Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-12-28 i Cape Argus

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has sent his condolences to the families of the 18 victims of the Boksburg gas tanker explosion that took place on Saturday, where 10 people were reported to have died immediately after the explosion. Ramaphosa, through his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, reacted with shock to the multiple deaths of OR Tambo Memorial Hospital staffers and civilians, among them patients of the hospital, in a statement issued yesterday. “The president’s thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have perished in the incident, and the president wishes the injured persons speedy and full recovery. “The nation’s hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating incident, as such events take on greater sadness and tragedy when they occur at this time of year when all of us…

ARSENAL opened up a seven-point lead with a 3-1 win over West Ham as the Premier League returned on Monday, while Newcastle climbed up to second thanks to an impressive 3-0 victory at Leicester. Liverpool also made a winning return from the World Cup break by beating Aston Villa 3-1 and Harry Kane bounced back from his heartbreak in Qatar by scoring in Tottenham's 2-2 draw at Brentford. Arsenal's momentum towards a first league title since 2004 could have been disturbed by the six-week mid-season break. But Mikel Arteta's men passed another test of their resolve after going in 1-0 behind at half-time to Said Benrahma's penalty. Two goals in five minutes from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli turned the game on its head at a jubilant Emirates before Eddie…

NOVAK Djokovic and Rafael Nadal kickstart their 2023 campaigns this week in Adelaide and Sydney respectively, with the superstar veterans and great rivals eyeing up yet more Australian Open glory. With the pair sharing 43 Grand Slam titles between them - Djokovic has 21 and Nadal 22 - the scene is set for an epic showdown at Melbourne Park in January. Nadal is the defending Australian Open champion and Djokovic is a nine-time winner. Djokovic returns Down Under for the first time since being sensationally detained and then deported ahead of the 2022 Australian Open because of his refusal to get vaccinated for Covid-19. He starts his bid for an incredible 10th Australian Open title at the Adelaide International from Sunday, following a troubled and truncated year in which he…

FANS of the Argentine team that claimed football’s ultimate prize in Qatar this month are lining up in Buenos Aires for tattoos of victorious captain Lionel Messi and the World Cup trophy. “For the next two weeks, I have (appointments) exclusively related to the World Cup,” tattoo artist Esteban Vucinovich told AFP in the capital. “Some had already made an appointment for tattoos of snakes or skulls, but they are changing it to Messi or the Cup. “I have two or three appointments a day,” he said. The most requested skin art is of the trophy, said Vucinovich, followed by Messi and then goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who was crucial in the victory of the Albiceleste in the final against France. Many fans are inspired by the body art of Argentine…

Bakoven still closed, West Coast ‘infected’ Despite deteriorating water quality that has been reported at some city beaches, thousands of residents flocked to the seaside as hot weather conditions hit the city over the long weekend. By 1pm yesterday, Boulders, Seaforth, St James, Surfers Corner, Strand, Gordon’s Bay and Melkbos beaches were already at full capacity, the City reported. At Milnerton Lagoon Beach, where signs had been put up warning beachgoers not to swim in the polluted waters, many simply disregarded the warnings to the disapproval of a local conservation group. Bakoven Beach on the Atlantic Seaboard remains closed after a sewage spill last Thursday which the City attributed to an electrical failure at the Beta sewer pump station as a result of continuous load shedding. Since the start of…

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has found a doctor liable for the brain damage suffered by a man who overdosed on pills and alcohol eight years ago. The SCA dismissed with costs the appeal by KwaZulu-Natal doctor Sudhir Mohun and upheld, with costs, the appeal by the second appellant in the case, Doctors G Sanpersad, R Maharaj & Associates, the medical practice that had supplied Dr Mohun as a locum. The central issue in the appeal was whether the appellants were liable for the brain injury sustained by the man, who was admitted as a patient in the emergency unit of Life Westville Hospital on December 27, 2014. During the appeal, the patient was classed as the first respondent and was represented by advocate Brett Kingsley Phillips. The man,…

WHEN Parliament’s Section 194 inquiry into suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office began its public hearings on July 11, committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi said it would all be over by the end of September. It would appear he was mistaken. As the inquiry wrapped up for the festive season on December 5, it was announced that the hearings would resume on January 30. It remains to be seen whether the new deadline of April 21, for the completion of the committee’s work, will be met. Signs that the chairperson’s September deadline would not be achieved came as early as the end of the first week of hearings. That was when Mkhwebane’s advocate, Dali Mpofu SC, said: “If this process is going to be fair and cover the…

