Mercury的2023-01-27目录

A Durban mother who unexpectedly gave birth outside the gates of Savannah Park Clinic, near Pinetown, has praised the municipal health facility’s nursing staff for their compassion and quick thinking after they came to her rescue to make sure her baby was safe after delivery. Thembisa Khanzi, 38, gave birth to a healthy baby boy outside Savannah Park Clinic on January 14. The mother of three told The Mercury yesterday that she would always be indebted to the nurses who attended to her outside the clinic’s gates. Khanzi said she started experiencing labour pains late in the day on January 13, and decided that she would go to the hospital the next day. Accompanied by her boyfriend, Khanzi said she initially wanted to go to RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth,…

PHEW! This heat of recent days! It made you quite envious last Saturday as the Sharks were briefly caught in a blizzard at the Stoop ground, in England, against Harlequins. What a match that was, and what a tonic that we’re now playing in two northern hemisphere competitions. Both sides played enterprising rugby with a capital “E”. We could have won – you could almost say we should have won – but at least we got a bonus point and will get a play-off later in the season. And was there ever anything more sensational than Eben Ezebeth’s snatching of the ball from the Quins scrumhalf’s hands and running the length of the field to score under the posts? This is a lesson to all scrumhalves, many of whom seem…

Religious killings in many part of Asia are assuming menacing proportions that could, if left unchecked, trigger a conflict that will have global ramifications. The grisly displays of hatred in the rural and urban area of South East Asia are truly revolting. Hate is a contagious, strong emotion. Its mental venom can pollute your spirit, poison your soul and seep into all the relationships that surround you. Hate, left unchecked, will drain your spirit, tarnish your soul and darken your days. Mindless hatred produces energy for destructive power as graphically filmed in the desolate parts of the countries in Asia. It has become the epicentre of mindless, spine-chilling religious hatred. Human kind has lost its innocence. Hatred has spread across brutal conflict zones, engulfing the global landscape in an orgy…

Not surprisingly the AFP report on the departure of Jacinda Ardern as New Zealand’s prime minister conveys the image of a superstar leaving the stage (The Mercury, January 26). Nothing could be further from the truth as the 40m-length letters carved into a field on the flight path to Auckland read: “The end of an error.” A graduate of Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum’s young globalist leaders programme, Ardern’s rule of New Zealand has provided an insight on the future of human rights and democracy in the WEF’s projected new world order. This was glaringly illustrated by her response to the Covid pandemic. Although geographically isolated and remote, she compelled a total lockdown of both islands based on a handful of cases which were probably false positives from the PCR…

The National Union of Mineworkers has urged the government to use every cent of the budgeted R10 billion to compensate mineworkers who had contracted TB and silicosis and their beneficiaries. It made the call after the Health Department made an announcement this week that it would compensate thousands of mineworkers who had contracted the diseases while in the employ of various mining companies in the country. The government announced that those who qualified must have worked at these mines between March 1965 and December 2019. Eligible former mineworkers are expected to undergo screening, verification and medical exams. The programme began in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday, and will soon move to Northern Cape, Gauteng, North West and other provinces. The government called on all former mineworkers or their dependants to visit…

National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said yesterday that Parliament would abide by the decision of the Constitutional Court in the review application lodged by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Phala Phala matter. Ramaphosa has brought a review application to set aside the Section 89 report on the Phala Phala farm robbery incident. Mapisa-Nqakula also said Parliament would oppose the court challenges to her decision on the voting procedure when the report was tabled in a special sitting last month. She made the statement when she was responding to questions from IFP chief whip Narend Singh during the meeting of the programme committee yesterday. Singh said they had received notification on legal challenges regarding the voting procedure when the report was tabled. “I just wanted to confirm that the office of…

THE year 2023 marks 200 years since isiXhosa was first written down and published on the banks of the Tyhume River, in Alice, Eastern Cape. When John Ross, uLose oMdala, disembarked on the banks of the Tyhume River in 1823 with the Ruthven Printing Press, later known as Lovedale Printing Press, isiXhosa was written down for the first time. John Bennie, uBhene oMdala, who had arrived in Alice two years earlier and learned the language of the people he came to minister to, wrote and published his first article in isiXhosa, titled: “Zonke Inkomo zezi ka-Tixo” (All cattle come from God), hence the title Yise wezibhalo zesiXhosa (the father of Xhosa scriptures). When the likes of SEK Mqhayi, JT Jabavu, W Gqoba, and WB Rubusana emerged on the horizon of…

