Indholdsfortegnelse for 2025-02-18 i Cape Argus

LAST year unfolded as a remarkable chapter in the local music narrative, characterised by unforgettable performances and an undeniable global interest in African sounds. With the new year here, anticipation is palpable as artists from this rainbow nation prepare to amplify their presence on the international music stage. Several familiar faces basking in the glow of last year’s success are anticipated to elevate the music scene this year, bringing new releases and electrifying performances that will leave audiences craving for more. Here’s a look at some of the artists poised for a massive 2025. Manana Born Ndumiso Manana, this Grammy Award-winning songwriter has created a sonic identity rich with lush sounds and jazzy undertones, effortlessly bridging the realms of R&B and soul. His musical odyssey commenced at the tender age…

DISTURBING videos from the renowned Zanzou nightclub in Pretoria, Gauteng, have gone viral online, showcasing acts of extreme violence and torture allegedly perpetrated by the club’s bouncers against patrons who reportedly failed to settle their bills. The clips, which are highly graphic and depict severe human rights violations – including acts tantamount to kidnapping, sexual assault, and attempted murder – show men hogtied and filmed naked with their limbs bound. In others, they have t-shirts pulled over their heads, waterboarded, forced to masturbate, and bottles being inserted into their genitals. A man, purportedly the owner of Zanzou, is seen stabbing the men in the buttocks in one of the videos. “Don’t move, you think we’re playing here. You’re going to die,” the torturer is heard saying. In a statement, the…

THE Zulu Royal Family has confirmed the presence of the king’s new bride-to-be in the royal kraal, who has been described as a potential mother of the Zulu nation. Princess Sihle Mdluli from the Mdluli royal family in Mpumalanga is said to be in her early 20s and is spending her second week in one of the king’s palaces on the north-east of the KwaZulu-Natal. Her presence was confirmed by the King’s representative Prince Gumbela Zulu who said the woman had been formally introduced to him and other royal family members. “Yes, she is currently in the royal kraal and we are waiting for the king to give us direction as to whether she would become the mother of the nation. You must remember that as much as the king…

THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) will soon institute legal action to cancel the lease agreement the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) signed for its headquarters in Cape Town. NSFAS is paying R2.5 million per month for the office rental, a move that raised eyebrows with the higher education portfolio committee. Higher Education Minister, Nobuhle Nkabane, told Parliament that work was under way to move NSFAS out of its headquarters and set-up regional offices in provinces. Additionally, Nkabane said the entity’s lawyers will provide advice on whether it would be required to pay fines or suffer additional fees for terminating the rental lease agreement after completing their legal opinion in the examination of the lease agreement. DA MP Desiree van der Walt raised the issue of the office lease agreement…

IF you think Valentine’s Day is only for the young you are wrong! Everyone, young and old, seem to be smitten by the goddess of love (Venus), in the month of February. Sunny Sookoo is 79 years old but is still in love with his 78 year old wife, Maya with whom he tied the knot on the 14 th of February 60 years ago. Though it was an arranged marriage and Valentine’s Day was unheard of those days, their love grew and they celebrated their diamond wedding jubilee on Valentine’s Day surrounded by family. Not so lucky was 64 year-old Isipingo grandmother who was seeking love on the online dating app Badoo. She had been chatting to a 54-year-old Chatsworth man for three months when they decided it was…

SOUTH Africa’s banks are not just financial institutions – they are gatekeepers of economic power, deliberately locking black South Africans out of financial prosperity. When Bongi Kunene, managing director of The Banking Association of South Africa, stood before Parliament, she painted a deceptive picture of banking transformation. What she didn’t say is that during the biggest economic crisis in recent history, banks actively chose to sabotage black businesses. The government made R200 billion available through the Covid-19 Loan Guarantee Scheme. It was a lifeline meant to keep businesses afloat during the pandemic. Instead, banks hoarded the funds, deliberately obstructing access for black entrepreneurs while favouring their usual white clientele. The commercial banks – Absa, Bidvest Bank, First National Bank, Grindrod Bank, Investec, Mercantile Bank, Nedbank, SASFIN Bank, and Standard Bank…

