Sommaire pour 2021-12-17 de Mercury

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za STEINHOFF International Holdings said it had reached agreement with Tekkie Town and Trevo Capital, two parties that had formerly opposed the global retail group’s R25 billion settlement proposals. Steinoff, whose retail businesses include Pepkor Holdings, Mattress Firm and Greenlit Brands Group, hopes to settle some R136bn in legal claims against it which will allow it to focus on debt of about R151bn, and continue its recovery, since the accounting fraud in 2017 that led to losses of more than R200bn. The group said on Wednesday that it had received “overwhelming support” from the three classes of creditors in meetings held in September for the settlement proposals. Steinhoff said Trevo Capital, which had opposed the proposals, announced on Wednesday that it supported the proposal, subject to certain conditions.…

Tawanda Karombo Harare IN A BID to boost the mining sector by expanding production of metals such as platinum and chrome, Zimbabwe is following up on projects that have not yet become operational, and curbing exports of unprocessed minerals. The Eurasian Resources Group-owned Todal-Bokai Platinum Project, located next to Anglo Platinum-run Unki mine, has been targeted, with the cabinet directing Mines Minister Winston Chitando to follow up on the company to ensure production. A former executive with Mimosa mine, jointly owned by Implats and Sibanye Stillwater, Chitando is President Emerson Mnangagwa’s point-man in efforts to bump the mining sector to a $12 billion (R190bn) industry. However, owing to Zimbabwe’s risk operating environment, there will be no new outside capital, according to a chamber of mines survey. Mnangagwa’s administration is…

Sibusiso Mboto and African News agency (ANA) The SANDF will take over the law-enforcement and security duties on the country’s highways this festive season. This comes after truck blockades and violent attacks on trucks, particularly ones driven by foreign nationals. Trucks were also targeted during the July unrest, which was sparked by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma. The July unrest has come back into focus amid fears of a re-occurrence due to this week’s high court ruling which ordered that former president Jacob Zuma return to jail to serve his 15-month sentence, Yesterday, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise said the impact of any unrest was felt not only in South Africa, but also affected countries in the region. “You may recall that just before the local…

The heady beats of Congolese rumba were hailed by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) this week as it added the music and dance to its list of global cultural treasures. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Congo Republic submitted a joint bid for their rumba to receive heritage status for its unique sound. Born in the melting pot of 19th-century Cuba, rumba combined the drumming of enslaved Africans with the melodies of Spanish colonisers. Re-exported to Africa in the early 20th century on vinyl, it found a ready audience in the two Congos, who recognised the rhythms as their own. “They took our ancestors to the Americas in the 15th or 16th century. Congolese rumba was created and embedded with the same dynamics as the story…

PROF GAVIN MASSDORP | Berea Your leader page of December 15 juxtaposes articles on highways by Dumisani Nkabinde and railways by Keith Gottschalk. While both are accurate in their own right, the real issue in transport is not considered. This is that medium- and long-distance freight traffic ought to be conveyed by rail, not road. Had the policy of deregulation adopted in the 1980s and the key recommendations of successive national transport policy studies of 1984, 1995 and 2009 been implemented by the Department of Transport, we would not today be faced with the double-whammy of a failed railway network and the destruction of our road network which has been called upon to carry volumes of heavy-vehicle traffic for which it was not in the main designed. The…

MUHAMMAD OMAR | Durban North INDIAN politicians in eThekwini went wholesale with the ANC faction that was instrumental in the MK Veterans/Solid Waste saga. If former mayor Gumede was all out for the current mayor, what does that tell you? Where was the current mayor and deputy mayor when Durban was on fire? This gives them a chance to run the city again. The coalition will collapse and for the ANC to pander to such politicians speaks volumes and will distance many Indians away from the ANC. As for Indians and cosying up to power, these charlatans are going to show you their true colours. The ANC in eThekwini must be so disheartened that their “gains” will have to be divided among so many insignificant role players. To…

