Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-09-08 i Cape Argus

It is South African Wills Week, and according to the Master of the High Court, almost 80% of South Africans don’t have a valid will in place, which made the fact that thousands of people were unable to draw up a will during the strict Covid lockdown, and a rising death rate, even more concerning. A will is the most fundamental and first “tool” of any estate plan, according to industry experts. The Wills Act states that the drafting of a will must be witnessed by two people (broadly) who are not mentioned in the will. When people were in lockdown with only their family members, securing appropriate witnesses was a challenge. Those fortunate enough to have a printer at home could – in the midst of social distancing…

Answers wanted on complaints of unfairness Parliament has said it wants an urgent meeting with the Banking Association of SA and the Banking Ombudsman to answer to complaints made about unfair discrimination and the irrational and arbitrary termination of bank accounts. Speaking at the end of a session during which the standing committee on finance heard a complaint from Gardee Godrich Attorneys about the arbitrary closure of customer accounts, chairperson Mkhacani Maswanganyi said this was not the first time they had heard of such conduct in the banking sector. “There is a precedent where this committee conducted an inquiry into the financial sector transformation based on complaints from members of the public during the fifth administration term of Parliament and a report was produced to that effect.” Maswanganyi said that…

Short-term pain for long-term gain is the name of the game as far as the Citrus Growers’ Association of SA (CGA) is concerned. With a month to go of the current export season, farmers and exporters of Valencia oranges have voluntarily decided to stop exporting the oranges from growing areas exposed to the citrus black spot (CBS) disease. CBS is a fungal disease that causes lesions on the rind of the fruit, and the EU has imposed phytosanitary regulations in this regard. Citrus in South Africa is grown mainly in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Western Cape. CGA chief executive Justin Chadwick said while the ban would serve as another blow to growers who have faced one of the most challenging seasons to date, continued access to the EU market…

Small-scale rental units, or backyard flatlets, are a booming phenomenon post-Covid in areas such as Khayelitsha. This is according to a report that was compiled by the Development Action Group (Dag), the intergovernmental relations department of the Treasury, Human Sciences Research Council, the Lincoln Institute on Land Policy and the Contractor and Developer Academy. The report comes as City councillors are thrashing out a new land use category to administer small-scale developments. Earlier this year, the City published a list of areas deemed “appropriate” for small-scale rental units and instructed sub-councils to deliberate on the item and provide feedback before the end of the year. The report considers the City’s regulations too rigid and the process too costly to allow small-scale developments to flourish. Deputy mayor and Mayco member for…

The City’s plans to upgrade Muizenberg Beachfront ignited calls from the Strandfontein community for it to speed up upgrade plans for the pavilion, which is in a state of disrepair. The residents’ concerns are that by not improving Strandfontein, the economic value that the ratepayers have cannot be spent in the area as there is nothing to spend it on. The City allocated R2 million in the January adjustment budget for the planning phase of the rebuilding of the pavilion and Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis revealed that R40 million would be allocated this financial year to begin a broader development initiative. Andre Arendse from the Strandfontein Ratepayers Forum and Economic Development said there had been an outcry from residents who felt they were always left out. Arendse said the…

We have reached September again, Heritage Month. Today I want to briefly focus on one of our intangible heritages, a proud tradition that is seriously threatened. The recent withdrawal of Jonge Manhattans Sing Koor from the impending Cape Malay Choir Board (CMCB) competitions has highlighted the crisis this unique and well-loved event finds itself in. For the first time, 10 choirs will contest the annual choral competition, this from an organisation that consisted of almost 50 choirs in the 1970s. Six choirs who participated in the past annual general meeting (AGM) will not be participating. The oldest Cape Malay choir, Young Men Sporting Club, and perennial top three finishers, Strelitzia Youth Development, is among them. One of the other long-standing choirs, Young Ideas, threw in the towel not too long…

With all the action going down at Cape Town Stadium this weekend, Blitzboks captain Siviwe Soyizwapi says they will look to the fans for an added boost when they battle it out for their first Rugby World Cup Sevens title. Forty teams will descend on Cape Town Stadium tomorrow for only the second Rugby World Cup to be hosted in South Africa. The Springbok Sevens side are the top seeds heading into the tournament and will run out for the first time tomorrow (7.03pm kickoff) against either Chile or Germany. The South Africans’ first opponent will be determined in the qualification round. Speaking during the Captain’s Photo on Signal Hill yesterday, Soyizwapi said the fact that there hasn’t been a Sevens event in Cape Town since the World Series leg…

