Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-03-15 i Cape Argus

Rafieka Williams rafieka.williams@inl.co.za ABDU-RAHIEM Israel yesterday took the stand, telling the court that he consulted with his mother before becoming a gang member in prison. He is accused of killing two people, Jacobus Pietersen and Shahied Sallie, on two separate occasions and being involved in a spate of robberies between December 7, 2015, and October 14, 2018. His lawyer, Advocate Nawaal Abdurahman, questioned him about specific incidents and the charges against him. During his testimony, Israel denied that he committed the robberies or used firearms. He said he couldn’t fathom why he was viewed as the person who committed these crimes. Israel told the court that he had been in custody for more than four years and admitted that he became a gang member in prison for his own safety.…

Len Bennett | Ottawa, Canada IT’S TIME to clear up a misconception. The UN Partition Plan of November 29, 1947, (Resolution 181) did not create two states; one for the Jews and another for the Arabs. Resolution 181 was a suggestion to end the conflict between the legal owners of the Mandate for Palestine, the Jews, and the militias of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, which had been attacking the Jews for the previous 50 years. The validity of 181 rested on the Jews agreeing to share their land with the Mufti. The Mufti rejected any Jewish presence at all and started a war of genocide. The Mandate for Palestine created the reconstituted homeland of the Jews. It was one of a number of mandates…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg ACCORDING to calls by the US, Russia’s actions in Ukraine constitute war crimes for bombing a hospital. Sadly, after many innocent human beings killed, wounded and incapacitated; civilian and other infrastructure destroyed; and the war is over, can investigators and truth-seeking commissions go in and look for factual and objective data? In most instances finding evidence for establishing a case for war crimes becomes difficult and problematic. As a result, most war criminals responsible for human rights violations get away through instruments such as amnesties, protective agreements and pacts. The illegal invasions of Libya, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and the occupation of Palestine prove how the so-called protectors of democratic institutions and the rule of law often break the rules of the Geneva Convention, The…

Mwangi Githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za FINANCE and Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier yesterday unveiled his budget for the Western Cape, allocating R77.3 billion for the 2022/23 financial year. In what he called his “budget to push forward”, Maynier pledged to allocate R75.4bn in 2023/24 and R76.2bn in the 2024/25 financial year. The province will spend a massive R229bn over the medium term on the provincial government’s strategic priorities, including jobs, safety and well-being. This three-year total includes allocations to the front-line services, including education, health care, social development and infrastructure. Maynier said the budget allocations would go to supporting vulnerable municipalities, improving the efficiency of expenditure by improving value-for-money in procurement, and mitigating existing risks such as drought, fire and flooding as well as new risks such as cyberattacks. “We have…

| AFP As Russian forces surrounded several Ukrainian cities yesterday, Moscow warned it could place them under the Kremlin’s “full control”. A Kremlin spokesperson said that Russian forces had so far held off on a full-scale onslaught on large cities “because the civilian losses would be large”, but that Moscow “does not rule out the possibility of putting large cities under its full control”. The warning came as a fourth round of talks between Ukraine and Russia got under way via videoconference, amid deadly air strikes in the capital Kyiv and an eastern pro-Moscow separatist region. Russian-backed separatists yesterday said fragments from a shot-down Ukrainian Tochka missile landed in the centre of Donetsk, killing 20 civilians, including children. A rebel leader said the victims were people waiting at an…

MIHLALI BALEKA Comment Hugo Broos’ decision to select nine defenders in his final squad for Bafana Bafana’s international friendlies against Guinea and France is alarming. Bafana are expected to be no match for world champions France on March 29, but you’d expect them to fancy their chances against Guinea, who were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations last month in the last 16, next week Friday. Friendlies are where coaches get to gauge the team’s readiness for major tournaments and even though Bafana are out of the qualifiers for the Fifa World Cup, you wouldn’t expect Broos to rest on his laurels. So why would he select so many defenders, while opting for only five strikers? The danger posed by Frenchmen Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema is known…