Russian forces fired dozens of missiles at Ukraine yesterday in a wave of strikes targeting energy infrastructure, a day after Germany and the US pledged heavy tanks for Kyiv. The Kremlin said Moscow perceived the tank deliveries “as direct involvement in the conflict” and Ukraine conceded it was facing mounting pressure from Russian troops on the eastern front. In Kyiv, the Ukrainian army said its forces had destroyed 47 out of the 55 missiles launched by Russia in the new wave of attacks yesterday. Energy Minister German Galushchenko accused Russia of seeking to “create a systemic failure in Ukraine’s energy system. Emergency shutdowns have been introduced”. In the southern region of Odessa on the Black Sea, “such a situation may last for several days until the damaged power facilities are…

NEW YORK: Donald Trump will be reinstated on Facebook and Instagram. Meta, the parent company for both social media platforms, has announced plans to end its two-year suspension of the former US president’s accounts. In a blog post, Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said: “The suspension was an extraordinary decision taken in extraordinary circumstances … Now that the period of the suspension has elapsed, the question is not whether we choose to reinstate Mr Trump’s accounts, but whether there remain such extraordinary circumstances that extending the suspension beyond the original two-year period is justified.” Clegg said a review found Trump’s accounts didn’t represent a serious risk to public safety at this point. But due to his past “violations”, which saw him suspended from the platforms following the Capitol…

THE heat has been oppressive, but the sea has been producing some proper fish. The offshore fishing has been wild. The game fish have been keeping the reels screaming while the bottoms have kept the sticks bent. The North Coast has seen some brilliant game fish action. The snoek have been around in good numbers. Most of the usual spots have been performing. If you don’t know where these spots are, look for the full parking lots. The central coast is firing with snoek action. The areas just north of Durban have been producing good numbers and sizes of these fish. Lures have been the most effective way to catch them. The tuna and dorado have been around on the colour lines and the wrecks/reefs. Fishing with live bait has…

A WATER-management plan recently developed by eThekwini Municipality will go a long way towards helping the city deal with water losses. This is according to Umgeni Water board chairperson Ziphozethu Mathenjwa, who was speaking during the presentation of the entity’s annual financial statement for 2021/22, yesterday. The plan was developed after meetings involving the ministers of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and of Water and Sanitation, along with eThekwini Municipality and Umgeni Water top brass. Mathenjwa said the municipality was Umgeni’s biggest customer, accounting for about 75% of the revenue that is generated, and any problems encountered by the municipality had a direct impact on the entity’s overall performance. The chairperson expressed optimism that when fully operational, the plan would help reduce the water losses in the municipality. According to…

“Is forgiveness and reconciliation always possible in a family?” a reader asks. Forgiveness takes one; reconciliation takes at least two. I may be able to forgive a family member but if that person withholds forgiveness and is unwilling to seek reconciliation, reconciliation becomes impossible. Reconciliation requires mutual willingness. “Do I have to forgive people in my family and in my history for the things they have done to me?” asks another reader. You are free to consider the benefits of both forgiving others and of not forgiving others. As an adult, it is really something that is up to you. You possess the power of choice. While I have met people who have chosen the brutal “I will never forgive” path, I have met far more people who have walked…

it’s NO surprise that the DA led the march to Luthuli House. It’s all part of the game. However, the man in the street, as much as he may be streetwise by now, is still mesmerised by the possible outcome of the party’s latest slogan, and as usual, how it could benefit him. So the party gets his vote. There is another avenue that the DA could usefully explore in a bid to finally oust the existing ruling party into obliteration. Use the angle closely endeared to the hearts of many – feigning justice. For instance, joining Naledi Pandor to condemn Zionist Israel for land invasion could easily attract a couple of millions of right-thinking people from especially KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Town, to emotionally vote for the blue-uniformed party. Most…

Is there something wrong with our judiciary and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)? All the various cases that have come up for trial – the Zuma arms deal, the Zondo Commission cases of corruption, Dudu Myeni of SAA’s case, the Free State asbestos case and now the Estina corruption case – have all been postponed. Is someone not doing their job properly? The recent statement by André du Ruyter that some individuals have been charged with stealing hundreds of millions of rand worth of diesel, get arrested and then released on bail of R500 is something one finds very hard to swallow. One gets arrested when there is enough evidence to warrant an arrest for stealing and then gets released on R500? Is there some sort of mafia interference going…

