Sommaire pour NM-2021-04-01 de Mercury

Siphelele dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE WORLD Bank yesterday revised South Africa’s 2021 growth outlook to 3 percent from 2.6 percent earlier, charging that the recovery would be driven by a rebound in global activity from the continued vaccination drive. The bank said in an Africa’s Pulse report that the recovery would also be driven by higher demand for local commodity exports but warned that the country still faced serious impediments to sustained growth. The bank said restrictions imposed to curb a second wave of Covid-19, fiscal tightening, high unemployment, along with power cuts, would prevent a stronger recovery in gross domestic product (GDP). “South Africa’s real GDP is expected to rebound from an estimated 7 percent contraction in 2020 to growth of 3 percent in 2021, slightly up from…

THE LAND and Agriculture Development Bank of South Africa said yesterday that a R7 billion equity appropriation announced in the February 24, 2021 Budget would be applied to bring the bank out of a default situation. “Land Bank continues to work with all of its lenders towards a Liability Solution that meets any conditions attached to this R7bn equity appropriation, and to bring Land Bank out of its event of default situation,” a statement said. The proposed Liability Solution would not require the Land Bank to have a credit rating and the credit rating service conducted through Moody’s was terminated. The bank’s listed notes remained suspended. | Edward West…

MEGHAN, Duchess of Sussex, is reportedly planning a home birth for her second child. The 39-year-old royal and her husband Prince Harry are expecting a little sister for their 22-month-old son Archie. Meghan previously planned for a home birth when she was pregnant with Archie, but when he was a week overdue, she was taken to London’s private Portland hospital to give birth safely there. Harry and Meghan have said they will have finished expanding their family now that they’ll soon have a son and a daughter. Harry, 36, said of their baby news: “It’s amazing. I’m just so grateful. To have any child, any one or any two would be amazing, but to have a boy and then a girl, what more can you ask for? Now we’ve got…

Opposition parties not all in favour of mayor’s proposals Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE eThekwini Municipality yesterday tabled an ambitious budget that seeks to support the poor, revive the city’s battered economy and give economic relief to ratepayers hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The budget, which is still in the draft phase, has yet to be debated by various political parties and should be finalised at the end of May. It is wide ranging and lists economic recovery, youth unemployment, facilitation of catalyst projects to spur economic growth and ensuring clean governance as its primary goals. The draft budget also details extensively all the development initiatives it hopes to achieve. The total budget for 2021/2022 financial year is R52.3 billion, made up of an operating budget of R47bn and a…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff FAROUK Araie (The Mercury, March 30) rightly laments the rise of fascism in the world but appears not to recognise its manifestation in the US. Nearly a century ago, Italian fascist Mussolini stated that “fascism should more appropriately be called ‘corporatism’ because it is a merger of state and corporate power”. Under Mussolini’s Ministry of Corporations, constitutional values were eroded and replaced by authoritarianism. All important sectors of Italian economic life were brought under the control of the Fascist Party. Regulatory adherence was ensured by the insertion of ideologically loyal members into the corporate structure, thus blurring the distinction between the party and big business. A similar version of that is occurring in the US under Joe Biden who has included 14 top…

MUHAMMAD OMAR | Durban North It was a breath of fresh air when regional magistrate Garth Davis issued a judgment that the municipal manager Mr (Sipho) Nzuza cannot resume his duties while the criminal charges against him are under way. Sadly, when it comes to corruption cases in South Africa, we have not seen the likes of previous era judges in the category of Justice Didcott who could take any security apartheid legislation, tear it to shreds, release the persons very often, to the embarrassment of the government, with the charges withdrawn. How many officials, business per sons and politicians involved in state capture have been charged, arrested and convicted, if they ever will be? All too often officials have a host of criminal charges against them and…

Karen Singh karen.singh@inl.co.za There was a 114% increase in cash-in-transit robberies in the second half of 2020 in KwaZulu-Natal. This is according to Gareth Newham from the Institute of Security Studies. He was commenting after a cash-in-transit robbery on Monday in northern KZN. Police said a group of armed suspects blew up a cash van while it was in transit on the uMhlathuze Bridge between Melmoth and Nkandla. Witnesses captured the robbery on video. SAPS spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili said the incident occurred at about 9.30am at the bridge. Murudili said it was reported the cash van was ambushed by an unknown number of suspects who appeared from the bushes. The van was forced to come to a stop after shots were fired. “The suspects robbed the security guards of…

