Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-04-26 i Cape Argus

PROBLEMATIC tax legislation is causing irreparable damage to exporter cash flows and the local economy, as one-sided laws balanced against taxpayers continue to impede growth and deter foreign investors. Deficiencies in the country’s Value-Added Tax (VAT) Act regarding VAT audits have resulted in the endless withholding of VAT refunds, violating taxpayers’ constitutional rights to fair administration. In terms of VAT law, exports are zero-rated, which means that export businesses usually fall into a net VAT refund position. These VAT refunds are an important factor in exporters’ operational cash flows. SA Revenue Service (Sars) is not statutorily required to finalise VAT audits within any deadline. This results in endless delays in the payment of refunds, causing companies significant financial difficulties to the point of insolvency. During the VAT audit period, there…

THE Western Cape Police Ombud has confirmed it is investigating a complaint of gross negligence by the Steenberg police station following the discovery of documents containing confidential information that were discarded at the area’s dumping site. The discovery, which included remnants of police dockets, rape kits, exhibit sleeves, and personal documents, was made by ward councillor Marita Petersen on Friday. Petersen said this was the third such discovery. Petersen said that on April 1, she was made aware of this, and informed the CPF and the station commander. She received a “Noted, thank you” response she said. Petersen said on April 9 she was also alerted that more waste from the police station was on the dumpsite. It included dagga, rape kits, exhibit sleeves, bullets as well as confidential documents.…

A number of Freedom Day-centred activities are expected to take place ahead of the public holiday and on the day. The City will honour the composer of part of the democratic South African national anthem, Enoch Mankayi Sontonga, through a temporary exhibition at the Cape Town City Hall. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika was composed by Sontonga, a Methodist mission school teacher in 1897. On April 20, 1994, a proclamation issued by the then-state president stated that the country would have two national anthems, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and The Call of South Africa (Die Stem van Suid-Afrika). A shortened, combined version of the two would later become the National Anthem in 1997. The opening will take place today at the Nelson Mandela Exhibition, First Floor, for members of the media, with the…

THE government is pulling out all the stops to prove the constitutionality of the amended Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto). It wants the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) to assist in the court battle over the legislation, intended to implement a points demerits system for traffic offenders. The battle is headed to the Constitutional Court, where the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) will seek a confirmation of the North Gauteng High Court ruling that declared Aarto unconstitutional. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has filed a notice to oppose the confirmation application. Mbalula’s position is that Judge Annali Basson erred in finding that Aarto encroached on the powers of the provincial and municipal authorities. In the judgment earlier this year, Judge Basson declared Aarto unconstitutional as it allowed for…

Is there any wonder Telkom is losing customers by the dozens daily? I have had a package from it for too many years to remember. The package includes free calls to Telkom landlines from a Telkom landline. Suddenly, last month, I was charged for landline calls – Telkom to Telkom. It found it in its heart to refund me, but it was not for the correct amount. I am owed R276.03. Lo and behold, I have received a bill for the same landline to landline calls this month. I have lost count of how many calls I have made in the past week and got exactly nowhere. What does this tell you? Telkom’s service stinks. No one, I repeat, no one, can help me and everyone tells me to call…

Turkish charity organisation DDEF’s food distribution during the month of Ramadaan reminds us of historical ties between South African Muslims and the Ottoman Caliphate in the past. The Ottoman Empire was the last Islamic empire established in Anatolia around the 1300s, and declined in 1922 after World War I. Ottoman sultans sent scholars to several countries, including South Africa, in order to educate Muslims in the 19th century. Professor of Theology Sayed Abubakr Effendi arrived in Cape Town in 1863 and opened a school on the corner of Wale and Bree streets. He learned the local language of Cape Muslims and wrote a religious catechism in Arabic-Africans. For this purpose, he needed to create new Arabic diacritics to represent Afrikaans phonemes that did not exist in the Arabic language.…

The ANC caucus in Prince Albert Municipality has threatened legal action following a council meeting that took place on Friday last week and ensured victory for the DA. Following the meeting, the DA has taken over the positions of deputy mayor and speaker in the municipality, which it said would be the only municipality in the Central Karoo it governs. It said this victory would result in a by-election which it said it was confident it would win. The ANC, however, raised concerns about the meeting, saying its speaker, Elsabe Maans, who is also the chairperson of the council, confirmed that no such meeting was convened. In a statement, the ANC said the now former speaker Maans, on the advice of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton…

