Tabla de contenidos para 2021-07-29 en Mercury

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE SHARE prices of JSE tech stock leaders Naspers and Prosus yesterday recouped some of the massive losses they incurred over the previous two days, which were spurred by China’s clampdown on private sector online education, which affected their biggest investment, internet group Tencent. By midday yesterday, Naspers, which owns 29 percent of Tencent, traded 3.8 percent higher at R2 643.50 on the JSE, while subsidiary Prosus, with its main listing in Amsterdam, traded 3.4 percent higher at R1 226.85 on its secondary listed market. The share prices of both companies had slumped more than 7 percent on Monday and on Tuesday, respectively. The shares closed yesterday at R2 747.44 and R1 267.62. The accelerating slide in Tencent’s share price meant its…

Transnet to lift force majeure soon after forced manual hiatus Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za TRANSNET said yesterday that it was considering lifting a force majeure after five days of downtime that involved using only systems that could be operated manually to cope with a backlog of trucks, ships and empty dockyards. In a statement yesterday, Transnet said it expected that some applications may continue to run slowly over the next few days, while monitoring systems were brought back in a staggered manner to minimise further risks and interruptions. “It is expected that some applications may continue to run slowly over the next few days, while monitoring continues. All operating systems will be brought back in a staggered manner to minimise further risks and interruptions, the group said. Logistics groups, including the…

CHRISTOPHER LAKE | Hilton In the December 1961 edition of the Athens Centre for Ekistics a review was published highlighting the intensive research undertaken by E Thorrington- Smith and W Holford, describing it as “a very worthwhile project”. The scheme involved a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of river and flood control, soil conservation, fish farming, agriculture and forestry, transport, power and manufacturing, as well as an opportunity for viable human settlement along a second ribbon of development down the centre of KwaZulu-Natal. It is common knowledge that the N3 corridor, from a long time back, has reached capacity. Unemployment is unacceptably high and creates frustration, despair and dejection. The prolonged Covid-19 pandemic and recent social upheaval have exacerbated the situation beyond measure. In the light of unacceptable…

TONY BALL | Gillitts Every day we are told about the worsening poverty in the country. It does not take a rocket scientist to realise that the solution is to persuade people to have fewer children, and for parents to be committed to each other. Well-known journalist Fred Khumalo made that point in his chapter in Black Tax and I, and it puzzles me why community leaders cannot encourage people to embrace this. Children will then grow up in a secure family environment and the government will have fewer child grants to pay out. What was very sad to see was that children were encouraged to loot during the recent unrest – that is hardly teaching any values.…

FAROUK ARAIE | Gauteng Our democracy is facing threats we have not witnessed in our recorded history. We were warned by many on numerous occasions of the mortal danger that demagogues posed to our democracy. We witnessed carnage on an epic scale that will be embedded in our collective memories, and recorded in history books for generations to come. The war for truth is now to preserve our democracy. Over the past 27 years, two unwritten norms have preserved our rainbow nation’s political system. They were mutual toleration, in which parties accept each other as legitimate rivals, and forbearance, in which politicians exercise restraint in using their institutional powers. The fiery looting carnage completely destroyed that sacred accord in an earth-shattering, volcanic inferno. The week of savage looting…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za Residents of Ugu District Municipality on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast believe that only the intervention of the provincial government will help to end their water supply woes. The municipality has been plagued by water disruption issues for several years, and has said some of the issues are due to ageing infrastructure, while others were blamed on sabotage. Last week, the municipality said water supply problems had worsened after water trucks and other equipment were torched during the looting and unrest in KZN two weeks ago. Municipality spokesperson France Zama said while it was trying to recover from the losses, residents were likely to bear the brunt of disruptions to and delays in water supply. Delisile Dlamini, 54, of oShabeni, said the torching of the vehicles would excacerbate…

The Department of Employment and Labour’s occupational health and safety (OHS) inspectorate has served a prohibition notice on the Musina Magistrate’s Court in Limpopo after a complaint laid by workers about the unsafe working environment. Limpopo provincial chief director Johannah Machaba said although the closure might lead to the delay of cases, the safety of staff and clients was their priority. Machaba said the building would remain closed until the safety concerns had been addressed. The inspector prohibited the use of the building for several reasons, including that the cash hall and courts A and B posed an “immediate danger of collapse” and might lead to severe injuries or death of persons. | African News Agency (ANA)…

