Índex per 2022-09-28 a Mercury

ANC branches in KwaZulu-Natal will now have to embark on the task of winning over their counterparts in other parts of the country after being the only province in the country to nominate former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize for the position of party president. At a press briefing attended by the ANC KZN provincial executive committee (PEC) yesterday, provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo announced that branches had chosen to nominate Mkhize for the party’s top job and national treasurer Paul Mashatile as his deputy. This means Mkhize would have to take on President Cyril Ramaphosa at the party’s crucial December national elective conference. According to ANC insiders and political analysts, the branches in KZN have chosen to nominate candidates for the party’s top six positions to strategically position the province…

NEW British prime minister Liz Truss is being criticised for the “gamble” mini-budget introduced recently, in which taxes will be cut and people will receive assistance with their gas bills, all this to be funded by borrowings, the whole shebang to be paid for by economic growth. Many economists are aghast. But how about this? A single British ticket holder has won the £171 million (about R3.3 billion) jackpot in the EuroMillions draw. What if it turns out to be Liz Truss? What will the po-faced economists say then? But even if it’s not her, is this not economic growth on an unprecedented individual scale? Imagine if the British punters were to absolutely pour their savings into the next EuroMillions draw, what the national benefit could be. This could…

The supply of electricity is undoubtedly the paramount issue confronting South Africa. Besides the obvious fact that electricity is indispensable to modern life, as a political issue it is of decisive significance as historical precedents prove. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin understood the political significance of bringing electricity to farms and villages across Russia. Within three years of his seizure of power in 1917, an electrification commission produced a 500-page report detailing the construction of a network of 30 regional power stations. Bare light bulbs called “Ilyich lamps” suspended from the ceilings of peasants homesteads, symbolically conveyed a very tangible achievement of Lenin’s regime. In the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) recognised the value of electrification in alleviating America’s socio-economic depression. The Tennessee Valley project encompassing a million square kilometres across seven…

The destructive and escalating conflict in the Ukraine and build-up of military forces in the South China Sea, will lead to an immense clash that will witness the use of nuclear weapons in a trajectory that the combatants will neither be able to contain nor control. The use of these weapons will usher in destruction that will erase human life on a scale beyond man’s comprehension. The US, China, Russia, Europe, Asia and many parts of the world, will be obliterated, radioactive debris will pollute every corner of the world. The dangerous strategy of unrestricted warfare in many parts of the world, will ultimately destroy humanity in its present form. In the aftermath of a nuclear conflagration, human life will virtually cease to exist. Medical facilities and every vestige of…

Over 1 600 belongings from the late American actor Betty White have been auctioned, from her old TV and Disney VHS collection to her Cadillac. Taking place online and in-person, the auction at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, which ended on Sunday, included her dining room table, a blue ceramic horse, and her leather baby shoes. The list goes on. More personalised items include White’s oil painting of herself as a young woman, monogrammed towels, and some handwritten notes from famous names like Lily Tomlin. White’s diamond wedding band and the wedding band her third and last husband, Allen Ludden, wore are standout items. Ludden wore the band around his neck with a chain for three months to remind White about his many wedding proposals to her. And it worked.…

An 18-year-old suspect who has been linked to the murder of Cape Town magistrate Romay van Rooyen is expected to appear in the Muizenberg Magistrate’s Court tomorrow. The suspect was traced and arrested at his home in Mitchells Plain in a multi-disciplinary operation, police said. Van Rooyen, magistrate at the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court, was found dead in her Red Roman Street, Marina Da Gama home more than two weeks ago. It is alleged the 50-year-old was found by a relative in her bedroom. She was declared deceased on the scene. Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the 18-year-old suspect was identified as a possible suspect following the discovery of Van Rooyen’s body. A search of the scene revealed that her car had been stolen and it was later recovered in…