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has come down heavily on the Delhi Jal Board over a plea against the dumping of sewage carried by vehicles on roads and drains in various locations in south Delhi, particularly at Chandan Hola Main Road Bus Stand near Pulliya, Gadaipur Bandh Road, DLF, and Vasant Kunj Farm House. The green court observed that even the Delhi pollution control committee has acknowledged that the situation is disturbing, continuous and sustained. Stringent action is required by the statutory authorities, particularly DJB, which has given licences that are being misused in violation of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. The violations are also offences under Sections 268 to 270 of the IPC. “There appears to be serious failure to monitor compliance of Delhi…

South Africa’s decision to abstain from a UN vote condemning Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine has received much criticism. President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended South Africa’s neutral stance on the grounds a peaceful resolution should always be sought in such cases. The approach adopted by South Africa in relation to the UN Resolution has been viewed with hostility and dismay among diplomats from the west and Nato-aligned countries,interpreted as appeasement of President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. A number of reasons have been placed under the microscope to understand South Africa’s stance – mainly foreign direct investment and ideology. In light of these two factors, Russia and South Africa’s foreign direct investment is unbalanced, with South Africa having about R77 billion worth of investments in Russia. On the other hand, Russian investments…

The US believes Ukraine can win the war against Russia if it has the “right equipment”, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said yesterday. The visit by Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ukraine comes as the war entered its third month, with thousands killed and millions displaced by the fighting. The bloody conflict has triggered an outburst of support from Western nations that has seen a deluge of weapons pour into Ukraine to help beat back the Russian invaders. Austin and Blinken met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. For months, Zelensky has been begging for heavy weapons from Western countries, vowing his forces could turn the tide of the war with more firepower. The calls appear to be resonating, with a host of Nato countries pledging in recent days…

The Cape Coloured Congress (CCC) has slammed the DA-led government for not doing enough to address escalating gang violence on the Cape Flats. In a statement, the CCC gave the provincial government three days to respond to its call for action before it began to sabotage the tourism sector by bringing the international community into the mix. The party is demanding the provincial government take immediate action against all known drug houses, gang hot spots and known gang leaders in Cape Town. CCC secretary-general Sakeena Frenchman said while the party knew and understood that fighting crime was a national competency, it wanted to understand why the province had a Community Safety Department with a functioning budget when it’s not stepping in to alleviate the situation on the Cape Flats. “Over…

Western Cape Commissioner for Children, Christina Nomdo, said her recent trip to Mauritius was to learn from her counterpart. Nomdo was appointed as Commissioner for Children for a 5-year term from June 1, 2020, with the mandate to promote and protect the rights, needs and interests of children in the Western Cape. Nomdo, with the Head of Branch for Investigation, Cameron Cyster, conducted a study visit to the Ombudsman for Children, Rita Venkatasawmy, in Mauritius from April 11 to14. Nomdo’s Mauritius counterpart has operated since 2003. Nomdo also met state President, Prithvirajsing Roopun. “We will continue to build diplomatic and strategic links with other Ombudsmen for Children across the world. If we want to be world class, we need to know what is happening in the rest of the…

A FORMER eBay security executive pleaded guilty yesterday to harassing a Massachusetts couple who wrote a newsletter by arranging anonymous messages on Twitter and home deliveries that included a bloody pig mask and live insects. Jim Baugh, eBay’s former senior director of safety and security, pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to nine counts including conspiracy, stalking through interstate travel and witness tampering. Baugh is one of seven former eBay workers who were charged in 2020 with harassing the married couple in Natick, Massachusetts, behind the newsletter EcommerceBytes. They did so after two top executives, including former CEO Devin Wenig, expressed frustration with the newsletter, say prosecutors and a lawsuit that the couple, David and Ina Steiner, filed against eBay. Wenig was not charged and denied knowing about the scheme.…

THE National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) says the outcome of the disciplinary hearing after alleged dagga smoking by learners at Leondale High School in Joburg will set a precedent for how the education sector will deal with drug use at schools. The 36 suspended learners, said to have smoked dagga on school premises, were accompanied by their parents yesterday as their disciplinary hearing commenced. The video of the learners went viral last week after the incident occurred on April 20, also known as 420 Day, an unofficial international day dedicated to celebrating and smoking marijuana. (NASGB) general secretary Matakanye Matakanye said the outcome of the disciplinary process will set a precedent of how schools handle drug use at schools. “This has been happening all over the country but…

We are a nation of thieves. Corruption and looting of state funds and resources have become endemic. Like a plague of locusts sweeping the country, they devour everything in their path. No government department, parastatal, local council or public institution can tell the nation it’s clean from corruption, mismanagement and wasteful expenditure. Now with one of the most corrupt governments in the world, look at Eskom, once the engine room of our economy. Load shedding is rife. Before we heard the power generation plants couldn’t cope with the demand and tripped. Then, some power plants had to be shut down for repairs. Now we hear that maintenance equipment worth R1 billion has been stolen at one power station, leaving the nation without lights for four hours a day. The…

