Tabla de contenidos para 2022-05-09 en Mercury

KWAZULU-NATAL Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu has threatened to withhold funds from schools that are unable to pay their water and electricity accounts to municipalities, saying such schools were proving to be a “financial nightmare” for the department. Tabling the department’s R57 billion budget at the KZN Legislature on Friday, Mshengu noted that there was a growing number of schools whose municipal accounts were in arrears. “The department is also spending a lot of money bailing out schools who are owing on their domestic accounts. This is unsustainable and must be stopped,” said Mshengu. He indicated that the department would be more hands-on in dealing with the challenge in future. “We will be embarking on auditing all the schools that owe on their domestic accounts and where the need arises, the…

An invitation: Bring your brokenness, your regrets and your heartbreak, and fall apart, with rage and anger stoking the fire, and I will listen. I will try not to attempt to quell your storm, extinguish the fire, quieten your rage and you will not fall apart or burn up or drown in the process. You will be on your way to falling together. You will be on your way to finding and making greater sense of who you are and “why” you are. You will be heading towards the centre of your soul where you will discover, perhaps afresh, just how beautiful you are. Then, not immediately but at some time, will you do the same for others? Perhaps even for me? Will you form a wall of acceptance, empathy…

A VERY foxy intelligence test comes this way, designed to keep retired folk on their toes. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator? Stop and think about it and decide on your answer. Correct answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way. Elephant test: How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator? Did you say: “Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator? Wrong answer! Correct answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions. Lion King test: The Lion King is hosting an animal…

While the judiciary is having its own turmoil, the public protector, who is more hell-bent on protecting her career than the public; has definitely misread the South Africa of today. Her action against Abramjee (The Mercury, May 6) for allegedly sending an SMS regarding a court decision comprising of a good few judges will be the latest failure in her list of legal flip-flops. Focus on the judgment rather than arguing with the jester. What is he going to be charged for? Sending an SMS … Predicting the outcome of a court case? More interesting is the soon-to-be former Judge President of the Western Cape Justice John Hlophe. A person who like Judge Zondo had super humble beginnings, starting as a gardener and being appointed to the Bench at the…

MAYHEM broke out at a Cape Town hospital on Saturday night when a man disarmed a police officer, and shot him in the head before shooting and killing two patients. The incident occurred at the Somerset Hospital. The 32-year-old officer, from Sea Point police station, was taking a suspect to hospital for treatment at the time. The police said yesterday that the police officer had died as a result of his injuries. Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said: “The officer had taken a suspect, 35, to Somerset hospital for medical attention when a man in the ward grabbed the firearm from a police official and shot him in the head. “The man then shot two patients who were in close proximity. Both died on the scene. “SAPS officials on…

OPPOSITION party councillors have called on the eThekwini Municipality to communicate clearly with residents who have been affected by the recent floods on the type of assistance they can expect from it in rebuilding their homes. DA councillor Warren Burne warned recently during council meetings that there was already an expectation from the public that the municipality was going to step in and help following the traumatic flooding disaster. His warning follows one issued by councillors at Executive Committee level who said the municipality should take some of the blame for the magnitude of the disaster as its infrastructure had failed, exacerbating a bad situation. They called on the municipality to step in and assist private residents, who would normally not qualify for such assistance. The floods devastated many parts…

THE Department of Basic Education says it is ready to administer the 2022 May/June Grade 12 examinations which start today. In a statement, the department said a total of 290 682 candidates will sit for the exams and this comprises candidates who had registered for both the National Senior Certificate (NSC) and the Senior Certificate (SC) qualifications. The exams are for those candidates who wrote the NSC exams last year and wish to improve their marks in some subjects. In addition, this year’s rewrite exams were for the first time opened to candidates registered for the October/November examination, as from 2008. The SC candidates are adult candidates that are over 21 years and have completed a minimum of Grade 7 or ABET Level IV. “The number of candidates for the…

I hate to officially burst our bubble, but the app business is local business. The above statement may bring disappointment to many, especially those of us who operate globally oriented apps like Facebook, Twitter and Open Letter. That the apps are globally accessible creates the impression and expectation that a global business model should naturally follow. However, this is not the case. Below are five reasons for this. The first is that that there are sometimes physical components to be used in conjunction with the app for its enjoyment. For the digital shooting range experience of the Aim Game, you need the digitally enhanced pistol, the rifle and the target. For Uber, you need the actual vehicles that do the picking up and dropping off of the app users. These…

