Índex per 2022-09-21 a Mercury

METRO police in the eThekwini Municipality have proposed an ambitious smart security plan that aims to ensure prompt response to crimes in progress. A document titled “eThekwini Municipality Metro Police Services Smart Policing” details the plan and the equipment needed to make it work. It says the aim is to “make it difficult to commit crimes in eThekwini and secondary cities without being successfully prosecuted”. But it comes with a heavy price tag of R300 million. Among items that will be purchased is a Smart Policing dispatching platform and intelligent cameras. Other purchases include a mobile police station designed to act as the eyes of the crime-fighting units at major events. The document states that the smart security plan will be piloted among some of the city’s own…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has come out in defence of the R2 billion spent by the police to provide security to members of the Cabinet and other politicians. Ramaphosa also said there was no reason to fire Police Minister Bheki Cele after the SAPS racked up a R600 million bill for catering and accommodation. This emerged when the president was responding to parliamentary questions from DA leader John Steenhuisen. Steenhuisen asked the government to justify spending almost R2bn of the budget of the SAPS, which he said amounted to about R8m a year, to protect ministers, deputy ministers and other top-ranking politicians. In his written response, Ramaphosa said: “It is a well-established principle in jurisdictions across the world that the state should provide adequate protection to officials whose personal safety may…

The recent heart-wrenching accident on the N2 in northern KwaZulu-Natal in which 18 children and two adults were killed and the video circulating in the public domain of the accident, surely has stirred the South African public to do what is necessary to have road traffic safety management improved from its current deplorable state. This accident, in combination with the almost daily reports of truck accidents, cannot be allowed to continue. All we seem to hear from the truck drivers are complaints of foreign nationals displacing South African drivers. Never a word from the drivers and company owners about our deplorable accident and road death rates which place us worst in the world in terms of road safety. Almost 22 years ago, January 8, 2000 your sister newspaper The Independent…

A recent KwaZulu-Natal legislature ANC motion for debate on the noble issue of environmental education and climate change is ironic given the party’s own failures in this area. That the so-called KZN ANC Taliban faction would table such a motion also beggars belief. Our province remains way behind in terms of the environment and associated education. Municipal recycling is way behind, our sewage systems are broken and the ANC has been unable to have maths and science ingrained in our schools. Recent oversight inspections have further revealed KZN’s failed state of education with broken classroom infrastructure, school rape and pupils using inhumane plastic toilets over a stinking pit par for the course in some public schools. No child is interested in high-level climate change discussions when they face real life…

Stats SA is preparing to collect comprehensive information on household income and expenditure by visiting more than 31 000 homes across the country during the Income & Expenditure Survey (IES 2022/23). The IES 2022/23 is a household-based sample survey designed to collect detailed household income and expenditure information needed to measure and profile poverty and inequality in the country. The data collected from the survey is essential in providing evidence-based information for monitoring the main National Development Plan targets of reducing the Gini coefficient to 0.60 and the population living below the lower-bound poverty line (LBPL) to 0% by 2030. “The IES 2022/23 uses a combination of diary and recall methodologies and will collect detailed expenditure information on a range of items such as food and beverages, clothing and footwear,…

A Free State man has been arrested and charged for fraud after allegedly swindling R8 million from people who joined his dubious stokvel. Free State police spokesperson, Captain Christopher Singo, said from 2017 to 2019, the 39-year-old man convinced people to invest in his Tshwaranang Community Stokvel, promising a return with interest of 30% to 50% within 30 days. “The victims did not receive their money as promised. The victims suffered a loss of R8m. “The matter was then reported to the Hawks for further investigation,” Singo said. The man is expected to appear before the Phuthaditjhaba Magistrate’s Court on charges of fraud and contravention of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act as well as money laundering. In a separate matter, 46-year-old Adele Senekal was sentenced for fraud and…

Following a spate of fatal crashes involving heavy vehicles on roads across South Africa, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has “strongly” warned truck owners that they could be held liable for the negligent conduct of their drivers. “Truck owners are further warned that they could lose the right to operate on national roads, which would have dire consequences for their businesses,” said RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane. The warning followed a “shocking” truck crash on the R34 near Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday. “The crash allegedly happened when a truck driver failed to stop at the scene of a crash. He collided with six other vehicles – four trucks, one SUV and one light delivery vehicle, causing them to explode into a ball of fire. Two people were injured,” said…

