Innehållsförteckning för 2023-11-08 från Cape Argus

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is set to launch the City’s Tourism Safety Festive Season Plan this morning, just five days after an American man was shot in the face. Walter Fischel, 55, arrived on Friday and hired a vehicle. The navigation system in the car directed him to go through Nyanga, one of the most dangerous townships in the country, to get to Simon’s Town. The tourist was shot in the face and robbed of his personal belongings, documents and clothing in the township. Fischel, from Connecticut, reportedly travelled from Thailand. The US travel advisory issued a warning to tourists on Saturday. “GPS navigation can lead to unsafe routes. Short cuts through townships may be the quickest preferred route but can lead to increased risks of crime.” It said…

Cape Town dancers Toufeeq Baatjies and Lakeisha Dick took the City of Love by storm as they showcased their talents at an illustrious breakdancing event. The duo took their dance moves to the next level following their participation at this year’s Red Bull BC One world final in Paris. The esteemed worldwide one-on-one breaking event sees more than 1 000 breakers from around the world compete for the opportunity to showcase their talent on a world stage. This year, the home of world-class tennis, the iconic Stade Roland-Garros, was transformed into the ultimate breaking arena as 32 b-boys and b-girls took to the stage to showcase gravity-defying dance and power moves in the hotly-anticipated final of the global contest. The two, who are no strangers to the breakdancing scene,…

THE youth of Wesbank are expressing their feelings through arts and culture after community organisation Balls Not Guns recently established a programme solely dedicated for this reason. Apostle Gloria Veale, the founder of Balls Not Guns said the idea was born seven months ago when she heard so many of the youth stories while attending to their feeding needs. “Seven months ago we worked in Manenberg, Parkwood and Wesbank where we put on showcases allowing the younger people to tell their stories through art, with South Roots International. “We also had the older folk come out and educate the children about the community. “Wesbank then decided to take it a bit further and continue the initiative in the area giving kids a safe platform for them to express their feelings,”…

What Israel is doing in Gaza is not exercising its right to defend its citizens, as it says. It is exacting collective revenge against the civilian population of Palestine that will reverberate long after it withdraws its troops and stops the bombing. The fact that world leaders are too consumed by narrow geopolitical agendas to be able to agree on a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire is an abomination. Genocide is not a word to be loosely bandied about. In 1948, the same year that the State of Israel was established, the UN Genocide Convention defined genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. It described five such acts, the presence of only one of which is…

THE dead body of a toddler is carried out of a bombed house. A woman weeps over a row of corpses wrapped in white. The latest casualties arrive in hospitals already overflowing with the wounded and displaced. People queue for hours to get a few litres of water to share with dozens of others. A month into Israel’s devastating military assault on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Palestinians stuck inside the besieged enclave face daily suffering of a scale, intensity and repetitiveness that have pushed some into fury and despair. “I swear we are waiting for death. It will be better than living. We are waiting for death at each moment. It’s a suspended death,” said Abu Jihad, a middle-aged resident of Khan Younis in the south of the tiny, densely…

The good news that Rassie Erasmus is to revert to the head coaching role with the Boks has camouflaged, for now, the loss of two key contributors to the gold medals in Japan and France. It will be a case of you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone when the Boks resume playing next year. Jacques Nienaber and Felix Jones were hardly the poster boys of the coaching staff, in part because Rassie naturally attracted the spotlight but mostly because they preferred being in the background with their noses buried in their laptops. Of course, Rassie knows just how much detail the two uncovered on both their players and the opposition, and with both of them en route to the northern hemisphere, Leinster and the England national team…

After yet another round of Premier League fixtures in which VAR played an unwitting lead role, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou perhaps hit the nail on the head after a riotous 4-1 home defeat against Chelsea on Monday. A manic derby featured nine VAR checks, five disallowed goals, two red cards and enough mayhem to fill a season in the 111 minutes the game took to complete. Two days earlier Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta railed against the match officials and VAR after Newcastle United’s winning goal was allowed to stand despite it being checked for three possible offences in the build-up. Disgraceful and embarrassing was Arteta’s opinion, but Postecoglou, while clearly not a fan of the technology, offered a more measured response after a tumultuous evening in north London that…

Glenn Maxwell’s stunning 201 not out guided Australia into the semi-finals of the World Cup as the five-time champions snatched a sensational three-wicket victory from the jaws of defeat against Afghanistan in Mumbai yesterday. At 91/7, chasing 292, Australia were all set to join title-holders England, 1996 champions Pakistan and 1992 winners Sri Lanka as yet another notable Afghanistan scalp at this World Cup. Crucially, however, recalled all-rounder Maxwell was dropped soon afterwards on 33 when Mujeeb Ur Rahman somehow floored a simple chance at short fine leg off fellow spinner Noor Ahmad. “It would’ve been nice if it was chanceless, I’ve lived a very charmed life out there,” said Maxwell, appropriately nicknamed “The Big Show”. He made Afghanistan pay with an astounding 128-ball innings featuring 21 fours and 10…

