Table of contents for 2022-08-25 in Mercury

IMPALA Platinum (Implats) has agreed to support employment, small businesses and localisation if it manages to take over Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat). Implats announced yesterday that it had concluded a framework agreement with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition on public interest benefits that relates to its proposed acquisition of a majority shareholding in RBPlat. The Competition Tribunal is currently sussing out the deal. On November 29, 2021, Implats, a platinum group metals (PGM) producer, announced its general offer, in cash and shares, to acquire a majority shareholding in RBPlat. The offer comprises a cash amount of R90 and 0.30 ordinary shares in Implats. The terms of the deal are subject to Implats obtaining a controlling 50 percent+1 shareholding in RBPlat and relate to primarily employment, support…

LIMPOPO Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba is standing by her words that undocumented foreign nationals are “overburdening” Limpopo public health services and resources. In a video that has gone viral on social media, she is seen addressing a Zimbabwean patient at a government hospital in Bela-Bela, who was there for an elective surgery, according to the Limpopo Department of Health. The MEC is heard telling the patient that her country must take responsibility for her health issues, not South Africa. “When the National Treasury allocates its budget, they say Limpopo has 5.7 million people and they subtract 9% of the people who have medical aid and they give me the budget of 91% of people without medical aid to do operations … Instead of using the budget for what…

Dog owners know the pure joy of returning home from a long trip to be greeted by their tail-wagging, uncontrollably jumping, face-licking companion. But those ecstatic canines might be shedding more than just fur on your clothes – they might also be tearing-up, according to a new study published in the journal Current Biology. “We had never heard of the discovery that animals shed tears in joyful situations, such as reuniting with their owners,” said Takefumi Kikusui, one of authors of the study, which he called a possible “world first”. The scientists measured the amount of tears in the dogs’ eyes with the widely- used Schirmer test, which consists of placing a specialised strip under the eyelids. For a baseline reading, they performed the test on dogs during a normal…

JOHN Steenhuisen, the leader of the DA, recently referred to his ex-wife as “roadkill” and a “flat chicken”. Appearing on Podcast and Chill, hosted by MacGyver “MacG” Mukwevho, Steenhuisen, asked what he understood roadkill to be, replied: “It sounds like my ex-wife.” Adding insult to injury, this so-called leader compounded the denigration of his ex-wife by referring to her as a “flat chicken”. In a puerile attempt to palliate his inanity, his feeble response to his disgusting and deprecatory utterances was: “I fully understand that the joke may have been in bad taste to some.” Some? More than half of our population are women and does he really believe that only “some” would be offended? Then Steenhuisen goes on to state: “I think it is more telling that the South…

It’s Comrades week and Durban faces a water crisis. Thousands of upcountry visitors will descend on the city to support the runners in the world’s biggest and oldest ultramarathon. And how do we welcome all the thousands of tourists who will be rushing down to the beaches? With unsafe tap water and closed beaches – just two weeks after hundreds of dead fish washed up on the shores of Isipingo Beach Lagoon. On investigation, it was found that two pump stations had either broken down or malfunctioned and raw sewage was spilling into the river, killing the poor fish. Now we have a similar problem north of Durban at Blue Lagoon. The famous lagoon, a popular hangout for locals and tourists, looks so deceptive. It is reeking of sewage with…

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) said it conducted a search-and-seizure operation at the premises of three former employees of the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) who are accused of benefiting from a R225 million IT contract. In June, the former employees – who include a former chief financial officer, former spokesperson, and former case management director – were implicated in setting themselves up to benefit from the R225 million IT contract awarded to multinational media and technology company. According to the Hawks spokesperson, Captain Lloyd Ramovha, its Serious Corruption Investigation team simultaneously descended on the premises of the three former OCJ employees on Tuesday morning in Pretoria and Kempton Park. “The contract in question relates to the national roll-out of the digital electronic case management and litigation…

