Sommaire pour 2022-09-13 de Mercury

LIBSTAR, a food producer whose brands include Denny mushrooms and Lancewood cheeses, yesterday announced its co-founder and chief executive Andries van Rensburg is to retire with effect from December 31. Pegged to take over is Charl de Villiers, who is the chief financial officer (CFO) of the company, with effect from January 1, 2023. De Villiers will take over a company with a R3.8 billion market capitalisation and a share price that has tanked 29.99 percent in the past three years. This as Libstar faces supply chain disruptions, significant cost inflation and consumer pressures. The announcement comes as Libstar is set to release its interim results today. Last month, it said in a trading statement that for the six-months period ended June, it was likely to see headline…

Archaeologists in Georgia have found a 1.8-million-year-old tooth of an early species of human which they say cements the region as the home of one of the earliest prehistoric human settlements in Europe, possibly anywhere outside Africa. The tooth was discovered near the village of Orozmani, 100km south-west of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, near Dmanisi where human skulls dated to 1.8 million years old, were found in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Dmanisi finds were the oldest such discovery anywhere in the world outside Africa, shedding light on early human evolution and migration patterns. “Orozmani, together with Dmanisi, represents the centre of the oldest distribution of old humans – or early Homo – in the world outside Africa,” the National Research Centre of Archaeo- logy and Prehistory…

As one leaves the EB Cloete (Spaghetti) junction towards the South Coast on the N2, less than 1km from said junction, there’s an immense shanty town on the left, directly across the road from Chesterville. The filth of open refuse spilling out on to the N2 itself, the putrid smell of raw sewage and many other aspects of the site are appalling, to say the least. For that situation to reach this stage and to be in full public view and just left like that, piling up every day, unattended to, is a municipal, provincial and national disgrace. It shows the complete failure of all levels of government to uplift its citizens to acceptable and hygienic standards of living. Hang your heads in shame, and if the situation nation-wide does…

The South African Human Rights Commission is concerned about unclaimed bodies and graves that have been left open, after the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Eastern Cape. Briefing Parliament’s ad hoc committee on the floods and recovery, project manager for disaster Refilwe Chulu said yesterday there were many unclaimed bodies in mortuaries. Last month, the committee heard that it had been difficult for the police to identify 17 bodies that remained unclaimed following the floods, and that DNA matches were only found in four potential cases. There were 457 fatalities and 82 missing people reported in KZN after the floods that caused massive damage to infrastructure and displacement of people in April. The Eastern Cape had seven reported fatalities, one person missing and three reported injuries. Chulu said…

A SECOND death following vaccination with the Covid-19 Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine has been recorded in South Africa. In early August the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) reported the first fatal case linked to the vaccine. Sahpra yesterday said it was informed of a second fatal case of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). “Causality assessment of the reported case was conducted by the National Immunisation Safety Expert Committee using the World Health Organization’s methodology. “The case was classified as a vaccine product-related event following investigations conducted and causality assessment. “The events reported in the vaccine recipient were consistent with the case definition of GBS and no other likely cause of GBS was identified at the time of illness. “As previously communicated, GBS is a very rare but potentially severe…

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) yesterday urged beachgoers to be aware of rip currents after recent drownings in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. Mike Bishop, the NSRI Ballito station commander, said that on Sunday afternoon the duty crew were activated following reports of a drowning in progress at Thompson’s tidal pool. “NSRI rescue swimmers, IPSS Medical Rescue, Netcare 911 ambulance services and Medi-Response rescue services responded. On arrival at the scene it was found that an adult male had entered the water to save his daughter, believed to be aged approximately 8, who may have been swept off the rocks near the tidal pool.” Bishop said the man was able to push his daughter to safety where she was recovered by family members on the shore, however he was…

ALONE my dream is just a dream. Another false illusion, a shadow in the night. All I want is for our hearts to be beating just as one. If we, as the proverbial village, stand together, we are an undeniable force that will help every child reach their potential. We believe that everyone can start a business and that universities have a critical transformational role to play in supporting start-ups along the right pathway. Last month, Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni- Abrahams encouraged small businesses in townships and rural areas to apply to the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme for support, including funding. The support from the government is commendable, but South Africans are not familiar with all the skills needed, such as marketing or governance. Unfortunately, these skills…

