Indholdsfortegnelse for 2021-07-06 i Cape Argus

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za WHILE the start of vaccinations of police officers, Correctional Services and SANDF personnel are being celebrated, the threat of Covid-19 still remains ever present – with the latest example being an outbreak at the SA Infantry school in Oudtshoorn. SANDF spokesperson Mafi Mgobozi said following a noticeable increase in the newly reported number of infections at military health facilities at the various training institutions, the Surgeon-General instructed a team of medical practitioners to be dispatched to all those institutions in an effort to assess adherence to protocols and health guidelines. Mgobozi said statistics on all positive cases at the Infantry School in Oudtshoorn had not yet been confirmed and finalised as some test results were still being processed and were awaited. He said they were…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za A magistrate and former deputy minister have both denied links to Bosasa-sponsored upgrades. This comes as the State Capture Commission of Inquiry yesterday heard evidence linked to corruption operations involving Bosasa (now African Global Operations). First on the stand was suspended Pretoria chief magistrate Desmond Nair. Nair, along with former deputy minister Thabang Makwetla, was implicated in testimony presented byformer Bosasa IT specialist Richard le Roux who said he had been instructed by former Bosasa chief operating officer Angelo Angrizzi to oversee security installations at Nair's Pretoria home. Le Roux said the installations cost R250 000 and included an electric fence, camera system and alarm beams. Nair admitted that security upgrades were installed at his home, but disputed Bosasa's involvement, Le Roux's involvement and the cost of…

Aishah Cassiem aishah.cassiem@inl.co.za ONLY months after the health minister visited the Eastern Cape’s Livingstone Hospital, emphasising the importance of hygiene and proper medical conduct, a family have come forward to express their disgust after their 64-year-old relative experienced serious complications when the hospital allegedly discharged him with an open wound across his abdomen. Garry van Jaarsveldt said that after the surgery, his brother-in-law was not given a prescription and was sent home in a terrible condition. Things could have been worse if it had not been for a nurse in their community who assisted with the wound and a private doctor who prescribed antibiotics. The family’s complaint is not the first, as surgery at Livingstone Hospital has been described as a nightmare by many people in recent years, including…

R Bartes | Cape Town AS the Communist Party of China celebrates its 100th anniversary, China’s rapid economic progress in recent decades has been hailed by many. Mainstream news reports, however, contain little mention of China’s poor human rights record. A critical aspect of this is the lack of religious freedom, a key feature of communism. Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Taoists in China all suffer persecution. Places of worship and religious symbols being closed, desecrated, torn down and destroyed by the Chinese government is becoming more common. Displaying crosses and going to traditional churches are just some of the things which bring people into conflict with government authorities. The denial and termination of social security grants for people blacklisted due to the public practice of their faith are…

Michael Bagraim | Highlands Estate Your edition of Monday, July 5 – “teaching music to change rhythm of lives” refers. This is a fantastic undertaking and we all wish much strength to Cameron Ward. We also need to understand music is not only therapy, but is also very strongly connected to maths. We are told musical learners are able to grasp maths much more easily and know it’s maths that drives the economy. One’s wish is all these learners who are exposed to music will also develop a love for maths in the future, allowing them entrance into the job market.…

London: A sculpture of African baptist preacher John Chilembwe, who led an uprising against colonial rule, will overlook Trafalgar Square for the next two years, the mayor’s office has said. “Antelope”, by Samson Kambalu, restages a 1914 photograph of Chilembwe and European missionary John Chorley as a sculpture. In the sculpture, a larger-than-life Chilembwe wears a hat, defying a colonial rule that forbade Africans from wearing them in front of white people. The office of mayor Sadiq Khan said: “By increasing his scale, the artist elevates Chilembwe and his story, revealing the hidden narratives of underrepresented peoples in the history of the British Empire in Africa and beyond.” The “fourth plinth” is one of the most coveted art commissions in the world, and is often the source of controversy. Each…