Zulu King, Misuzulu KaZwelithini, has entered the fray around access to water in the Jozini area, in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The king says it was worrying that the area did not have water even though it was home to one of the largest dams in the country, Jozini Dam, which is officially called the Pongolapoort (it derives its name from the Pongola River) dam. The king made an undertaking to take up the issue in Richards Bay yesterday while addressing a business breakfast convened by the Zululand Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He attended along with Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu. In his speech, the king told captains of industry that the unique Zulu culture, which has strong roots along the R66 and in the King Cetshwayo district and which…

A 47-YEAR-old taxi driver was killed in a hijacking incident on North Coast Road on Monday while his chopped up taxi was recovered an hour later in the Cottonlands area near Verulam. Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said that Greenwood Park police were called out to a murder scene on North Coast Road. Gwala said upon arrival officers were shown a 47-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his neck: “He was declared dead on the scene.” Marshall Security managing director Tyron Powell, said its members were dispatched to the scene and then received an activation by Tracker SA to assist with locating the hijacked taxi. He said parts of the stripped taxi were found in Cottonlands. “Within an hour of the hijacking taking place to the vehicle being found,…

Kenyan police were investigating the death of a lawyer who was on trial for allegedly bribing and intimidating witnesses in the failed International Criminal Court case against President William Ruto, an officer said yesterday. Paul Gicheru had been accused by ICC prosecutors of running an “egregious and damaging” witness tampering scheme that made it impossible to pursue allegations against Ruto over post-election violence in Kenya in 2007-2008. His trial opened in February this year, with prosecutors alleging that Gicheru paid bribes of up to 1 million Kenyan shillings (about R150 000) and threatened the safety of ICC witnesses, one of them at gunpoint. Gicheru had denied the allegations, pleading not guilty at The Hague-based court, which is the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal. “The information we have from…

A FLAWED study claiming that scientific evidence of a climate crisis is lacking should be withdrawn from the peer-reviewed journal in which it was published, top climate scientists say. Appearing earlier this year in The European Physical Journal Plus, published by Springer Nature, the study purports to review data on possible changes in the frequency or intensity of rainfall, cyclones, tornadoes, droughts and other extreme weather. It has been viewed thousands of times on social media and cited by some mainstream media, such as Sky News Australia. “On the basis of observation data, the climate crisis that, according to many sources, we are experiencing today, is not evident,” read the summary of the 20-page study. Four prominent climate scientists said the study, of which they had been unaware, grossly manipulates…

NEW YORK: A federal appeals court set aside a judge’s ruling that Donald Trump could be sued for defamation by E Jean Carroll after denying he raped her, though it stopped short of declaring the former US president immune from the author’s lawsuit. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan asked an appeals court in Washington to weigh in on whether the laws of that district shielded Trump. The Manhattan court accepted Trump’s argument that he was a US government “employee” when he allegedly defamed Carroll. Carroll sued Trump in November 2019, claiming he raped her in late 1995 or early 1996. He said she concocted the claim to sell her book. | Reuters…

ORION Minerals said yesterday that although the past year was challenging, and despite ongoing challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, it had taken major steps toward realising its vision of becoming a substantial diversified base metal producer. This was at an extremely opportune time in the demand cycle for future-facing metals. In its annual report that was released yesterday Orion said it continued with its strategy of building and becoming a new-generation Australian-South African mining company focused on the development of its portfolio of advanced “green” metals projects in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. “This includes our 70%-owned development-ready and fully-permitted Prieska Copper-Zinc Project, the Jacomynspan Project, and the Okiep Copper Project, consolidated 56% to 100% ownership, an advanced, district-scale project which is rapidly emerging as our second base metals…

The eThekwini Municipality is moving ahead with its plan to call for bidders to lease prime beachfront property that is currently home to Tsogo Sun’s Maharani and Elangeni hotels. The matter was discussed at yesterday’s Executive Committee (Exco) meeting, and will be tabled at a full council sitting tomorrow for adoption that would see the city grant a long-term lease for the property at a rental of R3.4 million a month. According to a report from the city’s Real Estate Unit which came before Exco yesterday, the history of the leases dates back several decades. It said from 1961, the leases were registered in favour of various parties and had been ceded to various entities, last being Southern Sun Hotel Corp, now known as Tsogo Sun. The report said: “The…

