Tabla de contenidos para 2022-04-14 en Mercury

MASSIVE relief efforts are needed to assist displaced communities and tackle extensive infrastructure damage across KwaZulu-Natal. This is according to Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, who said the needs were “huge”. Sooliman said the organisation’s teams were busy with on-site assessments to identify areas with severe damage and to avoid duplication of efforts. “We are awaiting reports from team members in Stanger, South Coast and JOC (Joint Operations Centre) Disaster Management. The national SAPS and provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi’s office are in communication with us to provide any support required,” he said. Sooliman said the organisation was currently in oThongathi where there was substantial destruction. He added that roads, bridges, drainage and public infrastructure were a governmental responsibility, however the organisation may consider repairs to schools and…

THE Clermont-based United Methodist Church of Southern Africa has been a source of refuge for the local community, but on Monday it became associated with tragedy when its structure collapsed on to a house next door, killing four members of the Sokhela family. When President Cyril Ramaphosa and his entourage, which included KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, visited the family yesterday, the mother of the four children who died wept uncontrollably. Mmeli Sokhela, father of Nhlanhla Mkhize, 27, Luyanda Sokhela, 16, Sandile Sokhela, 14, and Olwethu Sokhela, 12, said he watched helplessly as the wall of their house collapsed. “It had been raining all of Monday but we did not expect this when we went to sleep. At about midnight…

The certainly unquantifiable losses as a result of the present incessant rainstorms have affected nearly every individual living on the coast. Damage to houses and homes, loss of jobs or shops, damage to vehicles, suspension of commuting services, all temporary or permanent, loss of lives of loved ones, neighbours, friends, all are going to add up in the limited capacity of the minds of men, and there is sure to be an explosive panic attack of sorts in everybody that has been directly or even remotely affected. These are overloading the fragile electronic circuitry that is fitted so miraculously, so mysteriously, yet totally incomprehensibly under our skull. Overloading from years of stress during apartheid. Overloading from years and years of the government and cronies stealing the taxes from our hard-earned…

CHINESE Consul-General Lin Jing’s observation that the US political system is rotting from the inside is difficult to fault (The Mercury, April 13). Evidence dripping out from forensic investigations in six states indicate the extent to which the outcome of the 2020 election was determined by electoral fraud. A private organisation, True The Vote, has compiled evidence tracking organised ballot trafficking in six states. In Georgia, for example, it found 242 traffickers who made 5 662 trips to ballot drop-off boxes between midnight and 5am over a period of several weeks. Cyber expert Gregg Phillips has scrutinised voting in the six states and calculates that 4.8 million votes were unlawfully counted as a result of trafficking. In North Carolina, 430 000 illegal names were found on the voters roll.…

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has 2 006 unverified employees, or “ghost” workers. This was revealed by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula yesterday during his train ride on the Saulsville to Pretoria line. “Initially, Prasa identified 3 100 employees who were not physically verified. Further investigations revealed that some were on sick leave, annual leave, suspensions and maternity leave,” said Mbalula. “Prasa currently stands at 2 006 unverified employees. The exercise has also uncovered 50 foreign nationals with fraudulent or expired documents”. Mbalula said efforts to strengthen governance and build requisite capacity for Prasa to deliver on its mandate were gaining traction. Last year Prasa initiated a project called Operation Ziveze aimed at validating employees and unearthing ghost workers. Mbalula said Phase 2 of the project, currently under…

A Western Cape game farmer was sentenced in the Malmesbury Regional Court this week after pleading guilty to four charges relating to the illegal hunting, trade, possession and translocation of game. Ryan Wall, 48, from Durbanville, faced charges in three separate cases arising from illegal activities he conducted from 2015 to 2016 on his game farm, Doornfontein, situated outside Darling in the Western Cape. In a statement yesterday, CapeNature said that in 2015, Wall was caught hunting two trophy Eland bulls outside of the hunting season and without the necessary permits. He was also in possession of 40 blue wildebeest, which he had acquired illegally. Two of the charges for which Wall was convicted related to the purchase, translocation and subsequent release of fallow deer, a nationally declared invasive species,…

