Latest news with #DeWaal
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Man-made famine in Gaza 'most severe' since Second World War
Speaking with System Update, Alex de Waal noted that whilst the man-made famine in Gaza is not the largest by numbers, it is more 'intense' than the starvation imposed on countries like Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen. His comments come after the UN reported that more than 1000 Gazans have been killed whilst trying to access emergency food via the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which opened in May. READ MORE: Labour are creating uncertainty and acting against democratic freedom De Waal, who has been working on mass starvation for over 40 years, said: 'What's really remarkable and unique about the what we're seeing in Gaza today, it's not the largest in terms of the numbers – those in Ethiopia and Sudan and indeed in Yemen have been larger – but it's the most intense, the most severe and the most sort of minutely engineered. 'There is no other case since World War Two that I can think of where you have a people being subjected to this degree of starvation, and literally just a few miles away, there are aid givers with the resources, with the expertise, with the plans, with everything worked out, which, at the flick of a switch, could actually deliver a very comprehensive package of aid. 'It wouldn't solve the problem, but it would be an infinitely lot better than the what the people of Gaza are facing today. I haven't seen that in my career.' READ MORE: 70-year-old woman arrested under terror law after Edinburgh Gaza march The mass starvation expert also pointed out the gendered language of 'man-made', noting that it is a 'deliberate' choice as we are 'yet to see a woman-made' famine. On Wednesday, former First Minister Humza Yousaf posted a clip on social media urging those in power to end the aid blockade as he and wife Nadia El-Nakla revealed that their family members in Gaza are starving. More than 100 aid organisations have also warned of 'mass starvation' in the enclave, where more than two million people face shortages of food and other essentials as the genocide continues.
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Health
- Middle East Eye
Children will die quickly amid 'genocidal starvation' in Gaza, warns top famine expert
A renowned expert on famine, Professor Alex de Waal, has accused Israel of 'genocidal starvation' of Palestinians in Gaza with its continued deadly siege on the enclave. At least 101 Palestinians, including 80 children, have died of starvation since Israel's blockade resumed in March, including 15 who died of malnutrition on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid at distribution sites run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in place since May and manned by Israeli soldiers and US security contractors. De Waal told MEE's live show on Tuesday that the UN is not in a position to declare famine due to Israel's obstruction of access to humanitarians and investigators to gauge the extent of hunger. However, he said, 'it is actually relatively straightforward if you are perpetrating a famine to shut out access to essential information and then say no one has declared famine'. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'Concealment of famine is an instrument of those who perpetrate it,' he added. De Waal said that famine is unfolding in Gaza in 'a wholly predicted manner'. De Waal is executive director of the World Peace Foundation, affiliated with the Fletcher School of Global Affairs at Tufts University, and the author of Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine. He explained that a healthy adult will take 60 to 80 days of total deprivation of food to die of starvation. With semi-starvation, it would take a lot longer. 'But children will perish much more quickly. Their small bodies waste away very, very fast.' What makes children more vulnerable is the interaction between malnutrition and infection. 'Many children get diarrheal infections or malnutrition itself, which means that they cannot process or digest food properly. It's that dehydration that follows, and the combined effect of malnutrition and disease that carries most of them away.' Therefore, De Waal pointed out that the figures on deaths from starvation may be an undercount compared to the full scale of deaths associated with famine. The body of a starved person consumes its own reserves of fat, then its own organs, he explained. Mentally, starvation may cause hallucinations and paranoia. 'Engineered starvation' De Waal said that Israeli actions in Gaza stand out in comparison to other famine situations historically. 'Israeli actions stand out because there is no other case in modern history in which you have such minutely, precisely engineered starvation within an hour's drive, or even less than an hour's drive, of a fully capable international humanitarian operation ready to roll,' he told MEE. 'If Israel wanted every child in Gaza to have breakfast tomorrow, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could say so, and it would happen' - Alex de Waal 'If Israel wanted every child in Gaza to have breakfast tomorrow, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could say so, and it would happen. 