Cape Town City’s dugout for their Champions League debut against Congolese outfit AS Otoho at Athlone Stadium on Saturday will have an unfamiliar look, as the hosts will be without head coach Eric Tinkler, with assistant coach Diogo Peral standing in. The game will be the start of a first qualifying round tie for City. Should they win the encounter, they will advance to the second qualifying round, where they will compete directly for a place in the group stage of the Champions League. Tinkler is not allowed in the dugout as per new rules introduced by the Confederation of African Football, which require head coaches in the competition to boast either a CAF Pro or a CAF A Licence. Tinkler does not have either of these, although he holds…

Given Majola Nearly two-thirds of businesses introduced more online payment methods in response to the pandemic, enabling more customers to pay via the methods they want. This was according to research released this week, conducted by World Wide Worx on behalf of PayPal and FNB, titled “SA SMEs’ digital response to the pandemic and the role of cross-border transactions”, which featured data and insights from some 400 local SMEs. Arthur Goldstuck, chief executive at World Wide Worx, who led the research, said another 22 percent intended to introduce more methods. The results showed online shopping is well-entrenched with local consumers and customers are comfortable with payment options on offer. The Covid-19 pandemic pushed South African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to trade online, extend the number of payment methods…

Film and television icon Connie Chiume is celebrating yet another spectacular milestone. Taking to her Instagram recently, the Black Is King actress shared with her 200K followers that she will be receiving a honorary Hollywood and African Prestigious Awards (Hapa) accolade for her immense contribution to the entertainment industry for over four decades. Chiume will be honoured with the International Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hapa ceremony, set to take place in the US next month. The ceremony honours outstanding talents across different genres in music, movies, comedy, fashion, sport and the arts. “2 lifetime Awards in a space of two months? God, thank you! Flying to the USA this October – I cannot wait,” shared Chiume. “Thank you @hapawards for the recognition and honour.” Fans and colleagues congratulated Chiume…

A fallen candle is believed to be the cause of a fire that destroyed five housing structures in Heideveld in which five families lost their belongings. One formal house and four wendy houses were destroyed, 10 adults and four children homeless on Tuesday. Ashraf Scott said the fire started from one of the wendy houses, just three minutes before 5am. “By the time we were awoken it was already late and we still don’t understand why the use of a candle, when we had electricity. “When I woke up I only managed to take my daughter, my phone and a jacket, and made away under the flames,” he said. Scot criticised what he said was the fire department’s late response, who arrived after “everything had already perished”. “When standing on…

State advocate Lenro Badenhorst was unable to conclude his arguments before Acting Judge Alan Maher yesterday due to the sheer volume of charges against Moyhdian Pangkaeker, who was on trial in the Western Cape High Court. The State is seeking guilty convictions on 25 counts of rape, murder, kidnapping, child exploitation, indecent assault, sexual assault, common assault, incest, violating a corpse and absconding from monitoring while he was on parole. Yesterday, advocate Badenhorst had only begun with the evidence pertaining to the rape, kidnap, murder and desecration of 8-year-old Tazne van Wyk when the court had to adjourn proceedings until today. He said the State relied on circumstantial evidence to secure a guilty finding. Badenhorst asked the court to accept the evidence of witnesses (minors at the time of the…

Tension was high at a packed meeting between the City and the Milnerton Central Residents Association (MCRA) where residents expressed frustration and dissatisfaction at the lack of progress in resolving the severe pollution in the Milnerton Lagoon and its ecosystem collapse. At the meeting, residents said the current state of the lagoon warranted the declaration of an environmental disaster, a rates decrease and even threatened a rates boycott. This meeting was the City’s first quarterly meeting regarding the Milnerton Lagoon and the Lower Diep River Catchment addressing its ecosystem collapse, which was caused by Potsdam’s treated effluent discharge (which has not met safety standards for much of the past four years), frequent major spillages of raw sewage from pump station failures, sewage contaminated run-off from informal areas and numerous other…

