Indice dei contenuti per 2023-04-13 in Mercury

Political experts say the moonshot pact, a grouping of civil-society bodies and opposition parties opposed to an ANC-EFF coalition government, should instead focus on saving the country. John Steenhuisen, following his re-election as DA federal leader earlier this month, said the party would immediately initiate a process to form a pre-election “moonshot pact” with like-minded political parties, civil-society organisations and civic movements to defeat the ANC and keep the EFF out. “The pact’s purpose will also be to agree on rules of engagement that will enable different organisations to retain their own identities while bringing an end to the petty squabbles and division that only benefits the ANC. “It will not be enough to save South Africa if we drag the ANC to just below 50%, as that will still…

PARLIAMENT has received a damning report on the events leading to the escape of Thabo Bester from the Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) last year. It was presented by security company G4S, which appeared before the justice and correctional services portfolio committee yesterday after it asked to be summoned. The prison is run by G4S on behalf of Correctional Services. Briefing the committee, the head of the MCC, Joseph Monyante, said that Bester had made an application requesting that he be transferred to a single cell for his own safety on April 30, 2022, which was approved by Correctional Services. He also said a fire was discovered in Bester’s cell at 4am on May 3 and was extinguished by prison personnel. Monyante said a doctor, who arrived about an hour later,…

So the minister of transport says that most vehicle accidents are due to the human factor. Wow, what an amazing conclusion. Ever see any non-humans drive a vehicle? What should happen is proper law enforcement. If one considers the number of accidents in which trucks are involved, one needs to question the effective monitoring of these vehicles. Do we know whether these vehicles go for regular check-ups/services? Do we access the records of the vehicle when it is involved in an accident? As long as the owner of the logistics company is not held responsible in any way, nothing will change. An accident happens, the driver gets nailed and the insurance company pays out. Perhaps insurance companies should come to the party and request records regarding the maintenance of the…

So this is what our new democracy has come to. The ANC/EFF alliance has now appointed its third mayor who boasts one seat in the “house”. Is this deemed to be representative politics? That we can no longer hope to be led by competent administrators, but can expect to be led by political minions who emerge out of the wilderness with no practical experience, and no real ambition to change the lives of their constituencies, other than to feather their nests and those of their masters? Shame on us that we allowed ourselves to be governed by these charlatans.…

The decision to terminate the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) is “procedurally unfair and procedurally irrational”, in the absence of any prior consultation process with those affected. This is according to the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF), which has gone to court to review and set aside Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi’s decision to terminate the ZEP programme and to refuse any further extensions beyond June 30. The matter is being heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria and affects over 178 000 Zimbabwean nationals living in South Africa who are holders of ZEPs. “It is just and equitable to set aside the decision and to remit it back to the minister to make a fresh decision, following a proper, procedurally fair process. All parties agreed that a human…

Health Minister Joe Phaahla has revealed that nearly 30 allegations of fraud have been referred to the Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum (HSACF) since 2018. “All allegations were referred to the relevant entities of the HSACF for formal investigations,” he said in reply to parliamentary questions from DA MP Lindy Wilson. Phaahla said the forum had registered “significant investigation outcomes” after 12 matters were reported and formally investigated. These related to criminal prosecution, civil recoveries, and medical aid sanctions. The minister mentioned, among others, the freezing order of a former North West head of department’s pension to the tune of R2.1 million in connection with the Aero Medical and Patient Transport contract. The head of department was dismissed in January 2020 and a disciplinary referral was made for the CFO, who…

Charges against the men accused of the rape and murder of Hillary Gardee have been provisionally withdrawn. Hlabirwa Rassie Nkuna, Sipho Mkhatshwa, Philemon Lukhele and Albert Gama appeared in the Mpumalanga High Court yesterday for the start of their trial. However, the State informed the court that it had to withdraw the charges. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Mpumalanga said the matter was withdrawn after three key State witnesses could not be traced. “The prosecution will engage with the SAPS to trace the witnesses in the matter with the hope of reinstating the charges,” the NPA said. The accused had been facing charges of kidnapping, murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and defeating the ends of justice. | Mercury Correspondent…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa must see the failed extradition of the state capture-accused Gupta brothers as yet another major blow to his government’s efforts to get to the bottom of the serious allegations against the fugitives. The failure to have them testify and give their side of the story during the costly Zondo commission of inquiry should have compelled the government to go the extra mile in having them brought back to the country to account for the corruption allegations against them. South Africa’s request to extradite Atul and Rajesh Gupta was recently dismissed, with a United Arab Emirates (UAE) court ruling that it had jurisdiction to prosecute the Guptas for money laundering offences allegedly committed in the UAE and South Africa. To this, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola…

