Innehållsförteckning för 2024-09-18 från Cape Argus

Strand Patrol Neighbourhood Watch has appealed for witnesses to come forward following an attack on an 80-year-old resident, who was pelted with a stone in the face while feeding the less fortunate. KC Gericke, chairperson of the neighbourhood watch, said the resident was not prepared to speak at this stage due to shock following the incident, but they appealed for information to find her attacker. The woman, who cannot be identified, has been left with severe bruises to her face. The incident took place yesterday just after 7am in the vicinity of Greenways. “An act of kindness turned into a disturbing scene where a generous woman who was selflessly feeding people from Greenways was brutally assaulted by a white male using a rock, without provocation. “Two joggers rushed to her…

FIVE Pinelands High School learners who “sold” their black classmates in a mock slave auction, have been instructed to apologise and attend workshops. This was revealed by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), as their disciplinary hearings concluded. The southern suburbs school was thrust into the spotlight several weeks ago, when videos surfaced on social media showing coloured learners selling their black classmates in a mock auction. The incident, captured on a cellphone camera and subsequently shared on social media, was reported to the school’s management by concerned parent, Merle Potgieter. In the video, captioned “Slavery at school is crazy”, black learners are seen behind a gate while their coloured classmates are heard making bids of various amounts between R50 000 and R100 000. One learner offers to buy his…

WITH little financial support, the South African Youth Kung Fu Team won big at this year’s 19th Hong Kong International Wushu Kung Fu Championships, bagging 16 medals and four trophies. The team of nine departed from Cape Town International Airport on September 9 to represent the country from September 13-16, under the leadership of world Kung Fu champion Muhammad Junaid Chafeker, aka MJ Li, as the only African and South African team to compete at the global tournament. The team walked away with seven gold medals, three silver medals, six bronze medals and four trophies for group and team synchronised events. Chafeker described the overall competition as tough, as they competed against experienced teams from China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Russia and other countries. “In the perspective of…

You thought Boris Johnson was gone, out of sight and out of politics? Not really. He’s around. The former controversial British prime minister, who was caught out for lying to parliament about the parties he was having at 10 Downing Street while the entire nation was under lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, has reappeared, albeit not as a politician in Britain but as Storm Boris in Central Europe. Storm Boris is wreaking havoc across much of central Europe – Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. Rivers are overflowing, dams have burst, several towns and villages are flooded, 16 lives have been lost in the floods and power is down in many areas. Budapest is on high alert and all 44 000 or so citizens of the Polish city…

As I walk along the small rivers in KwaMashu, I am disheartened by the sight of litter and pollution. Despite efforts by some to keep our community clean, it is clear that more needs to be done to address the issue. The rivers, once a source of beauty and life, are filled with trash and debris. People recklessly discard waste, including hazardous materials, without regard for the consequences. This harms the environment and poses health risks to our community. While some individuals and organisations work to clean the rivers, it is essential that we address the root causes of the problem. We need to educate and raise awareness about the importance of proper waste disposal and the impact of pollution on our environment. Furthermore, I urge the municipality to take…

With South Africans widely divided about former minister Pravin Gordhan’s real legacy, it is clear for all to see how, as a leader, he failed to unite South Africans behind his vision for South Africa. For those who see him as a hero, Gordhan represented the best of what South Africa had to offer. Those in the opposite camp see him as someone who represented the plunder and sale of institutions that should have been used to propel South Africa to greater heights. How do you reconcile the divergent views about a man who should have been a leader of society? We are trying to defend the indefensible because some among us saw the worst of his decisions. The collapse of Denel was real. The sale of SAA to Takatso…

LIMA: At least 15 people were killed in Peru due to the serious forest fires in the country, Minister of Health Cesar Vasquez said this week. “We have reported so far unfortunately 15 deaths, six hospitalised, 128 discharged from hospital and we as the Ministry of Health will always be in an expectant attitude,” the official said. He said the authorities would continue providing medical support to those affected in the areas hit by the fires, which not only affect the South American nation, but also the region. Last weekend, 222 forest fires had been registered in Peru. | Xinhua…

MOSCOW: Washington’s sanctions policy, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is causing a significant shift away from the US dollar as more nations seek to de-dollarise their economies. Some 36% of Russian imports are settled in the currencies of friendly countries, while only 20% use “toxic” currencies, the Central Bank of Russia said. This shift is driven by an increase in its use in Africa, where it has reached 76% (up from 54% in June); Asia, with 40%; the Caribbean, with 22%. In exports, the ruble is used in 99% of transactions with the Caribbean. | Sputnik…

