Table of contents for 2022-04-28 in Mercury

FORMER mayor and newly elected chairperson of the ANC’s eThekwini region Zandile Gumede is expected to remain in office despite the party’s highest decision-making body announcing that members who faced criminal charges would be barred from contesting leadership positions. Gumede is facing charges of fraud and corruption and will reappear in court later this year. On Tuesday the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) said “any member who had stepped aside voluntarily following an indictment to appear in a court of law on any charge should not be allowed to stand for a position”. “The NEC further noted that a number of members who have been indicted in a court of law, some on very serious charges, accepted nomination for such positions after stepping aside voluntarily, only to step aside again…

POLITICAL scandal in Old Blighty. Could this bring down the Tory Government? Could it consign Labour to the political dustbin? The Mail on Sunday newspaper quotes unnamed Tory MPs accusing Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner of deliberately crossing and uncrossing her legs as she sits in the opposition front bench of the House of Commons, to unnerve Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he speaks. It’s caused a furore among female MPs both sides of the House. Johnson himself has described it as “deplorable”. We trust he’s speaking about the newspaper report, not the quality of Angela Rayner’s legs. North Coast I’ve just completed a wonderfully relaxing few days on the North Coast, staying at Sheffield Beach – a delightful spot of rocky shoreline I’d not visited before – and revisiting…

Fundiswa Zanele Ndaba wants government to make farming “fashionable”, so that youth are attracted to it, thus creating jobs and maintaining food security (The Mercury, April 26). This sounds like another pie-in-the-sky idea from the Cyril Ramaphosa handbook of ludicrous State of the Nation Address promises. I am not a farmer but I know many farmers, and farming is not for the faint hearted. It involves lots of hard work and sacrifices, large financial risks, clever planning and years of skill and experience. Most youth today want a cushy life given on a plate, so farming is definitely not for them.…

History will mark April 25, 2022 as a day of monumental significance in the revival and survival of free speech when Elon Musk bought the big tech platform Twitter for $44 billion and became its sole owner. Musk, who has described himself as a “free speech absolutist”, regards free speech as “the bedrock of a functioning democracy” and intends to transform Twitter into “a genuine platform for free speech”. In a letter to the board of Twitter, Musk stated: “Twitter will neither thrive nor serve society in its current form.” For all who recognise diversity and value the free exchange of information and opinion Musk’s intentions should be applauded. After all, as John Milton stated centuries ago: “Who ever knew truth to be put to the worse in a free…

THE South African Council for Educators (Sace), which imposed lenient sanctions on two teachers who pleaded guilty for assaulting pupils in their classrooms, should reconsider the punishment meted out. This is according to Section27, which on behalf of the Centre for Child Law, turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, this week in an effort to protect pupils from further harm and ensure that the ban on corporal punishment was taken seriously. The organisation also asked the court to order Sace to revise its mandatory sanctions meted out to teachers in terms of its code of professional ethics guidelines which the organisation used when sanctioning educators for misbehaviour. The application was postponed by the court to a date to be determined. Judge Dawie Fourie postponed the matter on procedural grounds.…

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has instituted a Labour Court application to review a presiding officer’s decision to postpone the disciplinary hearing of senior managers implicated in the Beitbridge border fence procurement. This emerged after DA MP Samantha Graham wrote to Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille asking about the progress made in the disciplinary action against the officials implicated in the awarding of the border fence tender two years ago. In March 2020, De Lille issued a directive to the department to appoint a service provider to use an emergency procurement process to erect the fence on the Beitbridge border post after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced measures to curb the spread of Covid-19. However, an investigation found that the fence cost R40.4m – which…

Young South Africans between the ages of 18 and 30 are financially stressed and are finding it difficult to meet their financial obligations. This comes after a survey was conducted by research institution infoQuest, a leading South African online research company. “Three hundred randomly selected respondents from quotas representing the South African online young adult working population were interviewed,” said infoQuest. The study showed that when the respondents were interviewed to rate their current financial situation on a scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 means “terrible” and 10 means “excellent”), only 15% gave a 9 or 10 rating, while about 40% gave a rating of 5 or less). Managing director of infoQuest, Claire Heckrath, said that the higher the personal income bracket, the higher the financial satisfaction levels, but…

