Mercury的2023-04-17目录

THE MOST RECENT World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings indicate traditional aid such as for poverty in Africa is likely to dry up unless such funding addresses climate change, but the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a tool to lift the economic resilience of the continent. This was according to AfCTFA secretary-general Wamkele Mene, who spoke at a briefing on Saturday ahead of the three-day 2024 African Continental Free Trade Area Business Forum, which started at the International Conference Centre in Cape Town yesterday. The AfCTFA was launched in July 2019 and this is the first such forum to be held in person. The AfCFTA aims to progressively eliminate tariffs and liberalise trade on intra-Africa trade, making it easier for African businesses to trade within…

The UDM and ACDP have rejected the DA’s moonshot pact, saying they will not support any co-ordinated effort that labels other opposition parties as “enemies”. Following his re-election as DA federal leader earlier this month, John Steenhuisen said the party would immediately initiate a process to form a pre-election “moonshot pact” with like-minded political parties, civil society organisations and civic movements to defeat the ANC and to keep the EFF out. On Saturday, Steenhuisen provided an update on the pact, saying that five other parties had agreed to talks with the DA at a national convention later this year, including the IFP and the FF+. “Unfortunately, however, I must report with deep disappointment that the following three party leaders have rejected the plea for co-operation: the Reverend Kenneth Meshoe from…

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa issued a stark warning that in July, when winter is here, we would have severe load shedding at very high stages which would decimate the economy and shed more jobs. I would like to ask the government what it is going to do to combat this. Where is the renewable energy they promised to add to the grid to bring down the load shedding? I don’t see any action and only lip service. If we don’t do something soon, we will be in for a very tough winter with crime escalating and the country being in darkness for at least half a day. This will kill our economy, which is already on its knees, and the entire nation will be depressed, due to this government’s lack…

A PROPOSED iron ore mine, slap bang in the middle of the Eshowe and Melmoth fruit-growing regions, appears to be a mystery to both KwaZulu-Natal’s cabinet and its Department of Environmental Affairs. This follows a recent parliamentary reply to questions by the DA, which reveals that the provincial government is seemingly oblivious to the advanced plans to establish the mine despite widespread alarm from the Eshowe/Melmoth farming community. While the operation, to be developed by Jindal Melmoth Iron Ore Mine, has raised concerns among local residents, of equal concern is that it is set to be developed on iNgonyama Trust land. This has led to tensions over who may benefit from the mining. At the onset, locals have spoken of the potential loss of amenity, disruption of farming and agriculture,…

If you are living with children and living with an addiction (here’s an inconclusive but quick way to tell: you have lost a job, an important relationship, or status in a community, because of it – if one of the three is true you are most likely an addict) please get the treatment you need for the disease. Your addiction not only impacts on and impairs you and your behaviours, but it will do its damage to your children, no matter how skilled you may think you are at hiding your disease or habit from them. Your children are “soaking up” the atmosphere in your home. The tensions and anxieties that come to the family with your addiction, your disease, is provoking severe dis-ease (lack of ease) in…

A 31-year-old man was arrested at the Oshoek port of entry after he was found with a consignment of medication that he was attempting to enter South Africa with, from neighbouring eSwatini. Police spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, said the 31-year-old was arrested on Friday. “The estimated value of the consignment is at about R800 000. According to information received, police searched a truck which was pulling two trailers,” Mohlala narrated. During the search, police discovered that the truck was carrying “a huge consignment” of medication. “It is further reported that the truck was from the Kingdom of eSwatini heading to South Africa. “The driver is said to have failed to produce authorisation for transportation of the goods across the border hence he was locked up and charged for…

There was an increase in the number of people who died in road crashes nationally during the Easter weekend. Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said on Friday that 225 people died on the country’s roads over the four-day Easter long weekend in 185 fatal crashes. This is compared to the 135 fatal crashes that resulted in 161 fatalities last year. An increase in fatalities was recorded in all provinces except in Mpumalanga, Western Cape and the North West. Most of those who died were pedestrians, who accounted for 44.4% of all fatalities, followed by passengers at 27.7%. Drivers accounted for 25.6%; cyclists at 1.3% while the road user status of 1% could not be determined. The highest number of pedestrians died in collisions that happened in the Western Cape, Limpopo, Gauteng…

