Innehållsförteckning för 2025-06-04 från Cape Argus

THE family of 16-year-old Chanelle Plaatjies from Greenhill, Paarl East, believe she is still alive, despite the discovery of a decomposing body buried in a shallow grave near their home, just metres from where her shoe was found. Plaatjies was last seen on May 14 but was only reported missing two weeks later on May 28. The delay in reporting, the family says, was due to the hope that she would return home, as she usually did when she went out with friends. The breakthrough in the search came on Monday, when her sisters stumbled upon one of her shoes in a wooded area about a kilometre from their house. It was this discovery that led to the unearthing of a body believed to be that of a young woman.…

WESTERN Cape Finance MEC Deidré Baartman re-tabled the province’s R89.3 billion Appropriations Bill yesterday, after the national government unexpectedly withdrew its budget, including the legally binding Division of Revenue Bill. Addressing the Western Cape legislature, Baartman clarified that although the process had to be repeated for legal compliance, “nothing in substance in the Western Cape Appropriations Bill has changed”. The 2025/26 Western Cape Budget still allocates a total of R269.5bn over the next three years, with more than 80%, or R215.8bn, dedicated to social services. This includes R101bn for education, R100bn for health, R6.4bn for housing, and R8.4 billion for social protection. In terms of strategic spending, the province is staying the course on its four apex priorities: R43.8bn to “Growth for Jobs” R3.9bn to safety R194.9bn to build an…

IT is with great sadness that I read of the appalling plans to remove and/or euthanise many of the baboons in the deep south of the Cape Peninsula. It is apparently true that the numbers of baboons in the area are increasing, which is positive for the biodiversity of the region, but the growth in the baboon population is dwarfed by the massive increase in the human population due to the densification of the area. It can easily be argued that the human population cause much more harm and damage to the environment and to each other than the baboons do. It is also true that the baboons have lived in the area for hundreds of years before our arrival. We know that people purchasing properties in areas inhabited by…

Many families in South Africa are in crisis and face a number of challenges that negatively impact their ability to sustain themselves. One such challenge is the limited access some fathers have to their children due to the cultural practice of paying damages following the birth of a child. It must be noted that the well-being of the family is of critical importance to the overall functioning of society. Any breakdown in the family’s ability to function and provide care increases the vulnerability of its members. It is important to consider how the law protects unmarried fathers. In South Africa, unmarried fathers have specific legal rights and responsibilities under the Children’s Act of 2005, which allows them to acquire parental rights and responsibilities if certain conditions are met. According to…

With growing influence after its recapture of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenian separatists in 2023, Azerbaijan is using its close ties with Israel and Turkey to defuse tensions between the regional foes in Syria. Azerbaijan’s top foreign policy adviser Hikmet Hajiyev confirmed Baku has hosted more than three rounds of talks between Turkey and Israel, who are both operating in Syria to reduce what they see as security threats. “Azerbaijan is making diplomatic efforts for an agreement,” Hajiyev told Turkish journalists in Baku on a visit organised by the Istanbul-based Global Journalism Council. “Both Turkey and Israel trust us.” The overthrow of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad by Islamist-led HTS rebels, with Turkey’s blessing, sparked security concerns in Israel. It has since staged hundreds of strikes deep inside Syria, the latest on Friday,…

As Tottenham Hotspur ponder the fate of manager Ange Postecoglou, former players of the Premier League club have thrown their support behind the Australian. Postecoglou guided Spurs to Uefa Europa League victory last month, ending the club's 17-year trophy drought. However, they also endured their worst domestic season in nearly half a century, finishing 17th in the English Premier League. Former Swiss international Ramon Vega, who made 64 league appearances for the North London side, said the following: "I find it incredibly disrespectful to even think about sacking Postecoglou. He has accomplished the impossible." Ex-Spurs and Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane said that the Europa League win more than made up for the dismal domestic campaign. He noted that Postecoglou had backed up his claim that he always wins…