Ungoverned frontiers in West Africa a gateway for terrorism, criminal networks, guns Ernest Toochi Aniche, Chris Changwe Nshimbi and Inocent Moyo IN MANY parts of Africa borders are porous. People cross them to visit their kin and for economic reasons such as herding, farming, fishing, hunting and trading. They are also spaces in which human smuggling, human trafficking, gun-running, terrorism and money laundering take place. We set out to understand whether this state of affairs contributed to worsening insecurity. Our focus was on West Africawith a host of ungoverned border spaces and where migration is largely untracked. Ungoverned spaces are areas where there’s a political vacuum and no state governance structures. Examples abound in Nigeria, Niger, Ghana and Mali. The ungoverned borders have made it possible for undocumented…

Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared yesterday that his government could easily recruit 1 million new fighters but wants to foster a period of “silence” in the country’s war-hit Tigray region. The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner’s remarks came one week after Tigray’s capital Mekele fell to the Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) rebel group and Abiy’s government declared a unilateral ceasefire in the 8-month-old conflict. The TDF has described its seizure of Mekele and most of the rest of the northern region of Tigray as a major victory, while Abiy and other officials have countered that federal forces executed a strategic pullback to focus on other threats. “In one, two or three weeks, 100 000 trained, armed and organised special forces can be mobilised,” Abiy told…

TOKYO: Rescuers in Japan searched yesterday for 80 people believed to be missing two days after landslides tore through the seaside city of Atami, destroying houses and burying roads under mud and rock. The official death toll from the landslides that hit early on Saturday is four, according to Atami city spokesperson Hiroki Onuma, while the number of missing had come down from 113 earlier. Two people were found alive and unharmed yesterday, the NHK public broadcaster reported. “My mother is still missing,” one man told NHK television. “I never imagined something like this could happen.” Atami, with a population of 36 000, is 90km south-west of Tokyo, set on a steep slope leading down to a bay.…

DUHAN van der Merwe became the 11th South African to represent the British & Irish Lions when he faced Japan at Murrayfield on June 26. The powerful left wing left his country of birth in 2016 to seek his fortune at Montpellier in France, and then moved on to Edinburgh in Scotland in 2017. Such has been his impact for his club that the 26-year-old made his Scotland Test debut last October against Georgia, where he scored a try as well. Van der Merwe has now dotted down eight times in just 10 Test matches, but the upcoming series against the Springboks will be the first time that he will take on his native land. The change of allegiances started as far back as 1896, when Reginanld Cuthbert…

Mike Greenaway mike.greenaway@inl.co.za The Sharks, or Natal in their previous incarnation, have never beaten the British & Irish Lions in over a century of trying, and current coach Sean Everitt is fully aware of the magnitude of the task facing his team if they are to make history tomorrow night at Ellis Park. In those bygone days, the Natal team would have been at full strength and there were some monumental battles, one of them in 1980 when a late John Carlton try saved the Lions; another in 1974 when Lions fullback JPR Williams infamously attacked Natal captain Tommy Bedford with a flurry of fists; but in 2021 it will be a young team of Sharks up against seasoned international stars. And having watched the Lions overpower the Joburg Lions…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za FORMER President Jacob Zuma’s pending prison time is a result of his own making and could easily have been avoided had he participated in court proceedings, the Zondo Commission told the high court. Today, the Pietermaritzburg High Court will hear, through a virtual broadcast, Zuma’s application to interdict the police from arresting him. In a statement issued by the Judiciary spokesperson, Nathi Mncube, yesterday afternoon, the media was advised that the matter would not be heard in person. The legal teams will access the proceedings through Zoom. The media and the public will be able to follow the case on YouTube “so as to minimise distractions on the virtual hearing”. Zuma brought the urgent application at the 11th hour, but the Zondo Commission – the only opposing…

