Table of contents for 2023-12-15 in Mercury

IT LOOKS like the ANC hasn’t been to school. If it did go, it would have learnt some good old English proverbs and idiomatic expressions such as “a stitch in time saves nine”, “prevention is better than cure” and “make hay while the sun shines”. Unless, of course, the masterminds in education considered them too old-fashioned and out of date and had thrown them out of the door. What a pity! For now we are seeing how these dunderheads in leadership positions are driving the country to the brink of collapse. They haven’t learnt some simple lessons in life. You don’t procrastinate and “never put off something till tomorrow when it can be done today.” It’s wiser to “nip it in the bud”. Take your home, for instance. A leaking…

WE OF THE thinly thatched fraternity are appalled by this BBC report of two American men being charged with killing bald eagles. The bald eagle is held in high esteem in the US. It’s the national bird and is depicted on the currency and the national seal. Why this esteem? Possibly it runs in parallel with respect for we human fellows of the thinly thatched brigade who do not waste our hormones growing hair. Simon Paul and Travis Branson are charged with killing bald eagles, golden eagles and other species – about 3 600 birds in all. They will appear in court next month. It is alleged that Paul and Branson shot the birds over several years and sold parts and feathers on the black market. They are charged…

Former intelligence police officer Thandolwethu Faku has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the mother of his daughter after shooting her in the head. The Western Cape High Court also sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment for an assault that occurred a year before the murder and three years imprisonment for attempting to defeat the administration of justice. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently and declared the former police officer unfit to possess a firearm. According to prosecutor Kepler Uys, Faku was off-duty when he decided to visit his ex-girlfriend Wendy Papu at her home at R106 Site B, Khayelitsha in January 2018. At the time Papu, her 8-year-old daughter from another relationship and the couple’s three-month-old daughter, were asleep. Uys said the couple, whose…

A MULTIBILLION-rand investment in wind energy by a Chinese firm is poised to avert power outages faced by companies in the Northern Cape and eventually South Africa, as its electricity crisis continues. Longyuan South Africa Renewables is behind the innovations and has to date invested R5.18 billion towards installation of wind energy solutions in the town of De Aar. This is already feeding thousands of megawatts into the national grid run by Eskom. Sheng Bin, Longyuan South Africa Renewables’ safety production and technology department manager, presented data pertaining to the De Aar project’s output. The project has been generating about 760 million kilowatt-hours annually, a figure averaged over the past six years. “I’m confident that this production rate can be sustained moving forward,” he said in an exclusive interview with…

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said yesterday that three municipalities had been placed under financial administration. The three were the Umzinyathi District, Uthukela District and Mpofana Municipality. Dube-Ncube said that the executive council resolved to intervene with the trio in terms of section 139(5). “All three municipalities have been under intervention over a number of years but the financial situation in these municipalities has deteriorated. This despite extensive support and recommendations made by the province.” Dube-Ncube added that the executive council confirmed that the municipalities met criteria for a mandatory financial intervention. “The municipalities posted negative audit outcomes, adopted unfunded budgets, showed creditors above the norm of 2% of their operating budgets and had defaulted on payments to major creditors. “The revised interventions grant the provincial executive greater authority to impose…

THE glimmering hope of “uniting against corruption” and collectively finding innovative ways “to collaborate better to improve implementation and impact” of anti-corruption measures was well established at the commemoration of 2023 International Anti-Corruption Day at Unisa on December 8. Deputy President Paul Mashatile delivered the keynote address and also signed the anti-corruption pledge, vowing never to take or pay bribes and to treat public resources respectfully. Observed annually in honour of the UN Convention Against Corruption, to which South Africa is a signatory, this year also marks the 20th anniversary of the convention. Since adopting the National Development Plan in 2012, it has been a maxim that South Africa is fighting three enemies: poverty, inequality and corruption. The horrifically destructive deepening poverty and widening inequality are an existential threat to…

Cold weather gripped large swathes of China yesterday, forcing closures on some parts of the highways surrounding its capital that are linked to other major hubs, as the weather proves unusually frigid for December. The cold snap is moving from several northern provinces hit by blizzards to central and southern areas such as the province of Guizhou, and pushing deep into the lower reaches of the Yangtze River delta. Sections of highways under Beijing’s traffic authority’s purview have been temporarily shut due to heavy snow. Forecasters said sharp falls in temperature are expected over the next two days, particularly in the south. The weather in Nanjing, the populous capital of Jiangsu province on the Yangtze’s southern banks near Shanghai, is expected to plunge to about 5°C from a mild 16…