WORKERS from a well-known construction company sustained multiple injuries after they were rescued from an excavation which had caved in. They were busy installing a new rising pipeline on the corner of Broadway Boulevard and Broadlands Road in Strand when the incident occurred. Videos and pictures of emergency services and first responders at the scene circulated on social media and in crime groups on WhatsApp, shortly after the incident. According to a Facebook post by the Helderberg Crime Watch, workers were rescued from the rubble while a pipe was stuck on the legs of another worker. AM Security Services also dispatched their vehicles to assist as services were already on the scene, the post read. Ward councillor Sean Stacey said there were no serious injuries, but some of the workers…

Last Friday, we lost a dear friend, Shaykh Serag Johaar, of the Nur’ul Islam Mosque in Bo-Kaap. Shaykh Serag was not just a friend to me but also a learned mentor who guided me through Arabic-Afrikaans manuscripts for many years. I could not hold back my tears. It was because of his humble companionship that I chose to attend Nur’ul Islam Mosque and listen to his enlightening sermons every Friday. On September 17, 1950, in the holy city of Makkah, a soul destined to touch the lives of countless individuals came into the world. Shaykh Serag Makki Johaar, the eldest of nine children, was named after the esteemed Sayed Serag Wali and given the middle name “Makki” as a lasting tribute to the sacred city of his birth. From his…

We are all different and we do not all share the same ethics/standards/opinions, etc. This is “okay” as it makes life more interesting. Some of us are religious while others are not and many more pretend to be religious. Some of us have no problem being racist and oppressing others while claiming to love God and so on. We all contradict ourselves and sometimes we are just plain hypocrites. The beauty of being alive is that we can remedy ourselves and return to the Creator's endless mercy as long as we do not hurt others and remedy ourselves before death approaches. However, among us are some people who are very different and cause damage just by being in the presence of others. These “toxic people” are part of all communities/religions/ethnicities,…

In recent years, BRICS has demonstrated astonishing development rates in both qualitative and quantitative terms. At the same time, the bloc promotes no political agenda except for the joint multi-polar development in compliance with interests of member states. It is confirmed by the active work on building the inclusive international financial infrastructure, intended to become a substitute to the existing systems often used as an instrument of pressure by the West. This will help not only to decrease the dollar dependence of BRICS countries and their partners, but also to ease the grip of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Firstlings of the work on the new system will be demonstrated at the upcoming BRICS Summit in Russia in October. A new currency unit is among the projects…

Enock Shishenge LANGUAGE is a very important currency in society. It is through language that we attain education and build communities. Language helps us express our feelings and thoughts. Language reflects economic power. That is the reason a language barrier becomes a painful experience. We have, for a longer period, been suffering a language barrier to learning. We must not fear to provide education in our own indigenous languages and if need be, we can also learn foreign languages as electives. If we control our languages, we control our economic activities. Schools teach us to accept existing orders as a natural way of things – that English and Afrikaans are the only vehicles to success. We can learn from the people of the Republic of China who put the word…

ISLAMABAD: Romina Khurshid Alam, co-ordinator to the Pakistani prime minister on climate change and environment, says the country is committed to protecting the ozone layer and combating climate change. She told a seminar on the ozone layer this week that not protecting it poses a grave risk, including increased incidences of skin cancer, cataracts, and adverse impacts on ecosystems. Alam said a 50% reduction in hydrochlorofluorocarbons was achieved by January 2020. “Pakistan is on track to meet our 67.5% reduction target by 2025.” | Xinhua…

AN ELSIES River woman is accused of conning alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, into believing she had infiltrated the police’s Anti-Gang Unit (AGU), to provide information into an investigation against him. The Hawks have lifted the lid on alleged false claims made by Amaal Jantjies, as she claimed that alleged Sexy Boys gang boss, Jerome “Donkie” Booysen, was colluding with the elite unit. Modack and Jantjies, along with their co-accused, returned to the Western Cape High Court this week as police continue to reveal the details of text messages, calls and voice notes linked to the conspiracy to murder AGU detective, Charl Kinnear. Jantjies and her ex-boyfriend and co-accused, Janick Adonis, are at the centre of the grenade attack plot on Kinnear's Bishop Lavis home in November 2019. In earlier…