'That is not the case in other terrible famines, such as in Sudan today. The precision, the minute control that Israel has over this is something without precedent in modern times.' Officials from the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza, told MEE they have had 6,000 trucks loaded with food and medical supplies in Egypt and Jordan for four and a half months, but Israel has yet to let them in. Prior to the current siege, aid groups were able to bring in around 600 trucks per day - the minimum amount of aid humanitarian organisations say is needed for Gaza's population, Unrwa head Philippe Lazzarini told MEE in May. Unrwa's communications director, Julitte Touma, told MEE on Tuesday that the agency has been receiving 'S.O.S messages' from Palestinians, including its own staff, pleading for any food for them and their children. Some staff members have fainted on duty because of hunger, Touma said. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. The International Court of Justice, the UN's principal judicial organ, issued a binding order on 28 March 2024 ordering Israel to take all necessary measures to ensure the unimpeded provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza, in cooperation with the UN. But Israel has largely ignored the order. De Waal noted that even the Israeli judge on the court, Justice Aharon Barak, voted in favour of this order, making it unanimous. AFP warns Gaza journalists risk starving to death amid ongoing Israeli siege Read More » The court also ruled that Israel's duty to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid was part of its obligation under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide. Yet, 16 months since the ICJ ruling, Israel and its international partners have not fulfilled this obligation, said de Waal. 'The Genocide Convention has an obligation to prevent and to punish genocide. So the prevention aspect cannot wait until we have counted the graves of all those children who have died of starvation. 'And what we are seeing unfolding is exactly what genocidal starvation consists of. 'It is not only the suffering and death of individuals but perhaps more importantly it is that social trauma. It is that shame. It is that degradation. It is that feeling of people being reduced to the state of animals, being forced to violate profound social taboos - scavenging for food in piles of garbage, etc. This is what genocide looks like at the moment.'
Daily Maverick
10-07-2025
- Daily Maverick
Discover Calvinia: A four-day journey through eccentric museums and breathtaking landscapes
The town of Calvinia, lying in the mid-western sector of the Northern Cape, is the perfect central spot for an all-year experience of the region. Calvinia and its surrounding attractions easily make for a very good four-day travel experience. Using one of the self-catering Hantam Huise as your HQ, this writer suggests that you should embark on a series of day trips beginning with an extended visit to the extraordinary Calvinia Museum. Day One — Calvinia Museum This museum isn't perhaps as expansive as The McGregor in Kimberley, but it's so eccentric it can leave you smiling for days. Take, for instance, the section dedicated to the Lombard Quads of Loeriesfontein. Born in Calvinia in 1951: Klasie, De Waal, Jan and De Villiers all turned 70 sometime this year. The Philadelphia Enquirer caught up with the six-year-olds in 1957. The American newspaper reported that the Lombard Quads used to sing and rock each other to sleep at night. Now that's a show one could sell tickets to. There's a Trekboer Corner dedicated to the first European settlers in the area, a Jewish Corner in honour of the museum's initial designation as a synagogue, and some truly eccentric displays that include a 'four-legged ostrich chick'. Day Two — Nieuwoudtville and Beyond The next morning we head west to Nieuwoudtville, first making a quick stop at the town hall for flower info and then proceeding to the Hantam National Botanical Gardens. This spread was once called Glen Lyon and owned by Neil McGregor, who found a way to combine sheep farming with the conservation of the land's botanical treasures. Thus he became one of the founding fathers of the seasonal Namaqualand Flower Tourism Route. Afterwards, we drive north to Loeriesfontein, detouring for an hour at a quiver tree forest filling the hillside on Gannabos Farm. Then it's on to the Fred Turner Wind Pump Museum in Loeriesfontein, where Vetsak President, Star Dunnell, Defiance Butler, Gearing Self-Oiled and a whole bunch of other old wind pumps await. This astounding collection of 'steel wheels' makes for fabulous photographic opportunities. Day Three — The Tankwa Padstal Now for some true desert, as we take the R355 to the Tankwa Padstal, about 120km to the south, on what is officially known as the 'longest dirt road in South Africa'. This little shop-and-bar complex has become legendary with overlanders, bikers and young attendees of the annual AfrikaBurn festival held on the moonscape setting of the Tankwa Karoo. The shop at the Tankwa Padstal also operates as a vital general dealership for the local community, and stocks everything from guitars to light meals throughout the day. Day Four — Williston and Cheese Now we're heading 120km eastwards to Williston, where, at the local museum, we hear about the legend of Cornelis de Waal, the gravestone engraver of the Upper Karoo. His handiwork, to be seen on farm graveyards all over the district, is folk art at its finest. We follow that with a drive out to a nearby farm to taste and buy a variety of the famous Langbaken cheese range, produced by the Schoeman family. Langbaken cheeses are mostly sold in Cape Town, at various delis and food markets. In the Karoo you'll find them at the Williston's Manna Restaurant and Calvinia's Blou Nartjie. Know before you go This is a vast and sprawling landscape, and distances can be deceptive. Don't tackle too much in one day. Take along food and water, and make sure (especially when travelling to the Tankwa Padstal along the R355 road) that you have a spare tyre and know how to change it. DM