LEGISLATION that allows people who invade private land to remain there if they have been there for a stipulated time period should be reviewed. EThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda expressed frustration with this legislation during an executive committee meeting on Tuesday, saying individuals were abusing it to take over land not suitable for building. Kaunda was delivering his opening remarks during a virtual meeting. He said it was important that the country looked at this legislation to see whether it was assisting in the fight against land invasion, especially in light of the devastating floods in Durban. South Africa has strict laws to prevent random or illegal evictions. Private property owners who find themselves at the receiving end of such land grabs often have to call on the courts for help…

KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has dismissed allegations that bodies are piling up at the Phoenix mortuary, and accused the DA of playing on people’s emotions. This is after DA member of provincial legislature Dr Rishigen Viranna raised alarm bells on Monday, saying they were getting reports that bodies were piling up owing to overcrowding. He added that bereaved families were also allegedly being solicited for bribes by staff of up to R5 000 in order to have their loved one’s bodies processed sooner. “The DA is aware of numerous complaints during the past few days from various bereaved family members,” said the DA MPL. Responding to the claim on Tuesday, Simelane said while the department welcomed any criticism it was important that it is based on facts rather than…

Russia said yesterday it had destroyed a large quantity of Western-supplied weapons in Ukraine, while halting gas supplies to EU and Nato members Poland and Bulgaria in a move condemned by European capitals as attempted blackmail. With the conflict that has claimed thousands of lives entering its third month, Ukraine conceded Russian forces had pushed deeper into the country’s east and captured several villages, as Moscow intensifies its offensive to take control of Donbas. Three people died and 15 others were injured in bombings in and around the eastern city of Kharkiv. Russia’s defence ministry said its forces targeted the “large batch” of weapons and ammunition supplied by the US and European countries using long-range missile strikes on southeastern Ukraine. It said they hit hangars at an aluminium plant near…

Measles cases have surged by nearly 80% worldwide this year, the UN said yesterday, warning that the rise of the “canary in a coal mine” illness indicates that outbreaks of other diseases are likely on the way. The coronavirus pandemic has interrupted vaccination campaigns for non-Covid diseases around the world, creating a “perfect storm” that could put millions of children’s lives at risk, the UN’s children’s agency Unicef and the World Health Organization said in a statement. More than 17 300 measles cases were reported globally in January and February, compared to around 9 600 during those months last year, according to new data from the UN agencies. There have been 21 large and disruptive measles outbreaks in the last 12 months to April, most in Africa and the eastern…

Islamabad: The scion of Pakistan’s most influential political dynasty was appointed foreign minister yesterday, the latest step up a ladder likely to take Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to the top of the country’s leadership. Bhutto, 33, becomes one of the world’s youngest foreign ministers but inherits a diplomatic bag of issues that started well before he was born, including relations with arch-rival India. He was sworn in two weeks after he helped lead an alliance that toppled Imran Khan and saw Shehbaz Sharif become prime minister. He will accompany Sharif today to Saudi Arabia, a key trade partner for Pakistan and its struggling economy. Bhutto is the son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari. His grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the Pakistan…

London: Cereals giant Kellogg’s said yesterday it had launched a legal challenge against new rules that will limit the prominence of sugary foods in English shops as part of a new campaign against obesity. The government’s strategy only calculated the fat, salt and sugar content of cereals when eaten dry, not when taken with milk, the US company said. “Unless you take account of the nutritional elements added when cereal is eaten with milk, the full nutritional value of the meal is not measured,” said Kellogg’s UK managing director Chris Silcock. The new regulations, to take effect in England in October, also ban TV ads of unhealthy foods before 9pm. | AFP…

