Índex per 2022-04-05 a Mercury

IT IS NO secret that we live in extraordinary times in South Africa. No day goes by without further revelations about the plight of poverty and poorly- managed institutions that have blighted our country. The daily suffering of many South Africans has manifested itself in xenophobic attacks and civil unrest in the recent past. Who knows what’s next if the challenges that are perpetuated by a non-inclusive economy and limited access to financial services by the majority of the citizens are not addressed once and for all? As the chief executive of Ithala SOC Limited, I have always maintained that strong institutions can help build strong, inclusive economies. And it is driven by this belief that I have dedicated a significant amount of my life to working with other reputable…

DURBAN ratepayer organisations are bracing for a showdown with the eThekwini Municipality due to the rise in the value of their homes on the new general valuation roll. The rise in property values will directly impact on the amount that needs to be paid for rates. Deputy Mayor Philani Mavundla confirmed that he had a meeting scheduled for last night with ratepayers. Ratepayer organisations said they expected the issue of the valuations to be addressed at the meeting. Ratepayer bodies that spoke to The Mercury said their members were outraged. They said in some cases, the value of properties on the new valuation roll had almost doubled. The deadline for reviewing the roll was initially meant to expire in March, but has been extended until April 29. In a post…

INCONSISTENCIES in the application of the ANC’s step-aside policy means that former Durban mayor Zandile Gumede can still contest the position of chairperson when the ANC eThekwini region holds its elective conference this weekend. This is the view of University of KwaZulu-Natal political analyst Siyabonga Ntombela as the ANC prepares for the conference in its biggest region, eThekwini. The conference pits Gumede, who is regarded as former president Jacob Zuma’s backer, against eThekwini council speaker Thabani Nyawose, who is seen to be siding with current president Cyril Ramaphosa. Ntombela said Nyawose had a good chance of winning at the conference. “He is the kind of leader that the ANC needs to regain public confidence in that he does not have anything that taints him. On that score alone he stands…

MORNING heart-check: How are you? How is your heart this morning? I am not referring to the fist-sized organ in the centre of your chest, as crucial as your physical heart certainly is. I mean the scrum-half of your life. I mean the seat of your emotions; the “black box” of who you are. I am asking about the centre, your head office, the magnificent place where your thinking, memory and planning converge; the switchboard where you make sense, or try to make sense, of what you have felt, feel right now and will feel in the future. I mean the place to which one may refer when one says one “fell” in love. Yes, that place within you where soul, spirit, mind, memory, ambition, regret, remorse, joy, sadness, grief…

Flooding cost the global economy more than $82 billion (R1.2 trillion) last year, accounting for nearly a third of all losses from natural catastrophes, reinsurance agency Swiss Re Institute has reported. A new study in the journal Nature found that stormy seas around Scotland and northern England have unleashed an increasing number of extreme storm surges in recent decades. “Floods affect nearly a third of the world population, more than any other peril,” said Martin Bertogg, head of catastrophe perils at Swiss Re, in a statement. In 2021, there were more than 50 severe flood events across the world, often triggered by extreme rainfall and coastal storm surges. Scientists long thought that more severe flooding along low-lying coastlines was driven only by the world’s rising sea levels, caused by climate…

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said yesterday a former candidate attorney at a Pretoria law firm has been summoned to appear in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on two counts of theft. The NPA said 32-year-old Onga Ntozini from Malabye Mthembu Attorneys and Partners had been charged. “It is alleged Ntozini, stole from the law firm by swindling money from the law firm’s trust fund into his account,” said North Gauteng regional spokesperson for the director of public prosecutions, Lumka Mahanjana. “Between November and December 2020, it is alleged he stole approximately R3.8 million. The matter has been postponed to April 20, 2022.” Last month, Meshack Mfana, who worked at Ndobela Attorneys, was ordered to repay R41 000 within 90 days and sentenced to three years in prison by…

The SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) has condemned the murder of a taxi boss in Verulam on Sunday. Siyabonga Khumalo, 39, was shot dead in his vehicle. Security company Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) said that on Sunday a Foton minibus taxi arrived at the Rusa headquarters in Verulam and the driver called for help. Rusa spokesperson Prem Balram said their paramedics discovered Khumalo’s body in the passenger seat. He had been shot multiple times and was declared deceased at the scene. “The man who was driving the bullet-riddled taxi stated that Khumalo had been seated alone in his vehicle at the bus rank when three men with high-calibre rifles walked up to him and opened fire. He ran to the deceased’s aid. However, the suspects opened fire in his…

