Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-04-20 i Mercury

THE BUSINESS sector has welcomed the declaration of a National State of Disaster to tackle the severe economic impact of the floods which resulted in deaths, damage to infrastructure and loss of production. Last week’s devastating floods left untold destruction and at least 443 people dead while almost 50 others are unaccounted for. Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) yesterday said the declaration of a disaster signalled the seriousness with which the government was tackling the task, as well as the lessons learned from the emergency responses in the last few years. BLSA chief executive Busi Mavuso said urgent lifesaving support must be a priority, but it was important that businesses and the authorities also focus on restoring transport connections. “The search-and-recovery effort is clearly the priority, while also bringing immediate…

THE SOUTH African government has proposed R5.2 billion in tax relief while the Department of Small Business Development plans to support at least 15 000 youth-owned enterprises to boost economic recovery and youth unemployment. While the proof is still in the pudding, this is a step in the right direction given that small businesses are the backbone of the economy and youth unemployment is one of South Africa’s biggest and most pressing problems. To ensure the proposed measures have the desired outcome of small business development and youth employment creation, it is necessary that all stakeholders are involved – from government agencies to private sector players and educational institutions. This will achieve greater collaboration and help to understand what support and development the small to medium-sized businesses really…

TONGAAT Hulett, which faces financial challenges following management fraud in previous years, said yesterday that it expected earnings for the year to March 31 to plunge at least 120 percent below the earnings of last year. Further bad news for its shareholders, many of whom have been attempting to stall a rights issue they believe is not to their benefit, was that the proposed rights issue to recapitalise the group was being increased to R5 billion from R4bn. The group said in a trading statement and operational update that it had expected to navigate difficult trading conditions in its 2022 financial year, but the impact of the unrest in July 2021 in KwaZulu-Natal had a much more prolonged impact on production, while the forced stoppages aggravated the neglect…

A glyph representing a day called “7 Deer” on mural fragments dating from the third century BC found inside the ruins of a pyramid in Guatemala marks the earliest-known use of the Maya calendar, one of this ancient culture’s renowned achievements. The fragments were found at the San Bartolo archaeological site in the jungles of northern Guatemala, which gained fame with the 2001 discovery of a buried chamber with elaborate and colourful murals dating to about 100BC depicting Maya ceremonial and mythological scenes, researchers said. The pieces with the “7 Deer” glyph were unearthed inside the same Las Pinturas pyramid where the still-intact later murals were located. As was the case with this structure, the Maya often built what initially were modest- sized temples, then constructed ever-larger versions atop the…

As South Africans, we have become wary of the abuse of state resources. This is understandable, especially when confronted with revelations in the Zondo commission exposing the looting of billions of rand intended to benefit communities at large. The smoke around former mayor Zandile Gumede and her alleged involvement in hundreds of millions being siphoned off the township waste - removal tender points to the fact that there is a fire somewhere. So the reaction by the public to a video showing municipal vehicles filled with food hampers from an NGO and destined for destitute people being stopped by an angry member of the public is understandable. In the video, which went viral, a woman is seen accusing council staff and the SAPS of “stealing” the sponsorship. My own investigation…

I am saddened by the death of Elvis Nyathi, a Zimbabwean man, on April 7 in Diepsloot. It must cause the heart to stop working to hear that the person you carried for nine months was burnt to death. Here you are expecting him to take care of you, it must hurt so much. South Africa’s high unemployment rate often sparks social tensions, including xenophobic violence against African migrants. The number of Zimbabweans living in South Africa is not known, but estimates suggest that there are more than 2 million people. It is sad and frustrating that Zimbabwe is a country with all the minerals but Zimbabweans are being killed. Zimbabwe was once a rising economy in Africa, with its mining and agricultural industries propelling the country forward. However,…

THE Fusion Centre is investigating 5 812 civil servants who fraudulently applied for the R350 social relief distress grants. Most of them were on short-term contracts at the time. This emerged in a response from Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu to parliamentary questions posed by DA MP Mimmy Gondwe. Gondwe enquired how many civil servants were being investigated, their positions, and breakdown for national and provincial departments. She also queried how many investigations had been concluded. In her written reply, Zulu said the multi stakeholder forum, comprising the police, National Prosecution Authority, Financial Intelligence Centre, and the Department of Public Service and Administration’s discipline management unit, was investigating 5 812 cases. She said the majority of civil servants under investigation included 1 257 in the Eastern Cape, 1 102 in…