Police said two suspects who terrorised the community of Mbhoshongweni in Ulundi committing a spate of robberies, burglaries and rapes have been apprehended. Ntuthuko Sihle Sithole, 19, and Sithembiso Bongani Phakathi, 40, face four counts of rape, five robberies and two burglary cases. According to police these incidents took place between January and March this year. Police spokesperson Captain Thembeka Mbele said the suspects mostly targeted people who were living alone. “At knifepoint they threatened the victims, raped them and took their belongings before fleeing the scene. “Charges were opened at Ulundi police station and the police began searching for the suspects …” said Mbele. | Mercury Correspondent…

An uncrewed SpaceX Starship prototype rocket failed to land safely on Tuesday after a test launch from Boca Chica, Texas, and engineers were investigating, SpaceX said. “We do appear to have lost all the data from the vehicle,” SpaceX engineer John Insprucker said in a webcast video of the rocket's flight test. “We're going to have to find out from the team what happened.” The webcast view was obscured by fog, making it difficult to see the vehicle's landing. Debris from the spacecraft was found scattered 8km away from its landing site. The Starship was one in a series of prototypes for the heavy-lift rocket being developed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s private space company to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the moon and…

Karen Singh karen.singh@inl.co.za THE Public Service Commission (PSC) has revealed that more than 600 senior managers in public service have failed to disclose their interests in various companies. The PSC this week released its quarterly bulletin from October 1 to December 31 last year. Heads of department (HoDs) and directors-general were among the officials who submitted their financial disclosure forms, but did not make full disclosure of their registered interests. PSC commissioner Michael Seloane said it was disconcerting that a failure to disclose registrable interests was still a problem in the public service sector, adding that this created a serious challenge in managing conflicts of interest. “The challenge is compounded by the involvement of some HoDs in the perpetuation of non-compliance …” The report revealed that 638 (21%) senior…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za A DEAD employee of the Msunduzi Municipality continued to receive a salary six months after dying. Administrator Scelo Duma said he discovered this recently while scrutinising the payroll. He did not reveal the exact financial loss to the municipality. Duma was giving an update on the state of the municipality to councillors during a council meeting yesterday. His update focused on administrative and political stability, service delivery and financial performance. He addressed the issue of employees who have not presented themselves for a head count, and said 38 employees were yet to present themselves. The salaries of these employees have been frozen. Originally, there were 121 employees who had failed to present themselves, but the number came down as more people had been accounted for. Duma…

Samkelo Mtshali samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education says it has a total of 817 vacant teaching posts that require an additional R377.4 million, with 147 of the posts for mathematics teachers. This emerged in a report by Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu, sent to KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala, in which he also revealed that as many as 960 teachers had been deemed surplus and could not be replaced as they did not meet the profiles of available vacancies, due to their subject specialisations. Mshengu said that his department had additional pressure as its budget for the 2021/22 calendar year had been decreased by almost R6 billion. He said that due to a need to transform the curriculum in schools, some subjects had to be phased out and be replaced by…

WE head into the Easter long weekend with a reminder from health experts that this period may lead to a much-feared third wave of Covid-19 infections if lockdown regulations are not observed. It will come down to how we behave over the next few days, and understanding that, regrettably, our vaccine rollout suffered a major setback. South Africa has been hailed across the world for its proactive approach in introducing the lockdown, which gave our health-care facilities enough time to prepare. We dare not forget the hard lockdown that saw many of us confined to our homes, unable to do what we most enjoyed before Covid-19, like jogging, visiting our loved ones and bizarrely at a time being prevented from buying certain food and clothing items, as well as the…

A young couple has lodged a report with the police, claiming that the 19-year-old woman was gang raped by three men in the presence of her husband while they were on their way to meet relatives. The victim alleged that she was dragged to a nearby jungle and gang raped. Her husband was beaten by her attackers as he tried to fight them off. The couple were threatened and robbed. The woman said the men who gang raped her, also filmed the act.“They dragged us to a nearby jungle where they tore my clothes, raped me and filmed the act. We were thrashed and they said they would kill us if we said anything to anyone.” The woman said they were on their way to her in-laws’ home on a…

