Inhaltsverzeichnis für 2023-09-04 in Mercury

IFP founding president Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi spent a pleasant but quiet Saturday night surrounded by family members at his KwaPhindangene residence in Nongoma, following his discharge from hospital earlier in the day. Family spokesperson Dr Bhekuyise Buthelezi said: “He is with the family. Everyone is happy that the head of the family is back from hospital, but importantly our privacy has been respected.” The Buthelezi family announced on Saturday night that Buthelezi had been discharged from hospital, saying they had received the news with gratitude. They expressed thanks for well wishes from a number of figures, including King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe. The family noted the messages of support and goodwill that had come from all parts of the country,…

The insistence by some members of the ANC Women’s League that they remain the legitimate leadership structure in KwaZulu-Natal has demonstrated cracks within the league, leading to questions over whether they can pull in one direction, especially with the 2024 elections looming. As the league held regional conferences in eThekwini and Moses Mabhida this past weekend, questions were raised about whether it is led by the Provincial Task Team (PTT) led by Bongi Sithole-Moloi or the structure led by Nonhlanhla Khoza as its chairperson. The stand-off is the latest development from the chaotic elective conference last month, which was nullified following contentions from aggrieved members who said they had been sidelined because they wanted Sithole-Moloi to be the KZN chairperson. This past weekend, the slate that had won the nullified…

After a shameful, rigged and unprofessional election on August 23, Zimbabwe has sought to inaugurate a contested election. The world has stood aloof while Zimbabweans are taken for a ride by a losing candidate. He seeks another term through the back door. The will of the people was oppressed by the use of the army, police and other state institutions. The judiciary is captured. There is widespread violence after the elections. The FAZ is going door to door targeting those who are part of the citizenry movement. Mildred Mhlanga of The Change Radio has commented on the false arrest of most of the CCC contestants who had cases to challenge the stolen elections, for example the case of Patrick Cheza. He was arrested after an accident. It’s sad that they…

Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining Shine on the one that’s gone and proved untrue, Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining, Shine on the one that’s gone and left me blue … ON WEDNESDAY night, last week, I dutifully went out and looked up into the night sky. The moon was huge and bright. Was it blue? Not at all. It was bright and silver-white. Most impressive. Next day, the internet was full of “blue moons”. But these were of a decidedly pinkish hue. Vot giffs? Is my computer screen colour-blind or what? I mentioned this the next day to a fellow who is steeped in science. He gave me the shocking news that there is no such thing as a blue moon; it’s a myth…

THE DA in Tshwane laid criminal charges against EFF councillors on Friday at Brooklyn police station after the party’s councillors were allegedly assaulted during an ordinary council sitting last week at Tshwane House. Party caucus spokesperson Kwena Moloto said the DA submitted video evidence to the SAPS showing DA councillors “being punched, kicked, pushed and hit with projectiles thrown by EFF councillors. “This unacceptable display of vulgarity from the EFF shows that they clearly have no regard for our democratic institutions. We condemn the violence and thuggery perpetrated by EFF councillors in chambers yesterday (Thursday). Previously, we have expressed that the EFF’s call for the reinstatement of the 122 workers who were dismissed during this illegal strike is an endorsement of violence. We now know that violence is at the…

The body of Nothando Madubane, 24, of Inanda, was discovered in Greenwood Park last Thursday – two days after she had been reported missing. Her family said she was last seen leaving a salon in Berea Centre as she made preparations for her first trip abroad as she was working on expanding her business. Madubane’s uncle, Malusi Nzimande, said his niece was preparing for the trip when she did not return home. “The last time her brother spoke to her was earlier that day and she had said she was about to get an Uber to return home but she never reached us. “The following day we decided to open a missing person case and as my niece was well known due to her fashion business, we thought that it…

NO CARING government would jump at shifting the blame to NGOs for failing to enforce its by-laws, especially when vulnerable people’s lives could be at risk. No government worth its salt would find comfort in presenting itself as helpless with all the power vested in it by the Constitution, at a time it is supposed to be taking responsibility and leading by example. The blame game that unfolded following the tragic deaths of 74 people in a building fire in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, says a lot about the calibre of leaders we entrust with the honour of governing this country. But allow us to first convey our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, and to wish the injured a speedy recovery. That so many people perished in one…

