Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-06-09 i Mercury

PAPPI (People Against Petroleum Price Increases), a KwaZulu-Natal based lobby group, said yesterday that “protest” was the only language the government understood and therefore it was in support of a national shutdown to demonstrate South Africans’ unhappiness with the huge fuel price hikes. The organisation called on all South Africans to join the protest action and a “switch off” tomorrow. It is unclear whether the protest has widespread support as the South African National Taxi Council earlier this week sought to distance itself from the shutdown. Pappi said the recent increases announced by the government that saw fuel prices reach almost R25 a litre had prompted renewed calls for protest action to force the government to intervene. The group’s founder, Visvin Reddy, said they had made many fruitless attempts to…

MY SON, 20, has, for two weeks in a row, sustained a significant basketball injury. The first was to his eye. The second to his knee. His eye healed. The knee? We are waiting to hear if he will have to have knee surgery. In the meantime, he is on his back in a full leg brace and packing ice. I tell myself repeatedly that we have faced tougher times and even tougher injuries. I had to laugh because the doctor asked us if he’d had a knee injury before and my son and I knew he had had a significant football knee injury a season or two ago but we could not recall which knee. That helped. Perhaps in a few years we won’t recall which knee it is…

Estimates show that annually more than a billion children a year experience some form of violence and a significant proportion of that happens at schools in the Global South. This is according to a report co-authored by Professor Shanaaz Mathews, the director of the Children’s Institute at UCT. She said violence against children was a complex problem that occurred in the home, community, online and in schools, and it took many forms, from corporal punishment and bullying to gender-based violence. Community interventions were essential for sustainable prevention strategies, she said. Using the example of corporal punishment, Mathews said this outlawed approach to discipline was still widespread in African schools in the Global South. She said policies, practices and school values were prime targets for intervention purposes while teacher support was…

‘We walk the walk and talk the talk on increased voice and representation’ For a number of years now, South Africa has been working with friends across all regional groups to be catalysts for change in our respective regions, actively mobilising others to support real reforms of the UN to make it more inclusive and responsive to the needs of the developing world. In 2019, we endorsed the Alliance for Multilateralism initiative, which states that, and I quote: “No single country, no matter how powerful and wealthy, can seek to assume for itself the global unilateral monopoly on seeking solutions to all the world’s problems. The multilateral system should be based on common and shared values. It should set norms and standards that should find universal application without exception and…

Placards relating to Turkey were discovered in the car of a 29-year-old man who allegedly drove his car into a group of school children in central Berlin yesterday, killing their teacher, a local politician said. The vehicle veered onto a pavement twice in a district of the German capital popular with tourists and shoppers, the police said. The police identified the driver as a German-Armenian man, whose car crashed into a shop window. He was handed over to the authorities. The Interior Ministry said it was too early to speculate about what caused the incident. More than a dozen people were injured, the police said. Six were in a life-threatening condition, and another three were seriously hurt. Blankets covered what appeared to be a body in a cordoned-off area guarded…

AMSTERDAM: Uber said yesterday it had donated a customised version of its “Uber Direct” software app to the UN’s World Food Programme to help distribute food in Ukraine. The WFP is scaling up operations in Ukraine and expects to be able to provide food and cash to 3 million people per month by June, the agency said in a joint statement with Uber. The software will allow the WFP to co-ordinate a fleet of vehicles and track deliveries in real time to densely populated areas where larger vehicles might not be able to travel. The WFP is already using the app in Dnipro, with plans to expand to Chernivsti, Kyiv, Lviv and Vinnystia, it said. | Reuters…

GRANT Kekana is looking forward to being the latest member of his family to serve South Africa after getting his maiden Bafana Bafana call-up ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers. The son of the deputy minister in the presidency, Pinky Kekana, Grant is on the verge of making his Bafana debut against Morocco in the Afcon qualifiers at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium tonight. “My mother is a sports girl, but on a political scale. So yes (representing the country runs in the family). She’s the deputy minister in the presidency,” Kekana told Safa media from Rabat. “I am here to play sports and I am trying to make the best out of it. I’m trying to give my all. I think that’s all one…

