Indholdsfortegnelse for 2024-01-19 i Cape Argus

As the first month of 2024 heads towards its close, there are still plenty of events in Cape Town this weekend to get your year started on a good note. From scenic walking tours to comedy and musical showcases, there is something for people from all walks of life to enjoy in the Mother City. The Garden Party – A Heritage Walking Tour through Kirstenbosch If April 2021’s traumatic wildfires – which tore through the iconic Table Mountain area of Cape Town – taught us anything, it is that we should relish the heritage we keep on our doorstep, no matter how indestructible it may seem. For this reason, an exploration of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden will take place this weekend. On this heritage walking tour, expert guides will…

The Cape Town Carnival theme has been announced as we count down the days to the grand event on March 16. The Green Point fan walk is set to be lit with a sea of colour and lights as the annual event attracts thousands to the exciting display of floats, creative mascots and exotic costumes, under this year’s theme: “Lekker”. Bringing together thousands of participants and spectators for the annual extravaganza, the upcoming carnival is one of the hottest events to attend on the social calendar. The 2024 event will feature 44 groups with a total of more than 1 400 performers ranging from marching bands to dance crews and everything in-between. Known for including various groups from all walks of life; community and diversity are at the heart of…

Good news for train commuters who used to make use of the Stellenbosch line – the service is expected to be up and running by the end of February. This was revealed by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), which is on a mission to resurrect the train service in the province. The service was supposed to resume at the end of last year, but flooding during the year washed the tracks away. Acting regional manager Raymond Maseko confirmed that the line would be opened before the end of February. According to Maseko, both Stellenbosch and Du Toit stations require basic cleaning and repairs. The Stellenbosch line is one of several train routes gradually reopened by Prasa since the public entity took a knock during the Covid-19 pandemic.…

It’s a shame and disgrace to be living in Zimbabwe. It’s now more than 60 days after the general election in the country and since the ruling party doesn’t want to give up, the country is not moving forward. Zimbabwe is in the midst of a crisis at this time. Zimbabwe is being caught with cholera, proving that the government has failed to help its ordinary citizens. There is no clean or fresh water. In the capital city, you find boreholes – in this time and age. President Emmerson Mnangagwa is a disgrace and he should be ashamed of himself and let someone else lead the nation. The healthcare system is now dead; going to hospital is a death sentence. Pressure should be piled on him so President Mnangagwa will…

While no one expects the State of the Nation Address in February to shoot any lights out, we certainly can expect a number of electrifying election season promises following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s annual address in Parliament. You can bet that most politicians will run a concerted public campaign around the theme of load shedding, but while the politicians use power blackouts for political point-scoring, I would rather that the citizens on the ground use this opportunity to reflect on the fact that we can call on the ruling political party and national government to implement immediate, smart tech solutions to decrease the rate of load shedding on our homes and businesses this year. According to the latest data sets from the Outlier, in 2023 South Africans were forced to endure…

‘199’ the magic number in 2024 elections South Africa finds itself in an economic malaise. In response, the ANC government has adopted, and is in the process of adopting, racial quotas in employment and the nationalisation of private healthcare. At the highest echelons of politics there appears to be a deep desire to worsen, not solve, our problems. It is no surprise that South Africans are, rightly, politically tired. This tiredness, however, has induced a sense of despondency. It might be that after 2024, the ANC will remain the governing party – likely as the leader of a coalition. But South Africans should be heartened that this would occur under an entirely new set of political circumstances. 199: the magic number There are 400 seats in the National Assembly, the…

Parents urged to be kind as matric results come in PARENTS have been urged by psychologists not to be hard on their children, no matter what their matric results are. Counselling psychologist and public speaker Tholinhlanhla Dlamini- Ngcoya urged parents to show their children love and be kind to them during this time. She said the class of 2023 should know that there will always be challenges in life. She said not getting the results you desired should not make one give up. Dlamini-Ngcoya said in any case, if one does not get their desired results, they should move on to “Plan B”, as this could open up other opportunities. “Not every child is an academic, and that’s okay. Parents should understand this,” she said. Furthermore, said mental health psychologist…

While South African entrepreneurs continue to battle less-than-ideal operating conditions, the integration of locally produced technical solutions offers an opportunity for business owners to save on their monthly costs, improve their operational efficiencies and increase opportunities for growth. Tech-based solutions can be leveraged to unlock a significant number of opportunities to help scale business operations, allowing business owners to expand their market presence without expensive physical infrastructure investments. E-commerce integration offers a simple example, enabling companies to tap into online sales channels and reach customers well beyond their immediate geographic boundaries. Forbes Advisor predicts that by 2026 almost 25% of all retail purchases are expected to take place online. That’s a quarter of your retail market share. SA businesses must not be left behind in the race to digitally transform.…

FREEDOM of speech does not guarantee freedom from consequence. That is the painful lesson young David Teeger will have learnt over the past few weeks. When the promising cricketer was honoured at the Absa Jewish Achiever Rising Star awards in October, he wouldn’t have foreseen the division, backlash and headlines his acceptance speech would have provoked when he said, “the true rising stars are the young soldiers in Israel”. Had he considered the immediate impact on his sporting career, perhaps he would have counted his words. But he didn’t. And he paid the price for it by being stripped of the SA Under-19 captaincy for the junior Cricket World Cup. He wasn’t punished for being Jewish, as some have suggested. The official explanation was, understanding the sensitivity of the matter,…

