Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-11-18 i Cape Argus

A Cape Town man is expected to appear in court soon on charges of bestiality after a video he posted of raping a puppy went viral on social media. The 23-year-old man from Manenberg was arrested on Wednesday after filming and posting the selfie-style video the same day. The Cape of Good Hope Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Chief Inspector Jaco Pieterse, said the video made its way to the organisation after it was forwarded by concerned members of the community. He said the SPCA immediately investigated the incident and, within hours, was able to trace the man to his home in Manenberg, where he was arrested. “Thanks to the full support of the Manenberg SAPS and the City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement and Metro…

As the African penguin population declines, and with the species facing the risk of extinction, a pair of chicks spotted in a nest at the site of a new African penguin colony in the De Hoop Nature Reserve has sparked fresh hope for the conservation of the endangered species. BirdLife South Africa, CapeNature and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) have been hard at work, even creating fake penguins to help re-establish a penguin colony in the De Hoop Nature Reserve to allow breeding penguins better access to moving fish stocks. Christina Hagen, project leader at the Pamela Isdell Fellow of Penguin Conservation at BirdLife South Africa, said the penguins attempted to breed at De Hoop between 2003 and 2008 but because they were vulnerable…

THE SA Maritime School has gone out of its way to clean the streets of Cape Town and instil a sense of cleanliness in its pupils by organising regular Wednesday clean-up events in the Woodstock and Salt River areas. Fifteen clean-up events have been held since March, in which the pupils hauled 1 470 bags of litter off the streets. The City recognised these efforts with a special ceremony on Friday last week at the Maritime School campus in Woodstock to thank the school and its students for their commitment to keeping the streets of Cape Town clean. Urban waste management Mayco member Grant Twigg said: “When members of a community come together to pick up litter, it helps inspire others to join the fight. Many communities have simply accepted…

The loud hailing of melodramatic theatrics around a potential political crisis for South Africa and the ANC if Cyril Ramaphosa loses his presidential crown in December is a new verse in the ballad of super-sizing President Cyril Ramaphosa. It is not a song one will ever hear in the potholed streets of South Africa, where hope lies stranded and abandoned like a forlorn waif. Rather, it is a foghorn of elite and invested interests who, from the start, invested in presenting a larger-than-life portrait of Ramaphosa, exaggerating his political stature, leadership acumen and business know-how. Equally out of tune is the monotonous bleat among Ramaphosa’s opponents that the solution to the woes of both party and nation is the removal of the incumbent president, Ramaphosa. If only it were that…

The World Cup will take centre stage from as teams from around the globe touch down in Qatar with the hopes and dreams of their respective nations. The five nations tasked with unifying Africa under one purpose at the global showpiece are Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal, Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia and Ghana. For the first time on the World Cup stage, all the African sides will be led by coaches from their respective countries. Here, Smiso Msomi discusses the five coaches leading the African charge in Qatar. Rigobert Song: Cameroon The former Indomitable Lion made his name in the junior ranks of the national team before amassing 137 senior caps that spanned over four World Cups. Rigobert Song was 17 when he played in his first World Cup in…

Four-time winners Germany arrived at the World Cup in Qatar yesterday after Argentina superstar Lionel Messi touched down to launch his final bid to win football’s biggest prize. After a 1-0 win in a low-key warm-up game against Oman on Wednesday, the Germans, led by captain and goalkeeper Manuel Meuer, flew into Doha. Germany are aiming to erase the nightmare of the 2018 tournament in Russia when they crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage after winning it four years earlier. Team official Oliver Bierhoff explained why they had opted for the seclusion of a hotel in Al-Ruwais, an hour and half from the capital. “We want to develop a team spirit there that will carry us through the tournament - and for as long as possible,”…

A tip-off to the police led to the safe return of kidnapped Rylands girl Abirah Dekhta. This was revealed in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where seven men appeared on charges of kidnapping and extortion. State prosecutor Darren Rudolph said that while the driver of a pupil transport vehicle carrying Dekhta was waiting for another learner to board, two vehicles pulled up behind it at around 7am on November 4. Five men exited the second vehicle, removed the 8-year-old girl from the transport vehicle and placed her in a white Nissan double-cab bakkie. A well-known Cape clergyman confirmed he had received a phone call from someone who had said they had information on her whereabouts. The clergyman said he vaguely remembered the conversation, as he received hundreds of calls daily.…

State witness Tumelo Madlala, Senzo Meyiwa’s best friend, told the court that top cop Colonel Joyce Buthelezi, who was also handling the slain footballer’s case, fabricated lies and that she was responsible for the confusion surrounding the two dockets in the case. “She did a lot of things that were not right, assaulting people and lying ... I respected her and I even called her mum, not knowing that she was doing her own thing on the side. That woman did a lot. We now have two dockets because of Buthelezi and her lies. I won’t hide it, that person is a liar,” Madlala said. Docket 375, which was under investigation by Buthelezi and Warrant Officer Meshack Makhubo, was filed in 2019. It called for the people in the house…