STUDENTS, together with their parents, are expected to approach the Western Cape High Court for an interdict following the decision by Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Council to close the doors of Wilgenhof residence for a year. The decision was made on Monday to close the residence, to allow for it being transformed into a new and rejuvenated building. Nicky Newton-King, SU Council chairperson, said the residence would be closed for upgrades to comply with the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) Policy on the Minimum Norms and Standards for Student Housing at Public Universities, and would reopen during 2026. She said that during 2025, current Wilgenhof residents would be given the opportunity to apply for placement in 2026 as per the SU residence placement policy. She said all current staff…

A WORLD Bank report into the status of South Africa’s education system, which measures how learners read with meaning, has found that the Western Cape recorded higher learning levels than other provinces. Work on the Education Sector Analysis started in February 2023, with the World Bank conducting extensive research and consultation with a view to providing in-depth understanding of the current status of the province’s education system, and recommendations on how to address challenges. The report was released yesterday with keen interest from Western Cape Education Department (WCED) officials, education experts and special guests including Finance MEC Deidré Baartman and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. The report, the first of its kind, found that although the Western Cape produced better results in learning levels, as with the rest of South…

The entire world is at war as nation upon nation seek confrontation in the nuclear era. Another attempt is made on the life of former president Donald Trump. The enemies of freedom have pushed the false narrative that democracy is in decline because it is incapable of addressing people’s needs. In fact, democracy is in decline because its most prominent exemplars are not doing enough to protect it. Death, destruction and killings have destroyed many nations. Humanity has forgotten that fundamental concept of living in peace and harmony is founded upon the triad of tolerance, forgiveness and forgetting. Our traumatised world does not need more empty words, it needs active peacemakers who do not exclude or manipulate but respect dialogue. In a post-crisis world, peace requires patient effort to seek…

Ecoli at beaches a threat to tourism Z Khan’s comparison of Shakespeare’s Shylock to Israel must be contended (“Shakespeare’s work prophetic in nature”, Cape Argus, September 12). Israel is not “recycling” the persecution that the Jewish people have suffered over millennia of oppression and violence against the people of Gaza. Such a simplistic view belies an ignorance of what occurred on October 7, 2023, and a further ignorance of the repeated attacks on the Jewish people by terrorist groups operating from Gaza and the West Bank over the past few decades. Khan’s grandiose descriptions of “evil and wickedness”, “horror of unthinkable proportions” all performed by the “Zionist architects of apartheid” reveal that the article was written by someone more concerned with hyperbole and emotional propaganda than the facts. Israel…

In the first part of this article (The Janjaweed Rebranded: Why the International Community’s Calls to RSF Fall on Deaf Ears?), I discussed the inadequacy of the international community’s response so far to the war of aggression by the RSF militia and its external sponsors against the Sudanese people and state. Below, I argue that international law provides a firm foundation for peaceful resolution of the Sudan crisis. A state’s right to defend itself and its citizens is a core principle established in international law and the UN Charter. The right is not a mere privilege but a duty that states must exercise to safeguard their sovereignty and the well-being of their people. However, as global conflicts evolve, we must focus on the grave atrocities committed by non-state actors, such…

After weeks of fierce political horse-trading, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen yesterday unveiled her new top team to help steward the EU through the next five years of global uncertainty. Faced with Russia’s war in Ukraine, the potential return of Donald Trump as US president and competition from China, the formation of the new commission comes at a crucial moment. To confront the challenges, von der Leyen handed powerful economic portfolios to France, Spain and Italy -- putting a hard-right candidate from Rome in a top role. “It’s about strengthening our tech sovereignty, our security and our democracy,” the commission chief said as she announced the team at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. French candidate Stephane Sejourne was handed an executive vice president role overseeing industrial strategy,…

ANKARA: Turkish gendarmerie and police “neutralised” two senior members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in joint operations in the south-eastern Diyarbakir province, a cabinet minister said yesterday. Zirav Tas and Fehmi Baskurt, code-named Botan, were killed in the operations carried out in rural areas of Diyarbakir’s Lice district, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. Tas was in the red category of the Interior Ministry’s list, while Baskurt was in the grey category, the minister said. The PKK members allegedly participated in six attacks. | Xinhua…