Indholdsfortegnelse for 2024-08-15 i Cape Argus

Stats SA Q2 data shows 65 000 more unemployed Despite maintaining the lowest unemployment rate in the country, the Western Cape suffered the most job losses between April and June, with 65 000 more people jobless compared to January. Statistics SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter (Q2) of 2024 showed the biggest employment losses were recorded in the Western Cape (65 000), followed by Mpumalanga (50 000), KwaZulu-Natal (49 000), Northern Cape (17 000) and North West (12 000). South Africa’s official unemployment rate has increased from 32.9% in Q1 of 2024 to 33.5% in Q2. Reacting to the employment stats, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said the province maintained the highest labour absorption rate in South Africa, at 52.9%, and the highest labour force participation…

A DETECTIVE Sergeant is expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court for allegedly pouring boiling water over his wife. The victim was severely burned after the incident, which occurred last Tuesday. A source said: “She was burned all over her body, after he threw water on her. She is still in hospital and can’t even speak. The officer is still in jail. He is expected to make an appearance in court this morning for attempted murder.” Police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (Ipid) spokesperson Phaladi Shuping confirmed the incident. “Ipid confirms that this incident was reported to the directorate and it is under investigation.” Anti gender-based violence NPO Ilitha Labantu spokesperson, Siyabulela Monakali, said they were outraged by the incident involving the Claremont police officer. “It is both…

THE family of a Vredenberg teenager say they are worried sick after the 18-year-old disappeared 12 days ago, causing him to miss his matric ball. Romano Fredericks’s family are now hoping he is found before his 19th birthday this weekend. Anna Fredericks, Romano’s grandmother who raised him since he was a baby, said she has not had a decent night’s sleep since he disappeared on August 3. “He is not a child who will stay out, he doesn’t even sleep out, he is just in his room, every day. The only time he goes out is when he goes to the shop for me. He only has one friend whom he met now during his matric year. The boy came here to visit, but he hasn’t seen Romano since Friday.”…

The phrase “let’s talk turkey” is a curious and rich expression in US English, having evolved significantly over time. Originally, it conveyed ideas of fairness and straightforwardness, but it has since become synonymous with frank, serious or direct conversation. The term’s journey from a quaint expression to an idiom with wide applicability reflects the adaptability of language and the cultural nuances that shape it. The term is rooted in a folk tale involving a white man and a Native American, often named “Wampum”. According to the tale, the two men hunted together and were left with a wild turkey and a crow as the day’s bounty. The white man, trying to secure the better part, suggested dividing the spoils in a way that favoured himself: “You take the crow, and…

This Womxn’s Month, it is important to address the status of womxn in South Africa, especially in Gauteng. Despite constitutional and legislative efforts to establish gender equality, the reality for many womxn remains challenging. According to Statistics South Africa, in 2021, 1.5 million households in Gauteng were led by womxn. While this demonstrates womxn’s strength and resilience, it also highlights the burdens they bear. While many households are women-led, labour force statistics paint a dire picture. In the second quarter of 2023, womxn’s labour force participation consistently fell behind men across all age groups. Even in the peak 35 to 44 age bracket, womxn’s participation was 12 percentage points lower than men’s. Where womxn are employed, they are more likely to work in low-paying, vulnerable positions, with limited prospects. The…

US MEDIATORS launched a new bid yesterday to broker an end to 16 months of fighting between Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). While an RSF delegation joined the talks in Switzerland, negotiators for the Sudanese armed forces stayed away, expressing dissatisfaction with the format chosen by Washington. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions from their homes. Both sides have been accused of war crimes. Here are the war’s key players: The protagonists In 2021, Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power in a coup alongside his deputy, Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemeti. The pair pushed civilian politicians out of a power-sharing agreement set up after the 2019 overthrow of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir.…

Frankfurt: A German military base was sealed off for several hours yesterday as authorities investigated suspected sabotage while a Nato airbase in the country faced an attempted trespassing incident, officials said. The Bundeswehr base in Cologne-Wahn was locked down because of “a suspicion of an attempted intrusion and a suspicion of sabotage”, defence ministry spokesperson Colonel Arne Collatz told reporters in Berlin. A hole was found in a fence near drinking water storage facilities, the military’s territorial command said on social media platform X. The perpetrators had not been found and the site’s water was being checked as a precaution.…

