Innehållsförteckning för 2023-06-05 från Cape Argus

Twitter was ablaze with comments after SABC1’s recent announcement that seasoned actor Hungani Ndlovu will be joining the popular drama series Skeem Saam in July, as the new Thabo “Tbose” Maputla. Ndlovu will replace Thabiso Cornet Mamabolo, who left Skeem Saam in 2021 to focus on his financial services business. While some people were excited about the news, others took to social media to express concerns about Ndlovu’s ability to communicate effectively in Sepedi, the dominant language used in the series. Speaking to IOL Entertainment, Ndlovu simply laughed off the concerns, and instead promised fans that he would be shaking things up a bit in Skeem Saam. “Of course, I can (speak Sepedi). I grew up in Polokwane and Seshego. It might not be my mother tongue but I can…

A man has been apprehended for the murder of the son of the boss of the Presidential Protection Service. Warren Samuel Rhoode’s body was found at Tygerberg mortuary weeks after he was reported missing. Rhoode is the son of Major-General Wally Rhoode, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s top bodyguard. He visited a friend in Eindhoven, Delft, and was reported missing on April 23. His body was found with stab wounds and recorded as a John Doe until his family identified him. Last week, the police offered a reward for information which might lead to an arrest. Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said a 41-year-old suspect was expected to appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court this morning. “This after he was charged with the murder of Warren Rhoode, whose body was discovered in Delft…

THE employees of a nightclub were shocked after a man died, apparently after he shot himself during an altercation with his girlfriend early yesterday. The shooting was outside Club Coco on Loop Street. A witness who asked not to be named said the shooter was forced to leave the building after he insisted on taking back his gun from the staff members. A club employee said: “When he came to the establishment he had a gun. He told us about it and we asked him to take the magazine out and all the ammunition he had, then we kept it in the safe.” The employee said that a while later he heard that the 24-year-old was fighting to get his gun back. “At the time he had just had a…

Parliament’s Section 194 inquiry into suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness for office, which was meant to have finished its work last month, now has a strict schedule of 25 sittings in which to wrap up all its business. The decision was made after a meeting of the committee on Friday morning at which a revised draft programme was unanimously backed by all members in attendance. It was agreed that the committee would settle down to hearings beginning today. Agreement on the programme followed a briefing from the committee’s legal adviser Fatima Ebrahim, who told them Mkhwebane’s legal representation had finally been ironed out. This achievement had come at a cost following Mkhwebane’s insistence that she continue being represented by senior counsel Dali Mpofu and his asking for a daily…

Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and Eswatini Air have launched a direct route connecting Eswatini to Cape Town International Airport to further enhance the connectivity options for travellers in the region. ACSA said this route reflected Eswatini Air’s commitment to expanding its network and offering convenient travel options to its passengers. On Friday, Eswatini Air started to operate flights between Matsapha International Airport in Eswatini and Cape Town International Airport. The route will initially offer flights on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. ACSA regional general manager Mark Maclean said: “ACSA is very pleased with Eswatini Air’s decision to launch this route which responds to the growing demand for travel between Eswatini and Cape Town.” Maclean said that by providing direct flights the airline was aiming to facilitate seamless and efficient…

Volunteers from the SANParks honorary rangers undertook a sensitive conservation project this weekend with the Freshwater Ecosystems Project, building boardwalks over a key habitat area of the Table Mountain ghost frog, a critically endangered species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature red list. The Table Mountain ghost frog is a rare and elusive frog species endemic to a small section of Table Mountain. The weekend’s conservation activities were possible thanks to a collaborative effort and form part of the larger Freshwater Ecosystems Project to improve the quality of freshwater ecosystems on Table Mountain, ensuring the survival of the species. Josh Weeber, conservation ecologist at the Endangered Wildlife Trust, explained that although the species had been listed as critically endangered since 2004, no detailed study could be undertaken…

Cape Town Spurs have stolen a march on Premiership outfit Maritzburg United in their quest to gain promotion to the top flight next season. Spurs defeated Maritzburg 1-0 in their PSL promotion/relegation playoff at Athlone Stadium on Saturday. The outcome meant that Spurs kept intact an unbeaten record, at the expense of the Team of Choice, and are heading the log in the three-team tournament. As the top-flight team, Maritzburg were favoured to win but Spurs caused an upset and are handsomely placed with six points and two clean sheets after two matches. Spurs’ 1-0 qin would have been greater, but they were wasteful towards the end of the match when at least three gilt-edged scoring chances were spurned. At the time, despairing Maritzburg made a desperate effort to find…