A FATHER of three who lives in Texas in the US, who is said to have subjected his children to a nomadic life and to be so controlling that he even watches his children’s weight, lost his legal bid in a South African court to have his children returned to him. The father launched proceedings in the high court in Johannesburg in terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction Act, to have his children returned. The purpose of the Convention is to protect children from the harmful effects of their wrongful removal from the country of their habitual residence to another country, or their wrongful retention in another country. The Convention does so by establishing a procedure to secure the prompt return of any…

The UN’s massive global summit returned yesterday with a stark warning from the world body’s chief of an upcoming “winter of global discontent” due to rising prices, a warming planet and deadly conflicts. After two years of pandemic restrictions and video addresses, the UN General Assembly again asked leaders to come in person if they wish to speak, with an exception made for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, while saluting efforts for global co-operation, warned of a dire state of the planet. “A winter of global discontent is on the horizon,” Guterres said as he opened the annual General Assembly. “Trust is crumbling, inequalities are exploding, our planet is burning. People are hurting, with the most vulnerable suffering the most.” With global temperatures rising and a chunk…

Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and pro-Kremlin authorities in Ukraine’s Russian-controlled region of Kherson said yesterday they will hold referendums on becoming part of Russia from September 23 to 27. Votes will take place in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics that Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised as independent before sending troops to Ukraine in February, according to officials. A vote will also be held in the southern Kherson region that Moscow’s troops captured in the early days of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Their integration into Russia would represent a major escalation of the conflict in Ukraine as Moscow would be able to say it is defending its own territory from Ukrainian forces. The leader of the Donetsk rebel group, Denis Pushilin, asked Putin to consider the region…

TAMPERE: Brad Pitt has made a surprise debut as an artist. The 58-year-old actor unveiled a number of sculptures at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland, over the weekend as part of a larger exhibition by British artist Thomas Houseago, who also features a ceramic series by singer Nick Cave. The actor said that the nine works he has in the exhibition – including a series of house-shaped silicone sculptures that have each been shot with different ammunition and a moulded plaster panel “depicting a gunfight” – are about “self-reflection” and “taking account” of the wrong decisions he’s made in his life. He said: “For me, it was born out of ownership of what I call a radical inventory of self, getting really brutally honest with me and…

KARACHI: At least nine more people have died from water-borne diseases that have affected tens of thousands of displaced people living in areas devastated by the floods in Pakistan, officials said yesterday, warning they risked losing control of the spread of infections. Villagers in the Sindh region said potable water shortages meant they were drinking and cooking with flood water. An intense torrential monsoon was a one in a hundred-year event likely made more intense by climate change, scientists say. The death toll from the deluge itself has touched 1 559 which does not include the disease deaths, the country’s disaster management agency said. | Reuters…

AS DURBAN fast-tracks the rebuilding of its economy, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry is working closely with government and other stakeholders to ensure adequate support is given to the business community. This assurance was given by the chamber’s chief executive, Palesa Phili, speaking at the chamber’s annual gala dinner yesterday. The glittering event was held at Moses Mabhida Stadium. Phili noted that the event was held after a three-year hiatus, during which the province’s economy faced serious challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 July unrest and the April 2022 floods. She said that as part of the rebuilding process, the chamber was working with the public sector to prioritise areas that needed urgent attention. These included: The South Basin infrastructure upgrade: this area is in urgent need…

TO PREVENT the “flight” of industries from the South Durban Basin (SDB), the eThekwini Municipality has announced an investment of R235 million for infrastructure upgrades in the area after the April floods left several businesses unable to operate. Over the next three financial years, R235m will be invested to upgrade infrastructure and mitigate the risk of further flooding, a report tabled by the municipality said. The report, tabled before the executive committee yesterday, revealed that R92m would be spent in the 2023-24 financial year, R118m in the 2024-25 financial year and R25m during the 2025-26 financial year. Some of the infrastructure that needs to be upgraded belongs to the municipality while the rest is owned by government departments or entities. Councillors were told that the city had to act to…

IT’S that time of year again – the Ig Nobel Awards. These are prizes for bizarre scientific achievement, as recorded in a magazine, the Annals of Improbable Research. Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, in Ig Nobel tradition real Nobel laureates hand out the prizes, according to Associated Press reporting from Boston, in the US. Winners also each receive a virtually worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Among the winners: Frank Fish, a biology professor at West Chester University, Pennsylvania, who discovered that ducklings swim in a straight line behind their mother to save energy, drafting, as do stock cars, cyclists and runners. He shared the prize with researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, who found that the ducklings actually surf in…

