Indice dei contenuti per 2021-05-27 in Mercury

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za ARROWHEAD Properties, which is in the throes of merger talks with Fairvest Property Holdings, lifted distributable earnings per B share by 57 percent for the six months to March 31, 2021, in spite of the many weak property market fundamentals that have plagued other real estate investment trusts (Reits). The board decided to defer the payment of an interim dividend until financial year-end, and no distribution guidance for the full year was given due to the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Arrowhead’s share price increased 1.19 percent to R3.39 yesterday afternoon. The share later closed at R3.28 on the JSE. The price had risen sharply from only 93 cents a year ago, but the price remains well below net asset value at the end of…

Viwe Ndongeni-Ntlebi viwe.ndongeni@inl.co.za Losing weight has never been easy, but the task becomes even more challenging when the temperature takes a sharp dip. If you are looking for ingredients to lower your scale count, including these foods in your daily diet may help shed extra kilos naturally. Carrots Carrots are packed with fibre, which take time to break down and digest, keeping you full for a longer spell. If you feel satiated, you would naturally binge less. Carrots are also very low in calories and non-starchy in nature. You can have them as is, or add them to your smoothies, salads or soups. Sunflower seeds These portable seeds make a great healthy snack. Just a handful can help suppress your appetite and provide your body with plenty of magnesium,…

DR MAHMOUD YOUSSEF BAKER | Musgrave I am a strong believer that evil and bad practices prevail only when good people keep silent and turn a blind eye about what is happening around them. Actually, this kind of behaviour is our worst enemy in South Africa. Likewise, we must reward and talk about good behaviour and practise openly (publicly) if we want to get the other hidden benefit of it such as setting a good example and role model for people in general and youth in particular to follow. If good acts are kept in the dark and we forget to at least say thank you to the good people behind it, we won’t be able to build a healthy and motivated society. When the government announced last…

Farouk Araie | Benoni THE critical situation in Palestine exposes the balance of military power. Air power will play a crucial role in any war. The impotency of the UN in halting the level of violence is a shocking indictment of this organisation. What is needed is an international judicial structure that is independent of the power constellation prevailing in the UN Security Council. The UN, in principle and in practice, was the closest thing we would have had to a world government, coming together to tackle the challenges faced by all humanity. The UN is a useless organisation when it comes to protecting human rights and enforcing security. The UN failed to stop the invasion of Iraq and the Syrian crisis, which has resulted in the death of…

NO matter how much love or patience or gentleness of forgiveness there may be in a relationship, it is impossible to: Make someone love you or stay with you if they want to leave you and want to go. All your attempts will backfire and reinforce their desire to leave. I know it is tough to do, but you will save yourself a lot of trauma and pain if you allow him or her the freedom that he or she is seeking. Make an unfaithful person faithful. Their indiscretions are purely and uniquely his or her problem, and not yours. You make it yours when you think his or her problem with unfaithfulness is something you have caused or you can solve. Stop another from abusing alcohol, or legal…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za Speaker Thandi Modise’s decision to allow smaller parties to vote in the impeachment of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has been welcomed. The UDM, ANC, IFP and NFP said it was a good decision to allow for smaller parties to vote on the issue. UDM chief whip Nqabayomzi Kwankwa said it was in the best interests of Parliament that all parties take full part in the removal proceedings. UDM leader Bantu Holomisa had written to Modise a few weeks ago asking that she allow smaller parties to take part in the voting system. This was after Parliament had decided that as part of its rules only 11 members of the ad hoc committee on the removal of Mkhwebane would be allowed to vote and that the 26 other…

