Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-06-01 i Cape Argus

ALTHOUGH fuel increases were less than expected after the National Treasury decided to grant an extension of the reduction in the general fuel levy, concerns remain that these hikes adversely affect ordinary people already struggling. The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy jointly announced a temporary reduction in the general fuel levy of R1.50 per litre from today (June 1) until July 6. The price of 95-octane unleaded petrol would increase by R2.33 a litre while 93-octane unleaded petrol would be R2.43 more. Diesel prices would go up by R1.07 per litre, while illuminating paraffin would be R1.56 more. Social Justice Coalition Programme Manager Ntebaleng Morake said the fuel hikes, directly and indirectly, affect major sectors of the society and this affects everyone, particularly poor…

THE stated intention of both the City and the province to halve the Western Cape murder rate by 2029 using the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) has come under the spotlight in the legislature. Opposition members of the standing committee on community safety, Ferlon Christians (ACDP) and Mesuli Kama (ANC) took officials from the City and from the Police Oversight and Community Safety Department to task over the strategy. The questions arose during a briefing to the committee in which a presentation by the department said that the province’s safety plan prioritised a reduction in the murder rate and therefore the deployment of Leap officers to the areas with the highest homicide rates had been prioritised. Christians specifically mentioned the Grassy Park area, where he said Leap officers had previously…

Provincial tourism, trade and investment promotion agency (Wesgro) has said the province’s tourism and hospitality sector has shown “impressive recovery”. The April 2022 tourism performance statistics report by Wesgro point to a solid recovery for the Western Cape’s tourism and hospitality sector over the Easter season. Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger said: “The tourism and hospitality sector is a major job creator in our province, contributing an estimated R15.5 billion and supporting 174 982 direct jobs in 2019.” The statistics show air passenger traffic has increased and the April 2022 monthly report reflected significant recovery rates at key attractions, some recording rates of 100% and more. Among the key findings highlighted in the report are that both international and domestic terminal passenger arrivals at Cape Town International recovered…

An URGENT petition has been started calling for the City to not discontinue the Public Employment Programme (Pep) at the end of June, which addresses homelessness in the metro. Streetscape Khulisa partnered with 13 local NGOs to deliver a programme of work and support for street-based people, which started earlier this year. These organisations said six months was not enough to enable meaningful change in the homeless people’s lives. They said if the programme were to be discontinued it would damage future initiatives and the stop in funding would leave vital and passionate organisations in a worse position than when they started. They also believed it would push back the homeless people to where they started – without work, dignity and without a roof over their heads. “We believe funds…

A HIGH Court judge who sentenced Unisa law student Liqhayiya Tuta to life imprisonment four years ago, made an error in law by overlooking his state of mind when he fatally stabbed a police officer. The Constitutional Court made this finding and ordered Tuta’s release from prison. The court’s majority judgment, penned by Acting Justice David Unterhalter and delivered yesterday, set aside Tuta’s conviction and sentence. Assisted by Pretoria-based human rights attorney Mabu Marweshe, Tuta launched an appeal against the conviction and sentence of Judge Bert Bam made at the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, four years ago. Judge Bam sentenced Tuta to life imprisonment for killing policeman Nkosinathi Sithole. Constables Lawrence Makgafela and Sithole drove an unmarked VW Polo and wore civilian clothes when they chased Tuta and his…

Every year as we enter winter in South Africa, June is known as strike season.It often becomes a winter of discontent. This year is no different, but it appears to me to be a much harsher winter and a more vitriolic approach to wage negotiations than before. Throughout the public service, there is distrust in the government and the governing party. The trade union movement has been badly hurt by the ANC government over the past few years, particularly with regard to the breach of the past three-year wage agreement and the current restrictive negative bargaining. Within the private sector, we see some negative strikes taking place. The mining industry is showing enormous cracks. Even the SA Revenue Service has been badly affected. The civil service is threatening “a mother…

CUSTOMER service has a huge impact on a business. If customers are happy, they will tell others about it. This will result in the business reaping profits as a result of new and existing customers. It is also an aspect of business that is often overlooked. Every person has experienced poor customer service. Whether it was a staff member who was rude or a manager that didn’t care about their request, bad customer service is the reason why people swear they will not do business with certain organisations. Good customer service is something that can be learnt. It is necessary for any business to profit, and the only thing that can ensure repeat customers. When an organisation has staff who are knowledgeable about a client’s well-being and ensuring…