Beachgoers who were walking their dog on Jefferys Bay’s main beach in the Eastern Cape stumbled upon R20 million worth of cocaine. “The passers-by walking their dog noticed a consignment washed out from the sea; they called the local police after noticing what seemed to be a drug consignment,” Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Philani Nkwalase said. Compressed bricks “of pure white cocaine” weighing 46kg and with an estimated street value of R20 million were revealed when the package was opened. The Hawks said the bricks were sealed with thick black plastic bags and attached to an empty plastic container to keep them afloat. The package was sent to a forensic team for analysis and the case referred to Gqeberha’s Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit. Members of the public with information…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za PRESSURE is mounting on President Cyril Ramaphosa to fill the two positions that became vacant in the Constitutional Court (Concourt) earlier this year. Ramaphosa has yet to finalise the appointment of judges to replace retired justices Sisi Kampepe and Chris Jafta. Interviews for the two positions were redone in October following a court battle over the interviews conducted in April. Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said on Tuesday he hoped that Ramaphosa would decide soon. Freedom Under Law (FUL) said it supported the call by Justice Zondo for Ramaphosa to fill the vacancies on the Concourt Bench without delay. FUL chairperson, retired judge Johann Kriegler, said his organisation had previously warned against the harmful effects of drawn-out failures to appoint permanent members of the apex court. “The…

EACH summer South Africa sees an increase in drownings, particularly during the festive season. The National Search and Rescue Institute (NSRI) executive director for drowning prevention, Dr Jill Fortuin, said while looking after children in or near water, adults had to focus on them and nothing else. “Adults who are supervising children should not be distracted nor use their cellphones, as it is not possible to concentrate on children in the water and be on your phone at the same time,” Fortuin said. “Adults who are supervising children in or near water must be able to swim. This is vital, if it is at a water body that does not have lifeguards on duty. It is extremely dangerous to get into the water to rescue someone, so rather throw something…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE amendment of the eThekwini Municipality by-law to allow councillors to hold a minimum of four council meetings every year sparked a heated exchange between councillors on Wednesday, with the opposition criticising the move as tantamount to paying councillors for “nothing”. Last year, the city proposed to reduce the number of council meetings it was legally allowed to hold from 11 to just four each year. The matter went down to a vote, with 95 voting for, 59 against and 22 abstaining. At Wednesday’s council meeting the municipality said it had engaged the public through the participation process, and the public did not object to reducing the number of meetings that should be held annually from 11 to four. Opposition parties, as they fought for council…

Formula One will be bigger next year, with a record 23 races, including a first in Miami, but it will be hard pushed to be better than 2021 for drama and excitement. The season that ended seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton’s reign and handed the crown to Dutch youngster Max Verstappen amid raging controversy was one that had it all. The closest of battles went down to the very last lap of the last race, Red Bull’s Verstappen and Mercedes’ Hamilton level on points and going wheel-to-wheel seven corners from the final chequered flag. Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who had his own battles with Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff, had no doubt the sport owed him plenty. Asked about Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali’s first year in the…

CRICKET South Africa (CSA) has not done its image any good as the governing body of a sport that has a shady racist past. This much has been confirmed by the federation’s own Social Justice and Nation Building (SJN) hearings that were led by Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza. Ntsebeza this week released the long-awaited report following months-long hearings, and it points to an organisation that has allowed discrimination to fester in both senior and junior teams, at different levels. Ntsebeza said it would be irresponsible for CSA to ignore the evidence of the “victims” on the basis of rebuttals. That captains and senior players actively participated in allegedly racially motivated acts in the Proteas teams is a big mark against those who are in charge of the game. The report also…

MANILA: Thousands of people in the Philippines fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Super Typhoon Rai slammed into the country yesterday, with a charity warning that the storm could hit coastal communities “like a freight train”. Rai, the 15th typhoon to enter Philippine territory this year, is also the strongest storm to hit the country this year. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 195km/h as it made landfall on the southern island of Siargao at 1.30pm local time, the state weather forecaster said. “This monster storm is frightening and threatens to hit our coastal communities like a freight train,” said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines. “We are very concerned that climate change is making typhoons more…

Hanoi: A Vietnamese court sentenced an activist to 10 years in prison for spreading information against the state on social media, lawyers said yesterday, the fourth dissident jailed by the communist regime in three days. Do Nam Trung, 40, pictured, is well-known for taking part in environmental and anti-China protests and opposing government corruption. He previously spent 14 months in prison after publicly advocating for democracy and human rights in the early 2010s. Vietnam’s hardline administration often moves swiftly to stifle dissent, jailing activists, journalists and any critic with large audiences on Facebook.…

