Innehållsförteckning för 2024-12-31 från Cape Argus

Looking back on thistbdisorienting year, I think I wanted to hear music that promised some kind of future. I wanted to hear Kim Gordon make fresh noise on new margins as she entered her 70s. I wanted to hear Vijay Iyer imagine new forms of virtuoso co-operation. I wanted to hear how Kendrick Lamar really feels about where this planet is headed. I was so future-hungry that I even wanted to hear contrasting futures overlap – which meant wanting to have a Brat summer and a Pratt summer (see below). These are the pop albums of 2024 that held the most promise and made the most sense. Elori Saxl, Earth Focus (Original Score) Composer Elori Saxl’s music resides on the fault line between nature and technology, juxtaposing manipulated field recordings…

A LITRE of petrol will cost you between 12 and 13 cents more tomorrow. Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, announced the fuel price adjustments, adding that South Africa’s prices are adjusted monthly, informed by international and local factors. “International factors include the fact that South Africa imports both crude oil and finished products at a price set at the international level, including importation costs and shipping costs, among others,” the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said. The department noted that the average Brent crude oil price increased slightly while the average international product prices of petrol followed the increasing trend of crude oil, and the prices of middle distillates decreased slightly because of higher inventories for the winter season in the northern hemisphere. “The Basic Fuels…

THE City of Cape Town’s enforcement departments have confiscated 4 730 bottles of liquor from transgressors at beaches, parks and other public places since December 1. The confiscated alcohol amounts to just more than 2 000 litres. “Our officers are out in full force to ensure the safety of everyone and this includes making sure public places are safe,” said safety and security mayco member, JP Smith. “They are checking car trunks, coolers, and some unlikely hiding places. While visitors are finding more and more ingenious ways to hide their liquor, officers won’t be bamboozled. “We have seen alcohol injected into fruit like watermelon and oranges, hidden inside baby bottles and other liquid containers. “Some have put their drinks inside municipal waste bins (the green ones normally standing alongside a…

AS WE say goodbye to 2024 and prepare to say hello to 2025, just a reminder that our experience of a particular year is more about what we decide to take into and put into that year. The attitude and energy you take into a new year tends to determine how you will eventually experience that particular year. So, remember to take your first step into 2025 with an attitude that is conducive to you rising above all challenges that this journey called life might throw at you! Its also apt to share what my organisation will be up to on New Year’s Eve! As befits a true South African organisation, we will be visiting 3 areas adjacent to one another but which showcase the greatest disparities amongst its residents.…

SOMETHING interesting, perhaps trivial, maybe poignant, that I thought I would share. On reading my Cape Argus every weekday morning I think of our iconic leader Nelson Mandela. On turning to page 2 of the paper I carefully fold the page over, run my fingers down the inside edge of the paper, making sure to carefully align the page with the rest of the paper. On an early morning interview on Television, I watched as Mandela did just that! Funny how small things that stay with you forever, make you remember someone important forever.…

Dominic Naidoo (Weekend Argus December 8: Court battle over African penguin delayed) is certainly correct on two points. First, the continuing decline of the African penguin population sees it in a dire situation. Second, this needs to be addressed based on the best available scientific evidence, as required by South African law. But what does such evidence indicate? Naidoo ascribes the penguin decline to food shortages caused by commercial fishing of small pelagic fish, the penguins’ primary food source. However, last year’s International Scientific Review Panel concluded that the impact of fishing around penguin breeding colonies is small relative to the estimated rates of penguin decline. Subsequent work has shown that the highest penguin death rates occurred some 20 years ago, at a time when sardine abundance was near a…

CHILD singing sensation, Ajay Pienaar, aka Ajay Wonderboy, is back with a festive tune for all those who are spending the holiday season without their loved ones with his new single titled Keersfess sonder jou. Ajay, who recently celebrated his 12th birthday, returned from the UK after auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent and has already shone on TV and in Cape Malay Choir competitions. Despite having a busy schedule this year, he also managed to progress to Grade 7 for the 2025 school year at Leiden Avenue Primary School. The lyrics to his new song were written by his father, Ashley Pienaar, who is a seasoned comedian and entertainer. Ajay said his song is for all ages. “The message behind the song is that we will never forget our loved…

