Sommaire pour 2021-11-29 de Mercury

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za PREMIER Fishing and Brands lifted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation a sturdy 22 percent to R43 million in the year to August 31 after revenue continued to be boosted by strong demand for its fish products. Revenue increased sharply by 27 percent to R575m, while gross profit was up 26 percent to R192m. Diluted headline earnings per share decreased to a loss of 3.39 cents from 2.5c previously. Net asset value per share came to 292.53c compared with 296.23c in the prior year. Cash generated from operations increased sharply to R53m compared with R35m in the prior year. In her second year at the helm, chief executive Rushaan Isaacs said the solid performance was due primarily to increases in revenue…

MERCURY REPORTERS PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa said last night that the government was undertaking engagements with social partners and other stakeholders regarding introducing measures that would make vaccination a condition for access to workplaces, public events, public transport and public establishments. He said this included discussions that had been taking place between government, labour, business and the community. “Government has set up a task team that will undertake broad consultations on making vaccination mandatory for specific activities and locations. “The task team will report to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccination chaired by the deputy president, which will make recommendations to Cabinet on a fair and sustainable approach to vaccine mandates.” He added that the introduction of such measures was a complex issue. “If we do not address this seriously and…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg “HOLIDAYS,” in the minds of children, innocently implies, “play and fun”. With not much structure during the holidays, children whose little minds are very impressionable can become vulnerable to the evil temptations that invite them from all sides. A humble appeal to all parents is to keep children gainfully and productively occupied within healthy boundaries and ethical values. Setting a routine can be useful. In addition to responsibly enjoying the holidays, I urge parents to pay particular attention to their own and that of their children’s physical and emotional health, stress levels and well-being. Pleasing people, buying gifts, managing finances or travelling during the holidays, especially during the current pandemic, can be physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting. As we come to the end of…

I WAS astonished the other day when my local liquor store was unable to supply canaries. Perhaps I need to explain. My preferred tipple being scotch of the Famous Grouse brand, in deference to Scots tradition I tend to order in Scots lingo: “Hoot mon, blow the expense, gie the cat anither canary!” So much so that the bartenders in The Pub With No Name, in Florida Road, have taken to calling Famous Grouse “Canary”. So there I was in the booze shop – but no Canaries. The guy behind the counter was apologetic. A fellow had been in just before me and bought 24 bottles of Canary, cleaning him out of stocks of the brand. Call it lockdown jitters. Golfing hazard EE BA GOOM. They’ve got a new hazard…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za A LIMPOPO woman whose husband divorced her after 35 years of marriage lost her legal bid not to share her pension of more than R2.8 million with him. The woman, who cannot be identified as her application in the Polokwane High Court forms part of a divorce action, asked for an order that her now former “cheating” husband forfeit 50% of her pension money. The parties were married in community of property, thus the husband was entitled to half of everything. But the woman said his behaviour, which according to her led to their eventual divorce, should be condemned by way of ordering that he forfeit his share of her pension fund. The court, however, ruled against the woman and ordered that the husband receive his share.…

More youngsters than ever have access to early childhood development services AS WE analyse the recent Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS 2021) and as we commemorate 25 years since the adoption of South Africa’s globally-admired Constitution, we have the opportunity to reflect on progress made in protecting the social and economic rights of children in this country. The advent of democracy has ensured that more children than ever before have access to some form of early childhood development (ECD) services and school enrolment is near-universal. Furthermore, close to 80% of children in under-resourced communities have access to public clinics. The government of South Africa has made gains in extending child social grants, with more than one in three households having received at least one Child Support Grant in 2019. There…

Police in Burkina Faso fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in the West African nation’s capital Ouagadougou at the weekend, state-owned news agency AIB reported. It said that tension remained high between demonstrators and the police as the demonstrators burnt tyres on the streets. They also erected barricades to prevent traffic. During the demonstration, one person was injured and evacuated by the fire brigade, it reported. The nation’s major news website, Burkina 24, also reported that several organisers had made an appointment for large-scale demonstrations in order to denounce the management of public affairs. At the Square of Nation in Ouagadougou, the place planned for the gathering, security forces had secured the main entrances, it reported. The demonstrations came amid growing insecurity and mounting anger from the public over a…