When it comes to spying on one’s allies, the US gets a free pass THE ability of the Western mainstream media and some Western politicians to warp reality, sometimes to the extent of outright denying it, is impressive. It takes a special kind of talent to be able to keep covering a story that seemingly has not much to say about it, while ignoring something that can have an effect similar to that of a bombshell. In recent days, we took note of a good example to illustrate what we are saying. In late May to early June this year, sensational news hit the pages of world media. It was revealed that the US, in close co-operation with one of its European allies, has been spying on its other European…

Staring blankly from her hospital bed, 14-year-old Precious is struggling to recover after 21 days spent at the hands of heavily-armed gunmen who kidnapped her from her school in north-west Nigeria. “To walk is a problem, to talk is a problem ... if she happened to sit down, she will just be afraid and shivering,” said her mother, Esther Joseph. Attackers stormed Precious’s Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state in the dead of night on July 5, abducting 121 learners from their dormitories. It was the latest attack by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, who have long plagued north-west and central Nigeria. “She is remembering those guns the kidnappers used to shoot while in the bush to scare them,” said Joseph, speaking for her only child, who is…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za DUBAI-based MultiChoice chief executive Calvo Mawela was compensated with a $2.62 million (R38.8m) package for the year 2021, up from $1.59m a year earlier as he benefited from bonuses and incentives, the group said in its 2021 integrated annual report. Mawela took home a $646 000 base salary – up from $571 000 a year earlier – his pension was increased to $78 000 from $67 000 in 2020 and his benefits contracted to $181 000 from $227 000 in the previous year. He was rewarded with $993 000 in short-term and medium-term incentives, up from $726 000 a year with the short term incentive benefit reflecting the bonus paid based on the performance of the relevant financial year. “During…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za There has been mixed reaction to Israel being granted observer status at the AU. While the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) has lauded the inclusion of Israel and called on Pretoria to embrace the Jewish nation as a means to generate economic gains for poverty-stricken South Africans, the South African Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) said the decision was inexplicable. Israel previously held observer status at the now defunct Organisation of African Unity (OAU), but was thwarted in its attempts to get it back after the OAU was replaced by the AU in 2002, the country said in a statement. Israel being granted observer status at the AU would allow it to establish or strengthen trade and economic relations with African countries. Israel’s Ministry of…

| Mercury Reporter The KwaZulu-Natal government has convened a meeting of the Social Cohesion and Moral Regeneration Council to discuss the racial conflict, trauma and violence that have emerged in communities following the recent civil unrest. The council expressed deep concern about the recent increase in the use of divisive language and racial profiling. In Phoenix, several people were killed, while others were assaulted and had their vehicles torched in alleged racially-motivated crimes during the unrest and looting two weeks ago. In his opening address, Premier Sihle Zikalala, who is also the chairperson of the council, warned that “irresponsible statements and polarising behaviour would push citizens further apart and drive the province into greater chaos”. A total of 60 organisations attended the meeting, with representatives of civil society organisations…

PETER ARDINGTON | Howick Beauty, a Zulu woman, lives in Mpophomeni near Howick. She does house and garden work for several people, including myself, once a week. At the start of the unrest, she stopped going to work because of fear and transport disruptions. Her local shopping centre was looted and burnt down. By Sunday, July 18, she had lost a week of work and was short of food. She bought a loaf of bread at a spaza shop for R30. What she went through has been experienced by many others. She now has to shop at inconvenience and extra transport expense in Howick, 15km from her home. By its own admission the government did not respond early and effectively enough to prevent serious loss of…

THIS bear had never heard of Goldilocks. It attacked a miner in a remote part of Alaska, then went on to bully him for a whole week, according to The Huffington Post. On a flight from Kotzebue, a US Coastguard crew from Kodiak approached a remote mining camp. An SOS sign was on the roof of a shack and, when they passed over the scene again, a man was standing waving both hands in the air, indicating that he needed help. He had only two rounds of ammunition left. He had been attacked by a bear, leaving him with a leg injury and bruising on his torso. The helicopter crew took him for treatment in Nome, a small port near the Bering Strait. He told them the bear had come…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za Baby T was only two months old when she was first admitted to hospital with breathing problems. It was detected that she had suffered severe rib fractures. By the time she was 4-and-a-half months old and again admitted to hospital, she had at least 18 fractures in her body. This is the evidence in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, where her parents – mother, 22, and father 24, of Wierda Park – are facing charges including attempted murder, assault and child neglect. The parents may not be identified to safeguard the child. Both pleaded not guilty before Judge Hennie de Vos. Apart from denying that they had inflicted harm on their child, they chose to remain mum about their defence. The State, however, is expected to argue…