Kabul: The Taliban has imposed one of the harshest restrictions on Afghanistan’s women since seizing power, ordering them to wear the all-covering burqa in public. The supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada announced the strict dress code for women when they appear in public at the weekend in Kabul. The militants took control of the country in August last year, promising a softer rule than their last stint in power between 1996 and 2001, but they have already imposed a slew of restrictions on women. The order is expected to spark a flurry of condemnation abroad. |…

Emmanuel Macron was sworn in for a second term as France’s president on Saturday in a ceremony at the Élysée Palace, followed by the firing of cannons at the Invalides gardens. In a country where presidents rarely get re-elected, Macron won 58.5% of the votes in the second round against the far-right’s Marine Le Pen, despite strong opposition to his pro-business policies and a proposal to raise the retirement age. In a short speech, he spoke of the need to innovate at a time of unprecedented challenges for the world and for France, and said his second term would be “new” and not merely a continuation of the first. “We need to invent a new method together, far from tired traditions and routines, with which we can build a…

In addition to the regional assembly elections in Northern Ireland, there were council and mayoral elections in England, Scotland and Wales. The main UK opposition Labour party of Keir Starmer won in Tory “crown jewels” in the capital, including Margaret Thatcher’s “favourite” council Wandsworth, and Westminster for the first time since it was created in 1964. The general election isn’t until 2024 but these midterms are often an indicator of how the main political parties are doing. This was the first big test for Johnson’s Conservatives since the emergence of a cost-of-living crisis and a “Partygate” scandal. The government faces three investigations into boozy gatherings that flouted Covid-19 pandemic lockdown rules. The party is hoping to extend its 12 years in power for…

AmaZulu coach Brandon Truter feels that his side are showing improvement. Usuthu’s 0-0 draw with Sekhukhune United means that the club are now unbeaten in the five games in which Truter has been at the helm since the sacking of Benni McCarthy. “We played some good football,” said Truter. “Our pressing, counter-pressing and structure was good. They could not get out. The only trouble that they gave us was from set-pieces and one or two counter attacks. “There has been progress in terms of where we come from with regards to ball retention and structure. There has been huge progress from our last two games until now.” On paper, AmaZulu dominated the game. They had 66% ball possession and also had 12 shots at goal, whereas Sekhukhune had seven. The…

The US Supreme Court recently ruled in favour of a Jewish family that is trying to reclaim a Camille Pissarro painting seized by the Nazis in 1939 and now owned by a leading Spanish museum, court documents show. In the latest twist in a two-decade legal saga, Supreme Court justices ruled unanimously that the dispute between the Cassirer family and Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation should be decided according to the law of the state of California, not US federal law. The appeal, brought by the heirs of Lilly Cassirer, overturned the 2019 verdict of a California court that under federal law the Madrid museum was the rightful owner of the 1897 Paris street scene. “The family believes this is a success and they are hopeful that justice will be served,”…

THE City of eThekwini Municipality responds to the letter in The Mercury authored by Yogas Nair, dated May 5: The City has noted the frustration, disappointment, and anger of the community of oThongathi caused by the shortage of water in that area. We acknowledge the pain and apologise unreservedly for it. The recent floods have left a trail of damage that was not expected by anyone. The oThongathi Water Treatment Works was destroyed during the floods. This has made it impossible for the municipality to get water from the Wewe River and to purify it for consumption. We were then left with no option but to mobilise water tankers so that residents can have clean drinking and cooking water. We concede that we have received complaints from the public to…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa was left with egg on his face when the May Day rally in Rustenburg descended into chaos. Cosatu made a tactical blunder by organising the rally in this mining town where disgruntled Sibanye-Stillwater miners have been on strike for several months. Tensions between the workers and management had been simmering for a while and spilled out on to the stage when the president took to the podium to address the workers. He was the last person they wanted to hear. They booed Ramaphosa and stormed the stage, forcing him to flee. Ramaphosa did not represent the aspirations of the workers and the struggling masses. They regarded him as a sell-out, a sympathiser of white capitalists. They had not forgotten Marikana. Our stringent labour laws and militant labour…

THERE is no getting out of a pre-existing maintenance court order, a father who fell into arrears with his maintenance payment has discovered. In fact, the man learnt the hard way when he found out that his former wife had obtained an order to recover the arrears from his pension fund. The businessman turned to the South Gauteng High Court, for an order directing his ex-wife to notify him in the event that she intended to apply for another warrant of execution against his pension fund. He said he should be told about her intentions at least 10 days prior to her heading to court again, so that he would be able to defend such an application. The couple, who are the parents of three children, divorced in 2019. In…

