Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-10-26 i Cape Argus

Lobby group Stop CoCT has called on the City to put a stop to awarding mowing tenders, suggesting they be given out as small projects per ward. The group was responding to the City, saying its mowing services had been adversely affected by an ongoing appeal related to a mowing tender and that it was facilitating an interim request for a quotation (RFQ) process, which allows service providers to assist with grass cutting and mowing until the tender appeal process is finalised. With the current annual growth season for grass and other vegetation, numerous complaints about the overgrown vegetation and tree trimming were reported, including the state of the Langa Cemetery. The City said multiple mowing RFQs under R200 000 to address urgent priorities had been advertised and were in…

This week’s content centres on the burning question by millennials and directed at retired teachers like myself: What did you do that gave us this grotty existence? It’s not so much an answer to what we did, but the unspoken implication that we did too little or nothing. My story will be my version of how I, also, would love to be seen as a hero of the Struggle. Whether I am judged as defensive or lamely post-action is immaterial. This is my truth as lived by me and as verifiable in the records of our country. First, I was born in 1939. Some claim that it was the cause of World War II, but I won’t take that much credit for trying to create change. It means that, historically,…

IN THE 2002 movie Minority Report (based on a short story by Philip K Dick), director Steven Spielberg imagined a future in which three psychics can “see” murders before they happen. Their clairvoyance allows Tom Cruise and his “Pre-crime” police force to avert nearly all potential homicides. Twenty years on, in the real world, scientists and law enforcement agencies are using data mining and machine learning to mimic those psychics. Such “predictive policing” is based on the fact that many crimes – and criminals – have detectable patterns. Predictive policing has enjoyed some successes. In a US case study, one police department reduced gun incidents by 47% over typically gun-happy New Year’s Eve. Manchester police in the UK similarly predicted and reduce robberies, burglaries and thefts from vehicles by double…

Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi yesterday accused the US of “dragging their feet” instead of making a decision to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. The deal with major powers gave Iran sanctions relief in return for restricting its nuclear programme. The US withdrew from the deal in 2018, but on-off talks have been held since April 2021 in an effort to revive it. Raisi’s comments follow demonstrations in Iran sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, on September 16, after “violating” Iran’s dress code for women. The US and other parties to the deal have imposed fresh sanctions on Iran over its reaction to the protests. | AFP…

MOSCOW: The Kremlin yesterday doubled down on its claims that Kyiv plans to use a “dirty bomb” in Ukraine, warning the West it was dangerous to dismiss Moscow’s position. Ukraine, the US, Britain and France have all rejected Moscow’s claims – voiced by several officials in recent days – that Kyiv could be preparing to detonate a radioactive device in Ukraine. In a briefing call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said this was a foolish approach given the gravity of the situation. Moscow has provided no evidence for its claims. | Reuters…

Grade 12 learners who started writing final exams will be required to sign anti-cheating agreements with the Western Cape Education Department, to prevent them from copying, hiding crib notes or bringing cellphones into exams. The department said learners, with their parents and principals, will be required to sign “commitment agreements” to ensure the integrity of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams. The commitment agreement details the rules of the exams and what is not allowed, such as copying, being in possession of a cellphone or crib notes, getting a leaked paper, or failing to report a leaked paper, Education MEC David Maynier said. “Every candidate is required to sign the agreement, along with a parent/guardian and the school principal. “Most schools have included this as part of their valedictory assemblies,…

A NEW wi-fi project has been launched in the Dunoon township that will see about 11 000 households and several schools gain access to free or very cheap wi-fi through a collaboration between Astron Energy, non-profit internet service provider Project Isizwe, and the local community. Astron Energy has sponsored the R1 million-plus project with Project Isizwe, which allows more than 4 500 learners and 150 educators to have access to free, uncapped internet while the rest of the community will be able to purchase wifi for as little as R5 a day for each device. The project aims to grow local entrepreneurship by encouraging wi-fi hosts and users to sell R5 wifi products, earning 20% profit in a job creation and economic empowerment drive. Astron Energy has sponsored the…

STELLENBOSCH University has an irresponsible drinking problem. That much is evident. But that isn't the only problem it has – after yet another sordid incident in which a white student was reportedly caught urinating on the possessions of two students of colour. The campus’ residences have been blighted by at least three such occurrences this year alone. In the first high-profile incident, Theuns du Toit was expelled and now faces charges of malicious damage to property and crimen injuria. In spite of its strict disciplinary code and sanctions, however, the controversial incidents keep happening. On Saturday, a third youngster was suspended. It seems the students won't learn their lesson. And that might be because the university is not sending a clear enough message to offenders. Reacting to Saturday's incident, management…

Tehran: An Iranian man nicknamed the “dirtiest man in the world” for not taking a shower for decades has died at the age of 94, state media reported yesterday. Amou Haji, who did not wash for more than half a century and was single, died on Sunday in the village of Dejgah in the southern province of Fars, IRNA news agency reported. Haji had avoided showering over fears of “getting sick”, the agency quoted a local official as saying. But “for the first time a few months ago, villagers had taken him to a bathroom to wash”, IRNA said. A short documentary film titled The Strange Life of Amou Haji was made about his life in 2013, according to Iranian media outlets. | AFP…