At least 13 people have died from a Lassa fever outbreak in the Edo state, southern Nigeria, local authorities said Sunday. The state government confirmed 83 cases out of 378 suspected infections since Dec. 30, 2024, said State Director of Public Health Stephenson Ojeifo. “Seven patients are currently receiving treatment, while others have been discharged,” Ojeifo added. He attributed the high mortality rate to delayed hospital visits, urging communities to seek medical help “if a fever persists beyond 72 hours.” Lassa fever spreads through food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or feces. It is transmitted when humans contact rat saliva, urine or excrement. In 2024, Nigeria reported 214 deaths from Lassa fever, according to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control.…

Conclave was named Best Film at the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards. The political thriller – which stars Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini – beat off competition from A Complete Unknown, Anora, The Brutalist and Emilia Perez to take home the top prize on Sunday where director Edward Bergman noted just how much he admitted screenwriter Peter Straughan’s work. Speaking live on stage at the Royal Festival Hall during the ceremony, he said: “First of all, I wanna say, about seven years ago, I got my hands on this script by Peter and I started reading everything he’d written. “Suddenly, out of the blue, Tessa [Ross, producer] called to say she had a script by him. You might imagine how I felt. Thank you for your wonderful script.” The German-born…

A 16-YEAR-OLD boy has lost his eye and a professor has appeared in the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court following a clash with Law Enforcement officers in Factreton over the weekend. Ward councillor, Cheslyn Steenberg, said the incident in 18th Avenue led to the arrest of Professor Brian Williams among others, as various individuals were wounded. It is understood that residents and officers clashed over the alleged increase in illegal structures, but residents contend they moved from one side to a different side of the vacant plot due to flooding. “Information to my disposal says that the reasons for the protest is that the City of Cape Town’s Anti Land Invasion and Law Enforcement entered the settlement firing at residents indiscriminately to break down what the City termed as ‘illegal structures’. “This…

SELECTIVE morality, selective condemnation and selective justice, are on lurid display, as President Trump attempts to tackle the crisis in Gaza. Many in the Western world are guilty of selective morality and political amnesia when Muslims are humiliated and killed by their political allies in Muslim ruled countries. Over the past 50 years, 40 million Muslim men, women and children were killed by Western armies, without any global condemnation, yet one death in Iran grabs global headlines. During 2016, the Human Rights Committee wrote in it’s first Geneva Comment on the right to life under the International Covenant on Civil And Political Rights. The deprivation of life by authorities of the State is a matter of utmost gravity. Therefore, the law must strictly control and limit the circumstances in which…

YOUR edition on Friday, “over 400 Eastern Cape schools still rely on pit toilets” refers. We regularly hear both in newsprint, radio and television how badly done the Western Province is with regard to the Education Department. Normally it is because of over crowding or some people not able to get a placement. However, if you compare our schools and our situation in the Western Province to all the other provinces we are literally hundreds of miles ahead. It is tragic that over 400 schools in the Eastern Cape need to use those disgusting and unhygienic pit toilets. Hopefully the national department can step in and see where the money is going in these other provinces.…

It is quite easy to see South Africa’s predicament in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after its serious military losses. Does it expose its international reputation and power as overstated or misconceived? Is it a failure of its foreign policy and does it serve as an exposure of its real military power? Numerous theories are in circulation about it, some conspiratorial in nature about South Africa’s interests in the region or the poor quality of military leadership. This happens on top of President Trump’s decision to terminate international support to many countries, including South Africa. In our case, the new expropriation legislation is presented as the villain. South Africa’s foreign relations are therefore under pressure. But how much of South Africa’s diplomacy and international relations are affected…

Earlier, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi confirmed that Egypt was working on a comprehensive plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing the Palestinians. The Gaza reconstruction plan is being drafted in coordination with Palestinian, Arab and the international community, said Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, speaking during a Cairo meeting with a US Congressional delegation led by Darrell Issa. Egypt is developing a comprehensive, multi-phase plan for early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza, ensuring Palestinians remain on their land, the minister added. Abdelatty highlighted the need for a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, advocating for a unified Palestinian state based on the two-state solution. The minister called for the sustained and accelerated delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, highlighting the dire humanitarian situation. Previously, US President Donald Trump proposed to…

Steve Barker and his Stellenbosch FC side could finally be cracking under the massive workload and the loss of key players to the big spenders. Stellies will make the long trip to the Mpumalanga Province to take on a wounded TS Galaxy side in the Betway Premiership clash at the Mbombela Stadium today (7.30pm kick-off). The Cape Winelands outfit hasn’t had the best of outings of late, and unlike the side they were last season, they are currently lingering in a lonely ninth place, one point away from the top eight. Barker and his troops have had to juggle between continental football and also keep up with their league aspirations, and even though they still have three games in hand over those above them, they have found it harder to…

