot wounds. “The victim was declared deceased on the scene by the medical personnel. The Lansdowne police registered a murder…

ERRANT employers are responsible for about R7 billion in unpaid pension fund contributions. Members whose employers do not pay contributions to the pension fund have recourse to the Pension Funds Adjudicator, who can order employers to pay a member the benefits they are due. This order can be executed by a sheriff of the court. Addressing the Pension Lawyers Conference, Pension Funds adjudicator Muvhango Lukhaimane said the bulk of complaints to her office concerned withdrawal benefits and Section 13A compliance in the payment of contributions by employers. This accounts for approximately 83% of all complaints finalised. Lukhaimane said that a negligible number of funds had approached her office for assistance with employers not paying contributions. “Even in these instances, the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (OPFA) can only assist…

The one subject in which I differ wildly from most of those who find value in my work is immigration. I favour a significantly less burdensome immigration system, and a far more open embrace of foreigners without government interference. Seemingly without exception, when the virtues (or otherwise) of immigration are discussed, a core group in the discourse is at pains to emphasise some distinction between “legal” and “illegal” immigration. This group would always say they only wish to stop illegal immigration, not legal immigration. But, in my experience, these individuals – with only a handful of exceptions – also seek a more (legally!) burdensome immigration system. Coincidence? I think not. To say one opposes illegal immigration and favours legal immigration is actually to say nothing at all. Everyone favours legal…

Palestinians yesterday mourned over people killed in Israeli bombardment of Rafah, the southern Gaza city where Israel says it is advancing plans for a ground invasion. Global concern has mounted over the looming operation against Hamas militants in Rafah, where much of Gaza’s population has sought refuge from more than six months of war in the narrow coastal strip. Aid groups warn any invasion would add to already-catastrophic conditions for civilians. Israeli officials have for more than two months vowed to enter Rafah, near the Egyptian border, but even before any ground operation the area has been regularly bombed, including overnight Wednesday-yesterday. At the city’s Al-Najjar Hospital yesterday, two men knelt in front of a white body bag in grief, among other mourners gathered at the site. Elsewhere in the…

NAIROBI: Kenya’s government has advised MPs against banning TikTok over concerns about content shared on the platform, and instead recommended stricter oversight by regulators. A panel in parliament has been considering a petition from a Kenyan citizen to ban the Chinese-owned platform. The recommendation follows accusations from the interior ministry that the platform has been used to spread propaganda, carry out fraud and distribute sexual content. The ministry proposed requiring TikTok to screen content to ensure compliance with Kenyan laws and file reports to government. | Reuters…

When Jenny van Wyk sits down to watch the Telkom Netball League (TNL) in the coming weeks, she will have to do so without revealing her predisposition towards defending champions the Gauteng Jaguars. That will be difficult, because the Tshwane-based outfit are the undisputed queens of the TNL, and former coach Van Dyk is one of the reasons they have become so formidable in the past seven years. That is in the past for Van Wyk, who was promoted to head coach of the Proteas earlier this year after the departure of Norma Plummer. She will now experience the TNL with a more critical eye as she searches for the next big star, the next X-factor, the next leader of the national team. One of the skills the former Proteas…

THE iconic Newlands Cricket Stadium played host to several exciting matches yesterday – but with a twist. This came as the Sporting Chance Development Foundation and Lord’s Taverners South Africa hosted its third Table Cricket Festival for children living with disabilities. Table cricket is an adapted version of cricket played on a table tennis platform, providing those with disabilities an inclusive platform to participate and compete. Using their fingers, the bowler rolls the ball to the batsman, who then attempts to score as many runs as possible by striking the ball with a miniature bat onto the points areas on the table’s side. In 14 teams, 100 girls and boys with various degrees of disability, aged 9 to 15 years, participated in the Table Cricket Festival yesterday. The exciting game…

POLICE are investigating the theft of three public information boards from Big Bay and Eden on the Bay that were removed just days after being erected. The signage said no dogs and alcohol were allowed on the beach, while cautioning bathers to swim between the flags. Deputy mayor and spatial planning and environment Mayco member Eddie Andrews said the City lodged a criminal complaint with police, adding they had evidence pertaining to the culprit involved. “Unfortunately, we cannot divulge more information in the interest of the ongoing investigation. “These signs are public property, removal or damage or tampering or defacing of the sign is an offence and the City will take action against those who are doing so. “We will replace the signs as soon as we are able to,…

Four years and nearly a month ago, our country, like many others, was plunged into a total shutdown due to Covid-19. On that fateful day of March 26, 2020, we all entered uncharted waters, reminiscent of the Aids pandemic of the early 2000s. In the ensuing days, the majority of us lived with anxiety, fearing not only for our lives but also how we would feed our children as we lost our jobs or sources of income. No one in my sphere of influence even mentioned the repercussions this would have on the already ailing education system. In fact, we, as parents, became spectators as the debate raged on about the reopening of schools and how that would take shape. I deliberately refer to our pre-Covid education as ailing because…

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned, his office said yesterday, and a transitional council prepared to take power with the aim of returning stability to a country where gang violence has caused chaos. Henry’s finance minister, Michel Patrick Boisvert, will be interim prime minister. The formal swearing-in started yesterday. Haiti’s outgoing government formalised the transition process two weeks ago, a month after Henry said he would resign once the council was in place. Henry was stranded outside the country as gangs threatened to take over. | Reuters…

LONDON: Britain’s King Charles has given his assent to legislation central to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. Royal assent is the final stage in the legislative process, and effectively rubber stamps the decision taken by parliament earlier this week to approve the bill after a long battle between the government and opponents of the plan. The Royal Assent was announced in the House of Lords yesterday, meaning the Safety of Rwanda Bill will now become law. Sunak said he expected the first flights to Rwanda to take off in 10 to 12 weeks. | Reuters…