SA’S Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on Covid-19 has warned the public that it would not hesitate to recommend the reinstatement of a harsh lockdown if there was a resurgence in Covid-19 cases. On Monday, the country returned to alert level 3 of lockdown as the third wave of Covid-19 showed signs of waning. However, health experts have raised concerns of a potential spike in Covid-19 infections after social unrest in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng two weeks ago. Most of the thousands who were looting were not wearing masks or adhering to physical distancing. Wits professor and MAC member Ian Sanne said that after the riots, the committee was very worried that the country might see an explosion of Covid-19 cases. “The overall sense is that the cases are…

Nonhlanhla Nozizwe Hlatshwayo nozizwe.hlatshwayo@inl.co.za Due to the Covid-19 lockdown and restrictions on movement that have been in place for more than a year, tourism businesses may take as long as 10 years to recover. This was the grim admission made by the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa). The association said their members had seen plummeting revenue since the lockdown was introduced 18 months ago. “The last festive season was a hard knock as there was a 20% decrease in the expected figures. Members had been reporting quite pleasant figures in April this year. Just when they were working on that, the level 4 (lockdown) hit when the travel ban was reintroduced where our members reported between 0-5% occupancy,” said Brett Tungay of Fedhasa in KwaZulu-Natal. Tungay said there…

PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI On November 4, 1968, having received news of the passing of His Majesty King Cyprian Bhekuzulu kaSolomon, Mr Mandela wrote to me from Robben Island. “I should be pleased if you would kindly convey to the Royal Family my deepest sympathy … You and the late King were closely related and bound to each other by a long and fruitful friendship … It afforded me great pleasure to note how deeply he valued your friendship and how highly he appreciated your advice … In serving him as you did, you were carrying on the tradition established by my chiefs, Ngqengelele and Mnyamana, your ancestors, whose magnificent role in the task of national service is widely acknowledged … In due course Amazulu will no doubt be summoned…

SOCIAL Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) and the Post Office should use the reinstatement of the R350 Social of Relief Distress Grant as an opportunity to make amends for the blunders they committed during the first round of its disbursement. That it has been expanded to allow unemployed caregivers who receive the Child Support Grant (CSG) to apply for it, goes a long way in helping restore the dignity so many have lost during the Covid-19 pandemic. About 95% of CSG recipients are women who were unfairly discriminated against by not being eligible for the previous grant, according to the Black Sash. We know, thanks to former auditor-general Kimi Makwetu, that Sassa had used some government databases to check if applicants had alternate sources of…

Ethiopia’s Somali region said yesterday a vital road and rail trade route linking the landlocked capital of Addis Ababa to the sea port of Djibouti was blocked by youths angered by a deadly militia attack on their region. Around 95% of imports into the nation of around 110 million people are transported via that corridor, according to a 2018 study by the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Somali region President Mustafa Muhumed Omer said the road and railway had been blocked by local youths protesting against an attack on the region’s Gedamaytu town by militia from the neighbouring region of Afar. A spokesperson for his administration said Saturday’s attack had caused hundreds of civilian deaths, and the town had been looted and many of its inhabitants displaced. The violence…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za TAXES from corporate South Africa have come to the aid of the government and prevented the country from approaching international lenders for borrowings to finance its large economic recovery package. The National Treasury yesterday presented a R36.2 billion socio-economic relief package to boost activity after civil unrest earlier this month left destruction costing the economy nearly R50bn. Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane said that there would be no additional borrowing to fund this fiscal package, allaying any possible credit ratings concerns over widening debt. Mogajane said the package will be funded by reprioritising the funding of existing budgets of the departments of trade and industry and small business development, as well as revenue overrun. “We are not going to be borrowing at all. This is not in…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za THE 2 239 operating shortfall of the eThekwini metro police has been unanimously criticised by the city’s executive committee (exco) of councillors, who have called for an urgent beefing up of the force if it is to meet citizens’ crime prevention expectations. In a recent meeting, exco heard how the metro police helped mitigate what would have been an even more disastrous situation during the recent unrest. A recent report highlighted a gaping shortage of police personnel against rising crime trends in an 2 293km2 policing jurisdiction of the municipality. When the city police was upgraded into a metro police service in 2000, the basis for this was that by 2010, the force would consist of 5 000 members, said the report to the city’s Finance,…