The N2 from Richards Bay north is a nightmare to drive on because of the number of heavy duty vehicles – in particular coal carrier trucks – using this road to travel to and from the Transvaal. Up until a number of years ago, Richards Bay Coal Terminal would only accept coal delivered by rail. Unfortunately, for some reason, this changed. Why? It is imperative that the government does all in its power to resurrect the rail system in this country so that freight can be moved by rail instead of road. This will not only lessen wear and tear on the roads, but will also, and most importantly, reduce the sort of road carnage that is all too common on South African roads.…

Ebrahim Essa’s remarks about school history textbooks and how they differ from earlier times (The Mercury, September 8) brings to the fore the timeless question – what is history? Many books have been written discussing that question, none of which has produced a single universal definition. What is clear, however, is that it is fundamentally a body of ascertained facts which may indicate causes and effects in considering the past. Use of the word “may” serves to caution that whatever one determines as the causes and effects of an event is unlikely to be unanimously accepted by others who examine the same event because, unlike science, the past cannot be studied empirically. History is really an endless argument about the past and therefore it is not static but is subject…

Calls have been made for the eThekwini Municipality to deal decisively with the problems that have seen Durban beaches being closed, for extended periods of time, ahead of summer. This comes after the city announced on Friday last week that some beaches had been closed after the latest round of testing showed poor water quality. Some of the beaches that were closed had only been reopened for a week after being closed earlier this month after tests. Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the following beaches were closed: Brighton, Ansteys, Point, Ushaka, Addington, South, Wedge, North, Bay of Plenty, Battery, Country Club, Thekwini, Laguna, Baggies and Reunion beaches. All water activities at these beaches are banned for health reasons. Umhlanga main; Umdloti; Westbrooke and Bronze beaches in the northern region also…

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Sihle Zikalala says disaster management teams continue to monitor the inclement weather affecting large parts of the province. The Cogta department said disaster management teams responded to an incident in which one person was mildly injured due to a lightning strike on Monday night in the Mkhambathini Local Municipality in Estingini. In a statement, the department said the South African Weather Service (Saws) had issued a warning for disruptive snow in areas under the Harry Gwala and uThukela District for yesterday. “The snow is expected to lead to icy roads which could lead to traffic disruptions and closure of local routes,” the statement read. It warned residents in the affected areas to monitor the conditions and not embark on unnecessary trips because they…

Some of the important infrastructure projects in KwaZulu-Natal are at risk of not taking off if the government does not step up the fight against formations demanding work on construction sites through extortion, the Bargaining Council for the Civil Engineering Industry (BCCEI) warned yesterday. Lindie Fourie, operations manager at the BCCEI, said while these cases were found in parts of South Africa, they were dominant in KwaZulu-Natal. “We have found that most cases of extortion are found in KZN,” she said yesterday. She expressed concern that projects involving water, sanitation and road construction – some of which arose after the April floods – could be compromised, making everyday life difficult for many. This comes after the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry last week expressed concern about the rising number…

There are at least 20 quadrillion ants on Earth, according to a new study that says even that staggering figure likely underestimates the total population of the insects, which are an essential part of ecosystems around the world. Determining the global population of ants is important for measuring the consequences of changes to their habitat – including those caused by climate change. Ants play a significant role, dispersing seeds, hosting organisms and serving as either predators or prey. Some studies have already attempted to estimate the global ant population, but they resulted in a far smaller number than 20 quadrillion, which is 20 million billion. For this new attempt – published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) – researchers analysed 465 studies that…

THERE is a view that currently dominates debates over South Africa’s possible democratic trajectory after the 2024 elections. This is woven around the possibility of a coalition government to address the problems facing the country. The general consensual view from the media and opposition parties to society in general is that the defeat of the ANC and the setting up of a coalition government is likely to help the country navigate its problems. Theoretically, this sounds quite an attractive proposition. But, in practice, is it going to work? Basically, is a coalition government going to be better than the ANC? Current empirical evidence refutes this notion. For one, coalition governments that have been set up at the local government level since the ANC started losing power have faced intractable problems.…

An aide to Iran’s supreme leader paid condolences to the family of a woman whose death in police custody has sparked days of protests and promised their rights would not be ignored, Iranian media said yesterday, in an apparent effort to defuse tensions. Mahsa Amini, 22, from Iran’s Kurdistan province, fell into a coma and died after her arrest in Tehran last week by the morality police for “unsuitable attire”, sparking anger and demonstrations against the authorities in numerous areas, including the capital. The protests spread on Monday, with the most intense in the Kurdish region. Kurdish human rights group Hengaw said three people were killed there on Monday when security forces opened fire, revising down a previous tally of five dead. There was no official confirmation on the fatalities.…