A crime-fighting imbizo was hosted by the provincial government in KwaNdengezi yesterday following several incidents of mass murder and gender-based violence in the province. Among those who attended were Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Sipho Hlomuka, Economic Development, Tourism & Environmental Affairs MEC Siboniso Duma and Finance MEC Peggy Nkonyeni. House of Traditional Leaders chairperson Inkosi Rubert Sifiso Shinga was also among the guest speakers. Zwelani Madondo, a resident of Luganda, near Mariannhill, said crime was out of control and the community was terrified. “There are a lot of unlicensed guns, which leads to more shootings. The crime here is mostly related to drugs. I wish the government could intervene and find ways to curb the crime,” Madondo said. A resident from Thornwood, Andiswa Msani agreed that…

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has confirmed that convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester is being kept at Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria after his court appearance. DCS dismissed allegations that Bester was returned to the G4S-run Mangaung Correctional Centre after his court appearance in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday. At his appearance, his lawyer said Bester feared for his safety in prison and was unhappy with the food he was being served in jail. Bester also asked to address the court but Magistrate Mohlolo Kgabisi denied his request. Regarding the food issue, Kgabisi told Bester he would not be granted any special privileges and pointed out that he had safely eaten prison food for the past eight years. Bester and his lover, Dr Nandipha…

Sudan’s army launched air strikes on a rival paramilitary force’s base near the capital in a bid to reassert control over the country yesterday after a power struggle erupted into clashes that killed 56 civilians and dozens of fighters. The fighting that broke out on Saturday between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by deputy leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, is the first such outbreak since both joined forces to oust president Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019. At the end of a day of heavy fighting, the army struck a base belonging to the government’s paramilitary RSF in the city of Omdurman, which adjoins the capital Khartoum, witnesses said late on Saturday. Both the military and the RSF claimed…

A former lawmaker in India’s parliament, convicted of kidnapping, was shot dead along with his brother while police were escorting them for a medical check-up in a slaying caught on live television. The dramatic footage of the men being killed was shared across broadcast channels and social media. A gunman is seen reaching over the shoulders of police to point a pistol at the temple of the former lawmaker, Atiq Ahmed, whose turban is blown off as the gun discharges. His brother, Ashraf Ahmed, was shot a split second later. In other footage, one gunman is seen firing repeatedly at the brothers’ bodies as they lay on the ground. The two victims died within minutes, while the police quickly detained three suspects. Media reports say the assailants had been posing…

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez apologised in an interview published yesterday to victims of sexual abuse over a sexual violence law that included a loophole enabling at least 978 imprisoned offenders to get their sentences reduced or ended early. The “Only Yes Is Yes” law, which arose as a result of public outrage over the so-called Wolf Pack case, centred on consent and was meant to resolve cases where defendants were convicted of the lesser crime of sexual abuse as victims had not resisted out of fear. But because the new law carries a lower minimum sentence – the result of merging sexual abuse and aggression – it has enabled some perpetrators to successfully seek reduced sentences or early release. After the law was passed in October, sentences in 978…

DHAKA: Firefighters, supported by military personnel, in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka finally extinguished a blaze that had swept through a three-storey shopping complex some 27 hours after it erupted, in the second such incident in two weeks. Some 30 people, mostly firefighters, were injured, but there were no other casualties. The fire broke out in the early hours of Saturday morning, when most of the nearly 1 500 shops in the complex were shut. Another massive fire in another shopping complex in Dhaka on April 4, destroyed 5 000 stores. Lax regulations and poor enforcement have been blamed for industrial fires that have plagued Bangladesh. | Reuters…