It’s been nine months since multi- award-winning rapper AKA was shot dead outside Wish restaurant in Durban along with his friend, Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane. And as the investigation into their deaths continues, so too does Lynn Forbes’s heartache. She took to Instagram recently where she posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation she had with him. In the message, sent at 4.26am, the Fela In Versace hitmaker told his mother he missed her and they should have lunch later that day. She responded, “We can have lunch, let me know what time. Miss you more.” In the caption, Lynn wrote, “How I wish I could call you, when I woke up and tell you how much I would love to have lunch with you today. I miss you so much.”…

International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor has called for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to be arrested over a bombing campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians, mostly women and children. Pandor told Parliament yesterday, during the debate on the Palestine conflict, that the murder of women, children and the elderly is an act that should have led the International Criminal Court to immediately issue a warrant of arrest against Netanyahu and top officials in Tel Aviv. The debate in Parliament took place a day after the government announced that it was going to recall diplomatic officials from Israel. Pandor said the killing of Palestinians had been going on for too long and the world had not acted. She said this was not the first…

Disgraced Dr Nandipha Magudumana was dealt another blow when the Bloemfontein High Court dismissed her appeal to be released on bail yesterday. The doctor and other suspects stand accused of helping her boyfriend, rapist and killer Thabo Bester, escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre managed by G4S Security. Magudumana faces several charges, including fraud, corruption, violating bodies and assisting an escape. A few months ago, Magudumana filed an urgent application to have her arrest and deportation from Tanzania declared “unlawful” and set aside. She claimed that the police abducted and subsequently deported her under a disguise. However, the court dismissed it with costs, saying that she was a flight risk. Magudumana and Bester were arrested in Arusha, Tanzania, after leaving South Africa; her passport was not stamped. That was one…

POLICE Minister Bheki Cele said he is concerned about the rising number of police officers leaving the organisation because of dissatisfying salaries. Cele was addressing thousands of members at the 10th-year anniversary conference co-ordinated by the Police and Prisons Civil Union (Popcru) which is taking place at the Durban ICC. He said the issue of unfair pay of members of the SAPS is disheartening and should be scrutinised. “The question of finances in the policing organisation is disappointing and something has to be done. In one month, 300 officers leave the organisation, and we really need to probe into the matter as the number of exiting members is reduced. Currently, the country is facing a challenge of a shortfall of staff members while criminals are not backing down when…

After an action-packed stopover in Punta del Este, Uruguay, the Clipper Race fleet is now closing in on Cape Town, after having taken on the epic 3 555 nautical mile journey across the South Atlantic. This edition is the 11th time the Clipper Race will arrive in the city, which is considered a highly popular stop among the crew. The race sees adventurers from all walks of life take on the exceptional challenge of racing across the world’s oceans on board a 70ft yacht. The fleet is expected to arrive in Cape Town from Thursday, where the race crew will be able to relax and recharge at the V&A Waterfront Marina. During their time in Cape Town, the crew, supporters and the public can look forward to a number of…

BOTH President Cyril Ramaphosa and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan should take blame for the leadership within the public entities. Surely their stability would spiral out of control to hinder the shift towards renewal and have destructive consequences for the country. As it takes a lot of doing to get things right on a solid footing, Ramaphosa let Gordhan impose himself in the corporate governance affairs of these entities. Hence, many executives were rightly annoyed by Gordhan’s meddling in the operational activities. Needless to say, Eskom became enmeshed in an illegal intelligence-gathering assignment, whose funding hinges principally on the wrongful exercise of public power by Gordhan. Worse, Gordhan pulled a somersault by pussyfooting about his intimate knowledge of skulduggery weighing the utility down to shield top-level perpetrators. Even the rascals…

King Charles set out the government’s plans on crime, climate, housing and other legislation yesterday in what could have been British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s first and last so-called King’s Speech before an election next year. Sunak used the event, when the monarch delivered a speech listing the government’s priorities for a new parliamentary session, to press on with what his team hoped would be vote-winning policies that he outlined earlier this year. Trying to create a dividing line between his governing Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party, which is way ahead in the polls, Sunak pressed on with watering down climate measures to reach Britain’s net zero goal by 2050. He is also driving his agenda to crack down on crime, introducing plans to expand the use of what…