Kristin Engel kristin.engel@inl.co.za RESIDENTS across the city have expressed their frustrations over an increase in bin theft, said to be a result of the continued disruption of refuse collection services by the City. Langa resident Anele Gqasana said bin theft had recently become a big issue, with most thieves using bins for transportation to either carry alcohol for traders or to carry scrap and sand for construction. “Our bins are usually collected on Mondays but this past week, they were only collected on Saturday which meant our bins were standing outside for long periods of time and open to bin scratchers and thieves,” said Gqasana. Langa resident Ivy Jayiya said her bin was recently stolen while waiting on the waste disposal truck, despite the bin being filled with rubbish.…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za THE Animal Welfare Society is begging the public not neuter or castrate their pets. The organisation has treated and saved a worrying number of adult male dogs admitted with severe trauma to their testicles, caused by rubber bands, cable ties and wire tied tightly around their testicles. Animal Welfare Society of SA spokesperson Allan Perrins said the most recent incident included a year-old cross-breed named Hulk who was admitted by his owner in excruciating pain. Perrins said someone had cruelly tied a thick rubber band and nylon cord around Hulks testicles, causing them to fall off with secondary injuries, including an exposed spermatic cord and blood vessels. Perrins said neutering was a major operation and required general anaesthesia and should not be done by an unqualified person.…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg THE identifying of mosques, or any place of worship for that matter, and Eid celebration as the background for narratives on Covid-19 super-spreaders is disingenuous and a disturbing trend. The risk of spreading viruses in any crowded place such as spectators stands at a sporting event, large family gatherings, weddings and even funerals is obviously real, as a single infection can drive a large outbreak among attendees. Studies and research have concluded that there is an association between crowding and the transmission of viral respiratory infectious diseases such as flu and Covid-19. However, the Musjids or responsible Eid celebrations are not super-spreaders per se. It is the irresponsible behaviour of individuals, lifestyle, comorbidities and diet that increase the chances of one picking up the…

Koert Meyer | Welgelegen THE letter in Thursday’s paper, on July 1, “We look forward to seeing Zuma in orange overalls”, is a classic example of modern-day “first-stone-casters” – egging everyone else on to join them in condemning someone and, eventually, stoning him to death. Shouldn’t one think carefully and deeply through one’s argument and standpoint, about something as vexatious as this, before rushing off to pen it down? When Christ was crucified after the frivolous charges brought against him, that also divided people at the time: those who shouted at the top of their voices: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” But there was also a small group, full of fear of those carrying the sword at the time, silently standing by to plead for his life, and his…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za WITH blocks of micro-apartments springing up all over the Atlantic seaboard, the Sea Point, Fresnaye, Bantry Bay (SFB) Ratepayers and Residents Association has warned new investors of financial pain ahead for buyers of these apartments. SFB chairperson Michael Ender said only a small percentage of micro-apartment purchasers who bought off-plan intended to live full-time in these apartments. He said the majority of sales will be from inexperienced newcomer investors who were anticipating good returns from short-term letting. “Hundreds of these micro-apartments will come to market by the end of this year and into 2022. We are likely to see a significant apartment vacancy rate to around the 24%. There was a vacancy spike in Q4 last year recorded according to the Tenant Profile Network (TPN) credit bureau’s…

Abidjan: Ivory Coast’s former president Laurent Gbagbo, who returned home last month a decade after falling from power, will meet ex-president Henri Konan Bedie this weekend, Bedie’s office said yesterday, in the latest step in the country’s long-running political crisis. “The visit will be the chance for a fraternal reunion between the two presidents following president Laurent Gbagbo’s return to his homeland as free man,” it said. The meeting between the two men -- former rivals who are now allies -- will take place on Saturday in Daoukro, a Bedie stronghold. Gbagbo, 76, Bedie, 87, and Alassane Ouattara, 79, the current president, have dominated Ivory Coast’s political scene for decades, often plunging into rivalries or forging alliances. During Gbagbo’s decade-long stay in office, the country was wracked by turmoil, culminating…

Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba ONE prediction at the outbreak of Covid-19 was that Africa could be the epicentre of fatalities from the pandemic. This hasn’t happened. The record of rate of infections, fatalities and recoveries shows that Africa is the second- least affected region of the world. The fear that Africa would be the epicentre of the pandemic was fuelled by a few factors. One was the presence of overcrowded informal settlements. Another was weak systems in many countries and the inadequate number of medical personnel across the board. Hospitals lack critical equipment such as testing kits, personal protective equipment and oxygen machines. Most countries adopted national strategies, such as closing borders. Others took a more regional approach. In a recent study I looked at what role regionalism played. I…

Gunmen kidnapped up to eight people, including the one-year-old child of a nurse, from a hospital’s staff residential quarters in north-west Nigeria, while assailants simultaneously attacked a nearby police station, police and hospital officials said. Kaduna state has been hit by a wave of kidnappings for ransom by armed men. Zaria, where the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre hospital is, has been particularly hard hit, and the attack was the third on the hospital. The attack in the early hours of Sunday lasted for roughly an hour, hospital spokesperson Maryam Abdulrazaq told Reuters. She said six people had been abducted: two nurses, one with her year-old child, a laboratory technician, a security guard and one other staff member. Police gave the number of hostages as eight. “So far, (there…

JAKARTA: The Indonesian government planned to allocate 90% of oxygen production for medical needs amid the surging Covid-19 cases, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said yesterday. “We have talked with the industry minister so that 90% of industrial oxygen is converted for medical use, so around 575 000 tons a year of domestic oxygen production will be allocated for medical purposes,” said Sadikin. All of these oxygens will be maximized for medical needs in seven provinces in Java and Bali, which are facing a surge in the Covid cases after a long Eid al-Fitr holiday in May, with the entry of the more contagious Delta variant. The provinces are Banten, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, and Bali.…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za DUHAN van der Merwe became the 11th South African to represent the British & Irish Lions when he faced Japan at Murrayfield on June 26. The powerful left wing left his country of birth in 2016 to seek his fortune at Montpellier in France, and then moved on to Edinburgh in Scotland in 2017. Such has been his impact for his club that the 26-year-old made his Scotland Test debut last October against Georgia, where he scored a try as well. Van der Merwe has now scored eight times in just 10 Tests, but the upcoming series against the Springboks will be the first time that he will take on his native land. The change of allegiances started as far back as 1896, when Reginanld Cuthbert ‘Cuth’…

Robin-Lee Francke robin.francke@inl.co.za It was like a scene from the movies yesterday as police arrested two suspects in Strand for allegedly stealing a vehicle. Broadway Street in Lwandle was abuzz as residents rushed to the scene, where multiple police vehicles and a police helicopter could be seen. At about 1pm, two suspects, a 27-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, were arrested at a local petrol station. According to provincial police spokesperson FC van Wyk, the pair had fled the Eastern Cape in a stolen vehicle. He said the suspects were found in possession of a silver-grey Kia Rio. Van Wyk said the vehicle was believed to have been stolen from a house that was robbed on Sunday evening in Barkly East in the Eastern Cape. “According to reports, the suspects…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za THE Zulu royal family has found itself even more entangled in the Jacob Zuma issue after yesterday as Mgilija Nhleko, the “Commander of Zulu regiments”, hit back at Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, insisting that he is the commander of the structure. He claimed that he was given the position by the late King Goodwill Zwelithini and Buthelezi should have questioned that while the king was still around. During a press conference in Ulundi yesterday where Buthelezi said he was speaking as an “elder”, he first said he sympathised with the former president and his family, but he lashed out at his supporters. Buthelezi said their defence amounted to challenging the authority of the state if they say Zuma should not serve his 15-month sentence for contempt of…