NAMIBIAN fugitive lawyer Marén de Klerk, the self-confessed paymaster in Namibia’s ongoing multimillion “Fishrot” corruption case, is set to make an appearance in the Paarl Magistrate’s Court today where a magistrate will determine bail. De Klerk was arrested last week on charges of racketeering, fraud, corruption and money laundering under an Interpol red notice following a joint operation by the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team and Interpol. Hawks spokesperson Katlego Mogale said during De Klerk’s arrest, a cellphone and laptop were confiscated for further investigation. At the same time the Namibian authorities have applied to have De Klerk extradited. The arrest came ahead of last Friday’s brief second appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court of Rwandan genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema. He is charged with two counts of fraud…

Dr MPHO Phalatse has suffered yet another political blow to her career. The former mayor has now been replaced as the DA City of Joburg caucus leader. Cape Argus sister paper The Star has confirmed that Belinda Echeozonjoku is now the DA’s Johannesburg caucus leader after Phalatse declined to run for a second term as caucus leader. Phalatse had lost favour with most of her caucus members because of her controversial relationship with ActionSA and her failure to keep the DA in Johannesburg in charge. The medical doctor suffered a shocking defeat against DA federal leader John Steenhuisen, receiving around 16% of the votes in the showdown for the party’s top position. At the weekend, the Sunday papers reported that Phalatse’s husband, Brutus Malada, had resigned from ActionSA. Malada was…

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa updated the public on the progress of the Energy Action Plan by the National Energy Crisis Committee of Ministers (Necom) to end the intensity and frequency of load shedding. Ramokgopa said a range of measures was being implemented to avoid Stage 5 and 6 during winter. The measures include Eskom generation working to reduce unplanned breakdowns to 15 000MW and to return 10 additional units to service at Camden, Duvha, Arnot, Tutuka, Kriel, Hendrina and Grootvlei power stations by May 31. “Engineering teams are exploring solutions to increase the load factor of Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) over the winter months by increasing the supply of diesel to Ankerlig and Gourikwa,” he added. Necom will also run an aggressive demand side-management campaign aimed at reducing…

Lionel Messi’s final game for Paris Saint-Germain ended in defeat on Saturday, while Monaco missed out on European qualification and Auxerre were relegated on the last night of the Ligue 1 season. Messi’s expected departure from the French giants after two seasons was officially confirmed by PSG in a statement shortly before Saturday's match against Clermont. “His contribution to PSG and Ligue 1 cannot be underestimated and we wish Leo and his family all the best for the future,” said club president Nasser al-Khelaifi. Yet Messi, who ends his PSG career with 32 goals in 75 appearances, was jeered by some fans during the match, which the champions lost 3-2. There was little riding on the game itself after PSG wrapped up a record 11th French title last weekend, and…

Defending double world champion Max Verstappen extended his lead in this year’s title race to 53 points yesterday when he completed a hat-trick by driving his Red Bull to a masterful victory in the Spanish Grand Prix. The 25-year-old Dutchman led from lights to flag to come home 24 seconds ahead of revitalised seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, in their much-improved Mercedes’ cars. It was Verstappen’s third consecutive win, his third in Spain, his fifth in seven races this season and the 40th of his career, achieved despite receiving three official warnings for exceeding track limits. “It’s such a big pleasure to drive a car like this,” said Verstappen. “And it showed again (yesterday). We were on different tyre strategies out there and mostly I was on the…

Owner mum after 8-month-old boy dies BISHOP Lavis police are investigating the death of an 8-month-old boy who inexplicably died at the crèche he was attending. Mohammed Qiran Canterbury was declared dead upon his arrival at Vanguard Hospital on Friday following his short illness while at Linda’s daycare in Bonteheuwel. The parents now want answers from the daycare owner who went mum following the sudden death of their son. The baby died after a short illness a few hours after he was dropped off by his father at Linda’s daycare in Bonteheuwel. The child’s father, Tashreeq Canterbury, said their son had been attending the daycare for three months along with his 2-year-old sister, who has been attending since she was also few months old, He said his boy showed no…