Gerry Cupido geraldine.cupido@inl.co.za We’re living under circumstances that none of us would ever have imagined. The type of situation you’ve only seen in the movies. A situation none us of were prepared for. One we’re still coming to terms with and navigating our way through. We’re all doing our best to protect our loved ones from a virus by staying indoors and living by the lockdown rules. This has left many people feeling trapped in their own homes. While this might be foreign to many of us, to women in abusive relationships, the feeling is their daily reality. One could say that they are always living in lockdown. Whether it is physically or emotionally. Right now thousands of women find themselves stuck indoors all day, every day, with their abusers.…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za AFRICAN Democratic Change (Adec) leader Visvin Reddy has threatened to sue DA councillor Nicole Graham following a tweet that implied that smaller parties in eThekwini Municipality had taken bribes to vote with the ANC to ensure it retained power at last week’s inaugural council meeting. In a letter, Reddy said Graham, who stood as the DA’s mayoral candidate, should issue a statement withdrawing the tweet or he would take her to court where he would seek damages to the tune of R5 million. He said those involved in the letter of demand were Adec and other smaller parties in the municipality. “This comes after she tweeted, ‘a few small parties, whose names you probably won’t even know, handed power back to the ANC in eThekwini. The IFP,…

An animal shelter in Los Angeles, in the US is applying astrological traits to its dogs in the hopes of matching them with a compatible human. Wags and Walks adoption centre teamed up with website building company SquareSpace to create the website wagsandwalksfoster.com which shows dogs and their star signs to help them get better foster matches. “Compatibility is a huge factor when it comes to pairing a pet with a foster parent and what better way to showcase compatibility than with astrological signs?” said Ashley Camale, head of consumer, product and international communications at SquareSpace Inc. Workers at Wags and Walks keep records of personality traits and likes and dislikes of each dog in their care. Ariana Howell, the centre’s volunteer co-ordinator, said, “Although they are rescue dogs, so…

JUSTIN MOODLEY | Phoenix PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa and his ANC-led government must take full blame for the pandemic crisis we are facing in our country. Until the end of September, while still under alert level 2, our country was doing very well containing the virus. The daily positivity rate had drastically reduced and so too the deaths related to the virus complications. The president decided to lower the alert level one notch lower (alert level 1) calling up a “family meeting” to make the announcement. His reasons for the relaxation was that the positivity rate had reduced significantly and so too deaths. This relaxation meant that concessions were to be granted and restrictions lifted, the most significant being indoor and outdoor gatherings were to be significantly increased; indoor…

EBRAHIM ESSA | Durban STUDENTS from Gqeberha have just produced a film – Zombie – which is a science-fiction satire on our government system. From the title, one can deduce that either the men in government are the unthinking walking dead or even more probably, the name alludes to us, the citizens. Which makes one ask the question: “What propels individuals to become leaders? Every time I see Mr Ramaphosa on the screen, I wonder: “why would, arguably, the wealthiest individual in South Africa want to take on the stress of warning the country about the next crisis … the new variant … the new lockdown … the inevitable economic shutdown? Especially if he had the immediate option of abdicating and going spontaneously to a romantic tropical island…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za The SANDF and other law-enforcement agencies need to use appropriate technology to fight the cross-border smuggling of stolen vehicles. This was the word from vehicle tracking companies when they briefed the joint standing committee on defence in Parliament on challenges with vehicle smuggling along South African borders. Committee chairperson Cyril Xaba said they called the meeting for the companies to talk about their own experience about vehicles smuggled into neighbouring countries. The committee heard that there was an area that ran parallel to the international borderline that extended 10km inland. The towns, villages and populated areas close to the borderline are affected by the illegal cross-border movements. This area is patrolled by the SANDF, who are deployed on a six-month rotational basis. “If you drive and happen…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za A report released by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) noted six human rabies cases during the months of October and November bringing the total confirmed human rabies cases to 17 for the year. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development said members of the public should not approach or pick up stray dogs or cats in high-risk rabies areas including in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape, as this can increase the spread of rabies. Sinenhlanhla Jimoh, senior communications manager for the NICD said that of the six confirmed laboratory cases, four were confirmed in Eastern Cape and one each in KZN and Limpopo. Jimoh added that Eastern Cape, KZN and Limpopo had reported the most number of human rabies cases since 2016.…