Fights among people: stranger-with-stranger (over a parking space – you can be sure it is not the first of such exchanges for at least one of the participants); intimates (over finances or schedules or intimacy); family members (over who got the money when dad died or who will host Christmas this year), co-workers (over who is shirking their responsibilities) can be volatile. Such conflicts – apart from the parking wars where it is really best to let the other guy win – can endure for years. These arguments can often become harmful to those caught in the middle, and in the crossfire. There is also no reason to “move on” as if nothing hurtful has occurred or to shift into denial and behave as if all is well, when it…

Women suffer discrimination in many Arab countries. They are seen as mere possessions by some men. Their place in society is the home, they cannot do certain jobs, their education is either restricted or banned and they have to cover their faces in public. Women are treated like minors. They have to be accompanied by a male in public places. Until recently, women couldn’t even drive a car in Saudi Arabia. It’s to protect the women, say conservative Arab nations. Women who are brave enough to demand their rights may even be killed. Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban because she was fighting for girls’ rights to education. Miraculously, she survived and became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, girls were banned from…

While the Road Accident Fund (RAF) is facing litigation over concerns about its functioning and efficiency, about 400 of its staff members are facing a bleak Christmas. The RAF has announced that it intends to retrench them by the end of November. Earlier this month, the RAF issued staff members with Section 189 notices which stated that it would embark on a consultative process as a starting point to the envisaged retrench- ments. In the letter addressed to employees, the RAF said the organisational structure review and implementation of an integrated claims management system were key objectives of the fund’s 2020-2025 strategic plan to ensure a transformed and sustainable RAF. “The previous operating model has proved to be unsustainable and did not enable the organisation to carry out its legislative…

Kenya’s worst drought in four decades has killed almost 2% of the world’s rarest zebra in three months, and 25 times more elephants than normal over the same period. It is starving Kenya’s famed wildlife of normal food sources out in the open and driving them into deadly conflict with people as they roam wider to the edges of towns and villages in a desperate search for sustenance. Without interventions to protect wildlife, or if the approaching rainy season fails again, animals in many parts of the east African country could face an existential crisis, conservationists say. “It’s a serious threat to us,” said Andrew Letura, a monitoring officer at Grevy’s Zebra Trust. Grevy’s zebra, which are larger than a standard plains zebra and have narrower stripes and wider ears,…

A WOMAN who stabbed her partner and father of her children once through the heart as she claimed she simply could no longer handle his abuse, must report to jail to serve her effective five-year sentence. This is the ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in a judgment handed down on Monday. Dawida Solomons has been out on bail pending appeal since November 2018 when she was sentenced in a regional court to 8 years’ direct imprisonment for the murder. The court said it had deviated from the minimum sentence of 15 years due to substantial and compelling circumstances put up by Solomons. However, Solomons took the conviction and sentence on appeal to the high court. The court confirmed the conviction but imposed a sentence of eight years’…

LABOUR unions representing public servants said preliminary results of votes cast by members in response to the government’s final offer of a 3% pensionable salary increase showed the offer is being rejected. The government had raised its offer to 3% at the end of August which is 1% up from its previous offer. The Public Servants Association (PSA) said that the government tabled a final offer of a 3% pensionable salary adjustment to employees on salary level 1 to 12, implementable from April 1, 2022 and continuation of the cash gratuity until March 31, 2023. “The PSA, as a mandate-driven, democratic union, is not yet in a position to either accept or reject the offer as results have not been finalised. Current mandating outcomes indicate that votes are tilting towards…

Constitutional delinquency in pursuance of self-serving goals is counter-productive The break-neck speed at which some of the ANC provincial executive committees (PECs) are competing against one another to pronounce their unmandated leadership preferences leading up to the ANC national conference this December is a matter of grave concern, especially for an organisation that claims to be “renewing” itself. This ill-discipline is not only annoying, but also divisive, and runs against the ethos and established norms of the ANC. More worrying is the propensity to jump the gun and pronounce elitist leadership preferences when only a handful of branches have convened to deliberate on the national conference and preferred outcomes, including the fit-for-purpose leadership during the existential crisis engulfing the ANC. From where do these PECs derive their mandate to brazenly…