Itumeleng Mafisa JUNIOR doctors have made an impassioned plea to the government to hire them and help them complete their internships and community service. The Cape Argus’s sister newspaper, The Star, understands that around 150 junior doctors are jobless. The 133 who were given placements are experiencing problems, with some being turned back by the hospitals they were placed in. In some instances, some of the junior doctors were working without a contract. Dr Sandile Mlungwane said the South African Medical Association (Sama) and an independent law firm were trying to help the students compel the government to hire them. The students were promised placement by July 1 but that did not materialise. Sama said on Sunday it has given the Department of Health, the acting minister of health, and…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za A WORKER has accused snack food brand Snaxels Foods of not putting in place Covid-19 safety measures, thus putting the lives of its workers at risk. This comes after two employees recently tested positive for the virus. Speaking anonymously for fear of losing their job, the concerned worker said: “They didn’t let us go home or clean the place. They just told us, if we feel sick, we must say (so) and isolate ourselves.We don’t have a cleaner. We must do it our- selves. They don’t have a non-contact thermometer to take temparatres.” However, tHelge Scherner, a co-director of the company, said all Covid-19 safety measures were in place. “Work surfaces in the factory, staff canteen and office are sanitised on an ongoing basis or…

Dr Duncan du Bois | Durban APART from the responses of religious groups to the prospect of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (Pepuda), it appears there is little understanding of the revolutionary and dystopian consequences this legislation heralds. While ostensibly amending the measures concerning hate speech, discrimination and harassment, the crux of the act is its stipulation that equal opportunities must be matched by equal outcomes. Whereas nature knows no equality, so it is that equal outcomes among humans given equal opportunities and benefits do not naturally occur. Despite that reality, Pepuda will criminalise institutions, employers and individuals where outcomes have not been uniform. Pepuda outlaws any form of comparison, dissent, distinction, discernment and discrimination. In short, it cancels failure. It means that,…

A JOURNALIST asked me today what it was like to be homeless on a cold and rainy day like the ones we have been having of late. I found myself saying business as usual because that is what it is for a homeless person who works harder on rainy days. After all, you have to travel further and longer not only for your skarrel but usually for a place to rest for the night too. On a rainy day you can't sleep on the mountain for example, except if you have a whole "khaya" set up there – and even then getting yourself up and down the mountain is pretty much an impossible task. Ask me. Many days I just gave up and stayed where I was and didn't attempt…

Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za THE City is noncommittal about the results of their recent virtual land auction, in which some 150 would-be buyers went head-to-head to snap up vacant municipal land on offer across the metro. Asked to comment on whether the auction was a success and how much money was raised, Mayco member for economic opportunities and asset management James Vos said: “All bids are subject to a 15-day business acceptance period by the City, therefore the results of the auction will be confirmed at a later stage.” Vos said there were 45 lots on the auction list. Lead auctioneer Joff van Reenen of High Street Auctions said the fiercest bidding was for residential and community sites. . The online auction attracted criticism from housing groups such as Ndifuna Ukwazi,…

Kristin Engel kristin.engel@inl.co.za RENOWNED Cape Town choreographer Yaseen Manuel has been named the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Artist in Residence at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of the Arts for its Centre for Creative Arts’ (CCA) 23rd virtual Jomba! Contemporary Dance Festival. CCA Jomba! artistic director and curator Lliane Loots said the Mellon Foundation’s programme supported the idea that artists such as Manuel be given space to break the walls of traditional academia. “Yaseen will be doing his three-month residency at the university, where he will work with students, produce two screen dance films for Jomba! and work on his own vision as a dance maker,” said Loots. She said the 2021 Jomba! festival would focus on “border crossings” –not just geographical but also spiritual, economic and emotional borders. Manuel’s…