THERE has been heartbreak for South Africans abroad or in the country with the imposition of travels bans, dashing the hopes of those looking to visit loved ones. The B.1.1.5.29 variant could be behind the surge in cases in Gauteng, and there is concern that it will drive the fourth wave. The EU decision to halt travel to southern Africa has been criticised in some quarters for being punitive. After all, scientists in the country were quick to establish the prevalence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, but South Africa appears to be taking a bashing for disclosing its detection of the variant. Other countries to report cases of the newly discovered variant include the UK, Belgium, Israel, Germany and the Netherlands. Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the WHO…

ROME: A dead dolphin on a doormat and windows smashed with sledgehammers. Weapons stored in cemetery chapels. Bribes to judges for acquittals, and bogus medical certificates letting convicted killers dodge prison. These are the stories recounted since January by dozens of ’Ndrangheta members turned state witnesses in Italy’s largest anti-Mafia trial in three decades, covering everything from intimidation to vote-buying, and drug trafficking to murder. “They … invited them to eat ricotta at the farm … then they killed, burnt and melted them,” testified one criminal-turned-witness, Andrea Mantella, describing a 1988 revenge killing of two brothers. The ’Ndrangheta, Italy’s most powerful organised crime syndicate, is in the crosshairs of the “maxi-trial” against 355 defendants held in the poor southern region of Calabria, the group’s home turf. Having expanded well beyond…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za IT’S going to be a nerve-racking few days for South African cricket. Before the BCCI makes a decision about whether to send the India men’s team to SA for a much anticipated and financially critical tour, everybody will be monitoring the work of the world’s leading scientists who are doing further research into the newly identified Covid-19 variant, Omicron. The Indian team are due to arrive in SA next Wednesday. However, the BCCI will await guidance from the Indian government before sending their players to SA. In the broader social and global context, cricket is a minor role-player. But as is the case for the hospitality and tourism industries, to name but two, for the thousands of people dependent on the sport for a living in SA,…

Mike Greenaway mike.greenaway@inl.co.za The indecent haste with which the Welsh, Irish and Italians tried to scuttle out of South Africa on Friday, does not bode well for the health of the fledgling United Rugby Championship. Relations between South African administrators and their counterparts in Europe have almost certainly soured given the frankly selfish behaviour of the Scarlets, Cardiff, Munster and Zebre when that unfortunate word Omicron was first mouthed on Thursday night, causing the panicky UK government to immediately thrust South Africa back onto its travel red list, and the rest of Europe followed suit. While nobody is blaming these franchises for wanting to remove themselves from potential harm’s way, and also to get home before the Sunday morning deadline so that they would not have to isolate for…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za QUANTUM Foods said on Friday that its 2021 performance was below expec- tation as it posted its results for the year ended September 30, 2021. Head- line earnings per share decreased by 35 percent to 52.2 cents per share, while operating profit decreased by 34 percent to R144 million, from R220 m in the prior corresponding period. Trading conditions were challenged by higher feed costs, the South African outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, the business closure of a Western Cape broiler abattoir customer and muted consumer expenditure. In addition, lower production at certain operations and above-target cost per unit increases in key product categories weakened the group’s overall financial results. No final dividend was declared. Looking ahead, Quantum Foods said the challenging…

Karen Singh karen.singh@inl.co.za HEALTH experts believe the countries that have issued travel bans against South Africa after South African scientists discovered the new Covid-19 Omicron variant last week are practising discrimination. According to Reuters, the Omicron variant was first discovered in South Africa and has since been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Israel and Hong Kong. The Mercury’s sister publication, Sunday Tribune reported yesterday that the list of countries that have banned South African travel includes the US, Canada, Australia, Philippines, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Israel, Japan and Malaysia. The ban was also extended to neighbouring countries Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, eSwatini and the Seychelles. Public health specialist Dr Atiya Mosam said the travel ban against South Africa and neighbouring countries was unwarranted and discriminatory. “If anything, our transparency and…