WE ARE all aware of atoms. All matter in the universe (including our bodies) are made of atoms. But most of us have never seen an atom. However, due to advances in technology, the world of atoms has opened up to us as human beings. The voyage into the world of atoms is fascinating. When we get to this microscopically small world, we find new kinds of forces, quantum effects, new possibilities, and different optical, electrical and magnetic behaviour. And after many years of research, it now seems that molecular machines made of atoms could change the future. Molecular machines (nanites or nanomachines) are molecular components that produce “quasi-mechanical movements (output) in response to specific stimuli (input)”. In 2016 Fraser Stoddart from Northwestern University in Evanston in the US, Jean-Pierre…

Jamal Grootboom jamald.grootboom@inl.co.za MEDIA personality Khanyi Mbau has thanked her man, Kudzai Mushonga, for supporting her while she chases her dreams. The Young, Famous & African star was on everyone’s lips after the latest episodes of The Wife dropped that had a steamy sex scene with co-star Mondli Makhoba. Taking to her Instagram page, Khanyi sang Kudzai’s praises for supporting her in all her endeavours. Captioning the post: “Your level of support baby, the way you let me chase my dreams and want to see me become the best in all I do is incredible and honestly the wind beneath my wings. “My silent cheerleader and fighter, my family, my guide. How you do it? Truly beats me. My love, my hubby ... my heart ... thank you for…

Itumeleng Mafisa POLICE have confirmed that the SAPS head office in Pretoria is now fully functional following a dispute between the building’s landlord and the government. Police and staff members had been locked out of the building for a number of days after a fallout between the Department of Public Works and the landlord. Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe announced that the building was now accessible and that things were back to normal. This is after almost a week of not functioning. “The SAPS confirms that it is business as usual and that the administering of criminal records, issuing of police clearance certificates as well as processing of fingerprint applications for firearms has commenced,” Mathe said. Meanwhile, police unions have lashed out at the government for what they described as an…

mwangi githahu mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za THE Sekunjalo Group of Companies’ (Sekunjalo) bank accounts at Nedbank will remain open after the Equality Court in the Western Cape ordered the bank to not close them. Presiding over the matter in which Sekunjalo is taking Nedbank and South Africa’s banking cartel on for discrimination, Judge Mondi Samela ordered Nedbank to leave the accounts open until such time an interdict application against Nedbank was heard on April 8 and an outcome is reached. Having considered the issues raised by both parties, Judge Samela said he was of the view that a case has been made for the relief sought by Sekunjalo. “The respondents are hereby interdicted from closing the applicants’ accounts on Tuesday, March 15. This relief is pending the outcome of the application on…

Nomalanga Tshuma nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za THE Western Cape Education Department (WCED) says it is dealing with cultural beliefs at schools as best as it can. This after the niece of ANC member in the legislature Pat Lekker was sent to write her exam outside the classroom of Glendale Secondary School in Mitchells Plain for wearing a green headband prescribed to cure an ongoing sickness. “My niece has been sick for the past three years and has had to undergo a traditional process. Last week Wednesday, she was given a green headband at church to wear on her head, stomach and toes,” Lekker said. “Despite the valid reason for wearing the headband, the school still saw fit to send her out of school, undoubtedly discriminating against her. Wanting to remedy the situation, I…

IT DEEPLY disappoints when Zionists endeavour to educate us, formerly oppressed “coloured and people of the Islamic denomination”, about differences in oppression. Ebrahim Wydeman | Mitchells Plain All of a sudden, Russian brutality towards Ukrainians should not result in pointing out Zionist Israel’s brutality towards Palestinians. Really? Inhumanity and cruelty perpetrated against a nationality purely because you want it all is brutal. Palestine and Palestinians have, since time immemorial, regarded where they are as a country. Why would Zionist Israel, because of its hatred of an idea of a two-state solution, prefer to have it all? And this via bombarding defenceless humans and daily enforcing Zionist Israeli evil, just because of an idea to wipe Palestine off the face of the Earth after stealing land that Israel knows rightly…

