Innehållsförteckning för 2024-06-12 från Cape Argus

Hot on the heels of its London theatre success, the gripping production Blonde Poison, starring leading South African actress Fiona Ramsay, will be staged in Cape Town from this week. She featured in the production of Hansard at The Baxter Theatre last year, which was nominated for three Fleur du Cap Awards, including Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Play. Ramsay takes the lead in this captivating one-person show, the first play written by South African playwright Gail Louw, who now lives in the UK. Blonde Poison is directed by multi- award-winning director Fred Abrahamse, with a set designed by the renowned Marcel Meyer. Taking place against the backdrop of the Holocaust, the play is a morality tale about beauty,…

THE 70-year-old UK national who was arrested with R600 000 worth of tik hidden inside his luggage at Cape Town International Airport has ditched his bail application. Matthew Hamilton Swire made his first appearance in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Monday after he was arrested on June 6 by a team of the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau after they received a tip-off. The drugs, which weighed 1.4kg, were concealed in a compartment of Swire’s luggage. The Hawks confirmed that Swire had been attempting to leave the country and return to the UK when he was arrested. Hawks spokesperson Siyabulela Vukubi, said: “A UK citizen, Matthew Hamilton Swire, 70, appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court and abandoned his bail. “The matter was postponed to August 1, 2024.” Vukubi earlier…

Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) temporary staff who braved the cold, working long nights and days during the national and provincial elections claim they have not been paid for their services. Several of them are now demanding to be paid as promised ahead of the 2024 general elections. The staff, mostly made out of unemployed youths, reached out to The Star for help as they revealed that they felt disappointed and discouraged after the commission failed to pay them in full. Speaking anonymously, for fear of reprisals, a man aged 27 from Mafikeng in North West expressed his disappointment, saying that he needed the money to do important things. He said he arrived at the voting station at 6am and left the next day around 8am. He said although…

THE recent detection of rabies in a seal at Big Bay has caused concern as it’s the only case in southern Africa. Rabies was confirmed in a Cape fur seal bitten by a dog in Bloubergstrand last week, with more suspected positive results received for seals sampled at Strand on May 15 and Muizenberg on May 26. The suspected results mean the seals tested positive from a test not officially accredited, and while they are highly likely to have come from rabid animals, they cannot be reported as positive cases. The Western Cape Department of Agriculture said anyone bitten by a seal should immediately seek medical attention. “The Western Cape Veterinary Services, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, City of Cape Town Coastal Management, and other partners are working…

These are my thoughts about four issues that spring to my mind and are burning the country: 1) The child grant: This grant, which to my mind leads to rapid population growth caused by the reckless sexual behaviour of children and the unscrupulous behaviour of parents and other adults, should be adjusted to one mother, one child. This will definitely go a long way in curbing our rapid population growth, and other social ills. Date of implementation: 01/01/2025, or earlier. 2) The overpopulated jail-problem, for which the taxpayer must also pay for its upkeep. Why not buy two adjacent Karoo farms, then fence them like our oil refineries, with optional strategically placed outlook points, and dump all murderers and rapists there? The gates will only be opened when newly…

The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) held its 14th ordinary quarterly meeting on Friday at the Constitution Hill Precinct in Johannesburg, and adopted two apex reports, the inaugural South African State of Climate Action Report (Sasoca), and the Just Transition Financing Mechanism Report (JTFM). In deliberating over reports, the commission emphasised the need to respond tangibly to the glaring science and signs, as well as the daily experiences of many South Africans over a range of climate-related phenomena and increased frequency of extreme weather events like droughts, floods. These, it noted, called on everyone to respond to the climate crisis with a sense of urgency and redoubled effort. The maiden report, which is the PCC’s first assessment of climate action in South Africa, presents a snapshot of the country’s progress towards…

BIG CAPITAL’s preferred coalition partnership involving the ANC and the DA must be read using its historical and current role in South Africa. Corporate South Africa is perhaps the most powerful “entity” in post-apartheid South Africa. Some people argue that it has more power than it had during apartheid. Wits academic and sociologist Roger Southall traces this bizarre state of affairs from the ANC’s decision to present itself “as a partner with which large-scale capital could play”. First to understand how Big Capital has shaped the politics of South Africa to date, one needs to look no further than Harry Oppenheimer and his larger-than-life company, Anglo-American. This company occupied centre stage throughout the apartheid era, and former apartheid prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd is said to have remarked that Oppenheimer could…

