Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-01-26 i Cape Argus

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@iinl.co.za After days of silence, Premier Alan Winde spoke out yesterday on community safety MEC Albert Fritz’s suspension. He suspended Fritz with immediate effect on Sunday, with reports later emerging that it was linked to allegations of sexual assault. Winde said initial allegations related to this matter were first brought to his attention by a third party, informally, on November 23, last year. “I immediately requested affidavits from the persons directly involved so I could take action. “Since that date I have ensured the complainants were afforded due care and empathy and no pressure was placed on them, noting the nature of their complaints. “Earlier this month, I was informed that the complainants were now ready to hand over their affidavits. I met with them 11 days…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za THEMBEKA Mchunu is leading a slate that has roped-in Tholi Gwala as her deputy chairperson and Lindo Phungula (recently dethroned as district mayor of King Cetshwayo) as regional treasurer. In the outgoing regional leadership, Mchunu (Thembeka) is the deputy regional chairperson under the leadership of Mdu Mhlongo, the recently deposed mayor of Umhlathuze (Richards Bay-Empangeni). Of note, in 2018, Mhlongo and Mchunu teamed up with Gwala (who is the current regional secretary) to replace the then-regional leadership of the late Nonhle Mkhulisi, which was seen to be close to the RET faction of the ANC. Three years later, the slate has collapsed as Mhlongo is now leading a competing slate that is set to take on Mchunu’s slate when the region convenes next month to elect regional…

nomalanga Tshuma nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za FRUSTRATED with the poor administration service at their local clinic the Bothasig Resident’s Association (BRA) is gearing up to lodge a formal complaint with the provincial Health Department. The association, which represents almost 17 000 residents, said they are alarmed at the increasing complaints about services at the health-care facility, prompting it into action. BRA spokesperson Derek Serra said: “Over the past few months we had noticed that complaints about service at the clinic were increasing. It seems we have a terrible administration system, and residents are frustrated and tired of it because it’s not working for them. “Folders go missing, staff are rude and the phone lines are not working. We even had a WhatsApp appointment booking system, but even that’s troublesome. While I know Bothasig…

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of our daily lives. Some of these changes are immediately visible in the everyday wearing of masks, in the bottles of hand sanitiser found on shop counters, and in the careful spacing of long queues. Others are less obvious. They take place in the structures of the legal system that shapes our relationships to one another and to the state. In the recent past, as I’ve argued in my book, South Africa’s Insurgent Citizens, the post-apartheid Constitution’s emphasis on the need for state action to be both rational (in the legal sense) and grounded in the fundamentals of the Bill of Rights, has meant that the law and legal activism have become political tools. These tools have often been used by poor communities…

Rafael Nadal dug deep into his immense reserves of resilience for the second match running to keep his dream of a 21st Grand Slam title alive at the Australian Open yesterday, as unseeded American Madison Keys reached the women’s semi-finals. Nadal raced to a two-set quarter-final lead against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov but then began to feel unwell, needing medical attention for a stomach complaint before surviving a four-hour thriller 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3. The Spanish sixth seed previously had to show all his experience and tenacity just to reach the quarter-finals in an epic 28-minute tiebreak, and he somehow found the will power again to cross the finish line, despite being badly hampered. “I started to feel not very well in my stomach, so I just asked if they…

Smiso Msomi Comment It’s been over two decades since Bafana Bafana earned their place at the biggest spectacle in sport, the Fifa World Cup, in France in 1998. The names of all those who formed part of that triumph are etched in the hearts of all who witnessed it. Twenty-four years on and the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) is in full swing (even being broadcast in the UK for the first time), but the Bafana squad of 2022 form part of the watching contingent, which will be repeated when the next World Cup kicks off in Qatar in November. Bafana’s Afcon 1996 triumph and participation in the 1998 World Cup were historical milestones for South African football. However, they have matured into overcast burdens on today’s national team stars…

Jamal Grootboom jamald.grootboom@inl.co.za R&B songstress Ari Lennox seems to have overcome the initial shock following her controversial interview on Podcast and Chill with MacG. Last week, the Pressure singer had a virtual interview with the podcaster where they spoke about her personal life and music career. However, in the first two minutes, things got awkward when MacG asked the star a very personal question. MacG asked Ari what inspired one of her earlier singles, Pop – where she sings about having her vagina “popped”, in a reference to sex. “It was such a silly song but it was so on time, like if I pop it for you, are you going to play with me or are we going to get married?” she said. MacG then asked,: “And where are…

Rafieka Williams rafieka.williams@inl.co.za IN a shocking turn of events, the key witness in the trial of an alleged trafficking ring revealed in the Western Cape High Court that she had killed her own mother. The State witness took the stand yesterday to provide testimony in the trial of Edward Ayuk, his wife Leandre Ayuk and brother Yannick Ayuk, who are facing charges on multiple counts of rape, trafficking, kidnapping, debt bondage and assault. The witness, who may not be named, was ushered in by Correctional Services and made the revelation as she was being questioned by State prosecutor, advocate Maria Marshall. The witness told the court that she had been arguing with her sister when she became enraged because her sister belittled her, accusing her of being a prostitute and…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za THE Cape of Good Hope (COGH) SPCA and volunteers are racing against time to rescue the remaining baboons that have been affected by the recent fires in the Kleinmond area. About 15 baboons from the troop were affected by the devastating vegetation fires, with only one of the nine baboons, identified as needing veterinary treatment, rescued. The juvenile female baboon, Kelly, with extensive burn wounds, was rescued last week and is at an animal hospital for treatment. Kelly is scheduled to be released back to her family before the end of the week, the SPCA confirmed. The National Council of SPCAs said it had granted the COGH SPCA an out-of-area authorisation to work on the baboons in the area. Jenni Trethowan, from Baboon Matters, said one of…

