Indice dei contenuti per 2022-09-07 in Mercury

THE RAND REMAINED weak above the R17-mark against the US dollar yesterday as the size of South Africa’s economy in the second quarter shrank smaller than what it was before the pandemic. Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday showed that real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter due to heavy flooding in Kwa- Zulu-Natal in April and intense power outages. However, the economy was up a touch by 0.2 percent on an annual basis. The subdued economic growth saw the rand weakening to R17.30 against the greenback around 4pm while stocks were stable with the JSE benchmark index remaining almost unchanged. The rand and other emerging markets economies currencies have been struggling to gain traction as investors have sought the safety of the dollar…

THE eThekwini Municipality has launched legal action in an effort to recover its assets that were seized by a private company to satisfy a R30 million debt owed by the city in terms of a court judgment. In terms of the judgment handed down by the Durban High Court, the city was ordered to pay the company, identified as Daily Double Trading 479 cc, trading as Pholobas Projects, R30m and interest. When the payment did not take place and leave to appeal was refused by the high court, the company moved to seize the city’s assets. The city said yesterday that court papers had been prepared and signed by the municipal manager, Bongumusa Mbhele, to call for the unconditional release of its assets. This after the company refused to…

I have received my fair share of letters asking about parenting, only to discover the “baby” to whom the letter refers is a 40-something-year-old man! I know this is an unpopular thought, but I repeat, parenting ends. Somewhere around 17 to 20, it’s done. Parents have two decades to train children for great lives, to face challenges, love others and to serve their communities. This is sufficient time to complete such training if it begins in the parents’ heart and heads long before the child is born and is implemented immediately after the child is born. I do not mean that you are no longer his or her parent – that you will always be – but the function of parenting on your part, ends. Of course you can guide…

The world’s richest man wants the world to make more babies. While many are alarmed about the ballooning human population, Elon Musk, the naturalised American, is worried about the declining birth rate in First World countries. He himself has fathered 10 children and wants everyone to join in the baby-making frenzy. How very thoughtful of him. While it’s true that birth rates are declining in First World countries such as Japan, Canada and the US, there’s no let-up in the production of babies in the poorer Third World countries, which more than makes up for the shortfall in the First World countries. Elon Musk is much admired around the world for being the most successful entrepreneur in the world. Apparently, he read all the books in the Pretoria library by…

The Department of Home Affairs will appoint a multidisciplinary task team to fully investigate all anomalies found in the issuing of permits and visas. This comes after the ministerial review committee found a host of irregularities in the issuance of permanent residence permits, business visas, corporate visas, critical skills visas, study visas, retired persons visas and citizenship by naturalisation between October 2004 and December 2020. Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the multidisciplinary task team would consist of experienced senior counsels, forensic investigators, data analysts and others. “The team will do a deep-dive and may end up preparing dockets, trace people, prepare documents for possible disciplinary committee, go to court to recover government documents obtained fraudulently and where appropriate trace people who need to be deported,” Motsoaledi said. The process…

A GROUP of five people attempted to set fire to the Legal Practice Council building behind the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Monday. Spokesperson for Tshwane Emergency Services Charles Mabaso said firefighters arrived to find part of the building alight, with some occupants reportedly still trapped between the first and third floors. Mabaso said six offices, two each on the ground, first and third floors of the building, were found to be on fire. Firefighters managed to get the blaze under control and extinguished it while ensuring all occupants were safely evacuated. Emergency medical practitioners treated eight patients on the scene, while two people the security officers at the building suspected of being arsonists were treated for minor injuries and taken to hospital. One other patient was treated for smoke…

FORMER Standing Committee on Public Accounts boss Themba Godi and members of his African People’s Convention (APC) will join political parties represented in Parliament in a picket to force Deputy Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka to release her report on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm saga. Although Godi’s party no longer has a seat in Parliament, he accepted an invitation from the eight parliamentary parties who want to see Ramaphosa held accountable. Under the hashtag #ReleasePhala- PhalaReport, the picket will start at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Friday and move to the Public Protector's offices at 175 Lunnon Street, Hillcrest Office Park. “The APC believes public pressure is necessary to ensure transparency and accountability for the Phala Phala malfeasance. It is clear President Cyril Ramaphosa has been caught…

Angry community members from Imbali township in Pietermaritzburg torched the house rented by Lindokuhle Bhande, the taxi driver charged in connection with a crash in which five people died on Sunday. Bhande, 34, made a brief appearance in court on Monday before his case was adjourned to Friday for a bail application. On Sunday, the taxi, which was travelling from Imbali township to the CBD, crashed in Moses Mabhida Road near aluminium factory Hulamin. The KwaZulu-Natal Transport Department said in a statement that it was alleged the taxi driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time. It is understood that community members from Unit BB section in Imbali township torched the house Bhande was living in, in the early hours of Monday. Ward 17 councillor Mphilisi Ndlovu said…

