Table of contents for 2022-01-10 in Mercury

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za Former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede’s name appears on lists circulating among ANC members suggesting her for the party’s provincial treasurer post. This comes ahead of the party’s provincial conference which is expected to be held later this year. Gumede’s supporters said they were aware of the lists, but they were focused on the ANC’s eThekwini regional conference where they aimed to have Gumede elected as regional chairperson. The regional conference is set for the end of the month and current eThekwini Speaker Thabani Nyawose is also expected to contest the top position. Gumede is seen to be part of the Radical Economic Transformation faction, aligned with former president Jacob Zuma, and Nyawose is linked with the Renew, Rebuild, Unite faction aligned to party president Cyril Ramaphosa. On…

HERE are things that I think South Africans will find oddly amusing and sad about life in the US: At any time of the day or night there can be 25 cars lined up at the Starbucks drive-thru (note the spelling) for a $5 (R77.96) cup of coffee. The typical wait may be anything from 10 to 20 minutes as drivers edge to the window, place their orders, pay, and pick up their coffee. Some people order much more than coffee and it may include baked goods as snacks or even a full lunch. The larger the order, the longer the wait and the longer the queue of cars becomes. This can often result in shorter tempers of those in the waiting lines. Parking and walking into the coffee shop…

GABI MARAIS | Gillitts ONCE again the fountain of knowledge in eThekwini sprouts so-called facts (The Mercury, January 7). According to Dr Robert Malone himself, he developed the mRNA vaccine (on which other vaccines, including the Covid-19 ones, are based), and this was when he was a young man of 28 or so. He never received the credit he thought he justly deserved. So why is it that on the one hand he claims credit for something and on the other hand totally negates it? He has also had various accounts suspended due to his stance on certain issues. Another question: why is it that Mr Du Bois always lauds American scientists, especially those not in the mainstream, and at the same time forgets that there are other…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg THE first of the three-parts of Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s report following the judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector, including organs of state – and more commonly known as the “Zondo Commission” – could hardly be more damning, and is a national disgrace. The State Capture Commission, an expensive and time-consuming examination, has delivered incriminatory findings into all of that which occurred under the management of the government led by the ANC. Such gross maladministration of state-owned entities is unacceptable as it directly affects the working class and the economy the most. The Companies Act clearly states that directors can be held personally liable for any losses or debts sustained by a company,…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za The National Consumer Commission (NCC) says its probe into the deaths of children, allegedly after eating noodles, is yet to be completed. The commission was commenting after a statement was released last week by company Grandisync CC, the manufacturer of Howe noodles, which said its product had been cleared. In December, the NCC said it had launched an investigation into the conduct of Grandisync CC. At the time, acting national consumer commissioner Thezi Mabuza said: “Based on the information provided to the commission by other regulators and the supplier, the NCC has reasonable suspicion to believe that Grandisync CC supplied unsafe goods or goods that posed a potential risk to the public.” The probe followed the deaths of three children who died allegedly after consuming noodles.…

A 45-year-old taxi owner was murdered in front of his family in Verulam on Saturday. Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the man was at home with his family when gunmen arrived. “The victim was with his children’s mother when two unknown men came and one shot him. He sustained three gunshot wounds to his head and one in the stomach.” A witness said the deceased had one taxi operating at KwaNdengezi and another at Inanda, she said. “There were four suspects but only two went inside; one remained in the white BMW 320i with a GP registration and the other was on the other side of the house.” Reaction Unit SA spokesperson Prem Balram said its officers were called out to the housing complex. “The deceased was in…

The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has left South Africans and the world completely empty and hopeless. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the driving forces in South Africa to end the policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by the white minority government from 1948 until the dawn of democracy in 1994. Tutu’s civil and human rights work was saluted around the world and his fearless stance against apartheid made him a unifying symbol for a rainbow nation. I want to urge every South African to follow in the footsteps of this great icon by always engaging in non-violent endeavours to defuse all kinds of conflicts, especially land disputes in large parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo which have prompted Minister Thoko Didiza to set up…

THE ANC’s political events this past week in the province of Limpopo, and last year's bruising local government elections, tensions and alleged political related killings, have shown to all that we are in for more possible blood letting this year. Equally the events proved that campaigning for one of the most anticipated political events of the year, the 55th national elective conference of the ANC, has begun. The two main factions vying for power kicked off their campaigns to get their slates elected in December. The Cyril Ramaphosa faction within the governing party has already thrown the first punch, earnestly launching his campaign to get him re-elected for a second term as party president. The chairperson of the ANC in Limpopo, Stanley Mathabatha, was clear that Ramaphosa's home province wants…