There are 10 million more people in slavery across the world today than in 2016 after the Covid-19 pandemic pulled multitudes into poverty and extreme working conditions. The number of people in either forced labour or marriages totalled 50 million last year, the equivalent of almost one in every 150 people across the globe, according to research published yesterday by the International Labour Organization, Walk Free and the International Organisation for Migration. The pandemic and lockdowns led to a rapid deterioration of conditions for many workers, pushing them into debt bondage and in the worst cases, forced labour, as extreme poverty rose for the first time in two decades. Climate change and armed conflicts have also pushed more people into uncertainty, according to the report. The private sector accounts for…

The international community yesterday urged warring sides in Ethiopia to seize the moment for peace after Tigrayan rebels said they were ready for talks led by the AU to end almost two years of warfare. There has been a flurry of diplomatic efforts to push for negotiations after fighting flared in northern Ethiopia in late August for the first time in several months, torpedoing a humanitarian truce and cutting off aid deliveries to war-stricken Tigray. Tigrayan authorities said on Sunday they were “prepared to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the AU”, after previously rejecting AU mediation and saying they wanted Kenya to lead any talks. “We are ready to abide by an immediate and mutually agreed cessation of hostilities,” Tigray’s regional government said in a…

MANILA: A Philippines MP has submitted a bill seeking to scrap a commission tasked with recovering billions plundered during the rule of the president’s late father. The Presidential Commission on Good Government has since 1986 retrieved $5 billion from the family of incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, but $2.4 billion(R41bn) is still outstanding. The commission was set up after the elder Marcos fled an uprising against his two decades of kleptocratic rule. Marcos Sr died in Hawaii in 1989. His family returned to the Philippines and his son won the election in May. Abolishing the commission is unlikely to face resistance, with Marcos commanding a legislative super-majority. | Reuters…

Royal AM began their first continental campaign with a dull, scoreless stalemate against Mbabane Highlanders at the Somhlolo National Stadium in Eswatini on Sunday afternoon. The two sides clashed in the preliminary play-off stage to determine which club enters the group phase of the continent's second tier competition, the CAF Confederation Cup. Thwihli Thwahla struggled throughout to establish any control over proceedings and have placed themselves in danger of a potential early exit from the competition. Royal AM co-coach Abram Nteo, who was the only one out of the three coaches to sit on the bench on the day, opted to offer a positive perspective on the day's events. The visitors struggled to adjust to the artificial grass used at the stadium but Nteo claimed he was happy his…

THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has condemned the murder of ward 99 councillor in eThekwini, Mnqobi “Gaah” Molefe. He was gunned down early yesterday in Margate. Molefe was ward councillor for areas including eMkhomazi, Magabheni, Malundi Township and Zawubhula. ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said it was with a deep sense of anger and sadness that they were bidding farewell yet again to another young leader whose life has been cut short. “The brutality and violent manner in which the councillor’s life has been taken away is something that can’t be easily erased from our minds. It is even worse for the members of the family.” The murder comes after IFP councillor Siyanda Magubane of Msinga Local Municipality was killed in a drive-by shooting on September 8, and another councillor was…

BEWARE the wildlife of London. A hair-raising account comes this way. Nobody is safe. Muswell Hill, in North London, is a pleasant locality, laced with parks and woodlands, as well as housing. It has a tennis club, and after tennis the menfolk repair to the local pub for a pint or two. Then they wander home. One of the menfolk woke up next morning after tennis/pub, to find his wallet missing. Horrors! Pickpocketing in a place like Muswell Hill? He hastened to cancel his bank cards. Then what should he discover in his garden but his wallet. But barely recognisable. It had been chewed to bits. Also the notes inside it. The bank cards had also been badly mauled. What could this mean? A bit of detective work revealed that…

It seems that Cape Town safety official JP Smith has raised the ire of the EFF for saying that the current Cape taxi violence is because of the “taxi terrorists” and “taxi mafia” who demand that the impounded taxis, apparently in spite of them being impounded for valid reasons, must be released. Further to that, it is alleged that money is being raised for “hits” to be taken out on city officials. A similar situation prevails here, where taxis that are unlicensed, illegal and unroadworthy are impounded and the taxi associations meet with the council and fines are cancelled and the taxis released – so much for the law being imposed. Further to that, we have in Cape Town buses attacked, torched, passengers harassed, drivers murdered, buses prevented from…