A LATE-night accident by a truck driver transporting frozen vegetables who failed to negotiate a sharp bend on a provincial road was the subject of a legal tussle involving the MEC for Roads and Public Works in the Eastern Cape. At the centre of the tussle was whether the Road Accident Fund (RAF) or the MEC should be held liable for the damages. Richard Yeomans was injured when the truck he was driving along the R701 between the Gariep Dam and Venterstad overturned. He initially sued both the MEC and the RAF for damages. It was argued on behalf of Yeomans that the road agency failed to maintain signs warning motorists on this road about the sharp bend ahead, and did not caution them to slow down. He also said…

The Earth’s magnetic poles are not heading towards a reversal, as speculated, scientists have found. During the past 180 years, Earth’s magnetic field strength has decreased by about 10%. Simultaneously, an area with an unusually weak magnetic field has grown in the South Atlantic off the coast of South America. This area, where satellites have malfunctioned several times due to exposure to highly charged particles from the sun, is called the South Atlantic Anomaly. These developments have led to speculation that we may be heading for a polarity reversal. However, the new study, in the journal PNAS, suggests this may not be the case. Geologists from Lund University in Sweden stitched together evidence stretching back 9 000 years that suggests the current changes aren’t unique, and that a reversal may…

The limerick packs laughs anatomical Into space that is quite economical. But the good ones I’ve seen So seldom are clean And the clean ones so seldom are comical. HOW very true. A staid one: There was an Old Man with a beard Who said, ‘It is just as I feared! Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren Have all built their nests in my beard! Then something saucy: While Titian was mixing rose madder His model reclined on a ladder. The position to Titian Suggested coition, So he ran up the ladder and had ‘er. But what is the origin of the limerick? Nobody really knows, says Dr Oliver Tearle, a literary critic and lecturer in English at Loughborough University. Everyone believes it is named…

IT IS amazing how South African society is so bigoted. After the news broke that two Gupta brothers had been arrested many voices were raised to laud this. From mere public commentators masquerading as “political analysts” to opposition parties, their noise was deafening. But what is very strange in all this is one glaring omission. No attempt was made to commend the National Prosecuting Authority, Ministry of Justice and government for succeeding in getting them arrested. This exhibits a deep-seated sickness in society: the jaundiced view that the government can never do anything right and it is only good to just excoriate it for its wrongs, never even hinting at any of its successes. If we are to deepen the democratic ethos in this country, we must learn that no…

A 30-year-old man who allegedly raped a Pietermaritzburg pensioner and killed her brother has handed himself over to police. Police said the incident took place on Bridge Road in Prestbury on Sunday at around 4pm. The siblings – aged 72 and 64 – were held hostage by the suspect. “A 64-year-old man was fatally stabbed on the neck, chest and under the left arm and died at the scene. “A 72-year-old woman who was found at the scene alleged that the suspect repeatedly raped her before fleeing the scene on foot,” said police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala. She said the suspect handed himself over to police on Tuesday and was expected to appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court soon. In another incident, a 47-year-old man is expected to appear…

THERE are growing calls for the National Treasury to take over the finances of Msunduzi Municipality amid persistent service delivery failures. ACDP councillor Rienus Niemand was the latest to add his voice, saying the municipality was struggling financially due to myriad challenges, chief among them the theft of water and electricity. DA councillor Ross Strachan said that since February they had been pushing for the National Treasury to take over Pietermaritzburg’s finances. The opposition parties want the National Treasury to intervene, saying the continuing service delivery failures were largely the result of the municipality failing to address financial challenges. The municipality has been under administration for a few years, and based on reports on the state of the municipality, service delivery has barely improved. The city has admitted that its…

In most societies, the family unit is an indispensable building block to shape the character and integrity of an individual. The centrality of the family, in most societies still, can even be said to be important in shaping an individual’s destiny. On the other hand, in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), filial piety is valued above all other qualities in society. The more than 400 million PRC households are held together through obligation to familial virtues. Why is the family valued so highly in China? What explains the prioritisation of the family unit in organising society and the state? Can we in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) imbibe lessons from this 5 000-year-old culture and civilisation? Patently, something is broken in RSA when on an annual…

Kyiv’s forces may have to retreat from the eastern city of Severodonetsk, a senior Ukrainian official conceded yesterday, as diplomatic efforts intensified to unblock grain stuck in Ukraine’s ports. The strategic city has become the focus of Russia’s offensive as it seeks to seize an eastern swathe of Ukraine, after being repelled from other parts of the country. Moscow has claimed it has full control of residential areas while Kyiv was still holding the industrial zone and surrounding settlements, but Ukrainian officials insisted the Russians were not in control of the city. Yesterday Sergiy Gaiday, the governor of the Lugansk region, which includes the city, said Ukraine’s forces might have to pull back as Severodonetsk is being shelled by Russian troops “24 hours a day”. Russia’s offensive is now targeting…