In the next five years, Stellenbosch University (SU) will be a majority black/people of colour university, said SU’s distinguished Professor of Education Jonathan Jansen. Professor Jansen was one of the panellists unpacking the 148-page Khampepe Commission of Inquiry report at Stellenbosch Business School on Wednesday. The external independent inquiry was requested by the university and led by retired Justice Sisi Khampepe following alleged racism incidents involving residence students in May. Jansen was an expert witness for the commission, alongside former public protector and current SU Social Justice chairperson Thuli Madonsela. “The reason you have this latter day performance of racism at SU is precisely because the university is changing, not because it is untransformed. “The more you push transformation as a university leader or leadership, the more the pushback becomes…

THE owner of a unit in a Cape Town sectional title development scheme has come out on top in a court battle with the body corporate of his apartment block. This over a R20 increase in the levy raised on the exclusive use balcony areas, which shot up from R3 to R23 a square metre. Kevin Baxter lodged a dispute with the Community Schemes Ombud Services (CSOS), wanting them to declare that the contribution had been incorrectly determined and was in conflict with the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act (STSMA). He also wanted them to direct that the contribution be adjusted to the correct or a reasonable amount, and for all amounts he had paid in excess of the adjusted amount to be credited to his levy account. The STSMA…

Wynberg residents are up in arms about an encampment that is home to about 20 people at the Gabriel Road circle that refuses to disappear, no matter how many times the City removes the squatters. Each time residents complain to the City, the authorities clear the area, only for the homeless people who live in the encampment to return and rebuild the very next day. Asked what options were left to them, Wynberg Residents and Ratepayers Association (WRRA) spokesperson Phillippa Duncan suggested added vigilance and reporting any incidents. “We have also asked residents to not deliver food or other items to the camp so as not to encourage these vagrants to stay. “There are numerous feeding programmes in the area so it is completely unnecessary to continue to feed them…

Damian Willemse showed real guts to step up and take a shot at goal from a penalty against France last weekend. The Springboks were leading by just a point at 23-22, and they had lost first-choice goal-kicker on the day Cheslin Kolbe to concussion following the dangerous challenge on him by French captain Antoine Dupont early in the second half. Then back-up kicker Faf de Klerk – who had slotted a superb touchline conversion and a crucial penalty – was replaced by Cobus Reinach around the hour mark. That left Willemse as the next in line, and the situation was tough. He had missed a penalty in the loss to Ireland a week earlier, and had also made a couple of errors with other kicks from hand in Dublin. There…

Stop! A furious Police Minister Bheki Cele wants people to stop calling him after his cellphone number was posted on social media. Since his number was shared this week, Cele said his phone has been ringing non-stop. Cele said when he answered the phone, the callers would all drop the call. “This number is serious. People in trouble need access to it. Please refrain from abusing it,” he said. Cele’s number was shared online by Patricia Mashale, a woman who has made damning allegations against the police top brass and even President Cyril Ramaphosa. In a series of posts, Mashale claimed that there had been threats on her life after she leaked evidence against high-ranking police officials. In an interview with eNCA, Mashale said she revealed gross corruption implicating…

South African-born American actress Charlize Theron got Mzansi talking after a controversial statement she made in a recent podcast interview. Accompanied by hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett on the Smartless podcast, Theron, 44, appeared to undermine Afrikaans and claimed it was a dying language in South Africa. The multi-award winning actress, who is originally from Benoni, told the hosts she didn’t speak English until she was 19 but got invested in the universal language when she left home. “I grew up in an area where nobody in my neighbourhood spoke the language, when I came here at 19, it was easy for me to drop the (South African) accent because I was really learning English from scratch.” She added about her mother tongue: “There’s about 44…

France’s Olivier Giroud hopes World Cup goals will finally start flowing for him in Qatar, with the 36-year-old having just one to his name from his previous 12 matches at the global tournament. Giroud is France’s second top all-time scorer, two goals shy of Thierry Henry’s 51. But the AC Milan forward, who lifted the World Cup with France four years ago in Russia, has failed to deliver on the sport’s biggest stage with his strike at the finals in Brazil in 2014 being the only one from his two previous tournaments. In total he has scored three goals in World Cup and Euro tournaments in his career. “Yes, I scored one in 2014 (World Cup) and a few at the 2016 Euros. It’s important for the team to score.…

Denmark might not be among the World Cup favourites but young playmaker Mikkel Damsgaard feels few of the other 31 countries competing in Qatar are keen to take on his team. Denmark were among the first teams to qualify for the tournament, decisively winning their group, and come into the event on the back of an impressive showing at the European Championship 18 months ago, where they reached the semi-finals. “I think a lot of people hold us in high regard, given the way we played in the Euros and in the qualifiers,” he said yesterday. Damsgaard (22) burst on the scene at the Euros, as he came into the side for the stricken Christian Eriksen, and is now a key part of their attack. “I don’t think people are…

Going into every tournament, there is always immense pressure on England to perform and reach, at least, the knockout stages of the World Cup. This is something that works against them. Since taking charge of England in 2016, Gareth Southgate has naturally and rightfully attracted a lot of praise. He brought about unity to the side, something which they lacked for several years, including in the David Beckham-Frank Lampard-Steven Gerrard eras. Southgate is a good mentor. Had it not been for his unifying influence, the Three Lions would not have reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, before following that up with the runners-up spot at the 2020 European Championships. Being a good mentor does not necessarily mean that one is a good tactician and Southgate’s strategies have also…