Indholdsfortegnelse for 2023-02-01 i Cape Argus

The 9th edition of the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa’s (IIASA) Corporate Governance Index (CGI) report has revealed that in the past two years, organisations have been directing efforts to improve corporate governance ratings as part of their strategic priority objectives. These efforts have given reason for the country’s 2.9 CGI score in 2022, a slight improvement from 2.8 out of 4 in 2020. “The credibility and importance of CGI is that it can be viewed as a barometer to measure the state of governance in organisations by rating seven governance dimensions. These include ethics, compliance, leadership, performance, operational risk, external risk and assurance,” the report said. IIASA CEO Julius Mojapelo said in a media statement that in the past two years, their overall view on corporate governance had…

Theatre legends Andrew Buckland, Jennie Reznek and Faniswa Yisa steal the limelight at the Baxter as they bring to life the tragic tale of Greek king Oedipus. In Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. Written by Qondiswa James and directed by Mark Fleishman, Oedipus at Colonus: #aftersophocles explores themes of time, ageing and dying. The play was originally written by Sophocles at the end of his life when he was an old man facing his death. In conversation with IOL Entertainment, Buckland, who plays Oedipus, said he cannot wait for South Africans to experience the exceptional storytelling that comes with the staging of Oedipus at Colonus: #aftersophocles. Elaborating on…

A Gender-Based Violence (GBV) case has been continuously postponed to the chagrin of the complainant and her supporters. They are hoping the matter will come to an end on March 3 in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court. Lovisa Terling, a 34-year-old Swedish national who testified against her ex-husband and has since found healing in trying to change the pattern of toxic masculinity, said “it scares me”, referring to how long the criminal justice system in South Africa takes to secure a conviction against abusers. Terling sat in court yesterday as her ex, male model Keagan Troskie’s defence lawyer argued for four hours. The court heard how the abuse started a day after the pair were married. During her arguments, the defence lawyer appeared to mock the shotgun marriage between Troskie…

The fact that DA MP Kevin Mileham, a member of Parliament’s Committee for Section 194 Inquiry into suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office, is married to fellow DA MP Natasha Mazzone, who lodged a motion for Mkhwebane’s impeachment, has been labelled a “conflict of interest.” Zambian Public Protector Caroline Zulu-Sokoni, who on Monday was called as the first witness for the year by Mkhwebane’s legal team, made the remark while being taken through her testimony by the committee’s evidence leader, senior counsel Nazreen Bawa. This was not the first time the issue has arisen at the committee. In July last year, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula wrote to committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi advising him to seek legal opinion on the matter after another committee member, Omphile Maotwe…

Less than a week ago, the doomsayers were preparing the eulogy of South African international cricket. The overall feeling was that it had lost its place in the modern world, that it was overtaken by the future, and its only relevance of a World Cup was fast becoming secondary too. But suddenly, there is tangible optimism. Frowns have been replaced with smiles, and from being no-hopers, the whole place is alive with self-belief again. Successive victories over double world white-ball champions England have provided everyone with hope. The Proteas’ World Cup fate is suddenly in their hands once more. The 20 points gained propelled the Proteas to 79, pushing Sri Lanka (77) down to 10th and the West Indies (88) within their sights. And that is why today’s third one-day…

The SA20 took another forward step yesterday with high-profile Australian internationals Matthew Wade and Tim David joining the exciting competition. Wade, a former T20 World Cup winner, having played a major role in the Aussies lifting the coveted trophy in the United Arab Emirates in 2021, joins the Joburg Super Kings for the second half of the tournament as a replacement for Alzarri Joseph. The West Indies paceman has left the Super Kings to join his national team for their two-Test tour of Zimbabwe. The Super Kings have not had a permanent gloveman, with the Wanderers-based side initially opting for Proteas Test wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne, before reverting to part-timer Donovan Ferreira behind the stumps. Wade, however, will add a significant amount of beef to the Joburg Super Kings’ batting unit…

More than two-thirds of companies using cloud computing across most African markets plan to increase their spending on cloud services this year, according to the findings of the Cloud in Africa 2023 study recently released by World Wide Worx in collaboration with support from Dell Technologies, F5, Intel, Red Hat and VMware. The study, based on interviews with 400 information technology decision-makers in medium and large organisations across the continent, found that 69% of the respondents expected to see an increase in cloud spend while only 7% expected the opposite. Last year, 61% of companies increased their spend on cloud services, while only 3% decreased their spend. World Wide Worx CEO Arthur Goldstuck said in a media release that they thought that cloud spending might be toned down in the…