The US yesterday promised more than $400 million (R7.4 billion) in new aid for Palestinians at an emergency summit in Jordan, where world leaders backed a US push for a ceasefire as the only ultimate solution to help war-ravaged Gaza. Jordan and Egypt called the urgent talks on the Dead Sea as aid groups warned conditions were worse than ever in Gaza, with virtually the whole population of more than 2 million people relying on sporadic aid deliveries. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a new trip across the region as he seeks to press a ceasefire proposal betweenIsrael and Hamas, promised $404 million for food, drinking water, health supplies and other aid to the Palestinians. Hitting back at critics of US support for Israel, Blinken noted that a…

Several investigations are under way following an explosion at a Quantum Foods feed mill in Malmesbury on Monday that resulted in the loss of life. The explosion occurred shortly after 3pm at the Nova Feed premises in Bokomo Way, with three people seriously injured, one of whom later died. Department of Health and Wellness spokesperson Leensie Lötter said all three patients were transported via EMS to Swartland Hospital, where they received treatment. “The two remaining patients are in stable condition and were transferred to Tygerberg Hospital and Christiaan Barnard Hospital respectively. “Western Cape Government Health and Wellness would like to express our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased patient during this time of loss,” Lötter said. The explosion took place at a loading zone where raw material is…

MULTIMILLION-rand payments between the relatives and co-accused of alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack took centre stage in the Western Cape High Court this week. Documents shown in court yesterday show that his mother, who may not be named, was a member of a trust that received more than R2 million from a bank account which at one stage was run by his younger brother, Yaseen. In an intricate number-crunching investigation, the Hawks team behind the arrest of Modack and his co-accused lifted the veil on how money moved between his co-accused as well as his wife, his mother and sister. Central to the investigation into the money laundering charges were transactions made using the bank account owned by Empire Car Investments, of which Yaseen was the original director. Captain Edward…

THE South African apparel industry has welcomed the government’s new regulations that will make it more costly for Chinese retailers like Temu and Shein to bring in goods at a lower cost. Batches of parcels brought into the country from Chinese retailers that are below R500 will be taxed at the same rate that local clothing retailers have to pay. This will be 45% plus Valued Added Tax (VAT). The SA apparel industry has in the past accused these retailers of using an extremely high number of small orders in order to pay lower duties. Michael Lawrence, executive director of the National Clothing Retail Federation (NCRF), said he was pleased about the development and that it was urgently needed. The NCRF represents some of the bigger local retailers such as…

Many small political parties have accepted the call by the ANC to form a Government of National Unity (GNU) after the party failed to get an outright majority in the May 29 elections. With the first sitting of the National Assembly being on Friday at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, where Parliament is expected to elect a Speaker, president, and deputy president, political parties are still talking with each other, trying to reach agreement on how the GNU government will look and, most importantly, which positions and policies the ANC will compromise in favour of the GNU. It is believed that Parliament’s new Speaker will come from the ranks of the DA, while Cyril Ramaphosa will remain as president, and IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa has been tipped to become…

Endings of cinemascopic biblical proportions seem to be on the way to this life-theatre sooner than thought. Superhero Netanyahu, cowering under the iron dome, is still clutching at his compadre, Benny Gantz, who has just resigned. “Now is not the time to abandon me, me at my finest hour, when I am about to finally flatten every enemy-kid’s skull so that even the memory of this special edition of holocaust will not survive, Benny.” Benny replies: “Cuzzie, an absurdly, ridiculous low rate of murders per day of Arab kids, instead of simply nuking that irksome strip; finishing it all off!” Meantime, spiritual Modi, who declared he was actually a deity incarnate, has to suddenly return to Earth, when his other motherland Uttar-Pradesh whacks him. Harder than any enemy like Pakistani…

My religious sense did not allow me to speak of any other religion. This respect for all religions is bred into the bones by the Hindu tradition. Religious tolerance marked the Hindu culture from its early foundings. The famous Hindu scripture (the so-called Hindu Bible), the Bhagavad Gita, declares that if one has faith to one, it is devotion to the supreme one. Whatever the Hindu religious practices, the Hindu religion is dynamic and creative. In Hinduism, the sense of the spiritual and longing for righteousness go together. In Hinduism, humility is the mother of creative writing. Hinduism never had a conflict between science and religion. When the astronomer Galileo, in the 17th century, said the sun was the centre of the solar system and not the Earth, the Pope…

