Indice dei contenuti per 2021-08-05 in Mercury

Telkom appoints Serame Taukobong as chief executive designate Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za TELKOM yesterday appointed Serame Taukobong as the group’s chief executive designate, ushering in a new era for the partially state-owned telecommunications company. Taukobong, currently the chief executive of Telkom Consumer Business, had been appointed effective from October. He would assume the role of group chief executive from July 1, 2022, after Sipho Maseko officially leaves the group, Telkom said. “In line with the board’s leadership transition plan, Sipho and Serame will work together for the remainder of Sipho’s tenure to ensure orderly transition of the group chief executive designate and the stability of the business. During this transition period, Serame will continue to have oversight of the Telkom Consumer Business,” said Telkom in a statement. Telkom said a recruitment…

Universal Partners sells stake in British electric motors producer to Daimler UK Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za JSE AND Mauritian-listed investment holding company Universal Partners Limited (UPL) has sold its stake in British electric motors manufacturer Yasa to Daimler UK, a subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG (MBAG), the company said yesterday. In a separate transaction, Yasa also disposed of its aerospace business to a consortium of investors, prior to the sale to MBAG. Yasa has developed and commercialised a patented technology, enabling it to manufacture a range of electric motors, generators and controllers with superior performance characteristics. The company said that the aggregate value of both disposals amounted to £195 million (R4 billion), the company said. It said UPL’s disposal of its 21.95 percent share in Yasa would realise total proceeds…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za AMID a low-intensity mobilisation campaign by supporters of former president Jacob Zuma to descend on the Pietermaritzburg High Court when the jailed ANC leader appears in court, his foundation is appealing for cool heads. Yesterday, the Jacob Zuma Foundation pleaded with the police and security forces to work in harmony with the supporters when the former president appears on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Zuma will leave his Estcourt Correction Centre cell, where he is serving his 15-month contempt of court sentence, and travel to court to join his lawyers. Zuma’s lawyers are arguing that NPA’s advocate, Billy Downer SC, should not lead the prosecution in his corruption case. They claim that he has acted in a legally and politically compromising manner, rendering himself unfit to give the former…

DR PRAVINE NAIDOO | Pretoria I WOULD like to respond to Imraan Buccus about a piece titled “The dangerous collapse of non-racialism” in the New Frame Publication (www.newframe.com). I take exception to his characterisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as “a party that has its ideological roots in Nazism and is an unapologetically Hindu supremacist organisation”. First, I cannot see the link and nexus between his views on non-racialism from a historical context in South Africa and Hindu supporters of the Hindutva philosophy who reside in South Africa in general and in Phoenix in particular, given the fact that he specifically mentions Phoenix in his article. As to how the recent civil unrest and attacks in Phoenix are linked to the presence of the BJP in that area is…

DHAYALAN MOODLEY | Mobeni Heights CRICKET South Africa’s Social Justice and Nation Building Project is a painful exercise, but it is sadly nothing more painful than Paul Adams being called a “brown s**t” by some of his teammates. Thandi Tshabalala, who played four one-day international matches for the Proteas, testified that he was never welcome in the team’s dressing room, which shows that some of the senior players messed up the lives of up-and-coming black cricketers. Players testified that the “big five” ran the team, which is an absolute shame and a disgrace. It seems that racism continues to rear its ugly head in the team. I was always under the impression that cricket was the last hold-out of apartheid in South Africa. How wrong was I? It…

| Ralph Waldo Emerson RISORGIMENTO – we rise again! The Politburo, er Command Council, decrees Lockdown and Prohibition and the arts soiree at St Clement’s appears to be no more. Uncle Cyril ends Prohibition and modifies the Lockdown and – voilà! – the soiree is back with a bang. And the comeback this week had a special quality about it – a celebration of the Irish-themed music that so infused the beachfront and other spots over decades and, at the same time, a continuation of the tradition. Blarney and Son (Tony Fisher and his son David) are a duo who carry on where the Blarney Brothers (Tony plus brothers Paul and Damien McIlroy) left off. I first heard the Blarney Brothers at the Killarney, soon after arriving back after…

Jolene Marriah-Maharaj jolene.marriah@inl.co.za Five men who were allegedly armed with illegal firearms and planning to commit a robbery were arrested in Umbilo on Tuesday evening. Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the Umbilo SAPS received information about an armed group of men in a vehicle. “It was alleged that the men were planning to commit a robbery. “An operation was put in place and the police officers from the National Intervention Unit also joined the operation. The team proceeded to Helen Joseph Road in Umbilo, where a stationary vehicle with five men was spotted. “The suspects attempted to flee the scene upon seeing the police officers but they were surrounded. Upon searching the suspects, they were found in possession of a 9mm pistol as well as gas pistol and a…

WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature called “View Once”, that deletes photos and videos from the chat after they have been opened, giving users even more control over their privacy. For added privacy, you can now send photos and videos that disappear from your WhatsApp chat after the recipient has opened them once. “Media will not be saved to the recipient’s Photos or Gallery. Once you send a View Once photo or video, you won’t be able to view it again,” WhatApp said. The feature has been rolled out to everyone starting this week, and WhatsApp is looking forward to “feedback on this new way to send private and disappearing media”. For example, you might send a View Once photo of some new clothes you’re trying on at a…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and terrorism accused and Patriotic Alliance (PA) West Rand leader Bruce Nimmerhoudt are set to face off again in the NPA’s legal bid to get the terrorism charge retained against him. As part of the State’s effort, Nimmerhoudt is set to undergo a forensic voice analysis test today to determine whether he is the creator of a voice note that encouraged people to attack and destroy malls in the West Rand, on July 15. This is part of the deal entered into between the NPA and Nimmerhoudt’s lawyers, and was made an order of the court and a condition, as part of the decision of the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court, to release him on bail of R3 000. Nimmerhoudt was arrested at his…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za The Department of Social Development has called on only those who are in dire need to apply for the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant and warned that systems were in place to ensure fraudulent activities were mitigated. Applications for the special Covid-19 SRD grant are expected to open tomorrow and payments are expected to be made at the end of August. The government announced that it had set aside R27 billion for payment of the grant to those unemployed or eligible to recieve it. In a media briefing yesterday, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said she was “very happy” after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the reintroduction of the grant following the ongoing lockdown restrictions and recent crippling unrest. Zulu emphasised that although South Africans may…

Gilbert Tshitaudzi World Breast-feeding Week, commemorated annually from August 1-7, is a key opportunity for the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef), with our partners, to highlight the theme for this year – “Protect Breast-feeding: A Shared Responsibility”. Despite evidence of the positive benefits of breast-feeding, South Africa’s exclusive breast-feeding rate stands at approximately 32%, lagging behind the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global target of 50% which member states should reach by 2025. Breast-feeding contributes to the survival, health and well-being of women, children and broader society and gives children the best start in life. It also protects babies from common infectious diseases – which can make the difference between life and death – and boosts children’s immune systems while ensuring that they have the key nutrients they need to grow and…

Three people died and dozens more were injured yesterday when two trains collided at a village in the west of the Czech Republic, according to railway officials. “Unfortunately, according to the latest information, a train collision has killed three people and left dozens injured,” national rail operator Sprava zeleznic said on Twitter. “All the passengers have been evacuated from the trains,” the firm added. The national police said all passengers were accounted for, adding that the accident happened shortly after 8am local time at Milavce. “At the moment, 31 people whose lives are not in danger are being treated, seven people are in a critical state and two are dead,” said a spokesperson for Plzen region rescue teams, Maria Svobodova. The Munich-to-Prague train, number Ex 351 belonging to the German…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi yesterday accused India of preventing five Indian journalists from travelling to Pakistan-governed Kashmir to witness the proceedings of the parliament of the state of “Azad Kashmir” (Free Kashmir), which went to polls last month. ​Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won 32 of the 53 seats in the state legislative assembly polls held on July 25. The first sitting of the new state parliament is scheduled fo today. ​The Indian journalists were to meet Khan in Islamabad, the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi said. India’s foreign ministry didn’t comment.…

MIKE GREENAWAY mike.greenaway@inl.co.za THE selection of Curwin Bosch at full-back in the Sharks team to play the Bulls tomorrow night in Durban has raised eyebrows but coach Sean Everitt says the move is not permanent at this stage and he wants to have a closer look at Lionel Cronje at flyhalf. Bosch has plenty of experience at full-back, the position he mostly occupied when Robert du Preez coached the Sharks. When Everitt took over from Du Preez midway through 2019, he moved Bosch to his favoured position of flyhalf but now the 24-year-old has gone full circle and is back at No 15. “Curwin played well at full-back when Lionel came on at 10 against Griquas last week, and Curwin did come into first receiver from the back and was…

Zarclear share price falls after its offer to delist Philippa Larkin and Edward West The SHARE price of Zarclear, the investment firm, yesterday plunged nearly 7 percent after it had made an offer to delist through a repurchase of Zarclear shares from its shareholders at R4.60 a share. The shares in later afternoon trade yesterday were 6.67 percent lower at R4.20, with the firm’s market cap at roughly R1 billion. “Shareholders are afforded an opportunity to either monetise their investment in Zarclear at a fair price or to continue to hold shares in Zarclear in an unlisted environment. Any shareholder who does not wish to accept the share repurchase offer may retain its shareholding in Zarclear post the delisting,” it said. The share repurchase offer, if…

