Table of contents for 2022-08-08 in Mercury

LUXE Holdings was suspended on Friday because it had failed to report its financial results on time due to it uncovering a number of accounting errors in its previous years’ financial results, a statement said Friday. The JSE pointed out on July 1 that Luxe had failed to submit its annual report within the four-month period following its year-end, as stipulated in listing requirements, and it was under threat of suspension and possible removal of the listing. If Luxe failed to submit its results by July 31, 2022, then its listing might be suspended. The results were not received and the JSE suspended the share. Luxe said there were corrections from a number of transactions that were not accounted for in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in prior…

THE acting eThekwini municipal manager, Musa Mbhele, has emerged as one of the front runners for the new city boss post, sources in the municipality have revealed. The process to appoint the city manager is approaching finality, with the names of three seasoned officials having been put forward to the council by the interview panel. The Mercury has been reliably informed that current acting city manager Mbhele, former municipal boss Sbu Sithole and Musa Gumede could be presented to the council as possible candidates for the position by the end of the month. The interviews were held on Thursday and Friday last week. There were more than 140 candidates for the position, and about 17 of these were short-listed and interviewed. Three names will be forwarded to the executive committee,…

THE Brits are being blitzed on TV by the Sunak-Truss cage-fight – a seemingly endless debate between the two candidates for leadership of the Tory party and a spot at No 10 as prime minister. But what is this? Boris Johnson – the man stepping down – leading a busking group at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival up in Bonnie Scotland? Has the blond barnstormer found a new career already? But of course, it’s a send-up, a lookalike. A new play, Boris the Third, is based on the story of King Richard III. The Telegraph describes it as “a droll, commercially canny hour-long show about that newly deposed king of busking politicos”. For The Guardian it’s “the tale of a leader’s ruthless ambition, cynical skulduggery and brash mendacity as his country…

I WRITE in support of the outstanding work of Duncan du Bois in ventilating the critical issues of our time, in particular regarding Covid/vax and developments in the US. If anyone doubts the accuracy of his research I recommend that they read Robert F Kennedy’s best-selling book, The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health and Kennedy’s latest book A Letter to Liberals. Also recommended is the New York Times best-seller A Republic under assault – The Left’s ongoing attack on American freedom by Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch. As a history researcher, Du Bois has had several peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals as well as books on history and politics which can be viewed on his website www.duncandubois.co.za…

OH WHAT a glorious past season it has been with Liverpool Football Club – 63 games, four defeats and two trophies with millions of pounds and euros pouring in. We got approximately £89.2m for losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid, dribbled in about £3.4m for annexing the FA Cup and amassed a whopping plus or minus £160.9m for playing second fiddle to Manchester City in the EPL which included domestic and international television rights, royalties and other commercial revenue. The one man who has been instrumental in Liverpool’s success is indubitably, the German footballing pasha, Jurgen Klopp. He has been an integral fabric in Liverpool’s tapestry of genius, weaving together a winning formula. While the moolah rolled in, his fiscal legerdemain came to the fore as he masterly…

THE scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) continued to rise despite the fact that South Africa has some of the most sophisticated laws against discrimination and violence in the world. This was said by President of the Supreme Court of Appeal and deputy Chief Justice Designate, Mandisa Maya, who was one of the speakers at the 16th conference and annual general meeting of the South Africa Chapter: International Assembly of Women Judges (SAC-IAWJ) at Unisa’s Muckleneuk campus. The three-day conference was hosted by SAC-IAWJ in collaboration with Unisa and the Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities. The conference was themed “Empowerment as a Tool to Fight Gender-Based Violence #Breaking Barriers and Bias” and attended by jurists and academics, who participated in the various discussions. Speaking on Saturday, Justice…