GROOTE Schuur Hospital staff and patients well enough to leave their beds gathered at the hospital’s Palm Court for musical entertainment as the hospital celebrated 85 years of service. Management and staff, with a few patients, sought shelter from the scorching heat under a large tree while listening to MC Quinton Manuels, performers Nhoza Sitsholwana, Keanu Harker and Karin Kortje, supported by the Winston Siljeur Band. The hospital’s foundation stone was laid in 1932 with construction lasting until 1936, and the facility opening in 1938. The ceremonial silver key, made in Johannesburg, was presented to the then governor-general Sir Patrick Duncan when he opened the £1 million hospital to an almost entirely white crowd gathered in the Palm Court area for the opening ceremony. The government-funded Groote Schuur is…

As the global anti-corruption movement Transparency International’s (TI) 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) showed that South Africa had slid further down the rankings, a political analyst said he feared corruption was in vogue. Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said: “Corruption has become fashionable in South Africa. It is a phenomenon embedded in the state machinery and particularly at local government level as can be seen from the reports by the auditor-general every year.” However, Breakfast said there were signs all was not lost in the war against corruption. He pointed to the recent incident where the National Prosecuting Authority’s Assets Forfeiture Unit and the Special Investigating Unit had obtained a preservation order to freeze five properties worth millions of rands linked to the ongoing probe into fraud at the National Lotteries…

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA is pleading with fellow Capetonians to open their hearts and donate dog food. With the increasing number of animals walking through their premises each day, the organisation is running low on food. The SPCA’s communications and fund-raising manager, Marisol Gutierrez, shared her concerns over the amount of dog food they have compared with the number of animals at their premises. “It’s not the first time that we have had an appeal over the last couple of months. We usually do have enough supplies, but because of the dogs that have been surrendered to us, we have to make sure that we have enough. “Our stock is running low, but we’re not at the critical stage yet. We would not allow ourselves to get to…

For the media to reduce Israel’s bloody atrocities against Palestinians as mere “violence between Israel/Palestine” is to detract from the truth of the ugly reality of the Zionist Frankenstein. As South Africans who were repeatedly warned by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu to not be fence-sitters and “neutral” in the Struggle against apartheid, it is a pity some of our media houses have forgotten his bravery and sage advice. Tutu’s courage to speak truth to white supremacist power is sorely lacking today in public discourse on Israel’s self-declared Jewish supremacy. This is particularly glaring in the media “tip-toeing” in the compilation and broadcast of news, suggesting “neutrality” – exactly what the Arch had rebelled against. To make sense of what’s happening in Israel given US envoy Blinken’s visit, and to deconstruct…

After a tumultuous Friday night in Belfast last week, there was at least some good news on the injury front for the Stormers yesterday ahead of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship showdown with the Sharks in Durban (2pm kickoff). John Dobson – who won the SA Rugby Coach of the Year award yesterday – bemoaned the “extraordinary” circumstances that he had to deal with in the 35-5 loss to Ulster, where two players withdrew on match-day and another three had to go off within the opening quarter. One of those injured players, Evan Roos, was nearly in tears after a double tackle from fellow Springbok Duane Vermeulen and Ulster flank Nick Timoney left him clutching his right knee, with Dobson saying afterwards that he would be surprised if his star No…

Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen is likely to be ruled out until early May by an ankle injury he suffered in the FA Cup win over Reading, the club said yesterday. Eriksen left Old Trafford on crutches on Saturday after being caught by Reading striker Andy Carroll in their fourth-round tie. The loss of the 30-year-old Danish playmaker is a blow for United, who lie fourth in the Premier League and in the Champions League qualification places after a good run of form that only ended with the 3-2 defeat by leaders Arsenal on January 22. United said in a statement: “Christian Eriksen is expected to be out of action for an extended period because of an ankle injury sustained in our FA Cup victory over Reading on Saturday. While…

It’s no wonder that Eben Etzebeth is saying that he is “enjoying life and rugby”. Not only was he named the SA Rugby Player of the Year yesterday, but he is also getting married to Anlia van Rensburg on Saturday. To add to the celebrations, Etzebeth’s long-time friend, Bok prop Frans Malherbe, is also tying the knot on Saturday – to Ingrid van Huyssteen. You would’ve thought that the two Bok stalwarts would have discussed their wedding dates, but it was an unavoidable clash. Nevertheless, Etzebeth got his due reward yesterday after missing out on the World Rugby gong, which went to Ireland’s Josh van der Flier. “It’s obviously a privilege, and the names on the trophy, and there are wonderful individuals on there. We all know it’s a team…