The price of some medicines has risen almost tenfold in Nigeria in the past few months, forcing patients to cut their dosages or turn to traditional alternatives. Pharmaceutical industry officials say the plunge in the value of the naira after the removal of currency controls in June has sent prices of new stocks rocketing. British drug maker GSK is moving from GSK-controlled local operating companies in Nigeria to a third-party direct distribution model, which, industry officials say is adding to woes. Research firm Statista says only 3% of Nigerians have health insurance, meaning patients must find the money for medication themselves. Nigeria’s health ministry and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control did not respond to requests for comment. A GSK spokesperson said foreign currency shortages had affected…

Geneva: The EU has committed to resettling nearly 61 000 refugees in some of its member countries over the next two years, European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said yesterday. “We have, since 2015, resettled and through humanitarian admission programmes, given protection to 175 000 people in the European Union,” Johansson said on the margins of the UN Global Refugee Forum in Geneva. She did not say which 14 of the 27 EU member states would be taking in the refugees, and added that over the past three years, bloc members had granted protection to about one million people, which meant that the EU was hosting “20% of the world’s refugees”. | AFP…

KHARTOUM: Families in Sudan’s conflict zones could experience famine-like hunger by next summer, the UN has warned, while some in the war-ravaged capital are surviving on a single, meagre daily meal. Some 30 million people are in need of assistance in Sudan, according to the UN, double the number before fighting broke out between the army and Rapid Support Forces in mid-April. It said about 18 million people urgently need humanitarian food assistance. They are concentrated in the capital, Khartoum, where more than half face acute food insecurity, and the densely packed cities and towns that have seen fighting in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. | Reuters…

This year has been successful for South Africa where sports and creativity are concerned. The Springboks won the Rugby World Cup, shining the South African flag brightly in Europe. We also have South African designers who made giant strides and represented Mzansi well in Europe. They are: Floyd Avenue Apparel Originating from Soweto, Floyd Manotoana made his fashion debut as the SA Fashion Week Scouting Menswear competition winner in 2016. From there, he spread his wings even further, showcasing at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin, Germany. This year, he took his funk to Italy for the Milan Fashion Week and showcased under the White Show Milan. Inga Africa Founded by Inga Gubeka, Inga Africa is a South African luxury leather goods brand. Gubeka’s brand was formerly known as Inga…

ANC veteran Mavuso Msimang has retracted his resignation from the party after meeting with the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula. Msimang’s withdrawal of his resignation followed a meeting that was facilitated by the ANC Veterans’ League on Tuesday. He resigned last week, citing “endemic corruption, with devastating consequences on the governance of the country and the lives of poor people, of whom there continue to be so many.” Msimang had noted in his resignation letter the dramatic decline in the ANC’s popularity due to perceptions that its members and “deployees” were corrupt and that the deployment of unsuitable people accounted for the government’s deplorable levels of service to the public. Msimang, in his letter, said corruption had led businesses to fail and asked how it was allowed that raw sewage could…

Not just the Palestinians, Israelis and Americans but the entire world. Every country, state, nation, religion, mosque, church, synagogue and temple have collectively and individually lost the war in Palestine. Crocodile tears rolling down faces that show less real life than animated artificial intelligence dummies and less intelligence than lifeless Barbie dolls, repeated unhygienic handshakes between hypocritical heads of state, all for nought, have again proved, not too surprisingly, that it’s not such a great achievement to have been born a human. And it might not no longer be that painful to seek a peaceful bed underground. Sticks and stones might hurt, even permanently maim, but treachery will surely kill all of us. To have been betrayed by the greater core of pseudo-humanity in this prime example of the past…

What kind of person do you want to be? May this question help you plan your day. I confess, it’s constantly at the back of my mind during almost all my daily interactions. You’ve seen him demanding to see the boss, demanding his way and banging fists on the counter. He becomes aggressive and demanding when things don’t go his way. You can be that person if you want. It all depends on what kind of person you want to be. You’ve heard and seen her, raising her voice at a waiter in a fine restaurant because something wasn’t up to her standards. She plays dirty and attempts to humiliate helpers to land a free meal. You can be that way if you want. Everything depends on who you want…

The Female and Male Homicide and Injury Mortality Study (FAMHIS) funded by the SA Medical Research Council(MRC) found that men have far higher homicide rates than women in all age groups. Richard Matzopoulos from the MRC’s Burden of Disease Research Unit and his colleagues, published the study last month in the PLOS Global Public Health journal. The study titled: “South Africa’s male homicide epidemic hiding in plain sight: Exploring sex differences and patterns in homicide risk in a retrospective descriptive study of postmortem investigations”, highlights the high levels of homicide in South Africa, the disproportionate number of adult male murders, and the negligible evidence-based prevention response to date. The researchers compared 2017 male and female victim profiles for selected predictors against global average and previous estimates for 2009. Sixty-five mortuaries…