The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) says a man was arrested for submitting a fraudulent medical certificate to his employer. “The HPCSA Inspectorate Office conducted a joint operation with the Ekurhuleni East crime intelligence unit and the Germiston Flying Squad where the man was arrested for submitting a fraudulent medical certificate to his employer,” said HPCSA spokesperson Christopher Tsatsawane. “During the operation, the man was found having purchased a fraudulent medical certificate under the name of Dr IK Mukhere. During investigation, the man indicated his willingness to accompany the operation team to Tembisa to point out the individual from whom he purchased the medical certificate,” he said. However, Tsatsawane said upon arrival in Tembisa, the man failed to co-operate further. “He was arrested and taken into custody at the…

TWO cases against the 19 accused instigators of the July 2021 violence were struck off the court roll and four others were withdrawn. Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola was responding to DA leader John Steenhuisen who asked about the current status of the prosecution of 19 accused instigators of the unrest that took place in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. In March 2022, Police Minister Bheki Cele named the list of 19 accused persons in a response to parliamentary questions, saying the SAPS had secured their attendance in court. In his written reply, Lamola said one case had been struck off the roll due to delays in the investigation and the other was struck off as the National Prosecuting Authority declined to prosecute. One case was provisionally withdrawn for further…

A truck, which was involved in a collision with a stationary minibus taxi, was looted by local residents while paramedics treated the injured on the N3 near the Tugela Plaza outside Ladysmith at the weekend. Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said police officers from the Ladysmith SAPS attended to the accident on Saturday morning. Gwala said it was alleged that a truck crashed into the back of a stationary minibus. She said 21 people were injured in the accident, two of them seriously. “The truck was looted of its load prior to police arrival. It was carrying tomato sauce,” said Gwala. ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said paramedics arrived on the scene just before 7.30am to find the provincial Emergency Medical Service already in attendance. “A large truck was found…

Students restricted to being mouthpieces of those outside their frames of reference A GRIEVOUS misnomer of our time characterises the university classroom. This is something one would not have expected, let alone allow for it to be sanctioned. We have managed to address the challenges associated with access to higher education. Given this, our classrooms are full of students, which is praiseworthy. We have managed to keep track of global developments in assisting the activities of teaching and learning. Our lecture halls bear testimony to work done in bringing state-of-the-art technology to aid our teaching and learning efforts. Yet, while we seem to be on the path of progress, an ominous challenge of our lack of intentionality looms. The result is a vacuum in the African classroom and presentation of…

Bells tolled in Hiroshima on Saturday as the city marked the 77th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing, with officials including the UN secretary general warning of a new arms race following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Humanity is playing with a loaded gun” as crises with the potential for nuclear disaster proliferate worldwide, UN head António Guterres said. Guterres warned of the risk posed by crises in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Korean peninsula as he described the horrors endured by the Japanese city. “Tens of thousands of people were killed in this city in the blink of an eye. Women, children and men were incinerated in a hellish fire,” he said. Survivors were “cursed with a radioactive legacy” of cancer and other health problems. “We must ask:…

Although his career as a football administrator is still in its infancy, Kaizer Chiefs sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jr is showing great foresight. On the eve of Saturday’s Chiefs versus Royal AM Premiership match at Chatsworth Stadium, Motaung appealed to Chiefs fans to be patient with new coach Arthur Zwane. As it turned it, Motaung’s appeal was most appropriate after Chiefs marked the start of Zwane’s tenure with a 1-0 defeat and an underwhelming performance. “We do ask the Khosi Nation to have a tremendous amount of patience with this team and they need the tremendous amount of support,” said Motaung during a radio interview. “Mangethe (Zwane’s clan name) needs our support, our prayers and of course our patience.” After Saturday’s game, fans vented their anger on social media and…

CIVIL society has continued to call for the South African government to impose severe sanctions on the disgraced global management consultancy Bain & Company. The British government last week blacklisted Bain & Company from doing business with the State for three years due to corrupt reports it produced for the South African Revenue Service (Sars) at the height of the State Capture years. This comes after the Zondo Commission into State Capture found that Bain was irregularly paid around R164 million as third-party consultants when Tom Moyane was appointed as Sars Commissioner. The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) on Friday called on South Africa’s government to follow in the footsteps of the UK government and ban Bain. HSF director Nicole Fritz said the UK government could only be applauded for…