A rare operation by the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces to arrest a Hamas member sparked clashes in the West Bank city of Nablus yesterday, killing one. Security forces confirmed the death of Firas Yaish and said they were “waiting for a medical report,” on the circumstances of his killing. He was killed “in a place where no security personnel were present”, officials said. Youth hurled rocks at PA armoured vehicles and the sound of gunfire rung out across the city centre. Hamas, rivals of the secular Fatah movement that controls the PA, condemned the arrest of Musaab Shtayyeh, 30, calling it a “kidnapping ... a national crime” and a “stain” on the PA’s image. It demanded the release of Shtayyeh and Ameed Tbaileh, who was arrested with him,…

MEKELE: Forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray region said troops from Eritrea launched a “full-scale offensive” yesterday and that heavy fighting was ongoing in several areas along the border. Reuters was not able to verify the account from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been battling Ethiopian federal forces and their allies for nearly two years. Eritrean troops entered Tigray to back the Ethiopian military after fighting broke out in 2020 and withdrew from most areas last year. The US special envoy for the Horn of Africa said the US was aware of Eritrean troops crossing into Ethiopia’s Tigray region and condemned it. | Reuters…

The DA yesterday said the electricity crisis endangered the economy and threatened to destabilise society, and that Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe should be fired. This as the EFF warned that the perpetual load shedding was killing business and livelihoods, saying Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and chief operating officer (COO) Jan Oberholzer should be axed. Opposition parties have responded with frustration to the ongoing crisis, saying that in 2015, while still deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa had said load shedding would be over “in another 18 months to two years”. De Ruyter has also made many promises to end the rolling blackouts. DA leader John Steenhuisen said Stage 6 and possible higher levels of load shedding meant the country was on the brink of near complete collapse, while…

As he treks beneath Nepal’s towering peaks, Shiva Devkota looks down – at Himalayan lichens and mushrooms and an often-overlooked yellow and orange world beneath his feet. Devkota, Nepal’s leading mycologist, is documenting biodiversity in the region that’s home to Mount Everest, much of it potentially threatened by climate change. He led a team of trekkers that included mycologists, or mushroom scientists, on an eco-trek this summer through Sagarmatha National Park and its environs in Nepal’s Solukhumbu District. “The forest here is covered with life, but this is one of the most understudied parts of the world. There’s no books about it here, it’s kind of a black box,” said Britt Bunyard, a mycologist and editor in chief of the journal Fungi, who was part of this summer’s trek. Fungi…

I had the honour of attending the Good Governance Seminar at the ICC in Durban this week. It was an inspiring and informative event with knowledgeable and experienced speakers like Professor Melvyn King, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Auditor- General Tsakani Maluleke. Apart from the seminar, I was most impressed with the spectacular service standard at the ICC, Durban. As a former board member of the ICC, I had always emphasised the need for good service and appetising meals. The ICC has risen to these expectations and I would like to see this iconic facility become the venue of choice, not only for seminars and conferences, but also for smaller functions like celebrations. In a brief discussion with the CEO, Lindiwe Rakharebe, she has assured me that the ICC…

“It is hard for me to understand that my son and daughter-in-law left for England three months ago – we were very close – to live and have phoned once and sent me one email. It breaks my heart. “I sit around every day, waiting for the phone to ring and checking my email. I am an expert at what time it is in England. “I have tried writing to them but they don’t seem to check email. The lostness is what I feel and it is very hard for me. “Is it wrong to tell them I need more information and news? They said they’d communicate often. When they don’t, I make up all kinds of reasons for their silence in my head.” Try again. Email again. I’d suggest…

The fate of Lee Nigel Tucker, who was arrested in Cape Town in 2016 after he fled the UK following charges of alleged sexual exploitation of minors in the 1980s, is now in the hands of Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola. The Western Cape High Court had ordered that a copy of its judgment be sent to the office of the minister for his decision on whether to surrender Tucker to the UK, in terms of the Extradition Act. Tucker has for years tried to avoid being extradited, and launched several legal applications against being sent to the UK. In 1997, the British police launched an investigation into the activities of a paedophile ring that operated in Bristol (England), Cardiff, Swansea and Caerphilly (Wales), which resulted in…

The non-payment has resulted in some of them being in danger of losing homes and cars, and has left them unable to pay school fees In addition, medical aid schemes have suspended their memberships. Almost 100 staff members embarked on a one-day national shutdown across the country this week, many picketing outside Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters in Joburg. During the picket, they were seen carrying placards and chanting and singing “silambile”, loosely translated as “we are hungry”, calling for intervention from treasurer-general Paul Mashatile. Staff representative Mandla Qwane said they were due to meet the general manager to discuss the non-payment. “There are some levels of intimidation. Some members are saying they are called aside and told to report for duty after 12pm. You can’t do that, if we…