A MAN has died after being stabbed in the heart, allegedly by his girlfriend, on Women’s Day. Jacobus Benjamin, 48, was found lying outside the toilet in his Retreat home. His partner and mother of his daughter, Anthea Josephs, was arrested shortly afterwards. According to Benjamin’s sister, Leandra Benjamin, the father-of-one was stabbed after a braai. “On Friday, at around 9.30pm, we found the body. We don’t know how long he had been lying there. “Ayanda, who lives in the main house, was alerted by Anthea and she went to check on him and found that he had no pulse. “Ayanda asked Jacobus if he could make a fire for their braai. “He then went to his flat at the back where he ended up with a knife wound in…

Stupidity is a fascinating theme that influences much of human history. Let’s begin by asking, who/what is a successful/intelligent person? According to the Creator a successful/intelligent person is earns/receives Heaven. Thus God sent Prophets to clarify the correct path. Ironically some people do not care and do as they please. What am I talking about? Some who will do whatever to benefit themselves regardless of the harm/injury they inflict on others. Though there is nothing wrong with ambition, it is wickedness to purposely harm others to achieve one’s agenda. Thus the key to a good/decent life is to avoid harming others. For example, as I write this, anarchy grips Britain as working-class white people create chaos. They want foreigners to leave Britain, including East Europeans. Although some Muslim conspiracy theorists…

It takes absolute, awesome, stunning, incredible and amazing bravery, solitude, fortitude, desire, dedication, discipline, devotion, determination and resilience to achieve what our Miss South Africa 2024 went through – triumphing over adversity. This despite being diagnosed with profound hearing loss at the age of 1. She said she would be forever be grateful to her community who unconditionally and tirelessly helped her regain her hearing. The part of her speech that got South Africans talking was: “l want to help South Africa create an inclusive society.” Sadly, the Chidimma Adetshina controversy that clouded the pageant, almost spoilt her spotlight. For now, girl, shine. The spotlight is yours. Mia le Roux, do your best for the country and be the best version of your true self. There are many girls and…

If you followed the Paris 2024 Olympics broadcast, you would have noticed the breathtaking city backdrop to events, the festive atmosphere and active support of spectators. Touted as marking a new era, the games introduced several innovations in its planning and delivery, starting with an opening ceremony outside a stadium for the first time. I was fortunate to be among the Paris crowd as a researcher and a sport fan. I research and teach sport tourism and international events. I’ve studied event impacts, especially on city branding, and the legacies of sport mega-events, most notably the 2010 men’s football World Cup in South Africa. Sport tourism in South Africa is $3.6 billion (R65bn) industry and forecast to grow. The country has a track record of hosting big sport events, like…

Russian lawmaker Maria Butina said yesterday that the West was involved in the Ukrainian incursion into sovereign Russian territory and was thus “poking the bear” in a dangerous escalation. The US and other Western backers of Ukraine have denied that they were informed beforehand of the dramatic attack on Russia’s Kursk region. “Of course they are involved,” Butina told Reuters when asked if the West was involved. “When I studied in the United States the main rule was: ‘Don’t poke the bear’. What the West is doing today? They are poking the bear.” Butina, who spent 15 months in a US prison for acting as an unregistered Russian agent and is now a lawmaker for the ruling United Russia party, said that the attack on Russia was an act of…

Oslo: The son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has admitted carrying out a cocaine and alcohol-fuelled assault on his girlfriend, in a statement released by Norwegian broadcaster NRK yesterday. Police arrested Marius Borg Hoiby, 27, on August 4 following a night-time row at an apartment in Oslo. He has been accused of causing bodily harm and injuring a woman with whom he was having a relationship. According to Norwegian media reports, police found a knife stuck in one of the walls of the woman’s bedroom at the apartment. Hoiby said he had suffered with “mental troubles” and struggled “for a long time with substance abuse”. He said he would seek new treatment.…

SOUTH African schoolboy starlets are certainly the rage at the moment. Following in the footsteps of sprinter Bayanda Walaza, a matriculant at Curro High in Pretoria who returned from the Paris Olympics with a 4x100m relay silver medal, the Proteas have now called up their own teenager in Kwena Maphaka for the three-match T20I series in the West Indies. The 18-year-old seam bowler is currently also in Grade 12, at St Stithians in Johannesburg. Maphaka’s star has been on the rise since he was drafted into the South Africa A side last year without having played a senior provincial game for the Lions. He followed that with a call-up to the Paarl Royals’ SA20 squad, but was forced to miss South Africa’s premier T20 competition due to commitments at the…