It’s a made-for-the-movies beginning. On a sunny day in 2013 in London’s Victoria Park, a British man’s young daughter jumps into a pond to see the ducks up close and ends up face down in the water. While he’s got his back turned, she has stopped moving, her coat floating around her. Who should notice but Coralie Bower, an attractive, single 29-year-old, who recently moved to Britain from Australia. She jumps in and saves the girl without hesitation. Then she slips away, forcing the girl’s father to search every cafe in the area so that he can show his gratitude. Think of chasing Cinderella, but replace the glass slipper with a latte. That’s the beginning of Consider Yourself Kissed, Australian writer Jessica Stanley’s sophomore novel, and it’s a perfect set-up…

Across the globe, countless countries have borne the brunt of war, devastating conflicts leaving behind a trail of destruction and despair. As we approach Eid-ul-Adha, consider prioritising helping war victims like those in Gaza by reducing personal extravagances, desires, overconsumption and donating to bona fide humanitarian aid organisations. Human beings in Gaza are facing enormous suffering and lack basic necessities like food, water, medical supplies and other human necessities. Currently, easing the suffering, pain and poverty in Gaza is the need of the hour and it is the time when help is most needed. Moreover, not only during Eid but also beyond Eid, as Muslims and fellow human beings, we must lower the voice of our luxuriousness, as around us are people in great agony and sorrow. The situation in…

IN the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire emerged not only as a dominant power in the Mediterranean and Arabian worlds but also as a critical naval force along the shores of eastern Africa. Often overshadowed in mainstream historiography, the Ottoman role in safeguarding the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean from European encroachment – particularly Portuguese ambitions – was crucial for the protection of Muslim communities and regional trade networks. The legacy of this maritime defence lives on in oral traditions, local architecture, and even place names as far south as Saldanha Bay in South Africa. In 1552, the Ottoman fleet under Piri Reis captured Muscat, pushing Portuguese forces further down the coast. The Ottomans built or supported fortresses and garrisons in key strategic locations such as Massawa, Suakin,…

Near a sprawling tent city outside Mecca, Saudi hospital staff are preparing for a flood of heat-related cases as Muslim pilgrims begin Hajj this week in sweltering summer temperatures. The Mina Emergency Hospital is one of 15 such facilities operating just a few weeks a year around the annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites, which in 2024 saw more than 1 300 people die in the desert heat. Saudi authorities hope to head off a fatal repeat of last year’s pilgrimage, when temperatures reached 51.8°C (125 Fahrenheit). Temperatures this year are forecast to exceed 40°C as one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings, bringing together devotees from around the globe, officially commences today. So far, authorities have recorded 44 cases of heat exhaustion. Abdullah Asiri, Saudi Arabia’s deputy minister…

French prosecutors were on Monday probing a terror motive after a man who had posted racist videos shot dead his Tunisian neighbour and badly wounded a Turkish man in the south of France. The shooting late on Saturday in Puget-sur-Argens, in the southern region of Var, came after a Malian man was stabbed to death in April in a mosque, also in southern France, as concern grows over hate crimes against Muslims. The shooting was initially investigated by regional prosecutors as a suspected murder motivated by the victim’s ethnicity or religion. But French national anti-terror prosecutors, known by their French acronym PNAT, announced on Monday that they would be taking over the investigation. The suspected killer, a Frenchman born in 1971, fled the scene in a car but was arrested…

Nonku Williams has chosen to “break free” from the The Real Housewives of Durban reality TV show, citing that the series pits women against each other in the pursuit of relentless drama. Williams recently issued an official statement where she outlined various reasons for her decision to exit the franchise and not be a part of the season 5 reunion. “Watching myself on screen, I am confronted with a reality that’s hard to accept. The woman I see isn’t someone I recognised or respect,” wrote the show’s OG. Williams continued to share that although she’s played a role in shaping the show’s narrative, she believes she’s also a product of the show’s dynamics. “The relentless pursuit of drama, the pitting women against each other, the gossip and the put-downs –…