WIMBLEDON finalist Karolina Pliskova will miss the Australian Open in January after breaking her forearm in training, her husband and manager Michal Hrdlicka said yesterday. “Karolina broke her radius ... in a fitness room at a training camp in Spain,” Hrdlicka said in a statement, adding that treatment would take about four weeks. “Unfortunately I will be out for a while and will not compete at my favourite tournaments in Australia,” the 29-year-old Pliskova said on Facebook. “Some days are worse than others ... but time and belief can heal everything,” added the world number four, posing for a photo with her right forearm in a bandage. Pliskova has yet to win a grand slam tournament, having reached the 2016 US Open final and then lost in three sets to…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za AUSTRALIA-BASED asset management company 360 Capital Group has put in a third offer to acquire Irongate Group, formerly Investec Australia Property Fund (IAP), despite IAP management’s misgivings about their earlier offers. IAP said in a statement on Wednesday morning that it had received a revised non-binding proposal from 360 Capital Group and 360 Capital Reit to acquire, by way of a trust scheme, all of the securities in IAP which 360 Capital does not already own, for A$1.72 (R19.83) cash per security. It said the new offer reflected a 7.2 percent increase from the original indicative proposal, first made on October 15. The second offer, made last month, represented an increase of only 3.1 percent on the original offer which IAP’s management had rejected, as they said…

Nomonde Zondi nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za The electricity supply to Inanda Dam was disrupted after a transformer was struck by lightning in Wednesday’s severe storm. In a statement yesterday, Umgeni Water said as a result of the power supply interruption, reduced volumes of raw water were being conveyed to Durban Heights Water Works for treatment and supply to eThekwini Water and Sanitation. “This has resulted in some reservoirs in the Durban Heights Water Works supply areas receiving reduced volumes of water. The consequence is ongoing water shortages in some areas that are served by eThekwini Water and Sanitation,” said Shami Harichunder, corporate stakeholder manager at Umngeni Water. He said the municipality’s Electricity Department staff were treating the repairs of the damaged transformer as a priority. In another incident on Wednesday night, lightning…

FAROUK ARAIE | Gauteng Jacob Zuma’s new book is titled The words of a President, Jacob Zuma Speaks. It is in time for Christmas and should be advertised as Aesop’s Fables. We will remember 2021 as the year of sleaze, grime, grease and political fleas. It was Ambroise Bierce, who, in his book The Devil’s Dictionary, offered this profound definition of a politician, “An eel in the fundamental mud upon which the superstructure of society is reared. When he wiggles, he mistakes the agitation of his tail for the trembling of the edifice. As compared to the statesman, he suffers the disadvantage of being alive.” Trust is an essential elixir for public life and community relations, and when the masses think about trust these days, they worry. Most…

GABI MARAIS | Winston Park I READ in your sister publication that the high court has overturned Jacob Zuma’s medical parole. The question we need to ask: Is it worth it? We all know what happened the last time. Do we need more of that? Especially with the numbers of Covid-19 infections increasing, Christmas and New Year coming up. While there should not be different strokes for different folks, one needs to balance the scales and look at the big picture. Do things for the greater good. Why not just put him under house arrest at Nkandla? That would be the safer option. Imagine what would happen if something had to happen to him in prison.…

| David Brinkley INVESTMENT analyst Dr James Greener notes in his latest grumpy newsletter that the politicians and poohbahs seem reluctant to divest themselves of the powers they assumed at the start of the Covid-19 crisis, while others who suffered most are being hampered in their quest for recovery. “We have yet to recover from the ‘Big Hit’ in the second quarter of 2020 which erased almost 20% from the nation’s economic scorecard. “That was when we all managed to scare ourselves that the end was nigh and the best we could do was to sit and wait for a virus to obliterate civilisation. “While that has thankfully turned out to be spectacularly wrong, many politicians and leaders have been reluctant to give up the powers they awarded themselves…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has confirmed that his department gave actress Natasha Thahane a bursary to study at the New York Film Academy in New York. But he denied that former Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete played a role in the decision. Thahane caused a storm recently when she revealed that the department gave R1million for her to study film in the US in 2017. She name-dropped Mbete, saying the former National Assembly Speaker spoke to the arts and culture ministry on her behalf. “I asked Mam’ Baleka (Mbete) and was like, ‘Mama, I need to go back to school. I’ve been accepted ... I don’t know what I’m going to do, can I have funds? Please arrange something for me’. “She managed to…