MOSCOW: US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter has revealed, in his new memoir, Beautiful Things, that he did not do anything unethical when he was a member of the board of directors of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, which was involved in “the decade’s biggest political fable”. Covering the incident that triggered an impeachment inquiry into former president Donald Trump, in an 18-page chapter, Hunter said it was “most remarkable for its epic banality”. The tell-all memoir is expected to come to light on April 6.…

NEW YORK: Police have arrested a man suspected of attacking an elderly Asian woman in New York City and charged him with felony assault as a hate crime. Police identified the suspect as Brandon Elliot, 38, who was already on lifetime parole for murdering his mother, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said in a statement to Reuters. Elliot was arrested and charged yesterday. The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Force had been looking for the assailant since Monday, after a man punched and kicked a 65-year-old woman, knocked her to the ground and stamped at least three times on her head. He also made anti-Asian statements.…

Stuart Hess Aiden Markram admitted yesterday that despite his incredible run of form in first class cricket this season, he was still surprised to get called up to the South African One-Day squad for the series against Pakistan. Markram has made six centuries this season, five for the Titans in the domestic Four-Day series tournament, and one for the Proteas, in a gutsy fourth innings showing in the second Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in February. “I’m glad that from the selectors and coaches point of view that they see me in the white ball plans,” said Markram. It’s been just under two years since Markram last played an ODI. That match was South Africa’s last in a disappointing World Cup campaign in England, in which the Proteas won just…

| eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za It’s my firm view that if the local soccer bodies and leaders worked to their full potential the South African top-flight could have similar status worldwide as the Scottish Premiership. The Scottish Premier League is not among Europe’s top five leagues, but it is a respected league globally with strong passion and traditions. Most football fans around the world know about Rangers and Celtic, Scotland’s two main clubs, because of their traditions and passionate fans. Do majority of people football fanatics in the world know about the existence of Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates? In Africa, probably yes but outside Africa, probably no. However, it is certainly possible to change that. Here are my suggestions to improve the DStv Premiership: Honour clubs for social media excellence…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za CEMENT and building materials group PPC’s shares shot up 18.23 percent on the JSE yesterday to R2.40 after it announced that it had made good progress in de-risking its balance sheet and improving its investment prospects. The group said that the removal of a potential $175 million (R2.61 billion)liability in PPC Barnett in Democratic Republic of Congo, and improved cement sales, cost reductions, better working capital management and cash preservation over 11 months to end-February 2021, meant that lenders had agreed to postpone by six months a R750m capital raise planned for yesterday. It said the need for the capital raise would also be reviewed should the South African business continue to de-gear as it had already done, the group said in an operational update.…

A WELL-CONSTRUCTED induction programme will equip directors to add value more quickly and improve their overall contribution. South African boards are under pressure to improve their diversity in order to improve their decision-making in a complex and demanding economic and social environment. The unintended consequence of this drive to identify and recruit directors from beyond the traditional club is that new directors may find themselves with a lot of ground to cover before they can genuinely begin to contribute. At the same time, even apparently experienced directors are likely to find the challenges of taking up a new board appointment more difficult to overcome than they might originally have thought. One initiative by the Institute of Directors in South Africa has been to create two professional designations for directors, namely…

GRINDROD Shipping Holdings, which provides dry bulk and product tanker shipping services, has sold three tankers, Leopard Moon, Leopard Sun and Breede, a statement said yesterday. The company contracted to sell the 2013-built medium-range tankers Leopard Moon and Leopard Sun for $21.4 million (about R319m) each on March 11, and the vessels were expected to be delivered to their new owners by April 30. The 2009-built small tanker Breede was being sold for $6.8m in a separate deal, and it was expected to be delivered to new owners by April 30. The proceeds, after settling debt associated with the vessels, together with cash on hand, would be used to repay the $25.8m remaining outstanding amount on the Senior Secured Credit Facility with Sankaty maturing in June 2021. Upon completion, the…