CONVICTED killer Waylan Abdullah lost his appeal against his murder conviction for the death of Gregory Carelse, who worked as a police reservist and security officer in the Community Safety Department of the City of Cape Town at the time. Carelse was known for his work in fighting gangsterism on the Cape Flats. He was shot multiple times on October 18, 2018, by Abdullah and Ashwin Willemse, also known as “Krag”. Abdullah, nicknamed Wena, received an effective 29-year jail sentence in 2020. He then took the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal to appeal against his conviction. According to him, his right to a fair trial was trampled on as the high court in Cape Town at the time refused to recall the State’s only witness, so…

A group of migrants travelling by foot from southern Mexico to the US disbanded on Sunday, after Mexican authorities agreed to expedite immigration procedures following clashes. The travellers, mostly from Central America, had left the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, which borders Guatemala, on Friday, but were stopped hours later by a roadblock set up by security personnel. Scuffles broke out when they tried to ram their way through several rows of National Guard agents blocking their path with riot shields. Activist Luis Garcia Villagran, who was accompanying the group, said authorities agreed to transfer about 200 people – mainly from Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and Nicaragua – to southern Mexican states for their paperwork. He had earlier blamed immigration authorities for causing the exodus by being too slow to process…

Kenyan motorists endured another day of major fuel shortages yesterday, with hours-long queues and strict rationing at petrol stations as pumps across the country ran dry. The government blamed hoarding and panic buying for the snaking lines that worsened over the weekend, but oil dealers said they were owed outstanding subsidy payments from the state. “If you know any gas station in your area that has fuel, comment with name, location, available fuel,” the Motorist Association of Kenya said on Twitter in a public appeal to ease congestion at pumps. “Help spread this message, help a stuck motorist.” At many locations in Nairobi and elsewhere, motorists able to find petrol after many hours in line with cars, motorcycles and minibuses were limited to a rationed amount. The crunch began last…

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa dropped his brother as finance minister yesterday after disbanding the government and calling for a unity administration, as protests over the country’s economic crisis focused on the ruling family. The debt-laden country, run by Rajapaksa and several members of his family since 2019, is struggling to pay for imports of fuel and other goods amid a scarcity of foreign exchange, leading to hours-long power cuts and a shortage of essentials. Police dispersed protesters outside Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s private residence. Mahinda is the president’s brother. Protesters demanded the total ousting of the Rajapaksas. | Reuters…

UN climate experts released a definitive guide to halting global warming yesterday in a report that lays out how societies and economies must transform to ensure a “liveable” future. The latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will also be an important resource for nations seeking a rapid transition away from Russian oil and gas. The IPCC has published the first two instalments in a trilogy of mammoth scientific assessments covering how greenhouse gas pollution is heating the planet and what that means for life on Earth. This third report will outline what to do about it. | AFP…

globally recognised superproducer and DJ, Black Coffee, confirmed his status as one of the best dance DJs in the world when he walked away with the Best Dance/Electronic Music Album Grammy Award on Sunday. The Durban-born Nkosinathi Maphumulo, who is better known as Black Coffee, bagged the award for his critically acclaimed album, Subconsciously. Black Coffee was accompanied to the awards by his eldest son, Esona. In his acceptance speech he said: “I want to thank God for the gift of music, and being able to share it with the world and heal some souls and help people go through whatever they are going through in life. “I want to thank everyone who is on the album, from Msaki in South Africa, to David Guetta, who believed in working…

On electronic media there is a piece about how the North West “which has one of the worst service delivery records, is on the verge of giving back R17 billion of a total combined budget of R57.4bn to National Treasury because its departments have been unable to spend the money”. This, like with many ANC councils, is just proof that the ANC does not have any properly qualified people to run these municipalities. How can any municipality not know how to spend money on improving service delivery? It’s a total reflection of the inabilities of these nominated ANC cronies, who should be out digging trenches as labourers instead of being in positions of management. It really makes one think of the blind leading the blind.…