Busi Mavuso on the board of Eskom has spoken out against the ANC and blamed it for all Eskom’s woes. Mavuso should get a medal, but Scopa threw her out of the meeting they had. It shows you that Gordhan, Mantashe and the President do not want to take responsibility for the failure of Eskom. So the load shedding fiasco plaguing the nation will continue. They don’t care. They have inverters and generators but let the poor people on the ground suffer. Businesses lose money and go into liquidation but it’s not their problem. Eskom is on the brink of collapsing and the ANC government will fall with it, that’s for sure. We need a saviour.…

THE SA Navy has announced plans to name a new state-of-the-art warship after King Sekhukhune, the first of the Bapedi nation, which is largely located in Limpopo. The announcement was made by representatives of the SA Navy who had made a courtesy visit to the Bapedi royal palace at Mabe Tjate III in Sekhukhune on Friday. They were received by the Queen Mother Manyaku Thulare. The launch of the warship was expected to take place in Durban in June. Yesterday, the navy’s chief director for maritime strategy, Rear Admiral David Maningi Mkhonto, said the reason for the visit to the royal house was to request permission to use the name of King Sekhukhune I. “This is an old tradition of the navy, and its an international standard to name our…

THE concept of screening municipal wastewater and environmental water quality as an epidemiological tool for viruses is not a new concept and is used to help inform broader infectious disease control efforts, such as the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Environmental surveillance is also used and recommended for other infections, such as typhoid, early warning of hepatitis A and norovirus outbreaks, as well as for antimicrobial resistance, with modelling techniques used to assist both the design and interpretation of those efforts. Wastewater-based surveillance deals with a remnant nucleic acid particle of the Sars-CoV-2 virus and not a live virus, hence the procedure is safe. The detection of Sars-CoV-2 in sewage does not pose a risk of disease spread, but has the potential to determine the presence of infected individuals in a…

Fresh from winning a second term as French president, Emmanuel Macron soon faces another fight that will determine whether he can pursue his reformist agenda – parliamentary elections in which his rivals are looking to deny him a majority. All 577 deputy seats in the lower- house National Assembly are up for grabs in the votes on June 12 and 19, and Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) party, with 267 MPs, is likely to encounter stiff resistance, analysts say. “The parliament elections are going to be the true election, because getting a majority will be essential,” said Dominique Reynie, a political analyst at the Fondapol institute. Yet two polls released just after Macron’s victory over far-right challenger Marine Le Pen on Sunday found that two-thirds of French people do…

The Stormers are going to have to prepare for every aspect ahead of their blockbuster United Rugby Championship (URC) match against Leinster on Saturday (kick-off 6.15pm), reckons assistant coach Dawie Snyman. The sides will square off in a top-of-the-table clash at Cape Town Stadium. After that John Dobson’s side will take on Scarlets in Wales on May 21. At the weekend, the Stormers claimed their seventh consecutive win at home when they produced a superb second half performance to beat Glasgow Warriors 32-7, while Leinster came short against the Sharks in Durban. Speaking on the big game yesterday, Snyman said: “It’s obviously a massive game. Leinster are a great side and they have got good structures in place. They put the Sharks under pressure in Durban and it’s never easy…

Klawer residents, supported by social activists from different communities across the province, are gearing up to host a massive demonstration outside the Klawer Magistrate’s Court during the appearance of murder accused Daniel Smit. Smit, 57, is on trial for the murder of 13-year-old Jerobejin van Wyk whose dismembered body was discovered by police in a drain at his home days after the teen went missing while picking mangoes on his property. Community activist Heinrich Sauls said: “As a citizen of this country, I feel that I have to serve communities to the best of my ability and for the past 12 years, I have done so. “When I heard the tragic story of little Jerobejin, I immediately made my way to Klawer to offer my support and assistance to not…

DESPITE the rest of South Africa being set to celebrate Freedom Day tomorrow, KwaZulu-Natal will not be in a celebratory mood as the province continues to count the rising costs of the recent devastating floods. Costs attached to the recent floods stand at R17 billion, and the figure may rise as the assessment of the damage continues. The Transport Department suffered the highest costs, with damage of more than R6 billion as many roads and bridges were damaged, while the Department of Human Settlements’ costs stood at more than R2.5bn owing to the many houses that collapsed. As for local government, eThekwini bore the heaviest brunt from the floods, with current estimates standing at R2.1bn, with Ugu District alone recording R1.9bn. The Passenger Rail Agency of SA will need…