Sacha van Niekerk sacha.vanniekerk@inl.co.za Whether you’re in Cape Town, Johannesburg or Durban, this list has you sorted for finding an array of delicious treats this coming Easter weekend: My Sugar Where: 77 Regent Rd, Sea Point, Cape Town. Visit: mysugar.co.za From chocolate bunnies to vegan chocolate and eggs in all shapes and sizes with vibrant hand-painted designs, My Sugar is the place to do all your Easter treat shopping. Its “smash eggs” are a favourite year round and consist of a hollow chocolate egg filled with delicious treats that you use a mini wooden hammer to crack open. Paul’s Homemade Ice Cream Where: Various locations in Johannesburg and Florida Road, Durban. Visit: paulshomemade.com Known for its delicious ice creams, Paul’s also serves other amazing treats. The golden…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule is playing his cards close to his chest following an ANC National Executive Committee instruction three days ago. On Monday, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said the party’s national body decided that all senior and provincial leaders facing criminal charges should step aside or face suspension. Outlining the resolution, Ramaphosa said: “All members who have been charged with corruption or other serious crimes must step aside within 30 days, failing which, they should be suspended in terms of Rule 25.70 of the ANC constitution.” Yesterday, Magashule made his first public appearance after the public announcement, in Soweto to plant trees. Magashule had been expected to address the media at the party’s headquarters on Tuesday to explain the NEC resolution and answer questions on…

Crosses etched in mysterious abundance across the walls of Christianity's most sacred church were long assumed to be graffiti, but they may be the work of mediaeval masons paid to carve them by pilgrims, research suggests. Revered in Christian tradition as the site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial, Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre usually bustles with worshippers and clergy. That has made study of the sacred markings difficult. But renovations in 2018 at one of its chapels featuring thousands of the close-bunched and hand-engraved crosses gave Israel's Antiquities Authority and Hadassah Academic College Jerusalem an opportunity for research. In co-ordination with the Armenian Orthodox Church, which controls the chapel, the scholars used digital cameras and three-dimensional imaging to map out, compare and date the crosses. “This unique phenomenon always…

FAROUK ARAIE | Gauteng The chilling massacre of innocent civilians in Palma, Mozambique, must be condemned by the global community. We cannot afford a clash of civilisations. The entire world is caught in the vortex of global terrorism. If we want to reduce the levels of terrorism, or even contain it, we will have to deal with its manifestations and its underlying causes. Today’s terrorism transcends political and geographical boundaries; it is supported by powerful states and a multitude of international actors. The fact is that global peace has become a subject at the UN, and all endeavours to achieve it have been futile as unrestrained violence has made its way to establish its diabolical might. Kingpins of terrorism were the potent of today’s powerful nations on the…

| Henny Youngman RELAX! News comes this way that a Looters’ Amnesty has been negotiated. I can now reveal that those who have been looting the country for the past decade or so have agreed to return to the fiscus the trillions they have stolen, in exchange for a blanket pardon. As one of them put it in secret negotiations with the authorities: “It was just our little joke.” The positive effects will be immense. The Department of Finance has calculated that with the return of multi-trillions of rand over the next few months, income tax can be suspended for the next few years at least. The economy will boom, potholes in the roads will be fixed and sewage will once again flow only in the sewers. Eskom will…

A 121-year-old chocolate bar, from a batch commissioned by Queen Victoria for British troops fighting in South Africa, has been found in its original tin in the attic of an English manor. The chocolate belonged to an English aristocrat who fought in the Second Boer War, Sir Henry Edward Paston-Bedingfield, and was found in his helmet case at his family’s ancestral home, 500-year-old Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, eastern England. “Although … you wouldn’t want it as your Easter treat, it is still complete and a remarkable find,” said Anna Forrest, a cultural heritage curator at the National Trust, a heritage charity that manages Oxburgh Hall. The tin lid has a message in Victoria’s handwriting that says: “I wish you a happy New Year” and the inscription “South Africa 1900”, as…

Twitter was abuzz yesterday after a naked woman appeared on screen during a virtual meeting between the Committee on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and the National House of Traditional Leaders (NHTL). | Siyabonga Mkhwanazi It is not the first such incident. According to Cogta portfolio chairperson Faith Muthambi, this has happened before during one of their meetings. In reprimanding traditional leader Xolile Ndevu, Muthambi expressed her dismay at the incident. “Inkosi, the person behind you is not properly dressed ... we are seeing everything, Yhoo! This is very disturbing, what we are seeing. “And this is not the first time this is happening; every time we see you, we see these unholy pictures. You are on live television,” she said. Muthambi said the woman was not part…

