Tabla de contenidos para 2023-09-07 en Mercury

SOUTH Africa’s business confidence edged higher in the third quarter, but remained in depressed territory, as fewer power cuts provided respite to firms battling high-inter- est rates, according to a survey by a private investment bank. The survey by the Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research showed the business confidence index climbed to 33 points in the third quarter, up from 27 points the previous quarter. Nearly two-thirds of 1 050 senior executives surveyed said they were dissatisfied with current busi- ness conditions and the sentiment remained “still very weak”. Annabel Bishop, the chief economist at Investec, said business confidence remained in depressed territory. “A RMB/BER business confidence index (BCI) reading below the neutral 50 level shows that the majority of…

THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements says it will undertake enforcement action to deal with derelict buildings in eThekwini. Human Settlements MEC Sipho “KK” Nkosi is expected to visit several buildings across Durban today that are of concern. He is also expected to make a “major” announcement on what his department will do about hijacked buildings. The department’s visit is part of efforts to clamp down on the hijacking and illegal occupation of buildings and to deal with people living in buildings that are in a poor condition. The actions by the provincial government come just days after a devastating fire in a building in Johannesburg left more than 70 people dead. Spokesperson for the MEC, Mlungisi Khumalo, said: “The MEC will visit several buildings in Durban that we have…

VETERAN South African political analyst Dr Protas Madlala, who died on Friday after a short illness, was remembered yesterday during a memorial service held at the Mariannhill Monastery Church for his incredible courage and forthright approach to sensitive matters. Madlala will be laid to rest on Saturday at the Saint Wendolins Catholic Parish. He started his career as a journalist at The Mercury in Durban in the 1980s and later studied in the US where he obtained a degree in International Communication. His reputation as a political analyst was enhanced in the 1990s by his analysis of the volatility and political intolerance in KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa. University of KwaZulu-Natal sociology Professor Paulus Zulu said Madlala had always lived, practised and intellectualised. “The media called him to conduct an analysis…

It is most unfortunate that a major tragedy should happen before responsible political office bearers spring in to action. I sincerely hope the government-wide investigation that minister, Sihle Zikalala (who is new in his ministerial position), is to undertake into hijacked government buildings, will not stop after the probe of the latest incident. In an article in Monday’s Mercury, mention is made of 1 260 (state) properties flagged as illegally occupied. Why was it tackled only now that 77 people died a horrific death in a fire? Now there is a realisation that this is a major problem that should have been attended to years ago. This is not the only major problem that has been neglected. Sunday newspapers reported: “State runs out of money.” Following that, it was also…

THE ANC is running out of time to hand over the complete records of its national cadre-deployment committee to the DA after failing in its appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to prevent their disclosure. It has just five days to comply with the court’s decision in relation to the records about the process and decisions of its national cadre deployment committee between January 2013 and January 2021. The ANC had refused DA MP Leon Schreiber’s request for access to the information which he made in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). Schreiber then approached the Johannesburg High Court to have such refusal “declared unlawful and invalid”. In his judgment in February, Johannesburg High Court judge Willem Wepener said: “The supplementary affidavit, which was…

The eThekwini Municipality says there is no interdict that has been granted by any court of law preventing it from disconnecting services to those who are boycotting payments. The City was commenting after a social media post claimed an order was granted. The post read: “A massive victory for the Westville Ratepayers’ Association as courts interdict eThekwini from disconnecting services to them while they boycott paying for services directly to eThekwini and instead pay to a separate trust account.” Gugu Sisilana, spokesperson for the eThekwini Municipality, said they wished to clarify that there was no court interdict in place. “The facts are that an application for an interdict has been made by the Westville Ratepayers’ Association, and this application is scheduled to be heard on November 1, 2023, in the…

Big businesses in Pietermaritzburg paid R25 million in on-the-spot collections to avoid their services being cut by the Msunduzi Municipality. The municipality revealed that the unnamed businesses were visited by its officials on Tuesday as part of an aggressive campaign to recover money owed to the municipality for services and rates. In a statement, the municipality said: “Yesterday, Operation Qoqimali visited big business consumers in a bid to disconnect services due to non payment. Our teams returned with an on-the-spot collection of over R25m.” The municipality warned businesses not to be taken in by con artists pretending to be its employees. It added that Operation Qoqimali doesn’t deal in cash and electronic payments were done by the businesses. “The message is clear, do not wait for us to come to…