Elections officials said yesterday that eligible voters in Russia had overwhelmingly cast their ballots in favour of the Kremlin annexing four Moscow-controlled regions of Ukraine. At least 96% of voters in Russia cast their ballots in favour of annexation after at least 15% of ballots were counted, news agencies carrying data from election officials said. Ukraine and its allies have denounced the referendums as a “sham” and an attempt at a land grab. Officials in Moscow repeated warnings that Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend the territories from Ukrainian counter-attacks. Kyiv and its allies have said the West would never recognise the results of the ballots that have dramatically ratcheted up the stakes of Russia’s seven-month invasion. “Saving people in the territories where this referendum is taking place ……

TEHRAN; More than 75 people have died in Iran’s crackdown on 11 nights of unrest sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a rights group said, as Western nations pile pressure on the Islamic republic to end the violence. The semi-official Fars news agency said yesterday that “around 60” people have been killed, up from the official death toll of 41. Demonstrators took to the streets again on Monday night, as they have every night since Amini’s death on September 16 following her arrest for allegedly breaching the country’s strict rules on hijab headscarves and modest clothing, witnesses said. Officials said they had made more than 1 200 arrests. | AFP…

While teacher unions believe teachers have done all they can to ensure Grade 12 pupils are equipped to take on their final school exams, concerns have been raised about the impact of load shedding and damage to schools due to problems in communities. The Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal announced the conclusion of the Grade 12 preparatory (trial) examinations that started on September 5 and finished yesterday. The department said the recent exams proved that the systems it had put in place to ensure the integrity and credibility of the exams were secure, and were working. “This gives the department confidence as the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination is 33 days away.” National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa KZN CEO Thirona Moodley said: “We do believe that the teachers…

Bosnian Ibrahim Kalesic is living proof that extreme sport is not always a young man’s game – at the age of 88 he keeps fit by regularly jumping out of aeroplanes. “It’s an excellent feeling,” Kalesic, who was introduced to the sport more than 70 years ago, said after completing his 1 487th jump in a parachuting competition in the western town of Bihac at the weekend. “I feel super, rested psychologically and am enjoying great company,” he said, adding that he exercises daily for 15 minutes and his wife ensures he is careful with his diet. As a young man, Kalesic underwent training at a flying centre in Serbia before becoming a jumping instructor. In 1963, he set a Yugoslav record by leaping out of plane at 5…

I am seeing it unfold right in front of my eyes. The elected politicians are simply incompetent, unqualified and lack experience. They are appointed for all the wrong reasons. The system also gives them too much power. In addition, they are appointing senior staff within key sectors of government. They choose party loyalists above those with the proven skills and ability to manage. You now have a recipe for disaster, both incompetent political office bearers and senior management. Now look around you. What do you see? Everything is collapsing because there is no leadership and no skills and no management. The president, in proposing a solution to the power crisis in the country, sets up a crisis committee. Guess what? It’s made up of the same politicians that created the…

It has become public knowledge that those in charge of some overseas towns, cities and even countries are complaining about the Indian government having exported the right-wing policy of the BJP government to foreign lands to destabilise relations between Hindus and Muslims. Already the mayors of Edison and Woodbridge in New Jersey, in the US, have reprimanded supporters of the BJP for including bulldozers in their cavalcade through the streets, during the celebration of the anniversary of India’s independence. (Bulldozers are being used to demolish homes of Muslim dissidents in India.) A similar scenario now hangs over major cities such as Leicester in the UK where the controlling body of the BJP – the RSS – organises regular processions to harass Muslims, especially around mosques and residential areas. Experts are…

Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke is deciding on the most suitable action to take against the Department of Defence after it did not fully address material irregularities in the procurement of a Covid-19 drug from Cuba and the leasing of unoccupied office buildings. The Public Audit Amendment Act, signed into law four years ago, empowers Maluleke to refer suspected material irregularities found in audits to law-enforcement agencies for further investigation and to compel heads of department to take appropriate remedial action. In her 2021/22 audit report, Maluleke said the Department of Defence imported an unregistered Cuban drug in 2020 without approval of the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) in contravention of the Medicines and Controlled Substances Act. She said the department procured 970 695 vials of Heberon for about…

Municipal law-enforcement officers patrolling the Cape Town CBD in the early hours of yesterday arrested a suspected hijacker who turned out to be a police detective. According to the mayoral committee member for safety and security, alderman JP Smith, the law-enforcement officers and the area west teams had a busy night in the CBD. Smith said vigilant officers came upon a hijacking in progress at a Caltex petrol station in Buitengracht Street at around 3am. “Officers used their vehicle to block the getaway of the hijacked vehicle, a white Polo Vivo, arresting the suspect behind the wheel. Three other suspects in their silver Polo managed to escape,” Smith said. He said information was received that the arrested suspect is believed to be a detective stationed at the Rondebosch police station.…

The eThekwini Municipality says it will be fast-tracking the replacement and repairs of flood-damaged infrastructure and focusing on maintenance of existing infrastructure that is causing pollution in the environment, rivers and oceans. A large number of beaches in Durban have been closed by the municipality due to high E coli levels. EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said that a report tabled at the city’s Executive Committee (Exco) meeting yesterday gave the Water and Sanitation Unit the green light to reprioritise R93.62 million of its 2022/23 capital budget to assist with related projects to optimise spend in the coming financial year. “The floods in April and the heavy rains in May affected various water and sanitation infrastructure. Various sanitation pump stations and treatment works were left in a very poor…

National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has removed UCT Professor Richard Calland from the Section 89 panel to consider a motion into the impeachment of President Cyril Ramaphosa regarding the Phala Phala farm robbery. Calland was removed yesterday after concerns were raised about a perceived pro-Ramaphosa bias following several political pronouncements in favour of Ramaphosa. He has been replaced by advocate Mahlape Sello, SC. Nominated by the GOOD Party, Calland was appointed with former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, who will chair the panel, and Judge Thokozile Masipa, formerly a judge in the Gauteng Division of the High Court. An internal memorandum, with yesterday’s date, by Mapisa-Nqakula said she had received submissions from the EFF and the DA objecting to Calland’s appointment, as well as a letter from GOOD Party in support…

Explosions were recorded before mysterious leaks in two Baltic Sea gas pipelines linking Russia and Europe, seismologists said yesterday, raising suspicions of sabotage amid tensions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Photos taken by the Danish military showed large masses of bubbles on the surface of the water emanating from the three leaks in Sweden’s and Denmark’s economic zones, spreading from 200 to 1 000m in diameter. “It’s hard to imagine it’s accidental,” said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, adding it was “unusual” for the leaks to happen at such a distance from each other. The Swedish National Seismic Network recorded two “massive releases of energy” just before the gas leaks and near their locations off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm. Russia said it was concerned about the…

With flowers, prayers and a 19-gun salute, Japan honoured slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday at the first state funeral for a former premier in 55 years – a ceremony that has become as controversial as he was in life. Abe’s ashes were carried into the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo by his widow, Akie, to music from a military band and the booms of the honour-guard salute. Thousands of mourners flooded to designated spots near the venue from early morning to pay their last respects. In hours, about 10 000 people had laid flowers, with more waiting in three-hour long queues. Abe’s killing at a July 8 campaign rally set off a flood of revelations about ties between lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party he…

OUAGADOUGOU: Several people are feared dead in an attack by Islamist militants on a 150-vehicle convoy taking supplies to a town in northern Burkina Faso this week, the army said. Dozens of trucks were destroyed. The assault took place in the commune of Gaskinde in Soum province, an area where jihadists linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have escalated attacks and seized territory since 2015. Militants have blockaded several areas, forcing the government to use convoys and air drops to deliver essential goods to trapped civilians. The convoy, which was under military escort, was carrying supplies to the town of Djibo. | Reuters…