Jamal Grootboom jamald.grootboom@inl.co.za Local entertainment industry icon Shona Ferguson was laid to rest at the Fourways cemetery yesterday. The King of Jo’burg star died from Covid-19-related complications on July 30 after spending a week in ICU at Milpark Hospital. At his funeral, family and friends paid tribute to the fallen legend. His older brother, Dominique Ferguson, speaking as the family representative, shared who Shona was to the family. “I know for a lot of people what they know of Shona is what they see on the screen. But to us, he wasn’t an actor he was someone different,” he said. He talked of how during his adolescent phase Shona was hot-tempered but calmed down later in life, especially after he met his wife Connie. He said Shona had always been…

DEENA PILLAY | Greenwood Park IT WAS just a few years ago when I was walking on two legs … playing an 18-hole round of golf, fishing and going on long walks. Then, within a few months, life changed for me. With multiple health issues I’m now using walking aids to get around. I’ve often visited shopping centres in my neighbourhood and made use of the allocated parking spaces for people with disabilities. On numerous occasions, people who didn’t qualify to occupy these spots were parked there. However, if I found a parking space nearby I would take it and not bother about someone’s inconsiderate attitude. But my parking/disabled issues reached a peak on Saturday when I went to a nearby supermarket. There was no parking available in…

THEMBA KHOZA | Department of Water and Sanitation IT IS August, Women’s Month in South Africa, where the issues of female empowerment are put at the top of the developmental agenda again. Women must take charge and control their destiny. Women’s Month is an important month in the country’s calendar. The month celebrates and appreciates the strength, role, resilience and contribution of women in society and the country’s democracy. August 9 is Women’s Day after the 1956 women’s march to the Union Building in protest against the oppressive apartheid-era pass laws, thereby laying the building blocks for our freedom. The special day is dedicated to paying tribute to those Struggle stalwarts and to push for the development and emancipation of women in the country. Every year during this…

I have rarely felt overburdened by solo parenting, perhaps because it has always been so. Some things that happen around me put me in touch, momentarily, with its pressures. Most schools are reopening today. Hordes of children will flock to school and for the first time in about 19 years I can ignore it. I’ve walked the aisles at the grocery store and ignored the “back to school” promotions, had no mail regarding subject choices, sports schedules. It’s been a relief. Because it’s a relief doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. It’s just a relief. I often felt the loneliness of solo parenting when it came to helping my children with schoolwork. It would’ve helped to have another hand, mind, in the house, and someone other than me to talk…

| Mercury Correspondent THE Life Esidimeni inquest has been postponed and will resume on August 30. Judge Mmonoa Teffo agreed to a postponement as she said she believed it was in the interests of justice that the matter be postponed, to allow for further consultation from legal teams on the matter. The inquest aims to probe whether criminal proceedings should be brought against anyone linked to the deaths of 144 Life Esidimeni patients, who died after being moved to various NGOs. Proceedings were previously adjourned to allow parties to obtain legal representations. The legal team representing former Gauteng head of mental health Makgabo Manamela had requested the Life Esidimeni inquest be halted for four weeks. Lawyer Shivhani Sibara, for Manamela, criticised the State's handling of the matter regarding Manamela.…

Sisonke Mlamla sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za GUN OWNERS are eagerly waiting to hear what the government’s stance will be on the controversial Firearms Control Amendment Bill (FCAB), after public participation ended on Monday. The amendments raised the ire of many because among other things they remove self-defence as a valid reason to own a firearm. The bill was published in May by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSP) and sparked an outcry with pro-gun ownership groups raising issues, including that it would place women at greater risk of gender-based violence because they would be legally unable to protect themselves. Police Minister Bheki Cele's spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, said Monday was the last day for South Africans to have a say through the legislative process of amending the FCAB 2021. Themba said now the…

Father Smangaliso Mkatshwa and Professor Dasarath Chetty THE OBJECTIVE of the Moral Regeneration Movement is to assist in fostering a caring and decent society through a revival of the spirit of Ubuntu, as contained in the MRM Charter of Positive Values. The MRM has always regarded July as a special month, the month of Madiba’s birth, in recognition of his inspirational clarion call for an “RDP of the soul” which gave initial impetus to the formation of the MRM. The month was chosen to focus on the MRM’s primary mandate: the promotion of basic human, ethical values – the very foundation for the reconstruction of the moral fibre of the nation. The tragedy that our nation has been engulfed by last month represents the antithesis of what our national…