IF Police Minister Bheki Cele is being honest that he knows nothing about the break-in and theft of foreign currency at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo, then South Africans are at the mercy of criminals. The likelihood of Cele not knowing about this crime is slim, and his alleged ignorance on the matter is convenient for a president who is alleged to be trying every trick in the book to save his political career. It makes sense that Ramaphosa does not hesitate to declare his confidence in Cele, who appears to be clueless about how to address crime, and only arrives at crime scenes for TV cameras after the fact. For starters, Ramaphosa never wanted South Africans to know that a gang of Namibians broke into his…

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin attended large-scale military exercises yesterday involving China and several Russia-friendly countries, as Moscow seeks to strengthen partnerships in Asia in the face of Western sanctions. Slapped with unprecedented sanctions from Washington and Brussels since its invasion of Ukraine, Putin has pursued closer ties with countries in Africa, South America and Asia, especially China. Putin attended the Vostok-2022 manoeuvres that were being held in training grounds in Russia’s Far East, and in the waters off its eastern coast, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Putin was meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov at the Sergeyevsky military range, and would later observe the final phase of the military exercises. The drills, involving several of Russia’s neighbours, as well as Syria, India and…

Footage showing that some residents in the earthquake-hit Chinese city of Chengdu were stopped from fleeing their compounds due to a Covid lockdown has sparked anger and disbelief online, a media report said. People in Chengdu said they were told to stay inside through a 6.6-magnitude earthquake on Monday which killed at least 65 persons, BBC reported. Those who ran out said they found the exits shut due to Covid restrictions. Chengdu, home to 9 million people, is under strict lockdown. In some instances, blocks of flats have been designated sealed areas, where residents are forbidden from setting foot outside their homes. A video claiming to be of an audio recording of a loudspeaker message said: “Go back home and do not gather here, it’s just an earthquake.” One man…

Moscow: Russia yesterday accused Ukraine of shelling around Europe’s largest nuclear plant as a report on the facility was expected from the UN atomic agency. The International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday called for the establishment of a security zone around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russia and the site of fighting in recent weeks. “The situation is untenable,” the UN watchdog said after it sent a team there. In the past 24 hours, the territory of the nuclear plant and the city of Energodar were hit 15 times, the Russian defence ministry said, adding that radiation levels around the plant were “normal”. | AFP…

LEST we are in any doubt as to the fullness of the rugby calendar, consider the weekend of 23-24 September — on the 24th, the Springboks will be at Kings Park closing their Rugby Championship campaign against Argentina, but the Sharks players won’t be there to watch. They will still be in Parma in Italy where they would have played Zebre the night before in the opening fixture of the new United Rugby Championship season. Quite obviously the Sharks will be without their 10 Boks for their opening fixtures which takes them from Italy to Wales and then to Ireland on successive weekends, with the Dragons in Newport likely to be a step up in intensity from Zebre before the tour climaxes in Dublin against Leinster, arguably the best team…

Burundian international Bimenyimana made his Chiefs debut over the weekend when he joined the fray against AmaZulu in the 70th minute. He replaced striker Ashley du Preez who had a quiet game after returning from a three-game lay-off because of injury. The record shows that Bimenyimana has not played many games in the past few seasons when he was active in several countries including Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Slovakia and Lithuania. During his 10-minute outing, Chiefs tried to bring him into the game with feeds from deep options, but he struggled to gain possession. He does however come highly recommended and is known as a power striker of the ball and superb in aerial duels. Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane feels the string bean striker needs support from players around him before the…

Former president Jacob Zuma’s private prosecution of senior State advocate Billy Downer is set to be heard in the Pietermaritzburg High Court next month. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) yesterday responded to next month’s private prosecution court appearance, saying it stood by Downer. Zuma in October laid criminal charges at the Pietermaritzburg police station against Downer for the alleged leaking of his medical records to News24 journalist Karyn Maughan who is the second accused in the matter. But when the NPA declined to prosecute the matter, Zuma said he was going ahead with a private prosecution. The charges relate to the alleged contravention of section 41(6) of the NPA Act. Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said one of the issues that would be addressed in court on October 10…