The killer of Bond University student Leigh Matthews, Donovan Moodley, has once again received a lifeline. The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg has ordered that he get another parole hearing, this time before a differently constituted parole board. Judge Stuart Wilson said Moodley had not had a fair parole hearing earlier this year, when he was refused parole. It had emerged that one of the parole board officers had fallen asleep for a significant portion of the hearing. The colonel’s phone had buzzed at least twice but that had not woken him, Moodley complained when he turned to court. He said that eventually, after what must have been at least several minutes, the officer, one Colonel Van Straten, had woken up only when another board member had tapped him on the…

THE poor and vulnerable, sick and needy face a bleak festive season as food banks in Gauteng run dry. Saying they had been forced to conduct an inspection at the stores in Pretoria and Ekurhuleni, the DA blamed the provincial government of a lack of care for those who depended on them for sustenance, and in particular the Department of Social Development, which is responsible for ensuring there is enough food for those who cannot afford to buy it. Established in 2020 – at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the food banks were meant to bridge the poverty gap and ensure that no one went to bed hungry, especially at the time when the country was in hard lock down and as people lost means to generate an economy.…

An agreement to “transition away” from fossil fuels may be a landmark moment, but don’t expect quick changes among the major producers of the Gulf, where the deal was hammered out. After the UN’s COP28 climate talks in Dubai, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman insisted the deal would have “no impact on exports” from the country that ships more oil than any other. The deal “doesn’t impose anything” on oil-producing countries and allows them to cut emissions “according to their means and their interests”, the minister said. It is not an “agreement on the immediate or progressive elimination of fossil fuels, but a process of transition”, he said The prince had earlier voiced staunch opposition to including a phasing-down of fossil fuels in the Dubai text, which…

Israel pounded the length of the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing families in their homes even as Washington dispatched an envoy to encourage its ally to be more precise in its war against Hamas militants. Two weeks after a truce collapsed, the war is now raging across the entire Palestinian enclave and a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding. In Rafah, jammed with people in makeshift tents on Gaza’s southern edge, people wept at a morgue where bodies of those killed in the latest overnight air strikes were wrapped in bloodied shrouds. Some were small children. The adjacent homes of the Abu Dhbaa and Ashour families had been obliterated by a massive air strike, and residents were picking forlornly through rubble. Gaza health authorities said 26 people had been killed there. Neighbour Fadel…

BRUSSELS: Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived at the EU summit yesterday determined to derail any attempt by fellow leaders to launch membership talks for Ukraine. Orban said that Ukraine did not yet meet the “merit-based” criteria to join the EU and that the issue should not even be discussed. Most EU leaders want to approve the start of formal membership talks, almost 22 months after Russia launched an all-out invasion. They also want to approve a 50-billion-euro ($54 billion) four-year financial aid package for Kyiv. But any decisions must be unanimous and Orban said that any aid would have to be enacted outside the EU budget. | AFP…

SYDNEY: An Australian woman was charged yesterday with stealing a parked truck stuffed with 10 000 Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Police said the unmarked delivery truck had stopped for fuel on the outskirts of Sydney when a 28-year-old woman allegedly hopped inside and made off with the freshly baked booty. Detectives followed a trail of crumbs to a suburban car park, where they found the abandoned vehicle more than a week later. The woman was arrested on Thursday, and police said her just desserts was to be charged with taking a truck without its owner’s consent. Police said the doughnuts were “destroyed”. | AFP…

THE increasing rate of theft of high value assets belonging to the eThekwini Municipality’s Electricity Unit has led to growing concerns that a syndicate is operating within the City, targeting the unit’s assets. Recently, street lights were recovered near the Mozambique border and this month, six workers from the unit were fired for the theft of electricity cables. The theft of the lights was largely seen at the time by senior officials as an inside job. They pointed out that the lights were new and had been in the stores for a short time before they were discovered at the border. The lights, said the officials, would have been removed by someone with knowledge of the unit’s store systems and policies. “It is not just the lights that were recovered…

The recent launch of the Multi Party Charter (MPC) by the DA and other small political parties has been presented as a promising strategy to defeat the ANC. However, it is just a temporary, Band-Aid solution to a much bigger problem that the DA needs to address. The DA has long been seen as a white-dominated party with vested interests. Its efforts to diversify its leadership and appeal to black voters have failed, as seen in the departure of prominent figures like Mmusi Maimane and Herman Mashaba. In addition, it had lost its conservative white voter base to the Freedom Front Plus. The party’s inability to appeal to a wider portion of the electorate has led to a lack of electoral success, and this has given birth to new experimental…

Earlier this year, the Newcastle Municipality announced the eradication of Eskom debt of more than R200 million – an incredible feat. However, within a short space of time, the debt has again risen, to more than R96m by the end of September 2023. This means that the Newcastle Municipality is not prioritising the service of the runaway debt. On the other hand, the municipality is also faced with an mountain of debt of R225m, as of September 2023, a historic debt owed to the uThukela Water Board. While there is progress in reducing the amount owed, the concern is that the two debts combined form a massive threat and hindrance towards service delivery in the municipality of Newcastle. The outstanding amounts have hampered the municipality’s ability to ensure road, sewer…