HOME Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has issued directives extending the validity of foreigners’ visas which expired during South Africa’s lockdown imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The department has extended to June 30 the validity of legally issued short-term permits which were originally valid for not longer than 90 days, such as tourist visas, and expired during the lockdown, the department’s spokesperson Siya Qoza said. “The validity of longer-term temporary visas (issued for three months to three years) is until July 31. The directions extend the initial validity period extension of March 31. “This means visas that were lawfully issued and expired during the lockdown are deemed to be valid until the end of June 2021 and July 31, 2021,” said Qoza. “Holders of such visas are permitted…

IT IS astounding how many proverbs there are which prove the point that use of force is hardly the best option the majority of the time. “Force is no argument”, “a forced kindness deserves no thanks”, “reason succeeds where force fails”, “you cannot force water up a hill”– these are American proverbs on the issue. It appears that the people’s wisdom has been unknown to the US leadership for decades. The reason we decided to bring up this matter is the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s speech entitled “A Foreign Policy for the American People”, which he delivered in Washington on March 3. Among other things, he said: “We will incentivise democratic behaviour. But we will not promote democracy through costly military interventions or by attempting to overthrow authoritarian…

THE White House yesterday unveiled an approximate $2 trillion (R29.53 trillion) jobs plan focused on infrastructure and the climate, a blueprint that represents President Joe Biden’s vision for how to reshape the US economy. Under what the administration calls the American Jobs Plan, Biden aims to tackle some of the nation’s most pressing problems, from climate change to decaying water systems to the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. The administration’s promises are vast and may prove difficult to enact, even if the effort can get through Democrats’ extremely narrow majority in Congress. The plan, set to be introduced by Biden in Pittsburgh yesterday, says it will enable drivers across the country to find electric charging stations for their vehicles on the road. Every lead pipe in the country would be replaced. All…

In a turn of events that is likely to spark off the MeToo movement in the country, the Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (BHRC) has asked the Home Ministry to take cognisance of allegations of sexual misconduct in a workplace raised by a former woman assistant vice-president of the City Bank. The City Bank, one of the leading banks in the country, is the sole franchisee of the American Express in Bangladesh and AMEX credit cards are one of its important lines of business. Monira Sultana Popy filed a complaint of sexual harassment against three top officials of the bank in Dhaka in August 2019 – after “failing to resist the continuous sexual advances and even attempts to rape”. The case named City Bank managing director Mashrur Arefin and two other…

LONDON: A life-sized bronze statue of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has been installed at Winchester University in the UK’s south-east, sparking a public controversy, with critics branding the move as a “vanity project”, media reported. According to the Daily Mail newspaper, students have long protested against the university’s decision to install the sculpture, arguing that the nearly £24 000 (R490 000) allocated for the purpose could have been spent on better goals, such as preventing redundancies and cuts at the university. In a bid to allay public concerns, the university’s vice-chancellor, professor Joy Carter, said at the opening ceremony that no funds were diverted from student support or staffing to create the statue. Instead, he expressed hope that it would inspire the university’s community, reminding that “no matter what life…

TOKYO: Japan will co-ordinate closely with the US and South Korea in dealing with North Korea, with the aim of resolving the issue of Japanese abducted by the North and denuclearising the Korean Peninsula, a top Japanese government spokesperson has said. North Korea test launched two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan last week, underscoring steady progress in its weapons programme and ramping up pressure on the new US administration as it reviews its North Korea policy. “Close co-ordination is indispensable in dealing with North Korea,” said Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za STEINHOFF International rose nearly 6 percent on the JSE yesterday morning after the troubled retailer received support from four large active claimant groups (ACGs) for the implementation of its proposal to resolve multi-jurisdictional legacy litigation against it. The group said that the four active claimants represented market purchases based in South Africa and abroad. It said the four, Burford Capital LLC, Deminor Recovery Services, SA/DRS Belgium SC and DRRT/Therium had promised to recommend that their respective constituents accept the group’s July 2020 global settlement proposal which was further revised early this year. The claims against Steinhoff stem from a December 2017 accounting scandal which led to a 95 percent collapse in its share price and shed more than R200 billion in market capitalisation, leading…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za ACCELERATE Property Fund, which has Fourways Mall as a flagship asset, will not pay a distribution for the periods ending September 30, 2020, and March 31, 2021, the group said in a pre-close update yesterday. Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) are required to pay at least 75 percent of distributable earnings to shareholders, but the group said it believed its Reit status would not be affected by the non-payment of distributions due to the lack of distributable earnings arising from Covid-19 relief granted to tenants, offshore profits not yet distri- buted to it, additional bad debt write-offs and other tax deductible items. Accelerate’s board had also decided to retain up to 25 percent of distributable income in the future, once the Fund returned to paying…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za The high number of medical negligence cases is crippling the Department of Health (DOH) as money that could be used for resources and filling of vacancies were being redirected to legal battles. This has been revealed by Auditor-General (A-G) Tsakani Maluleke. Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, Maluleke said the financial status of a number of departments continued to be “alarming”, especially the provincial departments of Health and Education. The A-G 2019/20 general report is on the audit outcomes for the national and provincial departments. According to Maluleke, medical negligence claims were often under-budgeted for. In Gauteng, the DOH budgeted R2.6 million for medical negligence cases but ended up paying R501m in the year. There were 111 (26%) auditees that managed to produce quality financial…