A couple who fell into arrears on their home loan, and were about to lose everything, are breathing easier after a KwaZulu-Natal High Court judge ruled against Standard Bank, which was found to have made incorrect statements in its legal bid to repossess the house. The lender had claimed the couple was in arrears of R93 606 and was calling in their outstanding loan of R382 000 with a view to selling the property via a sheriff’s auction. However, the bank was found to have served a summons to a post office box owned by the couple, and not to the couple in person as was required by the courts, and in this, too, they fell foul of the judge. In a scathing judgment, Judge Jacqueline…

DUNCAN du Bois (The Mercury, August 1), in a sublimely tiresome attempt to prove shenanigans at the polls in the 2020 US elections, resorts to the tired and discredited rabbit hole theories involving Dominion voting machines, mules and censorship by the Big Tech companies. However, case after case of alleged examples of voting fraud brought before the courts by the aggrieved Trumpers have been dismissed. Finally, I am proffered Don Trump jr’s sage advice that “the difference between a conspiracy theory and the truth is about six months” and based on this, he tells me “time’s up”. The big problem there is that Don Trump jr wouldn't recognise the truth if he tripped over it in broad daylight. Du Bois continues his spinning of improbable yarns involving surplus geriatic voters…

DS Rajah’s references to the political rot manifesting itself in several countries (The Mercury, August 5) highlight the extent to which political parties and their adherents think they are insulated from the laws that apply to society and have contempt for the very essence of democracy – vox populi. As Rajah points out, the stench of that rot is very evident in South Africa and has “escalated, unchecked over time”. Sadly, however, it is a contagion that is rooted in the most established democracy, the US, in the form of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995. Most of the act applies to standard labour laws regarding employment rights and benefits. But it also provides a blanket of protection to conceal from the public the misdeeds for which congressional representatives should…

It is with intense sadness that I remember the early hours of the 10th of Muharram (Muharram the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar), one year ago, when my beloved son, Maseehullah, returned to his Creator. The death of a child is a loss like no other, but as Muslims, we patiently have to accept this tragic loss, surrendering to the will and decree of The Almighty. As a young father, I was enamoured by his growth and progress as I nurtured him through his formative years and different stages of his short life. Alas, what I did not prepare him for was how to negotiate himself out of a devastating confrontation with a reckless, negligent motorist. Attaining a measure of normalcy after his death is not easy; because…

An independent investigator has found no evidence of gender-based violence and sexual harassment when EFF MPs were removed from the house during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Budget Vote in June. The investigation team was instructed to probe the matter by National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula after EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu laid a complaint against the Parliamentary Protection Services (PPS), saying the party’s female MPs were sexually harassed. The investigation, led by advocate Elizabeth Baloyi-Mere, found that the removal of the disruptive MPs by the PPS was characterised by violence on both sides. The report found that Mapisa-Nqakula tried to comply with each and every rule before she made the call for members to be removed from the chamber. Baloyi-Mere recommended that the Speaker hold a meeting with all the Chief…

Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula will launch the Operation Valazonke pothole repair project with provincial MECs today. In a statement yesterday, the transport ministry said the minister would roll out the labour-intensive programme to address potholes on the country’s roads. It said an integrated, rigorous and comprehensive plan would be implemented to ensure that the overall condition index of the country’s roads was improved. The statement said the Department of Transport was supporting district municipalities with “Road Infrastructure Planning” through the Rural Road Asset Management Systems Grant. “The national Department of Transport has been hard at work intensifying interventions aimed at addressing challenges relating to road infrastructure with a comprehensive plan to address potholes across all spheres of government, with the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) leading the…

The Department of Basic Education has called on youth between the ages of 18 and 34 to register on sayouth.mobi website. The online recruitment system is being used by the government to promote youth employment and to bring down the unemployment rate. The department said the system is zero-rated and therefore does not require data. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was 63.9% for those aged 15-24 and 42.1% for those aged 25-34 years, while the current national rate stands at 34.5%. Department of Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said applications for phase four of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative open next month. Mhlanga said the pre-application window would be open from September 5 until October 16, which would…