FIVE suspects have been nabbed for the possession of West Coast Rock Lobster (WCRL) tails and other marine resources without the necessary permits. The estimated street value of the bust is R730 000, said Western Cape SAPS spokesperson, Andrè Traut. Traut said the arrests were made during an integrated operation by SAPS and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. “Information was received that two vehicles are heading towards Cape Town from Elands Bay with marine resources that were poached. “In Laaiplek one of the vehicles, a Toyota LDV was stopped and searched which led to the discovery of 57 WCRL tails. “In Piketberg the second vehicle, was apprehended where 6 998 WCRL tails and an assortment of marine resources were confiscated. “A large sum of cash, believed to be…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za IN JUST four months’ time, lifestyle audits will be conducted on public servants, and those found wanting will be referred to the police for further and intensive investigations. This is according to Public Service and Administration (DPSA) Minister Ayanda Dlodlo, who revealed that the DPSA was expecting national and provincial departments to be furnished with instructions on how they will implement the lifestyle audits. Dlodlo made the statement when she was responding in writing to parliamentary questions posed by ANC MP Makhoni Ntuli, who asked how her department would deal with instances where evidence suggested that the lifestyles of public servants did not match their income. She said her department was currently raising awareness on the guidelines and was providing training to ethics officers to conduct lifestyle…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za THE Hawks and the SAPS have called on the public to help them locate a woman who allegedly scammed investors out of R10 million. National police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo confirmed that the Hawks and the police were searching for Swereen Govender. “It is alleged that from June 2019 to date, Swereen Govender lured family and friends to invest in her personal protective equipment (PPE) business by promising lucrative dividends in return. “Further investigation revealed that Govender initially paid minimum dividends to investors and then completely stopped at a later stage and she has allegedly been lying to her investors that she cannot be contacted as she has been placed in a witness protection programme.” Naidoo said that multiple cases had been registered at various police stations…

You can save your prized Aston Martin DB6, Porsche 911 or Mustang from the museum of combustion engine history. Or your Fiat 500 and Renault Clio, for that matter. That’s the message from a growing cohort of European and US start-ups seeking to carve out roles in the auto transition by converting the roaring dinosaurs of the fossil-fuel age into clean electric vehicles (EVs). At the high end, companies like Britain’s Lunaz sell a “remanufactured” Aston Martin DB6 for £1 million (R21.22m), or Dutch firm Voitures Extravert, which sells a reengineered 1960s Porsche 911 for ¤300 000 (R5.4m). At the lower end, start-ups like France’s Transition-One have developed no-frills kits designed to electrify mass-market models like the Fiat 500 and Renault Clio in a few hours for about…

FIGHTING global warming is not just about providing a path to net-zero carbon emissions for all countries. It is also about figuring out how best to meet the energy needs of people across the world, while working towards net-zero emissions. If fossil fuels have to be given up, which has now become an urgent need given the current environmental challenges, countries in Africa and a significant part of Asia, including India, need an alternate path for providing electricity to their people. What then is the best alternate course for poorer countries to follow for electricity production – if they do not use the fossil fuel route – that is being used by rich countries? This in turn also raises questions about how much this alternative energy source route will cost…

British hospitals, particularly in London, are struggling to maintain staffing levels due to the number who are having to isolate with Covid-19, a senior emergency doctor said yesterday. With the new highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus surging, Britain on Wednesday recorded its highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with a further 78 610 Covid-19 infections reported. “The acute problem is actually to do with staffing,” Katherine Henderson, an emergency consultant in London and president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said. “Even if we are not seeing a big rise in hospitalisations yet, we are already seeing the effect on not having the staff to run shifts properly and safely. So we are worried about patient harm coming about because we…

Paris: There are currently 488 media professionals imprisoned around the world, the highest number since Reporters Without Borders began counting more than 25 years ago, the NGO announced yesterday. By contrast, the number killed this year – 46 – was the lowest since it began issuing annual tallies, due to the relative stabilisation of conflicts in the Middle East. “The number of journalists detained in connection with their work has never been this high since RSF began publishing its annual round-up in 1995,” the NGO said. The number has risen by 20% over the past year thanks to crackdowns on media in Myanmar, Belarus and Hong Kong.…

