Inhaltsverzeichnis für 2022-08-30 in Mercury

Call them what you like ... three wise men, three blind mice or the three horsemen of the political apocalypse but there’s no taking away the power-intoxicating predatory spirit of Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Imran Khan as the capricious trilogy of political mavericks look to make a comeback in their respective countries. Despite the ignominy, their support is steadfast and more growth is predicted as the pantomime of political showmanship gathers momentum. Leading the pack of power-mad politicians is none other than the political mallard, Trump. Trump claims to have been “robbed” in the past US election after losing to Joe Biden. A brilliant businessman and tax evasion specialist, he has been credited with masterminding the mayhem for the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill. He has established his…

The Department of International Relations and Co-operation is hell-bent on giving a R50 million “donation” to Cuba. Minister Naledi Pandor is quoted as saying: “The idea that by donating to Cuba, the government is taking money from South Africans is a selfish attitude … ” How dare she first, make such an outrageous statement, and second, even consider such an outrageous and extravagant “gift” to Cuba? Why Cuba and what does South Africa owe to Cuba more than any other “friendly” country? How dare she even consider gifting money that belongs to the people of South Africa and not her or her particular department? The Department of Health revealed “in the past three years 2 818 children under the age of 5 have died of malnutrition in hospitals in South…

eThekwini municipal officials were left shocked and red-faced when the sheriff and his team pounced on them without warning and raided their offices at the Electricity Department, seizing all their moveable items – chairs, desks, computers, cars and phones. The sheriff was acting on a court order granted against the municipality for non-payment of a R30 million debt owed to Double Trading 479 CC, trading as Pholobas Projects. The city had lost an appeal against the judgment and has been ordered to pay the accumulated interest and the cost of the court application. It’s shocking, embarrassing, disgraceful and disgusting for KwaZulu-Natal’s only metro to be treated with indignity by the law and the sheriff. No chairs and desks for the staff to put up their feet, munch on snacks or…

The newly-elected ANC KwaZulu- Natal provincial leadership paid a courtesy visit to former president Jacob Zuma at his Nkandla residence on Sunday. The visit to the former head of state comes hot on the heels of a similar visit by the KZN leadership to former president Thabo Mbeki early this month. Before the meeting, ANC KZN secretary-general Bheki Mtolo said the visit was in line with the party’s renewal project and the vision to build a compassionate and caring society. Among those who visited the former president was KZN provincial chairperson Siboniso Duma, Mtolo, Nomagugu Simelane as well as Sipho Hlomuka and Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba. Duma said part of the visit was to seek Zuma’s wisdom: “It is well known that the former president is a wise man. We met…

Richards Bay Airport will return to operations next month. This is according to City of uMhlathuze mayor Xolani Ngwezi. He said in a statement yesterday that Airlink Richards Bay flights would resume operations from Richards Bay Airport on September 19. Ngwezi said: “The reinstatement of daily flights follows Richards Bay Airport securing the necessary resources to accommodate scheduled airline services after an enforced 20-month hiatus. “We have been working on the recently renovated airport, we can now warmly welcome all travellers, including business and leisure ones. This will have a positive impact also in the growth of our tourism industry as well as in making business much easier to do as it will be easier to connect to different provinces in a short space of time.” Ngwezi added that the…

WOMEN living in mass shelters for flood victims across the eThekwini Municipality told the deputy minister for Social Development that they had been faced with ongoing abuse. The women gathered at a children’s home in Sydenham, Durban, yesterday for a dialogue on challenges they faced daily while living in mass shelters since the April floods. According to the department, the aim of the dialogue was to emphasise that women are not just a vulnerable group, but they are also agents of change. Alice Mokoatle, who lives at a mass shelter in Burlington, Chatsworth, pleaded with Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu to intervene to have them moved to better living spaces. Mokoatle said the men living in the shelter had been demanding that women cook and dish up for them. “It is…

The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) has warned of an advance-fee scam in which perpetrators are falsely presenting themselves as SAFPS representatives. Chief executive Manie van Schalkwyk said the SAFPS was concerned about the scam doing the rounds on social media. “This is another example of the risk-based environment facing South African consumers and how easy it can be for consumers to potentially become victims if they are not looking for red flags,” Van Schalkwyk said. He said the advance-fee scam was a common trick that tried to lull consumers into a false sense of confidence. The scam typically involves promising the potential victim a significant amount of money in return for a small up-front payment. The scammer assures the victim the payment will be used to obtain a…