US President Joe Biden kicked off a summit yesterday that was conceived as a platform to showcase US leadership in reviving Latin American economies and tackling migratory pressures, but has instead been undermined by discord over the guest list. Biden’s plan to unveil a package to spur recovery in Latin America, help stem immigration and counter China’s growing regional economic clout has been marred by a partial boycott by leaders upset at Washington’s decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the summit. US officials hope the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and a parallel gathering of top business executives can pave the way for greater economic co-operation as regional nations grappling with higher inflation work to bring supply chains stretched by the Covid-19 pandemic closer to home.…

Vienna: More than 100 German school children and teachers had to be rescued, most of them airlifted to safety, after getting stuck on an Alpine hiking trail, described online as a “classic after-work tour,” police said yesterday. Dozens of rescuers using two helicopters had to extract the 99 students aged 12 to 14 and eight teachers on Tuesday after the path they were on became increasingly difficult and it started to rain, they said. Two pupils within the group, from the south-western German city of Ludwigshafen, had slipped, suffering minor injuries, and some were panicking, police said. | AFP…

KEABETSWE Modimoeng, chairperson of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), has resigned unexpectedly. This comes just a few months after Modimoeng oversaw the auction of broadband spectrum, which went beyond expectation and raised more than R14 billion. Modimoeng joined the Icasa board in 2016. In a statement, Icasa said Modi- moeng cited “a need to take some time off after an enervating period”. He would take time off before deciding what to do next with his career. Modimoeng would serve notice to ensure a smooth handover, the regulator said. Modimoeng served in various committees of the council, including as a member of the complaints and compliance committee, and was seen as bringing broad stability to the organisation. “The undisputed highlight of his decisive leadership in the sector…

THE South African boxing fraternity is mourning the death of Empangeni boxer Simiso “Gandaganda” Buthelezi who died in hospital on Tuesday night. Buthelezi, 24, was rushed to hospital after he collapsed during a bout in the Starline Boxing Promotions bill at Greyville Convention Centre in Durban on Sunday. He fought in a 10-round World Boxing Federation All Africa lightweight fight against compatriot Siphesihle Mntungwa, but the contest was stopped by the referee when he appeared to shadow box an invisible opponent. He was taken to hospital and placed in an induced coma after it was found he had bleeding on the brain. Trainer Bheki Mngomezulu said the fighter had been in perfect health in the lead-up to the bout. A video of Buthelezi during Sunday’s bout went viral on social…

So it’s happening at last. The BJP’s vegetarian chickens are now returning home to roost as Muslim countries take offence and now decide to go on the offensive, complaining against India’s maligning Prophet Muhammad. This was bound to occur sooner or later. But what a great disappointment that these Muslim countries woke up only now. Where was any outcry all these years since 1992 when the Babiri Mosque was demolished by Hindu right wingers? Where were the likes of Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE and Qatar when thousands of innocent Muslims were/are tortured and harassed daily across the subcontinent? What is the main difference between this giant protest and the silence for the last 30 years when Dalits, Christians and Muslims were/are discriminated against, only because of their…

Guptas brothers arrested? I can’t believe it! (Gupta extradition process from UAE to SA, The Mercury, June 8) refers. When the Gupta brothers fled from our shores to the United Arab Emirates, they thought they were safe from the long arm of the law and could spend their ill-gotten gains in the plush shopping malls of Dubai and Doha. We feared the worst. We thought we would never be able to get them back in our country to face justice. South Africa did not have an extradition treaty with the Arab nation. It’s hard to track down criminals once they have fled the country. Even with an extradition treaty, there is still a lot of red tape involved in extraditing a fugitive. It could drag on for years. It took…

The Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) has secured a forfeiture order in the Eastern Cape High Court for R35 million which was held in bank accounts under an Eastern Cape transport co-operative. This comes after the AFU argued that the Eastern Cape Transport Tertiary Co-Operative Limited (ECTTC) had applied for and received the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s (UIF) Covid-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (Ters) benefits irregularly. The ECTTC is an umbrella organisation created to assist its affiliate co-operatives to comply with the law and to ensure that the local transport industry is properly regulated and functions according to legal requirements. It made applications for its own employees and for those belonging to the ECTTC. However, a number of alleged irregularities were found in the first batch of applications. The funds in 36…