While many spent this past Christmas weekend celebrating with their families and loved ones, the holiday would have been a lonely one for residents at the Elim Night Shelter if not for a special luxury treat, courtesy of the team at Sun International’s GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World. On Friday, the GrandWest Corporate Social Investment (CSI) team gathered at the shelter for the homeless and destitute to set up a buffet station and give its residents a special Christmas lunch along with toiletry packs. GrandWest general manager Mervyn Naidoo said: “Seven years ago we were invited to come for a site visit at the shelter and we got to chat to some of the residents. The shelter manager told me they usually looked for sponsors for their Christmas meals, which…

THE spirit of giving this festive season extended across religious communities, as people across religious and cultural denominations rallied together to ensure families were fed on Christmas Day. Several mass feedings took place, with many hands assisting on the day to make sure hundreds of people were able to have a warm and hearty meal on the special day. Claremont Main Road Mosque congregation contributed to three 110 litre pots of food, forming part of Bond Food Relief’s Mass Christmas Feeding. Bond Food Relief director, Parihan Shakeela Abbas, said they managed to make 44 100 litre pots of food which was distributed in Freedom Park, Lentegeur, Lost City, Hanover Park, Manenberg, Mfuleni, Strand, Eerste River, Blikkiesdorp and Heideveld. “Feeding was funded by various individuals or businesses within the local community.…

The Cape Town International Jazz Festival, which was set to take place in March 2023, has been postponed. Organisers espAfrika have apologised to all those affected. “It is with sincere regret that espAfrika, organisers of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF), announce that the event scheduled to have taken place on 17 and 18 March 2023, has been postponed until 23 and 24 February 2024,” said CEO of espAfrika, Amit Makan. “Several factors have influenced this difficult decision. These include a series of unavoidable delays and unforeseen challenges, as well as uncertainties around the future of load shedding, all of which have negatively impacted the planning for 2023. “Consequently, and after consultation with stakeholders, it was felt it was better to reschedule the 21st celebration of the CTIJF until…

Like the 2017 national conference, the just-adjourned ANC elective conference has posed a few crucial questions about how KwaZulu-Natal positions itself on critical matters of the ANC leadership and strategy. How do we explain the failure of the KZN ANC to win the presidency of the ANC? How is this generally understood? Does it even matter at all? These questions arise because ANC constituencies have made the election of their representatives as one of seven officials a matter of strategic significance in the internal balance of power. It is because for almost a year now, internal ANC debates and mobilisation have focused on this issue of lobbying for inclusion into the Top 6, which after the adoption of a constitutional amendment at the last conference, has become the Top 7.…

LOG leaders Mamelodi Sundowns will be looking to build more daylight between themselves and the chasing pack as they prepare to host fifth-placed Orlando Pirates at Loftus on Friday. The game will be the first taste of action for both teams since the Premiership went on a break during the Qatar World Cup. Rhulani Mokwena’s team go into the game five points clear of second-placed Richards Bay and are on course to claim a record extending sixth consecutive league title. While the consensus among many South African football fans is that Sundowns have not been at their best this season, they have still won their last six league games on the trot. This is testament to the gulf in class that exists between themselves and the rest of the pack.…

LAST season Mamelodi Sundowns were unstoppable on their run to the DStv Premiership title, and their rivals were reduced to a speck in their rear-view mirror. The same can’t be said this season, even though log leaders Sundowns are five points clear of nearest rivals, rookies Richards Bay, who with 13 games, have played one match more. There is nothing to suggest that Sundowns are unstoppable and in October Orlando Pirates served a reminder that anything is possible after defeating Sundowns 3-0 in the MTN8. Behind Richard Bay is Gavin Hunt’s SuperSport United, who produced a strong finish to 2022 and now it seems they are mounting a title challenge from the shadows. Former Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane recently warned that Hunt has “reinvented himself” at SuperSport. He praised SuperSport…