POPE Francis called yesterday for dialogue and justice to put an end to violent unrest in Kazakhstan, adding he was saddened by news about deaths in the country. “I have learned with sorrow that there have been victims during the protests that have broken out in recent days in Kazakhstan,” the pope told hundreds of people in St Peter’s Square for his noon blessing and address. “I pray for them and for their families, and I hope that social harmony will be restored as soon as possible through the search for dialogue, justice and the common good,” the pope said. Kazakhstan authorities said they had stabilised the situation across the country after the deadliest outbreak of violence in 30 years of independence, and troops from a Russian-led military alliance were…

Liam Karabo Joyce liam.joyce@inl.co.za Media personality Dineo Ranaka has responded to accusations that she exploited a make-up artist. Felicia Zwane alleged that Ranaka tried to backtrack on paying her what she was due for promoting the star’s make-up brand, LuvDR in December. Zwane said she was contacted by Ranaka’s team to work at a LuvDR pop-up shop and that her rates were discussed via text. She claimed that after the work was done, both Dineo and her team members went silent and she struggled to get paid. Text messages between the two were then released in which Dineo said her office was researching what the daily rates for make-up artists were. Ranaka alleged in a statement to TshisaLIVE that Zwane tried to “extort” from her an amount that was “way…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE PLAN TO build the tallest building in the southern hemisphere in Durban has stalled, as negotiations continue between eThekwini Municipality and the Durban Country Club (DCC) over the earmarked site. Details of the plan first came to light in 2016 when it was presented at a municipal economic development and planning committee meeting. At the time, The Mercury reported that the proposed location for the tower was the DCC site and the premises of the Natal Mounted Rifles. The city said at the time that it had received a proposal from the Durban Tower Development Company to build a R6 billion, 88-storey skyscraper near the Moses Mabhida Stadium, which would become the highest building in the southern hemisphere. At a council meeting last month, city…

Rafieka Williams rafieka.williams@inl.co.za IT COULD take up to five years to complete repairs to Parliament after a devastating fire last week gutted the Old Assembly and the National Assembly. That is according to Ben Maswinga, the South African National Heritage Resource Agency’s (Sahra) manager of the built environment unit. “Parliament is both a national key point as well as a national heritage site; it’s very early to tell, but the estimated figure at this point is over a billion rand (to repair). “It’s going to need a great deal of resources to fix this in terms of expertise, such as material analysis and restoration architects, heritage architects and engineers. It will be a monumental task,” Mwasinga said. And even if the investigation into the fire is completed, work to repair…

FIE! Infamy! Are we victims of fake news? Is there or is there not a 15-year-old cricketing prodigy in the Free State who bowls thunderbolt deliveries at 160km/h? The info was all over the internet. It was copied to me by several reliable sources. Fifteen-year-old Dreyer du Toit, of Kroonstad, the report said, had also taken nine wickets against KZN Country Districts. He was robbed of the 10th and final wicket because that batsman had retired hurt, having taken in the ribs a 160km/h thunderbolt from Du Toit. This column conveyed the glad news to readers. But now there’s suspicion that it might all be what we in the trade of wordsmithery describe as a heap of horse manure. Nobody I know among the cricketers of yesteryear can find any…

ASAD GAFFAR | Westville WITH the ongoing service-delivery issues experienced by the residents of eThekwini, the community in Westville has decided to form a ratepayers’ association. This is not new and Westville did have a ratepayers’ association in the past, but it fell away. The newly established committee aims to engage with the metro regarding the non-delivery of services, and with regard to the pending rates increases. The committee will also be engaging with the provincial departments, as there also seems to be a total breakdown there as well. The inaugural meeting is scheduled for Saturday, January 15, at 3pm. The meeting will be virtual.…

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team has successfully deployed its 6.4-metre gold-coated primary mirror, completing the final stage of all major spacecraft deployments to prepare for science operations in deeper space. A joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency, the Webb mission will explore every phase of cosmic history – from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. “Nasa achieved another engineering milestone decades in the making. While the journey is not complete, I join the Webb team in breathing a little easier and imagining the future breakthroughs bound to inspire the world,” said Nasa administrator Bill Nelson. “The James Webb Space Telescope is an unprecedented mission that is on the precipice of seeing the light from the…

