Indice dei contenuti per 2021-10-05 in Mercury

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za South Africa’s tourism industry could be thrown a lifeline later this week when the United Kingdom (UK) government reviews its decision on travel restrictions, which could boost economic activity ahead of the festive season. This comes after a meeting of scientists and advisors from both countries last week on further research into the Beta variant that has created the perception that South Africa was a Covid-19 hotspot. The relaxation of South Africa’s lockdown restriction to their lowest, with a midnight curfew and alcohol sales throughout the week, as the country officially “exited” the third wave of infections, is likely to boost the prospect of relaxation of the UK ban. Currently, South Africa is one of 54 countries on the UK’s “red list”, from which travellers arriving…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dudla@inl.co.za THE RAND OPENED the week on the back foot again yesterday, after closing stronger on Friday, as the markets turned highly risk sensitive with fallout over China’s largest property group, Evergrande, taking another turn. On Friday, the rand firmed strongly, closing 1.4 percent stronger at R14.87 to the greenback as US bond yields firmed and the dollar backtracked on its recent strength. But Chinese property giant Evergrande’s shares were suspended yesterday, triggering fears of its potential collapse, a move that would trigger serious shock waves throughout global markets. The company said it was going to make “an announcement containing inside information about a major transaction” which could see it selling a majority stake to a rival real estate firm in order to cover its mounting debt.…

GIVEN MAJOLA given.majola@inl.co.za THE MULTI-BILLION rand film and television sector can create employment and transformation, and uplift those participating in it, says Coal Stove Pictures founder and executive producer Wandile Molebatsi. However, only about R15.8 million of the billions invested were going to black, female and previously disadvantaged people and companies, he said, even though a number of black film-makers were producing excellent local content and Hollywood blockbusters in South Africa. Molebatsi said the industry had good potential for life-changing employment and transformation. “There is still an obvious disparity in the industry, what can we do about it together?” he asked. Last month, the National Film and Video Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, released the findings of its third Economic Impact Assessment,…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za A FACTION aligned to former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede will call for a regional conference immediately after the November local government elections. The faction committed to campaigning for the ruling party’s victory in the local government elections, saying it did not want to see the metro falling into the hands of the opposition. The faction, calling itself Unity and Continuity, has been vocal about the Proportional Representation (PR) list, which it said was not a true reflection of the sentiments from the eThekwini Region’s branches. Their main contention has been the appearance of Thabani Nyawose at the top of the PR list, and not their preferred candidate Zamazulu Sokhabase, with many members accusing the provincial leadership of manipulating the list. Spokesperson for the group Njabulo Mchunu said…

At the windswept summit of Buachaille Etive Mòr, a Scottish peak more than 1 020 metres above sea level, 81-year-old Nick Gardner stops to gaze down at the rugged peaks, lochs and valleys visible through the drifting clouds. “It’s so exciting every time I still feel like a little boy,” he said. “I need my hat and gloves on, and my windproof jacket, but it’s absolutely magnificent. I’d much sooner be here than in a centrally heated house.” For Gardner, who moved with his wife Janet from suburban England to a remote corner of the Scottish highlands at the age of 50, climbing mountains has become more than just a boyhood dream. Two years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018, Janet, a former teacher who also suffers from osteoporosis,…

JOHN GARDENER | Howick I WISH to commend Penny de Vries on her excellent letter (The Mercury, September 30). It came like a breath of fresh air and I feel quite certain that many readers will share in the views so eloquently – and honestly – expressed. To ordinary South Africans struggling to keep their heads above water in these difficult times, it is utterly irrelevant whether Covid-19 qualifies as an epidemic or a pandemic. The hard fact is that over 86 000 members of the community have succumbed to the condition, a number which continues to rise. I try to adopt a common sense approach to such matters and had the vaccination done, in the same way that I have an annual flu jab. I wear my…