OPPOSITION parties have accused the ANC of using its muscle as the majority party in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature to honour only its leaders, warning that such a move would continue to drive a wedge in the province. The IFP was the first to raise its concern this week about what it labelled as the alienation of some veteran KZN Legislature members, who are deserving of being honoured with centenary celebrations. IFP Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL) Blessed Gwala questioned the criteria used to select the candidates who were honoured, contending that the first KZN Legislature Speaker after the 1994 democratic elections Gideon Mdlalose from the IFP deserved recognition. He would have turned 100 years old in January this year. “We, as the IFP, feel that the KZN Legislature is…

THE arrest of the Gupta brothers provides renewed hope in the fight against corruption, a crime that continues to derail the development of our country, robbing the poor of much-needed basic services. This, and the police investigation into the serious allegations against President Cyril Rampahosa over the theft of “concealed” US dollars on his farm, are a rare opportunity for the country’s law enforcement agencies to restore long-lost public confidence. They should not mess it up. Almost everything, from Eskom’s woes to the inefficiency of our institutions, has been blamed on the Guptas, the alleged kingpins of the state capture project. After failing to apprehend the controversial family before they left the country, law enforcement agencies should waste no time and immediately begin a process to have the brothers extradited…

A group of children in Seychelles made a pledge to protect the ocean in one of several activities organised to mark World Oceans Day yesterday. A group of primary school students visited the department of blue economy, where they learned more about the ways to protect the ocean. “We decided to focus on the children today, we believe it is very important to include them into our activities because we need to educate and sensitise them about how important it is to protect our oceans,” said the principal information and communication officer at the department, Elna Etienne. She said that the children will be most impacted by the depletion of ocean resources and, therefore, they must understand from an earlier age, the importance of the blue economy and the ocean.…

INDIA tightened public security yesterday after the circulation of a letter warning of Islamist militant attacks to avenge derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad by an official of the ruling Hindu nationalist party. Several Indian media groups shared the June 6 letter attributed to al Qaeda’s branch in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS), in which threats were made to carry out suicide bombings in Indian states to defend, it said, the honour of the Prophet. “We have ordered state police to ensure public gatherings or protests are not allowed, as they could be targeted by the militant group,” a senior home ministry official in New Delhi said. The security threat surfaced days after a spokesperson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nupur Sharma, made comments about the Prophet…

NEW YORK: Harvey Weinstein is suing car maker Chrysler for $5 million (R76m) over a 2019 crash. The fallen Hollywood mogul, 70, serving a 23-year jail sentence following his 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape, wants compensation for a smash that saw him flip a Jeep Wrangler while trying to swerve to avoid a deer. His lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was lodged at New York Supreme Court and claims the car firm provided him with a “dangerous” vehicle in exchange for product placement in a film. He claims the accident left him paralysed and said the vehicle “failed to decelerate” after he braked. | Bang Showbiz…

SOUTH Africa have only ever lost one T20 international against India away. Their record reads; played six, won three, two no results and just one defeat. Abundant reason, then, for the Proteas to be filled with confidence ahead of the five-match series between the teams which begins in Delhi today. Even more so considering Temba Bavuma’s men completed a one-day international clean sweep over the Indians in SA just a few months ago. And that Indian team contained superstars like Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah unlike the inexperienced squad the hosts have cobbled together for this series that was disrupted even further on the eve of the opener with the withdrawal of stand-in captain KL Rahul (groin) and Kuldeep Yadav (hand) through injury. Rishabh Pant will now lead…

After hosting a successful Blind and Disabled Bowls Tournament at Durban and Parkhill Bowling clubs, the attention now switches to the junior bowlers in the Port Natal Bowls (PNB) district who will be playing in the Junior Masters. However, before moving on, Steve Kelf and team of Don Potts, Maureen Florens and Cynthia van der Merwe (and the umpires and markers), are to be congratulated for putting on a well organised Blind and Disabled Bowls week The second floods in Durban certainly gave the organisers a major headache with games having to be rescheduled and a change of venue was needed as well. The PNB Junior Masters will be held at Westville Bowling Club on June 18 and 19. Play starts each day at 9am and spectators can…