Just as global supply chains returned to normal, a rebel group in Yemen began attacking container ships and oil tankers passing through the Red Sea. The continuing attacks by the Houthis, militants backed by Iran, have increased global shipping costs, caused cargo carriers or their clients to opt for longer alternate routes from Asia to Europe and the US, and raised alarms about the economic costs of a wider conflict. Almost one-fifth of US freight arrives at East Coast ports after transiting the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, according to Moody’s. Amid uncertainty over how long the attacks will last, manufacturers and retailers already are feeling the economic fallout. Carmakers Tesla and Volvo have said they would idle plants in Germany because of a parts shortage linked to the…

Jos Buttler cut a despondent figure for close on two months as he trudged through India during England’s failed World Cup defence last year. The strain was certainly evident on the face of England’s white-ball captain as his personal performances suffered in the process. There seemed to be some light at the end of the tunnel on England’s tour to the Caribbean, though, where Buttler seemed to slowly rediscover his touch. The right-handed batter, therefore, arrived in South Africa for the second edition of the SA20 to not only find some runs but, more importantly, to rediscover his love for the game. It helped that he was coming to a country where the sun is shining, there are some amazing golf courses and some of the best vineyards in the…

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is currently in the US where he is lobbying investors to do business in Cape Town. The City recognises the US as a key economic partner and is the biggest source of foreign direct investment into the city’s economy by some distance. It said the list of large international companies invested in Cape Town continues to grow and includes the likes of Microsoft, Roche, Johnson & Johnson, DHL, Unilever, KPMG, Burger King, IBM, Kimberley Clark, and the latest addition, retail giant Amazon. “More and more global companies are investing in Cape Town, bringing new jobs to our city. Given the huge contribution the US makes to job-creating foreign direct investment in Cape Town, I am glad to be in the USA to share more about our city’s…

THE legal tussle over the future of the R5 billion Amazon-headquartered development at River Club continues, with lawyers acting for high commissioner Tauriq Jenkins, on behalf of the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous Traditional Council (GKKITC), asking the court to rescind a decision that ruled him an illegitimate leader. In four affidavits, whistle-blowers detailed an alleged plot by the developer of the Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust (LLPT), his associate and an attorney to overrule Jenkins as a legitimate leader. This leadership position came into focus when the Western Cape High Court ruled against Jenkins’s authority to oppose the development on behalf of the council. Jenkins yesterday called for the rescission of the high court finding, which would reinstate an interdict against the development. He also wants a criminal investigation into the…

The beginning of each academic year is a memorable moment, as learners take their first steps into schools. It brings joy to parents, but it can also be an emotional time as they watch their children cry, fearing the unknown within the classroom walls and away from their parents. Educators carry the responsibility of soothing these hysterical cries as they guide the learners on their initial journey towards becoming future leaders. However, this is not the experience for many parents in the Western Cape, as thousands of learners are without school placements. The DA continues to make reckless calls for devolution of national powers, while it fails to deliver on its constitutional mandate to ensure that every child of school-going age is at school. Since early 2023, we have witnessed…

THE South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) stands united with the South African community in demanding the reinstatement of David Teeger as the captain of the Under-19 men’s cricket team. In a remarkable show of support, a petition launched by the SAZF has garnered almost 50 000 signatures within the first 24 hours, echoing a strong national and international sentiment against Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) discriminatory and anti-Semitic action. Teeger was removed from his captaincy by CSA, citing “security concerns” linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict. This development is not only an act of anti-Semitism but also a violation of the South African Constitution.…

Give us an overview of the year 2023 and relations between the consulate-general and South Africa. The outgoing year was marked by the South African BRICS chairmanship and the consul-general of the Russian Federation in Cape Town within its competence has done its best to successfully implement the ideas of South African partners and strengthen bilateral ties between our states. We had the honour of taking part in numerous BRICS events. The most significant among them within our consular district was the meeting of BRICS ministers of foreign affairs and international relations that was held in Cape Town at the end of May, beginning of June. They were organised at a high level and its main outcome was the admission of new members to the BRICS family. It was the…

BAFANA Bafana were the worst- performing nation from the southern African region on Matchday 1 of the Africa Cup of Nations taking place in Ivory Coast. Hugo Broos’ men lost 2-0 to Mali, while their fellow Cosafa members Mozambique, Angola and Zambia gained credible draws against quality opposition. Remarkably, Namibia were victorious – the Brave Warriors winning for the first time at the finals in four appearances via a 1-0 defeat of highly rated Tunisia. It is the same Namibia that South Africa have to beat on Sunday if they are to have any chance of progressing to the knockouts. Here we look ahead to the southern African derby. WHAT’S THEIR HISTORY This will be the third meeting between the two countries at Afcon finals, with Bafana enjoying the upper…