THE recent death of the British queen has led to a great outpouring in the media of feelings of bitterness against the colonialism by Britain of some countries in Africa more than a century or so ago. As a South African of Irish descent and taking into account past British subjugation of and atrocities against people in Ireland over many hundreds of years, I well understand the feelings. Still today the Irish people do not hold sway over their whole country. However, what I cannot understand is the outcry against the British only. What about the record of particularly the Belgian King Leopold II, whose actions in the Congo region far outweigh any atrocities the British might have committed, or other nations such as the Germans, the Portuguese, the French,…

The sentencing of a Durban couple convicted of swindling more than R13 million from the KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society has been postponed. Ruvanya Ramiah, 31, and Ayush Rambally, 32, were due to be sentenced in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Friday. They pleaded guilty in June to fraud and theft. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) provincial spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the matter was adjourned for a report. She said a social worker’s report was handed in to the court on Friday, but the defence argued they wanted another perspective. The matter was adjourned to November. Ramiah, who worked as a finance officer at the KZN Blind and Deaf Society from March 2012 to February 2019, said in her guilty plea that she committed the fraud by paying herself…

The pupil who allegedly set a teacher’s car on fire following the confiscation of his cellphone will appear before the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court tomorrow. The pupil was arrested last week following the incident at Northbury Secondary School when a deputy principal took his phone as it was against school rules for pupils to carry cellphones. The pupil reportedly left class and came back moments later with petrol which he poured on a car before setting it alight. The incident left pupils and teachers shocked, and led to widespread condemnation across the education sector. Police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said the pupil, who was released into his parents’ custody, will appear on charges of arson. Meanwhile, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has indicated that it is yet to decide on the…

Mariannhill police are investigating a case of malicious damage to property after a fire at the Denny Mushrooms plant in Shongweni on Friday gutted a large portion of the property. Provincial police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said that on September 9 just before 5pm a security guard alleged that he was performing his duties at the farm when he heard his colleagues screaming for help. “Upon investigating, he noticed that the fire was coming from the store room, growing room, packaging and dispatch department,” she said. Ngcobo said the circumstances surrounding the incident were being investigated and a case of malicious damage to property was opened at Mariannhill police station. Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, eThekwini fire divisional commander Dennis Govender said this was the second fire at the plant.…

The case of the Mariannhill police officer who appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday for the alleged kidnapping and murder of a man has been adjourned to next week. The officer was remanded in custody for a formal bail hearing on September 19. Sihle Mthare, 27, of KwaSanti, was allegedly taken from his uncle’s home in Dassenhoek, Mariannhill, by a man who identified himself as a police officer on August 21. After his family reported him missing, when they could not find him at Mariannhill police station or any other stations, the case was taken over by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid). Ipid said on Sunday that the investigation led to the discovery of the deceased’s body which was hidden under the storm water pipe near Camperdown last…

THE media frenzy and international interest that greeted the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II should serve as a clear reminder that all traditional institutions should be accorded the same level of respect and dignity. Since the death of the queen at Balmoral Castle in north-east Scotland last week, the international media coverage of the British royal family has been on overdrive. On Friday morning, every newspaper around the world had, on its front page, the breaking news about the death of the queen of England. All major TV news stations in every corner of the globe dedicated several hours to the story. They will subject their viewers to this historical content until Monday, when the queen is laid to rest. All that is good and well. The British royal…

Ukraine said yesterday its forces recaptured 500km2 in the southern Kherson region after claiming huge gains in the east over the weekend. The Ukrainian army has been progressing more slowly on the southern front than in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv that is almost fully back under its control. “We have liberated about 500km2,” said Ukrainian south command spokesperson Natalya Gumenyuk, in the first estimate of the southern counter-offensive gains over the past two weeks. She added that the settlements of Vysokopillia, Biloguirka, Soukhy Stavok and Myrolioubivka were “fully under Ukrainian flag”. Kirill Stremousov, a pro-Moscow official in the southern capital of Kherson, said yesterday that the situation in his city was “under control”. “Right now, a repeat of the situation in Kharkiv is simply not possible,” Stremousov said, “there…

PARIS: An appeal trial began in a Paris court yesterday as two men found guilty of helping Islamist militants prepare the 2015 deadly attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris seek to overturn their convictions. The two men, Ali Riza Polat and Amar Ramdani, are among 14 convicted in December 2020 as accomplices of the attackers, who were themselves killed by police soon after the killings. Polat and Ramdani have denied involvement in the attacks and are the only convicted accomplices to appeal. They received the heaviest sentences. | Reuters…