The governing ANC has had a spree of signing some controversial bills into law, particularly in the period leading to the national general elections, a gesture seen by many as a meaningless exercise intended to garner votes for the party. The recent signing ceremony was for the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill and the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill. It is one thing to sign bills and let people think that their liberation is on the doorstep but another thing to have the laws do what they are intended to do. Anyone who wants to prove the uselessness of the legislative papers need not look further than the so-called “best Constitution” South Africa claims to have in the world, while having the highest volume of inequality resulting…

THE DA is intent on forming a Government of National Unity (GNU) with the ANC even though it has several court cases pending against the party for policies, including the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill and cadre deployment. This comes as experts weighed in, saying the DA would have to drop some of its legal challenges against its coalition partner if it wanted to preserve its interests. The DA Federal Council yesterday “unanimously endorsed” a resolution affirming the mandate of its leader, John Steenhuisen, and the party’s negotiating team to continue with the process towards the formation of governments at national and provincial level with hung legislatures. The DA’s legal challenge to policies include the Provincial Powers Bill, which the party is strongly pushing in the Western Cape; the Basic…

THE death of a 3-year-old girl who was run over by a car in Leonsdale, Elsies River, has shaken the community. Amy Bell was walking to her crèche at Tehillah Community Collaborative with a family friend yesterday when they were hit by a speeding car. Angry residents charged at the driver who ran into the victim’s preschool while the toddler’s body lay under a tree along Avonwood Avenue. Tehillah Community Collaborative CEO, Sister Magda Kleyn, said: “Things turned chaotic, the driver barged in here after the accident. “He was being chased by the gangsters who were baying for his blood. He ran into the girl’s class and left his car at the scene. People literally carried him out of the premises.” She explained that Amy was walking with a woman…

The City of Cape Town’s Junior City Council (JCC) has been elected with young academics aiming to make a difference. The JCC is a City-run programme that introduces high school pupils across the metro to the City Council’s functions. The programme gives Grade 10 and Grade 11 pupils the chance to become City ambassadors and learn important leadership and other skills. The previous committee’s term came to an end last year after having made significant contributions to the JCC’s activities and the communities they represent. This year, several pupils from different schools were voted into office through a democratic electoral procedure. The election was conducted in the municipal council chambers on June 8 under the supervision of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Miguel Meyer of Zwaanswyk High School was…

The political situation in our country at this moment can be described in many ways, few of which are salutary. We are directionless, we have no government, we are leaderless, we have no national unity and we lack national cohesion. The situation is pathetic, ridiculous, monumentally gross, galactically pathetic, cosmically satirical, universally dumb, unimaginably stupid, horribly satirical and so forth. And I accept as much blame as anyone wishes to attach, because we have all, without exception, contributed to this political folly. Not one individual can stand back and say anything without first admitting to the unsaid accusations of collusion, lethargy, manipulation, obfuscation, misdirection, connivance, double talk, double dealing, horse-trading and generally contributing in one way or another to where we are now. Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin is an Aramaic…

The FW de Klerk Foundation’s “South Africa First!” petition calls for the new government (which is still to be formed) to consist of political parties loyal to the Constitution. The petition comes in light of continuing coalition talks among political parties, while South Africa’s next president must be elected on Friday, June 14. The petition also sets out what the foundation views must be the priorities for such a coalition government, all of which should be common ground for political parties that are committed to lasting freedom, peace, progress and prosperity for all South Africans. Priorities include economic growth, infrastructure development, youth employment, food production, law and order, building a professional, accountable and responsive public service appointed on merit (and not on racial classification or political allegiance) and fostering unity…

The tornado that tore through oThongathi (Tongaat) and adjacent areas was probably the most powerful atmospheric force to hit Southern Africa in recent history. The sheer destruction of the area bears testimony to the brute power of this immense and scary event. The entire globe is facing unprecedented destructive weather patterns on land, at sea, in the air and in the upper stratosphere probably caused by warming climatic conditions. The severity of the destruction witnessed in Tongaat will repeat itself in the years ahead as the recent series of yearly flooding disasters and epic tropical storms that have engulfed and overwhelmed KZN. We in South Africa are ill-prepared and ill-equipped to face huge natural disasters. There are many powerful natural and unnatural events that could rock our nation; a 7m…