Kaizer Chiefs’ interim coach Cavin Johnson has backed his troops to overcome the psychological warfare they’ll come across against Cape Town Spurs tonight. Chiefs will host Spurs at an empty FNB Stadium this evening as their supporters are banned from the game due to acts of hooliganism. This sanction was imposed on the club by the league’s disciplinary committee after Chiefs fans disgruntled with their poor run of form pelted former coach Molefi Ntseki with missiles on three occasions. Johnson also started his tenure on a low, though, losing 2-1 to Golden Arrows in their last league match at the Mpumalanga Stadium a fortnight ago. But instead of Chiefs’ supporters resorting to their hooligan behaviour, they showed him and his players love, braving the rainy weather to applaud the team.…

Suspects face four counts The Phala Phala suspects were arrested on Sunday and Monday on charges of housebreaking and theft. The accused central figure in the theft, Floriana Joseph, who was employed as a housekeeper at Ramaphosa’s game farm, and her partner in crime, Imanuwela David, are facing four counts of money laundering, conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal, theft, and housebreaking with intent to steal. National Director of Public Prosecutions State advocate Nkhetheni Munyai asked the court, presided over by magistrate Predeshni Poonan, that the pair be remanded in custody so that an interpreter could be made available as the accused were foreign nationals. Arguing before the court, Joseph’s attorney, Mike Mokgobu, pleaded with the court to instruct the police to make arrangements for Joseph to care…

A Wellington woman took the stand in the Western Cape High Court more than 10 years after the disappearance of her relative, who was allegedly murdered by the notorious “Boland Killer”. The 29-year-old woman, who may not be named, is the only survivor of Johan Williams, accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering three women over a six-year period. Williams was thrust into the limelight in July 2018 when he was arrested for the murder of Kuils River mom Chantell Mathyssen. The 21-year-old mother’s body was found on the Aubon Rue Farm just weeks after she was allegedly lured to Wellington by Williams, who had promised her a job. Williams, who was arrested in 2018, faces 20 charges including rape, kidnapping and murder. Taking the stand yesterday, the relative of his…

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has “laughed off” ActionSA’s call to rename eThekwini Municipality after the late Zulu traditional prime minister and IFP founder iNkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi. In his message of support during the provincial memorial service for Buthelezi, organised by the IFP in Durban at the weekend, ActionSA leader Zwakele Mncwango surprised many when he called for the renaming of the City in honour of Buthelezi. Mncwango said he would soon file a motion, which he urged all parties in the council to back. However, ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele laughed off the proposal, saying Mncwango had shown that what the ANC had been saying about him was true – that he was a “political comic” who should not be taken seriously every time he opened his mouth. Mndebele said…

AN online petition started five years ago which calls for Reverend Oscar Bougardt to be jailed is continuing. The Equality Court gagged him earlier this year from making homophobic comments on social media and other platforms. In August, Bougardt was once again hauled before court for being in contempt of the Equality Court order. He was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment but it was suspended for five years, provided he did not breach the order by making the same anti-gay comments. OUT LGBT began the petition in October 2018. Its goal was to reach 5 000 signatures; and to date it has collected 4 671. According to the petition, OUT LGBT has been keeping an eye on Bougardt’s social media accounts and logged complains with the SA Human Rights Commission…

The Global TB Report for 2023 was released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday. This is the first report post the acute phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was previously shown to negatively impact tuberculosis services and patient outcomes. An estimated 10.6 million people globally fell ill with TB last year (5.8 million men, 3.5 million women and 1.3 million children) and 1.3 million died from TB. The report estimates that Covid-19 resulted in half a million excess deaths from TB from 2020 to 2022. More than 80% of the people who died were HIV-negative and lived in the African and South-East Asian regions, with India contributing to 29% of the deaths. Of the 10.6 million with TB, only 7.5 million were diagnosed, meaning that 3.1 million of…

Manchester United are in desperate need of a win at FC Copenhagen in the Champions League tonight as they battle to avoid an embarrassing group stage exit. The three-time European champions sneaked past the Danish side 1-0 at Old Trafford last month, thanks to a last-gasp penalty save from goalkeeper Andre Onana. Heavy defeats by Manchester City and Newcastle have since ramped up the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag, which was only eased slightly by a 1-0 win at Fulham on Saturday. United are third in Group A, six points behind leaders Bayern Munich and one adrift of Galatasaray. If they fail to win in Copenhagen, Galatasaray could be in a position knock United out when the sides meet in Istanbul on November 29. Here, we look at what…

Evan Roos’s growth as a rugby player will be heightened by playing at blindside flank. That was the word from Stormers assistant coach Labeeb Levy yesterday ahead of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Benetton. Kick-off is at 5pm. Springbok loose forward Roos has been a specialist No 8 for most of his career, but lined up in the No 7 jersey in last Friday’s 20-9 defeat to the Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium. And while some critics have opted to focus on his ill-timed yellow card – for tackling Glasgow flank Matt Fagerson off the ball after a scuffle – Roos was prominent with his powerful carries up the middle on attack, while he got through a fair share of defensive work as well. Having missed out on…