A slap, derogatory remarks, lack of care, including the denial of resources and access to services by health care professionals, have taken on a high level of normality, and are therefore not seen as forms of gender-based violence inflicted on women during pregnancy and labour. This was the focus of the 10th Helen Kanzira Memorial Lecture held at the Lagoon Beach Hotel in Milnerton on Wednesday. This year’s hybrid event, themed “Obstetrics Violence: A Public Health Menace and a Human Rights Challenge in Africa”, was organised by the Dullah Omar Institute, the University of the Western Cape, and the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Centre for Human Rights. Obstetric violence includes physical, emotional, psychological and sexual violence that occurs during pregnancy and labour by health care practitioners, including doctors, nurses and…

Eskom confirmed it had successfully recovered R30 million in unlawful pension fund money paid to former CEO Brian Molefe. The money was unlawfully paid to the Eskom Pension & Provident Fund (EPPF) in 2016 when Molefe resigned from the power utility. “Eskom is pleased to confirm that it has successfully recovered the R30m it unlawfully paid to the fund, which is a separate legal entity, not from Molefe. The pension fund can tell you if it has recovered any money from Molefe,” said Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha. “In July the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria reaffirmed a 2018 High Court judgment that had reviewed and set aside a 2016 early retirement agreement between Molefe and Eskom. “In terms of the agreement, Eskom paid to the EPPF approximately R30m…

Forensic officer Sergeant Thabo Mosia, who was part of the team that handled the crime scene where Bafana Bafana football star Senzo Meyiwa was gunned down, testified that he did not receive any queries from the forensic lab on possible contamination from the evidence he submitted. Mosia was cross-examined by State prosecutor George Baloyi, trying to disprove assertions that Mosia tampered with evidence. Yesterday was Mosia’s last day on the stand after he was called as the first witness since the trial started at the North Gauteng High Court in April. Mosia had a rough couple of months on the witness stand. At times he gave conflicting statements and also exposed the shoddy work done by the police who attended the murder scene. Some of the mistakes the court heard…

Assuming the presidency on the heels of his predecessor Jacob Zuma, whose tenure was characterised by widespread corruption and fraud, Cyril Ramaphosa vowed to bring a new dawn in the South African government by renewing the ANC as both non-state actor and the governing party. After all, Zuma’s tenure had culminated in the establishment of the State Capture Commission to probe the nefarious practices committed during what is now described as the “nine wasted years”. However, a glance at actual events on the ground since his appointment show that Ramaphosa’s presidency has ushered in a new dawn of no accountability, presided over by him as the president of the ANC and government. The news that broke recently that Ramaphosa had failed to report a robbery that took place at his…

Chelsea sacked manager Thomas Tuchel yesterday just seven games into the new season, hours after they suffered a chastening Uefa Champions League defeat at Dinamo Zagreb. The former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain boss leaves Stamford Bridge after a tumultuous period at the club, which included a Champions League triumph and the end of Roman Abramovich’s reign. Chelsea said they would move “swiftly” to appoint a replacement, with former Tottenham and PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino and Brighton manager Graham Potter among the early favourites. “On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the club would like to place on record its gratitude to Thomas and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the club,” the Premier League club said in a statement. “Thomas will rightly have a place…

South African taxpayers’ trust in the South African Revenue Service (SARS) increased in 2022, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) South Africa’s 2022 Taxing Times Survey. The survey was designed to not only measure corporate taxpayers’ recent experiences with SARS, but to also highlight key areas of success as well as areas for improvement at the organisation. Some noteworthy changes at SARS include its new leadership, the restructuring of the organisation, the allocation of resources in 2021 to re-capacitate SARS (including people and technology), and improvements in the tax enforcement realm. Elle-Sarah Rossato, Tax Controversy & Dispute Resolution partner at PwC South Africa, said: “We have seen SARS make some considerable shifts in an effort to meet its nine strategic objectives that are aligned to its new ‘Vision 2024’ – which is…