ALTVEST Capital, a company that will allow investment by the public in private equity assets from as low as R100, will initially list as a cash shell on the Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) on May 5 and plans to acquire investments four to six weeks after that. Its planned R50 million listing of 10 million shares was on Tuesday approved by the CTSE, a statement said. The company’s management said they had started the selection process for potential investment opportunities, and the pipeline included privately- owned companies in the fintech, offshore medical property investment, sports team, wine estate and in the agriculture sectors. “AltVest aims to list up to four opportunities in 2022 and, thereafter, ramp up to a listing opportunity per month. “The vision is to…

THE family of Phumzile Qatha, the eThekwini Municipality employee who was shot dead at the municipal depot in Ottawa on Saturday, say only the arrest and prosecution of her killer will give them closure. As the family prepares for her burial in Lubhacweni in Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape this weekend, there are still questions as to why she was killed. Qatha’s aunt, who would not give her name for fear of reprisals, said they were shocked that she had died in such a brutal manner. Qatha, 36, was in charge of managing disaster relief water tankers and allocating them to different areas under the municipality jurisdiction. The Mercury reported earlier this week that she was shot several times at close range even after she fell down by a…

Singer Ed Sheeran and more than 100 “national treasures” will join some 10 000 performers in a “People’s pageant” at the end of four days of celebrations in June to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the British throne. Elizabeth, 96, became the first sovereign in British history to reach seven decades as monarch in February, and to commemorate the milestone there will be celebrations spread across two public holidays and a weekend at the start of June. These festivities will include a Service of Thanksgiving, a live concert outside Buckingham Palace and a military parade. The culmination will be the Platinum Jubilee Pageant on June 5 which will see military bands, performers, dancers and well-known figures from sport, film, theatre and music trace a 3km route through central London…

Eid ul-Fitr is an important religious day celebrated by Muslims worldwide to mark the end of the blessed month of Ramadaan. The Eid holiday concludes a month of fasting wherein Muslims spent their time meditating, self-reflecting, praying, exercising discipline, and patience and begging the Almighty for forgiveness and mercy. While Eid is a time of social harmony and celebration, we cannot separate ourselves from the challenges of fellow human beings. Due to unemployment, war, imperialism, capitalism, greed and chauvinism there are many who have nothing to celebrate. The Eid date is based on lunar sightings and so it varies each year. This year Eid will be celebrated around Workers’ Day. In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, the contribution of the working class, especially the essential, frontline and everyday workers…

I refer to the letter of Jenny Durant in The Mercury dated April 25. Well said! I had occasion to go to Durban from Umtentweni and was astounded by the number of abandoned containers that had been left at the roadside after the floods. I also noticed on passing the container depots that there were containers that were jumbled in heaps like a Jenga game. This bears testimony to the fact that there is a glut of disused and damaged containers. I have personally seen a container converted to house a small family, with adequate space for a kitchenette, toilet and shower. It certainly would be a more robust and stable house than the shacks the indigent poor have to erect for shelter.…

A 100-YEAR-OLD old man from the Brazilian city of Brusque has entered the Guinness World Record book for working the longest in the same company: 84 years. Despite his extraordinary accomplishment, Walter Orthmann’s advice for those looking for a long and fulfilling professional life is surprisingly routine: do what you love and stay away from junk food. “You have to like to work. I started to work with that willingness and fighting spirit,” he said in a recent interview. “You can’t just do any job to say that you are working. That doesn’t work. You’re not going to be able to stand it.” According to local media, Orthmann started on the factory floor of a company now known as RenauxView, which produces fabrics. Soon after, he moved to administration, eventually…