According to Sunday news reports, it was a 12-year-old boy who first rumbled Elton Jantjies at a guest house in Nelspruit where he had gone for a night of passion with the Springboks’ dietician, with whom he is allegedly conducting an extra-marital liaison with. The child wanted an autograph and reportedly commented to his father something along these lines: “I have got his autograph before when he was with his wife, but this is not her,” when referring to Zeenat Simjee; and a Google search of Elton Jantjies wife did the rest ... Another guest recorded “noises of passion” from Jantjies’ room, mostly because he was annoyed that he could not sleep; and then later that night when the couple was allegedly having an argument and this fellow objected to…

Kaizer Motaung, the founder of the Kaizer Chiefs empire, can no longer stand by idly and watch the club plumb the depths of despair. For many years, Chiefs earned the title of aristocrats of South African football, but its relevance pales into insignificance these days because the club has not won a trophy in seven years. Currently, Amakhosi are hovering above the relegation zone in 14th place on the Premiership standings. Arthur Zwane was handed the coach’s position by the Chiefs hierarchy, which includes team manager Bobby Motaung and Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr. They are not occupying those positions because they emerged from a list of qualified candidates who applied after the posts were advertised. Rather, those key positions were award due to pure nepotism as the incumbents…

THE Reed Dance ceremony scheduled for Enyokeni Palace in Nongoma will go ahead as planned this weekend, and there is no intention to change anything, royal household spokesperson Prince Thulani said yesterday. The second leg of the annual festival had been placed in doubt after the faction opposed to King Misuzulu kaZwelithini insisted that the king was not allowed at Enyokeni Palace. It is understood that this was said by those who support Prince Simakade as the rightful heir to the throne. Asked about this yesterday, Prince Thulani said: “We are not worried about the gossip coming from any quarters because as far as we are concerned everything is going ahead in line with the royal household plans.” Earlier yesterday, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said she had noted media enquiries…

I resist stating the obvious but you are much more than meets the eye. We just are. The iceberg metaphor is true for us all. There is a lot more going on beneath the surface of our lives than others, and even we ourselves, are able to see, let alone understand. Sometimes the “iceberg” may feel like a volcano and your behaviour is curt or erratic and you are short-tempered. Sometimes the “iceberg” is a secure yacht on a very calm ocean and you are friendly and relaxed and a model of kindness. It may be comforting (or discomforting) to know we are each a mass of compounded generational history perched on mountains of successes, failures, flaws, aspirations, losses and disappointments. Beneath the surface are jostling urges and surging tides…

Brian Molefe has been named as one of the kingpins of state capture in the Zondo Commission report. An intimate friend of the Guptas, he was seen so regularly wining and dining at the Gupta compound in Saxonwold that it became almost a second home to him. The Guptas befriended the former Eskom CEO to win lucrative coal contracts with the national power utility. Molefe’s rise and fall has been both rapid and spectacular. As one of the blue-eyed boys of the ANC’s cadre-deployment policy, he moved rapidly up the public service ladder. Starting in the National Treasury, he became a successful CEO of the Public Investment Corporation, then with the influence of the Guptas, moved to Transnet and finally the big one, as Eskom CEO. How could the Guptas…

Mr Mohamed Saeed’s letter (“LGBTQ community and the Constitution”, The Mercury, September 12) refers: Every religion has its own rule book. Every one of them claims divine origin. So breaking any rule stamped in the books would constitute blasphemy. Totally prohibited. A clear path and definite ticket to hell. All religions. No exception. All fell from high heaven. Each one rightfully declares: “Ours is the best. Ours is the correct one. Others are all false.” What is good for the goose is certainly not good for the gander. Even if the goose and gander are mutual spouses. Initial love attracts and pushes all else out of focus – only temporarily. Then, when kids arrive, there’s some brown stuff found splattered on the ceiling. Violent tugs-of-war involving “right of choice” for…

Self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri – wanted in South Africa – says there are moves by South African law enforcement agencies to kidnap him in Malawi. “We are dismayed and shocked by the continuous intrusion into the private space of Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and attempts to kidnap him by some recognisable security personnel from South Africa,” Bushiri’s spokesperson, Ephraim Nyondo, said. “Through tip-offs from well-wishers and our intelligence sources, we have it on record that these personnel from South Africa have been trailing the prophet, to the extent of following him everywhere he goes under the guise of working under the ‘embassy’. “Now that he is home and free, the Prophet will not be bullied and intimidated by these people in his home country the way they did in South Africa.”…