Vatican City: Pope Francis said on Sunday he would name 21 new cardinals from across the world at the end of August. New appointments had been expected for several months because the number of cardinals eligible to take part in the election of a new pope had fallen. Cardinals must be under 80 to participate in the vote. The Vatican said the group represent the Church worldwide and reflect a variety of cultures. Eight of the newly named cardinals are from Europe, six from Asia, two from Africa, one from North America and four from Central and Latin America, the Vatican said. | AFP…

Recife: The death toll from torrential rains that triggered floods and landslides in northeastern Brazil has risen to 100, officials said yesterday, as emergency workers searched for more victims. The force of the landslides ripped apart houses in areas including Jardim Monteverde, a poor community outside the city of Recife. Rescue workers found dozens of bodies buried in the mud that tore through the area on Saturday. At least 14 people were missing, said officials for the state of Pernambuco, scene of the latest in a series of deadly weather disasters to hit the country in recent months. | AFP…

A powerful Myanmar ethnic rebel group with close ties to China called yesterday for the junta to engage in dialogue with anti-coup fighters to end 15 months of bloodshed. With a standing force of around 25 000, the United Wa State Army is one of the world’s largest non-state militaries, manufacturing its own guns and conscripting a member from each household in areas under its control. But the UWSA largely sticks to its autonomous enclave on Myanmar’s northern border with China, and has so far had little involvement in the fighting sparked by the toppling of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government by the military last year. The UWSA made an “appeal to all parties in the conflict for resolving it by negotiation as soon as possible”, it said in a…

After more than a decade at eNCA, news anchor Shahan Ramkissoon has left the channel for a welcome change in his career, and in a new city. Ramkissoon will be moving to Cape Town where he will take up a leading position at a public relations company. “I’m really excited to be joining Eclipse Communications as its chief strategy officer. I will play a pivotal role in the direction of the agency, leading strategy for clients, working closely with the founding partners and will be key in the development of an in-house media training division.” “And I finally get to move to our beautiful mother city, a place I’ve wanted to live for years,” Ramkissoon said. He said the decision to leave eNCA was done with a heavy heart as…

An application by psychologist Christie Els for a permanent stay of inquiry proceedings against her by the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has been dismissed by a Western Cape High Court judge. The case goes back to mid-2013 when Els was appointed as a facilitator by the Cape Town Children’s Court in a dispute about care and contact between the parents of a young boy. That case ended when the Children’s Court ordered in February 2015 that the child would remain in the primary care of his father, with rights of reasonable contact reserved to the mother. However the matter did not end there. In December 2013 two people, who were not involved in the case before the Children’s Court, but who Els alleged in court papers were friends…

LEGISLATURE speaker Masizole Mnqasela and the DA provincial chairperson Jaco Londt have refused to comment on the nature of the exact charges that have led to the speaker’s suspension from party activities. At a meeting held last Friday, the DA provincial executive committee (PEC) suspended Mnqasela from party activities pending the finalisation of an investigation and the possible institution of disciplinary proceedings against him. The PEC said its decision to suspend Mnqasela was based on a report following an investigation by the DA’s Federal Legal Commission which found “sufficient credibility in the allegations relating to irregularities pertaining to subsistence, travel and entertainment allowance claim”. Approached for comment on the nature of the charges the Office of the Speaker said: “The current…

UCT has prioritised dealing with the matter related to 11 alleged perpetrators of gender-based violence and homophobia, it says. Eleven alleged perpetrators, all UCT students, were removed from the university’s leased off-campus residence, Roscommon House, on May 18. The Student Representative Council (SRC) was called in to attend to a gender-based violence protest at the mixed residence, located in Claremont. The 11 students were subsequently removed from the premises. The university said a wide range of support services has been and continues to be provided by the Department of Student Affairs and the Office for Inclusivity and Change (OIC). The OIC is responsible for investigating matters relating to gender-based violence and inclusivity. “The alleged perpetrators were moved from the residence on the day the matter came to light. Formal proceedings…