Daily Maverick
29-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Citrus farmers: We are going nowhere
Chamber CEO Denise van Huyssteen set the tone with a keynote address outlining the metro's precarious financial position while also noting the success the chamber had achieved as a result of lobbying. 'South African farmers are going nowhere. We believe in the country and its people.' This statement from Hannes de Waal, the CEO of the Sundays River Citrus Company regarding farmers supposedly moving to the US as refugees, drew loud applause at the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber AGM on Wednesday evening. Despite global volatility, infrastructure failures and a challenging local investment climate, delegates painted a picture of determined — if guarded — resilience. De Waal's statement about farmers came during a panel discussion featuring agri-economist Wandile Sihlobo of Agbiz and Rand Merchant Bank economist John Cairns, moderated by The Herald editor Rochelle de Kock. When De Kock asked whether South Africa should be concerned about farmers leaving, De Waal — speaking from the audience — asked for the mic. He acknowledged that some South Africans were working in agriculture overseas, including in the United States, and that a few had even launched businesses there. But he firmly rejected the idea that this meant local agriculture was in retreat. He said his concerns focused on the rising barriers for young farmers trying to enter the sector. 'The cost of land and water has gone through the roof in the last few decades. That concerns us,' he said. 'So maybe our young farmers will find opportunities like some have found up in Africa. But it's going to take something special to move a big part of South African agriculture out of South Africa. It's not going to happen.' Sihlobo, who recently released a book on agricultural development, agreed with De Waal. Since 1994, he noted, South Africa's agricultural sector had more than doubled in size. 'Exports were sitting at $2-billion in 2000,' he said. 'Last year, they hit $13.7-billion,' he said, adding that employment levels had also risen. 'It's the complete opposite of what you'll see on social media,' he said. Sihlobo acknowledged the challenges South Africa has faced since 1994, but said key indicators like income had improved significantly, noting that South Africans were now 'one-and-a-half' times better off in terms of income. Bringing levity to the discussion, Cairns addressed the so-called Afrikaner 'refugee' narrative with a tongue-in-cheek comment about US President Donald Trump. 'Our president took the famous golfers to the US, but what many people don't realise is that President Trump is a big rugby fan,' he quipped. 'The 2031 Rugby World Cup will be held in the US — that's why President Trump has asked the Afrikaners to move there.' The room erupted in laughter. Earlier in the evening, Chamber CEO Denise van Huyssteen set the tone with a keynote address outlining the metro's precarious financial position while also noting the success the chamber had achieved as a result of lobbying. Van Huyssteen reminded attendees that 73% of the metro's electricity revenue came from businesses — a significant dependency given ongoing supply constraints and the municipality's projected R1.4-billion shortfall. Another key concern she said remained the lack of stable leadership within the municipality. 'There have been 19 city managers mostly in an acting capacity since 2016, of which 15 have been since 2020. She added that the Chamber would continue lobbying across all levels of government for this critical post to be filled. She said that the Chamber's lobbying had already paid off in some key areas, including a recent win on fuel pricing disparities. In the last quarter of 2024 Nelson Mandela Bay was rezoned from coastal to inland, resulting in higher fuel prices. This had since been reversed. 'This saved the local economy an irrecoverable loss of about R50-million a month over that period. This victory really highlights how easy rezoning can happen,' she said. Van Huyssteen also pointed to encouraging developments ahead, including a series of major events set to take place in the Bay in the coming months. Among them is the Naacam Show, a flagship event for the automotive sector, and the SA Automotive Week. DM
IOL News
13-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
New affordable housing initiative aims to empower South Africans with homeownership
Residents of Kayamandi in Stellenbosch were promised new houses, but moved to temporary vibacrete houses that they still occupy since 2005. Image: File photo The new project in the heart of Stellenbosch is an attempt to rewrite the narrative on affordable housing-and potentially offer a replicable model for other communities across South Africa. The Cloetesville Affordable Housing Initiative, spearheaded by MDW Cape Town Inc. in partnership with the Stellenbosch Municipality, is said not to merely be a housing project but a comprehensive homeownership support system that addresses the 'GAP market' or the 'missing middle'- the millions of South Africans who earn too much to qualify for free government housing, but too little to access bank-financed home loans. "The affordability gap is real," said Meyer de Waal of MDW Inc., who is also a Cape Town-based conveyancing attorney, the architect of several groundbreaking housing support platforms, and a housing reform advocate. 