Despite ANC and IFP leaders speaking of burying the hatchet, both parties are involved in a fierce battle for control of Mandlakala area under Ward 12 in uMhlathuze Municipality on the North Coast. The battle has seen both parties inviting popular artists such as DJ Tira and maskandi kingpin Khuzani Mpungose in a bid to draw large crowds for pre-election rallies this Sunday ahead of the by-election next Wednesday. While the ANC has the most seats (26), the IFP, with 23 seats, managed to elbow out its political opponent by entering into a coalition arrangement which includes the DA, the ACDP and Freedom Front Plus to run the municipality. Electoral Commission of South Africa King Cetshwayo regional manager Thule Dlamini said next week’s by-election was a result of the resignation…

A dazzling pink diamond, described as one of the world’s purest, could fetch more than $21 million (R361.6m) when it goes under the hammer in Hong Kong in October, auction house Sotheby’s has said. At 11.15 carats, the cushion-shaped gem is called “Williamson Pink Star”, in tribute to two other pink diamonds. One is the “CTF Pink Star”, a 59.60-carat oval mixed-cut diamond which sold for a record $71.2m at auction in 2017. The other is the “Williamson” stone – a 23.60 carat diamond given to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as a wedding gift by Canadian geologist John Thorburn Williamson. Worn by the monarch in a Cartier brooch, it was discovered in his mine in Tanzania. The “Williamson Pink Star” also originates from that mine. “(Pink diamonds) are exceptionally rare in…

The Tourism Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, called a media conference last week to brag about how well our tourism sector is recovering. Indeed, this is good news. However, I was shocked to hear that Minister Sisulu was taking credit for this improvement. In the first six months of this year, tourism has grown 147% internationally, which translates into a remarkable over 2.2 million international arrivals. South Africans also ensured that they too enjoyed our beautiful country as domestic tourism increased by 23.8% (or 15.2 million trips) compared with the same period last year. I find it astonishing that Minister Sisulu is taking credit for the bounce-back in tourism. The truth is that tourism and its allied sectors are improving despite this government, not because of it. It is thanks to the…

Traffic officials who take bribes will be dealt with harshly, no matter what amount of money is involved, a judge has said. With these words, the judge confirmed the two-year direct jail sentence meted out to a Limpopo traffic official. “Dishonesty remains dishonesty, and the value of gratification received will not make it less dishonest. A high degree of professionalism, morals and honesty is expected from law-enforcement officers. “If they are left to do as they wish, society at large will lose confidence in the officers who are supposed to protect road users from those who break traffic laws daily,” said Judge Maake Kganyago, sitting in the High Court in Polokwane. Traffic officer Portia Ramphelo found out that a bribe – even if it is a mere R150 – comes…

A 31-year-old woman was granted R4 000 bail during her appearance before the Komatipoort Magistrate’s Court after she was arrested for possession of a suspected stolen vehicle. Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said Felecity Boitumelo Tshwarelo Menyayiso was scheduled to make her next court appearance on October 4. Mohlala said she was arrested after she was found driving a vehicle worth about R1.5 million which was reported stolen in Randburg last month, Intelligence-driven information was received last Thursday that a suspected stolen Lexus with Gauteng registration was en route to the Lebombo port of entry and due to be smuggled out of the country, he said. Mohlala said an operation was set up on the N4 which resulted in the arrest of a female South African driver who was…

THE suspended Mhlathuze Water CEO Mthokozisi Duze was denied bail in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court yesterday. He faces charges including fraud and corruption related to a 2018 Mhlathuze Water procurement project. Duze appeared in court with two of his co-accused, Siphiwe Mabaso and Sthembelo Mhlanga, who were granted bail of R25 000 and R250 000 respectively. Magistrate Garth Davis said Duze was unable to prove to the court in his application for bail that he would not interfere with the investigation. The magistrate said he had a written bail ruling which contained the full reasons for his decision. The court heard during the bail hearing that in 2018, Mhlathuze Water as a public entity had to appoint a panel of legal service providers to render services on an…

Hundreds of DA supporters marched to the office of Police Minister Bheki Cele in Tshwane yesterday calling for him to step down from his position. The party said South Africans had had enough of Cele’s “arrogance and incompetence”, with DA leader John Steenhuisen, who led the march, saying Cele’s “failings” have cost the lives, dignity and security of countless South Africans. “When viewed together, the litany of failures on his watch as police minister makes for shocking reading, and it is a shameful indictment on President Ramaphosa that he has not held Cele accountable a long time ago. “It is telling that despite all his lofty promises to combat crime, to reduce the murder rate and to protect women and children from gender-based violence, President Ramaphosa cannot bring himself to…