ARSENAL showed they can thrive without axed star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the Gunners moved into fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-0 win against West Ham United, while the top-flight's Covid-19 crisis deepened on Wednesday. Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe netted in the second half of a fiery London derby at the Emirates Stadium that saw West Ham’s Vladimir Coufal sent off. The Gunners are one point above fifth-placed West Ham after a second successive victory eased the drama surrounding Mikel Arteta’s decision to strip Gabon forward Aubameyang of the club captaincy. Arteta’s side are in the top four at this stage of a season for the first time in two-and-a-half years. It is a remarkable reversal of fortune after Arsenal lost their opening three league games…

THE shore fishing has been getting better as the heat gets turned up. The sandies and big flatfish are here and ready to test anyone’s mettle. The heat of the north can make for a long day. Make sure you keep hydrated and prepare for the long fights if you are going to target the big fish. There have been a lot of bigger fish up north. A standard FMJ trace with a 9/0 circle hook will allow you to target most of the summer fish. Baits to use are mackerel, bonito and redeyes. Combinations of these three are deadly. Those wanting to target the edibles will be best suited to spinning with spoons or using chokka as bait. The Durban coast has seen a lot of shad along the…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za A PROPOSAL to spend millions of rand on summer events in eThekwini has been slammed as “a waste of resources to finance drunkenness” that will result in people spreading Covid-19. At an eThekwini Municipality council meeting on Wednesday, a proposal to spend R4.5 million supporting different festive season events was approved. But opposition parties questioned the spending, with the DA saying it was “financing people to go out and get drunk and contract and spread Covid-19”. The report on the item stated that the council should approve the various events partnerships for the city’s destination promotion, leveraging with various events organisers. It had requested that authority be granted to the acting city manager to enter into contractual agreements with the various events partners. Among the beneficiaries was…

Sihle Mavuso, Jonisayi Maromo, Loyiso Sidimba and Sibusiso Mboto THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal wants its national executive committee (NEC) to approve its bid to join the legal battle to appeal a high court ruling that ordered former president Jacob Zuma to go back to jail. The resolution was taken late on Wednesday during a routine three-day meeting of the provincial executive committee (PEC) in Durban. This comes as Zuma and the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) made known their intention to appeal the North Gauteng High Court ruling. On Wednesday, the high court ruled that the medical parole that freed Zuma on September 5, two months into his 15 months’ sentence for contempt of the Constitutional Court, is null and void. In part of its 34-page judgment, the high court…

GLEN CHRISTIE | Durban North THE ruling by the High Court that Jacob Zuma’s parole was unlawful and that he should go back to jail and with his supporters now calling for protests; we will now see how effective the SAPS are in re-arresting him and taking him back to jail and how long it will take. If the court has made a ruling, he should be reporting back immediately. No doubt, his supporters have protests in mind and are planning things, one wonders what else we can look forward to. His friend Fraser should also be arrested and put on trial. This whole scenario is marvellous news for tourism in this country, taking into consideration what happened in July.…

SINAZO ALUNGILE NOVUKELA | Mount Frere ALTHOUGH the successful passing of the amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution is a work in progress, the amendment was going to be a breakthrough for ordinary South Africans, to be able to access land, especially those wanting to practice agriculture. The completion of the process was perceived as the beacon of hope for many, as the amendment of this section was to address the skewed and unequal ownership of land in the country and also redress the injustices of land dispossession dating as far back as 1913. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development is spearheading the process of redressing the injustices of land dispossession by putting in place policies that enable farmers to access land and is…