THE Oudtshoorn Regional Court has sentenced Francisco Erasmus to life imprisonment for the premeditated murder of an elderly farmer for insurance money. The sentence comes after the State successfully argued that Erasmus planned the murder of Abraham Herandien, 60, motivated by financial gains. Herandien met Erasmus in 2019, when he used to take food to him and his wife. Erasmus took them to different banks in Oudtshoorn and George to open bank accounts and apply for life policies. He and Herandien’s wife were beneficiaries of some of the policies, and he also kept their bank cards and documents. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, highlighted that on March 21, 2023, Erasmus rented a vehicle in George and drove to the farm to pick up Herandien. Herandien’s wife testified that…

THE underused park along School Street, near Telkom Park soccer facility, in Phoenix, Milnerton, has received an upgrade with the installation of an outdoor gym, funded through the 2024/25 ward project at a cost of R190 000. Previously a hotspot for unwanted activity, the park is now set to support community health and fitness. Ward 4 councillor, Anthony Benadie, said he hopes the new equipment will be used by gym enthusiasts and the residents for workouts and training routines. Residents are encouraged to enjoy the facility responsibly and help protect it from vandalism by serving as the community’s eyes and ears, he added. The location of the park, adjacent to a popular sports facility, made it an ideal site for the new outdoor fitness equipment, said Benadie. “The addition is…

Honest politicians have become a rare commodity. It was US President Theodore Roosevelt who offered these words of wisdom: “We cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure. Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity.” When a society loses sight of the distinction between fact and fiction, truth-telling and lying, truth, critical thought, and fact-finding become trivialised and reduced to mere platitudes, reinforcing moral indifference and political impotence. The history of governance in our post-apartheid country is conceptualised as a continuing manifestation of the struggle for power among the…

How does your garden grow in winter? Dull, drab and lifeless? Have your exotic plants on which you spend so much time and money gone to sleep? What harm we do in our beautiful but sterile gardens. What a pity we don’t live in harmony with nature. I suggest you take a drive to Bishopstowe in Pietermaritzburg and see a gem of a garden hidden in the canefields. This aloe garden is breathtaking. No care, no water, no pesticides, yet the aloes put on a spectacular display. It’s a magnet for birds, bees and butterflies. How could anyone who loves nature say our indigenous plants are not beautiful? Hackland Aloe Garden is open to the public every weekend in June. Go and see it. You may end up like…

Over 200 prisoners escaped in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi late on Monday after they were permitted to leave their cells following a series of earthquake tremors, local officials and police said. Hundreds of prisoners were allowed into the courtyard of the jail due to the tremors, Zia-ul-Hasan Lanjar, the provincial law minister, told reporters at the scene. “There was panic here because of earthquake tremors,” said Lanjar, adding that it was hard to control a throng of up to 1 000 people. The jailbreak began just before midnight on Monday and carried on till the early hours yesterday he said. Police said the prisoners snatched guns from prison staff, leading to a shootout, and then forced open the main gate. Yesterday, a Reuters reporter at the site saw…

Cameroon has overtaken Burkina Faso as the world’s “most neglected” humanitarian crisis hotspot, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said yesterday in an annual report. Every year, the Scandinavian NGO publishes a list of the 10 most neglected crises, based on three criteria: humanitarian funding, media attention and international political engagement. “Three distinct and protracted crises have gripped Cameroon for over a decade: the long-running conflict with armed groups in the Lake Chad Basin, violence in the Northwest and Southwest regions” – where most of the country’s anglophone minority live – “and continued instability spilling over from the Central African Republic,” the NRC said in a statement. It noted that as of 2024 “some 3.4 million people were in urgent need of assistance and protection” in the region. “Over 1.1 million…

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad is keeping his cards close to his chest regarding the playing XI he will select for the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord’s next week. Right from the start of his Proteas coaching career, Conrad has made a name for himself with his bold selections and for confirming his playing XI well before the start of a Test match. However, this time around, the 58-year-old is yet to finalise the team. He did, however, reveal that he has a good idea of how the XI will look and that he will wait until arriving at Lord’s to further assess the conditions before making any confirmations. At present, one or two spots remain in question — specifically within the bowling attack. Will it be Lungi…