THE key backers of legal action against Eskom and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) have warned that unless immediate action is taken against rolling blackouts, the country could see the mushrooming of new industries that have an incentive to continue the dysfunction that drives their profits. UDM leader Bantu Holomisa and Build One South Africa founder Mmusi Maimane said the state capture commission had revealed how entire industries could be created out of dysfunctionality, and ordinary South Africans could be left vulnerable and out of pocket. They said some new industries that were already springing up to fill the void created by the energy crisis would not struggle to find politicians eager to do their bidding, and South Africans should not allow those with unscrupulous intentions to…

Pope Francis will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan next week, delivering a message of peace and reconciliation to two sub-Saharan African nations plagued by conflict. The 86-year-old pontiff is flying to the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Tuesday before heading on Friday to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, where he will be joined by the leaders of the Anglican Church and the Church of Scotland. The six-day trip was originally planned for July last year but was postponed after Francis suffered problems with his knee, which have recently forced him to use a wheelchair. There were also concerns about his planned visit to the east of the DRC, where scores of armed groups roam including M23, which recently came within several kilometres of the commercial…

Israeli commandos killed seven gunmen and two civilians in a raid on a flashpoint town in the occupied West Bank yesterday, Palestinian officials said, stirring fear of further flare-ups after the largest single death toll in years of fighting. UN and Arab mediators said they were in talks with Israel and Palestinian factions in hope of heading off escalation after the clash in Jenin, among areas of the northern West Bank that had seen intensified Israeli operations in the last year. The Israeli military said it sent special forces into Jenin to detain members of the Islamic Jihad armed group suspected of having carried out and planning “multiple major terror attacks”, shooting several of them after they opened fire. Islamic Jihad said two of its men died battling the unusually…

Economists feel Reserve Bank may be coming to end of rate hiking cycle The COST of borrowing in South Africa has risen slightly higher again after interest rates rose again yesterday in spite of softening consumer price inflation and amidst the devastating rolling power cuts that have shrunk any prospects of economic growth. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) raised its benchmark interest rate once again by 25 basis points to 7.25% in a split decision yesterday, although below market estimates of 7.5%. This marks the eighth consecutive rate hike since policy normalisation started in November 2021, and means that the prime lending rate on a base home loan will now increase from 10.5% to 10.75% per annum. The monthly loan repayments on a 20-year-long R1 million bond will now…

NEW demands from its coalition partners and concerns about it giving away its control are just some of the problems that have besieged the ANC in eThekwini Municipality and led to the collapse of a special council meeting yesterday. The Mercury understands that the bloc of smaller parties, which is in a coalition agreement with the ANC, is flexing its muscles and has made new demands, including for a closer working relationship with the ANC and a “say” in the filling of senior leadership vacancies in the council to ensure the positions go to eligible candidates. The special council meeting, which was meant to elect a deputy mayor and fill two other positions – council whip and an executive committee (exco) member – collapsed when the ANC and its coalition…

We are being roasted alive. The heat is so intense you have to think twice before stepping outside. Pity those who have to work outdoors, like the farmworkers who died of heat exhaustion in the Northern Cape. According to the farmer, the problem was exacerbated by load shedding. They couldn’t pump water without power. But why did the farmer allow the workers to toil in such terrible conditions? Your own home could offer little relief from the suffocating heat. If you have no trees to cast shade over the house, the yard is completely tarred and there’s no insulation in the roof, your house could become a death trap. Ah, I’ve got air con, you’d say. But air con comes at a cost. And what will you do when Eskom…

Recently we were informed of a home-grown terrorist incident in Monterey Park, in the US city of Los Angeles, which killed 11 people during the Chinese New Year celebrations. I will boldly ask: why Chinese Lunar New Year? It is a fact that besides the Chinese, many Asian countries celebrate the Lunar New Year annually at about the same time. For instance Vietnam, Korea, Tibet, Mongolia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines are all dictated to by and celebrate according to the lunar calendar. We Muslims, too, follow the Hijri Calendar, which is based on the lunar cycle. Our year, this cycle ends on or about July 18, 2023. Our first month is Muharram. To all who celebrated the Lunar New Year, may your year be prosperous and peaceful and…