THE prize money paid to the winning athletes at the 2022 Comrades Marathon is not enough and the race organisers should not hide behind the Covid-19 lockdown to justify paying the runners a pittance. The men’s champion, Tete Dijana, and his female counterpart, Russian Alexandra Morovoza, are set to receive R260 000 each for winning the 95th edition of the race. The Comrades Marathon Association has reportedly attributed the reduced prize money to lack of sponsorships due to Covid-19. The Comrades Marathon is a gruelling and difficult race that tests human endurance to the limit. In addition, athletes have to make a lot of sacrifices to participate in the race, including dietary requirements, entrance fees, and travelling and accommodation costs. It is reported that Dijana, 34, took unpaid leave…

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said yesterday he was en route to inspect Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which has been targeted by fresh shelling over the past day, according to its operator. The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest atomic facility, has been occupied by Russian troops since the start of the war. Moscow and Kyiv are trading blame for shelling around the complex of six Soviet-designed nuclear reactors in the city of Energodar, in southern Ukraine. Last week the plant was briefly cut off from the national grid for the first time in its four-decade history owing to Russian shelling of the last working power line, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. At the weekend, Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom, which operates the plant, warned of the risk of a radiation…

Canberra: In his address marking 100 days since taking office, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday promised a “cultural change” to improve conditions for women in the workplace. Albanese flagged a shift to a “reform and renewal” agenda. Albanese said he had not wasted a day in office since leading the Labor Party to election victory Ahead of the government’s two-day jobs summit on Thursday, Albanese said that after 30 years in which the gender gap has hardly budged, he was hoping improvement in economic equality for women. “This is going to take more than legislative change,” he said. | IANS…

Abuja: A Nigerian court has rejected a request to extradite a suspended police officer to the US after he was implicated by a social media celebrity in a fraud case. Deputy police commissioner Abba Kyari was suspended after he was implicated in the case of Nigerian social media influencer Ramon Abbas, known as Hushpuppi, who pleaded guilty to money laundering and other crimes in the US. Kyari’s US indictment prompted attorney-general Abubakar Malami to file an extradition request at the high court. But Judge Inyang Ekwo dismissed it yesterday because Kyari is already on trial in Nigeria for an alleged link with drug barons. | AFP…

The Springboks will be sticking to their same old guns this week for their rematch with the Wallabies after Deon Davids and Steven Kitshoff told the media that there is nothing wrong with the game plan. The forwards coach and the loosehead prop said in an online conference from Sydney that they still believe they are a champion team despite losing three of the six matches they have played this year, including a disappointing defeat in Adelaide last week. “We are confident we are on the right track,” Davids said. “We are blessed with talent, experience and youngsters coming through, and we have a long-term view of where we want to be. “We aim to win every game but we have given opportunities to players to get experience in different…

ENGAGEMENTS with the company that attached assets belonging to the eThekwini Municipality last week have started in earnest, with the city saying it is optimistic that the goods will be returned as a matter of urgency. The municipality told The Mercury yesterday that no agreement had been reached yet between the legal representatives for the company and the city’s legal representatives. Last week the municipality was left red-faced, with councillors and workers’ unions demanding answers after the sheriff descended on the city’s electricity unit and started attaching assets to satisfy a R30 million debt the municipality owes to a private company in terms of a high court order. Cars, chairs, telephones and computers were seized after the company, Daily Double Trading 479 CC trading as Pholobas Project, served a…

“It’s not what happens to you but how you respond to what happens to you that really makes the difference” has become somewhat of a cliché. The axiom holds some truth. Like all bumper stickers and one-liners it doesn’t quite capture the whole truth or the complexity of the human experience. To the suffering it can be heard as judgement, as condemnation. Some things that happen to people are so devastating, so vile, so out of left field, so horrible and unpredictable, that they need considerable space to grieve, to reorient themselves, to find their feet, let alone get back on their feet. People hit with heartbreak or significant loss or an act of violence need time, lots of it, to figure out who they are in their new reality…