THE Constitutional Court is set to hear a landmark case in which activists are urging it to confirm that the Copyright Act is unconstitutional for limiting access to books in accessible formats for persons with visual disabilities. The case has been brought by Blind SA and Section27, who are challenging South Africa’s copyright law to ensure that all people who are blind or visually impaired can immediately get access to the vast libraries of published works available to sighted people under the terms of an international treaty. Known as the Marrakesh Treaty, it was adopted by member states of the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organisation, of which South Africa is a member, in June 2013. It advocates for the rights of the blind and people with visual and print disabilities…

LEADERS of the shack dwellers’ organisation, Abahlali BaseMjondolo, have alleged that a fierce dispute over land use in the eKhenana area in Cato Manor is behind a spate of murders of its members and leaders that have rocked the area recently. Nokuthula Mabaso of eKhenana commune is the latest victim; she was shot dead on Thursday. The organisation said she had been at their meeting and was attacked while heading home. Abahlali said the eKhenana commune has been under attack for years, and alleged that there had been more than 30 illegal evictions, including evictions in violation of court orders. Describing Mabaso as “a powerful leader in eKhenana”, Abahlali said she was also a key figure in the establishment and management of a chicken farm that was part of the…

Two more arrests have been made in connection with the Hillary Gardee murder case. The daughter of the EFF’s former secretary-general, Godrich Gardee, was found murdered last Monday three days after she went missing in Mbombela, Mpumalanga. Mpumalanga police spokesperson Colonel Donald Mdhluli has confirmed that a further two suspects have been arrested bringing the total number of arrests to three. This comes after the two men were apprehended in Nelspruit between Saturday night and the early hours of yesterday morning. The two are to join the 39-year-old suspect who was arrested on Friday, May 6 in Schoemansdal. The provincial commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Manamela said: “This is encouraging and as we indicated that there were other people of interest that we were following and interviewing.”…

Praise for Godongwana for addressing realities surrounding SA’s transformation agenda FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana is a brave man! He threw down the gauntlet to black professionals and managers, challenging them to get their act together in “helping the democratic state (South Africa) as it carries forward its transformation agenda”. That Godongwana beckoned this soul-searching at a gala dinner of the Black Management Forum recently, is revealing and remarkable for an ANC government minister tasked with the difficult challenge of steering the economy from the ravages of internal and external factors that are defined by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the fallout of the Ukraine war, which has also affected every country on earth. While SMEs are generally regarded as the backbone of an economy, Godongwana sees black professionals as the…

Havana: The death toll after an explosion ripped through a luxury hotel in Havana on Friday climbed to 32 people, state television reported at the weekend. Rescuers were still combing through what remained of the prestigious Saratoga Hotel looking for survivors. The death toll has risen to 32, with 19 people missing, Sputnik reported, citing a state news Prensa Latina report. More than 60 people were injured and taken to hospital. Minister of Tourism Juan Carlos Garcia said the explosion happened during the unloading of a tanker truck carrying about 10 000 litres of liquefied gas. |…

Moscow: Several fires have broken out in southern Siberia, affecting about 200 buildings and causing at least five deaths, local authorities said at the weekend, adding they had placed the area under a state of emergency. The fires in the Krasnoyarsk region covered more than 16 zones, spreading to around 200 buildings, several sawmills and a children’s playground, the regional ministry for emergencies said on Telegram. Authorities said some 300 firefighters and 90 vehicles were battling the blazes. Last year, fires in Siberia belched 16 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere, according to an annual European climate report. |…

Ukraine authorities have evacuated more civilians from a besieged Mariupol as Russian forces unleashed new bombardments before Victory Day festivities in Moscow today. The Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol is the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the port city and its fate has taken on a symbolic value in the battle unleashed by Russia’s invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. They had been trapped in the tunnels beneath the plant, along with Ukrainian soldiers who are making their last stand. Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said all the women, children and elderly people had been evacuated. “This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation is over,” she wrote on the Telegram. Zelenskiy said…