Cruel politicisation of South Africa’s health services IN SOUTH Africa, reports of xenophobic incidents are a daily reality, but the use of the country’s strained public health system by migrants is now a hot-button issue, as impartial access to health care has become highly politicised in recent weeks. To reach a political objective, Operation Dudula’s anti-migrant protesters targeted the sick and vulnerable outside Kalafong Hospital in Pretoria, where they profiled patients, allegedly by skin colour and language, turning away anyone who failed to pass muster. The protesters also targeted Hillbrow Community Health Centre, where they intimidated migrants accessing care. Days before, in a Limpopo hospital, MEC for health Dr Phophi Ramathuba was filmed berating a Zimbabwean patient, claiming that migrants are “killing my health system”. During a television interview, a…

Brandishing sticks, parents and children blocked the path of other parents with children trying to get to classrooms for the start of the school year. Police were deployed to prevent the angry confrontation from getting out of hand. Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is no stranger to conflict, but this year even just going back to school has been freighted with recrimination and division. This scene played out this week in Rutshuru territory in North Kivu province, the epicentre of clashes pitching government forces and UN peacekeepers against a militia called the M23. The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, creating a crisis that now ricochets across many sectors, especially lodging and education. Rugabo school had been used to house displaced families during…

STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s politicians are ignoring the climate crisis in the run-up to the election on September 11 and treating it as if it were just a problem rather than a life-or-death threat, activist Greta Thunberg said. Thunberg, whose Friday protests outside Sweden’s parliament years ago turned into a global youth movement demanding action on climate change, said the issue had been “pretty much non-existent” during the campaign. “We have completely been focusing on other things,” she said, adding that politicians were treating the climate as a distant problem. “Just take Pakistan now, as a very clear example,” she said. | Reuters…

SEOUL: A typhoon tore through South Korea’s southern industrial hubs yesterday, leaving at least two people dead, 10 missing and thousands displaced. Typhoon Hinnamnor left the Korean peninsula early yesterday after battering the south-eastern industrial cities of Pohang, Gyeongju and Ulsan with strong winds and heavy rain. In Pohang, a resident was swept away and killed by strong currents, and eight others were reported missing in submerged underground parking lots. The typhoon forced hundreds of flight cancellations, the suspension of business operations and school closings. | Reuters…

THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has criticised the behaviour of pupils at Ndengetho High School, in KwaNdengezi, near Pinetown, for allegedly torching and vandalising parts of the school after their cellphones were confiscated by the police during a school raid. During the raid, which took place last week, the police seized weapons, drugs and cellphones. Teacher unions and the KwaZulu-Natal Parents’ Association have also expressed outrage at the pupils’ action. The department said it condemned the torching of classrooms and vandalism that took place at Ndengetho High School on Thursday. “According to the reports from the school, the learners were reacting to the search-and-seizure operation that was conducted by the SAPS, which led to weapons, cellphones and drugs being confiscated. According to the school’s code of conduct, learners are…

TV FOOTAGE of the week was Sky News’s Dan Whitehead sitting in the meerkat cage at Bristol Zoo speaking to an official about the zoo’s pending move, after 186 years, to another site. The meerkats had been flung some food, on which they descended. But when they’d finished that they investigated Whitehead, trying to crawl up his trouser leg – not on the outside but from the inside. Whitehead had quite a time of it fending them off with his hands as they nipped and nibbled around his ankles and some of them actually got inside his trousers to climb to better things. More food was chucked and that kept the meerkats occupied for a time. But only for a time. Next thing they were back at Whitehead’s ankles with…

Graphic illustrations about the wanton destruction of school property at Alex High and confirmation that the virtual destruction of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital was an act of arson reveal that we are a nation of vandals, destructive predators, who even desecrate tombstones. The monumental destruction of the passenger rail system by miscreants graphically illustrates and confirms that we are a nation of shameless vandals. Under the shadow of Covid-19, shameless criminals dismantled a fully functional rail system, affecting millions of commuters. We vandalise anything from the new to the old, beautiful to the ugly, the public to the private, precious to the inexpensive. Vandalism is considered to be the result of wilful or thoughtless behaviour towards the environment, resulting in the destruction and damage of private and state property. Last year,…

Donald Trump’s branding of Joe Biden as being “an enemy of the state” (The Mercury, September 5) follows Biden’s similar branding of Trump supporters in a speech last week. At issue here is what constitutes “the state”. Traditionally, references to “the state” involve the constitution as it provides for the separate roles of the legislature, executive and judiciary. But as Farouk Araie pointed out in his exceptionally well-informed letter on August 24, irrespective of which party governed, for decades the US has been controlled by an inner power aligned to what president Eisenhower termed “the military industrial complex”, otherwise known as Deep State. As a result of Deep State’s roots and influence, the federal government in Washington DC has long since ceased to represent the first three words of the…