EACH year, August serves as a month of national reflection on the challenges that women face in democratic South Africa by seeking ways to enhance their empowerment and capture their Constitution-given rights. Not surprisingly, the theme for Women’s Month 2022 is “Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights for an Equal Future.” President Cyril Ramaphosa in his keynote address marking National Women’s Day tomorrow in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal, may have another Groundhog Day, eulogising that “gender discrimination in any form is outlawed. We have laws to protect against gender-based violence,” as he did in his Freedom Day Speech in Mpumalanga in April. Only to spoil it in the same breath as he lamented that “despite all these achievements and progress, we are not yet where we want to be. Gender-based violence and other…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused China of “irresponsible steps” by halting key communication channels with Washington, and said its actions showed a move from prioritising peaceful resolution towards use of force. Blinken, who was in Manila on Saturday, also assured the Philippines that the US would come to its defence if it was attacked in the South China Sea. His comments came as China conducted military drills at the weekend around Taiwan, part of a raft of steps taken by Beijing after a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island last week. China’s retaliation in stopping bilateral processes on Friday in eight key areas including defence, narcotics, trans- national crime and climate change were moves that would punish the world, not just the US,…

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has advised that his calm approach to football comes naturally to him. Riveiro could be seen cutting a composed figure as his team opened their Premiership campaign with a 1-0 win over Soweto rivals Swallows FC at Orlando Stadium on Saturday. “It’s how I am as a person,” said Riveiro after the match. “I am not a different person when I am coaching or in my personal life. It can be difficult to communicate with players in an atmosphere such as this. “It won’t help the players to see a coach getting nervous during the game. The communication is fluid and we try to support the players, while also giving them solutions. “There is no point in shouting. I have my emotions and can be…

THE construction of houses for flood victims hangs in the balance after the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements said it was considering withdrawing its staff involved in the roll-out of temporary residential units (TRUs) due to safety concerns. This follows the murder of its employee, Mfanafuthi Cele, 57, in an alleged attempted hijacking in KwaMashu last week. Cele was part of a team tasked with updating flood victims about progress around their relocation from community halls. The department said it was concerned about the trauma that its staff was experiencing as a result of harassments and bullying by rogue elements in the province, especially in eThekwini. It said it was consulting with relevant authorities with a view to withdrawing staff involved in the roll-out of TRUs and the construction of…

ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Siboniso Duma says he is not fixated on being at the helm of the government as it has been demonstrated in the past that chairpersons do not become automatic choices for premiers. Today the ANC provincial leadership is set to announce its first woman premier candidate, with many people expecting Finance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube to emerge as the winner of the three-way contest that included members of the provincial legislature Amanda Bani and Mbali Frazer. Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, Duma said today’s announcement was a reflection of the governing party’s belief in women in leadership. “What you will see is the emergence of a woman with a track record of working as part of the collective. Delegates of the ANC were emphatic that they wanted…

Two invasive species, the American bullfrog and the brown tree snake, cost the world an estimated $16 billion between 1986 and 2020 by causing problems ranging from crop damage to power outages, according to a study recently published. The brown-and-green frog known as lithobates catesbeianus, which can weigh more than 1kg, had the greatest impact in Europe, according to research published in Scientific Reports. The brown tree snake, or boiga irregularis, has multiplied uncontrollably on Pacific islands including Guam and the Marianna Islands, where the species was introduced by US troops in World War II, said researcher Ismael Soto. The snakes have at times been so abundant that they caused power outages by crawling on electrical equipment, he said. This signals the need for investment in controlling global transport of…