Kabul: The Taliban outlawed dozens of seemingly innocuous activities and pastimes in Afghanistan during their 1996-2001 rule – including kite flying, TV soap operas, pigeon racing, fancy haircuts, and even playing music. These have made a comeback in the years since, but fears are growing that they will be banned again if the hardline Islamists return to power. l The musician Sayed Mohammad makes a living as a professional musician playing the japani, a traditional Central Asian stringed instrument he first picked up as a boy. He still remembers the evening two decades ago when the Taliban broke into a house where he and his friends were playing music and singing songs. According to the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islam, only the human voice should produce music – and…

LAST week, Police Minister Bheki Cele issued a stern warning that transgressors of adjusted alert level 4 lockdown regulations, including those found organising or being part of gatherings, would be fined, jailed or both. However, this past weekend, as the situation outside former president Jacob Zuma’s homestead in Nkandla unfolded, many people questioned why the police did not enforce the lockdown regulations. Thousands of people descended on the home of the former president, despite lockdown regulations that prohibit all gatherings, and visuals from the homestead showed many people flouting the compulsory social distancing and mask-wearing rules. This all happened while the country battles with the deadly Delta variant of Covid-19 and a third wave of Covid-19 infections. However, the large contingent of police officers who were deployed outside Nkandla have…

NEW DELHI: The grandfather of an Indian-American astronaut said he was “overwhelmed with joy” as she prepares to become only the second Indian-born woman to visit space. Sirisha Bandla, 33, who was born in Guntur district of India’s southern Andhra Pradesh state, will be a part of billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic’s test flight on July 11 that will travel beyond the edge of the earth’s atmosphere. A successful flight by Branson aboard Virgin’s VSS Unity spaceplane would mark a milestone in the race to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel. Branson’s mission will be the 22nd flight test for VSS Unity, and the company’s fourth crewed spaceflight. Bandla’s grandfather, Dr Ragaiah, a retired scientist said: “I am very happy and overwhelmed with joy.”…

It amazes me that some South Africans were surprised when the British & Irish Lions smashed the local Lions by 42 points in their tour opener. It was always going to happen for two reasons: Firstly and most significantly, the tourists have an exceptionally talented, vastly experienced, meticulously prepared, and highly motivated squad who have come to this country on a mission; and secondly, the local Lions (and the Sharks, Bulls, and Stormers) are under-strength and pale imitations of the provincial sides of the amateur era when the British Lions were given a torrid time by the likes of Transvaal, Northern Transvaal and Western Province, while even the platteland (country) sides had enough firepower to give the tourists a working over and soften them up for the Boks. Let’s have…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za Golden Arrows confirmed the appointment of Lehlohonolo Seema as their new coach yesterday. The 41-year-old, who most recently helped Chippa United avoid relegation via the Premier Soccer League play-offs, succeeds Mandla Ncikazi as coach of the Durban-based club. Ncikazi was rewarded for his impressive tactics by being roped in by Orlando Pirates. “We are pleased to announce the appointment of Lehlohonolo Seema as our new head coach. We wish him well in the position and look forward to the continuation of growth in the side,” said Arrows in a statement. Seema, who hails from Lesotho, will have his work cut out for him next season if he wants Arrows to emulate the form that they showed under Ncikazi last term. Abafana Bes’thende surpassed expectations last season by…

HERMAN GIBBS Well-travelled coaches like Gavin Hunt and Pitso Mosimane have over the years told endless stories about how South African teams suffer at the hands of rank poor officiating in continental competitions. Mosimane, in particular, has often been riled by north African teams for bullying opponents, match officials and even ball boys. These days, however, Mosimane sits on the opposite side of the dugout, guiding the fortunes of north African giants Al Ahly of Egypt, the most successful club in Caf Champions League history with nine titles. Kaizer Chiefs, however, can make their way to Casablanca with a sense of calm as a Burundi referee with the first name of Pacifique will handle the one-leg Champions League final next Saturday. They have twice experienced Pacifique Ndabihawenimana’s calm demeanour…