In the same way that the Australian and South African economies beat consensus forecasts for economic growth in the second quarter, so the Chinese economy could also exceed current downbeat forecasts. This upbeat forecast seems to be confirmed by the Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI, which rose to 51.0 in August from 49.2 in July, easily exceeding the consensus forecast of 49.3. The August reading reflected the strongest pace of expansion in factory activity since February. It was also the fifth time of increase since the start of the year amid multiple efforts from the government to revive a weakening post-pandemic recovery. Both output and new orders returned to growth while employment gained for the first time in six months. On the other hand, foreign sales remained weak, with the…

Spanish football star Jenni Hermoso has lodged a criminal complaint over the unsolicited kiss by football federation boss Luis Rubiales after Spain’s victory in the Women’s World Cup, the national prosecutor’s office said yesterday. Rubiales could face criminal charges in addition to the ongoing inquiry by Spain’s top sport court for “serious misconduct” and an investigation by world soccer governing body Fifa, which has provisionally suspended Rubiales from office for 90 days. Rubiales grabbed Hermoso’s head and kissed her on the lips during the medal ceremony that followed Spain’s 1-0 victory over England in the Women’s World Cup final on August 20. The prosecutor for Spain’s high court has said Rubiales could face a sexual assault charge, which carries a prison term of between one and four years. Hermoso said…

PARIS: This summer was the warmest on record as extreme heat waves impacted North America, Europe and Asia, according to Europe’s Earth observation agency Copernicus. Temperatures in the past three months were 0.66°C above the average compared to the years between 1991 and 2020. Last month was also the warmest August on record globally and the second-warmest month after July 2023. Greenhouse gases have warmed the planet by about 1.1°C since pre-industrial times. August was about 1.5°C warmer than the average between 1850 and 1900. Antarctic sea ice remained at a record low and 12% below the historic average for the month. | Bloomberg…

All Black legend Dan Carter says the absence of Handre Pollard from the Springbok World Cup squad is a “huge loss” for both the South Africans and the tournament. Carter, arguably the greatest flyhalf to play the game, was asked to run the rule of over the No 10s about to do duty in France, and he began his analysis by pointing out the quality that is not there. The host country was cruelly robbed of master playmaker Romain Ntamack, who suffered a knee ligament injury three weeks ago, while Pollard was touch and go, but ultimately missed out because of a long-running calf complaint. He is currently training with his club, Leicester Tigers, and at the first sign of a serious injury in the Bok squad he will surely…

MERCURY REPORTERS TECHNICAL glitches that left thousands of social grant beneficiaries unable to access their grants this week have partially been resolved, says Post Bank. It said in a statement yesterday that technical challenges that had affected ATM withdrawals and Post Office branch transactions had been dealt with, however there were still some challenges with transactions at retailers. It said those South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries that used Post Bank Sassa gold cards would be able to access their funds from ATMs and Post Office branches. However, the bank said the processing of the reversals of funds debited from the accounts that declined on Tuesday due to a system error was under way. “Beneficiaries who have attempted withdrawals since Tuesday are urged to give this process some time…

I write this letter to express my deep frustration and disappointment with the leaders of the ANC who continue to use the tired excuse of apartheid for their failure to improve our country. It is high time that we, as South Africans, reject this excuse and demand better leadership from those who are supposed to guide us towards progress. The ANC’s constant blame-shifting to apartheid is nothing more than a cop-out to mask their own failures. Although it is true that apartheid had a devastating impact on our economy, it is unacceptable for the governing party to still be harping on about this after three decades. Other countries, with weaker starting points and fewer natural resources, have managed to thrive economically in the same time-frame. Experts have pointed out that…