'People are often excluded from homeownership not because they're reckless with money, but because the system is not designed to support them where they are. We want to change that,' De Waal said. South Africa has more than 2.3 million people who remain on the Government's official housing waiting list. The firm, which provides unique, innovative and specialised property service said SA's housing challenges are rooted in decades of inequality and exacerbated by modern-day economic constraints. It said with rising living costs, stagnant wages, persistent unemployment, and unscrupulous unsecured credit providers taking advantage of vulnerable financial situations, many working-class families find themselves trapped in debt, resulting in rental cycles they cannot escape, and unable to secure homeownership or build wealth through property. It noted that it is where initiatives like the Cloetesville project step in. They said what makes the initiative different is its integrated, people-first approach. At its core, the initiative is described as a homeownership readiness programme. Helen Rourke, programme director of the Development Action Group (DAG) said, "Stellenbosch is one of the most unequal municipalities in the Western Cape Town with an oversupply of luxury high-end real estate and an undersupply of entry-level affordable housing." Rourke said it also has a very high percentage of rental households due to the student market. 'Against this stark backdrop of inequality, Stellenbosch municipal officials have been leading in the province, along with partners, on how to address the issue of affordable housing." "This partnership with the community of Cloetsville and MDW Inc. bodes well for addressing the growing demand in the affordable housing segment of the market,' she said. The non-profit organisation that works to create equal, inclusive, and sustainable neighbourhoods and cities through development processes added that if this programme can be linked to emergent opportunities being created through the Municipalities Inclusionary Zoning programme, the country could potentially see not only the increased supply, but also well located affordable housing closer to economic opportunities and not located on the urban periphery. Through a combination of in-person consultations, community help desks, and online webinars, residents receive practical support that includes: income and affordability evaluations; debt rehabilitation and credit score improvement plans; and pre-qualification tools for home loans. More importantly, those who qualify for the First Home Finance subsidy (formerly FLISP) can receive support from the MDW Inc. team to secure government assistance in reducing the purchase price of their first home, or expand their home buying purchasing power. Participants also gain access to MDW Inc.'s broader suite of homeownership tools developed over the past decade including Rent2Buy, My Bond Fitness and First Home Finance. 'We're walking with people step by step by demystifying finance, removing shame around debt, and helping them see that owning a home is possible,' said De Waal. 'The tools are out there. Our job is to help people access them.' Online webinars and information sessions at community venues like Eike Hall and the Cloetesville Banquet Hall have seen growing attendance since the project launched at the end of 2024. De Waal explained: 'Residents are eager to learn how to break free from generational rental dependency, and the feedback we've received suggests that the demand for this kind of structured support is immense.' With the project's data-driven and community-led model gaining momentum, MDW Inc. hopes to replicate the framework for other municipalities grappling with housing backlogs and affordability challenges. The data gathered through the Cloetesville initiative is being collated and submitted to the Stellenbosch Municipality for further analysis. This information will enable the municipality to design a local housing strategy and housing typology that directly reflects the affordability levels and needs of the community. The Cloetesville pilot is part of a broader track record as MDW Inc. has supported similar initiatives in Darling, Mossel Bay, Bredasdorp, Plettenberg Bay, Hout Bay, Riversdal and Giyani, applying its homeownership readiness model to diverse contexts across SA. While the initiative is focused on an underserved, lower-income demographic, De Waal pointed out that their services benefit a much broader market. Middle-income professionals, freelancers, and even dual-income households often face challenges qualifying for home loans, managing deposits, or navigating the subsidy landscape. He said that they have helped nurses, teachers, police officers - people who work hard every day, pay their rent, but can't seem to break into the property market. 'This is about reshaping the entire homeownership journey for anyone who needs help to get there.' As SA urbanises rapidly, with over 70% of the population projected to live in cities by 2030, the strain on housing stock, infrastructure, and affordability is mounting. Traditional models of housing delivery are no longer adequate. What the initiative is said to shows a scalable, holistic alternative: one that prioritises financial education, affordability assessments, and government subsidy access as core pillars of urban housing development. De Waal said projects like the initiative offer some hope, not only because they address the affordability issue, but because they empower citizens with agency. 'Homeownership isn't just about property. It's about dignity. And it's about finally opening the door to the kind of stability every South African deserves.' Independent Media Property