Crime involving cryptocurrencies hit an all-time high of $14 billion last year, blockchain researcher Chainalysis has said, a record that comes as regulators call for more powers over the fast-growing sector. Crypto received by digital wallet addresses linked to illicit activity including scams, darknet markets and ransomware jumped 80% from a year earlier, Chainalysis said. The activity represented just 0.15% of total crypto transaction volumes, its lowest ever. Overall volumes soared to $15.8 trillion in 2021, up over five-fold from a year earlier, Chainalysis said. Digital assets, from bitcoin to non-fungible tokens, exploded in popularity in 2021 amid an embrace from institutional investors and major companies. Newcomers have been drawn to the promise of quick gains touted by crypto backers, and hopes that bitcoin offers a hedge against soaring inflation.…

| Reuters Japanese customers will have to settle for a small serving of McDonald’s fries for the next month or so after the fast-food chain said it was limiting portions due to shipping problems. McDonald’s Holdings Company Japan said on Friday that the impact of flood damage on the port of Vancouver and other disruptions since last year would delay an expected shipment of potatoes from North America. Global shipping operations continue to be severely affected by a mix of factors, including Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, extreme weather and a rapid recovery in demand. As a result, McDonald’s said that from yesterday it would sell only small-sized fries for about a month “to make sure we have plenty of inventory and our customers can enjoy McDonald’s fries without interruption”. The…

MOP-UP operations will take several days in the flood-affected Buffalo City Municipality in the Eastern Cape, following severe weather conditions at the weekend that claimed the lives of five people and displaced hundreds. Duncan Village and Mdantsane experienced adverse weather conditions on Saturday, including flash floods that ripped through rural villages. In a preliminary report released yesterday, Buffalo Municipality spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya confirmed that five people, one of whom was a member of a SAPS search-and-rescue team, drowned. An 18-year-old woman drowned at the Mdantsane NU 3 Gomora informal settlement, while four people drowned at Horseshoe Valley in Nahoon River. About 51 structures were destroyed in Mdantsane. Humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers said it had arrived in the province to help the affected communities. Organisation spokesperson Ali Sablay said…

The visit by leaders is continuation of an old tradition at the beginning of a year CHINESE Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid official visits to Eritrea, Kenya and Comoros from January 4 to 7, continuing Chinese foreign ministers' tradition of visiting Africa at the beginning of a year. In 2021, Wang visited Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Botswana and Seychelles from January 4 to 9. The visit to African countries at the start of the year is a tradition that dates back to January 1991 and is aimed at cementing ties between African countries and China. Wang’s trip is a striking example of a relationship built through consistency. This kind of constancy counts in Africa and China is well aware of its worth. The Beijing-based consultancy Development…

Geneva: Russia yesterday ruled out any concession at talks with the US on soaring tensions over Ukraine as Moscow seeks a wide-ranging new security arrangement with the West but faces strong pressure to pull back troops. Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian news agencies ahead of his talks in Geneva that the Kremlin was also “disappointed” with signals coming from both Washington and Brussels, where Nato and the EU are based. The high-level discussions start a week of diplomacy in which Russia will meet with Nato and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), with the US trying to assure European allies they will not be sidelined. Russia since late last year has amassed tens of thousands of troops at the Ukrainian border and demanded guarantees…

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth led the tributes to the Duchess of Cambridge on her 40th birthday yesterday. The royal celebrated her milestone birthday with a message shared on the Royal Family’s Twitter account from the Queen. It read: “Wishing The Duchess of Cambridge a very happy 40th birthday today!” Catherine’s father-in-law Prince Charles and his wife Duchess Camilla also posted a selection of pictures on their Twitter account and wrote: “Wishing The Duchess of Cambridge a very happy 40th birthday today!”…

Curators combing through a vast historic archive of Freemasonry in Europe amassed by the Nazis in their wartime anti-Masonic purge say they believe still more secrets will be unearthed. From insight into women’s Masonic lodges to the musical scores used in closed ceremonies, the trove – housed in an old university library in the city of Poznan ,western Poland – has already shed light on a little known history. But more work remains to be done to fully examine all the 80 000 items that date from the 17th century to the pre-World War II period. “It’s one of the biggest Masonic archives in Europe,” said curator Iuliana Grazynska. “It still holds mysteries,” she said of the collection curators began going through decades ago. Initially tolerated by the Nazis, Freemasons…

FRANKFURT: The EU plans to legislate in the coming months to require technology companies to do more to tackle child sexual abuse, beefing up current voluntary arrangements, a top official said. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag that internet service providers and social media firms had reported 22 million offences related to child sexual abuse in 2020, up from 17 million in 2019. But she said that was only a fraction of the real number. “I will propose legislation in the coming months that will require companies to detect, report and remove child sexual abuse,” Johansson said.…