A tip-off from the community has led to the arrest of a suspect, 47, found with fraudulent documents in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. Gauteng Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela welcomed the co-operation of residents in helping police to clamp down on crime. “I’d like to thank the community who continue to be the eyes and ears of the police. Working together we can bring crime to minimal.” The tip-off led police to a man producing fraudulent ID documents and passports from a flat in Hillbrow. A search of the premises resulted in police uncovering scores of South African IDs, birth certificates, passports, Covid-19 certificates, work permits, police firearm licence competency certificates and Sassa cards. Blank certificates with official logos appeared to be waiting for information. The suspect, a Zimbabwean national, faces…

A 27-year-old man has been arrested at the Jeppes Reef border post after he allegedly attempted to smuggle dagga in to the country from eSwatini. Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the man was intercepted on Monday. “As part of the Easter Weekend Operations, at around 12.10 police were busy with their routine duties, including patrolling the border between South Africa and the Kingdom of eSwatini, when they spotted a suspicious man who used an illegal crossing near Jeppes Reef to enter into South Africa,” Mohlala said. “He was reportedly stopped and while searching him, police found that he had dagga wrapped around his body weighing about 1.9kg.” Police said the estimated street value of the dagga was R3 000. “He was arrested and charged for possession…

A KwaZulu-Natal couple appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged with defrauding the KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) provincial spokesperson Natasha Kara said Ruvanya Ramiah and Ayush Rambally were charged with fraud, theft and money laundering amounting to more than R12 million. “They were remanded into custody until April 28 for a bail application,” she said. The KZN Blind and Deaf Society welcomed the arrests of the couple. It said the pair were arrested in Estcourt last Thursday. The president of the society, Veetha Sewkuran, expressed her gratitude to the investigating officer, identified as Colonel Sibiya, and said she was confident that justice would prevail. The couple allegedly defrauded the organisation from 2012 to 2019. The organisation said Ramiah, while working for the society as…

Renewable technologies, battery storage are useful to the grid, but they are not the grid SPEAKING during an energy transition breakaway at the South African Investment Conference of 2022, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter was quoted by the Engineering News online magazine as saying: “The utility estimated that some 68 000MW of mostly new variable renewable-energy capacity would have to be added to cater for the 22 000MW of coal (sic) that the utility would be retiring by about 2035.” He was further quoted as having said: “The state-owned utility was hoping to build about 8 000MW of that new capacity, leaving 60 000MW that would have to be built by private and/or municipal generators.” In the same breakaway session, Brian Dames, who is the former CEO of Eskom,…

Mexico has disbanded a select anti-narcotics unit that for a quarter of a century worked hand-in-hand with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to tackle organised crime, two sources said, in a major blow to bilateral security co-operation. The group was one of the Sensitive Investigative Units (SIU) operating in about 15 countries which US officials tout as invaluable in dismantling powerful smuggling rings and busting drug lords around the globe. The units are trained by the DEA but under the control of national governments. In Mexico, the over 50 officers in the SIU police unit were considered many of the country’s best and worked on the biggest cases such as the 2016 capture of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, then the boss of the powerful Sinaloa cartel. The closure threatens…

The football world rallied around Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Rodriguez yesterday after they announced that their newborn son had died. The 37-year-old Manchester United forward had revealed in a social media post last October that the couple was expecting twins. In a post released on Monday on the Portuguese international’s Twitter account, they confirmed the birth of a baby girl. “It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that our baby boy has passed away. It is the greatest pain that any parents can feel,” Ronaldo and Rodriguez said in a jointly signed statement. “Only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness. We would like to thank the doctors and nurses for all their…

THE RAND YESTERDAY fell to a nearly 4-week low pummelled by a warning of prolonged power cuts, supply chain disruption due to flooding, and a lower global economic outlook. Eskom yesterday ramped up its rotational power cuts to Stage 4 as a result of the failure of two additional generation units, pushing load shedding to remain in force until Friday morning. The power utility warned of 37 days of load-shedding in the best-case scenario while the worst-case scenario could plunge the country to 100 days of power cuts in winter. It is estimated that in 2020 load shedding could cost South Africa’s economy R500 million per stage, per day, as economic activity comes to a halt during power cuts. Reports also suggested that Eskom spent an estimated R235m on…

dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za GEMFIELDS, supplier of coloured gemstones, said its teams were hosting and welcoming a notable increase in supply chain assessments, and audits, as jewellers and downstream customers strive to better understand and document their logistic networks. Gemfields, which is focused on mining emeralds at the Kagem mine in Zambia and the Montepuez Ruby Mining in Mozambique, released its annual report yesterday. The group said the coloured gemstone sector has long been opaque, and its focus on transparency means that it is uniquely positioned, as the industry rightly shifts to a “mine-of-origin” mo- del and away from “country-of-origin”. “The shift to greater transparency and supply chain certification will ultimately improve and strengthen the evolution of the sector,” it said. According to the company, its board was “aghast and saddened” by atrocities…