Professional sport has never been for the faint of heart. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, where insecure seniors look to enforce their superiority over rookies. But listening to Faf du Plessis’ revelations over the past week about the way he was treated upon entering the Northerns dressing-room by former Proteas batter Daryll Cullinan was simply disgusting. Cullinan has long had a nasty reputation due to his aloofness, probably garnered from being hailed as “the next Graeme Pollock” since his teenage years. Former Proteas spinner Paul Adams also stated at the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings last year that he was told, “Your gravy train has ended” and “You are a sh*t spinner” by Cullinan. However, Du Plessis’ allegations in his autobiography have cast Cullinan as a rather mean bully, whose actions…

UDM publishes ‘leaked letter’ sent to Hawks UDM leader Bantu Holomisa has published a leaked letter by Cyril Ramaphosa’s accuser, alleging the president’s top adviser, Bejani Chauke, illegally flew millions of dollars into South Africa from the Middle East and other countries. Holomisa requested that Parliament’s Section 89 independent panel into the burglary at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm investigate this additional evidence, after sharing the letter, which was ostensibly signed by former spy boss Arthur Fraser and submitted to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) on June 23. Yesterday, Chauke’s phone rang unanswered. He did not respond to text messages sent to his WhatsApp number. Fraser could also not be reached to verify if he indeed wrote the second leaked letter. Holomisa made the request in line with the…

Veteran journalist and author Max du Preez has confirmed that the young woman whose body was found with that of a Stellenbosch University student in his vehicle submerged in a quarry in the town on Monday was his granddaughter. He described Lela Lees, 18, as “loving, warm and vivacious”, and wished there were more people like her. “How does a mother come to terms with the death of her 18-year-old child? How do I comfort my dear, dear daughter?” he told News24. Lees had been dating Ethan Kirland, 19, a first-year student for two weeks. Meanwhile, Stellenbosch Municipality said it was struggling to hold the owner of the private property, where the bodies were found, to adhere to promises with regards to safety. The municipality said it had been engaging…

The Asijiki Coalition, a group of sex work-supporting organisations and movements, has demanded that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development provide a timeline for when it would finalise its decriminalisation of sex work bill and present it to Parliament. The coalition’s demand follows the discovery of the bodies of six women in Johannesburg this month, believed to be sex workers who had been reported missing since June. The coalition is also calling for the urgent passing of the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill into law which it said provided for hate crimes against sex workers. The purpose of the bill is to provide for the offences of hate crime and hate speech, and the prosecution of people who commit such offences. The coalition’s co-ordinator,…

THE Cape Town Arts Festival is set to return, bringing buskers from across the city to perform at the Castle of Good Hope this weekend. Formerly the One City, Many Cultures Project and Cape Town Festival, the Cape Town Arts Festival began in 1999 as a project to promote cultural diversity and humanity following the bombing of the Planet Hollywood restaurant at the V&A Waterfront in 1998. Through the festival, over 1 800 artists and 10 arts venues were promoted, including four community festivals. The last festival was in 2017. Yusuf Ganief founded the Beyond Busking Project, taking buskers off the street and facilitating a 13-week upskilling programme. Through it, buskers are taught stage presence, vocal training, songwriting, musical instrument training and producing their own original songs with industry partners…

Councillor Siseko Mbandezi, Mayco member for finance, in his response to my letter, “City appears to be merciless towards its ratepayers” (October 13), seems to be missing my point by a mile. First, he maintains that “the Home User Service Charge is not fully cost-reflective as it is only approximately half of what it should be”. What hogwash. The key argument in my letter is based on budgets – the City’s published budget and the budget of the ratepayer. And although ratepayers must tighten their belts in order to balance their budgets, instead of tightening its belt, the City mercilessly continues to charge an additional fee, even when it failed to provide a single unit of electricity for a period of almost 3 months. Second, Cllr Mbandezi states: “No matter…

FIVE Palestinians were killed in one of the largest firefights in recent weeks and another was killed later after Israeli security forces raided the flashpoint city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank early yesterday, Palestinian officials said. Shards of glass and scrap metal covered the cobblestone streets of the Old City of Nablus as shopkeepers tried to clear the debris in the aftermath of the raid which the Israeli military said targeted an explosives manufacturing site of the “Den of Lions” militant group. “During the operation, dozens of Palestinians burned tyres and hurled rocks at the troops. The troops responded with live fire toward the armed suspects who were shooting at them,” the military said. Two of the dead were identified as members of the Den of Lions, a…

Bangkok: A Thai plastic surgeon kidnapped while travelling in Mali has returned home after a ransom was paid. Nopparat Rattanawaraha – who runs a popular YouTube channel where he posts travel clips – said he was on a tour of Mali and Burkino Faso, both hit by insurgencies. The Thai foreign ministry said the 49-year-old was freed after a 5.5 million baht (R2.7m) ransom was paid, the Bangkok Post reported. Nopparat was found 25 days after his abduction.Video posted online yesterday appeared to show Nopparat arriving at a Bangkok airport. It it was not clear who had kidnapped Nopparat. | AFP…

With Qatar 2022 less than a month away, Independent Media will take an in-depth look at the history of the Fifa World Cup – the stars, greatest matches and biggest controversies, while looking at the past, present and future. Football writers Herman Gibbs, Mihlali Baleka, Eshlin Vedan and Smiso Msomi – from different generations – look at their best players to ever play in the tournament… Pele: Such was the weight of Pele’s contribution to Brazil’s cause that he was part of three World Cup-winning teams in 1958, 1962 and 1970. No other player has enjoyed this distinction, and in 2000, he was voted World Player of the Century. Diego Maradona: Maradona captained Argentina in the 1986 World Cup and led the team to victory after beating West Germany in…