Innehållsförteckning för 2024-02-13 från Cape Argus

HOUSE music might be one single genre, but it has several elements which all have their own distinct sounds. From techno to deep, commercial, as well as the continued rise of amapiano – a jazzy subgenre of house – this dance music style allows for creativity as musicians from across the globe lend their own interpretation to it. Italian music group Meduza rocked the decks at the recent Calabash South Africa festival. The group, consisting of childhood friends Luca de Gregorio, Mattia Vitale and Simone Giani, joined Maroon 5, and headlined the concert, as well as TiMO ODV, Will Linley and Lloyiso on stage. Vitale told Independent Media Lifestyle that they were thrilled to be performing in South Africa. “We hope it can be the start of a successful musical…

A safety risk manager at power utility, Eskom, was arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as the Hawks) on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering. On Friday, Thandi Ruth Magagula, 40, appeared before the Middelburg Regional Court and she was released on R10 000 bail. The case against Magagula was postponed to March 26, when it will be heard in the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, according to Mpumalanga Hawks provincial spokesperson, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi. “It is alleged that during April 2013 to July 2015, the accused was appointed by Eskom as a safety risk manager. During the same year, she was also a director of Montoza Engineering and Project 9 whereby the company was rendering services to Eskom,” said Sekgotodi. The matter was reported…

A DISTRESSED farmworker who was evicted from a strawberry farm in Stellenbosch claimed management was now blocking him from visiting his family. Patrick Muller, 46, a former irrigation foreman at Zetler and Sons Farming Enterprises, said he was dealt a blow as he couldn’t step foot on the premises anymore. “I’m the man that is protecting them, the door is now open for any attacks on them because they are just women. If something happens, who is going to protect them?” he said about his family. Muller said he was evicted from the farm last week following an order by the Land Claims Court earlier this year. This followed the termination of his employment almost four years ago when, in 2020, CCTV footage captured him allegedly intimidating a gate attendant…

For centuries, Europe, Britain and the US have mass murdered and stolen global resources. On YouTube there are authentic documentaries detailing how the US, Britain, Europe and so on destabilised and ruined nations for something as ridiculous as bananas or sugar in South America. The decades of killing in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Sudan was about oil/gas and subduing black and brown people. The historic disregard for human rights and so on is detailed/defined and gives perspective to what is happening in Palestine. The leaders of Europe, the US, Britain, Israel and so on simply do not regard Palestinians as human. Like Africans and others during slavery/colonialism, we must accept the racist arrogance that is confirmed by historical patterns. Why is this acceptance important? There are basically three types…

WORLD Wetlands Day is a global event celebrated annually on February 2 to recognise the significance of wetlands. The National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998) defines wetlands as the land which is transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface, or the land is periodically covered with shallow water, and which land in normal circumstances supports or would support vegetation typically adapted to life in saturated soil. The World Wetlands Day theme for the year 2024 is “Wetlands and Human Well-being”. The theme reminds us of how all facets of human well-being are connected to wetlands. Wetlands are among the most productive ecosytems in the world. They contribute to flood control as they absorb a significant amount of water and…

In 2021, almost 33 of every 1 000 South African children under five years old died. This under-five mortality rate is far worse than in similar middle-income countries such as Brazil (14.4 per 1 000 births), Cuba (5 per 1 000), India (30.6), Indonesia (22.2) and Egypt (19.0). South Africa’s under-five mortality rate also lags behind the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal of reducing the figures worldwide by 2030 to 25 deaths per 1 000. Significant progress has been made. In 1994 South Africa’s, under-five mortality rate was 60.4 per 1 000. The government’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation was one health intervention that made a difference. However, inequalities persist. The underfunded public health sector has been stretched to serve 71% of the population. Worldwide, many people, particularly those in rural settlements,…

NEW DELHI: Qatar has released eight former Indian navy officers after dropping their death sentences, India’s foreign ministry said yesterday, crediting the Qatari emir for the decision more than 18 months after the arrest that strained diplomatic ties. The men were accused of spying for Israel, sources said, but India and Qatar did not confirm the charges. Their death sentence was dropped in December. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who “personally supervised all developments” in the case, will visit Qatar on February 14 for talks with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Seven of the men are back in India; efforts are under way to bring back the eighth.…