Powerful leaders have the ability to shape history and a select few have the distinction of truly changing the world, one of them being former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, who was removed from power under the guise of a no-confidence vote, masterminded by the architects of regime change, and involving the active participation of the world’s intelligence institutions. Imran Khan moved a nation towards justice and in the process inspired millions across Asia. It is hard to eulogise any man, to capture in words the facts and the dates that make a life so inspiring to the downtrodden masses in Asia. Khan will remain a leader par excellence and a towering statesman who is admired across the political spectrum. He leaves an indelible mark on Pakistan’s development trajectory.…

YESTERDAY we discussed a cartoon on climate change in the latest Private Eye, the British satirical magazine. Today we switch to the Eye’s treatment of the war in Ukraine. Front cover story headline: “JOHNSON IN HISTORIC ZELENSKYY MEETING”. Front cover picture: Johnson and Zelenskyy shaking hands in Kyiv. Front cover common speech bubble: “Thank you for coming to my rescue.” Pungent stuff. The war in Ukraine has diverted attention in Britain from the Partygate scandal in which No 10 Downing Street threw various booze parties at a time the rest of the country was locked down under the Covid regulations and ordinary people were being fined for breaking the regulations. The Metropolitan Police have investigated and various people – apparently including Boris Johnson – have been fined. There are also…

Two news reports in The Mercury of April 19 should alarm all who value freedom and fear the advance of Orwellian totalitarianism. On May 12, a global summit on what is falsely called the pandemic is to be held in Washington, attended by so-called world leaders and their advisers who manipulate science for political reasons. Heading the agenda is the aim to have 70% of the population of every country vaccinated as the necessary platform to “prepare for future health threats”. Incredibly, while evidence abounds that the so-called vaccines are spreading Covid and causing increasing adverse effects and deaths, the media statement of the summit organisers claims that vaxxing will “save lives and build better health security”. The blatant falsehood of that statement is attested to by the latest statistics…

RELIGIOUS groups are not happy with Eskom for implementing load shedding at short notice on Sunday. Eskom said on Sunday that Stage 2 load shedding would be implemented over the long weekend which affected Easter, those fasting for Ramadaan and the beginning of the Jewish Passover. Yesterday, load shedding moved to Stage 4 and the power utility said it would continue until Friday morning at 5am. Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) second deputy president Sheik Riad Fataar said the month of Ramadaan was very difficult for the Muslim community with these recurring outages, and although they learnt to have more patience and perseverance, it was disturbing when preparations for breaking fast and prayer times were interrupted. “We were busy with prayer in the mosque on Monday morning in Mitchells Plain and…

The EFF called upon the people of Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa to forgive South Africa and its people for the misdemeanours and criminality of a few, who have been misled by the lack of ubuntu, to hate Africans in Africa. On Monday the EFF joined the people of Africa and the world in celebrating the 42nd anniversary of the independence of Zimbabwe from British colonialism. Speaking for the party, Sinawo Thambo said this independence anniversary came at a time of heightened Afrophobia that resulted in the violent and merciless killing of a gardener, Elvis Nyathi, from Diepsloot who was accused of stealing jobs. The EFF has condemned the actions of groups such as Operation Dudula which has embarked on a campaign to remove illegal foreign nationals from communities.…

A group of 77 illegal miners are expected to appear in the Orkney Magistrate’s Court in Limpopo this week. The arrest of the group comes after they were rescued from a mine shaft by a multi-disciplinary team comprising the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Illicit Mining Team, Orkney Visible Policing and detectives, as well as the Mining Rescue Team. The rescue took place over five days from Thursday last week. According to provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone, the operation followed a request to the mine management by the illegal miners to be assisted out of the mine shaft as they were starving. “During the operation, which was conducted at shaft number 5 in Orkney, four decomposed bodies were brought up by the illegal miners on Friday. “Of the 77 arrested…