Nonhlanhla Nozizwe Hlatshwayo nozizwe.hlatshwayo@inl.co.za Teachers’ unions have said their members are ready for the May/June exams for the National Senior Certificate (NSC), Amended Senior Certificate(ASC) and Adult Education (AET). The exams, which began yesterday, include supplementaries, NSC part time and full-time, AET and ASC. Announcing the commencement of the exams, KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC, Kwazi Mshengu said the exams began yesterday with eastern languages and accounting paper one being written. “A total number of 37 553 candidates are registered to write.” The National Teachers’ Union (Natu) said they welcomed the announcement of the commencement of the exams as the teachers had time to prepare. “The timetable was released in March this year, during our regional meetings. This gave us time to prepare teachers and students, and it was enough time,” said…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@iinl.co.za POLICE portfolio committee chairperson Tina Joemat-Pettersson says it seems a culture of the “apartheid police” still exists, as police officers are facing misconduct cases related to rape, brutality, torture and assault. She said these cases were unacceptable. The SAPS and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) updated the committee on the status of discipline management in the SAPS, the reported cases of misconduct, the progress thereof, and the impact of discipline on the conduct of employees. SAPS divisional commissioner for Human Resource Management, Lieutenant-General Lineo Ntshiea, said, for the current financial year, SAPS probed 3 401 disciplinary cases involving 4 438 of its members. These cases range from corruption to rape in police custody, rape by a police officer, torture and assault, death in police custody and…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za NEWCASTLE Municipality workers who were suspended for not wearing masks have been allowed to return to work after admitting their guilt. This was confirmed by the acting municipality manager, Vish Govender, who said that workers resumed their duties on Tuesday. The municipality had suspended 15 workers for failing to wear masks inside the municipality’s premises. The workers were issued “precautionary suspension” letters last Thursday, suspending them until further notice. Govender said since it was a “precautionary suspension”, workers were afforded 48 hours to give substantial reasons why the municipality should not pursue disciplinary processes. Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, Govender said workers had admitted to not wearing masks and were therefore permitted to return to work. He said they used clause 16.3 of the collective agreement which…

International bodies and pressure groups are calling for climate change to become a standard part of the school curriculum worldwide, saying the step is vital to reach targets on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (Unesco), said this month that environmental studies should be standard teaching in all countries by 2025. That may seem an ambitious goal, but some environmental lobbies and politicians say it is too timid. Italian lawmaker Lorenzo Fioramonti, a former education minister, said: “Without faster progress on education there will be no chance of achieving the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.” Fioramonti championed a law which last year made Italy the world’s first country to make climate study compulsory in schools, but he admitted that putting it…

The US with the support of some of its allies continues to escalate its onslaught against China by describing the latter’s repression of more than 1 million detained Muslim Uygurs in the Xinjiang autonomous region as “genocide” , adopting the same rhetoric as the Trump administration. Many governments and countries around the world, also some in the West, but particularly in the developing world, in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, are increasingly of the view that the US and its allies have adopted an ill-considered and unfair approach. Compelling questions are increasingly being posed to the US and its handful of allies by the developing world, which represents more than 70% of the world’s population compared to the 4% of the US. For example: How can these serious allegations…

The Taliban warned Afghanistan’s neighbours yesterday against allowing the US to operate military bases on their soil, the insurgents insisting they would thwart such a “historic mistake”. Washington is in the final stages of withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, and a flurry of diplomatic calls between the US and Pakistan has fuelled speculation the Pentagon is scouting for new bases to use against the Taliban. “We urge neighbouring countries not to allow anyone to do so,” the Taliban said. “If such a step is taken again, it will be a great and historic mistake and disgrace.” They would “not remain silent in the face of such heinous and provocative acts”, a statement added. Several of Afghanistan’s neighbours allowed the US military limited use of air bases in the early 2000s…

SYDNEY: Kodi Brady has had a morning ritual for several months of cleaning up dead mice in his farm near Coonabarabran, some 490km north west of Sydney, before he heads off to work. The livestock farmer scoops up hundreds of dead mice he has either drowned in buckets or poisoned, as the biggest plague of the rodents in decades sweeps across the Australian state of New South Wales. “It does play on your mental health. “I don’t sleep because I’m paranoid, you know, you can hear them in your walls and your roof,” said Brady. Brady has been laying bait for mice for the last six months…

STEINHOFF International Holdings (SIHNV) yesterday provided an update on the application for the provisional liquidation of SIHNV made by the former shareholders of Tekkie Town in the Western Cape Division of the High Court earlier this month. On Tuesday, the court had directed that the hearing would take place between September 1 and 3. The court had also set a timetable for the parties to deliver papers prior to the hearing of the application, it said. The Tekkie Town executives had previously requested the matter to be heard on an urgent basis on May 24. The standoff is a result of the December 2017 accounting scandal that led to a decline of more than 95 percent in Steinhoff’s share price following the admission of irregularities. |…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za MEMBERS of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature (MPLs) have received a tongue lashing for their bad behaviour that is costing the legislature a small fortune and undermining its work and public confidence. While drawing a hefty salary of more than R1 million a year, MPLs have been accused of absenteeism, defrauding the legislature by inflating travelled kilometres, leaving meetings early and almost collapsing those meetings. MPLs, especially from smaller parties, have been accused of not taking their duties seriously by failing to attend scheduled legislature meetings. The speaker of the legislature, Nontembeko Boyce, said absenteeism was prevalent across all parties, but was more evident in smaller parties as those sometimes had one representative in the house. She said the improper behaviour by some of the members contributed to…