THE National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has joined forces with Unicef and the WHO to tackle South Africa’s measles outbreak. It has warned that further spread was possible because of the increased movement of people during the holiday season. Front-line health and social workers, and community, faith and civil society leaders, as well as educators and early childhood development practitioners, have been advised to be on high alert for anyone showing symptoms, and to report it to the nearest health facility as soon as possible. The NICD said the number of measles cases in the country continued to rise. Prevention and control of measles outbreaks could be achieved only through vaccination. NICD’s data shows that the Western Cape has reported between one and 10 cases in the Cape Metro.…

AS Western Cape residents prepared to celebrate Christmas Day, the Western Cape welcomed nearly 200 babies into the world across its public health facilities. Health and Wellness Department spokesperson Sandra Maritz said health facilities reported a total of 192 babies born, 124 boys and 68 girls. The first baby, which arrived at the stroke of midnight at Groote Schuur Hospital, weighed 3.130kg, and was born to mother Stella Masunda. Just one minute later, a second baby, a girl weighing 3.2kg, was born to mother Miché Prins at the same hospital. Two sets of twins were also born on the special day, with the first set of twins, two girls, born at 4.30pm to mother Elvina Amos at Tygerberg Hospital. Groote Schuur Hospital operational manager Fatoema Moos said there was joy…

THE mother of Ivoree Jane, the baby who underwent groundbreaking surgery at Tygerberg Hospital in December last year to remove a tumour in her mouth, is elated at her little one’s progress in speech therapy. Now a year old, the child received the Western Cape’s first ever ex-utero intrapartum treatment, also referred to as the “exit” procedure. First-time mother Kiara Jackson, 22, said Ivoree has made significant progress with the support of hospital staff and grandparents. “At first it was me getting the reflexes in her mouth ready, so I had to rub her tongue so she would learn to suck, but now it’s more about trying to get her to breathe through her nose instead of her mouth,” Jackson said yesterday. She spoke to the Cape Argus last year…

Mandla Maphumulo, affectionately known as Mampintsha, has left his fans and loved ones reeling at his untimely death. Maphumulo, 40, died on Christmas Eve after a stroke. The Gqom artist had become a household name in the past decade as he collected many accolades in the entertainment space. Celebrity friends, colleagues and fans remembered him for his contribution as a member of the popular music group Big Nuz. Afrotainment confirmed his death and requested that his wife, Bongekile “Babes Wodumo” Maphumulo, be kept in everyone’s prayers as she deals with the loss. The Simelane and Maphumulo families spoke of his untimely passing, revealing that Babes Wodumo was taking her husband’s death hard. Mampintsha’s memorial service will be held tomorrow in Durban Central, and his funeral will be held on Friday,…

STORMERS assistant coach Dawie Snyman has warned his charges to prepare for the Lions team that recently won three overseas matches in a row rather than the side that was smashed by the Sharks in Durban last week. Snyman reckons the Lions’ performance at Kings Park was an aberration and not their norm and he points out how well the Lions scrapped to victories on their overseas United Rugby Championship (URC) tour. In fact, the Lions were the only South African team to go unbeaten after defeating the Ospreys, Cardiff and Edinburgh. Snyman also implored the Stormers players to make full use of their opportunities in Saturday’s New Year’s Eve clash at the Cape Town Stadium. “It was the mistake we made a year ago when we played against them,”…

NORMAL service is set to resume in France today with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar both set to feature for leaders Paris Saint-German as they restart their Ligue 1 season, 45 days after it was popped on ice for the World Cup, with a home game against struggling Strasbourg. Lionel Messi, however, will not be on show in Round 16 as he is still at home, celebrating Argentina's success in the World Cup final in Qatar. The club, though, has been buoyed by reports last week that the 35-year-old Messi is set to sign a one-year extension to his contract which expires in the summer. Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final but still ended up on the losing side as France flunked the penalty shoot-out, reported back…

NEW Zealand Rugby (NZR) must tread carefully in deciding whether to stick or twist with All Black boss Ian Foster after the World Cup as announcing a successor before the tournament would cause distractions, former coach Steve Hansen said. Foster's contract runs until after the World Cup in France and while the 57-year-old could apply to stay in the job a poor run of form earlier this year has made Crusaders coach Scott Robertson the favourite to take over. Hansen said NZR are caught between a rock and a hard place, knowing that they could lose their preferred candidate if they wait too long but may also alienate Foster by announcing a decision before the end of his contract. "If you're going to name a new coach before the World…