Moscow launched dozens of air strikes across eastern Ukraine, its defence ministry said yesterday, with Russia’s top diplomat acknowledging “another phase” of the conflict was beginning as fighting raged in the Donbas region. Russia’s defence ministry said that “high-precision air-based missiles” had hit 13 Ukrainian positions in parts of the Donbas while other air strikes “hit 60 military assets”, including in towns close to the eastern front line. Ukraine’s armed forces also confirmed that fighting had increased throughout the east, just hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had kicked off the widely anticipated offensive in the Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland. “The Russian occupiers intensified offensive operations along the entire line of contact,” the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared to acknowledge the…

Israel carried out its first air strike on the Gaza Strip in months yesterday in response to a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave after a weekend of violence around a Jerusalem holy site. The army also said its special forces had made five arrests overnight in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a string of deadly Israeli raids since an uptick in attacks and demonstrations four weeks ago. Tensions have focused on the highly contested Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Israeli-annexed Old City. Palestinian worshippers gathering there for Ramadaan prayers have been outraged by visits by religious Jews under heavy Israeli police protection, and restrictions on their own access. Jews are allowed to visit the site at certain times but not…

South Africans love a new sports star, and young sprint sensation Viwe Jingqi is making everybody excited – except, perhaps, her opponents – with her eye-catching performances in 2022. But her coach, Paul Gorries, advises that we should not get “ahead of ourselves” as his protégé prepares for the national athletics championships at the Green Point Athletics Stadium in Cape Town from tomorrow until Saturday. Jingqi, 17, is in matric at the TuksSport High School in Pretoria, and made the local athletics world sit up and take notice recently by breaking the 100m junior record three times in a day at the national championships in Potchefstroom, ending with 11.22 seconds – which was an under-18 and under-20 SA record. The next day, she set a new 200m under-18 mark of…

POWER utility Eskom yesterday moved to Level 4 load shedding and warned of up to 101 days of load shedding over the winter period, which economists said would dampen investment sentiment. Eskom’s Head of Transmission Sekgo- motso Scheepers yesterday said the strain to the system from various assaults risked available capacity dipping to between 37 and 101 days over the winter period, and the utility had to redouble its efforts in fending off the unplanned loss of capacity. Estimates earlier this year by audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers were that load shedding in South Africa increased by 38 percent in 2021 with more than 2 400 gigawatt hours lost, which it estimated reduced real GDP growth by up to 3.1 percentage points, costing the economy up to 400…

MASSMART, the owner of Makro, Builders Warehouse and Game stores said it was poised for accelerated growth as it continued to implement its turnaround strategy, according to its latest integrated annual report. The group said in the report released yesterday that a significant outcome of the turnaround plan to date has been re-organising and introducing new ways of working to unlock the strengths of the group, and deriving the resultant benefit to the business. “This has mostly involved leveraging Massmart scale, and Walmart networks and expertise, to lower the cost base and implement better ways of working to create a significantly more competitive platform for future growth,” Massmart said. The approach was to accelerate omni-focused growth that is responsive to shifting consumer behaviour centred on the Southern African Development Community,…

While large areas of eThekwini are without power and water, roads are closed, and more bad weather is expected, we still want to welcome holidaymakers to Durban. Our beaches cannot be used. Our local people are suffering. While we understand that tourism is a major contributor to the fiscus, surely, there is a time when we have to say no. An influx will put more pressure on the infrastructure. Let us focus on our residents. Make sure that they can be up and running again. We must prioritise their well-being. Welcome back the tourists some other time.…

“DAD, you know you and Nate often call me at the same time,” remarked my son Thulani. I found this amusing since it is a phenomenon I have observed but not in the manner he intended. They do it to me. Often. It is as if they plan it and calls or texts arrive from both sons when I cannot take either calls or respond to texts. Both sons can be in different parts of the US and I in a third, distant location, and they will both text or call at the same moment. I could probably write an analysis of why this occurs, but I won’t. I will only comment that there is an inexplicable, irrational connection among us; a bonding, sometimes a binding, and often it’s blinding.…

THE police have backlogs totalling more than 310 000 matters at its forensic science laboratory services across the country as of March. The backlogs are in addition to the about 57 000 fingerprints that have yet to be verified at the Criminal Record Centre as of February. This emerged in written replies from Police Minister Bheki Cele in response to parliamentary questions. EEF MP Henry Andries Shembeni wrote to Cele about the current state of backlogs at the SAPS forensic science laboratories, and interventions made to ensure a faster turn-around time. In his written reply, Cele said there was a backlog of 310 022 at the forensic science laboratories as at March 18. Cele gave the breakdown per backlogs as follows: Ballistics – 20 621; Biology…