A family that owns a shop in Massachusetts in the US is being hailed for their honesty for returning a $1 million lottery ticket to the woman who had bought it because their elders in India advised them, “we don’t want that money”. “I was a millionaire for a night,” the shop owner’s son Abhi Shah, who discovered the winning ticket, joked as he recounted his brief Midas touch, WBZ TV reported on Monday. Although he had thought of buying a Tesla car, he decided to return the ticket to Leas Rose Fiega, who had bought the ticket from his mother Aruna Shah. “Who does that? They’re great people. I am beyond blessed,” Fiega told Salem News. Maunish Shah, who owns the Lucky Spot shop in Springfield, Massachusetts, told WWLP…

PETER SHARLAND | Hillcrest I REFER to Farouk Araie’s letter to the paper (May 26) in respect of the outrage over the gun licence fiasco and concur with his comments. Before our leaders worry about legal guns there needs to be a determined effort to eliminate the illegal ones. The illegal gun amnesty proposal was penned by the writer a couple of years ago but fell on stony ground wherever submitted. If there is one political party in the country that has the voter’s best interests at heart the following should feature on their election manifesto: The ANC government is spending considerable effort in tracking down and legalising existing gun holders iro licence renewal etc. They are now proposing outlawing guns for self-protection. The problem is not the…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE Road Accident Fund (RAF) will no longer accept claims without a list of required documents such as accident reports. The directive, issued in March, will remain in place, and whoever lodges a claim without the required list of annexures, will be turned away and told to return once all the necessary documents are at hand. This is according to RAF chief executive Collins Letsoalo, adding that there would be no exceptions. Letsoalo said the RAF had a host of “skeleton claims” which could not be finalised as the claim handlers had not received the required documents. To streamline the settlement of claims and subsequent payments to road accident victims, the RAF board under the leadership of Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula embarked on a new strategic path,…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za JUSTICE and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola says his department will ensure that services provided by his department are accessible to citizens via digital platforms. “In the current digital era, it has become imperative to have an effective online presence between citizens and the department. This initiative improves citizens’ service through greater flexibility, cost savings, faster delivery of justice services, less paper waste and certainly increased professionalism,” Lamola said. He made the statement when he tabled the department’s R21.5 billion budget, which has been reduced by R2.4bn in the 2021/22 financial year. According to Lamola, the maintenance service, protection orders and expungement of criminal records would be accessible online in the 2021-22 financial year. He also said the Point Magistrate’s Court in Durban would be the first…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has come under fire for failing to establish a panel of experts meant to help it contain its ballooning medical malpractice claims. The panel, meant to be made up of legal and medical experts, was first proposed more than a year ago. It was meant to review all the medical claims against the department and decide which ones to settle or contest in court. The proposal to establish a panel of experts came after concerns that the department was facing hefty medical claims from people who suffered adverse effects or injuries from hospital procedures. The Mercury understands that the medical claims against the department stand at R25 billion. There were also concerns that some law firms were taking advantage of the situation.…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za THE Mangosuthu University of Technology’s (MUT) executive committee is due to hold emergency talks to prepare a response to the impending investigation into the affairs of the embattled institution. Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande gave the university until yesterday to respond to his intention to institute a probe into what he described as “pending and ongoing governance and management problems (that) pose a serious threat to the stability and effective functioning (of MUT)”. In a clear reference to the acting vice-chancellor and principal, Professor Marcus Ramogale, Nzimande raised concern that “incumbents are in acting capacities for long periods”. Ramogale was appointed immediately after the suspension, in April last year, of vice-chancellor and principal Dr Duma Malaza, who was sent home along with Dr Phana…

Three people were arrested yesterday over a cable car crash in northern Italy that killed 14 people after a prosecutor said the safety brake mechanism had been deactivated, police said. On Sunday the gondola on a cable way connecting the town of Stresa, on the shores of Lake Maggiore, to the nearby Mottarone mountain, plunged to the ground, killing all aboard apart from a 5-year-old Israeli boy. The Mottarone peak is popular among tourists because of its panoramic views on Lake Maggiore and its picturesque islands as well as the vista of the surrounding Alps. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it had been informed by Italian authorities that five of its nationals were among the dead and one Israeli was in a critical condition. Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into…