A South Coast doctor charged with the rape of a patient is expected to apply for bail today. The man, 42, who cannot be named until he pleads, is alleged to have raped a patient, 20, at the Port Shepstone Hospital. Provincial police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said it’s alleged the victim was being examined by the suspect when she was raped. “A case of rape was opened at Port Shepstone police station, and the docket was transferred to Port Shepstone Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for further investigation.” Ngcobo said the suspect appeared in court on August 30. The KZN Department of Health confirmed the doctor had been served with a letter of suspension at a correctional facility. Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority…

Creatives, lobby groups and political parties are divided over the Copyright Amendment Bill passed by the National Assembly last week. The bill, which has now been sent to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence, will now become the focus of parliamentary hearings, as well as public hearings, in all nine provincial legislatures. The draft legislation seeks to introduce fair copyright to South Africa, ensure fair royalties for creators and fair use for communities, as well as to bring it in line with international treaties and best practice. It also seeks to balance the rights of originators or artists with those of the users, while simultaneously giving support to the creative and commercial success of SA art and artists. ReCreate South Africa, which promotes the interests of South African creatives…

The life of a Cape Town street vendor is about to change for the better after he won the R86 million Lotto jackpot. National lottery operator Ithuba said the man came forward to claim his winnings after realising on Sunday that he had won. He said he purchased a ticket at Shoprite in Durbanville and had played via the manual selection. The winner said: “The first thing we did when I realised I had won was pray and thank the Lord. “Only my wife and children know that we have won. “I play the lottery games twice a month, and I mix my numbers each time I play. “I have never won this much money before; the most I won from a game was R450. “All my life I have…

This campaign will see a star being named after a lucky donor once the registry has reached 100 000 donor registrations. According to the deputy director of the SABMR, Jane Ward, they consider each one of their almost 80 000 existing donors as stars. “Much like stars that are born in the same cluster share similar chemical signatures, which help scientists track the stars they are related to, so our donor searches help us to find genetic twins among humans that share matching DNA, no matter where in the world they are. “We are intimately connected with the universe – even our bodies are said to have been made of many of the same elements that stars are made of – which is why we thought it apt to name…

As the UN warned of more misery to come, Pakistan scrambled yesterday to widen a breach in its biggest lake in a bid to prevent it from overflowing amid unprecedented floods that have inundated a third of the nation. Flooding, brought by record monsoon rainfall and glacier melt in the north, has affected 33 million people and killed at least 1 325, including 466 children, the national disaster agency said. About 636 940 displaced people had been housed in tent villages, it said, adding that the raging waters had swept away 1.6 million houses, roads, rail and telecommunication systems, and inundated more than 809 000 hectres of farmland, destroying both standing and stored crops. Reuters’ drone footage over Sindh province showed agricultural and residential areas completely submerged in…

After months of upheaval, Britain is relying on time-honored traditions as power and an abundance of economic and political problems are transferred from outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Liz Truss. Johnson and Truss travelled in separate planes to see Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle in Scotland this time, rather than the traditional Buckingham Palace setting. The queen, 96, has missed many events on the royal calendar because of her health. But as long as the key players would come to where she’s been staying, she did not appear to want to delegate these meetings. In a private audience, Johnson bowed to the queen and tendered his resignation. Truss followed, asking permission to form a government. The ceremony is called “kissing hands”, though in modern politics there is no…

London: One is Liz Truss, Britain’s former foreign secretary and now prime minister. The other is Liz Trussell, an ordinary Twitter user. But having snapped up the @Liztruss Twitter handle more than a decade ago, the “other Liz Truss” has found herself bombarded with messages intended for Downing Street’s newest resident, whose handle is @trussliz. Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson mistakenly congratulated Trussell, who has been revelling in the confusion. “Congratulations to Liz Truss,” Andersson wrote. “Sweden and Great Britain will continue our deep and extensive co-operation.” “Looking forward to a visit soon!” Trussell replied. “Get the meatballs ready.” Among others to get the two mixed up were MP and Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, who berated Truss in her tweet for being a “right wing ideologue” and predicting her…

Houston: Students from a Texas school that was hit by one of the worst mass shootings in US history returned to class yesterday under tight security. The May massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde – in which an 18-year-old shot and killed 19 students and two teachers – sent shockwaves throughout the country. Classes did not resume after the attack, and the start of the new school year was delayed by a month to allow still-traumatised students more time to prepare. The children will not be returning to the original Robb Elementary building but to another school, with the same name and with upgraded security measures, about 1km away. | AFP…