EVERY person has a voice and a life designed for full expression. Said another way, every life has something worthwhile to say. Some people will be threatened by your voice and will do what they can to stop you from finding and using yours. They may try to steal your joy or silence you and they may, for a time, be successful at doing so. It is only those with dark motives who will seek for you to be less, minimised, diminished or silenced. The good thing is suppressing a voice seldom kills it. It can usually be found and restored, even after years of neglect and denial. To regain your sense of self and your voice, you might find it necessary to take time to focus on finding it.…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za THE body responsible for legal reforms in the country has recommended that legislation should be introduced to regulate emigration involving children. There was a sharp rise in the number of court cases by separated or divorced local parents filing to relocate to foreign countries with children, the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) said in a discussion document. It said this increase necessitated its legislative proposals, which will guide the courts in handling relocation cases. The document also proposed amendments to the Children’s Act. “There is a significant increase in the number of parents relocating or wishing to relocate with minor children to other parts of the world, for different reasons,” said the SALRC. The unprecedented proposal by the SALRC in the discussion document is that the…

A first edition of a Harry Potter book sold for $471 000 (about R7.5 million) in the US recently in what the auctioneers said was a world record price for a 2Oth century work of fiction. The hardback 1997 British edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with a colour illustration on the cover, was described by Heritage Auctions as “magical, incredibly bright and so very near pristine”. The book was published in the US as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The Dallas-based auction house said only 500 copies with the specific binding were printed. The final price was more than six times the pre-sale estimate of $70 000. Previous auction prices for Harry Potter first editions have ranged from about $110 000 to $138 000. “Not only…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za As visitors flocked to beaches and motorists made their way to holiday destinations yesterday, Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla called for responsible behaviour and stronger compliance with Covid-19 prevention and treatment protocols during the festive season. This came as he announced that the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) had decided to retain the lockdown level 1 restrictions. The Department of Health said in a statement that the NCCC had reflected on the Covid-19 situation and deliberated on a number of recommendations tabled as part of safety measures to prevent a possible surge in Covid-19 infections during the festive period. “The council has directed the department to closely monitor the rising Covid-19 infections, hospitalisations, mortality and recovery rates, which are largely driven by the Omicron variant, which…

For most South Africans, the festive season means road-tripping to a holiday destination or driving to see family. The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, said drivers who would be travelling to holiday destinations or moving between family and friends, should learn from previous busy periods. “Each year, causes of crashes are similar and indicate what drivers should do to reduce their risk.” He added that motorists should watch out for: Pedestrians: Every year pedestrians are one of the largest groups affected by crashes. Watch the sides of roads for people. Drinking and driving: It goes without saying that you should not get behind the wheel and drive after drinking alcohol, but you may still encounter other drivers who do. Be aware of the signs that indicate a driver has consumed…

Liberals should regard this window as the calm before the storm History repeats itself – with vicious, chilling accuracy. Just under 20 years ago, the Zimbabwean justice system seemed to have prevailed over a frothing-at-the-mouth late president Robert Mugabe, who had lost a number of court battles against besieged white commercial farmers. Just like South Africa’s Joint Constitutional Review Committee (Joint CRC), both Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Commission (1998) and Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (2009) had conducted extensive public hearings in all 10 provinces of Zimbabwe. “The sole purpose of these extensive public engagements was to get public inputs on” Zimbabwe’s ideal constitutional framework. I was involved at the highest level as rapporteur for both processes – an incredible feat, in retrospect. However, unlike South Africa’s process that focused on one provision, being…

Thirteen of the world’s 20 biggest urban areas are set to be in Africa by the end of the century, according to a report by World Politics Review. The report by the website that publishes in-depth news and expert analysis on global affairs says extreme demographic growth will affect nearly every human question one can imagine, from the future of the environment to global trade, economics and prosperity; conflict and large-scale human migration, both orderly and chaotic; the fate of the postcolonial African nation state; and the future of many rich societies. According the UN, projections predict that from its present population of nearly 1.4 billion people, the continent’s population will approach 4.5 billion by 2100, which is the staggering equivalent in population terms of two Chinas and one India.…

The game of lawn bowls has undergone some exciting transformations in many aspects over the last few years. The game has evolved from elderly people sedately dressed in white, wearing ties and hats and playing with black or brown bowls to a scenario that presents a kaleidoscope of colours on the green as clubs introduce vibrant uniforms and multi-coloured bowls result in a medley of colours filling each head. This, and the introduction of faster, more exciting formats have made the sport more attractive for younger people. Few sports can boast competitors ranging from 16 to 70 competing in a clash in which everyone has an equal chance of winning. The Pro10 format is one such exhilarating game that is gaining popularity with clubs to attract new members…