Jaclyn Peiser Carl Stewart was so excited when he spotted a block of blue Stilton at an upscale British grocery store that he shared a picture of the rich and creamy cheese in the palm of his hand on an encrypted messaging app largely used by drug dealers. Unbeknown to Stewart, 39, he was literally handing himself over to police. British law enforcement – which had secretly infiltrated the secure app – were able to analyse Stewart’s fingerprints from the photo, proving that he was behind an account that had co-ordinated the sale of cocaine, heroin and other drugs. “Carl Stewart was involved in supplying large amounts of class A and B drugs, but was caught out by his love of Stilton cheese,” Detective Inspector Lee Wilkinson, of Merseyside Police,…

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected criticism from his former adviser Dominic Cummings yesterday, saying he did not accept Cummings’s accusation that government inaction led to unnecessary deaths amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Asked by opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer whether he accepted the central allegations of Cummings’s testimony to a parliamentary committee, Johnson said “No”. “I don’t think anybody could credibly accuse this government of being complacent about the threat that this virus posed, at any point. “We have worked flat out to minimise loss of life.”…

As president, she’s inspired by the industry to become a catalyst for the country’s economic growth Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za MINERALS Council South Africa, previously known as the Chamber of Mines, will be led by a woman for the first time in its 131-year history after veteran executive Nolitha Fakude was voted president during the council’s annual general meeting (AGM) held virtually yesterday. Fakude, who was previously Sasol’s vice-president for strategy and sustainability and currently chairs the board of Anglo American plc’s South African business, said her vision was propelled by #MakingMiningMatter. “Personally, I am inspired by the fact that we have got the possibility as an industry to become catalysts of economic growth of the country,” said Fakude. Fakude succeeds Mxolisi Mgojo, Exxaro Resources’ chief executive, while the new vice-presidents…

Vuyolwethu Fundam Vuyolwethu.Fundam@africannewsagency.com In South Africa, the second phase of Covid-19 vaccines began this month. Although some are eager to obtain the vaccine, many are still hesitant. With so many misconceptions around, encouraging loved ones to get the jab can be challenging. Understand them Ana Sokolovic, a licensed psychotherapist and life coach, told Healthline.com that she recommends understanding the nature and source of the person's fear first. Ask probing questions like: “What would make you more comfortable to get the vaccine? What would make you feel more confident?” Do not judge their decision Clinical psychologist Jasmin Kooverjee also proposed asking why they are hesitant, rather than passing judgement on their decision.This is to negate any misconceptions they may have about the vaccine. Kooverjee recommends going over the vaccine side effects…

Bid to have prosecutor Downer recuse himself Sihle Mavuso, Samkelo Mtshali and Zintle Mahlati THE umpteenth round of the legal boxing match between Jacob Zuma and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) before the Pietermaritzburg High Court over his 16-year-old corruption case produced no winner yesterday as another legal bout was ordered for July 19 this year. In yesterday’s hearing, advocate Billy Downer SC from the NPA told the court they needed time to file answering affidavits in response to Zuma’s bid to have him (Downer) recuse himself. Zuma claims Downer is compromised by allegedly unethical and illegal conduct, which Zuma says may taint the trial and make it unfair should it proceed with him. Downer said Zuma’s legal team, which now includes advocate Dali Mpofu, who is working with…

NARENDH GANESH | Shallcross THIS is an open letter to Adele Kirsten, director of Gun Free South Africa. Your organisation and what it stands for is a noble one. However, your stance and support of the pro posed new legislation that would significantly reduce the possibility of an innocent law-abiding citizen to acquire a firearm licence for self-defence, bothers me. The fact that the proposed new legislation is predicated on the basis that “self-defence” will no longer be a viable reason to acquire a firearm is ludicrous to the extreme. Why would a citizen who is not predisposed to any form of crime want to apply for a firearm except for self-defence? Your assertion, by data available to you, that if there is a firearm in the…