A Cape Town man has been arrested for allegedly opening a false police report that he was hijacked, shoved into the boot of his car and robbed. Police spokesperson Frederick Van Wyk said a case of hijacking, kidnapping and theft was opened at the Pinelands police station after being transferred from Stellenbosch. “The complainant stated that on March 29, at about 8.15am, he was driving on the off-ramp on Jakes Gerwel Drive and Gunners Circle, Epping, when he experienced a mechanical breakdown. “He was apparently overpowered by three men whilst inspecting the vehicle. “He was assaulted and shoved in the boot of his vehicle. They drove off with the vehicle while he was in the boot.” The man reported to police that when the vehicle stopped he called for help…

Some of South Africa’s most influential religious leaders have accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of trying to ruin Easter celebrations for the Christian community and have vowed to disobey Covid-19 regulations. Pastors including Mosa Sona of Grace Bible Church, and AT Boshoff of the Christian Revival Crusade this week briefed the media in Joburg, proclaiming their displeasure with the Ramaphosa administration. The pastors said they would rather go to prison than turn people away from church for being unvaccinated. They said they had engaged with Deputy Minister of Health Sibongiseni Dhlomo and MP Joemat-Pettersson about the seriousness of the announced restrictions on the Christian community. But those meetings were unfruitful. The pastors were also unhappy about the proposed amendment to the existing health regulations of 2017. This week the Christian community…

THE deadly KwaZulu-Natal floods, which also hit parts of the Eastern Cape, not only showed the devastating impact of climate change, but also exposed how unprepared governments, including ours, are to deal with it. The deaths recorded and the trail of destruction that has been left by the floods serve as a stark reminder that more action and less talk is required to prepare communities to better deal with the effects of severe weather. These events also remind us that climate change is no longer “coming”. It is here. A study by the African Centre for Disasters on the institutionalisation of disaster risk management structures in 279 municipalities found that many had yet to put the most basic disaster risk management structures in place. Dr Robyn Pharoah from the Research…

More than 1 000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered in the port of Mariupol, Russia’s defence ministry said yesterday, signalling that it had moved closer to capturing the ruined city, its main strategic target in eastern Ukraine. If the Russians take the Azovstal industrial district, where the marines have been holed up, they would have full control of Mariupol, Ukraine’s main Sea of Azov port, reinforcing a southern land corridor before an expected new offensive in the country’s east. Surrounded and bombarded by Russian troops for weeks and the focus of some of the fiercest fighting in the war, Mariupol would be the first major city to fall since Russia invaded Ukraine on Febuary 24. Russia’s defence ministry said 162 officers were among the marines who had surrendered to Russian and…

China’s commercial capital, Shanghai, warned yesterday that anyone who violates Covid-19 lockdown rules will be dealt with, while also rallying citizens to defend their city as its tally of new cases rebounded to more than 25 000. The city police department spelt out the restrictions that most of the 25 million residents are facing. “Those who violate the provisions of this notice will be dealt with in strict accordance with the law by public security organs… If it constitutes a crime, they will be investigated according to law,” the department said. The city is under huge pressure to try to contain China’s biggest Covid-19 outbreak since it was first recorded in the city of Wuhan in late 2019. Shanghai police also warned frustrated residents, millions of whom are confined to…

PARIS: Three years after a devastating fire, Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris is mostly cleared of a thick layer of soot as an army of craftsmen race to meet a deadline to reopen in time for the 2024 Olympics. Ahead of the anniversary of the blaze tomorrow, the job of cleaning the walls, vaults and floor is almost completed. The inferno that engulfed the 12th-century Gothic landmark in 2019 caused its central frame to collapse and ravaged the famous spire, clock and part of the vault. The fire triggered nearly e844 million in donations for restoration from 150 countries. | AFP…

HE came, he saw and he conquered. That was the total sum of African sprint king Ferdinand Omanyala’s night at the Athletics SA Grand Prix 4 meeting at the Germiston Stadium yesterday. Kenyan star Omanyala is the African record-holder in the 100m, with a time of 9.77 seconds, which was set in Nairobi last September. On that occasion, the 26-year-old had broken the previous mark of 9.84, which belonged to South Africa’s Akani Simbine. So, that set the tone for the Germiston duel, where the duo went head-to-head in the 100m. Omanyala has been in Mzansi for a while and won his 100m race in Potchefstroom last week easily in a time of 10.11, but he saved his best for last. Simbine had the better start in Germiston, taking the…