SPRINGBOK radio was on the air again this week – well, at the St Clements arts soiree anyway – as veteran actor Frank Graham brought us a hilarious gig on the golden days of the station in the days before TV. Graham’s radio career spanned some 25 years with his participation in countless plays, and series particularly the Tom Meehan stable of comedies such as The Men from the Ministry, Father Dear Father, The Navy Lark and Friends and Neighbours. There was plenty of audience participation as Graham teased the punters’ memories, asking them to recall the titles of Springbok Radio classics such as The Creaking Door – the weekly ghost story. Highly entertaining it all was. We’d largely forgotten the days when the rest of the world was into…

At a media briefing this week in Cape Town, the Interfaith Forum of South Africa, said they were deeply concerned “about the social and moral crisis in our country”. Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, the forum’s chairperson, said: “South Africa is in a state of crisis because poverty continues to haunt us, inequality has deepened, social ills, such as violence against women and children remain a major blight on our society. “Then there’s the collapse of coherent and stable family life, while extreme violence is the order of the day. Racial and gender discrimination continue to bedevil our society. “Endemic corruption is strangling the life out of our economy. With the highest unemployment rates in the world, the majority of South Africans are excluded from the productive economy and many are bystanders…

KwaZulu-Natal police are searching for those responsible for the murder of a Durban businessman on Tuesday. The 38-year-old was found outside his business premises on South Coast Road in Clairwood at around 10pm. It is alleged the victim had sustained a single stab wound to the neck. Provincial police spokesperson, Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said Montclair police were investigating a case of murder. “The motive for the killing is unknown.” Last week, a businessman was shot dead outside his business in Inanda Road, Parlock. At the time, provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda said that the 49-year-old man was outside his business premises when he was approached by two suspects who shot him, before they fled in a getaway vehicle. Netshiunda said the motive for the killing was unknown, and…

African leaders yesterday demanded sweeping changes to the global financial system and urged the international community to back a surge in renewable energy as they wrapped up a landmark climate summit in Kenya. Africa is acutely vulnerable to the growing impacts of climate change, but leaders at the three-day meeting in Nairobi were eager to cast the continent not as a victim but a long-ignored ally in the fight against global warming. “Africa possesses both the potential and the ambition to be a vital component of the global solution to climate change,” said the final declaration from the meeting, on behalf of the AU. But, it warned, unlocking green growth across the continent “on a scale that can contribute meaningfully to decarbonisation of the global economy” required a massive scaleup…

A Russian strike killed more than a dozen people, including a child, in a market in the front line in east Ukraine, in an attack that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as “heinous evil”. The projectiles ripped into the centre of Kostiantynivka, a town of nearly 70 000 people in the Donetsk region hours after the US’s top diplomat arrived in Kyiv to announce new aid. Ukraine’s newly appointed defence minister meanwhile vowed to liberate “every centimetre” of territory occupied by Russia in his first comments in the post yesterday. Rescue workers picked through debris and carried nearly 30 wounded for treatment past charred vehicles and kiosks torn to pieces in the blast, said officials. “Sixteen people have been killed, including one child,” Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on social media…

The renewable energy platform, opened for business yesterday, will unlock an investment of roughly R20bn to R25bn IN ANOTHER innovative first, Discovery CEO Adrian Gore unveiled Discovery Green, a renewable energy platform, which opened for business yesterday, that will unlock an investment of roughly R20 billion to R25bn in South Africa’s energy infrastructure. The platform, developed with the support of RMB, Discovery’s investment banking partner, connects businesses across South Africa to affordable, renewable power generated by utility-scale renewable plants. However, for companies joining Discovery Green, there is a two-year waiting period to be connected up with renewable energy, with it expects to come online in 2026. “A number of years ago, we started to think about could we apply the Vitality science to how people think about climate? Could…

POLICE Minister Bheki Cele said the police were making progress in the fight against political killings in KwaZulu-Natal despite the challenges they faced during their investigations. Cele was speaking at a media briefing yesterday after a meeting of the inter-ministerial committee on political killings that took place on Tuesday. He said since 2018, when the task team was formed, their work had resulted in the arrest of 348 suspects in 233 cases. “Sixty-two suspects have been convicted, while 155 are going through the court processes. Seventeen arrested suspects have since died during the court processes.” Cele said 52 councillors, 31 from the ANC, had been gunned down since 2011. “Alarmingly, 103 officials working within municipalities as political office bearers and officials in political offices were killed. Causative factors for these…