MANY predicted bedlam, chaos with the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out. I went for my jova, to find everything calm, efficient, good-humoured and quick. I went to Addington Hospital, where the vaccinations were being administered in the nurses’ home alongside the main hospital. This was slightly unnerving. Was one likely to encounter old dates from yesteryear? But nothing of the kind ensued and everything ran like clockwork. A bit of bum-shuffling as one shifted from chair to chair but no long queues and no having to stand about. Nothing like a visit to Home Affairs. Credit where credit is due. The health authorities got this one spot-on right – at Addington anyway. New smartphone HEY, progress! A picture comes this way of a smartphone with a circular dialling dingus on it like…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za When Zizi Kodwa was ANC spokesperson, he received more than R2 million in payments and luxury accommodation linked to technology services company EOH, the Zondo Commission heard. This was the evidence presented at the Zondo Commission on Tuesday. Kodwa currently serves as the deputy minister of state security. All the payments took place between March 2015 and February 2016. The evidence was presented by Steven Powell, the managing director of ENS Forensics. Powell had conducted a forensic investigation into EOH Holdings, and in the process found payments made to the ANC and individuals linked to the party. Powell returned to the stand this week and focused his testimony on payments made to Kodwa through a former executive at EOH, Jehan Mackay. When these payments were made,…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za A 59-year-old woman was sentenced to eight years imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to 235 counts of fraud totalling R2.7 million. Charmaine Koch was sentenced on Tuesday at the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KwaZulu-Natal. According to NPA KZN spokesperson Natasha Kara, Koch, from Durban, worked for Dundee-based company Glendee Fertilizer and Lime CC. Her job entailed administrative work, bookkeeping and uploading creditor payments with supporting invoices on to the company’s online banking profile. Kara said Koch would then prepare a schedule of the creditors that needed to be paid. She said the list was then submitted to her manager who logged on to the system and released the payments. “At some point, Koch experienced financial difficulties, with her and…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za THE step-aside rule was a “toothless dog” that would fail to dampen the crusade for former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede to be elected ANC regional chairperson. This was the vow made by her supporters following the decision by Gumede and 12 others facing criminal charges to heed the step aside rule. Yesterday, a source close to Gumede described the step aside as “a minor turbulence” that would only revitalise the majority branches to fight even harder for her political comeback. He said, as her supporters, they had agreed to obey simply because it would not impede their campaigns. After receiving formal notifications from the KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive committee (PEC), the 13 had obeyed the step-aside rule, party provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela confirmed yesterday. Councillors would continue to…

A Durban man was shot in his hand on Tuesday evening by a gang of men who opened fire on him and his wife during an attempted hijacking in Hillary. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said yesterday that charges of attempted murder and attempted carjacking were being investigated by the Bellair SAPS. “It is alleged by the complainant that she and her husband were about to enter a premises at Mount Vernon in Hillary when a vehicle parked behind them.” One of the suspects alighted from the vehicle and pointed a firearm at them, demanding cellphones and a vehicle, Mbele said. The suspects fired shots at the couple, striking the victim in his right hand. He was taken to hospital. Crime has been on the rise in the province…

Mary Ilyushina | The Washington Post Defiant Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko addressed the parliament yesterday morning to defend the forced diversion of a Ryanair plane to Minsk, which further pushed Belarus on the path of becoming an international pariah. Skies over Belarus are empty as more and more foreign airlines cut traffic in response. “I acted lawfully and was protecting the people according to all international rules,” Lukashenko said in his first public appearance since the incident, and the subsequent arrest of a dissident journalist and his partner who were on the flight. The Belarus strongman, who has ruled the country since 1994 and is known for often extravagant remarks, suggested that by diverting the plane, he also prevented a potential nuclear catastrophe as the airliner could have…

THE court battle between the Department of Human Settlements and the SABC over the public broadcaster’s attempts to sell some of its prime properties, shows how disjointed and disconnected the government is, especially on policy issues. What could have been amicably resolved in the boardroom will have to be adjudicated in court. The department prevented the SABC from auctioning off its non-core residential properties around the country, including prime land in Cape Town. Taxpayers are again likely to foot the costly legal bills. At the centre of their arguments, the department with its Housing Development Agency believed that by selling these prime properties to the highest bidders, the SABC was in conflict with the government’s mandate to redress spatial segregation and associated inequitable access to land by the poor. This…

Saint John: Police in Antigua and Barbuda said they had intensified a search for fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi, who went missing on Sunday, and have requested Interpol to issue a global alert. Indian federal police have filed fraud charges against Choksi, his nephew, Nirav Modi, and others in connection with their suspected involvement in fraudulent transactions that led to losses of about $2 billion (R29bn) for India’s Punjab National Bank (PNB). PNB in 2018 alleged that a few employees had issued fake bank guarantees to help jewellery groups – controlled by Modi and Choksi – raise funds in foreign credit.…

PEOPLE in Namibia observed Africa Day on Tuesday with renewed hope for unity and economic prosperity. For Nangolo Shigwedha, a local entrepreneur, observance of the day represents renewed aspirations for improved economic opportunities. “We’ve witnessed great progress of solidarity between various countries and efforts made to improve the well-being of all the peoples of Africa. We have hope for peace and development,” he said on Tuesday. Ariston Mimunu from the Democratic Republic of the Congo cooked traditional food and other cuisines with close family and friends from other countries. Some locals also wore, and others sold, African-themed attire and designs to observe the day. Salomo, a tailor in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, sold traditional and other African garb at a local shopping mall in the city centre. “The day also presented…