JULIA REYNOLDS | Bluff I SEE that Anthony Starkey (The Mercury, October 1) is once again attempting to dismiss the facts that Duncan du Bois puts forward regarding Covid-19 and vaccination because he does not approve of the sources Mr Du Bois uses. The reality that Mr Starkey needs to appreciate is that the information narrative adhered to by the mass media on this subject, as well as on climate change, is set and controlled by Big Tech, Big Pharma, the moneyed elite and their bought politicians. Any data that differs from that narrative is either censored or dismissed as “false” or as “misinformation”. Recently, YouTube announced that any post it regarded as “misinformation” on vaccines would be removed. So when Mr Starkey quotes an article in a…

| African News Agency (ANA) A new report by Africa Health says the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for digital health care in Africa. The digital and events platform in the health-care sector in Africa said this included the potential of tele- medicine to bring quality health care via satellite or cellular communication to hard-to-reach, remote locations in rural Africa. The health platform said this digital leap would benefit those whose access to formal health-care services may be limited or non-existent. According to the report, from a technological point of view, the pandemic had forced much of the world into the fourth industrial revolution and a new digital reality. “It has also been a catalyst for fast- tracking digitisation in health that would otherwise have taken a decade…

Goitsemang Tlhabye goitsemang.tlhabye@inl.co.za Dr Michael Barnes has managed to “hit two birds with one stone”. He will walk away with two qualifications after his Master’s thesis was converted into a PhD qualification. Barnes, a University of Pretoria Master’s student, received a pleasant surprise after submitting his dissertation for external examination, only for it to be so exceptional that it was converted into a PhD. His dissertation, focusing on atmospheric dynamics, was, according to an international examiner from Oxford University, “a truly outstanding and excep- tional piece of work” based on the depth and breadth of the work submitted. Barnes said the thesis studied the dynamics of upper tropospheric weather systems called cut-off lows, analysing the properties of these weather systems that extend all the way to the surface compared to…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) has reported that there was an increase in the number of deaths in police custody and deaths as a result of police action in KwaZulu-Natal during the 2020/21 financial year. Ipid released its annual report on Friday. The released data was a breakdown of the cases that it received, its recommendations, and the outcome of the cases during the period under review. According to the report, a national total of 6 122 cases were reported to the Ipid during the period. Of these, 4 228 were assault cases, 380 were cases of complaints of discharge of a firearm, 353 were cases of deaths as a result of police action and 256 were cases of torture. KZN had the largest number of…

Beijing’s action has a strong message for emerging world, to stand together in face of crises Nelson Mandela, it is said, once experienced a serious bout of turbulence when he was flying. While his colleagues on the flight were panicking, Madiba sat still in his plane seat not flinching. When the passengers finally disembarked, someone turned to Tata Madiba and asked him if he had not been afraid during the turbulence. “Of course! I was scared,” Madiba replied, “but when faced with a crisis, a leader never shows his emotions. He must keep calm so that he may send a message to those around him to remain calm.” As the world experiences the crisis of Covid-19, vaccine nationalism and a slumping global economy, China has been the only leading power…

WASHINGTON: The Czech prime minister, the king of Jordan and the chairman of India’s biggest conglomerate were among global figures denying wrongdoing yesterday, after the leak of what major news outlets called a secret trove of documents about offshore finance. Lebanon’s last two prime ministers and the serving governor of the country’s Central Bank are wiring funds to offshore accounts at a time when the country is in the grip of a crippling economic crisis and the banking system is in disarray, the ICIJ said in the Pandora Papers exposé. “In ... Lebanon, the Pandora Papers show top political and financial figures have embraced offshore havens. They include the current prime minister, Najib Mikati, his predecessor, Hassan Diab, and Riad Salameh, the governor of Lebanon’s central bank, under investigation in…

Kuala Lumpur: Eleven endangered turtles have been found slaughtered off the Malaysian part of Borneo island, with members of an indigenous, sea-dwelling community suspected of targeting them for food, officials said yesterday. Wildlife officials found the green turtles Friday during patrols near the city of Semporna, in Sabah state. It is a crime in Malaysia to target protected turtles, punishable by jail terms and fines. The department said such crimes in the area are usually committed by the Bajau Laut, a community of sea-dwelling nomads who typically live on boats off Borneo.…