The MEC for Health in Limpopo has a point when she criticises the practice of foreigners using the facilities of provincial hospitals. However, the way she berated the patient publicly may well deservedly be criticised. I wonder if both the former president as well as South Africa’s present vice-president paid Russia for the private medical services they chose to use in Russia, in preference to the medical services of South Africa. Presumably, however, the substantial air travel expenses and personal accommodation expenses of these two South African political luminaries was not paid for by Russia, but rather by South African taxpayers.…

What a difference a week makes in sport – the four main reasons the Proteas were well and truly thrashed by England in the second Test in Manchester: 1. Having won the toss Dean Elgar’s obsession with batting first, even against pundits’ advice was a massive mistake, our bowlers were on top of their game and raring to go. 2. Going with two spinners, when England who obviously know the venue better only went with one spinner. 3. Dropping (Marco) Jansen who bowled and batted brilliantly in the first Test and is one of our better all rounders. 4. Persisting with off-form batsmen like Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen and even Keegan Petersen looks way out of his depth in international cricket. Let’s hope this is a wake-up…

A FEMALE prison warden, 43, has been arrested in Mpumalanga for possession of dagga after an impromptu search-and-seizure operation at a correctional facility. The facility manager conducted a morning parade, announcing that Correctional Services protocols dictated that no employee was allowed to enter the premises with a hand or grocery bag unless it was transparent for everyone to see the items inside, said Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala. All the Correctional Services staff were searched, to prevent drug smuggling. “As the search and seizure was carried out, the said warden tried to hide her handbag. But she was noticed. She ran from the parade to her office where she hid her handbag and went to another office,” said Mohala. Those conducting the search followed her to her office.…

KWAZULU-NATAL director-general Nonhlanhla Khoza was arrested yesterday morning by the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation (DPCI) for allegedly defeating the ends of justice and intimidation. Brigadier Thandi Mbambo, spokesperson for the DPCI, also known as the Hawks, said Khoza, 58, was arrested at her home together with a 47-year-old alleged accomplice, following an investigation by the National Clean Audit Task Team of the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit. The arrest of the pair brings to six the total number of suspects arrested in connection with allegations of corruption at Mhlathuze Water in Richards Bay. Mbambo said the chairperson of the Mhlathuze Water Board had reported allegations of the irregular appointment of service providers, without following the supply chain management protocols as well as contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.…

THE public have until next week to have their say on plans by Eskom to increase electricity tariffs for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years. The National Energy Regulator (Nersa) said Eskom submitted its Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD5) application on June 2, 2021 and requested to be allowed an amount of revenue of R335 billion and R365bn for financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25 respectively. According to Nersa, for these revenue applications, Eskom MYPD5 pro forma tariff calculations propose a tariff increase of 38.1% for 2023/24 and 5.12% for 2024/25. The main drivers of the application are cited as the regulatory asset base (RAB); primary energy; independent power producers (IPPs); operating costs; and depreciation. “The revenues and tariff decisions that will be determined by Nersa for the 2023/24 year, will be…

ONE of the many benefits of saving your money in a pension fund is the protection that the relevant legislation offers to you as a member of a pension fund. The Pension Funds Act of 1956 expressly protects your benefits from being reduced, transferred or otherwise ceded, or of being pledged or hypothecated, or being liable to be attached or subjected to any form of execution under a judgment or order of a court of law. The protections are provided subject to certain limited exceptions that are expressly contained in the act, such as the provision for housing loans granted against the value of your pension interest. Pension fund benefits may not be subjected to any form of execution under a judgment or order of a court of law. One…

The initial economic losses from floods in Pakistan could reach at least $10 billion, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said in an interview yesterday. Unprecedented and historical flash floods caused by abnormal monsoon rains have washed away roads, crops, infrastructure and bridges, killing at least 1 000 people in recent weeks and affecting more than 33 million. “I think it is going to be huge. So far, (a) very early, preliminary estimate is that it is big, it is higher than $10 billion,” Iqbal said. The minister said it might take five years to rebuild and rehabilitate the South Asian nation of 200 million people, which will be facing an acute challenge of food shortage. He said 45% of cotton crops had been washed away in addition to huge damage to…

Iraq’s powerful Shia Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr yesterday said he was quitting politics and closing his institutions in response to an intractable political deadlock, sparking protests by his followers and raising fears of more instability. Sadr’s supporters, who have been staging a weeks-long sit-in in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, a sprawling area of ministries and foreign missions, stormed the main cabinet headquarters and demonstrated inside after his announcement. Iraq’s army declared a curfew and urged the protesters to leave the Green Zone to avoid clashes. During the stalemate over forming a new government, Sadr has galvanised his legions of backers, throwing into disarray Iraq’s effort to recover from decades of conflict and sanctions and its bid to tackle sectarian strife and rampant corruption. Sadr was the biggest winner in an…