EOH IS “back in the black” and had completed its turnaround strategy, “an important milestone”, the technology firm said as it posted its results for the six months to end-January. In 2019, EOH embarked on a turnaround strategy after it was hit by a corruption scandal the previous year involving its senior directors. Headline earnings per share grew by 214 percent to 41 cents. The group’s operating profit, which includes continued and discontinued operations, amounted to R167 million, compared to the previous year’s R76m. EOH chief executive Stephen van Coller said: “We embarked on a challenging turnaround strategy for the EOH Group, and it has been a tough but truly rewarding journey. “Today we stand together as an agile and focused organisation proudly cele- brating the fact…

THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been allowed to pursue more companies to recover funds linked to the Digital Vibes case. The Special Tribunal yesterday ruled in favour of the SIU in its attempt to add more companies to its legal bid to recover more than R150 million related to contracts awarded by the Department of Health. The tribunal granted the unit permission to add Sithokozile Khalipele Mkhize, the wife of Dedani Mkhize, and four other companies which allegedly received money from Digital Vibes. The Tribunal said Sithokozile Mkhize and the four companies allegedly received money amounting to more than R5m from Digital Vibes, purportedly for services rendered. SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the unit welcomed the order. “The SIU is of the view that the beneficiaries of Digital…

South Africa’s disgraceful “abstention” during the UN General Assembly vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council lays bare the moral bankruptcy and depths to which Minister Naledi Pandor and her ANC government have sunk. In the face of glaring evidence of Russian barbarity during its aggressive invasion of Ukraine, Pandor, addressing the Heads of Mission conference, unashamedly stated that South Africa “seeks to mediate in global conflicts”. Yes, indeed, see just how her Department of International Relations and Co-operation intervened and tried to mediate in the Syrian civil war when Russian fighter jets were bombing schools and hospitals in Aleppo, causing the death of thousands of children. See how Pandor tried to mediate when those same Russian aircraft were bombing Idlib and Homs. But, hold on, this…

VARIOUS people have described rugby as a war substitute, a rough and outwardly indiscriminately violent game that avoids becoming complete hooliganism only by a strict code of behaviour and adherence to the laws of the game. Among those was Izak van Heerden, a genius coach of yesteryear, who developed the “Natal game” of running rugby from all parts of the field. Van Heerden (who had a military background from World War II) saw the forwards as the equivalent of soldiers in the trenches, taking great strain and hardship to give the side momentum; the three-quarters as the cavalry, galloping to glory. It’s a striking analogy. Rugby players are expected to behave fearlessly yet honourably, uncomplainingly, not to inflict violence on the opponent that goes beyond the laws of the game;…

Jerusalem: Pressed against a wall in a back corridor of Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a stone slab bore testimony only to the graffiti etched on it by multitudes of pilgrims through the ages. But the 2.5 x 1.5m stone turned out to be far more precious when its other side was exposed during recent renovations at the church, the traditional site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial. Researchers believe the elaborate looping ornaments they found on the long-hidden part of the slab indicate it was once the decorated front of a medieval high altar that took pride of place centuries ago in one of Christianity’s holiest sites. “You cannot see it now, but originally it was inlaid with pieces of precious marble, pieces of glass, pieces of small, finely…

The trial of the five men accused of killing former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa has been postponed again as the defence requested time to prepare their defence and consult their witnesses. As the trial on the 2014 murder of Meyiwa was due to resume in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Tuesday, advocate Zandile Mshololo, the defence attorney for the fifth accused Sifisokuhle Ntuli, indicated she was still unable to proceed with the trial despite being afforded a day to consult on Monday. Mshololo thanked the court for granting the postponement. However, she indicated she would still be unable to proceed with the trial and requested a further five-day postponement. She indicated that due to the additional statements being provided by the State just two weeks before the start…

AN academic from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) said yesterday that major damage to buildings and properties due to flooding could be prevented if ageing infrastructure was repaired or replaced. This comes as KwaZulu-Natal residents deal with the aftermath of the heavy rains that led to mudslides and flooding across the province. Dr Hope Hangwelani, from UKZN’s School of Built Environment & Development Studies, who focuses on town planning, said that a number of steps could be taken to prevent the damage caused by flooding. She said that with the influx of people into Durban, infrastructure was placed under immense strain as it was designed for the use of far fewer people. She said this infrastructure therefore needed to be repaired or replaced so it could cope with the strain.…