ANC leaders in KwaZulu-Natal have asked their counterparts from Mpumalanga province to give them more time to have a discussion on leadership selection before the December elective conference. The two biggest provinces of the ANC, KZN and Mpumalanga, met yesterday to discuss the road map to the party’s crucial conference. On Friday, the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) in Mpumalanga endorsed President Cyril Ramaphosa to retain his position as party president, and Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola for the position of deputy president. The PEC issued a statement saying that the other names deliberated on would be discussed with other provinces. “The PEC extensively deliberated on the leadership issue and resolved to support: Cde President Cyril Ramaphosa for the second term as president of the ANC, and Cde…

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife CEO Sihle Mkhize has expressed his condolences to the family of a man who was killed by an elephant on September 5 in northern KwaZulu-Natal In a statement Ezemvelo said that it received the report of the incident in which Bhekisabelo Prince Nyawo was killed, last Wednesday. The incident happened on the eastern shores of the Pongolapoort Dam. “The circumstances surrounding the incident are still not clear but it is thought that two people entered the Pongola Nature Reserve looking for their missing cattle. At some point, they came across a herd of elephants. “All that is known is that the bull elephant attacked the two men, and one person escaped unharmed. The second person was, unfortunately, killed on the scene.” Mkhize added that the family, assisted…

SA entering period that could turn grave, but president, protector’s offices seem empty As the curtain slowly comes down early on suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, it is interesting to reflect on how she has been holding on to her job by a thread lately. This transformation of the public protector’s once excellent and stable office over the past five years by the divisive, populist parasite agenda of factionalism in the ANC will be one of Mkhwebane’s lasting influences. Mkhwebane is heading to court today to attempt to enforce the rare victory she scored last week. A full Bench of the Western Cape High Court ruled that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to suspend her was invalid and “improper” – after she sent him questions about the Phala Phala break-in. The…

Frantic appeals for food and medical care are spreading across China in a grim deja vu, as tens of millions of people are put under weeks-long coronavirus lockdowns ahead of a key meeting of the ruling Communist Party. While much of the world is moving past the pandemic, China remains stuck, with leader Xi Jinping continuing orders to maintain “zero Covid.” These lockdowns are keeping localised outbreaks from spreading, but are taking an enormous economic and psychological toll on the population. Xi is set to begin a third five-year term next month, breaking the precedent of stepping down after two terms. Lockdowns are expected to continue at least through that meeting, the 20th National Chinese Communist Party Congress. Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan said on Friday that some sweeping Covid controls should…

The coffin of Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth was taken along the Royal Mile in the Scottish capital Edinburgh yesterday in a silent and solemn procession watched by thousands of people lining the street to pay their respects to Britain’s longest serving monarch. The skirl of bagpipes was the only sound as kilted soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland bore the coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse and placed it in the hearse. A gun salute crashed out from a battery on Edinburgh Castle as the hearse began its journey. Then there was just silence. King Charles and his siblings, Anne, Andrew and Edward, walked behind the hearse up the historic street. The Royal Company of Archers provided the guard of honour. The coffin will lie in St Giles’ Cathedral…

Kinshasa: Uganda has made the first payment towards a $325 million bill (about R5.5 billion) it was ordered to pay by a UN court for invading eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during the Second Congo War, the Congolese government said. Uganda transferred $65m to its western neighbour on September 1, according to minutes of a cabinet meeting released at the weekend. The sum is the first of five annual payments Kinshasa was awarded in damages and interest by the International Court of Justice in February, Justice Minister Rose Mutombo told ministers on Friday. The decision was issued after a years-long legal battle. | AFP…

Bayern Munich will welcome Robert Lewandowski's Barcelona to the Allianz Arena tonight, hoping to jolt themselves out of a poor run of Bundesliga form. Despite Wednesday's impressive 2-0 win at Inter Milan, Bayern have drawn three games in a row and sit in the unfamiliar position of third place after six matches in their league. While Bayern have not struggled to find the back of the net this season with 31 goals in nine games, they have missed Lewandowski's penetration at crucial moments in recent weeks. Lewandowski has had a dominant start to life in Spain, scoring six times in five La Liga matches for Barcelona to sit in his usual spot atop the goalscoring charts. With four wins and a draw, Barcelona are unbeaten in the league and sit…