THE City of Cape Town says the latest round of coastal water sample results has shown that all eight of Cape Town’s Blue Flag beaches are compliant with Blue Flag water quality standards based on the independent analysis of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). This is based on an independent analysis of water samples taken over the past seven weeks, the latest being December 5 and 7, the City said. The Blue Flag beaches are Bikini Beach, Camps Bay, Clifton 4th Beach, Fish Hoek, Llandudno, Melkbosstrand, Muizenberg and Silwerstroom. Pilot Blue Flag status was also awarded to Mnandi, Strandfontein and Hout Bay. Blue Flag beaches are independently accredited by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa) based on water quality results from festive season water sampling…

Trade unions and economists have welcomed the National Minimum Wage Commission’s proposed wage increase of consumer price index (CPI) plus 3%. The CPI was 5.5% in November. The employment and labour minister will announce in February 2024 the new rate of adjustment, which will come into operation from March 1. Matthew Parks, acting national spokesperson for Cosatu, said that they welcomed the announcement by the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Commission of the proposed 2024 increase. “The federation has tabled this proposal to the NMW Commission and is pleased this progressive proposal has received its support. This increase will help protect the value of the NMW and workers’ ability to take care of their families from inflationary erosion.” Parks added that it will inject badly needed stimulus into the local economy,…

The Children’s Amusement Centre swimming pools at Durban’s beachfront, which have been closed for years, are expected to be reopened next week. eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said yesterday that all the pools along the beachfront area are going to be operational this festive season. He gave an update on the city’s state of readiness for the festive season in a media briefing. Kaunda was at the official reopening of the award-winning Whalebone Pier in uMhlanga yesterday. The pier was closed for three months for renovations. Kaunda said the pier is a tourist drawcard and remains one of the most photographed places in Durban. He said the main aim of this R3.2-million project was to extend the longevity of the concrete. “The reopening of this project further demonstrates Durban is ready…

After the heartbreaking Cricket World Cup semi-final defeat to Australia last month, is there still life in the Proteas One-Day International team? Well, we’ll find out on Sunday when they take on India in the first ODI of a three-match series at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Captain Temba Bavuma has been rested for the 50-over games ahead of the two five-day Test matches, the first of which starts on December 26 in Centurion before the famous New Year’s Test at Newlands, from January 3. Aiden Markram will take over the leadership role for the ODIs, like he did in the T20 International series that ended in Johannesburg yesterday. Markram will have a number of new faces in the squad, which can be viewed as a fresh start on the road…

THE caretaker Pakistan government’s cabinet has approved new changes in the rules and regulations formulated to facilitate the return of illegal Afghan nationals residing in the country, extending the deadline from December 31 to February 29 next year, along with a warning to impose hefty fines after the deadline ends. Caretaker Minister for Information Murtaza Solangi said “the fine after the due date would be imposed at the rate of $100 per month, with a maximum limit of $800”. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said at least 450 000 Afghan nationals had returned to their home country since Pakistan announced initiation of the deportation campaign in early October. “At least 90% of the total people who have returned to Afghanistan did so voluntarily,” a government official said. The extension of…

Vatican City: Pope Francis yesterday called for world leaders to adopt a global treaty on the use of artificial intelligence to ensure it is used in an ethical way. The pontiff, 86, made the appeal in a six-page message published ahead of the Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace on January 1. While welcoming advances in science and technology that have reduced human suffering, Francis highlighted the dangers of using AI, including in disinformation and interference in elections, and also to make decisions – from social security payments to where to target weapons – for which responsibility becomes blurred. “We risk falling into the spiral of a ‘technological dictatorship’,” he said. | AFP…

Hong Kong: Hong Kong police yesterday issued bounties of HK$1 million (about R2.4m) for each of five prominent activists currently living overseas, accusing them of national security crimes. All five are living abroad after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the financial hub in 2020 to quell dissent after massive, and at times violent, pro-democracy protests. Chief Superintendent Li Kwai-wah of Hong Kong’s National Security Department said that they “betrayed their country … and continue to endanger national security even when abroad”. Their charges include incitement to secession and subversion as well as foreign collusion. | AFP…

With holidays upon us and some awesome conditions, it is time to get out there and enjoy the sea. Top tip: snood length. Hook snood length can be a hotly contested topic. General consensus is that in the calmer water, when you need movement of your bait, lengthen the snood. The opposite is true when the sea is a bit rough or if the terrain is foul. These basic tips are true for edibles or inedibles. The summer fishing has been hot! The sand sharks have been one of the main targets, along with the bigger flatfish like the honeycomb or back-breaking thorntail. The North Coast has been blowing hot and cold with the varied conditions we are having. The north-east wind has not been cooling the water down as…