Over the past few years, life routines have been dominated by Covid-19. Due to the easing of restrictions, it feels so much better to celebrate Ramadaan according to the practices of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) – praying and breaking fast as a community. In dealing with anxieties, especially with crime, lawlessness, the brutality around the globe, the coronavirus, poverty, unemployment and other social ills, Ramadaan affords an ideal opportunity to increase our supplications to the Almighty to change for the better the situations around the world. One of the mercies of the Almighty towards humanity is that He has created different periods, times and days to turn closer to Him to deal with life’s challenges. Ramadaan is one such season to strengthen faith and to seek the Almighty’s favours. One of…

The Hubble telescope astonished the world with its dazzling array of images of the universe that have awed and inspired mankind. Never before have we seen such amazing, incredible pictures of the cosmos. It has changed our concept of the universe forever. Launched into space more than 30 years ago, it’s now considered too old and has a new rival, the James Webb telescope, 100 times more powerful than the Hubble. In fact, it was the success of the Hubble that spurred scientists to create an even bigger and better telescope than its predecessor. Whereas the Hubble is just about 500kms above the Earth, the James Webb telescope is much further into space – one-and-a-half-million kilometres above the Earth, which gives it a much clearer, unobstructed view of the universe.…

A 23-year-old man who was found trespassing with weapons in the Kruger National Park has been sentenced to an effective nine years behind bars. Rich Ricardo Chauke was convicted and sentenced in the Skukuza Regional Court. According to Nelspruit police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, Chauke and two others were found at the Kruger National Park on April 9, 2021. “They illegally entered through the Houtboschrand Section of the park. “The field rangers who were on duty were busy patrolling when they noticed some footprints on the tarred road. “With the assistance of a tracking dog they found three people hiding in a thick bush. “Two of the intruders fled. However, Chauke was caught and arrested.” Mohlala said the accused was found in possession of a .458 Win Mag bolt action…

Factions aligned to Thabani Nyawose and corruption-accused Zandile Gumede held crucial meetings at the weekend to gauge the mood of branches and the delegates who will attend the regional elective conference which starts on April 8. Nyawose and Gumede are both vying to be chairperson in eThekwini. The race is seen as being indicative of the course that will be set for the ANC at a national level with a win for Nyawose expected to boost President Cyril Ramaphosa’s chances of returning to his position as ANC president at the national conference, while a win for Gumede would strengthen the Radical Economic Transformation (RET) group’s chances. All conferences were supposed to sit last year but Covid-19 regulations and other issues led to delays. Njabulo Mchunu, one of Gumede’s key backers,…

THE Justice Department has launched an investigation to identify the core factors behind a worrying spike in the number of children accused of rape. Its 2020/21 annual report on the implementation of the Child Justice Act highlighted that the total number of rape charges brought against children increased by 55% year-on-year. Preliminary inquiries were held in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act to determine appropriate action when anyone under the age of 18 is accused of a crime. The department’s annual report on the implementation of the Child Justice Act showed that during 2020/21, 53% of the children who appeared at preliminary inquiries were referred to the child justice courts for a plea and trial. A majority of these were aged 17, followed by 16-year-olds. All in all, children accused…

NOW that the dust has settled in the trial of “NSFAS millionaire” Sibongile Mani, it is time for the Department of Higher Education to let the public know about the punitive measures that were taken against those found to have been negligent in this whole fiasco. Mani, a student at the Walter Sisulu University, made headlines after R14 million was erroneously deposited into her student account. According to the National Prosecuting Authority, she went on a 76-day spending spree, splurging more than R800 000 on several prohibited items that included 11 blankets, nine bath sheets, various shorts for men, a variety of alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, 24 jackets, and handbags. Mani was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment last week in the East London Regional Court. However, her legal team…

The International Space Station (ISS) is set to become busier than usual this week when its crew welcomes aboard four new colleagues from Houston-based start-up Axiom Space, the first all-private astronaut team flown to the orbiting outpost. The launch is being hailed by the company, Nasa and other industry players as a turning point in the latest expansion of commercial space ventures collectively referred to by insiders as the low-Earth orbit economy, or “LEO economy” for short. Weather permitting, Axiom’s four-man team is due to lift off tomorrow from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, riding atop a Falcon 9 rocket furnished and flown by Elon Musk’s commercial space launch venture SpaceX. If all goes smoothly, the quartet, led by retired Nasa astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who is also Axiom’s vice-president…