Four men have appeared in court over allegations they used stolen copper to make aluminium pots. Police said the Economic Infrastructure Task Team and other role players followed up on information regarding a warehouse that was manufacturing aluminium pots at EMbuthisweni in KwaMakhutha on Monday. The task team’s focus is addressing cable theft, pipeline fuel theft and combating of illegal mining among other crimes. Police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo, said on arrival in the area, the team found four men who were manufacturing pots. “Police enquired about the melted copper that they were using to make the pots. “They were unable to prove where they obtained the raw material and they were arrested.” Ngcobo said police seized copper and other tools that were used to manufacture the pots valued at…

DISPLACED flood victims were in a celebratory mood yesterday as the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works, Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba, announced that a lease agreement with the Transnet Property Division management had been reached for the Montclair lodge. The department said resettling the April and May floods victims in permanent accommodation remained a priority, and the Transnet lodge had been earmarked for possible use to temporarily house flood-stricken families while they await permanent resettlement. The lease agreement comes after flood victims from the Yellowwood Park Civic Centre and Tehuis Hostel in uMlazi mass shelters invaded the lodge in July. The state-owned entity had to resort to the courts to secure an eviction order to remove the invading flood victims from the Transnet facility. Mahlaba said there were more…

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande has appointed Johannes Mgonodi Zwane, deputy principal corporate services at Mthashana TVET College, as acting principal at the Coastal TVET College, with effect from September 1. Zwane will occupy the post for six months, or until the post is permanently filled, whichever occurs first. Earlier this month, Nzimande announced his decision to end the contract of the administrator, Ndoda Biyela, following pressure from staff and the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu). The Durban college was placed under administration in 2020 after facing a string of corruption allegations and a damning report by the auditor-general. Following the appointment of Zwane, the department said he had been identified as an appropriate individual with the necessary skills and experience to act as a…

Creativity, problem solving, ingenuity, inventiveness and collaboration required Since its outbreak some two years ago, Covid-19 has wreaked havoc across the world, and the education sector has taken the brunt of the knock. Schools, colleges and universities have been deeply affected. According to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, more than 800 million learners from around the world have been affected. It has not only disrupted education systems globally, but affected the most vulnerable learners the hardest. It has increased inequalities and exacerbated a pre-existing education crisis. While the pandemic has caused educational disruptions around the world, the crisis also offers opportunities for change. Recovering from the pandemic will require us to reimagine the purpose, role, content and delivery of higher education. This will involve a recommitment to what…

An Ebola vaccination campaign would start in the Congolose city of Beni today after a new case of the virus was confirmed this week, the World Health Organization said yesterday. More than 200 vaccine doses had arrived in Beni, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, it said. The latest case has been genetically linked to a 2018-2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which claimed nearly 2 300 lives. Six people were killed in another flare-up from that same outbreak last year. Congo’s dense tropical forests are a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus, which causes fever, body aches, and diarrhoea, and can linger in the body of survivors only to resurface years later. The vast central African country has recorded 14 outbreaks since 1976. Congo’s…

Hong Kong: A powerful typhoon was approaching southern China yesterday, prompting Hong Kong to issue its third highest storm warning as neighbouring Macau and other nearby coastal cities prepared for the prospect of a direct hit. Typhoon Ma-on was packing wind speeds of up to 110km/h and lay about 300km off China’s southern coast. It was expected to be closest to Hong Kong this morning and may skirt within about 200km south-southwest of it, the Hong Kong Observatory said. The storm is projected to follow a similar path as 2017’s Super Typhoon Hato, which killed 10 people in Macau, but to be less destructive. | AFP…

Hundreds of members of Cosatu and its affiliated unions answered the call for a national shutdown yesterday and gathered in Durban for a march to the city hall from King Dinuzulu Park. Cosatu members, along with their alliance counterpart the SACP, and affiliate unions, the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) and the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA, marched against the high cost of living and called for urgent government intervention to tackle rising unemployment. KwaZulu-Natal Cosatu provincial secretary Edwin Mkhize said the government had 14 days to respond after handing over a memorandum of demands to Transport MEC Sipho Hlomuka, who accepted it on behalf of the premier. Most shops were closed on Dr Pixley KaSeme (West) Street, the march route, but no incidents were reported. Mkhize, who addressed members…