CHANGSHA: A preliminary investigation into the medical and nursing institution fire that killed five in central China’s Hunan Province found that the fire was caused by improper electricity use, according to the local authorities. The accident occurred early at the weekend in Shigu District in the city of Hengyang. A total of 19 people were in the nursing institution on the third floor where the fire broke out. Five people were evacuated to safety; and 14 others sent to hospital for treatment. Among the 14, five died. Those directly responsible for the fire have been detained, with several officials removed from office.…

Gerry Cupido geraldine.cupido@inl.co.za Summertime and the living is easy. The question is, who has time to apply make-up, and melt foundation, instead of enjoying the sunshine? Whether your mascara is waterproof, or your setting spray promises to hold everything in place, who really has the will to wear make-up in the heat? Here are tips to enjoy a make-up free summer: • Healthy glowing skin is all one needs to feel confident enough to step out without make-up. This does mean taking extra care of your skin and following a good daily skin-care routine. A gentle face wash, cooling toner and a hydrating moisturiser is the holy trinity of skincare products. Moisturisers prevent and treat dry skin while also improving skin tone and texture. Opt for a moisturiser with…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za Concerns have been raised about the state of Durban’s beaches following the closure of six beaches on Friday due to high levels of the bacteria E coli. The eThekwini Municipality announced on Friday that six beaches along the Durban beachfront would be closed – South Beach, North Beach, Bay of Plenty Beach, Suncoast Beach, Country Club Beach and Umgeni beaches. eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the decision to close the beaches was informed by “unacceptable levels of E coli in the aforesaid beaches”. Mayisela said the level of bacteria had been compounded by the “unceasing vandalism of one of the city’s sewerage pump stations and abnormal heavy rains that are unceasingly washing waste from multitudes of informal settlements along the Umgeni River to the river”. He…

Dogs can distinguish between languages, researchers in Hungary found, after playing excerpts from the story The Little Prince in Spanish and Hungarian to a group of 18 canines and examining how their brains reacted. The study was led by Laura Cuaya at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, who moved to the city from Mexico with her dog Kun-kun. “I wondered whether Kun-kun noticed that people in Budapest spoke Hungarian. (In the research) we found for the first time that a non-human brain can distinguish (between) languages.” In their lives with humans, dogs pick up on the auditory patterns of the language they are exposed to, said Raul Hernandez-Perez, co-author of the study. During the experiment, the dogs had a brain scanner attached. All the dogs had heard only Hungarian or…

THANDO DLOMO | Morningside “SPARKS fly over eThekwini Municipality’s decision not to renew city electrical contracts” (The Mercury, January 6), cannot go without a response. The eThekwini Electricity Unit of the eThekwini Municipality is in a state of utter shambles, disarray and is deteriorating to a point of no return. Just how did the eThekwini Electricity get to this? Let’s look at it from a leadership perspective. Within a mere five years, the change of leadership in the form of the appointment of the head, Maxwell Mthembu, and of the customer services deputy head, Phumzile Sibisi, has proven disastrous. Mthembu left the Msunduzi Municipality in 2011 to join eThekwini. It took him in the region of five years to assume office as the head of the unit, while…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff MUSHTAK Parker’s reflections on the disarray within the ANC (The Mercury, January 7) overlook the fact that the downwards spiral of the ANC – to which it has also condemned South Africa – is a historically determined destiny. There is a total disconnect between what the 1912 founders of the ANC proclaimed, and what the ANC has become. The moderate, middle-class values of the ANC’s founders were long ago supplanted by the Marxist tenets of the Freedom Charter, and the totalitarian goals of its National Democratic Revolution. The words of Oxford historian RW Johnson, published in 2015, now more than ever, resonate relevance: “South Africa can either choose to have an ANC government or it can have a modern industrial economy. It cannot…

Actor Sidney Poitier’s family has described the Hollywood giant as a leader and a devoted artist, but also as a dedicated family man. The actor, who became the first black person to win the Oscar for lead actor with 1963’s Lilies of the Field, died at his home in Los Angeles on January 6 at the age of 94. Poitier was Hollywood’s first major black box office star, constantly blazing trails with film roles such as Dr John Wade Prentice in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Mark Thackeray in To Sir, With Love, as well as with his activism at the height of the civil rights era. His family reflected on his legacy of art and compassion after his death. “There are no words to convey the deep…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za The man accused of smashing the Constitutional Court’s glass doors and windows could face a charge of sabotage similar to that facing Zandile Christmas Mafe, who has been accused of setting Parliament on fire. Paul Makaula made a brief appearance in the Hillbrow Magistrate’s Court on Friday charged with malicious damage to property after he allegedly smashed the doors and windows of the Constitutional Court’s building with a hammer last week. The damages are estimated to be more than R50 000. He allegedly ignored police officers’ warnings who had to fire a shot to stop him from continuing his attack. In court, State Senior advocate Riana Williams said the State intended bringing more criminal charges against Makaula, but she didn’t reveal the content of the charges. It…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za ELECTRICITY contractors who had been employed under the eThekwini Municipality, whose contracts expired last month, will know their fate before the end of this week. The contractors met city officials on Friday. The city officials asked to be given until the end of this week to sort out the issue that led the contractors to protest last week. The contractors protested against the timing of and manner in which their contracts with the municipality had been allowed to expire. They said it had been inhumane to be told on Christmas Eve that their contracts would not be renewed. “We met the city officials and we were informed that no contracts were going to be extended and new contracts were going to be issued,” said Monwabisi Bandile Sibiya…