US President Joe Biden urged Northern Irish political leaders to restore their powersharing government with the promise that scores of US corporations were ready to invest in the region as he marked the 25th anniversary of peace in Belfast. Biden, who is fiercely proud of his Irish heritage, spent just over half a day in the UK region, where he met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, before travelling south to the Irish Republic for two-and-a-half days of speeches and meetings with officials and distant relatives. The brief Belfast stop comes against the backdrop of the latest political stalemate in which the devolved power- sharing government, a key part of the 1998 peace deal, has not met for more than a year due to a row about post-Brexit trade arrangements. “It…

Fresh clashes with M23 rebels erupted yesterday near the eastern DR Congo city of Goma, according to officials, rupturing weeks of relative calm in the troubled region. A Tutsi-led group, the M23 has won a string of victories against the army and enemy militias since re-emerging from dormancy in late 2021, capturing swathes of North Kivu province. The group also triggered a vast humanitarian crisis as it closed in on the provincial capital Goma, a trade hub of more than one million people. Yesterday, armed men claiming to be Congolese patriots attacked M23 positions near Kibumba, about 20km north of Goma, the army said. M23 fighters repulsed the attack and the army later arrested the assailants. A precarious calm had reigned for several weeks prior to the attack, with troops…

London: Scores of British Pakistanis wrote letters to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to complain about “racist, unacceptable and inflammatory” comments made by Home Secretary Suella Braverman against Pakistani men. Doctors, health-care workers, entrepreneurs, CEOs and founders wrote letters signed by dozens of associations and individuals to Sunak, demanding an apology. Last week, Braverman came under fire after she spoke about “the predominance of British-Pakistani males who hold cultural values totally at odds with British values”. She said that British Pakistani men “see women in a demeaned, illegitimate way, and pursue an outdated and frankly heinous approach to the way we behave”. The programme host also highlighted her comments that “vulnerable white girls are being targeted by British Pakistani grooming gangs”, and people have been “turning a blind eye out…

LONDON: The Scottish National Party (SNP) has contacted Britain’s Electoral Commission watchdog about its difficulties in finding an auditor to approve its annual accounts by July amid a police probe into the party’s finances. The husband of former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon was held by police last week as part of a probe into the funding of the pro-independence SNP, which runs Scotland’s semi-autonomous government, before being released without charge. Police are looking into what happened to £600 000 raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017, which was to have been ring-fenced but may have been used for other purposes. | Reuters…

THE DA in KwaZulu-Natal has vowed to use every legal means available to fight the proposal to have the party’s only municipality under its control in the province amalgamated with two ANC-run councils. This follows the Municipal Demarcation Board’s call for written submissions from the public and interested parties on the proposed amendments to municipal outer boundaries across the country. The ANC in the Moses Mabhida Region, which is made up of Pieter- maritzburg and surrounding towns, has made clear its support for a proposal to have uMngeni Municipality, which has Howick as its town, amalgamated with Mpofana (Mooi River) and Impendle municipalities. UMngeni was won by the DA during the 2021 local government elections, and has been seen by some as a model of good governance and service delivery…

WHAT’S been going on during the Easter recess that’s of significance? Well, at a place called Madawaska in Maine, in the US, some fellows called the Northern Maine Ice Busters cut a huge circle in the ice of a frozen lake and set it in motion. This now, according to Associated Press, gives them a world record in a category few people know exists – the Biggest Ice Carousel. The Ice Busters had to cut through ice 76cm thick on a path painstakingly measured by survey crews to create a perfect circle measuring nearly six football fields across. The giant piece of ice, estimated to weigh 146 000 tons, moved slowly, towed by 10 outboard boat engines, farm equipment driving oversized propellers, and a couple of wheeled vehicles, to hoots,…

Your in-depth analysis of Zunaid Moti and his expanding empire is indeed a deep look into a brilliant business leader’s vision (Business Report, April 11). Zunaid’s leap into the business arena is a profile in courage. To expand into ventures that he has undertaken over the years requires exceptional skills, long-term vision and courage. As a business leader, he has exceptional intellectual and emotional capacity to make drastic change. He solves many difficult problems in building new and successful business organisations. With economies and competition moving and changing at a pace never seen before, the ability to respond to opportunities and challenges with courage is a requirement for success. Zunaid possesses huge reservoirs of courage. As an entrepreneur, his vision and scope for expansion in southern Africa remains unmatched as…

It is a fact that the country is rudderless in terms of a government which has wrecked a once-functioning state. It is also a reality that there is a well-established political organisation which is demographically widely supported and has policies which will salvage the country. Yet Independent Media continue to snipe at the DA, as illustrated by its cartoon of April 3 with its wording, “Same old, same old”. That caption is a cheap, racist shot at the fact that Steenhuisen and Zille were re-elected and continue to head the party. What happened to Independent Media’s masthead slogan “Racism stops with me”? It really makes no sense for Independent Media, which chides the ANC and laments the state of the country, continuously finding fault with the only party which has…