Oslo: Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has fathered 10 children, said yesterday that the world needs to “make more babies” – and keep digging for oil. The richest man on the planet, who has warned that low birth rates posed a “danger” to civilisation, said ahead of an energy conference in Norway that the world is facing a “baby crisis”. Asked about the greatest challenges facing the world, Musk cited the transition to renewable energies but also the birth rate. “We don’t want the population to drop so low that we’ll just eventually die,” said Musk, founder of US electric car manufacturer Tesla and SpaceX. Many Western societies and populated countries such as China are facing declining birth rates and ageing societies. “If we don’t have enough kids, then…

WASHINGTON: The US Justice Department’s search of former US president Donald Trump’s home turned up a “limited” number of documents subject to attorney-client privilege, federal prosecutors said in a court filing yesterday. The Justice Department’s new disclosure could bolster a request by Trump’s legal team to appoint a special master to conduct a privilege review of the items the FBI seized from Trump’s Florida estate during its August 8 search. A special master is an independent third-party appointed by a court in sensitive cases to review materials potentially covered by attorney-client privilege to ensure investigators do not improperly view them. | Reuters…

Former Transnet group chief executive Brian Molefe and former finance head Anoj Singh were yesterday granted bail when they appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Crimes Court on charges of defrauding the state-owned enterprise, Transnet. They were arrested yesterday by the Investigating Directorate (ID) of the National Prosecuting Authority and the Hawks. Before midday, Molefe stood in the dock alongside Singh, Regiments Capital directors Niven Pillay and Litha Mangaliso Nyhonyha. The four men are charged alongside Regiments Capital which is accused number 10. Singh and Molefe are charged with contravention of the Public Finance Management Act and fraud while the other accused are charged with fraud, corruption and money laundering. The State did not oppose bail for the accused. The magistrate released the four on R50 000 bail each and…

A Mickey Mantle baseball card in mint condition sold for $12.6 million (R214m) on Sunday, becoming the most valuable piece of sports memorabilia to be sold at an auction. The rare Mantle card, sold by Heritage Auctions, surpassed a record of $9.3m set in May for the shirt worn by Diego Maradona, when he scored the contentious “Hand of God” goal at the 1986 World Cup. “An eight-figure auction result in the sports market was the stuff of fantasy just a decade ago,” Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage, said. “We always knew this card would shatter records and expectations. But that doesn’t make it any less of a thrill.” The previous record for a sports card was $7.25m, set this month by a century-old “T206” Honus Wagner…

THE years roll on. A philosophical lament comes this way: I used to be able to do cartwheels. Now I tip over putting on my underwear. I hate it when I see an older person and then realise we went to high school together. I told my wife she should remember her mistakes … so she hugged me. My wife says I have only two faults. I don’t listen … plus something else. I thought growing old would take longer. I came, I saw, I forgot what I was doing. Retraced my steps, got lost on the way back, now I have no idea what’s going on. The officer said: “You drinking?” I said: “You buying?” We laughed and laughed … now I need bail money. Day 12 without chocolate.…

For many months now we have not seen sight of a municipal worker meaningfully addressing the sorry state of the main road through the Hillcrest CBD. However, a few days before the annual Comrades Marathon, the area was abuzz with municipal workers. The workers were trimming overgrown tree branches, placing asphalt surfacing on the badly damaged road surface, sweeping the street and even washing traffic lights, including the glass faces “nogal”. Even the province has been attending to a dangerous roadside hazard on the M13. Is it because the municipality and the province put more store in the impressions of perhaps millions of TV viewers, national and international, who will be viewing the state of our infrastructure, than they do in the pleas of the local populace who pay their…