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam announced yesterday that she would step down in June, ending a divisive term that saw democracy protests squashed and strict pandemic curbs plunge the business hub into international isolation. Lam said she would not seek a second term when a committee made up of the city’s political elite chooses a new leader next month. “I will complete my five-year term as chief executive on June 30, and officially conclude my 42-year career in government,” she said. Lam, 64, said China’s leaders “understood and respected” her choice not to seek another term and that she wanted to spend more time with her family. There is little clarity on who will be the next leader. The chief executive position is not popularly elected, something that years of…

South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his vice-president, Riek Machar, have agreed to resume talks about integrating their rival forces under a unified command after weeks of escalating conflict between the sides. Kiir and Machar’s forces signed a peace agreement in 2018 that ended five years of civil war. But implementation has been slow and the opposing forces have clashed frequently over disagreements about how to share power. Fighting has increased. Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition suspended its participation in the peace deal’s oversight mechanisms on March 23, citing attacks by government forces. | Reuters…

A Rwandan appeals court yesterday upheld a 25-year jail sentence for Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the movie Hotel Rwanda sheltering hundreds of people during the 1994 genocide, rejecting a bid to extend it to life in prison. Rusesabagina, 67, was convicted in September on eight terrorism charges related to the activities of an organisation opposed to President Paul Kagame’s rule, and is being held in a Rwandan prison. He has denied all charges and refused to take part in the trial, which he denounced as a politically motivated sham. He was not in court in Kigali yesterday to hear the decision from judge Emmanuel Kamere. | Reuters…

South Africa 367 and 204 Bangladesh 298 and 53 South Africa won by 220 runs You see, South Africa can win with spinners dominating the wickets column. SA can win without some star players who are earning millions in India. SA can also win at Kingsmead. All of those facts quite rightly pleased captain Dean Elgar. He can be a very hard man to please as his batters will find out in the next couple of days. However, yesterday, it wasn’t the time for a debrief. Yesterday it was time to celebrate. This was a very good win against a gutsy, skilled and determined Bangladesh team. That the final outcome should appear so comprehensive, is something of a false flag, given how the match unfolded. Bangladesh had fought back brilliantly…

TODAY we look back 32 years to the debate over what should be done with Durban’s venerable Old Station building when the station was moved to its current site at Stamford Hill. Reader Julie Jeweitt is involved in clearing the home of a friend, Colin Downie, who has died. She found the cutting of an interesting letter to the editor of The Mercury, published in 1990, which she sends in. It’s headed: “What to do with the Old Station”. Sir – I was interested to read in your paper of June 26 that Manco would be approached to approve an R80 million scheme to redevelop Durban’s old station site and that this involved the construction of an underground shopping mall and so on. No mention was made however as to…

The World Health Organization’s strategy concerning what it claims as the “unpredictable nature of the Covid-19 virus” is utterly disingenuous because it conceals the real intent of its strategy (The Mercury editorial, April 4). On March 3, the WHO began negotiations with more than 100 countries for a treaty by which individual states devolve their authority on health policies to the WHO. Thus, in terms of that treaty, which the WHO wants established by 2024, it would dictate health protocols and responses to be applied universally. In other words, individual states would defer their sovereignty over health matters to the WHO. It should also be noted that there is no provision for a public participation process in deciding whether a state should accept the treaty. Instead, that process has…

THE DA in KwaZulu-Natal has called for an intensified approach by the provincial government in dealing with the scourge of teen and child pregnancy. The move follows the release of a Statistics SA report which reveals that 5 500 children aged between 10 and 14 years old gave birth in KZN during the 2019/20 financial year. The DA is deeply concerned by these statistics. Equally alarming is that the figures seem to be growing. While the figures have been described as shocking by KZN Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza it is also clear that the government’s prevention and early intervention programmes (PEIP) are not working. That KZN has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the country and the highest number of gender-based violence incidents countrywide, calls for…

Every few months when Jesstoni Garcia, 32, takes electric clippers to his head, he’s not just giving himself a haircut, he’s also harvesting art materials. Using a thin brush and clear, sticky resin, the co-owner of a Manila hair salon sprinkles these collected strands and clippings on a blank white canvas, taking two to five hours to arrange them into striking images of musicians and actors. His main job as a seaman involves spending up to eight months a year on cruise ships, and lacking art supplies like paint and sketchpads at sea, Garcia in 2021 turned to using his own hair to create images. He started with self-portraits and then moved on to depicting celebrities. Away at sea, rather than in his salon, he uses only his own…