The owners of a Johannesburg business premises who kicked out a sangoma, along with some of the “tools of her trade”, from the office she was renting was ordered by the court to immediately allow her back into her office. Her tools of trade included live animals such as a rabbit and a tortoise. Hazel Gumbi turned to the Gauteng High Court, Joburg, after the owners of Ralstan Investments Ltd locked her out of the office she was renting at business premises in Malvern, Johannesburg. It is claimed that she was in arrears with her rent. Ruling in Gumbi’s favour, Judge Leicester Adams said the company could not take the law into its own hands and decide to evict her. He made it clear that eviction could only follow after…

THE heavy rains that wreaked havoc in KwaZulu-Natal last week have seen renewed calls for climate-resilient infrastructure in municipalities. More than 400 people have been killed, scores are missing and damage estimated at billions has affected 10 districts, including the eThekwini Metro. The South African Local Government Association (Salga) said that it was essential for municipalities to strengthen their disaster management function as global warming and associated climate change were “projected to cause severe weather patterns that will become a regular occurrence”. Salga president Bheki Stofile said it was important to have climate-resilient infrastructure and planning. He added that there was a need to identify environmentally sensitive areas that should be protected and preserved. “This will be crucial in ensuring that communities are not in these ecosystems that would often…

The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, has promised to address the issues affecting schools in KwaZulu-Natal as soon as possible, following damage to infrastructure and learning material as a result of the floods. Motshekga was addressing the media during her visit to Brettonwood High School in Durban yesterday as part of her assessment of the damage suffered by schools in the various districts. She said the department would do its best to get the schools fully functional. “We will open schools where it is possible to open and assist schools to settle down as soon as possible. “Where we can’t (open) we will have to send them to neighbouring schools and centres. “For now we are assessing what the damages are, what is possible under the circumstances and what…

The killing of ANC Youth League (ANCYL) activist Mfundo Mokoena has exposed the cracks in the governing party. This was the view of some ANC members after Mokoena was gunned down in Durban on Monday evening. No arrests have been made in connection with his murder. Mokoena served as a branch deputy secretary in ward 67, south of Durban. According to the ANC in eThekwini, he was part of a dedicated team assigned to rebuild structures of the ANCYL in KwaZulu-Natal. Many ANC and alliance members took to social media yesterday to express their anger and grief at the death of a young man who was seen as a rising star in the youth wing. Many also used social media to call for the swift arrest of his killers. Former…

Twenty million people are at risk of starvation this year as delayed rains worsen an already brutal drought in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, the UN warned yesterday. A months-long drought has left the Horn of Africa on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe, destroying crops and livestock and forcing huge numbers of people to leave their homes in search of food and water. As long-awaited rains fail to materialise a month into the current rainy season, “the number of hungry people due to drought could spiral from the currently estimated 14 million to 20 million through 2022,” the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said. Six million Somalis or 40% of the population were facing extreme levels of food insecurity and there was “a very real risk of famine in the…

Kabul: At least six people were killed and 24 wounded yesterday by two bomb blasts that struck a boys’ school in a Shia Hazara suburb, police and hospital staff said. Several bodies were strewn outside the gate of the Kabul school, alongside burnt books, according to images posted on social media. Police said that the attack outside the school was carried out with improvised explosive devices, which killed six people. Two hospitals said they were treating a total of 24 people wounded in the blasts. The Dasht-e-Barchi suburb is mainly home to the Hazara community and has been previously targeted by the jihadist Islamic State group – a rival of the Taliban. | AFP…

Cape Town City FC have threatened to stop their parent body, the PSL, from rescheduling their DStv Premiership match against Kaizer Chiefs. Two days ago, the PSL advised their clubs via a circular, now infamously known as ‘Circular No 16 of the National Soccer League’, that the Premiership fixture, which was postponed in December 2021, will be replayed. The PSL’s decision was in keeping with the ruling by Safa arbitrator Nazeer Cassim SC, who said that Kaizer Chiefs will play the two matches they failed to play last December. The PSL were equally unhappy with Cassim’s ruling, and they approached the High Court with the aim of changing the decision. The matter is up for discussion on the High Court roll for May 10. The PSL were afraid that the…