American author Charles Bukowski said: “What a weary time those years were to have the desire and the need to live but not the ability.” The words could not be more true than when it comes to the youth of our country, particularly KwaZulu-Natal. Our young people want to succeed but most of them do not have the ability to do so. Their despair stems largely from a government that does not care, resulting in an ever-growing voter apathy as more and more young people ask themselves: “What is the point of voting if my life will not change?” There are numerous issues plaguing our youth, with the obvious being unemployment, poverty, drugs, teen pregnancy and gender-based violence. These and other escalating social ills in our province are hindering growth…

DO YOU remember your wedding vows and have you ever gone back and read them again? Having declared your intent at your wedding, the officiant probably said something like this – I’ll use Janet and George for ease: “Janet and George, since it is your intention to marry, please join your right hands, and with your promises bind yourselves to each other as husband and wife: Please repeat after me ... I, George, take you, Janet, to be my wife; and I promise, before God and these witnesses, to be your loving and faithful husband; in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live. Janet, will you repeat these vows after me: I, Janet, take you, George,…

The Special Tribunal, which has the status of the High Court, is dealing with matters related to multibillion-rand Transnet contracts which were investigated by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). The tribunal was set up to deal with SIU matters along with courts. Briefing the National Assembly standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) this week on investigations into irregularities, maladministration and corruption within Transnet, SIU lead investigator Gina Beretta-Pretorius said there were seven civil matters before the court – six at the tribunal and one in the High Court. Beretta-Pretorius said that R56.9 billion was the value of the irregular and unlawful contracts and not recoveries. Among the matters was the procurement of 1 064 locomotives. “On March 2021, Transnet and the SIU launched a review application in the Gauteng High…

KWAZULU-NATAL Public Services Commission (PSC) commissioner Yasmin Bacus says they are encouraged by this week’s Cabinet approval of a draft bill that if signed into law will see the commission’s independence being significantly boosted. She said the proposed changes in the form of the Public Services Bill, will enable the institution to operate more independently, and have their recommendations taken more seriously by the government. The changes are likely to be implemented in the next term of government after next year’s elections, but the commissioner said these were encouraging developments. “The primary objective of the bill is to establish an independent Secretariat for the PSC. The establishment of the independent secretariat is intended to strengthen the independence and impartiality of the PSC, as it will no longer be supported by…

IF THE panel’s executive summary report into the Russian cargo ship saga is anything to go by, the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, should be packing his bag for home or be recalled. The panel, led by Judge Phineas Mojapelo, found no evidence to back Brigety’s claims that weapons and ammunition had been loaded onto Lady R, the Russian freighter that docked at the Simon’s Town naval base in December. “Available evidence only confirmed the offloading and that there was nothing loaded. The details of the equipment offloaded and its intended use were made known to the Panel. In light of this classified information, the Panel accepted the reasons provided for the decision to offload the equipment at night. This as well as the nature and purpose of…

The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday warned of “concerning trends” for Covid-19 ahead of winter in the northern hemisphere, calling for increased vaccinations. The UN health agency estimated that hundreds of thousands of people around the world were currently hospitalised with the virus. “We continue to see concerning trends for Covid-19 ahead of the winter season in the northern hemisphere,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “Deaths are increasing in some parts of the Middle East and Asia, intensive care unit admissions are increasing in Europe and hospitalisations are increasing in several regions,” he said. But only 43 countries – less than a quarter of the 194 WHO member states – were reporting Covid deaths to the agency, and only 20 provide information about hospitalisations, he said. Tedros said the…

KHARTOUM: Hundreds of families fled yesterday from a Khartoum suburb where Sudanese army shelling killed 19 civilians the previous evening, activists and residents said. The exodus adds to the almost 2.8 million already displaced from the Sudanese capital since fighting began on April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Yesterday, residents in various districts of Khartoum reported fighting between SAF and the RSF. The war has already killed around 5 000 people, according to reports. Over 4.8 million have been internally displaced or fled, says the UN. On Monday it more than doubled its aid appeal to $1bn. | AFP…