Innehållsförteckning för 2024-01-09 från Cape Argus

Nicki Minaj has reintroduced herself to the rap world with the release of Pink Friday 2, her highly awaited fifth studio album. And while the internationally renowned songstress’s sequel to her debut LP Pink Friday, was released last month, it is continuing to be a musical sensation, as its popularity also intensifies on social media platforms. What makes the album even more special is that the “Barbz”, as Minaj’s loyal fans are affectionately known, had to wait more than a decade for it. The first Pink Friday, which was released in November 2010, catapulted Minaj into the spotlight with hits that included Right Thru Me, Moment 4 Life and Super Bass. It was also influenced by some of the biggest names in the rap world, as Minaj enlisted a variety…

The State prosecutor in the case of the taxi boss and businessman arrested for serious crimes revealed that the accused tried to bribe officials in prison. Bonke Makalala was arrested in December for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. He was in Pretoria with his girlfriend at the time of his arrest. Makalala appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on six charges dating back to 2018. On August 17, 2018, in Old Crossroads, Nyanga, the accused was arrested for possession of an unlicensed 9mm firearm. A similar offence was allegedly committed in the same area in 2020. The accused is said to have killed Masixole Batwali, who was a taxi boss, by shooting him multiple times on December 13, 2019. He is also accused of shooting and wounding a…

From January 1 to 7, 480 people trying to enter the country illegally were intercepted at Beit Bridge. “In terms of the Beit Bridge border post, on January 1, 2024, the Border Management Authority (BMA) started with around 10 000 individuals we were processing into South Africa. That number kept on escalating” Dr Mike Masiapato, the commissioner of the BMA,said in a video on X. “All in all, the number of people we facilitated from January 1 to January 7 is sitting at 119 000 but … we have been able to intercept around 480 individuals attempting to enter the country illegally. These individuals tried to enter the port of entry without the requisite documentation …” In another case that has sparked controversy, a few days ago, the Patriotic Alliance…

Centuries ago a wise man asked, is it better to be hurt by the truth or made happy with deception? Currently, we exist in a reality where a few can harm/murder millions with blatant impunity. Selfish political and economic leaders create mass suffering because they are, in truth, evil people. For example, in time those who support genocide against the Palestinians or any other innocent people will be held accountable. It is irrelevant if the oppressor believes in God or not as reason and logic suggest that everything in the universe is created in a balance and justice balances out injustice. Leaders like President Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu and ambassadors like Anthony Blinken and Arab and European leaders etc who allow the genocide in the “Holy Land” will be judged…

The Boeing Company is under the microscope again, as one of its aircraft split open mid-flight. A pattern of poor quality standards is emerging as hundreds of its products are grounded. Flying in a Boeing aircraft is like playing Russian Roulette. You do not know if you will reach your destination. The Federal Aviation Administration has, again, had to establish the reason behind this near-catastrophe. Is the US aviation industry now supplying sub-standard products? Flying European aircraft now seems the only option.…

Lots of two-sided faces are being exposed during the Israel-Palestine massacre. Some hot-shot Zionist-friendly senators in the US have allegedly been offering thousands of greenbacks to other members of the Senate to stop condemning Israel for its ultra-violent and outlandish activities against the Palestinian civil population. In South Africa, the paucity of protests against the Netanyahu regime, especially from the non-Muslim Indian population and the white community, is clear. No protest against oppression is clearly tantamount to an “okay”. Even the Muslim populations of Durban and Johannesburg are guilty of this, in the main. Cape Muslims have been relatively headstrong and vehement in voicing their anger. Our narrow-minded, apathetic South African population view the position in Palestine as being a religious one. This plays right into the hands of…

Oppenheimer was the big winner at this year’s Golden Globe Awards, taking home five prizes. The atomic bomb drama scooped the coveted Best Picture (Drama) award on Sunday, while there were also prizes in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey jr respectively, and Christopher Nolan was named Best Director. Its fifth win came in the Best Original Score category, for which Ludwig Göransson took home the prize. Lily Gladstone became the first indigenous star to win the Best Actress (Drama) prize and she celebrated her “historic” victory. Speaking on stage at Los Angeles’ Beverly Hilton Hotel, she said: “This is an historic win, it doesn’t belong to just me, I’m holding it with all my beautiful sisters in the film at the…