SAPPI’S share price closed 5.75% down on the JSE on Friday after it announced that the sale of three European mills to Aurelius, for about R5.4 billion, had fallen through. Sappi said in a statement yesterday that the date for completion of the suspensive conditions contained in the agreement to sell three European Graphic Paper mills to Aurelius had lapsed and the transaction would not proceed. The share price closed at R44.44 on Friday, compared with R56.46 a year ago at the same date. Sappi had announced on September 29, 2023, that it had reached an agreement with Aurelius Investment Lux One S.à.r.l, to divest its Maastricht Mill in the Netherlands, its Stockstadt Mill in Germany and its Kirkniemi Mill in Finland. The deal was subject to the fulfilment of…

Calls for mass mobilisation have again been made, as energy experts warn of a possible stage 8 of load shedding. Extended and high stages of load shedding continue to have a negative impact on the country as the International Monetary Fund last week predicted South Africa’s economy would barely grow this year with a big contributor being rolling blackouts. Daniel Silke, director of Political Futures Consulting, and Professor André Duvenhage, political analyst at North West University, agree there is growing frustration and anger among people about the electricity situation. Duvenhage said: “If this process continues, especially in the polls up to the 2024 elections, then we may see higher levels of mobilisation, strikes and processes to create or recreate a national shutdown – which form part of the strategy of…

The Solidarity Group for Peace and Justice (SGPJ) in Sri Lanka condemns the invitation extended by Naledi Pandor, the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco), to officials from the government of Sri Lanka. The intention of the visit was to assist Sri Lanka develop a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) model. The invitation was extended to Ali Sabry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms. The audacity with which the Sri Lankan and South African governments assume that a TRC model would work where the perpetrator oversees setting up the commission is preposterous. Sabry is a close ally of former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, both of whom are accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and the genocide of…

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appeal for investment to kick-start the economy and create jobs (Business Report, April 14) has zero credibility because of the economic and governance fiasco ANC policies and corruption have created. The Employment Equity Amendment Bill constrains employment conditions by imposing new, stringent demographic, gender and disability levels. As such, it makes job reservation legislation of apartheid look tame by comparison. The fact that the existing employment constraints have promoted unemployment and have not incentivised significant investment is entirely lost on the hidebound ANC. Their solution is to have more of the same poison. Wilful blindness to the historically proven fact that the imposition of a failed ideology constrains economic development is the ANC’s badge of achievement. But worse still, the Employment Amendment legislation is perpetuating victimhood while…

IT’S a strange, strange world that we live in, Master Jack … yes, there I was swimming with my daughter in the tidal pool at Banana Beach, way down the South Coast, when she said: “Ooh look, there’s Neptune.” Sure enough, this dignified figure was swimming breaststroke towards us, locks of hair spread across the water. Swimming with him was a medium-sized dog of indeterminate breed, possibly a husky. But it was not the Greek god of the ocean. Who should it be but my old musician pal David Marks, who now lives down the South Coast. Master Jack was his theme song back in the day, and he entertained us with it yet again when he was guest artist not all that long ago at the St Clement’s arts…

A woman accused of defrauding an eManzimtoti business, where she was employed, out of R2 million, appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court last week. She was remanded in custody, while a warrant of arrest has been issued for her co-accused. Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said that last Wednesday, members from the Hawks Durban Serious Corruption Investigation arrested Ramonia Naidu, 45, for fraud and corruption. Mhlongo said during the period between May 2017 and November 2018, Naidu was employed by a company in eManzimtoti. “It is alleged that she colluded with a service provider who was supplying chemicals to (the company) and defrauded the company of more than R2m,” he said. Mhlongo said Naidu allegedly placed orders from the supplier and falsified delivery notes. The…

JUSTICE and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola’s apology to Thabo Bester’s victims could be easily acceptable if it was followed by his resignation. Not only did he and his leadership drop the ball, they are not the right people for the job. In fact, their failure to timeously communicate Bester’s escape is more than just dropping the ball. We would be not off the mark in arguing that it may have been a deliberate ploy to not come out early with news of Bester’s escape as it would once again have been an embarrassment to the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa. Or is it true that Bester was well connected politically? Whatever the case, Lamola cannot expect the victims and South Africans to simply accept his apology and move on.…