Rafieka Williams rafieka.williams@inl.co.za A NEW report from the Zero-Dropout Campaign (ZDC) revealed that boys are more likely to drop out of schools than girls due to the complex gender roles and norms that are applied to them during their schooling. The report makes use of the latest qualitative research and explores how gender intersects with other social inequalities to shape learners’ disengagement from school. Titled “School Dropout: Gender Matters”, the report suggests that the gendered expectations, pressures and stereotypes can unsteady learners’ progress on their path to school completion. ZDC head of communications and advocacy Rahima Essop said: “Drop-out comes at the end of a long process of disengagement in which learners are pushed or pulled away from school because of factors at home, at school and in their communities.…

There is irrefutable proof of malfeasance, under-delivery, duplicity, under- and overspending rocketing living costs, what with Eskom baying like a demented wolf for more and more with which to deliver less and less. I beat my drum regularly for improved national literacy and creative retelling of the twisted narrative we have slavishly followed for so long. I feel compelled to reduce my polemic to the level of the absurd, à la Rene Descartes and his strategy of reductio ad absurdum. There is a saying: He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, he knows not he is a fool. That is hardly Aristotelian logic and comes dangerously close to invective so that I would rather exemplify with a few instances of the above sad condition. Does Cyril…

Andrea Carboni and Clionadh Raleigh In 2021, coups d’état ousted four heads of state in sub-Saharan Africa. Army interventions in Chad, Mali, Guinea and Sudan halted a years-long decline in military takeovers. Some heralded this as the comeback of the army in African politics. Elsewhere in Africa, elected leaders in Tunisia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe were accused of pivoting to authoritarian rule. Common authoritarian measures include suspending parliamentary assemblies, confining opposition leaders, extending term limits and violently repressing opposition and dissent. Here lies an apparent paradox –despite decades in which democratic institutions have become prevalent across the continent, African states continue to be vulnerable to military takeovers and autocratic forms of power. Multiple interpretations aim to explain this seeming contradiction. A popular explanation suggests that the world, and especially Africa, is…

Ramaphosa urges NPA to act swiftly Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report into fraud and corruption has laid bare the looting of Covid-19 public funds. Now President Cyril Ramaphosa is pinning his hopes on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to “diligently and expeditiously prosecute” those who have been implicated. The SIU has made 386 referrals to the NPA, as well as three referrals for executive action. The unit has made 330 referrals for administrative action, which includes blacklisting. The rand value of cash and assets to be recovered on the basis of the probe is R551.5 million, while cash and assets recovered to date total R34.2m. The value of potential loss prevented by the probe is R114.2m, while contracts set aside amount to R170.4m. The SIU found…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za Members of the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) will reconvene in the next few days to determine the next course of action after its request to President Cyril Ramaphosa to answer questions on allegations he knew about the use of state funds to finance ANC internal campaigns. In a two-and-a-half-hour meeting yesterday, ANC members closed ranks as former party whip Mervyn Dirks called for Ramaphosa to be summoned to appear before the standing committee. Dirks had gone to the Western Cape High Court earlier seeking to get his suspension lifted. However, he lost his court bid. In another day of drama, with Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa announcing that the ANC had axed Dirks and replaced him with fellow party MP Bheki Hadebe, the committee said it…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za Gift of the Givers (GOTG) has said it will donate R5 million to Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) for backlogged procedures affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The disaster relief organisation’s head, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, joined GSH CEO Dr Bhavna Patel, GSH General Surgery head Dr Lydia Cairncross, and GSH Trust chairperson Mustaq Brey for a media briefing at GSH yesterday. The contribution will go towards GSH’s Surgical Recovery Project to address 1 500 backlogged surgical procedures for medical conditions. The hospital is now determined to raise the remaining R10m required and has appealed for donations to be made to its primary fund-raising platform, the Groote Schuur Hospital Trust. “We had to reduce the number of operating theatres by about 40%, this is because we had to reallocate…

The head of the World Health Organization said this week that the planet can end the Covid-19 emergency this year, although the virus last week killed someone every 12 seconds. “We can end Covid-19 as a global health emergency and we can do it this year,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – who is all but guaranteed a second term after a procedural vote yesterday made him the sole nominee ahead of a leadership vote in May. To do so, countries need to work harder to ensure equitable access to vaccines and treatment, track the virus and its emerging variants, and keep restrictions in place, he warned. The WHO has for months demanded that countries do more to accelerate the distribution of vaccines in poorer nations, calling on all countries to…

MICHAEL SHERMAN michael.sherman@africannewsagency.com EIGHT people were killed in a stampede during an Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 match at Olembe Stadium in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde on Monday night, and the fact that this is still happening in African football in 2022 beggars belief. Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe echoed this sentiment yesterday when he stated: “Unforeseen circumstances meant a gate which is supposed to be open was closed. There have been very serious discussions with our partners. There is a commitment from us to ensure this does not happen again. “We are absolutely in a condition of pain. We should not compromise on our insistence that this does happen again. “When people lose their lives, you must be angry. You must demand answers that…