THE student protests linked to the housing crisis at higher learning institutions across the country have spilled over onto the rugby field, with the opening 2025 Varsity Cup match between the University of Cape Town (UCT) Tigers and North-West University (NWU) Eagles postponed. The teams were unable to take the field for the 4:45pm kickoff at the Green Mile in Cape Town yesterday, after many students sat right in the middle of the rugby field and refused to move. There is currently a massive student accommodation crisis around the country, with students left stranded and some even sleeping on the streets. Yesterday morning, there were two protests in Cape Town, with students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s (CPUT) District Six campus and UCT demanding accommodation ahead of the…

THE KwaSizabantu Mission, a Christian organisation known for its ownership of aQuelle bottled water in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, is grappling with harrowing allegations of child abuse and rape. These accusations are according to court documents filed at the Pretoria High Court this month. Erika Bornman, a whistleblower and prominent voice in the legal battle, said they will be using a Chapter 9 institution for damages due to an inadequate investigation into the mission’s practices. Bornman described how the group allegedly adopted increasingly alarming cult-like behaviours over the past three to four decades, particularly emphasising the pattern of leader adulation. According to the court papers, the head of the organisation, Erlo Stegen, who has since died, was at the centre of these unsettling claims. There are allegations that Stegen physically abused children,…

SOUTH African roads would not only become safer, but vehicle efficiency would improve if international tyre safety standards are adopted in the country. This is the view of the Product Testing Institute (PTI), which has urged the Department of Transport to adopt new standards pertaining to rolling resistance and retreading. Tyre failures are believed to cause around two road deaths per day in South Africa, or over 700 per year. “Implementing compulsory local standards for retreading and rolling resistance is urgently needed,” said Alex Erdman, Laboratory Manager at the PTI. He said the lack of a local testing facility has until now held back the adoption of these standards in South Africa, however, the PTI was recently given formal accreditation as a tyre testing facility, by the SA National Accreditation…

BUT why don’t the City and these other organisations do what you guys are doing?" This is the most frequently asked question by those who know and have ever visited or experienced or been helped by one of our interventions. We had an intervention this past weekend in the CBD and I was joined by five of our donors who each brought along a friend – and that is what they all wanted to know. What people don’t seem to understand is that although I established an organisation that offers services to homeless people, the organisation is not interested in becoming compliant with the City’s current policies and strategies on homelessness and forsake what my lived experience of being homeless has taught me, and on which our services are based.…

ANNUALLY the world comes together to celebrate World Wetlands Day on February 2, to highlight the importance of wetlands and to advocate for their protection and preservation. This year, the World Wetlands Day was celebrated under the theme “Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future” highlighting the importance of wetlands for humanity and the future generations. This year’s theme underscores the urgency of bold action to protect these natural habitats for the welfare of all people, and to ensure that future generations continue to benefit from all that wetlands provide. Wetlands continue to be destroyed all over the world. Humans are the main culprits in the destruction of wetlands. Pollution, unsustainable developments and climate change threaten the health and existence of these essential ecosystems. We have turned our wetlands into dumping…

With the rising costs of living pushing millions of South Africans deeper into financial stress, the call for a reasonable increase in social grants is urgent. As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana prepares to deliver his Budget speech, the government must prioritise those who rely on these grants to survive. For many elderly, disabled people, and low-income families, social grants are the only thing keeping them afloat. But the numbers don’t add up. The child support grant is R530, while feeding a child properly costs nearly R1 000 a month. Pensioners are scraping by on too little, while food transport, and electricity costs keep increasing. Organisations and community groups are calling for increases. Some may say that it is too much, but what is the alternative? People go hungry, or families…

Kolkata locals cherish their city’s past, which is why many in the one-time Indian capital are mourning a vanishing emblem of its faded grandeur: a hulking and noisy fleet of stately yellow taxis. The snub-nosed Hindustan Ambassador, first rolling off the assembly line in the 1950s with a design that barely changed in the decades since, once ruled India’s potholed streets. Nowadays it is rarely spotted outside Kolkata, where it serves as the backbone of the metropolitan cab fleet and a readily recognisable symbol of the eastern city’s identity. But numbers are dwindling fast, and a court ruling means those that remain – lumbering but still sturdy – will be forced off the roads entirely in the next three years. “I love my car like my son,” Kailash Sahani, who…