DR ERNEST FULLAGAR | Richmond On our recent trips from the Natal Midlands to swim at Addington Beach we have not been allowed to use the indoor change rooms at the beach. This has been going on for months. No reason was given. Staff loitering at the entrance turned us away. When they did allow the change rooms to be used (well in the past) we have been rudely instructed to wash the sand off our feet before we were allowed inside. We were forced to change in the open. It must be an inconvenience to a lot of other people. I have overheard a family asking a car guard where they could change because they had been turned away at the change rooms. In addition, I have…

THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN | Kloof Maggie Govender paid a glowing tribute to her late husband, “Charm” Govender. And so did his friend, Pravin Gordhan, at his funeral. They have all said what a dedicated, committed and hard-working ANC cadre Charm was. From young university days until the time of his unfortunate death on the Berg, Charm gave his life to the ANC. If there ever was a man committed to the cause of the ANC, it was Charm. He would put many ANC members to shame. In my short encounter with Charm, what struck me most about the man was his quiet, unassuming and humble demeanour. (In fact, I knew his father better than him.) Unlike many ANC members who are arrogant, loud, boisterous and sought recognition, Charm worked…

On a personal note, my son, Thulani, will be 23 today, April 1, April Fool’s Day. Let me assure you the young man is no fool. He is hard-working, creative, responsible, and employed by a leading advertising agency in Indianapolis. He is usually behind the camera, but often appears in front of it, too. Thulani has an impressive digital following with his original music and photography. I am more impressed by his work ethic, impeccable manners, reputation as a professional and his capacity to plan, save and leverage his money. It is true that I have given him a good start and sent him to good schools, but it is he that has taught me that parenting is overrated and lineage is underrated. Thulani was born hard-working, responsible and nice.…

| Mercury Correspondent An unruly passenger who refused to wear a mask on a FlySafair flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg was thrown off the plane just minutes before take-off. In a video that has gone viral on social media, the angry man can be seen arguing with a flight attendant while another man – presumably security – is seen directing him off the flight. While the commotion is ensuing, passengers on the packed flight can be heard telling the man to put on his mask. The incident was confirmed by Kirby Gordon, the chief marketing officer at FlySafair, who said the man was eventually escorted off the flight. “Flight FA201 was due to depart Cape Town for Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport at 8.50 … (on Tuesday morning).…

Teo Armus Marc Feren Claude Biart was always careful to hide his face in his Italian cooking tutorials, filming the YouTube videos while laying low from police on a sandy beach in the Caribbean. But Biart, an alleged member of southern Italy’s powerful ’Ndrangheta crime syndicate, had failed to obscure his tattoos on tape – a clue authorities now say they used to track down the mobster in the Dominican Republic. Biart, 53, was arrested this week in Milan after arriving on a flight from Santo Domingo, according to Italian state broadcaster Rai, the latest episode in a sprawling, international effort to fight the ’Ndrangheta. Italian police working with Interpol have in the past decade aggressively pursued the group's affiliates, the country's biggest and most influential mafia organisation. Officials have…