THE family of slain Mbekweni woman Siphokazi Booi have welcomed the life sentence handed down to her killer. The 27-year-old’s body was discovered on September 5, 2021, after she and her boyfriend Sithobele Qebe had been drinking with friends. They had an altercation and their visitors left at around 2am. The friends went to see Booi the following day, when Qebe reportedly told them that she had left. Two days after the altercation, the victim’s charred remains were found metres from her killer’s home. She had been beaten to death and her body had been dismembered and stuffed into a wheelie bin. Qebe was due to appear in court in October 2021 after he beat Booi to a pulp in August that year. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila…

THE Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness has recorded the lowest figure of adolescent pregnancies so far in 2024. Department spokesperson, Dwayne Evans, confirmed to the Cape Argus yesterday that the province saw 9 588 pregnancies of girls aged between 10 and 19 years old, down by 6 171 from 15 759 the same time last year. The highest number recorded in the province was in 2022, with 16 120, while 2021 saw 15 818 adolescent pregnancies. Health MEC, Mireille Wenger, said adolescent pregnancies highlight the urgent need for increasing social protective factors, making health care accessible everywhere and strong community support. “This number also underscores the importance of the whole of society and government working together to address factors contributing to these pregnancies, including issues of consent. “It’s…

OUR Constitution outlines freedom of association and general protections for employees and employers. Our Labour Relations Act is one of the pieces of labour law that fleshes out the rights conferred on all of us in the employment arena. It deals with organisational rights and collective agreements giving trade unions and staff the right to strike and employers the right to a recourse to a lockout. Likewise, trade unions and employer organisations need to be registered. Once they are legally recognised and registered, they have enormous powers under our labour law. Many of the collective agreements between unions and employers organisations result in bargaining councils for specific industries. The industries then negotiate and implement bargaining council agreements, adding to and enhancing the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. The dispute resolution…

AS THE newly-formed governments get down to business, with ministers and MECs tabling their budget votes and grappling with the many daunting crises facing South Africa, several things have not stopped and will not wait for them. There will be no extra time afforded to them as well as the new mayors recently installed and about to be installed in several municipalities. Time will not wait for them. And, sadly for the new leaders and the long-suffering citizens, many members of our disgruntled communities will just not wait patiently for service or change, but will occasionally take their frustrations to the streets. Hardly a day goes by without some public protest erupting somewhere in our land, and may last for days and cost lives and millions of rand in damages.…

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said yesterday it would not take part in a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks today in Qatar, dimming hopes for a negotiated truce that Iranian sources say could hold back an Iranian attack on Israel. The US has said it expects indirect talks to go ahead as planned in Qatar’s capital Doha, and that a ceasefire agreement was still possible. However, American news website Axios reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had postponed a trip to the Middle East that had been expected to begin on Tuesday. Yesterday, Israeli air strikes targeted Gaza ahead of the talks that the US hopes will stop Iran from striking Israel in retaliation for the killing of a Hamas leader. Iran and its allies blamed Israel…

France has launched a cyberbullying probe following a complaint by Algerian Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif, who was at the centre of a gender controversy at the Paris Olympic Games, prosecutors said yesterday. The controversy has rapidly become a hot-button issue outside the ring, with politicians and celebrities including Donald Trump and Elon Musk weighing in. The investigation was opened on Tuesday into “cyberharassment” following the high-profile gender row at the Games, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said. The athlete’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said last week that Khelif, 25, had filed a complaint for online harassment, calling it a “fight for justice”. The Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes has been tasked with the investigation. Khelif won the women’s 66kg final against China’s Yang Liu in…

TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, pictured, said yesterday he would step down next month, succumbing to public disaffection over political scandals and rising living costs that marred his three-year term. “Politics cannot function without public trust,” he told a press conference announcing his decision not to seek re-election as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). “I made this heavy decision thinking of the public, with the strong will to push political reform forward.” He urged his colleagues to embrace change and seek out a candidate who will transform the party. The LDP will meet in September to appoint a new president of the party, and, by extension, as prime minister.…

WESTERN Province have lost Sevens star Justin Geduld for the rest of the season, while there is uncertainty whether Springbok Steven Kitshoff can play in Saturday’s Currie Cup match against the Lions in Johannesburg (3pm start). Geduld returned to action for Province in last week’s home loss to the Cheetahs, but early in the first half he suffered a cheekbone fracture. WP assistant coach Labeeb Levy said yesterday that Geduld had undergone surgery. “He will be lucky to make it to the back-end of the competition,” Levy said, before adding that Province are awaiting confirmation from SA Rugby that they can play Kitshoff in the away game against the Lions. “Kitsie is still an SA Rugby medical project, and they need to guide us as to what they want us…