Allan Wolman | Israel Hot on the heels of Amnesty International’s recent branding of Israel as an apartheid state, which has been discredited by almost every democratic world leader as well as Amnesty’s own office in Israel, came a report from its US director, Paul O’Brien, saying that “Jews do not want Israel to be a Jewish state but rather a safe Jewish space”. He goes on to say: Israel “shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state and doesn’t even have a right to exist. This is based on his gut feeling, and the world should sit up and take note of his gut feeling? Well, if it comes from Amnesty International’s esteemed arrogant bigots, the world should take it from whence it comes! Last Saturday, 81 people were…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za THE Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is demanding that several buildings it leases on behalf of state institutions in Tshwane be reopened after they were locked due to non-payment of rent. It said allegations and illegal actions by the Bothongo Group were an attempt to deflect from the evidence of overpayments, which it has presented to multiple landlords and is in the process of resolving. “The [department] wishes to set the record straight regarding the illegal closure of buildings in Pretoria by a landlord who claimed rent has not been paid … the closing of the buildings is illegal, as no court order has been granted to evict the client departments or close the buildings.” Last week, it was reported that several government departments had been…

BAMBIHLELO DIKELA MAJUQWANA In June 2020, the Constitutional Court ruled it unconstitutional not to permit independent candidates to stand in parliamentary elections. This appears to have opened a can of worms for some political parties. The fear among some, including the ANC, is that the electoral process will become burdensome with a long list of candidates that the voter must choose from. They worry that this will create confusion. According to the ANC: “Ultimately, if voters find it difficult to vote and find their preferred choice on a ballot, the election will not reflect the will of the people. We need to review the qualifications to stand as an independent candidate and as a new party. If we do not make it stricter, we can have thousands of candidates.” While…

All 17 million people in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen began their first full day under lockdown yesterday, as restrictions spread across Shanghai and other major cities to combat an outbreak challenging the nation’s zero-tolerance Covid strategy. The southern city of Shenzhen imposed the measure on Sunday to counter an Omicron flare-up in factories and neighbourhoods linked to nearby Hong Kong, which is recording scores of daily deaths as the virus runs rampant. Major Apple supplier Foxconn suspended its operations in Shenzhen, the company said, as the lockdown bit hard into economic activity across the factory hub. Shenzhen is one of 10 cities nationwide to have locked down all residents, though the measure was taken in some parts of other major hubs including Dalian, Nanjing and Tianjin, which neighbours…

Mthuthuzeli Ntseku mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za FOLLOWING its engagements with various stakeholders in Atlantis, Delft, and Beaufort West, child rights organisation Molo Songololo said child vulnerability to sexual exploitation had increased. The organisation said minors were groomed, manipulated and forced into sexual exploitation by men and boys they knew and were made to have sex in exchange for something. It says reports of children as young as 10 years old being impregnated had been received. This as a prominent Mitchells Plain businessman, Aneez Brandt, charged with abduction and rape of a 13-year-old girl from Uitsig, appeared in the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court yesterday. In her affidavit, the survivor’s mother identified Brandt as a family friend as he was a close friend of the minor’s late father. In his response to the court during his…

Shakirah Thebus shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za HUNDREDS of thousands of toothbrushes are to be donated to schools across the country ahead of World Oral Health Day on Sunday. The Athlone School for the Blind was among the beneficiaries yesterday of a donation of toothbrushes and toothpaste by health-care retailer Clicks, in association with the Clicks Helping Hand Trust and toothpaste brand Aquafresh. The total donation of 400 000 toothbrushes to 263 schools nationwide is made possible by Aquafresh, Colgate and Oral-B. The Athlone School for the Blind has 305 pupils, some of whom are partially sighted and others completely blind. The school includes an early childhood development centre, a primary school, a high school and a severe intellectual disability department. Deputy principal Gail Williams said each of the school’ pupils would be given…

Matthew Petersen matthew.petersen@inl.co.za MILLIONS of television viewers in the country could be without television access next month once the government-imposed analogue switch-off (ASO) starts. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in his State of the Nation Address that South Africa would migrate from analogue to digital broadcast by March 31. Cape Town TV (CTV), a non-profit community broadcaster, is fighting to keep its analogue broadcast and stands to lose its viewers once the ASO kicks in, mainly due to a lack of digital TV decoders. CTV station director Karen Thorne said she was aware of the effect ASO would have on viewers. “Our research shows that South Africans are ill-prepared for the switch-off. This presents a serious problem for all free-to-air broadcasters on the DTT platform,” she said. There were ways free-to-air…