The South African national team rounded off a successful Africa Cup of Nations tournament in classy fashion, with a couple of awards. Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams was unsurprisingly named the Goalkeeper of the Tournament after a string of spectacular performances in Ivory Coast. The 31-year-old shot-stopper helped his team to a first third-place finish since 2000 and in the process set an Afcon record of four penalty saves in the quarter-final shoot-out against Cape Verde. After a worrisome 2-0 defeat against Mali in Bafana’s opening match, he went on to keep five clean sheets in the tournament. These came in the 4-0 group stage win against Namibia, 0-0 draw against Tunisia and 2-0 last-16 win against Morocco. After Bafana got bundled out of the running for gold, Williams…

As load shedding continues to disrupt the daily operations of thousands of businesses and households across the metro, the City said it planned to add up to 1 gigawatt of independent power supply – the first 650 megawatts of this within five years, including enough to protect against four Eskom load shedding stages by 2026. Launching its Energy Strategy yesterday, the City said short-term load shedding mitigation would be achieved largely through a mix of Steenbras Hydro Plant; 500MW of dispatchable energy and demand management programmes such as Power Heroes and Large Power Users (LPUs) curtailment. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said Cape Town was the first city with a formally adopted energy strategy to outline plans to end load shedding. “In Cape Town, the most exciting part is that residents…

THERE was some truth to recent reports of poisoning and a sex ring inside Mangaung G4S Correctional Facility – where Thabo Bester staged his infamous escape – from sometime in May 2022, prison activists said. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) was reported to be looking into the allegations of a sex syndicate and poison gang allegedly operating within the facility. This comes after a Sunday publication report alleged that a “leaked document” fingered Bester as being at the centre of a sex syndicate that involved female prison wardens offering sex in exchange for money to inmates and other prison officials. The alleged document is said to also have unearthed “a poisoning campaign aimed at taking out offenders said to be possible whistle-blowers about the illegal activities happening inside the…

YAGYAH Adams in his letter, “What makes Netanyahu different from Hitler?”(February 7), ascribes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s alleged genocidal approach towards the Palestinians to stupidity. This is far from the truth. Netanyahu is goal orientated and fixated on ensuring that Israel controls the entire piece of land bordered by Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. But in trying to achieve his objective he is confronted with a major problem: “How do you get rid of 5 million Palestinian ‘refugees’ within the shortest space of time?” Hamas’s despicable action on October 7, provided a golden opportunity to put his plan in action. He started by destroying, not only the houses of the Palestinians, but all other infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and businesses. In case he is not successful in driving them…

JOE Biden’s wishy washy response to the carnage in Gaza lacks all credibility. Describing Israel’s unholy war as “over the top” months, and 27 000 dead Palestinians later, is pathetic and represents a slap on the wrist with a wet noodle. Biden should man up and demand from his Middle East proxy an immediate ceasefire not a half-hearted suggestion while the slaughter of innocents goes on. Netanyahu’s proclamation that dead civilians are collateral damage in a war, is hard to digest considering that 70% of the 27 000 dead were innocent women and children. Shame on him. His resignation is long overdue.…

This year’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) was bound to be stuffed with electioneering messages and slogans. The country goes to the polls any time between May and August and there was no doubt that President Cyril Ramaphosa would use the occasion to burnish the ANC’s reputation. That’s indeed what he did. The upcoming elections are the most significant since the country became a democracy in 1994. Numerous opinion polls suggest the ANC will fall below 50% of the vote nationally for the first time, providing opportunities for opposition coalitions. A party needs to win 50% or more of the seats in Parliament to form a government on its own. Adding to the moment was the fact that this was the last Sona of Ramaphosa’s term. In his 105-minute…

Tokyo: About 14 000 birds have been culled in southern Japan after an avian influenza outbreak was confirmed, local authorities said yesterday. The bird flu has been confirmed on a poultry farm in the Minamisatsuma City of Kagoshima, according to the prefectural government, adding that the culling operations for it and nearby farms under the same management were completed within a short span. Burial of the culled birds and disinfection of the poultry houses are expected to conclude within the next few days, and the national authorities are expected to determine whether the virus is highly pathogenic.…

GOTHENBURG, Sweden: A powerful fire broke out yesterday at an amusement park in the western Swedish city of Gothenburg, engulfing outdoor water slides and facilities under construction, eyewitnesses and rescue services said. There were no reports of injuries, but thick black smoke rose above the city and police advised those living in the area to stay indoors and to keep windows closed to protect against fumes. Others were evacuated. No guests were at the Oceana waterpark, a new addition to Gothenburg’s Liseberg funfair, scheduled to open later this year. The fire started at the water rides and then spread to the entire building.…