One of the finest sub-plots to the Springboks’ victory over the All Blacks on the Gold Coast at the weekend was the performance of Elton Jantjies. The Boks departed for South Africa via Brisbane on Sunday following a remarkable 31-29 win over the Rugby Championship-winning All Blacks in a thriller of a Test. The result saw the South Africans bounce back from three defeats on the trot. In their last meeting against the New Zealanders for the 2021 season, Jantjies came on at flyhalf – with starting No 10 Handre Pollard shifting to midfield – after wing Sbu Nkosi left the field after taking a knock to his head. It was a longer run than usual for Jantjies, who had been unused in the three Tests the Boks played in…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za ASCENDIS Health received the nod from shareholders to proceed with a proposed restructuring of the group that has avoided placing the company’s South African assets in business rescue. The approval paves the way for the implementation of the transaction to settle debt of approximately €444 million (R7.65 billion) owed to senior lenders. Ascendis said 98.5 percent of shareholders voted in favour of the recapitalisation, exceeding the required 75 percent threshold. Shareholders representing over 47 percent of the company’s issued shares voted at the general meeting. Shareholders also supported the transactions for the disposal of the Animal Health and Respiratory Care Africa (RCA) businesses. Chief executive Mark Sardi welcomed the strong vote of confidence from retail and institutional shareholders following months of negotiations…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za INSURER Metropolitan has come out strongly to combat youth unemployment by backing the Collective Shapers initiative with the launch of the first incubator programme in Polokwane, Limpopo, to aid the city develop its farming knowledge and skills and to alleviate youth unemployment. The initiative in Polokwane is in conjunction with Agri Enterprises, who are the partners in this first leg, which will then move to other parts of the country. The programme in Polokwane includes education on agriculture, building and maintaining a business, and post-course support for when participants leave the classroom and begin working. Metropolitan head of marketing Nontokozo Madonsela told Business Report the Polokwane initiative, which will take a first batch of 20 agricultural entrepreneurs, was a litmus for the roll-out expected over the next…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za THE safety of ambulance workers has been brought into the spotlight again after a 40-year-old paramedic was killed and her colleague critically injured while they were responding to an emergency, in the early hours of yesterday morning in Estcourt, northern KwaZulu- Natal. Phumzile Dlamini and her crewmate, whose name has been withheld, were on their way to fetch a patient who needed to be taken to hospital when they were attacked. Captain Nqobile Gwala, KZN police spokesperson, said that on Sunday night, two brothers were at their home at Mimosadale in Estcourt when shots were fired inside the house by unknown suspects. While the paramedics were leaving the area where the shooting had taken place, they came under fire. Gwala said Dlamini sustained gunshot wounds and was…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za The Special Tribunal yesterday reserved judgment in the R40 million Beitbridge border fence case where the SIU (Special Investigating Unit) is seeking to have the contract reviewed and set aside. The 40km border fence project was initiated by the department in March 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Special Tribunal, the SIU alleges that the department did not follow state procurement regulations when it awarded the border fence contract to construction companies Caledon River Properties (Pty) Ltd and ProfTeam CC. The tribunal’s judge, Lebohang Modiba, said she had a lot to consider and needed to consult case law. She said the judgment would be ready either by the end of the year, or early next year. When the hearing started, the SIU…

AN IRISH ballad comes this way, courtesy of The Dubliners. Sick Note Dear Sir, I write this note to you to tell you of me plight, And at the time of writing I am not a pretty sight, Me body is all black and blue, me face a deathly grey, And I write this note to say why Paddy’s not at work today. While working on the fourteenth floor, some bricks I had to clear, Now to throw them down from such a height it was not a good idea, The foreman wasn’t very pleased, he being an awkward sod, He said I’d have to cart them down the ladders in me hod. Now clearing out these bricks by hand it was so very slow, So I hoisted up a…