Dear Rod My beloved passed away 18 years ago. He wrote me a letter a year before he died. I would like to share some of the things he said: “When I met you, I had no idea that any woman could have the capacity for love and loyalty that you have given me, and I need you to know that I am so very grateful for the friendship, togetherness and happiness that I have shared with you through our marriage. “Your capacity for calming me and comforting me during those times when I’ve been so scared of what has happened to me – heart attack – heart surgery and the cancer thing, especially when I know that you were probably more scared than I was, is nothing short of…

If recent history concerning monuments and statues is noted, the proposed erection of statues depicting Mandela and Tambo is unlikely to take place any time soon (The Mercury, August 24). Despite great enthusiasm back in 2010 to erect a monument commemorating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of indentured Indians in Natal, 12 years on, that monument has still not been erected. Disgracefully, the project has been shuffled between an organising committee, the municipality and the premier’s office. The latest development in the saga is that eThekwini Municipality has handed over the project to the premier’s office. Procrastination has also affected the replacement of the King Shaka statue at the airport. Removed several years ago, that project also seems stuck in a limbo. The answer to erecting monuments to heroes…

Facebook users globally yesterday were left frustrated when celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Nirvana, and The Beatles filled their main feeds with endless posts with pictures, videos and memes. The company later said it was a bug and fixed the problem. Several Facebook users also faced outages on Facebook, as per outage detector platform DownDetector. “It’s carnage out there folks,” posted a user on Twitter who was bombarded with celebrity posts. Some users sent memes to celebrities who allegedly posted on their main feed. The Beatles apparently sent a picture of a turkey sandwich with the caption, “if you see this share it to another celebrities Facebook page keep the turkey sandwich moving”. Some users even took advantage of the situation by spamming PayPal donation links or promoting cryptocurrency projects,…

After two-and-a-half years on the road, the all-South African cast of hit international tribute concert Queen: It’s a Kinda Magic is bringing the show home for two big arena gigs in Durban and Cape Town next month. Durban’s The Globe at Suncoast will host a performance on September 3 and the Grand Arena at GrandWest Cape Town will play host to the other on September 10. The show’s young South African stars include Cape Town’s Warren Vernon-Driscoll who performs as Freddie Mercury, Durban local Rusty Red on lead guitar as Brian May, Durbanville’s André van der Merwe as bass guitarist John Deacon, and Hilton-based drummer Michael Dickens as Roger Taylor. Tickets for both the Durban and Cape Town shows are now on sale. For Durban tickets visit Ticketpros.co.za…

A housing project under the Msunduzi Municipality meant to benefit military veterans has come under fire amid concerns that it is being built on environmentally sensitive land not suitable for construction. A screening report on the Bakerville Heights Housing Development Project has warned against the project being carried out on that land. The project being implemented in ward 30 is already facing criticism following allegations that communities that live around the area had not been consulted. The Mercury has seen the copy of the report that was provided to the DA councillors and Members of the Provincial Legislature. The screening report compiled by Msunduzi’s Environmental Management Unit (EMU) says the land purchased for the Bakerville Heights housing project was unsuitable for construction. DA spokesperson on Human Settlements Marlaine Nair said…

THE snail’s pace of the case of the men accused of assassinating Gauteng Department of Health senior finance official and whistle-blower Babita Deokaran not only robs her grieving family of justice, but is a huge blow in the fight against corruption. We should not take comfort in the fact that six people have been arrested when, a year after Deokaran’s murder, none of them has had to answer for the crime they are charged with. The 53-year-old mother was the chief director of financial accounting at the Gauteng Department of Health, and was assisting with investigations into PPE tender scandals that rocked the provincial Health Department. Less than a week after the killing, six men were charged with her murder. If it was not for her, perhaps the rot in…