The Kremlin yesterday rejected Ukraine’s claims that Russian troops fighting on the front line were using Starlink terminals. Kyiv’s GUR military intelligence agency said it had evidence that Starlink internet terminals were being used on a “systematic” basis by Russian troops, accusing Moscow of “smuggling” them into the country. Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is a network of satellites in low Earth orbit that can provide internet to remote locations, or areas that have had normal communications infrastructure disabled. “It cannot be officially supplied here and is not officially supplied here,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters yesterday. “Accordingly, it cannot be officially used here in any way,” he added. The system is not active in Russia, meaning even a device inside Russia could not connect. But Kyiv has…

The Proteas face the prospect of being on the wrong side of history this week after the second Test against New Zealand started in Hamilton last night. The tourists have never lost a Test series to the Black Caps since they first started competing back in 1932. They are 1-0 down in the two-match series after a 281-run thumping in Mount Maunganui last week. And despite suffering an even heavier defeat in the first Test the last time the Proteas toured Down Under in 2022 – they lost by an innings and 276 runs, before bouncing back in the second Test – the chances of history repeating itself now are slim. The circumstances are entirely different on this tour with the current Proteas squad missing virtually the entire playing…

Arsenal showed their Premier League title credentials with a 6-0 thrashing of London rivals West Ham. But Liverpool remain top of the pile after surviving a scare against lowly Burnley, while Erling Haaland is back on goalscoring form for Manchester City. Here, we look at three talking points from this weekend’s action. Haaland back in old routine Erling Haaland admitted he was relieved to be back on target with a crucial double in Manchester City’s 2-0 win against Everton. The Norway striker scored his first goals since returning from almost two months out of action with a foot injury as he killed off stubborn Everton at the Etihad Stadium. It was the champions’ 10th victory in succession in all competitions as they step up their bid for an unprecedented fourth…

SHOCKING court documents have lifted the lid on how a British mom and son duo fled their home country and came to nestle in upmarket Cape Town suburbs while being sought by Interpol. Details surrounding the investigations into Caroline Sevier, 51, and Callum Gower, 27, come amid an application to extradite them to their hometown of Sussex in England. Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said they were busted in Constantia and Sea Point on January 26 after being traced by Interpol, UK authorities, the National Task Force and the Hawks. “A 27-year-old was arrested after a warrant for his arrest was issued on charges of dealing in drugs, money laundering, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, possession of a dangerous weapon and pointing of an object believed to be…

THE Congolese man accused of stabbing and killing a US citizen with a kitchen knife in Green Point made his first appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Gedeon Tshimowa, 27, reportedly had an argument with Phillips Olagoke Allen-Barake, 22, on Friday morning in the kitchen of Atlantic Point backpackers when the American tourist was stabbed to death. Tshimowa was arrested and the court heard that not only was he charged with murder, but he also faced a charge of escaping from custody. The accused walked into the dock yesterday. He did not speak. His private lawyer did the talking. He said his client had been in South Africa for 20 years and had the necessary documentation. The defence counsel also said Tshimowa had no previous convictions, outstanding warrants…

LOAD shedding has been blamed for a fire in which an entire family was killed early yesterday morning. An 8-month-old baby along with her parents perished in the fire in Fisantekraal, just outside Durbanville. Seven shacks were destroyed on the corner of Saartjie Baartman and Tambo streets. David Bailon, 23, his wife Namhla Nozombile, 20, and their baby daughter Zenazi died after they could not escape the flames. David’s nephew, Isaac Bailon, said: “David worked at a woodwork shop and the family didn’t live here long, they only moved here in December. “The neighbours say the fire brigade arrived quickly but it was too late to save them. I don’t know how we are going to bury them, we don’t have money, if anyone would like to assist us please…

Jaskaran Moopanar Rajaruthnum must be a dejected and crestfallen young man. The Westville Boys High prodigy was placed 2nd in the province and 3rd in the country in last year’s matric examinations after scooping a full house of 8 distinctions. But the avid violinist’s celebrations were marred by false notes at a recent ceremony hosted by the Department of Education. The MC had announced at the Durban function that the 1st and 2nd-placed candidates would be awarded Sasol bursaries of R10 000 each, but when it came to the execution of the bursary award, it went to the 1st and 3rd placed candidates – possibly one of Ramaphosa’s “Tintswalos”! Where’s the logic here? This is naked and blatant racial prejudice. It must have left the youngster bare in thought.…