Lawmakers have unanimously passed a law that will force people convicted of Schedule 8 offences, including rape and murder, to have DNA samples taken. Deputy Minister of Police Cassel Mathale told Parliament yesterday that they would do their best to immediately implement the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Bill after President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed it into law. Political parties say this law will open the door for people convicted of rape, murder and other violent crimes, to be linked to previous crimes. MPs also said since 2017 almost 100 000 prisoners in jail for violent crimes had been released without their DNA samples having been taken, and some could have committed more crimes while out. MPs said there were criminals who had slipped the net because of the delay in…

These days, I drown in the clips that bombard my senses about the various levels on which the ANC has failed. It is fodder to the doomsday-speakers who warn of the dire consequences of the illegal roistering that has gone unchecked since we achieved freedom in 1994. All of this information has become boring and totally useless. We are all agreed that the “negotiated settlement” was a sham to retain the built-in superior position that the coloniser arrogated centuries ago and which the colonised are too timid to admit lasted because they bought into it. It has given us new insights into caucadacity – a neologism for the refusal of the “superior races” to give back what they have stolen, commandeered or wheedled out of trusting and “innocent” natives. It…

Every year, millions of intended parents around the world use donor gametes (sperm and eggs) to have children. Intended parents typically invest great time and effort in choosing a suitable gamete donor. Characteristics such as the donors’ race, height, educational background – and even their religion – are commonly revealed to intended parents. In South Africa, the practice is to also provide an early childhood photo of the donor, but not photos of the donor during later childhood or adulthood. The reason for this secrecy is the commonly held belief that the law requires that gamete donations must always remain anonymous. Gamete donor anonymity has long been the status quo in many countries, such as Canada, France, Israel and Spain. This means that sperm banks, egg donation agencies and fertility…

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Zambian counterpart on a phone call yesterday that China was willing to strengthen and broaden bilateral ties with Zambia, according to a Chinese state television report. Over the past year, China-Zambia relations have maintained positive momentum, Xi said, adding that China would promote the entry of more Zambian products into the Chinese market, especially high-quality agricultural goods. China would also strengthen counter-epidemic control co-operation with Zambia, he told President Hakainde Hichilema. | Reuters…

Not long after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, former opposition activist Elena Zaslavska was at her apartment in downtown Moscow when the police knocked at her door. Their questions about the purpose of her recent trips to Dubai and Canada were easily answered – Zaslavska had gone to visit her sons who live there. But to the 60-year-old retired physicist and her husband, the visit was a clear warning. Within days the couple had packed their bags and were headed for Montenegro, a tiny Balkan state that has become a refuge for thousands of Russians fleeing sanctions or military conscription or political oppression. “There was no possibility of remaining in Russia under its current government because everything that goes on there was incompatible with our views,” Zaslavska said. They…

The Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) yesterday warned of “mass relocation” if the government fails to provide a solution within 24 hours for the killing of innocents by the terrorists in the valley. This was during a protest staged by Pandits in Srinagar after a teacher from the Jammu division’s Samba was shot dead by the terrorists in the morning at the High School Gopalpora area of Kulgam. Amit Kaul said they were protesting against the killings by demanding relocation to a “safer place” until conditions returned to normal. “If the government fails to take any strict decision for us in 24 hours, we will move out from the valley and there will be mass migration once again,” he said. “When our delegation met the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, we requested…

‘Confused’ man pulled from car and killed RUMOURS and allegations of abductions and kidnapping have some Cape Town communities in a blood-thirsty frenzy, with several incidents of mob justice resulting in the fiery death of at least one person. During the past three days police and other law enforcement officials said they had responded to at least three incidents in Hanover Park, Parkwood and Tafelsig where residents took the law into their own hands, executing justice on alleged would-be child abductors. In the most recent incident, an uni- dentified man was brutally assaulted and set alight in Parkwood yesterday when an incensed group of residents confronted him for the alleged kidnapping of two young girls from the area earlier that morning. A resident who witnessed the ordeal, recounted…

About 380 public submissions and more than 35 400 inputs were received by the City on its 2023/23 draft budget and during its 2022-2027 IDP public participation process respectively. The budget and the Integrated Development Plan were adopted by the council in a special sitting yesterday. The City said most electronic submissions were objections to the tariffs (water, refuse, electricity) and property rates. Of the comments submitted to the finance department, the residents raised concerns over the increase in property rates and tariffs. Residents recommended that the social relief package be restructured based on disposable income rather than property value – especially for pensioners. They also requested the complete scrapping of property rates for places of worship and the reduction and revision of property rates for the hospitality sector.…