Kudos to Cape Argus columnist Brian Isaacs, who unselfishly assists my EPWP workers in the Joanne Road Park in Lansdowne (Education Matters, Cape Argus, April 21). Isaacs epitomises noble citizenry with utmost humility, and I applaud him and his ilk for his efforts in keeping his neighbourhood park clean and tidy. Indeed, it is the responsibility of the City of Cape Town Council, and myself, as the ward 60 councillor. Taxpayers expect same, but residents, like Isaacs, who go the extra mile are to be complimented and encouraged. Thank you, Brian Isaacs, for your selfless display of “cleaning up on your doorstep”. You’re an exemplary role model to your community.…

Why is the customer care at government departments constantly below standard? This is the case at many municipal and provincial government departments dealing with the general public. It is as if their employees do not take pride in their work. They think that because they serve the general public and given the low cost or free nature of the service they provide, people simply have to be satisfied with what they get. They seem to forget that they are being paid for the services they render, from taxpayers’ money. The government institutions employing them have a mandate to provide good and accessible services to the public. The dress code of public servants also contributes significantly to their poor client service. Front-line staff especially, often work the way they dress. Their…

Paris: Europe must act fast to secure supplies of crucial metals required for a green energy transition and its best bet is to recycle, a report said yesterday. The 27-nation EU aims to be “carbon neutral” by 2050 – reducing greenhouse gases to a level where the amount produced is balanced out by the amount removed from the atmosphere. The bloc also wants to wean itself off dependence on Russian oil, coal and gas. To this end, it is seeking not only to use less energy but also to increase the amount of energy generated domestically from renewable resources. That includes producing electric vehicles and batteries, bringing in more wind, solar and hydrogen technologies, and creating infrastructure to distribute this clean power. But expanding clean technologies will require substantial inputs…

THE Gauteng Department of Health has urged parents to get their children immunised to protect against disease as World Immunisation Week kicks off. World Immunisation Week, which takes place from April 24 to 30, is an opportunity to underscore the importance of immunisation in saving lives and to encourage families to vaccinate their children against deadly diseases. “The Gauteng Department of Health urges parents, who might have missed their children’s immunisation dates due to the onset of Covid-19, to ensure that their little ones are immunised at regular ages as set out in the Road to Health care card in order to protect them against diseases,” said the spokesperson of the Gauteng MEC of Health, Kwara Kekana. The department said that the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the provision of routine immunisation…

FOR more than a month now a gang war has raged in Hanover Park, with several lives lost as rival gangs try to outshoot one another for territorial dominance and control of the lucrative drug trade. Anyone who has lived on apartheid’s dumping grounds, otherwise known as the Cape Flats, knows that deadly violence has made the lives of too many people unbearable. Children grow up on the Cape Flats more attuned to the sounds of gunfire than nursery rhymes. Too often, stray bullets find unintended targets, causing either death or lifelong scars. For many, the only escape from the violence is through either exceptional drive, education or talent. Politicians, those whom we entrust with our votes every five years, know all about places like Hanover Park, Manenberg, Heideveld and…

Beijing residents snapped up food and other supplies as the city’s biggest district began mass Covid-19 testing of all residents yesterday, prompting fears of a Shanghai-style lockdown after dozens of cases in the capital in recent days. Authorities in Chaoyang, home to 3.45 million people, late on Sunday ordered residents and those who work there to be tested three times this week as Beijing warned the virus had “stealthily” spread in the city for about a week before being detected. “I’m preparing for the worst,” said a graduate student in the nearby Haidian district surnamed Zhang, who placed online orders for dozens of snacks and 4.5kg of apples. Shoppers in the city crowded stores and online platforms to stock up on leafy vegetables, fresh meat, instant noodles and rolls of…

Despite the Premier Soccer League (PSL) being a bungling organisation, local football has not lost its appeal, judging by the excellent spectator turnout at the weekend. PSL teams suffered high and lows, starting with Mamelodi Sundowns, who saw their CAF Champions League hopes evaporate at FNB Stadium on Saturday. They were dumped out by Angola’s Petro de Luanda, who secured a 3-2 aggregate win to advance to the semi-finals. Sundowns tasted defeat for the first time in this season’s Champions League last week when they lost 2-1 to Petro. On Saturday, their second leg clash ended 1-1. The outcome was painful for Sundowns, judging by coach Manqoba Mngqithi’s words: “It hurts too much. I don’t want to lie.” Earlier on Saturday, in the Winelands, there was no consolation for Kaizer…