The brutal murder of two schoolgirls in southern KwaZulu-Natal is a harsh reminder of the importance of protecting our women and children and how far we have to go as a society when it comes to fighting the scourge of violence against women and children. The DA is deeply saddened by this latest horrific event which comes as we enter Women’s Month. We sincerely hope that KZN’s law enforcement will do everything in their power to ensure that the murderer is brought to justice. We also urge KZN Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza to provide every possible support to the families of the deceased during this extremely difficult time and to ensure that both they and the pupils at the school the girls attended receive immediate psychosocial support. Our women…

As a single man, people often asked if I was nervous or scared when I left the hospital with the boys when they were newborns. I was not. They were moments of holy awe and are now indelible and treasured memories. We were on the edge, stepping off on a magnificent adventure. There were lots of questions. Did my babies’ sizes, vulnerability, fragility make me nervous? Did I feel like I’d break them when they are so tiny? Was I concerned that I would do the wrong thing, damage them, not know what they needed or what to do? Most staggering were the suggestions the baby would go hungry, and I wouldn’t know it. He’d starve while I blithely slept through an infant’s expressed longing for baby formula. People seemed…

Women who eat bananas, avocados and salmon could reduce the negative effects of salt in their diet, according to a study. The study, published in European Heart Journal, found that potassium-rich diets were associated with lower blood pressure, particularly in women with high salt intake. On the contrary, the researchers found no such association between potassium and blood pressure among men. “It is well known that high salt consumption is associated with elevated blood pressure and a raised risk of heart attacks and strokes,” said Professor Liffert Vogt of Amsterdam University Medical Centers in the Netherlands. “Health advice has focused on limiting salt intake but this is difficult to achieve when our diets include processed foods,” Vogt said. | IANS…

FORMER Cope deputy president Mbhazima Shilowa has sent a warning to retired Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, following a video announcing that the judge will be running for presidency in the 2024 general elections. In the video that trended on Twitter this weekend, Mogoeng is seen holding hands with his wife while one of two men who introduced themselves as church leaders announced that South Africans should prepare to enter “Canaan” in 2024. “Greetings to the nation of South Africa. Today is the 5th of August and we are in Mafikeng. We have long been in the wilderness and not reaching the promised land, but we want you all to know that in 2024 we will enter Canaan with our president, Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, under a party called All Africa Alliance…

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education owes municipalities across the province R468 million for services. This was revealed in replies to parliamentary questions by the DA. The replies showed that government departments owed different municipalities close to R800m for rates and services. It further revealed the Department of Education was the biggest culprit and owed many municipalities, including Mpofana (Mooi River) and Msunduzi, that are barely staying afloat. It owes about 20 municipalities. EThekwini Municipality, based on the replies, is owed more than R370m. EThekwini has in response to the outstanding debt implemented harsh measures to recover money owed including disconnecting schools and has warned that while it will engage with the department over the debt, it will not stop disconnecting schools if they failed to pay or made arrangements to…

WHILE the arrest of more than 120 people in Krugersdorp is a step in the right direction, the failure by the police to charge anyone for the rape of eight women is a serious miscarriage of justice. Just over a week after the shocking rapes of eight women at a mine dump in Krugersdorp, and on the back of a series of police raids of the area, more than 120 people have been arrested. They face several charges, ranging from contravening immigration and mining legislation to theft. While DNA tests and identity parades are under way in some cases, none of them have been charged for the rapes. The fact that some of those arrested include women and children shows that the police are on a fishing expedition for the…

Palestinian militants in Gaza fired rockets at Jerusalem yesterday, as Israel bombarded Islamic Jihad positions for a third day in violence that has left 29 dead and 253 others injured. Israel pressed on with its bombardment of Islamic Jihad militants who have retaliated with barrages of rockets. The Israeli army has said the entire “senior leadership of the military wing of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza has been neutralised”, and Prime Minister Yair Lapid vowed that “the operation will continue as long as necessary”. The Israeli military “is preparing for the aerial operation” and is “not currently holding ceasefire negotiations” with Islamic Jihad militants, an army spokesperson told AFP, confirming reports in Israeli media. Israel struck in Gaza and Palestinians fired rockets at Israeli cities at the weekend after an…