Nomonde Zondi and Reuters KWAZULU-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said the department is planning to engage with more residents as it accelerates the Operation Siyagoma Waya Waya Covid-19 vaccination campaign. The department had noted that speaking to people directly about the vaccine was extremely effective in dealing with any concerns they had, she said. “When you engage with them, some raise different concerns about the vaccine, and we’ve had to explain those. “Once people get proper information, they become less hesitant and start responding positively, which is what we’re seeing,” she said. She added that they would continue to engage with residents throughout the province this year, together with the premier and the provincial executive council. The public should not take heed of prevalent fake news about the vaccine and…

Thembile Ndabeni SOUTH African society in general, must be vigilant on matters of national concern. There are a lot of jackals in wolves’ skin. There are people who portray their parties as clean and immune from corruption. Imperfect as it is, in Google you can just put in search words and then it gives you what you are looking for. But not everyone can access Google or use it. Therefore, as much as we must move with paper and technology, let us be sensitive about leaving our people behind. Commissions should not just be seen as an activity expected to benefit certain people or do a job that can be done by anyone. One understands when a certain national group becomes caught up when a commission is established. There were…

Nigeria said yesterday that gunmen killed at least 200 people and displaced thousands more in multiple raids in the northwest over the past week, dealing a heavy blow to authorities struggling to restore order. Herders and farmers in Africa’s most populous country have clashed over access to land in northwest and central Nigeria for years, but some groups have evolved into criminal gangs known as “bandits” who kill, loot and kidnap. The minister of humanitarian affairs Sadiya Umar Farouq called the past week’s attacks in Zamfara state “horrific and tragic”. “Over 200 persons were buried … due to the invasion by bandits,” she said. More that 10 000 people were displaced when “their homes were razed by bandits with scores still missing”. Four witnesses said gunmen rampaged through Anka and…

ZURICH: Former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who quit his post last year after corruption allegations against him, has been appointed co-chairperson of the European Council on Tolerance and Recon- ciliation (ECTR), the non-govern- mental organisation said yesterday. The ECTR describes itself as a group of former leaders and other decision-makers committed to fighting extremism, racism, antisemitism and xenophobia. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is the chairperson. Kurz’s appointment could prove controversial, especially after he reached a coalition deal with the anti-immigration Freedom Party in 2017, paving the way for Austria to become the only western European country with a far-right party in government. In office he opposed Austria accepting asylum seekers from a destroyed refugee camp in Greece or taking in any more people fleeing Afghanistan after the Taliban…

Egyptian authorities have freed Egyptian-Palestinian rights activist Ramy Shaath from more than 900 days of detention after forcing him to renounce his Egyptian nationality, his family said in a statement on Saturday. The statement said Shaath, who was a member of several secular politi- cal groups in Egypt and a co-founder of Egypt’s pro-Palestinian BDS movement, was released on the evening of January 6 and handed to a representative of the Palestinian Authority in Cairo before being flown to Jordan. Shaath flew from Jordan to France on Saturday. Shaath’s French wife Celine Lebrun Shaath, who was deported from Egypt following his arrest, had lobbied the French government to pressure Egypt to release him. Later on Saturday, Ramy Kamel, a prominent Coptic Christian activist detained in Egypt since November 2019 on…

Santo Domingo: Rodolphe Jaar, a Haitian businessperson and convicted drug trafficker, was arrested in the Dominican Republic on suspicion that he played a key role in the Haitian president’s assassination, media said. Jaar was captured in Santo Domingo on Friday, six months after a hit squad stormed Jovenel Moise’s residence in a Port-au-Prince suburb, killing the president and wounding his wife, the Miami Herald reported. His arrest was confirmed by Haitian and Dominican officials with knowledge of the matter. Sources told the paper that Jaar had spent months in hiding after crossing into the Dominican Republic from Haiti.…