As parts of the world open up and hybrid work becomes a reality amid the pandemic, about 62% of employees said working remotely made them happier, according to a new survey. About 56% of employees said they are more productive when working remotely and 61% said they could get more done in an eight-hour workday when remote, said the Forrester study commissioned by LogMeIn, a leading provider of Cloud-based solutions GoToMeeting. However, only 5% of decision-makers surveyed believed remote workers were more productive, and 70% said employees in the office were more trustworthy. The research suggests companies need to invest in establishing flexible work policies and programmes. | IANS…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za HIGH traffic flows of up to 2 500 vehicles per hour are expected to pass into KwaZulu-Natal from today as the province gears up for the Easter long weekend. Thania Dhoogra, operations manager of the N3 Toll Concession, which manages the N3 toll route between Cedara in KZN and Heidelberg, said there would be route patrols, traffic checkpoints and law enforcement authorities along the N3. “We are collaborating with our partners in law enforcement, emergency and medical services, road safety, liquor authorities, breakdown services and others to enhance our capacity to support road users and ensure their compliance with safety measures,” she said. She said human error, driver distraction, negligence, fatigue, speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and not wearing seat belts remained the leading causes…

Karen Singh karen.singh@inl.co.za Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu says KwaZulu-Natal is the epicentre of South Africa’s tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. Simelane-Zulu said South Africa is one of 14 countries that have an exceptionally high burden of susceptible TB, TB and HIV co-infection and multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB according to the World Health Organization (WHO). She said eThekwini had the highest number of cases of all provinces. Simelane-Zulu said a TB Prevalence Survey, conducted in 2018, found an estimated number of 737 per 100 000 population were infected. The estimated prevalence of pulmonary TB, which is contagious, in males 15 years and older, was more than 1 000 per 100 000 population, she said. “This is approximately 1.6 times that of females, which is cause for concern – especially, given the fact that men…

Silas Rataza SCROLLING down my Facebook timeline, I often come across stories that are meant to convince you of something. Diets, products, events, pandemics, cures, bitcoin and politics are all topics you can come across in a day’s scroll on social media. For example, we have been inundated with tales and narratives during these days of Covid-19 and the introduction of fifth generation technology, often trying to convince one of some sort of theory or conspiracy. My grandparents’ generation used to call this propaganda. Yet today it is a bit more subtle. This promotion of certain information does not come through government spin doctors, as propaganda would have traditionally, but through media, and especially social media. At the same time, it would not be wrong to suggest that 21st…

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) urgently requires additional financing to tackle the crisis with internally displaced people in Mozambique after the attack on the Palma town last week, spokesperson Saviano Abreu said yesterday. The town was attacked by Islamic State terrorists on March 24. As a result of the ambush, over 5 000 people fled the town, while many residents remain hiding in nearby forests. Over 50 people were reportedly killed. “The UN and humanitarian partners are on the ground and rapidly assisting people impacted by this terrible situation in Palma. However, we are overstretched and urgently need additional funding to respond to this new crisis,” Abreu said. The spokesperson also said the UN OCHA was concerned over the safety of civilians in Palma in…

The Bristol police yesterday praised the peaceful outcome of the fourth protest against a bill that would give UK law enforcement more powers to restrict demonstrations, after previous rallies in the English city had ended up in riots and violent clashes between protesters and officers. “We’d like to thank all those who engaged with us and to those who expressed their views in a peaceful and respectful manner. Now that restrictions around protest have changed, we wanted to press a reset button, and I believe we achieved this last night,” superintendent Mark Edgington said in a statement released by the Avon and Somerset Police Department. According to the police chief, liaison officers had a “very positive dialogue” with the hundreds of people that had gathered on Tuesday evening at College…

WASHINGTON: A 30-year-old man has been charged with breaking into the residence of Switzerland’s ambassador and assaulting him, according to law enforcement authorities and court documents. The suspect, Christian David Mandeville, was arrested on Monday afternoon after police said he refused to leave the residence. Documents filed in US District Court allege Mandeville forcefully pushed past the ambassador, Jacques Pitteloud, and fought with a uniformed Secret Service officer trying to arrest him. His initial appearance in a federal court had not been scheduled as of Tuesday. Mandeville’s mother said he had been experiencing mental health problems.…

Eshlin Vedan FORMER AmaZulu star George “Madlinyoka” Dearnaley believes that coach Benni McCarthy deserves credit for improving the club’s performances in a short period of time.Usuthu, who are fifth in the Premiership standings, have won seven out of their last eight league games and have not tasted Premiership defeat since a 1-0 loss to Kaizer Chiefs in January. “We all got excited when the new owners (Sandile Zungu) took over, and we heard the vision and the expectation but it’s not always easy to marry the two with results and performance. Everyone at the club has played their part from senior management, the technical team and players. It has been a brilliant few months and the new signings have found their feet at the club. “Benni and his technical…