DR BOB CLARK | Southbroom MR DUNCAN du Bois’s letter (The Mercury, September 29), refers. I am not sure where he got his facts from, but vaccinations are part of our lives and have been proved over many years to be effective and valuable. The protesters, methinks, protest too much and they cause unnecessary fear. Once upon a time, animals died because they were not vaccinated. The only occasions one now sees distemper, hepatitis, parvo, leptospirosis, cat diseases, rabies and so on is in unvaccinated dogs and cats. African horse sickness raises its ugly head when owners do not vaccinate or stop vaccinating. The same applies to farming stock – vaccinate. Does he remember polio, measles, mumps and rubella? I hope Mr Du Bois keeps out of restaurants,…

The mayor of the Naledi Local Municipality in the North West, Neo Schalk, was killed in a head-on collision outside Vryburg on Sunday, North West Community Safety and Transport Management MEC Sello Lehari said. “Mayor Schalk died in a motor accident earlier this morning (Sunday). “According to the police report, the mayor’s vehicle was involved in a head-on collision on the N14 just outside Vryburg. Both the mayor and the driver of another vehicle were certified dead at the scene,” Lehari said. In a condolence message to the family, Lehari described Schalk as a foot soldier. “In the many joint law-enforcement operations we held in Vryburg, mayor Schalk was always there. “He would actively participate, imploring road users to obey the rules of the road. I am saddened by his…

FORMER Pretoria News editor, veteran journalist and National Press Club chairperson Val Boje died yesterday morning after undergoing surgery at Zuid Afrikaans Hospital in Pretoria. Boje, who was married to Roy Devenish for 39 years, would have turned 63 in November. She had gone to hospital for a minor heart operation a few days ago. According to one of her last social media statuses, she was upbeat and positive about her health and the care that she was receiving. In a statement, her family said the legendary scribe lived and breathed the Pretoria News. She worked her entire career at the Pretoria daily owned by Independent Media. “This is something unheard of in modern times. That’s an indication of the sort of dedication and loyalty that was so much a…

Xolile Bhengu xolile.bhengu@inl.co.za JOB seekers should be vigilant when responding to employment adverts, as they have become a potent tool used by human trafficking predators to lure vulnerable young women into a life of crime and drug use. This was said during a webinar hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) yesterday, which was held to create awareness for students and the community. The university, in partnership with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the KZN Human Trafficking, Harmful Traditional Practices, Prostitution, Pornography and Brothels Task Team, hosted the webinar to create awareness about human trafficking as it is one of the leading crimes in South Africa and the world at large. Tershia de Klerk, the chief operating officer at Stop Trafficking of People, shared information on online tools…

LOGISTICS is the lifeblood of our economy, which in turn demands an efficient transport infrastructure. Sadly, our economic decline has impeded the maintenance of our road and rail transport infrastructure while the pandemic condemned us to house arrest. The need for innovative delivery mechanisms has elevated drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as topical alternatives. For example, the South African National Blood Transfusion Service has used UAVs to safely transport blood for transfusion or analysis between centres, in an economical, time-efficient manner. The service becomes lifesaving when one realises that blood availability is erratic and supplies need to be geographically redeployed. Much larger drones will be used to deliver 70kg relief food aid in remote Mozambique. Domino’s launched “Pie in the Sky” to deliver pizzas to customers. Intriguingly, drones have…

The UK government yesterday said it was ready to abandon a post-Brexit trading accord for Northern Ireland unless the EU agreed to changes. Brexit minister David Frost said he anticipated a response from Brussels “over the next couple of weeks” regarding the province. That would then trigger what Frost said should be a short period of negotiations that could lead to the government invoking a suspension clause, Article 16, of the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol. “I assume if we do use Article 16, the EU will look to retaliate” through trade tariffs on UK-wide goods, he said. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said: “The current structure of the Protocol … is failing everyone in Northern Ireland.” In Brussels, EU spokesperson Dan Ferrie said: “We’re working intensively to find practical solutions.”…