Angolans cast their ballots yesterday in what was widely seen to be the most competitive vote in their country’s democratic history, with incumbent President Joao Lourenco squaring up against charismatic opposition leader Adalberto Costa Junior. The election has been overshadowed by Angola’s many woes – a struggling economy, inflation, poverty and drought, compounded by the death of a former strongman president. The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which has ruled the oil-rich nation for nearly five decades, is facing its most serious challenge since the first multiparty vote in 1992. Eight political parties are running, but the real contest lies between the MPLA and its long-standing rival and ex-rebel movement the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita). Opinion polls suggest that support for…

Democrats were yesterday celebrating victory in a US special election being viewed as the last bellwether of the public mood on abortion ahead of November’s midterms, as the party seeks to make reproductive rights a key issue in the campaign. Tuesday’s vote in a swing district in upstate New York was to choose a candidate to serve the final months of Democrat Antonio Delgado’s term in the House of Representatives, after he quit to become the Empire State’s lieutenant governor. The battle for New York’s 19th congressional district comes two months after the Supreme Court sparked nationwide protests by ending the federally guaranteed right to abortion. Democrat Pat Ryan, who has sought to turn the vote into a referendum on abortion access, was projected to win. “We voted like our…

AUSTIN: A songwriting course based on the work of Taylor Swift is to be offered at the University of Texas at Austin. The 32-year-old pop star is thought to have written more than 50 songs since her childhood and now The Taylor Swift Songbook will be “read” alongside classics such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge at the North American university. This comes months after the Shake It Off hitmaker received an honorary doctorate from New York University after being recongised by the college as “one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation”. | Bang Showbiz…

The Ingonyama Trust has suffered a legal setback after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed its application for leave to appeal a high court ruling regarding lease agreements on trust land. The application was dismissed, with costs, on the grounds that there were no reasonable prospects of success. However, in a statement issued yesterday, the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) indicated its intention to challenge the SCA ruling over what it termed a “glaring error”. In June last year, the Pietermaritzburg High Court found that the Ingonyama Trust’s residential lease programme was unlawful and called on the trust to repay the money it had charged tenants on trust-owned land from 2012. The matter stems from a legal action mounted by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution…

A SEAL in New Zealand entered a home through a pet flap in the door. It appears to have first been unsuccessfully challenged by the family cat, Coco. Householder Phil Ross, of Mount Maunganui, is by coincidence a marine biologist but was not home when the young fur seal entered, according to The Huffington Post. His wife, Jenn, returned home to discover the seal inside their house, exploring different rooms and lounging on the couch. Jenn had left for about an hour to go to the gym and stumbled across the surprising visitor when she came back. “The big joke is that this is really the only family emergency where it would be useful to have a marine biologist in the house,” Ross says. “I really missed my time to…

A while ago, the laws of South Africa did not allow black people to be judges, and black people were not allowed by churches to be the clergy, but things changed. I mean, at one stage, Mahatma Gandhi wanted to be a Christian but was prevented by white people and the laws of the land from entering a church, and this convinced him to remain a Hindu. Then afterwards, the law did not allow a black man to romantically court and marry a white woman, but things did change. Not so long ago, homosexuality was unheard of in our land, but it has now become common and acceptable because it is legal. Indeed, it was not so long ago when the only religion tolerated was Christianity, but now, everyone is…

It is often said that one must never let facts get in the way of a good story and EFF head of presidency/ MP Vuyani Pambo epitomises this by making comments that border on drivel and very close to lies in The Mercury on August 19. He states that black South Africans have never been part of the economy – clearly he lives on another planet. Some of us are owners or managers while others are workers but each worker has had a part to play in the economy depending on his or her skills and not everyone can be a Patrice Motsepe. Then he likens the working conditions of unionised employed black mine workers to those of zama zamas which is complete utter rubbish. Formal mining companies spend millions…