The Limpopo High Court has sentenced three men to life imprisonment for the murder of a farmer. The National Prosecuting Authority said Zimbabweans Ugenius Saga, 31, Lloyd Mandumbu, 30, and Tatenda Ngwenya, 33, were sentenced for murder, robbery with aggravating circumstance, housebreaking with intent to rob, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition and common assault. They attacked Alwyn Petrus van Zyl and his wife on March 20, 2020, at Bad Se Loop farm in Waterberg, and were arrested that day. “The deceased (Alwyn Petrus van Zyl) was tied up with a rope and … items were taken.” The accused received life imprisonment for murder, 15 years each for robbery, five years each for housebreaking with intent to rob, one year each for assault, and Ngwenya 15 years for unlawful…

THE Msunduzi Municipality will remain under administration despite the resignation of the administrator Scelo Duma. Duma’s resignation stunned opposition party councillors who feared it could mean the municipality was preparing to come out of administration. The councillors said they were informed about the resignation during a council meeting on Tuesday. They said they were informed that he had resigned because the municipality was “ready to take its own decision”. But the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) said Duma’s resignation had no impact on the status of the municipality and that it would deploy a new administrator. The municipality has been under administration for several years, and the intervention has been renewed several times. It was placed under administration following its near collapse. DA councillor Ross Strachan said…

Kruger National Park field rangers Daniel Chikwa Maluleke, 60, and Solly Ubisi, 56, were remanded in custody by the Skukuza Magistrate’s Court when they appeared this week, charged with corruption, money laundering and fraud linked to wildlife trafficking. Hawks’ provincial spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, said the two were arrested on Saturday at Skukuza. “The suspects were arrested by the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation team assisted by the Skukuza stock theft and endangered species unit during Operation Blood Orange,” Sekgotodi said. “This follows an investigation which included their financial affairs. It is alleged the suspects provided tactical information to rhino poaching syndicates in exchange for large sums of money.” | Mercury Correspondent…

On April 21, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022, which addressed a major question of our times – what kind of security vision the world needs to adopt to achieve common security. With this initiative, China aims to contribute its wisdom and solutions for closing the peace deficit for humanity and tackling the challenges of international security. The Global Security Initiative advocates a security vision that provides the right guiding philosophy for maintaining world peace and security. The initiative emphasises the commitment to common, comprehensive, co-operative and sustainable security to jointly safeguard world peace and security. The initiative comes at a time when the world has not completely defeated Covid-19, and yet is…

A court in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to five years in jail yesterday after finding her guilty in the first of 11 corruption cases she faces, a source said. The Nobel laureate and figurehead of Myanmar’s opposition to military rule is charged with at least 18 offences carrying combined maximum jail terms of nearly 190 years, all but killing off any chance of a political comeback. The judge in the capital, Naypyitaw, handed down the verdict within moments of the court convening and gave no explanation, said the source, who declined to be identified because the trial is being held behind closed doors, with information restricted. Suu Kyi, who has attended all of her hearings, would appeal against the outcome, the source said. The 76-year-old…

An Italian doctor who made headlines for pioneering windpipe surgery went on trial in Sweden yesterday, charged with assault for performing the experimental procedure. Paolo Macchiarini, 63, won plaudits in 2011 after claiming to have performed the world’s first synthetic trachea transplants while a surgeon at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute. The procedure was hailed as a breakthrough in regenerative medicine. But allegations soon emerged that the risky procedure had been carried out on at least one individual who had not been critically ill at the time of the operation. Prosecutors listed the charges of “aggravated assault” against three patients. The Karolinska Institute has confirmed that the three individuals have since died. Macchiarini has denied being criminally responsible. In 2013, the Karolinska hospital suspended all transplants and refused to extend Macchiarini’s contract…

KARACHI: a woman suicide bomber who killed three Chinese teachers in Pakistan was a teacher who had enrolled for a master’s degree months before the attack, carried out on behalf of separatist insurgents, a Pakistani official said yesterday. The blast detonated by the mother of two, 30, on Tuesday blew up a van outside Karachi University’s Confucius Institute, killing her, the three teachers and a Pakistani driver. It was the first major attack this year against Chinese nationals working in Pakistan. The attack targeted China, whose investments in Balochistan are opposed by the group, the Baloch Liberation Army. China demanded that Pakistan punish the perpetrators. | Reuters…