This was meant to be the week of the much-anticipated and much-dreaded “Three Anchor Bay Tennis Academy eviction of the homeless”. It became much like the State of the Nation Address – much ado about nothing (apologies to Shakespeare). The eviction was scheduled for February 8 and so it should have been done by now. As I write this column, it hasn’t. The individuals living there have neither been accommodated nor found themselves alternatives. In an independent intervention supported by friends and members of the public, we managed to move a few of the residents from the area, mostly families and those with a means of earning a living, to independent living spaces in the CBD. The first month’s rental at these spaces has been covered by friends of my…

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) this year felt like a delicate balancing act on a precarious tightrope. With a nation rife with challenges, from economic stagnation to political discord, Ramaphosa’s task was daunting. However, the address, intended to be a beacon of hope and a roadmap for progress, ultimately fell flat, leaving many unimpressed and uninspired. Ramaphosa’s earlier promises, made with fervour and optimism, seem to have been swallowed by the quagmire of an incapable state machinery and an ideologically incompatible Tripartite Alliance. As he stood before the nation, his words lacked the resonance they once held. The grand visions of prosperity and equity seemed distant echoes of a bygone era. One of the most pressing concerns facing the administration is the dire state of the…

Washington: Two individuals, including a child, were injured in a shooting at a church, after which the female shooter was gunned down by police in Texas. Police said a woman in a trench coat, armed with a long rifle and accompanied by a young child, fired at Joel Osteen’s megachurch just before 2pm (local time) on Sunday and was gunned down by two off-duty police officers, resulting in the child being critically injured. A man, 57, who authorities do not suspect to be linked to the incident, sustained a gunshot wound and is being treated in hospital. The relationship between the child and the suspect is unclear.…

KINSHASA: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) yesterday stepped up security outside embassies and UN buildings after they were targeted by protesters accusing the West of supporting M23 rebels in the conflict-wracked east. The head of the UN’s MONUSCO peace-keeping mission, Bintou Keita, said on X that several of its vehicles had been set alight. Protests erupted last week in the capital Kinshasa and the southeastern city of Lubumbashi. On Friday, dozens of youths demonstrated outside the embassies of France and Britain, and during the week at the US embassy.“The government has decided to strengthen the security arrangements in different embassies as well as in the premises of MONUSCO,” it said on Sunday.…

THE Durban duel in the United Rugby Championship (URC) between the Sharks and Stormers will cap off a weekend of South African derbies on Saturday. It promises to be another nail-biter at Kings Park (kick-off 5.05pm) like it was at the DHL Stadium at the end of December when the Cape side took the spoils 16-15. Leighton Koopman takes a look at five areas of play where the contest could be decided. The scrums The Sharks owe the Stormers a good showing in the tight battle after the inaugural URC champions out-scrummed them in December, despite Ox Nche being part of the front row. With no Springboks playing in this match due to their resting protocol, it should provide for a decent scrum battle between the so-called second-stringers of the…

The return of the Uefa Champions League comes at the perfect time for Manchester City with Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne’s comebacks from injury making the holders look formidable. Pep Guardiola’s men head to FC Copenhagen tonight for the first leg of their round of 16 tie on the back of 10 consecutive wins in all competitions. A run that began while Haaland and De Bruyne were still sidelined by injury has only gained momentum since they made their return. Haaland scored his first goals since November as City eventually broke down Everton to win 2-0 at the Etihad on Saturday. De Bruyne had started on the bench with the Champions League in mind as Guardiola manages the Belgian’s minutes after his season began with a hamstring tear that…

The SA20 has once again thrilled for the past 30 days. Here, Zaahier Adams takes a closer look at the highs and lows of season 2. HIT 1: The score Runs, runs and more runs. It certainly overflowed in season 2 with Ryan Rickelton breaking the magical 500-run barrier for the first time. Heinrich Klaasen (447), Matthew Breetzke (416) and Jos Buttler (408) also passed 400 runs for the first time. MISS 1: Extra knockout The newly-formulated play-off structure allowed for an extra match to be played with the normal semi-finals being replaced with Qualifier 1, Eliminator and Qualifier 2. That wasn’t so much the problem, but rather that the staging of Qualifier 1 between the top teams on the log was predetermined to be played at Newlands instead…