China is expected to announce an economic rebound tomorrow when Beijing releases its first quarterly GDP figures since abolishing growth-sapping Covid-19 restrictions last year. The Asian giant’s virus containment policy – an unstinting regime of strict quarantines, mass testing and travel curbs – strongly constrained normal economic activity before it was abruptly ditched in December. The disclosures tomorrow will give the first snapshot since 2019 of a Chinese economy unencumbered by public health restrictions, with analysts polled expecting an average of 3.8% year-on-year growth in the period from January through March. But the world’s number two economy remains beset by a series of other crises, from a debt-laden property sector to flagging consumer confidence. “The recovery is real, but still in its early stage,” said Larry Hu, chief China economist…

The G7 pledged yesterday to quit fossil fuels faster and urged other countries to follow suit, but failed to agree to any new deadlines on ending polluting power sources like coal. The language reflects the depth of disagreements among the allies on the balance between climate action and energy security, with host Japan leading a pushback against the most ambitious proposals discussed. After two days of talks in the northern city of Sapporo, the bloc’s climate and environment ministers vowed to “accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels so as to achieve net zero in energy systems by 2050 at the latest... and call on others to join us in taking the same action”. But they offered no new timelines beyond last year’s G7 pledge to largely end fossil fuel…

Dubai: A fire in a residential building in Dubai killed 16 people and injured nine others in the wealthy Gulf emirate, the government said yesterday. The fire broke out on the fourth floor of the building in the Al-Ras neighbourhood in the old part of the city. The civil defence force said preliminary investigations showed the fire was caused by a “lack of compliance with building security and safety requirements”, the government’s media office said in a statement. Firefighting teams were at the blaze within six minutes of being notified, it added. Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, has a population of around 3.3 million. | AFP…

JAKARTA: Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua region yesterday claimed to have killed nine army personnel the day before, after Jakarta did not respond to a request for negotiations, while the military said one soldier died. Indonesian military spokesperson Julius Widjojono said yesterday other soldiers were dispersed to several sites in the search for captured Susi Air pilot, Phillip Mehrtens. The military will intensify the operation to rescue Mehr- tens as they’ve identified his location. The West Papua National Liberation Army abducted the New Zealand pilot in February. The group initially demanded Jakarta recognise the area’s independence but said this month they were prepared to drop that demand and seek dialogue. | Reuters…

ARSENAL blew a two-goal lead for the second game in a row as Bukayo Saka’s penalty miss proved crucial in the Premier League leaders’ damaging 2-2 draw against West Ham United yesterday. Mikel Arteta’s side struck twice in the first 10 minutes at the London Stadium thanks to goals from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard. But just seven days after squandering a 2-0 advantage in their 2-2 draw at Liverpool, the Gunners again cracked under the pressure of the title race. Said Benrahma’s penalty reduced the deficit for West Ham before the interval and after Saka fired his spot-kick wide early in the second half, Jarrod Bowen volleyed in an equaliser for the struggling hosts. It was a hammer blow for Arsenal, who sit four points clear of second-placed Manchester…

PROPERTY developers have called on the eThekwini Municipality to offer a “three-year” grace period to developers and not charge the punitively high rates for vacant land, saying this is making it impossible to develop properties. They argue that the rates on vacant land had increased significantly, describing the move as punitive and undermining investment in the City. While it is understood that the large increase in vacant land rates was to discourage people from holding on to land, the business community said that the increase had resulted in many being unable to afford the rates. This sentiment was shared by ratepayer organisations and an opposition party in the council after a developer raised the matter in an engagement between the City and the business community last week. Speaking during the…

After the recent chaotic council meetings in Johannesburg and on the East Rand, it seems that one cannot rely on a plethora of small parties together with the DA to unseat the ANC in the national elections next year. The policies of the ANC and the DA are not very different if implemented properly, with strong leadership to set an example and unite the country behind it. To prevent a minority government after next year’s elections, why shouldn’t the ANC and DA stand as a single entity while retaining their separate legal identities? This will also prevent an ANC-EFF takeover after the elections, which would decimate the country. But is there a true statesman around who could pull this off? It can work. The Republic will then be a…