The eThekwini Municipality said yesterday that it was working round the clock to restore services following the devastating floods this week. It said roads were being cleared of mud and debris and clean-up operations are under way. “The city calls on the public to be patient as there will be delays in restoring services due to the extensive damage to infrastructure. Many areas are still inaccessible for repairs to be done. In addition, staff have also suffered personal tragedies in the disaster or are unable to reach their workplaces because of road conditions.” Regarding water outages, the municipality said several areas were without water and the city was calling on residents to conserve water. “Umgeni Water has notified the city that two of the mainline feeder aqueducts are broken and…

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife are searching for crocodiles which were washed away from the Crocodile Creek Farm in Tongaat during the recent floods. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson Musa Mntambo said Ezemvelo was advised of 12 crocodiles that were washed away from the Crocodile Creek Farm due to the flooding. He said seven crocodiles had been recaptured, and that they are currently looking for the outstanding five. “We suspect that they might have travelled towards the Tongaat River, which is less than a kilometre from the farm,” said Mntambo. The eThekwini Municipality said in a later update that two more crocodiles had since been captured, with authorities searching for three. “Nine of them have since been captured, but three are still on the loose. The search for the missing crocodiles is under…

SMARTPHONES, whisky, handbags, books, perfumes, flowers and dresses were some of the gifts that MPs received in 2021. This is according to the register of members’ interests released by the joint committee on ethics and members’ interests this week. Committee co-chairpersons Bekizwe Nkosi and Lydia Moshodi said ethical and honest behaviour was an integral pillar of ensuring an accountable Parliament. They said Parliament should lead the way to establish the credibility necessary to engender trust among the people of South Africa. The register showed that Deputy President David Mabuza, Defence Minister Thandi Modise, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor and her deputy Alvin Botes were among those given the most gifts. Mabuza listed among his gifts two blankets and two hats from Free State’s…

The clock is ticking, and the alternative is economic anarchy HAS anything changed as South Africans take time to breathe over the Easter holiday? Yes: today, April 14, it will be 45 days, excluding weekends, since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in his State of the Nation Address that he wanted a new social compact within 100 days. The important deadline to finalise most of the issues up for discussion at talks on a social compact is a few weeks nearer: a basic income grant, investment targets for the private sector, labour law reform, and a debt-equity swop by government pension money for Eskom. So are other critical but seemingly unrelated deadlines: the implementation of the state capture commission of inquiry’s recommendations, the no-confidence motion in Parliament, the ANC elective conference…

Sri Lanka urged its citizens overseas to send home money to help pay for desperately needed food and fuel yesterday after announcing a default on its $51 billion foreign debt. The island nation is in the grip of its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, with severe shortages of essential goods and regular blackouts causing widespread hardship. Authorities are weathering public protests demanding the government’s resignation before negotiations for an International Monetary Fund bailout. Central Bank governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said he needed Sri Lankans abroad to “support the country at this crucial juncture by donating much-needed foreign exchange”. His appeal came a day after the government announced it was suspending repayments on all external debt, which will free up money to replenish scant supplies of petrol, pharmaceuticals and…

The International Monetary Fund hopes to mobilise around $45 billion for a new trust to help a broad range of countries, including some middle-income economies, deal with climate change and other longer-term challenges, a paper prepared by the IMF shows. The IMF’s executive board was to approve plans for the new Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) that were hammered out by IMF staff after the Group of 20 major economies backed creation of the instrument in October. Nearly three-quarters of the IMF’s 190 members would be eligible to borrow from the new trust, the global lender’s first facility set up expressly to help countries manage balance-of-payments risks posed by longer-term challenges, the paper said. “Today, even as IMF member countries confront the immediate challenges of rising inflation, constrained fiscal…