THE official unemployment rate has dropped to 34.5% from 35.3%, meaning that 7.9 million people remain jobless. This was revealed in the Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) results for the first quarter. Unemployment with regard to 15 to 24-year-olds is at 63.9%, unemployment among black Africans is at 38.6% and discouraged job-seekers are still at 3.8 million. One of the biggest concerns was the high rate of youth and female who unemployment. Statistician-general Risenga Maluleke said when looking at those that are not economically active in two categories, the discouraged work-seekers have decreased by about 54 000 and indeed going back to about 3.8 million had been discouraged job-seekers. “But we have seen a larger chunk of other not economically active decreasing and…

TO MARK World No Tobacco Day, the Health Department announced the results of South Africa’s first participation in the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). The GATS is a global standard for monitoring adult tobacco use (smoking and smokeless) focusing on people 15 years old and above. Dr Catherine Egbe, the primary investigator of the survey from the SA Medical Research Council, said the data was collected between May and September 2021 with a total sample size of 6 311. The results revealed that the prevalence of tobacco use in South Africa, which includes tobacco products, smoked, smokeless and heated tobacco, was at 29.4%. Among those, 41.7% are male and 17.9% female users. The prevalence of people smoking tobacco products daily is at 21.2% and the prevalence of current cigarette (manufactured…

WhilE lives are being lost in the war in Ukraine, it is important to note that in actual fact Ukraine is a mere battleground for the US and Russia. We live in a world of turmoil where “national interest” is an euphemism for international political gangsterism and thuggery. The so-called superpowers that once clubbed together driven by shameless greed to partition Africa, sharing its resources like a gang of criminals, are now at each other’s throats using Ukraine as a proxy. The protagonists in this war in Ukraine are the US and Russia. Both are aware that there can be no winner; yet the war goes on and people in Ukraine needlessly die while African countries suffer economically! As Benjamin Franklin said, “wars are not paid for in wartime, the…

THE Senzo Meyiwa murder case is fast becoming a spectacle. First it was the unusual presence of watching brief attorney Magdalene Moonsamy during the proceedings, representing a potential witness. Then there was the mysterious death of key State witness Brigadier Philani Ndlovu. That was followed by the unprecedented arrest inside the courtroom of defence lawyer advocate Malesela Teffo. This week we saw the attendance of a documentary film company, Netflix’s Ten10. The high court ruled that the crew can continue filming the trial after the defence brought an application to have the judge remove the film crew from the courtroom, arguing that their documentaries produced for Netflix endangered witnesses. Many of you may not be interested in the hard cold facts of this case but have become obsessed with all…

MOSCOW: Russia would find other oil importers that would replace the EU after it reached an agreement on a partial ban of Russian oil supplies, Permanent Representative of Russia to International Organisations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said yesterday. Earlier in the day, European Council president Charles Michel said the EU leaders managed to mend their differences and agreed on a partial ban on Russian oil imports on the first day of the summit in Brussels, effectively unblocking the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow. The partial embargo will hit two-thirds of the oil imports. | Sputnik…

Archaeologists in Egypt have announced that they have uncovered a trove of ancient artefacts at the necro- polis of Saqqara near Cairo, including mummies and bronze statues dating back 2 500 years. Among the treasures were 250 sarcophagi – or painted coffins – with well-preserved mummies inside, unearthed during recent excavations at a burial ground outside Cairo, said Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. “In one of the wooden sarcophagi, we found, for the first time, a complete and sealed papyrus,” he told reporters at a makeshift exhibit on Monday. The document was immediately moved to a museum for further study. Waziri said he believed it was similar to those found 100 years ago that discussed the Book of the Gates and the Book of…

How much longer must Hugo Broos fight for Bafana Bafana to be the most important entity in SA football? Some of the things the 70-year-old Belgian has to endure just to put a squad together are ridiculous. Just last week, Broos named a 23-man squad to face Morocco in the opening match of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on June 9 in Rabat. Of course, not everybody would be happy with the squad, but you’ve got to applaud the veteran mentor for continuing to pick fresh young talent instead of experienced players who failed to help Bafana qualify for previous tournaments. Evidence Makgopa, Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Lyle Foster represent the new generation that must lead SA to the 2023 Afcon, backed up by the likes of hardened pros…