Every year, around this time, without fail, the holiday season elicits a vitriolic response from racists to the presence of mostly poor people on South Africa’s beaches. For some, the enjoyment of our beaches should remain the preserve of white people. It was just eight years ago that Penny Sparrow’s racist comments about black beachgoers in Durban sparked angry responses. She was taken to the Equality Court and fined. Two years later, Adam Catzavelos filmed himself on a beach in Greece, using a racial slur to express his pleasure at the absence of black people there. Despite these cases, racists remain emboldened and continue to take to social media to express disgust at the presence of black and coloured people at what were once their exclusive reserves – 34 years…

There have not been as many draws in the Betway Premiership as last season. However, this season, there has been a plethora of 1-0 winning scorelines, even though matches may have been one-sided. The dominant teams have seldom managed more than one score, and goals have started to dry up. However, the highlight of the season so far was that South Africa's most loved team, Kaizer Chiefs, finally managed a clean sheet and is one of the five takeaways from the weekend's domestic footy. 1 Goals are drying up, time to call in striker coaches Many leading Betway Premiership teams dominate matches which are often one-sided. Although these teams are victorious, they end up with 1-0 winning margins. The time has come for clubs to consider hiring striker coaches just…

SHOCKING new claims against Nobuntu “Nobs” Mkhize have arisen after a flight attendant lodged a criminal complaint against her at Bishop Lavis Police Station yesterday. Mkhize is now accused of allegedly saying coloured women are only good for “spreading their legs”. Emmridge September, 24, was accompanied by DA provincial leader Tertuis Simmers and his team yesterday, as he also registered crimen injuria charges against her for insulting women from Mitchell’s Plain. Mkhize, who is reportedly the brand manager from SABC, caused a stir when videos taken aboard a FlySafair flight to Cape Town went viral on social media as she was filmed labelling women from Mitchell’s Plain as uneducated and unable to drive or own motor vehicles. Speaking to the Cape Argus, Simmers said he was tired of individuals violating…

EIGHT people were killed in a horror crash in Mandaba in Nkandla, KZN, yesterday morning. According to the Department of Transport, the eight family members died after a taxi overturned and rolled down an embankment. The victims were on their way to a wedding. In another incident, a serious collision on Emondlo Road near Vryheid, also yesterday morning, claimed the lives of five people. According to KZN Private Ambulance, upon arrival at the scene, paramedics discovered two vehicles had been involved in the head-on collision, causing the vehicles to lose control and overturn multiple times. “Tragically, five occupants succumbed to their injuries prior to the arrival of emergency services," said spokesperson Chantell Botha. “Three patients sustained critical injuries.” Botha said all the injured patients received on-scene medical treatment before being…

JUDGING from video evidence, it is absolutely clear that Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, in a classical case of misidentification, under a very tense situation in a volatile atmosphere surrounded within a conflict zone. At times some drones and aircraft resemble planes on radar systems with a military signature. Compounding the cascading series of errors, drones were allegedly active in the area. In 2007 and 2008, Iranian air defense units mistakenly fired on two airliners amid fears that Israel was planning to attack its nuclear weapons development facilities, according to a classified report. Iranian air defense units believed enemy aircraft might mimic the flight profile of an airliner. In the current tense environment, Russia’s entire air defense system was on hair-trigger alert, reducing…

CAPETONIANS en masse should rise up to protest against the proposed plan by developers to rezone what is left of the 3 000 hectare Philippi Horticultural Area, an agricultural zone that produces more than half of their city’s fresh produce. The PHA lies in the heart of the Cape Flats, about 20kms from Cape Town, and is the most productive region on a per-hectare basis in South Africa. Why should developers with vested interests be allowed to rezone this vital food-producing area to build houses and mining facilities?…

SOON after announcing that a suspect would be appearing in court in relation to a fire on the front face of Table Mountain, firefighters were at it again in battling yet another blaze, this time at the Clovelly mountainous area (Trappieskop). In a statement, SANParks said the suspect was detained and charged with arson for the fire that occurred on Table Mountain on Sunday. The suspect is expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court today (Tues). The fire that started on the front face of the mountain around the Platteklip Gorge on Sunday, was reported at around 3.45pm and contained at 7.50 pm on the same day. SANParks spokesperson, JP Louw, said Table Mountain National Park fire management dispatched ground firefighting crews from NCC Wildfires, Volunteer Wildfire Services,…