The global Muslim community will bid farewell to the auspicious month of Ramadaan this week. Soon we will be searching the skies for the new month of Shawaal to mark the end of Ramadaan. It has been a rewarding spiritual activity; a period of recompense, a period of closeness to Almighty Allah, a period of redirection of destinies and possibilities. It is a time of introspection, a time to gauge the extent of what we underwent by adopting a serious pattern of living, not just by taming hunger. We must in our hearts and spirits continue to strive to find meaning and purpose in this annual obligation and intimate act of submission to Almighty Allah. Beloved Ramadaan stood among us in a standing place of praise and profited us with…

Ramaphosa’s watershed test will come in 2024 elections President Cyril Ramaphosa threw down the gauntlet to local and global investors attending the 5th South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) in Sandton a few days ago. “We are on the recovery path, we refuse to be daunted by the challenges we face, we are confident that we will recover,” he declared defiantly in his opening speech to SAIC last Thursday. “We remain convinced that South Africa is an investment destination with significant untapped potential. We do believe that by leveraging our unique value proposition, we have the ability to attract higher levels of investment,” he said. In 2018, he boldly set an ambitious target to raise R1.2 trillion in investment over a five-year period. Last Thursday, also in his closing speech…

Germany switched off its last three nuclear reactors this weekend, exiting atomic power even as it seeks to wean itself off fossil fuels and manage an energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. While many Western countries are upping their investments in atomic energy to reduce their emissions, Germany brought an early end to its nuclear age. It’s “the end of an era,” the RWE energy firm said in a statement shortly after midnight confirming the three reactors had been disconnected from the electricity grid. Europe’s largest economy has been looking to leave behind nuclear power since 2002, but the phase-out was accelerated by former chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011. The exit decision was popular in a country with a powerful anti-nuclear movement, stoked by lingering fears of a…

Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Orthodox Easter Sunday by applauding the “strengthening” role of the church for society and youth. “I would like to express my profound gratitude for your tireless and selfless work in preserving the enduring historical, spiritual, moral and family values, by educating and enlightening youth,” said Putin after taking part in the liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. “For many years, your wise pastoral words have served to strengthen society. As we face serious challenges, it is particularly important,” he said. | AFP…

Sulaimaniyah: At least two people have been killed and two others wounded in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region, officials said yesterday, blaming a drone strike carried out by neighbouring Türkiye. The strikes near the town of Penjwen, close to the Iranian border, targeted a vehicle carrying Turkish Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), one official said. The PKK, which Ankara and its Western allies classify as a “terrorist” organisation, operates rear bases in Iraq’s north. Haval Abubaker, regional governor of Sulaimaniyah, expressed “concern” about the “attacks” in a telephone call with Masrour Barzani, prime minister of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan. | AFP…

SEOUL: South Korea fired warning shots towards a North Korean vessel that crossed the maritime border, South Korea’s military said yesterday, a day after the incident that further raised tension over the North’s missile tests. The South said it had broadcast warnings to expel a North Korean patrol boat that breached the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the sea boundary. “Our military maintains decisive battle posture,” it said. The North’s incursion came as tension flared over the North’s stepped up military activities in recent weeks, including Friday’s test of a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile that experts say would facilitate missile launches with little warning. | Reuters…

The surprise announcement that Jacques Nienaber is to call it a day as Springbok coach after the World Cup in October begs the question: Who of who will succeed him? The answer has surely been there all along in the form of the two assistant coaches, Deon Davids and Mzwandile Stick, and the real conjecture is which of them will assume the head coach mantle. What would be a real shock is if the aforementioned pair were overlooked and an outsider to the current coaching structure was brought in above them. What message would that send out? Davids and Stick were the coaches when the Southern Kings played exciting rugby in 2017 and Makazola Mapmpi was finishing off try after try. The Bok coaching staff has been a tight unit…