TOKYO: Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said yesterday he planned to call a general election on October 31. Kishida made the announcement at a press conference last night after he was elected as the 100th prime minister in Japanese political history in the afternoon. As the term of the members of the House of Representatives is set to expire on October 21, Kishida said he would dissolve the lower chamber of the parliament on October 14. He also said that the campaigning for members of the House of Representatives is slated to begin on October 19. Kishida served as Japan’s foreign minister from 2012 to 2017.…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za Graeme Smith has stressed the importance of India’s end of year tour to South Africa in order for Cricket South Africa (CSA) to maintain its development projects. The international cricket calendar has been thrown inyo turmoil over this past 18 months due to Covid-19 with CSA already experiencing England pulling out of an ODI series last November, while Australia did not arrive at all in South Africa back in March. The suspension of these tours came at a great financial cost to CSA, although they have since hosted both the Pakistan Men’s and Women’s teams, along with the Sri Lankan Men’s team in bio-secure environments successfully. But with England withdrawing from a short tour to Pakistan recently citing “bubble fatigue”, concerns have been raised once again…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za JAYENDRA Naidoo, by his conduct, “breached and violated his fiduciary duty” and was not empowered with authority to institute legal proceedings against furniture retailer Steinhoff, according to a Western Cape High Court judgment last week. Steinhoff challenged a resolution adopted by Lancaster 101 which purported to grant Naidoo its director authority to institute legal proceedings in a bid to recoup losses after the retailer’s share price crashed in December 2017. Steinhoff argued Naidoo did not have authority to institute legal proceedings given his directorship in Lancaster 101 (L101) and the subsequent “windfall” that he received as sole shareholder and director of the Lancaster Group. Naidoo, a former trade unionist through his company L101, convinced the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which manages assets worth over R1 trillion,…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE AGRICULTURAL sector was likely to grow by more than 6 percent this year after an already solid growth of 13.4 percent year-on-year last year, the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) said yesterday. The association of agribusinesses chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said this expansion would likely slow to a long-term average of about 3 percent next year. “The continuous favourable weather conditions, strong export activity and relatively higher commodity prices will remain critical catalysts for growth in this sector in the near term. “While there remains uncertainty about the commodity price trajectory, the expected La Niña and associated dryness it typically brings to South America could prove to be a significant global price supporting factor and, in turn, boost the South African agricultural commodities market,”…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za The slow pace at which the Constitutional Court hands down its judgments in urgent matters came under the spotlight during interviews for Concourt judges yesterday. Commissioner Julius Malema brought the issue into focus when he asked Judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane and Judge Rammaka Mathopo about their views during their interviews. Malema was referring particularly to the Constitutional Court’s delay in ruling on former president Jacob Zuma’s application for a rescission of the contempt of court order against him. Malema said the matter was brought on an urgent basis before the court and the delay in handing down the judgment was unacceptable. He said there was a great sense of uncertainty in the country while waiting for the judgment. He further questioned the candidates on how Concourt justices could…

WHEN you love someone, you want to spend time with her no matter what she is doing; things important or things trivial. It is the time, the companionship, that is important. It is not the activity or the lack of it. And, you want the time to drag on. When you love someone, you want to hear what he has to say, what is troubling him, what excites him and how he wants to spend his future. The things that are important to him are also important to you. You want to invest time in his interests. When you love someone, her memories of things she enjoyed as a young child become important to you. You listen as she recounts them, even if she has done so many times before.…

THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN | Kloof I was in Benoni for a couple of days to spend some time with my grandchildren. One day I was outside with them when it began to thunder and rain. They didn’t sing, “Rain, rain, go away, come back another day”, but, like children, were excited to see the raindrops. The little one was possibly seeing rain for the first time. They were enjoying themselves in the rain when the father, horrified that I had let the children play when it was thundering and raining, grabbed the toddler and ran inside with her. The thunder wasn’t loud and frightening. We had a heated argument, I shouted at him and asked him if he hadn’t played in the rain when he was a child. The…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff DeplorinG an argument without factually disproving it may be self-serving but is otherwise pointless. Penny de Vries’s assertion that “vaccination is an act of loyal citizenship”(The Mercury, September 30) is a case in point. Without adducing a shred of contrary evidence, her primary objection to the case against Covid-19 vaccination is that it is based on “harmful information”, is “right-wing”, and reflects a “conspiracy theory”. Such an outlook is sad because it reflects an uncritical acceptance of opinions simply because they have been repeatedly stated by sources that are familiar and therefore must be beyond question. Compounding that outlook, De Vries draws comfort from the fact that millions have already been vaccinated, and therefore, it must be not only the right thing…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za STAFF shortages and poor infrastructure, including dilapidated buildings and lack of laundry services in rural hospitals, mean that rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal are not enjoying adequate and effective health-care services. These are some of the findings by investigators from the office of the Public Protector during a fact-finding mission to four KZN hospitals. The investigation was conducted at Christ the King District Hospital at Ixopo; Rietvlei District Hospital at uMzimkhulu; Mbongolwane District Hospital at Eshowe; and KwaMagwaza District Hospital at Melmoth in October last year. Its findings are contained in a 92-page report released last week. According to the report, the investigation was conducted following widespread media reports about the poor provision and maladministration of health-care services at public hospitals in South Africa. Similar investigations were carried…

Karen Singh karen.singh@inl.co.za The United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) warehouse in Cornubia, north of Durban, would not have been conducting business in the area if proper licensing and regulations were followed, according to groundWork, Friends of the Earth South Africa, environmental health campaigner Rico Euripidou. Euripidou was speaking following the release of the joint preliminary investigation report into the compliance profile of UPL by Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs Minister Barbara Creecy in uMhlanga on Sunday. Creecy also announced that a criminal case had been opened in connection with the chemical spill from the UPL warehouse, due to a fire during the July unrest. Pesticide and agro-chemicals spilled into the Ohlanga River, uMhlanga estuary and the sea as a result of the fire. The report said that UPL had failed to…

The time has come for the government to impose harsher fines on companies that have been found to be responsible for serious environmental degradation. The decision taken by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs, Barbara Creecy, to open a criminal case in connection with the chemical spill from the United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) warehouse during the July unrest should be applauded and encouraged. Pesticide and agro-chemicals spilt into Ohlange River, uMhlanga Estuary and the sea as a result of the fire. Creecy’s announcement comes after the release of a joint preliminary investigation report into the compliance profile of the Cornubia-based warehouse. Companies need to know that they should respect and adhere to the country’s environmental laws or face stiff punishment, including criminal prosecution and the jailing of their…

AN analyst at the European Foundation for South Asian Studies has expressed concern over religious schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan becoming breeding grounds for terrorists. In her virtual speech at the 48th session of UN Human Rights Session, Anne Heckendorff said: “It is well-known that the menace of terrorism in South Asia has largely grown out of religious schools, the so-called Madrassas. These schools that often times instil a distorted, ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam still flourish uninhibitedly in Pakistan and Afghanistan”. She said: “The Taliban and the dreaded Haqqani network were born from such Madrassas in Pakistan. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and other terrorist organisations continue operating such terror factories in Pakistan under the protection of the country’s powerful intelligence agency”. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, there are illegal “madrasas” which…

Ouagadougou: Nine soldiers were killed in an attack on a military detachment in jihadist-hit northern Burkina Faso yesterday. “Armed individuals attacked the military detachment of Yirgou” in the Barsalogho department early yesterday, a security source said, giving a provisional death toll of nine soldiers. Another security source confirmed the toll, adding that five people were injured in the attack and “evacuated” for treatment. That source added that there was also an “enormous” amount of equipment lost, with some burnt and “other equipment taken away by the attackers”. A government source said search operations were under way “with reinforcements deployed in the area”.…