In an unprecedented event, Pope Francis and just about the entire Catholic population of a country were in the same room when he presided at a Mass in Mongolia’s capital yesterday. The Mass in Ulaanbaatar’s Steppe Arena was the religious highlight of the pope’s trip to visit the Catholic community of just 1 450. Most of Mongolia’s population of about 3.3 million are Buddhists. Most of Mongolia’s nine parishes are in the capital, but one in a remote area has only about 30 members and Church officials said they expected everyone who could make it to attend. Many Mongolians still live a nomadic tradition to graze their animals and in his homily, the pope used the image to make his point. “All of us are God’s nomads, pilgrims in search…

India switched off its moon rover, the first craft to reach the lunar south pole, after it completed its two-week assignment conducting experiments, the country’s space agency said. The Pragyan rover from the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft was “set into sleep mode” but with batteries charged and receiver on, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) late on Saturday. “Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments!” Isro said. “Else, it will forever stay there as India’s lunar ambassador.” By landing on the moon, India joined the US, China and the former Soviet Union. It went beyond them in reaching the rugged south pole, shortly after Russia’s Luna-25 crashed during a similar attempt. Chandrayaan-3’s soft, textbook touchdown after a failed attempt in 2019…

LONDON: British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said yesterday that the government would move to fix unsafe school buildings quickly. This, after some 100 schools were told to shut some buildings due to old and crumbling concrete. The order last week for schools to vacate buildings with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) came just days before the start of a new term for most children. Hunt said that a majority of the 104 affected schools, out of a total of 22 000 across England, would be able to operate largely normally. RAAC was commonly used to build walls, floors and ceilings during the 1960s-80s but is today deemed much weaker.. | AFP…

Seoul: North Korea staged a “simulated tactical nuclear attack” drill at the weekend with mock atomic warheads attached to two long-range cruise missiles that were test-fired into the ocean, state-controlled media said yesterday. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the operation on Saturday was a “counteraction drill” in response to joint military activity by US and South Korean forces that the agency said had escalated tensions. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said an unspecified number of cruise missiles were launched towards the Yellow Sea. Their specifications were being evaluated. | AFP…

MUNICIPALITIES across the country are in a perilous state, facing escalating consumer debt crises and battling to service their own bills. This is according to the latest report on the state of municipalities’ finances compiled by the National Treasury. The Treasury has released the local government revenue and expenditure report for the fourth quarter of the 2022/23 financial year which covers the performance of municipalities against the adjusted budgets for the fourth quarter of the municipal financial year ending on June 30, 2023. The report details the debt owed to municipalities, by municipalities to their suppliers and the spending of grants among key areas. The report, especially the debt, has raised the concerns of economic experts. eThekwini Municipality, the report revealed, is among the top three metros battling to extract…

I am repeatedly reminded – especially when travelling – that everyone you and I meet and everyone you and I know is vastly capable of goodness and kindness and has a story worth hearing. A young woman from Ukraine cut my hair this morning in a Prague barbershop. I wish I could have spoken her language and spent an hour in a coffee shop listening to her story. Her kindness, her artist’s approach to my limited amounts of hair, touched something in me. It was much more than a haircut. The Russian Uber driver who drove me home from dinner last evening made me wish I spoke Russian. The pictures of his wife and children mounted on his dashboard gave a hint that he is far from his family. I…

Heritage Month and Arbor Week are marked during September in South Africa. September 1 has become synonymous with Arbor Day where several “greening” events are promoted by different organisations and institutions such as schools. Arbor Day, a day for planting trees, serves as a reminder of the importance of trees and to take action to protect and preserve the environment and natural resources. The value of trees cannot be over emphasised as it is needed for humanity’s survival. Trees, like human beings, need water to survive. Consequently, it is important to protect all our natural resources, especially water. The health of the environment, forests, rivers, marine ecosystems and oceans are threatened, with potentially disturbing effects for human beings, animals, the climate and the planet. South Africa is blessed to have…