Global anti-corruption movement Transparency International’s recent Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures perceptions of public sector corruption around the world, is discouraging as it shows South Africa slipping one point in the rankings. The country has over the past 11 years barely shifted its position, which local advocacy group Corruption Watch, Transparency International’s local chapter, has been tracking. “Now ranked at 43, the country is back where it started in 2012, with very little upward movement over the past decade,” Corruption Watch said in a press release. “It is important to note, however, that the index measures perceptions of corruption, and not actual corruption that is experienced in countries across the world. “In this regard, perceptions may differ from the current reality in South Africa, where there has been some forward…

Opposition to ANC’s energy crisis measures Declaring a state of disaster is like putting out a fire with petrol. That’s how some political parties reacted to the ANC’s plan to deal with the worsening energy crisis. Both the EFF and Solidarity rejected the idea outright. The EFF said the plan was “meaningless calls” and believed it was “premised on greed, corruption and an uncontrollable desire to privatise Eskom without being held accountable”. Solidarity trade union was also fiercely against the idea, and Connie Mulder, Head of the Solidarity Research Institute, said: “The State of Disaster Act is not a shortcut to bypass processes. It is intended to act as a response to something that unexpectedly hits the country,” he said. Declaring a state of disaster, according to the Act, assigns…

Elsies River residents are at loggerheads with the City of Cape Town over a “crime-prevention wall” residents built over the weekend to keep criminal elements out of their hood. The community claims they resorted to building the wall after numerous attempts to get the City to intervene failed, and crime kept escalating. About 100 Salberau residents joined hands and contributed toward buying the material and erecting the 2.3m high by nearly 20m long wall on Friday and Saturday, which the City of Cape Town on Sunday insisted be demolished. The controversial piece of land is at Southern Cross Street and connects to Balvenie Avenue, linking the area to the Epping Forest. It is allegedly among one of the neglected City-owned pieces of land in Elsies River. “We have tried…

As the risk of water restrictions increased from low to medium, the City has warned that water usage was climbing to pre-drought levels, despite its appeal to residents at the beginning of summer to keep their collective usage to less than 850 million litres a day. Water and Sanitation Mayco member Siseko Mbandezi said: “While the City is not in a Day Zero scenario, water restrictions would need to be considered if Cape Town experiences a similar rainfall pattern to what was experienced in 2022 (one of the 10 lowest rainfall years in the last 100).” The call to reduce water usage was a proactive measure taken to mitigate the risk of another below-average winter rainfall and reduced dam levels, and to assist reliability of water supply which was affected…

Cape Town’s commercial, industrial and retail property sectors have said they have the budget and the roof space available to be net energy contributors to the City’s cash-for-power deal in which businesses and eventually residents will be able to earn money from the sale of power fed into the local electricity grid. Lew Geffen Sotheby’s commercial property chief operating officer Brent Townes said with the ongoing industrial expansion along the N7 corridor and up the West Coast as far as Saldanha, there were many new developments of substantial structures such as warehouses which perfectly lent themselves to solar power generation. Townes said: “Many of these property owners not only have the budget but also the roof space available to be net energy contributors and could therefore potentially benefit from the…

Data collected by the Department of Home Affairs’ (DHA) immigration officers at ports of entry shows tourists are flooding back to South Africa and locals are travelling more. In December last year, more than 2.8 million travellers (arrivals, departures and transits) passed through the country’s ports of entry. These were made up of 965 599 South African residents and 1.9 million foreign travellers. Foreign traveller arrivals increased by 179.8% from 347 188 in December 2021 to 971 425 in December 2022. Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) which compiled the DHA data for December 2022, said a comparison between the movement in December 2021 and December 2022 showed the volume of arrivals, departures and travellers in transit increased for both South African residents and foreign travellers. Statistician General Risenga Maluleke said…

One of the last Club World Cups in its current format begins today in Morocco, where Real Madrid will be favourites to continue Europe’s dominance of the much-maligned Fifa competition. Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatar in December that an expanded Club World Cup is planned from 2025. The bigger competition, which would feature 32 teams, has been a controversial pet project of Infantino’s for some time. A 24-team Club World Cup, involving eight European sides, had been due to take place in China in 2021 – only to be put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. World football’s governing body is yet to reveal any further details of the plans, but global players’ union FIFPro has already complained of Infantino…