THE National Legislature plans to hold a memorial service in honour of the late first speaker of the democratic Parliament, Dr Frene Ginwala, at a joint sitting of the two Houses on February 6. Ginwala died at her home in Cape Town on January 12 at the age of 90 following a stroke two weeks earlier. Speaking at the programme committee yesterday, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, said presiding officers had thought of holding a joint sitting on February 2 in honour of Ginwala, but it would have clashed with a Cabinet lekgotla. “So we thought it would not be proper to continue with the joint sitting without the Cabinet. “It is going to be proper if we postpone,” she said. “We have since moved it to February 6. We…

WATER infrastructure of 17 south Durban schools will have regular repair and maintenance work carried out, thanks to the assistance of two organisations dedicated to helping poor schools minimise their water losses. Diageo South Africa, a leading alcohol manufacturer, partnered with an NGO, Triple-P Water to repair and maintain water infrastructure in 17 schools in uMlazi, KwaMakhutha and Isipingo. The project was launched at Zwelibanzi High School in uMlazi yesterday and KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube also attended. Dube-Ncube said the investment by Diageo would ensure that the water disruptions that the schools had been subjected to were a thing of the past. She said such projects should be celebrated. “We appreciate Diageo SA’s investment in the education and water sectors, it is not one that they were forced to make…

Everyone is feeling the pinch – except the usual suspects You may have forgotten by now, but there was a brief moment during the coronavirus pandemic when we raised our hopes for improved credit scores and a well-lit pathway to accessing affordable credit and financial stability. Analysts predicted that because of the forced reduced spending during the lockdown, society would embrace less indulgence and capitalise on low interest rates to pay off debt. We were poised to emerge from lockdown ready and flush with new habits embracing smaller and less extravagant social gatherings and spending more time at home, instead of indulging ourselves in expensive lifestyles. We were not supposed to plunge, as we have in South Africa, right into political crises of an inefficient government and an economy that…

The number of people dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the US escalated during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, from 874 613 CVD-related deaths recorded in 2019 to 928 741 in 2020, a study has revealed. The rise in the number of CVD deaths in 2020 represents the largest single-year increase since 2015 and topped the previous high of 910 000 recorded in 2003, according to the data published in American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation. It means more people died from cardiovascular-related causes in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, than in any year since 2003, according to data reported in the Association’s 2023 Statistical Update. The largest increases in deaths were among Asian, black and Hispanic people. “While the total number of CVD- related deaths…

Washington: A truck-sized asteroid was set to pass near Earth yesterday in one of the closest approaches to our planet ever recorded, Nasa said, emphasising that it posed no danger. Asteroid 2023 BU, recently discovered by an amateur astronomer, was due to zoom by the southern tip of South America, said Nasa. It would pass just 3 600km from Earth’s surface, much closer than many geostationary satellites orbiting the planet. Nasa said the asteroid, measuring 3.5-8.5m across, would disintegrate in the Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in a few small meteorites. Previously it took the asteroid 359 days to complete its orbit around the Sun. | AFP…

RYANA Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina will clash in tomorrow’s Australian Open women’s final after both won in straight sets in the last four in Melbourne. Wimbledon champion Rybakina defeated two-time Melbourne winner Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 at a blustery and chilly Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne yesterday. Belarusian Sabalenka then marched into the championship match with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 win over Magda Linette. The 24-year-old Sabalenka will be a slight favourite to win the title, for what would be her first major crown, in what promises to be a bruising showdown between two hard-hitters. “I’m super happy, super happy that I was able to get this win,” said the fifth seed after reaching her first Grand Slam final. “Magda’s an unbelievable player. She played really great tennis.” Sabalenka…

THE non-executive director of AmaZulu FC, Mfundo Zungu, has urged Premier Soccer League clubs to take a hard look at themselves before accusing Mamelodi Sundowns of buying their way to success. Zungu addressed members of the media as Usuthu launched their development plan of action named “Project 2032’ yesterday afternoon. Usuthu enlisted the services of retired professionals Mbulelo ‘OJ’ Mabizela (Under-13 assistant coach) and Reneilwe Letsholonyane (Under-17 head coach) as part of an eight-man team involved with the youth divisions at the club. Zungu brushed away accusations of Sundowns using their financial muscle to sustain their success and said other clubs should follow suit just like Usuthu have with their new initiative. “A lot of the conversations going around now is how Sundowns are buying the league or only winning…