ENERGY experts have welcomed the news that the government wants to ramp up more renewable energy projects to add more megawatts to the grid to help reduce load shedding. Experts have also described renewable energy as the most cost effective and quick solution to rolling blackouts. Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said the government was ramping up renewable energy projects in the country, adding that this would help add more megawatts to the grid. He said his department was working on plans to expand the grid to be able to accommodate renewable projects. “We are doing everything possible to make sure that we ramp up the renewable energy share of the mix as part of the Integrated Resource Plan. The transmission is going to be the important part of the…

ANC confronted with harsh reality of state of country’s economy WHATEVER feel-good factor the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa may have harboured in hosting the 15th BRICS Summit and the precursor state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in August – no doubt touted as a diplomatic triumph given the expansion of the Bloc by six new members – quickly dissipated as the ruling ANC is confronted with the harsh reality of the state of the country’s economy and public finances, especially its onerous and growing sovereign debt burden. The President no doubt as he was showing his VIP Chinese guest the Jacaranda lined splendours of the Union Buildings and Pretoria, was buoyed following the apparent exoneration by SARB that “there was no perfected transaction and thus the SARB cannot…

Nearly four million Syrian students in government-controlled areas returned to school yesterday, braving the effects of war, a devastating earthquake and a deep economic crisis. But many children do not have classrooms to go to in a country where many educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed and 90% of people live under the poverty line according to the UN. Syria’s education ministry on Saturday called on schools “not to enforce strict school uniforms … and to reduce the necessary supplies” for students, the SANA state news agency reported. These measures were introduced “in light of the difficult economic conditions facing the country and as part of an effort to reduce the financial burden on the population,” SANA said. “More than 3.7 million students are starting the 2023-2024 academic year,…

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the UN to reform in line with 21st century realities to ensure the representation of voices that matter, according to an interview published yesterday. A “mid-20th century approach cannot serve the world in the 21st century”, said Modi, who will host a summit of the Group of 20 big economies from next weekend. Modi, leader of the world’s most populous country and aspirant to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is seeking to boost India’s status and promote its causes, such as relief for unsustainable debt at the summit. He reiterated his support for the AU to become a full member of the G20. Modi called for global co-operation in fighting cybercrime, saying: “Terrorists using dark net, metaverse,…

TAIPEI: Domestic flights were cancelled and almost 4 000 people were evacuated as Typhoon Haikui barrelled into south-eastern Taiwan yesterday, bringing torrential rain and strong winds. Haikui made landfall in the mountainous and sparsely populated far southeast of Taiwan yesterday afternoon, the first typhoon to directly hit Taiwan in four years. Counties and cities in the region cancelled classes and declared a day off for workers. Haikui is a much weaker storm than Typhoon Saola which hit Hong Kong and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Saturday. Taiwan’s government said that 3 729 people had been evacuated, mainly in the south and east. | Reuters…

Jerusalem: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel was considering deporting 1 000 Eritreans who took part in “riots” in Tel Aviv over the weekend that injured dozens, including Israeli policemen. Clashes erupted on Saturday when a demonstration against an Eritrean government event turned violent, injuring nearly 140 people, including a dozen Eritrean asylum seekers who were hit by Israeli police gunfire. The clashes began when hundreds of anti-government Eritreans came to prevent the event from taking place in Tel Aviv, the commercial centre of Israel. | AFP…

THE US DOLLAR will eventually be dethroned as the dominant global currency and the BRICS can create viable alternatives, said Jeffrey Sachs, a world-renowned economist and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. “The BRICS can create viable alternatives to the dollar. In this sense, yes, the dollar will be dethroned as the overwhelmingly dominant global currency,” Sachs said. “That is inevitable in the long run in any event, given the declining share of US gross domestic product and global trade." The BRICS would hasten the transition to a multi-currency system, and the US dollar would still have its role, but a much smaller one among many currencies, Sachs added. Former chief economist of Goldman Sachs Jim O’Neill said the US dollar could be dethroned only when China wants…

In the wake of the Johannesburg CBD fire, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Sihle Zikalala will lead the task of identifying all hijacked buildings in the country, as well as indicate what should be done with the properties. The fire last week led to the deaths of more than 77 people, including children, in a multi-storey building in the inner city. Zikalala’s spokesperson, Lennox Mabaso, said the Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure had been tasked with undertaking a government-wide investigation into hijacked buildings in the country’s metros. “This follows an inter-ministerial committee meeting that is looking into the Marshalltown disaster this week.As a department responsible for state property management, the Department of Public Works was already in the process of identifying misappropriated state properties within its own asset…