The recent BRICS summit in South Africa had encouraging things to say about the country being an important and attractive investment destination. Among these was its potential for economic growth across various industrial sectors. The summit identified factors that could hamper economic development efforts, including inadequate infrastructure and interruptions to power and water supplies. Saudi Arabia’s promise of substantial financial support for infrastructure development in South Africa was a clear demonstration of the will, commitment and co-operation the member states are prepared to make towards each other’s development. If foreign countries have so much interest in giving South Africa an opportunity for renewal and economic development when the country is at the lowest state it has ever been, surely the least we can do is reciprocate in some way? The…

The disturbing allegation that Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande and National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board chairperson Ernest Khosa have been siphoning millions from the fund meant for needy students must be urgently addressed. The allegations have gone beyond mere rumours as the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has released a statement to the media, to the effect that President Cyril Ramaphosa should fire Nzimande and Khosa if they did not resign. NFSAS has publicly denounced the allegations as lies and promised it would respond in due course. Outa’s purported whistle-blower should answer these questions: Have they reported the alleged crime to the police? If not, why not? Are they waiting for the culprits to resign and for Ramaphosa to fire them? These pertinent questions need answers.…

Israel killed a top commander of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, a security source said yesterday, as Washington’s top diplomat visits the Middle East seeking to avert a widening of the Israel-Hamas war. Israel pounded targets in the Gaza Strip, where a militant group reported fierce ground combat. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said it had recorded 249 deaths in the previous 24 hours, dozens of whom arrived along with 99 wounded at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah city. Three months into its battle with Hamas militants, Israel says its focus has moved from northern Gaza to “dismantling” militants in the centre and south of the Palestinian territory. While battles rage in Gaza, the situation to Israel’s north is also causing increasing regional and global concern. Israel and Iran-backed…

A man alleged to have stabbed his ex-girlfriend – who had a protection order against him – 25 times has been arrested at a traditional healer’s home in the Eastern Cape after fleeing KwaZulu-Natal following the alleged murder. Information that Cape Argus’ sister paper the Daily News has is that the man, 43, who is alleged to have killed Zama Girlie Mthembu, was arrested by Greenwood Park police midway through a ritual in which he was topless and the murder weapon was with him at the house of the traditional healer. Mlamuli Micheal Qaba appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged with premeditated murder. His matter was adjourned to later this month for a formal bail application. He was remanded to the Greenwood Park police station as bail investigations…

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande has described an investigative report by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) implicating him and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) CEO Ernest Khosa in alleged tender corruption and financial mismanagement, as a “nefarious fightback campaign”. Nzimande held a media briefing yesterday (Mon), following the release of the report and leaked voice notes by Outa on Thursday. According to Outa, the recordings reveal how service providers “allegedly paid millions of rand in kickbacks to Nzimande and Khosa, as well as at least R1 million to the SA Communist Party (SACP). This was done in return for tenders and protection for service providers.” The report follows leaked voice recordings of two separate meetings between Khosa and a representative of a service provider,…

My first column for 2024 last week was titled: “2024 should be a year for tackling Homelessness.” In this spirit, I am dedicating my first few columns to discussing how we could do this effectively. Let’s clean the slate. My first suggestion would be: Let us find out how many people we have living on our streets by doing an accurate count and let us not only quantify but qualify those experiencing homelessness. We cannot even begin to think of offering services that will be effective and sustainably reduce the numbers of people living on our streets if we are not aware of what we are dealing with. I can guarantee you that neither the National Government nor the Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town, who each boast…

WHAT a caring government we have! Load shedding was suspended for the entire festive season period. The government and Eskom had given the country 18 days of uninterrupted lights, the longest since load shedding began. But no sooner had we toasted the new year, load shedding was back. How we had been fooled! The same thing happened during the Rugby World Cup. The government will ensure that the lights stay on during the elections, too. Happy voters will ensure a victory for the ANC and doomsayers will have to eat humble pie. But load shedding will return after the elections. Eskom is burning millions of litres of diesel to keep the lights on at crucial periods.…

It is not surprising Oscar Pistorius’s parole has caused so much comment and controversy from both supporters and detractors of the decision. It is understandable given that he is a public figure, but what is thoroughly unacceptable is when his parole is questioned because of who he is. Hundreds, if not thousands, of prisoners are granted parole every week. And granted, while it is very difficult to determine with 100% certainty whether a prisoner is rehabilitated, it is still wrong to focus so much on Oscar. On the other hand, in the same vein, it cannot be denied by anybody that he is fully remorseful and rehabilitated – which might well be the case. Oscar must be given a chance to prove himself. It should be noted that he is…