THE International Olympics Committee (IOC) should avoid appearing as targeting athletes who are brave enough to use the global stage to shine a light on issues most shy away from. The IOC should not be seen as wanting to censure legitimate issues, but be supportive of athletes like Raven Saunders. She raised her arms in an X above her head during the medal ceremony on Sunday. This gesture was to support the downtrodden; the X being “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet”. Saunders said she hoped to continue to inspire and motivate the LGBTQI+ community, African Americans, black people around the world, and those struggling with mental health. She had previously spoken about having major mental health issues and suffering bouts of depression. The committee…

The Mediterranean had become a wildfire hot spot, with Turkey hit by its most intense blazes on record and a heatwave producing a high risk of further fires and smoke pollution in the region, a EU atmosphere monitor said yesterday. Wildfires are raging in countries including Greece and Turkey, where thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. The fires have struck as southern Europe experiences a heatwave, with places in Greece on Tuesday recording temperatures of more than 46ºC. Human-induced climate change is making heatwaves more likely and more severe, scientists say. The EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said the hot and dry conditions had hiked the danger of further fires, although high temperatures alone do not trigger wildfires because they need a source of ignition. The European…

Kiev: A Ukrainian war veteran, who threatened to detonate a hand grenade inside the government building in Kiev yesterday, has been detained, police said. “He was arrested,” Interior Ministry spokesperson Artem Shevchenko told AFP. Ukrainian police said in a statement that the man, whose name was not released, was detained after negotiations that lasted around 10 minutes. Vasyl Oleksyuk, a local lawmaker who knows the detainee and helped conduct the negotiations, told reporters he had left the army several years ago and was in a difficult financial situation.…

Factory activity falls to 10-month low as civil unrest, Covid-19 take their toll Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SUPPLY chains and businesses in South Africa are facing a prolonged period of recovery as civil unrest and level 4 Covid-19 restrictions pushed industrial activity to a 10-month low in July. The IHS Markit Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), released yesterday fell from 51.0 points in June to 46.1 points in July, weighed down by supply disruption and declining demand amid civil unrest and level 4 Covid-19 restrictions. The dip below the 50 points mark in the headline South Africa PMI indicates a serious decline in the composite single-figure indicator of private sector business performance after months of consecutive growth. IHS said the downturn was led by renewed declines in new orders, employment…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za KWAZULU-NATAL municipalities, already burdened with consumer debt of R27.2 billion, now also face decreasing revenues as local businesses battle to recover after the recent unrest. Several retailers, shopping centres and small-scale SMMEs were hit by the looting and unrest in KwaZulu-Natal last month. The eThekwini Municipality is expecting to lose up to R750 million a year, while Ugu District Municipality on the South Coast, described as one of the worst affected local authorities, has estimated the cost of damages on its infrastructure to reach R100m. Of the three spheres of government in KZN, local government would lose “hundreds of millions in revenue”, according to a report to the legislature presented by KZN Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC, Sipho Hlomuka. For eThekwini alone,…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za ONE of the people named in the “dossier” handed to the police by the Good Party as a member of the cabal that instigated the unrest and looting that started on July 11 this year has threatened his accusers with legal action. Carl Niehaus, who is a prominent member of the Free Jacob Zuma campaign and a senior member of the RET (Radical Economic Transformation) forces, another ANC grouping supporting jailed former president Jacob Zuma, was named by the Good party’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, as having been a member of a WhatsApp group named “FREE ZUMA INFORMATION”. According to Herron, the WhatsApp group was started on July 8, 2021, and was initially called “FREE ZUMA COORDINATORS.” Notable members of this group when it started allegedly…

Brigitte Xie reads music, can play Beethoven’s Sonatina in F Major and has won a spot to perform at Carnegie Hall. She is 4 years old. Brigitte’s feet dangle above the ground when the petite girl sits on the piano bench, her hands moving gracefully across the keys. With long brown hair in a ponytail with a bow, she cast her dark eyes shyly downward when her mother, Nicole Sun, asked if she likes piano and if it was fun. “Yeah, fun,” Brigitte replied. Brigitte’s father, Tao Xie of Ridgefield, Connecticut, signed her up for piano lessons on Zoom about a year ago to give her something to do during Covid-19 lockdown. “At the beginning, I never expected that she’s going to be a prodigy or anything,” he said. “But…