SANTAM Insurance’s posting of a 7% increase in premiums (Business Report, September 1) brings to mind the question of the relationship between insurers and panel beaters. In his haste to reverse out of a parking place, a negligent driver scraped and dented the left-hand back door of my son’s 2008 Clio. No damage was done to the windows or the door handle. Three quotes from panel beaters varied from R24 000 to R61 000. Labour costs started at R18 000. Yet a second-hand door can be purchased for R1 500. The question that arises is: if both doors had been damaged, would the insurer consider paying out a cost which would vastly exceed the current insured value of the car which is R56 700? What is apparent from the above…

The expected fuel price increase, set to come into effect on Wednesday, is a subject of concern for all South Africans. With diesel expected to rise by almost R2.85 a litre, petrol by R1.65 and paraffin by as much as R2.80, many people are set to feel the squeeze. These increases will push prices to the highest they have been in the past 10 months, and the impact on everyone, not just motorists, will be devastating. The price of fuel has a direct impact on the cost of living, as everything will become more expensive, including food. The hardest hit will be the poor and the unemployed. It’s high time that the government began to understand the impact of fuel hikes on the citizens, and take a hard look at…

FOR THE past few years, a new type of influencer (definition: a person with the ability to influence how others behave because they have built a reputation based on their knowledge and expertise, generally on social media platforms) has emerged. They are called finfluencers; and as the name suggests, these individuals focus on the niche area of personal finance, investing, and creating personal wealth. Within this finfluencer social media world, there are also different subsets of individuals that focus on investing, the F.I.R.E (financially independent, retire early) movement, the debt-free community, investing in real estate, frugality, and living sustainably. Most finfluencers started out on YouTube where they post videos, however, platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have also seen an increase in people posting financially-related content. These finfluencers range…

Russian drones targeted Ukraine’s southern Odesa region in the early hours of yesterday, with Moscow hitting a Danube port on the border with Nato member Romania in an attack condemned by Bucharest. Moscow has hit Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Black Sea and on the Danube for weeks, since exiting a key deal that allowed the safe passage of ships carrying grain. The attack came on the eve of a summit in Russia between Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hopes to revive the grain deal. President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that he discussed “ways to ensure the functioning” of a maritime corridor set up by Kyiv to ensure safe navigation with France’s Emmanuel Macron. The Odesa region attacks also came asKyiv has claimed some successes in…

An Australian icebreaker was sailing to Antarctica yesterday in a rescue mission to evacuate a researcher with a “developing medical condition” from a remote station. Icebreaker RSV Nuyina departed from Tasmania last week to rescue an unnamed individual from Casey, a research base on the frozen continent 3 443km away, the Australian Antarctic Programme said. The researcher “requires specialist medical assessment and care in Australia for a developing medical condition”, a programme spokesperson said. The name of the condition was not given. The ship has a top speed of around 16 knots, meaning the rescue could take several days. The Nuyina was equipped with helicopters on board to help the evacuation effort, the spokesperson said in a statement Saturday. The researcher’s family is being kept informed of the situation, the…

LOS ANGELES; Adele could earn “close to £1 million (about R23m) a night” for a new run of Las Vegas shows. The 35-year-old singer, who has 10-year-old son Angelo with ex-husband Simon Konecki, opened her Weekends with Adele concert series in Sin City towards the end of last year and the shows are to come to an end in November, but bosses are desperate to sign her up for another run and would make her an offer she would find difficult to turn down. A source said Adele loves performing in Vegas. | Bang Showbiz…

Lagos: Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has recalled the country’s ambassadors from abroad as part of steps to rejig his new administration and ensure efficiency in the foreign service. Since taking office in May, Tinubu has announced a series of reforms to boost the economy and spur investment, but these have caused a surge in living costs. The Presidency said the recall was issued after Tinubu’s “careful study” of situations at Nigerian consulate offices and embassies worldwide. But Nigeria’s permanent representatives to the UN in New York and Geneva were exempted from the recall, because of the UN General Assembly being held later this month. | AFP…