The game of singles in lawn bowls involves different tactics to those applied when playing in a team. The bowler has to effectively play the roles of skip, lead, second and third and doesn’t have the advantage of a skip reading the head and telling them which shots to play. It requires tactical thinking along with skill to win. Tactics in singles requires that the bowler is constantly aware of the state and pace of the green, wind direction, and makes a careful analysis of their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. They must then use this when placing the mat and the jack, and when positioning their bowls to minimise their opponent’s strengths. In Sunday’s Port Natal Open singles finals, both 2022 champions demonstrated skill and tactical play to gain…

The world’s oldest person has died aged 119 years old. Kane Tanaka – who was born on January 2, 1903 – died at a hospital in Fukuoka city, Japan, on April 19, Japan’s state broadcaster confirmed. Local governor Seitaro Hattori said: “I was looking forward to seeing Kane-san on this year’s Respect for the Aged Day [a national holiday in September] and celebrating together with her favourite soda and chocolate. I am extremely saddened by the news.” Tanaka – who previously owned a noodle shop – had lived at a nursing home, where she had been partial to eating chocolate, consuming fizzy drinks, and playing board games, including Othello. Her family wrote in a tweet on April 13 that she had been “hospitalised and discharged repeatedly”. She turned 119 in…

OPPOSITION parties have demanded eThekwini Municipality foot the bill on behalf of homeowners whose properties were damaged by the recent floods, saying the city is partly to blame for the extensive damage and losses suffered by residents. The parties in the council want the municipality to explore providing assistance to private homeowners because the poor condition of its infrastructure meant it could be held liable for some of the damage. DA eThekwini caucus leader Nicole Graham said the city had publicly admitted its infrastructure was not what it should be, which then opened the door for the city to be held partly liable for the damage. She said while the city was not ordinarily liable for the damage to private property, the lines of blame in this instance had been…

Go-counter. Take yourself by surprise. Decide that situations that would usually “get your goat” will rather stimulate your growth. Begin your week with a bird’s-eye view of your life. See the whole rather than the challenging details. Have a plan. Planning and deciding what kind of person you will be is even more important than planning your weekly schedule of events. It is possible to decide how you will behave even under trying circumstances. It is possible to make an emotional blueprint for the week. Decide things such as: I will be forgiving. I will leave room for others to be as imperfect as I am. I will try not to over or under-react in trying circumstances. I will listen more than I speak. Tip well. Tipping is not about…

Do you know whenever I go shopping (which is every day) at a Durban mall, I have to return home, wash my feet, wipe the soles of my sandals and virtually change my clothes? Covid? No. I’m uncertain, but doubt if those creepy crawlies from China or Clairwood can kill that way. Go and examine the parking areas, especially on the ground floors, and squirm in agony as you step out of your car, uncertain what your shoes or sandals are stepping on. A leaking radiator? Aircon condensate from other vehicles? Dumped cold drink? Unlikely. Because it strangely smells like… yes... you guessed it! And if you happens to end up squeezing your i10, as small as it is, into a corner space with a wall alongside the driver’s side,…

The Mercury article on April 22 is just the tip of the iceberg and the Durban Solid Waste head Mr (Raymond) Rampersad must show leadership and not just defend non-performance. On Saturday, April 23, a DSW truck with a female driver was delivering black bin bags and had two passengers just sitting with the driver. Two employees sat at the back and one employee was throwing the bags into our yards. Clear wastage of resources while bags are always delivered over weekends, possibly for overtime purposes. EThekwini Municipality needs a change of political leadership to get the municipal employees working again. Having political deployees in administrative posts is severely retarding service delivery.…