Four men have been arrested for the murder of a woman who was shot near Wynberg Magistrate’s Court. The incident occurred on May 25. Christine Gumira was shot a few minutes after she left the court. A neighbourhood watch member told the Cape Argus the Zimbabwean woman was a witness in an old case. “She left the court with other people, and then a man approached and shot her twice in the head,” the member said. Leaked CCTV footage which went viral shows the woman walking with two other people. The man, wearing a white jacket and grey beanie, walks up to his target, pulls the gun out from his right pocket, looks behind, then fires. The victim’s companions can be seen running away while the shooter casually jogs in…

The DA is facing setbacks in the Garden Route with the resignation of two of its councillors, one in Mossel Bay and the other in Knysna, and an investigation by the Hawks relating to allegations of fraud and corruption levelled against Hessequa DA mayor Grant Riddles. On Friday in a double whammy for the party, Anco Barker, a former Garden Route District Mayco member for financial services, resigned from both the council and the party, citing “transparency issues and fraud”, while former DA speaker of Knysna Julie Lopes quit and joined ActionSA. Meanwhile, on May 24, the Hessequa Council unanimously resolved to refer Riddles to a disciplinary committee within 30 days. Barker, who made a TikTok video of her resignation, said the DA caucus in Mossel Bay Municipality had…

According to the latest Vehicle Crime Index (VCI) released by Tracker, a vehicle tracking company, vehicle crime is continuing to rise with a 12% increase in theft in 2022 compared with 2021, and a significant increase in hijackings for the same period. The data, collated from more than 1.1 million Tracker-installed vehicles, shows that opportunistic vehicle crimes, like hijackings that increased during the Covid-19 lockdown, remain elevated following the return to normal daily routines – along with newer criminal tactics such as key-less entry theft contributing to this increase. The statistics from Tracker’s VCI also showed that while vehicle crime incidents occur seven days a week and throughout the day and night, reported thefts were more prevalent between 11am and 8pm, and these theft volumes escalated on Saturdays. Reported hijacking…

If you get a message on Facebook that says “Look who died”, don’t click on it unless you want your account to perish. A digital security expert has said that Facebook scams and fraud are on the rise following news of the latest attention-grabbing scam on Facebook. In the scam people have received and opened “Look who died” messages only to find afterwards that they have been robbed of personal data. The scam targets Facebook users seeking information about the death of a friend or celebrity. When you click on the link, it doesn’t redirect you to a news article with more information, but rather a malware virus is downloaded to their computer or device. Essential Security Against Evolving Threats expert Carey van Vlaanderen warned that as more people use…

World No 3 Novak Djokovic inched closer to a 23rd grand slam title by crushing Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3 6-2 6-2 yesterday to reach the French Open quarter-finals. The Serbian, who is tied with Spain’s Rafa Nadal on a men’s record 22 majors, was untroubled by his 94th-ranked opponent, the first Peruvian in 29 years to reach a grand slam fourth round, on a windy day on Philippe Chatrier court. A two-time champion in Paris, Djokovic has now reached the quarter-finals at the French Open for a record 17th time, one more than 14-time champion Rafa Nadal who is absent this year due to injury. “I am proud of all the records, but it also means I am not young any more,” said the 36-year-old. “It was the best…

Manchester United’s painful FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City casts a cloud over a largely impressive season under Erik ten Hag in which they ended their trophy drought and regained their place in the Champions League. City's captain fantastic Ilkay Gundogan scored twice in a 2-1 win for the Premier League champions at Wembley - including the fastest goal in FA Cup final history - as his team stayed on track for a treble. Ten Hag, in his first campaign at Old Trafford, praised his players for their performance against “probably the best team in the world” before reflecting on the overall campaign. “We played a fantastic season and it’s more than we could have expected before,” he said. “We were third in the league, we are qualified for…

Four teams are in the hunt for the final two spots in the Currie Cup and can be excused if they have their calculators out ahead of the final games, trying to work out exactly what needs to happen to end up in one of those spots Defending Currie Cup champions the Pumas (on 36 points) are among the teams fighting it out to scrape into the semi-finals, with the Blue Bulls (fourth, 36 points), Griquas (35) and Western Province (32) all still gunning for a place with the Sharks and Free State Cheetahs already secured of home semis in South Africa's premier domestic rugby competition. On Friday in Kimberley (3pm kickoff) the first showdown begins when Griquas take on the Pumas, looking to leapfrog them on the standings. For…