VA VOLKER | Pietermaritzburg The internal dictatorship syndrome within the ANC was already evident when they were still “bush fighters”. It is known that President Mugabe of Zimbabwe followed a policy of being reasonably accommodating to the total population of Zimbabwe in the early years after independence. However, as the failure of his policies became evident, he became more ruthless and dictatorial. His first ruthless step was to break the influence of the Ndebele minority under the leadership of Joshua Nkomo with North Korean military assistance. This type of tribal conflict (or call it racial) has been patently evident all over Africa and is still so to this day. The next step, to appease his suffering supporters was to confiscate the land of the whites. The EFF calls…

ROBIN NAIDOO | Phoenix OVER more than 27 years, the ANC – our anticipated saviours – turned out to be the New National Party, a prejudiced, racist party serving African interests only, most unfortunately for Indians, coloureds and whites. The “national” name is also ironically shared by the African National Congress and the National Party. If you are not that nation, you are on your own and out. Remember the “A”, in ANC is African. Why not the South African National Congress, representing all? Amichand Rajbansi double-crossed many Indian MF voters and sold their votes, years ago, to give the ANC a majority over the IFP, to run and ruin the eThekwini Municipality. He was handsomely rewarded with an MEC of Sports in the provincial parliament by his…

WITHIN the past few days hundreds of thousands people across the world holding air tickets from and to South Africa and several other African countries have had their hopes for December travels dashed. Within hours of the White House announcement of the renewed travel ban between the US and South Africa, I got calls commiserating with me that plans I had made for family to visit us would have to be shelved. I got off easy. I had not yet spent any money on air tickets and, yes, once it is spent it is next to impossible to have it refunded. Indeed, you get credit and you can book later, but the “later” is totally unknown and I’ve never known it to be convenient. My losses are minimal. People are…

Velani Ludidi velani.ludidi@inl.co.za With 175 investigators nationally, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is struggling to investigate transgressions by the men in blue. Accountability journalism project Viewfinder found that, on average, police in South Africa kill someone every day. Ipid’s annual report also revealed that assault cases constitute about 70% of their workload. These cases were also prioritised in order to reduce the backlog. The police watchdog is sitting with thousands of unsolved cases, some dating from five years ago. Nonini Ntutu from Makhaza, in Cape Town, is one of the many people who are still waiting to hear what happened to her case against the police. She was struck by a police van in July last year. “I was pregnant when the police van hit me and I gave…

Zama Ngcoya zama.ngcoya@inl.co.za Durban’s Umbilo and Windermere libraries will close their doors at the end of this month when their leases expire. EThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, confirmed that the libraries would be closing, but said the city planned to move them to other premises. “Plans are afoot to move the two libraries to council-owned properties,” said Mayisela. Bradley Singh, DA Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL), condemned the closure of the libraries. “This is not the first time that libraries are faced with lease agreement concerns. It is extremely disappointing noting that the department does not prioritise important amenities such as libraries. This has been an ongoing issue for years. Sadly, those who frequent these libraries will now have to make alternate arrangements to use libraries in different areas,” said…

GLOBAL trade has been more resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic than the 2008-09 global financial crisis, says the WTO in its latest World Trade Report 2021 – effectively the annual report card on the state of world trade, multilateral co-operation and global trading system. During the crisis, global trade touched US$4.8 trillion while during the pandemic it reached $6.2 trillion (roughly R101 trillion), despite the economic, health and social impacts. In 2020, says the report, the value of global trade in goods and services fell by 9.6%, while global GDP fell by 3.3%, in the most severe recession since World War II. Global economic output is projected to recover by 5.3% in 2021 – partly due to the robust recovery in merchandise trade, set to rise by…

World governments rushed to contain a new, heavily mutated coronavirus strain yesterday, with Israel slamming its borders shut to foreign nationals and Australia reporting its first cases of the variant. The variant now known as Omicron has cast doubt on global efforts to fight the pandemic because of fears it is highly infectious, forcing countries to reimpose measures many had hoped were a thing of the past. Scientists are racing to determine the threat posed by the strain, particularly whether it can evade existing vaccines. Several countries have also announced plans to restrict travel from southern Africa, where it was first detected, including key travel hub Qatar, the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Netherlands. The strictest is Israel, which said it would close its borders to all foreigners.…