EBRAHIM ESSA | Durban EVERYONE has probably heard of the fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes, where an obedient, or perhaps an even fearful or patronising populace, compliment the emperor on the choice of his new clothes until he himself discovers he has nothing on. Our government has turned the tale around – the strange reaction, initially with the international vaccination programme, and trying to constantly reassure the public that we are on top of it, is one case in point. The second invisible garment the government has dressed (or undressed!) the citizenry with, is around announcing fixed dates for changing levels of the Covid-19 wave. “Exactly at 12 midnight on the 25th of July, the third wave will undergo low tide and it’s therefore all clear for…

Cat owners who love to take pictures of their furry friends now have a new excuse to pull out their smartphones and take a snapshot: it may actually help the cat. A Calgary, Alberta, animal health technology company, Sylvester.ai, has developed an app called Tably that uses the phone’s camera to tell whether a feline is feeling pain. The app looks at ear and head position, eye-narrowing, muzzle tension, and how whiskers change, to detect distress. A 2019 study published in peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports found that the so-called “feline grimace scale”, or FGS, is a valid, reliable tool for acute pain assessment in cats. “It helps human cat owners know if their cat is in pain or not,” said Miche Priest, Sylvester.ai’s venture lead. “We were able to train…

ARE you ever disappointed in your sons? Do they ever let you down? Are you ever angry with them? You write about them as if they’re perfect. My sons are far from perfect. I’m far from perfect, as a man and as a dad. I trust I have not given the overriding impression that we have an idyllic family. We don’t. As imperfect as my sons may be, I regard them as being close to perfect in my eyes. It’s the way I see them. It’s the way I choose to see them. My sons’ imperfections pale next to mine at their respective ages. They are both open and transparent with me in ways I never was with my own parents. Do they ever disappoint me? Yes, but it is…

| African News Agency (ANA) Discrimination against homosexuality is nothing new, especially in countries that are conservative and prefer upholding old traditional values and norms, hence the acceptance of homosexuality is shaped by the country in which people live. The myth is that First World countries are more accepting of homosexuality, but often that’s not the case because these countries also have religious and traditional principles that shape their view of life. Research conducted last year by the Pew Research Centre in Europe shows that Western Europe is generally more accepting of homosexuality than countries in Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe includes Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation and Slovakia, as well as the republics of Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. Last year, notes from Poland cited the…

Ahmed Shaikh Globally the perennial battle to alleviate poverty is an enduring one and in this respect South Africa is no exception. According to Statistics SA almost half of the adult population in our country is living below the upper-bound poverty line. While the battle against poverty has been a difficult one, the recent Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation, especially in terms of poverty rates, the economy, health, education and employment prospects. In addition to the pandemic, the country is also in its worst economic recession in 100 years. South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 32.6 percent in the first quarter of 2021 from 32.5 percent in the previous period (Trading Economics -2021). Stats SA also confirms the official unemployment rate among youth (15-34 years) was 46.3% in…

Afghanistan would become a “pariah state” if the Taliban take control by force, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday, as a top-level delegation from the insurgent group visited China to assure officials of their international obligations. “An Afghanistan that does not respect the rights of its people, an Afghanistan that commits atrocities against its own people would become a pariah state,” Blinken said in India, where he is on his first official visit. In China, the Taliban’s leadership assured Beijing the group will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for plotting against another country. A delegation, including co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is in China for talks as the insurgents continue a sweeping offensive across Afghanistan, including areas along their shared border. Their frontier is…

London: A jewel thief was jailed for more than five years in Britain yesterday for stealing millions of pounds worth of diamonds by switching them with pebbles in a daring sleight of hand. Lulu Lakatos, 60, posed as a gem expert under the alias “Anna” to gain access to the jewels – worth a total of £4.2 million. She claimed she had been sent to appraise the gems by a wealthy Russian client before swopping them for the worthless stones. A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London found her guilty of conspiracy to steal. The judge called the heist “highly sophisticated and audacious”, involving “brazen deception”. Prosecutors said the theft of the diamonds from jewellers in London’s upmarket Mayfair district was the biggest of its kind in Britain.…