The management of the DHL Stormers said they would take a decision in the coming week to move games back to the Cape Town Stadium after they had clashed with a Justin Bieber concert scheduled for later this month. This after the pop star announced he had suspended his world tour as he was suffering from “exhaustion”. The concert, scheduled for the Cape Town Stadium on September 28, meant that the Stormers’ first two home United Rugby Championship (URC) matches – against Irish club Connacht and Scottish outfit Edinburgh on September 24 and October 1 – would have had to be played at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch as the concert would “require significant construction in the stadium”. However, both DHL Stormers management and organisers Big Concerts said there…

The Atlantis Regional Court has sentenced the man who murdered his ex-girlfriend to 22 years’ imprisonment. Owen Steenberg, 25, entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State, for the murder of 21-year-old Charné Viljoen. He was convicted on charges of murder, attempted murder and assault. Viljoen was stabbed to death outside a shopping complex in Saxon Sea, in Atlantis, on May 3 last year. Steenberg is also alleged to have stabbed one of Viljoen’s male friends on April 30. Viljoen and Steenberg had a three-year-old son together. During his plea and sentencing, Steenberg told the court he approached Viljoen’s new boyfriend on April 21, 2021, wanting to ask about their relationship. He was ignored. Steenberg said that had angered him, resulting in him taking out a knife and…

Tiger Brands has recalled Purity Essentials Baby Powder products as a precautionary measure after trace levels of asbestos were detected in test samples from a batch of pharmaceutical-grade talc powder used as raw material in the production of finished powder products. Products forming part of the recall include the 100g, 200g and 400g pack sizes of Purity Essentials Baby Powder. Consumers have been urged to return the products for a refund. In a statement, Tiger Brands said: “This recall does not affect Purity Essentials Baby Cornstarch Powder or any other Baby Care products under the Purity brand. The batch of raw material with the detected trace levels of asbestos does not meet the company’s strict quality and safety standards. Matters of quality and safety are an absolute priority for Tiger…

The ANC Boland regional conference has been postponed indefinitely amid “security threats”. Western Cape ANC spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni revealed yesterday that the conference meant to take place at the weekend had been postponed after the conference steering committee agreed that it was unsafe for the conference to go ahead. This comes as sources who had attended the conference claimed some delegates arrived at the conference in Worcester on Saturday flanked by gun-wielding men. The allegation is that the men were linked to regional secretary hopeful Charl Jacobs. Jacobs, however, denied this, saying the opposing group did not have the numbers and collapsed the conference. Mtsweni, who refused to divulge any further details on the “security threat”, said the conference would reconvene within the next two weeks as all delegates had…

Amid the absence of great white shark sightings, environment minister Barbara Creecy has called for public comments on a proposal to temporarily extend the False Bay White Shark Cage Diving operating area from Seal Island to the inshore area next to Strandfontein Beach. The idea is to help the tourism sector in the False Bay area, which has been struggling since the great whites at Seal Island started disappearing in 2017. This will allow White Shark Cage Diving operators to attract other shark species, such as bronze whaler sharks still in the bay of the new extended area, using chum and other methods. Shark diving companies in False Bay support this proposal because their businesses have been negatively affected by the decline in great white shark sightings and they…

What’s Dean Elgar’s perspective on the third Test against England that starts today (12pm SA time)? “It’s the biggest Test I’ve been involved with since I took over as captain,” Elgar said. “I think the players sense that. It’s like a World Cup final for us, that’s how I’m viewing it.” South Africa, as we all know, will play fewer Tests in the next few years, and after this summer’s series Down Under, play their next three-match Test series in four years’ time. Test matches will become incredibly rare and for someone like Proteas captain Elgar, who is not involved in the limited-overs formats, it means each match is extremely valuable. “You’ve got to play every Test like it’s your last,” he said. The final Test of a strange series…

Premier League heavyweights Manchester United and Arsenal begin as the leading contenders for this season’s Europa League title, although Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma are eyeing back-to-back continental titles after claiming the inaugural Europa Conference League earlier this year. It is a long road to this season’s final at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 31 with clubs facing a packed schedule in order to complete the group stage before the Fifa World Cup starts in Qatar on November 20. That means the likes of United and Arsenal will be relying on their squad depth to get them through some of their less glamorous Thursday night fixtures while they try to maintain challenges at the top of the Premier League. Returning to the Champions League has to be the priority…