ABUJA: As a disabled child growing up in Nigeria, Joshua Anum, 15, did not see internet stardom in his future. He and his eight siblings, abandoned by their father, barely had enough to eat. Now the teen, who lost his left arm at the age of five after falling out of a tree, is part of a dance group called “The Incredible Kids” who have a growing Instagram following and a packed performance schedule. The group does dance routines to popular Nigerian songs and has performed in Abuja and Lagos. The proceeds cover their school fees. |…

Does South Africa have a new 800m star to cheer for on the world’s athletics tracks? After the discrimination experienced by two-time Olympic champion Caster Semenya, youngster Prudence Sekgodiso is set to take over her mantle in the two-lap event. The 20-year-old Gauteng North athlete produced a stunning performance to beat 27-year-old Ugandan world champion Halimah Nakaayi at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on Saturday to announce her arrival as a serious contender on the international circuit. Sekgodiso, who won the SA 800m and 1 500m double in Cape Town recently in times of 2:03.31 and 4:16.38 respectively, outlasted Nakaayi and the rest of the field at the World Athletics Continental Tour event in Kenya to set a new 800m personal best of 1:58.41. Nakaayi finished fifth in 2:00.93,…

THE ANC’s unity and renewal project appears to be once again on shaky ground as drama marred the highly-contested Eastern Cape elective conference yesterday, forcing it to be extended to a fourth day after a number of delays. The conference began on Friday amid allegations of bribery of delegates by those in support of premier Oscar Mabuyane, followed by a failed court application to interdict the gathering on Saturday, then a stalemate on the adoption of credentials yesterday – the day it was supposed to elect new leaders. Mabuyane is seeking a second term but in his way is former provincial treasurer Babalo Madikizela. Several members disrupted the process yesterday, charging that there were “ghost delegates” in the plenary. ANC Provincial Task Team member Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said some members were…

AMID municipal office-thievery, from inside and outside, the big stink continues 8km from the City Hall at the intersection of Alpine and Crescent Street in Overport. For over a week now. Reported so many times. Sewage outside a store that sells fresh vegetables… One cannot smell curry leaves, only the bad fragrance of spent curry and breyani that has passed through somebody’s alimentary canal. Outside a famous outlet for fresh handmade bread, the yeast and gluten cannot be detected in the air any more. One of the busiest spots in Overport. And apathy? Flashy cars that whizz and splash through unholy water as pious drivers rush to mosque, temple and church. Discarding the ablution needed for their expensive tyres and fancy bodywork. Civic phone calls not part of their holy…

THE World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) claim of 5.4 million deaths directly attributable to Covid-19 and an additional 9.5 million as an indirect result does not square with data disseminated by health authorities (The Mercury, May 6). Data from the UK obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, showed that the death tally from Covid of 137 133 in England and Wales for the period January 20 to September 21, 2021, was greatly exaggerated and has been revised down to 17 371. Of that number 13 597 cases were older than 65. UK Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, has conceded the “unreliability” of Covid-deaths data. In ascribing 836 000 deaths to Covid in the US, Dr Rochelle Walensky of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), declined to state whether those who perished…

A LITTLE girl who astonished health-care professionals with her remarkable progress following a severe brain injury has, a year later, become a shining example of just what a difference rehabilitation can make to the developing brain. Nhlelo Chauke, 3, was travelling home with her mother from a family visit in Limpopo in January last year when her mother’s vehicle was involved in an accident that left her totally unresponsive. Paramedics had to resuscitate her at the scene. After three weeks spent fighting for her life at Netcare Montana Hospital, Nhlelo was transferred to Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital in Johannesburg. According to Professor Andre Mochan, a neurologist practising at the paediatric unit of the rehabilitation facility, it was clear that Nhlelo had a long way to go to regain brain functionality. She…

SOUTH Africa ranks third on the cybercrime hot-spot list in the world. Cyber security expert and GoldPhish CEO, Dan Thornton, said controlling who had access to restricted data, systems or areas was one of the most fundamental elements of security. “Weak passwords and password reuse are still some of the most serious concerns for cyber security,” he said. Internet users are urged to have strong passwords that are more difficult for criminals to crack. GoldPhish advised users to use three random words. “Forget super complex passwords that make no sense – length trumps complexity. “Instead, use passphrases with three random words. To get a bit more advanced, sneak in the odd number and special characters,” Thornton said. “Change your passwords on any site that has had a data breach or…