WELLINGTON: New Zealand welcomed hundreds of travellers from Australia yesterday as it opened its borders to its trans-Tasman neighbour for the first time since mid-2021. Maori cultural performers greeted travellers at Auckland International Airport, where two flights from Australia landed. New Zealand had some of the toughest curbs during the Covid-19 pandemic and its borders have been closed most of the time since March 2020, except for a short-lived travel bubble with Australia last year. Tourists from countries like the US, Britain and Singapore will be able to visit from May 1. The border will remain closed for all other visitors until October. | Reuters…

THE devastating flooding in KwaZulu-Natal has resulted in the cancellation of the Currie Cup match between the Sharks and Blue Bulls that was scheduled for Saturday at Kings Park. The two teams have agreed to cancel the game and share the log points out of respect for the more than 60 people who have lost their lives. A number of people are still missing, while thousands have been left homeless. A state of disaster has been declared in KZN, while the province attempts to clean up under the threat of more rain over this weekend. “Due to the considerable loss of life and infrastructure damage across the province, and out of respect to their community in the face of the disaster the province is enduring, the two teams have agreed…

The South African Weather Service (Saws) says localised rainfall is forecast for KwaZulu-Natal today and most of the Easter weekend. Saws said in a statement issued yesterday that on Good Friday an extensive band of isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers would develop, which would lead to KZN experiencing the return of thunderstorms, along with the risk of localised flooding, with possible hail and strong, damaging winds. Rain was also forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Saws said the low pressure system that had caused devastation across KZN was not expected to have any further impact over the country as it was forecast to move away from South Africa. Saws forecaster Vanetia Phakula reiterated this view when she spoke to The Mercury yesterday. Asked about the messages circulating on social…

Death, destruction, damage. Wash-aways, landslides, flooded homes and roads. Bridges and roads washed away. Thousands left homeless. Businesses under water and the hospitality industry takes a heavy knock. We hadn’t yet recovered from the July riots when nature unleashed its fury on us. The hospitality industry was looking forward to a bumper Easter weekend. With Durban in such a mess, I wonder if the tourists would want to come. The sea has turned brown and the beaches are covered with litter. It’s going to cost the province billions of rand to fix the infrastructure. And it’s going to take a long time. But there’s a silver lining to the devastating floods. It’s a bonanza for the construction industry. There’s something else we have to be thankful for. Our roads, pavements…

THERE is a Crippling Cohort within many clients: Blame, Regret, Unresolved Conflicts, Uncried Tears and Unlived Dreams. I capitalise the labels (I am sure there are more),for these five live within as if they are alive, functioning beings. They rarely show their unified front, but prefer to visit their host as individuals when risk and adventure are required or when new possibilities offer promise. They pop up. They remind the host about failures. They sneak from behind the curtains of memory and wave to remind of times when things did not work, when plans failed, when others were untrustworthy, when word was broken, when people delivered hurt and pain rather than love and kindness. These cohorts are unusually co-operative with one another. They spur one another on. They can be…

The ANC has a monumental task on its hands to politically educate its membership about its polices. The recent provincial conferences in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal are glaring examples, where the membership brazenly defied the ANC and voted into power officials who had “stepped aside” per party policy when accused of serious crimes. Zandile Gumede from KZN is accused of corruption and Mandla Msibi from Mpumalanga is out on bail on murder charges. This clearly shows either one of two things – that members are so out of control and very ill-disciplined and do not listen or care for the party; or else they simply do not understand ANC policies. Thus the ANC should understand that if it is to realise its polices, it must not just concentrate on a top-down…

A 36-year-old man was arrested after two traffic officers in Mpumalanga were robbed by the same gang. “According to the information, a member of the traffic police was on duty, driving in a state vehicle, a white Nissan NP300 bakkie, along Tekwane South. He then noticed a suspicious silver grey Volkswagen Polo driving from Kanyamazane direction towards Nelspruit,” said Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala. “The car reportedly overtook the traffic officer on the barrier line. Upon noticing this behaviour, the officer activated the siren to stop the said car and the driver of the VW Polo halted.” Mohlala said that while executing his duties, talking to the driver of the vehicle, passengers in the VW Polo became rude and aggressive towards the lone police officer. “Reports indicate that one…