THE National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers has called for the government to absorb contract workers to combat rocketing unemployment numbers released by Statistics SA. General secretary Solly Malema said the government should offer permanent employment to community health-care workers, Expanded Public Works Programme beneficiaries and early childhood development practitioners to address the 0.4% increase that took the unemployment rate to 35.3% in the last quarter of 2021. Malema said this was the highest figure recorded since the start of the survey of 2008, prompting the union to condemn the government’s “anti-worker stance” which sought to trim the public service workforce through austerity measures while the country was struggling to create jobs. “Despite the high unemployment figures and a staggering economy, the public sector continues shedding jobs unjustifiably…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa last night announced that his Cabinet had taken a decision to end the National State of Disaster. Ramaphosa said last night: “Since the requirements for a National State of Disaster to be declared in terms of the Disaster Management Act are no longer met, Cabinet has decided to terminate the National State of Disaster with effect from midnight tonight.” He added that going forward, the pandemic would be managed in terms of the National Health Act. “The draft health regulations have been published for public comment. Once the period for public comment closes on the 16th of April, 2022, and the comments have been considered, the new regulations will be finalised and promulgated.” He said certain transitional provisions would remain in place for a period of 30…

EU officials said yesterday they were weighing new sanctions targeting Moscow in response to alleged atrocities against Ukrainian civilians by Russian forces that sparked a wave of international outrage. Despite Russian denials of responsibility, condemnation was swift, with Western leaders, Nato and the UN all voicing horror at images of bodies in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, and elsewhere. Local authorities said they had been forced to dig communal graves to bury the dead accumulating in the streets, including one in Bucha found with his hands bound behind his back. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called Russian troops “murderers, torturers, rapists, looters” and warned in his nightly video message that “concentrated evil has come to our land” . EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was urgently discussing a newround…

Shanghai will remain under lockdown as it reviews results of an exercise to test all of its 26 million residents for Covid-19, authorities said yesterday. The city began its two-stage lockdown on March 28, initially in Shanghai’s eastern districts, and later expanded to cover the whole city. The curbs, which have massively disrupted daily life and business operations in China’s financial hub, were initially scheduled to end today. The country sent the military and thousands of health-care workers into Shanghai to help carry out Covid-19 tests for all of its 26 million residents yesterday, in one of the country’s biggest-ever public health responses. Some residents woke before dawn for white-suited health-care workers to swab their throats as part of nucleic acid testing at their housing compounds, many queuing in their…

TESLA boss Elon Musk revealed a 9.2% stake in Twitter yesterday, likely making him its biggest shareholder and triggering a 23% rise in its shares. Musk’s move comes on the heels of his tweet that he was giving “serious thought” to building a new social media platform, while questioning Twitter’s commitment to free speech. A filing showed Musk owns 73.5 million Twitter shares, valuing his passive stake in the company at up to $2.9 billion (about R42bn) based on the stock’s Friday close. They are held by the Elon Musk Revocable Trust. | Reuters…

An Indonesian teacher found guilty of raping 13 students at an Islamic boarding school, impregnating at least eight of them, was sentenced to death yesterday. Herry Wirawan, 36, had been sentenced to life in prison in February, in a case that drew national attention to sexual abuse in the country’s religious schools. But prosecutors, who had requested the death penalty and chemical castration, filed an appeal. “We accept the appeal of the prosecutors,” read the judge’s statement, published yesterday. During his trial, it was revealed Wirawan had raped the female students over a period of five years. | AFP…

Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail were all included in the Most Valuable Team of the ICC Women’s World Cup yesterday. The Proteas trio were rewarded for their excellent performances in driving their team to the semi-finals at the recent eight-team jamboree in New Zealand. Australia were crowned champions on Sunday at the Hagley Oval after defeating England - South Africa's semi-final conquerors. Wolvaardt, 22, finished as the fourth-highest run scorer in the competition with 433 runs, which included five half-centuries, at an average of 54.12. The stylish opener had led the scoring charts until the play-offs before Australia's Alyssa Healy (509 runs), Rachel Haynes (497) and England's Nat Sciver (436) surpassed her with incredible performances in the semis and final. All three have also been included in the…