NASA has yet again delayed its Artemis 1 moon rocket launch and now the US space agency is planning it for August. Artemis 1, was scheduled to launch in late May but due to multiple delays in its wet dress rehearsal, touted as the final test, the mega moon rocket has been pushed further. Nasa now plans to take its final test in June, and if all goes according to plan it could set the stage for its first launch in August, Space.com reported. The Artemis 1 stack, a huge Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with an Orion crew capsule on top, rolled out at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in mid-March for its “wet dress rehearsal”, a crucial series of tests that includes fuelling up the SLS. The…

THE SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says it will be launching their own initiative investigation into the disruption of water supply at oThongathi, north of Durban. It has been without running water for 28 days since the April 11 floods after there was significant damage to the waterworks in the area. Ward councillors said that they have been pushed to their limits with trying to get water tankers and distribute water to residents and have no time frame as to when repairs at the oThongathi Water Treatment Works will be completed. The SAHRC said that it had noted that residents of oThongathi and the surrounding areas have been without water for approximately 28 days due to extensive infrastructure damage caused to the water treatment plant. “The SAHRC is extremely concerned…

FORMER president Jacob Zuma’s spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said a communications glitch at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that will delay the appeal hearing regarding Zuma’s medical parole, is another example of justice denied to the former statesman. Mistakes by an official of the SCA led to SCA President Judge Mandisa Maya not being notified of two requests made for the matter to be treated as urgent. Zuma’s matter could have been heard in February or May but now it is likely to be heard in August, which may lead to a courtroom clash as Zuma is facing charges at the Pietermaritzburg High Court linked to the 1990s arms deal. Manyi said they were on record as saying that the justice system has not been fair to Zuma…

WHAT would happen to the UN should diplomacy fail to end Russia’s aggression against Ukraine? Such an outcome would mean that the UN would become increasingly irrelevant and eventually succumb to the fate of its predecessor, The League of Nations, with all the human losses and destruction that went with it. By the time the world stood on the verge of global conflict following the Nazi seizure of the Sudetenland (Northern Czechoslovakia) in 1938, the league had become irrelevant. As a desperate act to try to regain some credibility, the league expelled the Soviet Union in 1939, following its invasion of Finland. The Soviet Union is the only state to have been expelled outright from a global organisation dedicated to maintaining international peace and security. Perhaps the greatest indictment of…

Beirut: Lebanon’s parliamentary elections began with expatriates voting in parliamentary polls at the weekend, kick-starting a critical poll that comes amid an unprecedented financial crisis that has spurred a mass population exodus. While opposition figures have pinned their hopes on the diaspora, experts said the elections were expected to uphold the status quo, despite years of economic meltdown. Expatriates in nine Arab countries and in Iran cast their votes on Friday while those in 48 other countries voted yesterday. Citizens in Lebanon will vote on May 15 to elect new members of parliament. |…

washington: A bird flu virus that is sweeping across the US is becoming the country’s worst outbreak, having already killed more than 37 million chickens and turkeys. More deaths are expected through next month as farmers perform mass culls across the Midwest. The last time bird flu hit the US in 2015, 50 million birds had died by the end of the season and cost the federal government more than $1 billion. At the time, the industry beefed up its biosecurity around poultry houses, installing sound cannons to repel wild birds, or even carwashes so that farm trucks wouldn’t bring contamination from one farm to another, so that there wouldn’t be a repeat. |…

World Health Organization (WHO) member states will consider a resolution against Russia this week for its invasion of Ukraine, including the possible closure of a major regional office in Moscow, a document obtained by Reuters showed. The resolution, which is to be considered tomorrow, stopped short of harsher sanctions such as suspending Russia from the UN global health agency’s board as well as a temporary freeze of its voting rights, three diplomatic and political sources said. The draft, prepared largely by EU diplomats and submitted to the WHO’s regional office for Europe, follows a request by Ukraine, signed by at least 38 other members including Turkey, France and Germany. The move is seen as a political step that would further isolate Moscow, rather than having any significant health consequences for…

Manila: The son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters on Saturday on the last day of presidential election campaigning, as polls showed him heading towards a landslide win. Victory in today’s election that secures a six-year term as president would cap a decades-long effort to rehabilitate the Marcos legacy after the patriarch was deposed and the disgraced clan chased into exile in the US. But the prospect of Ferdinand Marcos jr moving back into the presidential palace has alarmed rights activists, church leaders and political analysts who fear he could rule “without constraint”. The Marcoses’ remarkable return from pariahs to the peak of political power has been fuelled by public anger over corruption and poverty that persisted under the governments that followed the dictatorship.…