The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed the dismissal of one of its chief directors, Simphiwe Hlophe, on the grounds of gross negligence. Hlophe is accused of failing to deploy information technology (IT) infrastructure in the form of routers and switches which was procured to reduce system downtime in the mission- critical government department. According to a statement, Hlophe was found guilty on counts related to gross negligence and dereliction of duties resulting in network outages within the department. Home Affairs has been plagued by system outages and downtime for many years, resulting in disruption to operations for prolonged periods. After procurement, it is alleged that Hlophe neglected to deploy the infrastructure which remained in a storage facility instead of being deployed to fix IT infrastructure problems. “Mr Hlophe…

Agri SA will be in the Constitutional Court today as the court hears an application for leave to appeal a significant water rights judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). The application has been brought by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) after the government lost its bid in relation to the rights of farmers’ water use entitlements under the National Water Act. The case came about as the result of a circular issued by the DWS in January 2018 in which the department sought to remove the right of water use entitlement holders to transfer the entitlements. The case was brought to the SCA after the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissed applications for a declaratory order on the legality of the circular. On November…

The six men accused of killing whistle-blower Babita Deokaran appeared briefly in the Gauteng High Court yesterday. Their matter was postponed after their legal representative raised issues over the payment of legal fees. Attorney Shafique Sarlie asked for a postponement, saying as the defence they needed time to consult with the accused over fees which had to be paid, and they also needed to get outstanding documents from the State. The accused, Phakamani Hadebe, Zitha Radebe, Nhlangano Ndlovu, Sanele Mbhele, Siphiwe Mazibuko and Siphakanyiswa Dladla, have been charged with murder, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and conspiracy to murder. They also face a charge of attempted murder of Deokaran’s domestic worker, who was in the car with her at the time of the shooting. All of the accused were…

WHILE The Section 194 Committee heard about the alleged unhealthy working environment at the Public Protector South Africa office, incumbent Busisiwe Mkhwebane was dealt another blow when the Constitutional Court yesterday dismissed her second rescission application and ordered her to pay costs in her personal capacity. Mkhwebane lodged the application to ask the court to rescind its first rescission order. Her application related to the inquiry into her fitness to hold office, which is under way in Parliament. In February, the court upheld the appointment of a judge to the Section 194 independent panel. In its order, the Constitutional Court described Mkhwebane’s second application as an abuse of the process of court. “The Constitutional Court has considered the application for rescission. It has concluded that the application should be dismissed…

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the AU. According to African leaders at the time, there was a need to relaunch the Organisation of African Unity, founded on Africa Day in 1963, to shift the focus away from the independence of states and fighting apartheid. Instead, in 2002, attention had to be given to the continent’s co-operation, integration, and economic and human development. Part of this recent history of the African continent, led by the AU, has been the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac), established in 2000. While Chinese co-operation with the African continent goes back many centuries, China played a particularly important role in the Struggle for independence, as well as ensuring the development of countries on the continent post-independence. The AU’s Agenda 2063, launched…

Anti-trafficking campaigners in Hong Kong played a harrowing recording yesterday of a resident testifying that he had been kidnapped and forced to work for online scam syndicates in Myanmar. The recording was released by local Hong Kong advocacy group Stop Trafficking of People and human rights lawyer Patricia Ho. Online “boiler room” scams have long had a presence across Southeast Asia, but in recent months more details have emerged of people being trafficked and forced to work for them. Victims have reported travelling to Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos on false promises of romance or high-paying jobs, and then being detained and forced to work, sometimes for months. A 30-year-old man identified only as John said he had been trapped in Myanmar for three months and forced to run scams…

A series of violent crimes against women in Egypt has drawn attention to gaps in legal and social protections that leave female citizens vulnerable to attacks and harassment, victims and activists say. The highest profile case was the murder in late June of student Nayera Ashraf, 21, who was stabbed 19 times outside the gates of a university in Mansoura, north of Cairo. It emerged that the man convicted for her killing, Mohamed Adel, had been harassing her for almost a year after she rejected his marriage proposal. Her death gained coverage across the Middle East, and drew attention to other violent crimes against women in Egypt. The reaction also built on a campaign against sexual abuse among Egypt’s elite in 2020, partly inspired by the international “#MeToo” movement. Activists…