MSUNDUZI mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla has dismissed concern from opposition parties and ratepayers’ organisations that the city is charging struggling consumers excessive tariffs. The municipality has come under fire for its tariff structure. The opposition has argued that residents and business need to be allowed to recover financially from the devastating period of the Covid-19 pandemic and the July riots. Councillors yesterday held a workshop to discuss the tariffs and other budget-related items. Last month the municipality tabled its draft budget for the 2022-2023 financial year. It recently went through a public consultation process. The report on the tariffs that was put forward last month showed that rates would increase by 8%, water by 6%, refuse by 5.8%, sanitation by 9% and electricity by 9%. Under “other miscellaneous”, the municipality…

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has called off a planned nationwide bus strike in order to allow for negotiations to take place on the revised offer proposed by the employer. Numsa spokesperson Phamakamile Hlubi-Majola said that the decision was taken after engagement meetings with employer associations in the bus passenger sector, the South African Bus Employers Association (SABEA) and the Commuter Bus Employer Association (COBEA). “We met on Monday and Tuesday for mediation under the auspices of the South African Road Passenger Bargaining Council (SARPBAC). “The employers have proposed an increase of 4.5% across the board, and this includes allowances. They have also agreed to withdraw the threat of only implementing increases for those workers who are currently employed as of March 31, 2022, which means…

THE government expects the Easter weekend to be challenging due to increased volumes of traffic as more people will be travelling “unrestricted” for the first time in two years following the lifting of the National State of Disaster. This is according to Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, who launched the 2022 Easter Road Safety Campaign on the N12 in Breswol, near the Gauteng-Mpumalanga border this week. Mbalula was joined by Deputy Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga and Gauteng MEC for Roads, Transport and Public Works Jacob Mamabolo, his Mpumalanga counterpart Mohita Latchminarain, and Road Traffic Management Co-operation chief executive advocate Makhosini Msibi, among others. He said the focus for the long weekend would be on road safety, including driver safety focusing on the wearing of seatbelts and the roadworthiness of vehicles and pedestrian…

A COUP is a coup, whether executed by a mob wearing military attire with guns, or gentlemen in suits and ties carrying pens. In a democracy like ours, the only way to assume power to govern the country is through the ballot, not through the bullet, mob or backdoor. The DA stands for many things, among them “Double Agenda”. It has managed to fool people, especially black people. It presents itself as better than the ANC. In the motion of no confidence it sponsored in Parliament against the Cabinet, it said the ANC stood for “Absolutely No Consequences”. DA leader John Steenhuisen kept on repeating this like a small child trying to impress a teacher. Unfortunately, he was making a mockery of himself without winning over the crowd. One member…

Prosecutors have searched a frozen pizza factory in northern France, the suspected source of an E coli outbreak that has left dozens of children sick, police said. A probe was opened on April 1 after more than 70 infections, which may have caused the deaths of a 1-year-old and an 18-year-old. The search at the Caudry factory, operated by Buitoni, which is owned by Nestlé, was confirmed by the Paris prosecutor’s office. Nestlé announced a recall of the pizzas last month, and authorities ordered a halt to production after two inspections at the factory. These “revealed a deterioration of food hygiene controls”, “rodents”, and insufficient measures to prevent pests from contaminating a food production site, authorities said. Recalls were ordered in Belgium and Luxembourg. The pizzas were also distributed in…

London: A British judge yesterday sentenced Islamic State group follower Ali Harbi Ali to a whole-life prison term for murdering MP David Amess in a knife attack last year. “This is a murder that struck at the heart of democracy,” judge Nigel Sweeney said at London’s Old Bailey courthouse. Ali, 26, had told the trial he had no regrets about killing father-of-five Amess in revenge for votes in parliament for air strikes in Syria in 2014 and 2015. He stabbed Amess over 20 times in a church in Leigh-on-Sea, southeast England. Amess’ family said nothing could ever compensate for his murder. | AFP…

BANYANA Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes that her side’s haphazard defending let them down in their 5-1 hammering at the hands of the Netherlands at the Cars Jeans Stadion in The Hague on Tuesday night. The one positive that Banyana can take from the game is that they were competitive against the fifth-ranked Dutch until the end of the first half, though they fell apart thereafter. “I felt that our defending, at times, let us down. We also created chances. At crucial times when it looked like we would come back, we conceded,” Ellis said. “After half-time, we had an opportunity to change the scoreline and didn’t take (our) chances, like the penalty miss. At times I felt that we did not put the ball on the ground as well…