Something that intrigues me tremendously is when black people post endless clips of “coconuts” praising the repressive era pre-1990. Many confuse nostalgia with history and some may need a reminder. The democratic gains post-1994 both economically and politically far outweigh the repression pre-1990, no matter “how good the times were”. Ask anyone who was sitting on Robben Island. Post-1994, weak systems and governance allowed cheapskate opportunists to “hijack” the situation to their advantage. Cliches such as RET and the construction mafias are classic examples. History has shown such entities, while bad for the country, have a very short shelf life and illicit gains may give great temporary comfort, but different challenges arise. However, of greater consequence is the number of civil protests, especially in the eThekwini region. From burning of…

The SANDF Navy has announced plans to name a new state-of-the-art warship after King Sekhukhune I, of the Bapedi nation, which is largely located in Limpopo. The announcement was made by representatives of the navy, who had made a courtesy visit to the Bapedi royal palace at Mabe Tjate III in Sekhukhune recently. They were received by the Queen Mother Manyaku Thulare. The launch of the warship is expected to take place in Durban in June. The navy’s chief director for maritime strategy, Rear Admiral David Maningi Mkhonto, said the reason for the visit to the royal house was to request permission to use the name of King Sekhukhune I. “This is an old tradition of the navy, and its an international standard to name our warships after our kings…

A man believed to be 40 years old was shot dead while seated in his vehicle on the M7 in the Rossburgh area, south of Durban, on Tuesday. A passenger was also injured, said Emer-G-Med Paramedics. Emer-G-Med spokesperson Kyle Van Reenen said paramedics responded to the shooting on the M7 at about 7pm on Tuesday. He said when paramedics arrived, they found a grey Volkswagen Polo peppered with bullet holes. “A male approximately 40 years of age was found seated in the driver’s seat, and found to have sustained multiple gunshot wounds,” he said. He said the driver was declared dead at the scene. “A passenger was found to have moderate injuries and was treated and stabilised before being taken to a nearby hospital,” said Van Reenen. This year alone,…

UNDER-FIRE Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso may have had a valid point in telling Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) MPs that the ANC’s failures contributed to the crisis that is Eskom today, but it does not stop there. She should have also conceded to the fact that the current board and executive assumed the responsibility of fixing Eskom when accepting their appointments, and they have dismally failed to do so. With the same vigour, Mavuso should have also found the courage to explain to South Africans that as a board and executive, the problems at Eskom are too much for them, and as such they are tendering their resignation letters. We have been hit by rolling blackouts, costing the ailing economy billions of rand, and all indications are that…

Since going public in 2013, Twitter has only occasionally turned a profit, even if it has a commanding role in politics and culture worldwide. The company’s announcement this week that it had reached a deal for Tesla boss Elon Musk to buy it outright raises the question of whether this will lead to a brighter financial future for Twitter? Musk has downplayed economic considerations as a motivation for his purchase, saying earlier this month: “This is not a way to make money. It’s just that my strong, intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilisation.” Listed on the New York Stock Exchange for just under nine years, Twitter has posted a net loss every year,…

Cergy-Pontoise: French President Emmanuel Macron was the target yesterday of a bunch of tomatoes hurled by a disgruntled onlooker as he made his first public appearance after his weekend re-election victory. Reflecting his promise of uniting a divided France following his defeat of far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Sunday, he chose for his first post-election visit the town of Cergy-Pointoise in Paris, a low-income area. Macron was meeting residents when a bunch of cherry tomatoes whizzed by close to his face, missing him but hitting bystanders. Macron appeared unflustered but keen to move on as rapidly as possible. “No! No! No fighting,” he said. | AFP…

NEW DELHI: India is getting too hot too early, raising the risk of fires, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned yesterday, as New Delhi sweltered in extreme heat and a burning landfill on the outskirts of the capital spewed toxic smoke. Firefighters were struggling to extinguish a blaze at the Bhalswa landfill site, a hillock rising above the edge of the city. Fumes from the burning waste forced a nearby school to close on Tuesday. Many of the pupils’ parents work as trash pickers at the site. The cause of the fire was under investigation, though such incidents are common during India’s scorching summers, when temperatures regularly surpass 40°C. | Reuters…