The Auditor-General South Africa (Agsa) has revealed that 41 national departments incurred R1.52 billion in fruitless and wasteful expenditure over the past five years. This emerged when head of auditing at Agsa Bongi Ngoma recently briefed the standing committee on appropriations on fruitless and wasteful expenditure and material irregularities. “Over the past five years R1.52bn was incurred as fruitless and wasteful expenditure by 41 departments. Twenty-one of the 41 have incur(red) fruitless and wasteful expenditure on consistent basis for the past five years,” Ngoma said. The highest contributors to the fruitless and wasteful expenditure are the Department of Defence with R460.09 million, followed by National Treasury R339.47m, Basic Education Department R106.85m, Tourism Department R92.95m and Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Department R87.94m. Ngoma said the amount incurred in fruitless and wasteful…

A KGOSI Mampuru Correctional Centre inmate already facing charges of extortion, forgery, money laundering and uttering, has now been additionally charged for contempt of court. When Lenn Roy Jovner, 26, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court this month, the court ordered he not make any contact with State witnesses. But Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Philani Nkwalase, said a State witness reported, with evidence, that Jovner intimidated him. Also, two additional cellphones were confiscated from his jail cell on August 21. “The devices were positively linked to the alleged communication with the said State witness. “Furthermore, evidence reportedly linking the accused and other suspects to the extortion of a Limpopo man who paid a large amount of cash but later com- mitted suicide had also been retrieved.” Jovner and three other inmates…

A SPAR employee who was charged with the kidnapping of an 8-month-old baby has made his first appearance in court. Mduduzi Godfrey Thobela appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg on August 23. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Louw said Thobela was released on bail. The hearing was adjourned to next month. The alleged incident took place on August 21 at the Meyersdal Superspar in Alberton in Gauteng. CCTV footage of the incident has gone viral on social media. In the two-minute video, the mother and child are seen shopping. The mother places her baby in a trolley as she opens a freezer to look for items. A man wearing a plastic apron walks past and picks the baby up and walks away. The mother realises the baby…

IT IS befitting to begin by quoting American poet June Jordan, who said “Language is political”. During the recent visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Naledi Pandor, greeted him in four languages – English, Zulu, Sotho – and Arabic. Language and its use are an essential feature in any political environment and there is a motive behind the way language is used. It was thus most surprising to hear a South African government minister using Arabic in a country where it is not even an official language. It also makes no sense because none of the 16 Member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) speak or use an Arabic language. There was no logic in using a language…

NASA called off a test flight yesterday of its largest rocket in a setback to the ambitious programme to send humans back to the moon and eventually to Mars. “We don’t launch until it’s right,” Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said after an engine temperature issue forced lift-off from Kennedy Space Center to be scrubbed. “This is a very complicated machine,” Nelson said. “You don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go.” Alternative dates for launch of the US space agency’s uncrewed Artemis 1 mission are Friday and next Monday. Blast-off had been planned for 12.33 GMT but was cancelled because of a temperature problem with one of the four RS-25 engines on the 98m Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Nasa said a test to get one…

Gibraltar finally joined the official list of British cities yesterday, after 180 years in which its status, granted by Queen Victoria, had been overlooked due to an administrative error. The British overseas territory bid to become a city earlier this year as part of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, but research in the National Archives established it had in fact been granted city status in 1842. Spain ceded the rocky outpost at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea to Britain in 1713 after a war but has long called for it to be returned. In 2002, 99% of voters in Gibraltar rejected the idea of Britain sharing sovereignty with Spain. The status of Gibraltar and how to police the border with Spain has been a point of contention…

Hong Kong: An unarmed Hong Kong man who was shot by police during democracy protests three years ago was convicted yesterday of multiple charges, including trying to steal the firearm that shot him. Chow Pak-kwan, 23, was shot at point-blank range by a traffic officer outside a subway station in November 2019 when protesters had called a citywide strike. The shooting was captured on a live Facebook broadcast. It showed the officer drawing his gun and pointing towards protesters blocking the road. He briefly grappled with a protester wearing white, as Chow approached. He then fired at Chow, hitting him in the stomach. Chow lost his right kidney. | AFP…

When the words were coming out of Jacques Nienaber’s mouth, I grimaced and knew that the Bok coach was tempting fate ... “If you are a coach or a player, you are two poor games from being dropped, and you are two poor games away from being fired. That is the reality and one lives with that,” Nienaber said in a press conference a few days after his team had smashed the All Blacks in Nelspruit, and he had been asked by a Kiwi reporter if he felt sorry for Ian Foster. Well, the Boks lost that week at Ellis Park after getting their selections wrong and going through the motions for the opening quarter and they were 15-0 down before they had raised a sweat. Most thought they would…