Though already in operation for about six months, the Government of National Unity (GNU) is still the focus of speculation about its sustainability or longevity. Many sceptics cannot see a long-term partnership between the ANC and DA. Moreover, ideological critics dispute the notion of a national unity government, because of the EFF and MK’s absence from it. The DA’s presence is also anathema for them. Added to it South Africans are already more familiar with coalition governments since the 2016 local government election but few of them are enthusiastic about the concept. The GNU therefore has a serious challenge ahead of it. The GNU concept is caught in different political realities. President Cyril Ramaphosa, the DA, Patriotic Alliance, and Freedom Front Plus are the GNU’s most vocal supporters. Other partners…

A 32-year-old Mozambican national has been sentenced to six months imprisonment with an option to pay a fine of R6 000 after he was convicted for smuggling 14 children across the border into South Africa. Moises Armando Mate was arrested and charged, after he was caught driving a minibus, loaded with 14 girls, aged between four and 16. According to police, he was stopped by the Border Management Authority on the N4 on December 4. “Mate and the girls were handed over to Komatipoort police, and the case of aiding and abetting was registered. The girls were handed over to the Department of Social Development for assessment before they were sent back to their country of origin,” said Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Magonseni Nkosi. Mate made several court appearances, pleaded guilty…

AS WE tiptoe into 2025 with a mix of trepidation and hope so it becomes apparent that what the world needs right now is another Winston Churchill. With warmongers like Vladimir Putin & Benjamin Netanyahu running amok with impunity Trump is the only leader in the world who has put his hand up and said enough is enough. Trump is the only leader in the world with the strength, character and determination to checkmate the many unsavoury characters dominating the international political landscape for all the wrong reasons. Trump’s no-nonsense, pragmatic approach could change the trajectory of the Middle East crisis into a win win solution for both Palestine and Israel by calling for the resignation of warlord Benjamin Netanyahu and engineering discussions about a free Independent Palestinian State. Furthermore,…

STRICT enforcement measures are in place for New Year’s Eve revelry across the metro, with the City advising that residents can be fined for setting off fireworks without a permit, selling fireworks to anyone under the age of 16, or allowing a person younger than 16 to handle fireworks without adult supervision. “Despite the trauma and stress caused to pets and neighbourhoods, there are still those who delight in setting off fireworks. Annually we receive numerous calls of fireworks disturbances and injuries caused by these mini explosions. We encourage residents to supervise children and to celebrate responsibly,” said safety and security mayco member, JP Smith. Fireworks may not be exploded within 200 metres of hospitals, clinics, petrol stations, old-age homes, nursing homes, or animal welfare organisations; inside any building or…

OVER the past decade, about 10 000 African refugees from Sudan and Eritrea have sought a better life in Israel. However, Israel has systematically employed tactics such as persuasion, bribery, and negotiation to send these refugees back to oppressive African states. The Israeli government has gone as far as pressuring countries like Chad, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic to accept African refugees, offering them non-binding promises of protection as incentives. Disturbingly, there was even consideration of paying Sudanese migrants a small sum and recruiting them into the Darfuri militia in Sudan. While many of these efforts have failed, a significant number of African refugees have been deported from Israel after accepting $3 500. These individuals often end up in Uganda or Rwanda, where they are left to survive…

With a focus on human rights, US policy toward Latin America under former US president Jimmy Carter briefly tempered a long tradition of interventionism in a key sphere of American influence, analysts say. Carter, a Democrat, who died on Sunday at the age of 100, defied the furore of US conservatives to negotiate the handover of the Panama Canal to Panamanian control, suspended aid to multiple authoritarian governments in the region, and even attempted to normalize relations with Cuba. Carter’s resolve to chart a course toward democracy and diplomacy, however, was severely tested in Central America and Cuba, where he was forced to balance his human rights priorities with pressure from adversaries to combat the spread of communism amid the Cold War stand-off with the Soviet Union. “Latin America was…