ASHNIE BISOONPERSAD | Woodview DEAR Comrade Bheki Cele. Is Julius Malema your boss? You sounded like Malema’s twin shadow when you called the multi-racial Phoenix residents racist. Your utterance exposed your ignorance of the Phoenix’s multi-racial relationship with our neighbours, this includes Bhambayi, Zwelisha, Amaoti, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu. Did you know that the Phoenix community, medical practitioners, NGOs, religious organisations, schools and businesses are responsible for providing jobs, food, charity, medical help and excellent education to thousands of our neighbours that live in poverty? Yet looters from the same areas looted, burnt, killed and raped specifically Indians like during the 1949 and 1985 riots. Did you expect the Phoenix community from previous experiences that paralysed them with shock not to defend themselves, especially when you, the minister, failed…

The Covid-19 lockdowns instituted since March last year focused on preventing and containing the spread of the virus and managing those at risk of severe disease – mostly adults. This led to the complex needs of children often being neglected. The stats released by the Children’s Institute at UCT in its latest advocacy briefs highlight this. On the lessons learned, the authors of the briefs – Shanaaz Mathews, Yolande Baker, Carla Brown and Joan van Niekerk – said: “Children are especially vulnerable during periods of upheaval such as the Covid-19 pandemic. “Their health care, development and quality of life are time-sensitive and depend on well-functioning services. Children’s needs cannot simply be placed on hold while other priorities are addressed.’’ In their introduction, they said: “The pandemic has had a direct…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za THE bail application for the three suspects facing murder and attempted murder charges linked to the killings during the unrest in Phoenix has been postponed to tomorrow. This comes after the legal team representing two of the accused withdrew from the case. The trio appeared in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court yesterday for day two of their bail application. On Tuesday, the court heard evidence from the investigating office that it had CCTV footage of the incident which showed five unarmed black men being attacked by a group of Indian men who were armed. Dylan Govender, 29, his older brother Ned Govender, 30, and 39-year-old Jeetendra Jaikissoon are all facing a charge of murder. The State is alleging that the accused acted in common purpose which resulted…

Rudi Kimmie How can we dance When our earth is turning How do we sleep While our beds are burning Beds are Burning, Midnight Oil (1987) FIRE, used by humans for thousands of years in religious rituals, is essential in the natural biosphere to eliminate invasive plant species and to promote the germination of certain seeds. Unfortunately, fire was also used to devastating effect when looters torched vital infrastructure and laid large parts of KwaZulu-Natal to waste during the recent unrest. Understandably, this left many South Africans shaken and some visa-processing companies have seen business rocket by up to 1 500% in a matter of a few days, as anxious citizens started to explore emigration options to safer destinations. Whether the wanton destruction resulted from a toxic…

Lusaka: Tension is rising in Zambia ahead of presidential elections next week, prompting an unprecedented deployment of the military to clamp down on violence. The August 12 ballot is essentially a two-horse race between longstanding adversaries – President Edgar Lungu, 64, and Hakainde Hichilema, 59, who is making his sixth bid for the top job. Rival supporters wielding axes and machetes have clashed sporadically since campaigning started in May, resulting in at least three deaths, according to police. All the fatalities were members of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF). After two were clubbed to death at the weekend, Lungu sent in the army to help the police maintain “law and order”. “I have taken this step in order to ensure that the electoral process... is not interfered with,” he said.…

Washington: US President Joe Biden marked the second anniversary of the massacre at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas by urging the public to fight “domestic terrorism rooted in white supremacy”. On August 3, 2019 a 21-year-old man shot dead 23 people, including eight Mexicans, at the store, stating that he was fighting back against a “Hispanic invasion” of Texas. “We have to act together to counter what is basically domestic terrorism,” Biden said at a meeting with US Hispanic community leaders. “(The) most lethal terrorist threat to our country in recent years is domestic terrorism, domestic terrorism rooted in white supremacy.”…

WYNONA LOUW wynona.louw@inl.co.za SPRINGBOK prop Trevor Nyakane says it doesn’t matter on which side of the scrum he packs down as long as they implement their plans as a unit. Nyakane has been named on the bench at loosehead prop for the series-decider against the British & Irish Lions on Saturday (6pm kickoff). The Boks suffered a 22-17 defeat in the first Test despite a strong first half. Last week, they completely dominated the Lions after the break to pull off a stunning 27-9 triumph. In that game, Nyakane also provided cover for Steven Kitshoff, while he started at tighthead in the opening Test. In that opener, Nyakane, hooker Bongi Mbonambi and loosehead Ox Nche produced a superb outing, with Kitshoff, Malcom Marx and Frans Malherbe replacing them at halftime.…