OVER the past decades, the movement to dismantle organised bias against women in workplaces, politics and academia, through fast-tracking of economic opportunities and access to health care, has been gaining ground. While society remains unequal, these gains were unequivocally meritorious and resulted from the tenacity of women driving the campaign. However, in just over two years, Covid-19 undid the gains and exposed existing social inequalities. If not addressed, discrimination against women and girls will stay on as a side-effect of the pandemic. The gender-skewed labour shortages in the workplace need to be ironed out as a priority to create an even playing field for women who are in and will be entering the job market. This year’s theme for International Women’s Day, Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow, is…

Keith Gottschalk | Claremont THE front page headline of the looting of the Bellville, Langa, Philippi and Salt River railway stations, with theft of all fixtures (March 14), refers. Apartheid president PW Botha abolished the 16 000-strong SA Railway Police in 1986. Since then, copper thieves and looters have had free rein. The media has reported that today’s Transnet and Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) have about 2 000 guards in a “Rail Enforcement Unit”, plus about 2 000 more outsourced guards. Obviously, 4 000 guards cannot do the work of the former 16 000 railway police officers. It is long overdue for Parliament to re-establish the SA Railway Police with its 16 000 posts. With the aid of modern drones and thermal cameras, they will be…

Pharmaceutical company Moderna announced on March 7 that it would develop a site in Kenya to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines. The company holds much of the key intellectual property relating to the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Due to their higher efficacy, mRNA vaccines are the preferred option in developed countries. They account for 92% of all vaccinations to date in the US and EU. Moderna’s decision to continue making the vaccine itself, though on the Kenyan site, is a signal that the company (at least for the moment) is not considering licensing its technology to a third party for local manufacture. In this way, the company keeps closer control over who has full knowledge of, and is able to use productively, its technology. Licensing is an arrangement which has lower cost…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za Kaizer Chiefs will be looking to make it three wins on the trot when they host Golden Arrows in the Premiership at FNB Stadium on Saturday night. After starting the year poorly, Chiefs have been rejuvenated in recent times, recording back-to-back wins over Baroka FC and Orlando Pirates. A win over Arrows could lift them back into second place. Should they finish second this season, they will qualify for next season’s CAF Champions League. Given that Mamelodi Sundowns’ lead atop the league standings is 15 points, it’s safe to say that second place is the best that Chiefs will be able to do this season. Meanwhile, Chiefs legend and goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has reflected on how injuries have affected his career in recent years. Arguably the best…

You have to give it to Karim Benzema. His resurgence at Real Madrid has been a marvel to watch, considering that he was in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale when the duo ruled the Spanish capital not so long ago. In four successive seasons, Benzema has scored more than 20 goals. That’s a great return for a striker who has surpassed the 30-year mark where players are deemed to be past their peak and are subjected to scrutiny, and are even dropped to the bench. Benzema has been so good that he guided Madrid to the top of the La Liga standings and into the quarter-finals of the Uefa Champions League after beating Paris Saint German 3-2 on aggregate in the last-16. Benzema scored all three goals…

Herman Gibbs herman.gibbs@gmail.com Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi has come to terms with the intense pressure of being at the helm of a team who lose more than they win. On Sunday, Pirates produced an emphatic performance in the Confederation Cup despite suffering recent Nedbank Cup and Premiership defeats. Pirates defeated Eswatini’s Royal Leopards 3-0 at Orlando Stadium and moved to the top of Group B. After four matches, Pirates have nine points, two points clear of JS Saoura (Algeria) and Al-Ittihad (Libya), who are on seven points each but separated by goal difference. The fourth team, Leopards, have yet to win a game in their debut season. Although Pirates top the log, JS Saoura and Al-Ittihad can still pip them to the knockout stage if they lose their two…

Cristiano Ronaldo gave Manchester United fans a glimpse of what they thought they were getting from his second coming at Old Trafford with a trio of thumping finishes to see off Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 on Saturday. The 59th hat-trick of Ronaldo’s career was just his second for United in a second spell that has failed to match the hype since last August. United go into today’s Champions League last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid, after a 1-1 draw in Spain, knowing European glory is their only remaining chance of silverware this season. Ronaldo has saved his best for the Champions League this season, scoring six goals in the group stage just to ensure United did not suffer the ignominy of a group stage exit for the second consecutive season. But his…