A police officer was shot dead and another officer is facing charges after separate shooting incidents involving their partners at the weekend. According to information The Mercury received, in an incident on Sunday, a police officer who was stationed at Inanda police station was allegedly shot dead by his partner before she turned the gun on herself. In the second incident, a female police officer who is stationed at Durban harbour was arrested after allegedly shooting her partner after a domestic dispute in Woodlands. It alleged that the Inanda police officer was off duty and at his place of residence in Inanda with his girlfriend when a dispute took place. After gunshots were heard, the family got into the room the couple were in and found the officer with multiple…

Sixty-nine genetic variants associated with beat synchronisation, the ability to move in synchrony with the beat of the music, have recently been identified during the first large-scale genomic study of musicality. An international team of scientists, including the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute and 23andMe, demonstrated that the human capacity to move in synchrony with a musical beat is partially coded in the human genome. The findings were published in Nature Human Behaviour. Many of the genes associated with beat synchronisation are involved in central nervous system function, including genes expressed very early in brain development and in areas underlying auditory and motor skills, according to co-senior author Reyna Gordon, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and co-director of the Vanderbilt Music Cognition Lab. “Rhythm…

Twitter has rolled out a feature to help blind and visually-impaired people read images embedded with the tweets via its new image description reminder. The new image description reminder will encourage more people on Twitter to add helpful descriptions to the images they tweet, the company said in a statement. Alternative text, or alt text, is a written description of what’s in an image that can be picked up by screen reader software used by the visually impaired. Whenever you add a photo to a Tweet, you have the option to describe it using alt text, also known as a digital image description. | IANS…

‘It would help if you acted differently and purposefully’ I write to you, Minister Gwede Mantashe, because, according to the Electricity Regulation Act 4 of 2006, the minister of energy is the electricity supplier in the last resort. My submission is that unless you act differently, purposefully and with haste, South Africans can expect under-frequency blackouts to continue up to 2035 and beyond. (Under-frequency load shedding is a technique to maintain power system stability by removing the overload in some part of the system.) The energy plan announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 25, 2022, together with Eskom’s Strategy 2035, is a threat to the security and quality of power supply up to 2035 and beyond. This plan will not stop the current electricity blackouts in the short to…

The European Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday against the parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, saying that Portugal had given them a fair hearing in their libel battle against a former Portuguese policeman. The police officer, Goncalo Amaral, who worked on the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance in 2007 on a family holiday in Portugal, suggested in a book he authored, Truth of the Lie, the youngster’s parents had been involved. Kate and Gerry McCann sued Amaral for libel. In 2015, a Portuguese court ruled in their favour, ordering Amaral to pay them damages. Two years later the ruling was reversed by Portugal’s highest court. The parents then appealed to the European court, arguing that their right to a fair trial, right to private family life and freedom of…

Washington: Elton John, 75, is set to perform at the White House this week in a commemoration of his record-breaking career as the British superstar continues his marathon global farewell tour. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host the singer for A Night When Hope and History Rhyme on the South Lawn on Friday, the White House said. The gig is part of a return of public events at the White House following the easing of Covid-19 curbs. Guests will need to get tested before attending. John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which began in 2018, will have featured more than 300 gigs across the world before it wraps in Sweden in July next year. | AFP…

YANGON: Myanmar’s ruling junta yesterday warned the public against showing moral support for a “terrorist” resistance movement, threatening jail terms of up to 10 years just for liking or sharing its content on social media. Myanmar has been plagued by violence since the military seized power early last year, with clashes on multiple fronts between junta forces and pro-democracy groups. Since the coup, opponents of the military have used social media platforms to try to communicate their message, with citizen journalists posting images of alleged atrocities by the army. The UN has accused the junta of mass killings and crimes against humanity. | Reuters…

Legendary Proteas all-rounder and Durban Super Giants coach Lance Klusener believes Temba Bavuma’s omission from the six SA20 squads may drive him a “little bit harder” for next year. Bavuma, who will lead the Proteas to the T20 World Cup in Australia next month, was one of the top local internationals not bought at the inaugural SA20 auction on Monday. The 32-year-old was called up to the bidding table on two occasions, but no team were willing to spend R850 000 on Bavuma’s base price. “It’s brutal out there … there’s a lot of competition for places,” said Klusener. “It just shows you that if you’re a good player for South Africa, it doesn’t mean you have the same recognition around the world. Maybe that will just drive people that…