Three Absa bank employees convicted of defrauding the JSE and Samancor Foundation of millions of rand have been sentenced to 15 years behind bars. Dimakatso Prudence Ramakgole, 34, Seatile Pauline Senoamadi, 44, and Motsiri Peter Ramahlarerwa, 58, were convicted this week in the Mokopane Regional Court in Limpopo of fraud. National Prosecuting Authority provincial spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said during the trial it was revealed how the syndicate operated in their capacity as Absa bank employees in Limpopo and Gauteng when they accessed the portfolios of JSE Trustees and Samancor Foundation without authorisation. In the first incident on July 26, 2019, the trio misrepresented that they were authorised to transfer an amount of R2.9 million and made changes to the JSE’s banking portfolio and added their own. “On 12 August, 2019,…

President Cyril Ramaphosa is still involved in processes to ensure that the issue of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit is handled properly ahead of the BRICS summit in August. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the conflict in Ukraine. But the Presidency said yesterday that the matter formed part of ongoing engagements ahead of the summit in Durban in August. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, also denied that the president had sent Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Alvin Botes to the US to discuss the Putin visit. He said the visit was part of regular contacts with the US. South Africa has trade, diplomatic and other relations with the US. South Africa is also part of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa),…

Many see homosexuality as being a result of Western influence and against their culture In recent years, homosexuality in Uganda has become an increasingly volatile political and social issue. The country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed in 2014 and, in March 2023, lawmakers passed a bill that proposes tough penalties for sexual minorities. For instance, it criminalises those who identify as LGBTQI. The legislation was supported by nearly all the 389 members of parliament who were present, and will become law if signed by President Yoweri Museveni. The bill, which has public support in Uganda, aims to counter what it calls “threats to the traditional, heterosexual family”. As an anthropologist, I wanted to understand what contributed to the rising tension concerning homosexuality in Uganda and why it endures as a politically…

January to March 2023 was the deadliest first quarter for migrants crossing the central Mediterranean since 2017, the UN said yesterday, with 441 lives lost attempting to reach Europe. The UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said delays in state-led search-and-rescue (SAR) operations were a factor in several fatal incidents in the perilous crossing from north Africa. And the IOM said the 441 known deaths in the first three months of the year was likely an undercount of the true number. “The persisting humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable,” said IOM chief Antonio Vitorino. “With more than 20 000 deaths recorded on this route since 2014, I fear that these deaths have been normalised. States must respond.” The IOM said delays in such rescues were a factor in…

THE UN said that it is undeterred from its role in Sudan after a man threatened to kill its Secretary-General’s special representative in the north African nation. It said it was concerned by a video circulating featuring a man requesting a fatwa at a public event in Khartoum to allow him to assassinate Volker Perthes, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan. A fatwa is a ruling by a recognised authority on a point of Islamic law. The UN said the language of incitement and violence would only deepen divisions on the ground. It said that the Sudanese government had a duty to ensure the safety and security of the UN mission and its members, citing provisions of the 2021 agreement between the UN and the government. Perthes remained…

TEHRAN: An Iranian technical delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday to prepare for the reopening of Tehran’s embassy there, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said, under a deal to re-establish ties. Both countries’ foreign ministers met in Beijing earlier this month for the first formal gathering of their top diplomats in more than seven years, after China brokered the agreement to restore relations between the top regional powers. The detente between the Sunni kingdom and the revolutionary Shia theocracy could help stabilise the Middle East, where the two sides have supported sectarian proxy forces that are either at daggers drawn or openly at war. | Reuters…

Paris: Solar and wind energy surged to make a record 12% of the world’s electricity in 2022, a climate think tank calculated in a report yesterday, although coal remained the leading source globally. The report provides the latest gauge of renewable energy growth as countries scramble to meet emissions targets to curb climate change and secure alternative power sources. “Record growth in wind and solar drove the emissions intensity of the world’s electricity to its lowest ever level in 2022,” said climate and energy think tank Ember. Power from wind turbines and solar panels was up to 12% from 10% in 2021 and 5% in 2015. | AFP…

MARCUS Rashford will miss Manchester United's Europa League quarter-final first-leg clash with Sevilla after suffering a muscle injury that is likely to keep him out for "a few games", the club announced yesterday. The 25-year-old, who has scored 28 goals for Erik ten Hag's side this season, limped out of the 2-0 Premier League win over Everton on Saturday. "Marcus Rashford will be unavailable for Thursday's Uefa Europa League quarter-final game against Sevilla because of a muscle injury," United said in a statement. "The forward was withdrawn in the 80th minute of Saturday's 2-0 Premier League win over Everton at Old Trafford and immediately headed to the dressing room for treatment. "Subsequent assessment of the injury suggested that Marcus will be unavailable for a few games, but is expected to…

Family emotional health is on a continuum. All families fall somewhere between remarkable wellness on one end and debilitating dysfunction on the other. Here are few of several measures: Healthy families talk about anything and everything: love, sex, justice, peace, pollution, religion, literature, death, dying, money, and a lot more – there are no “no-go” areas. People talk as well as listen – people get to freely agree and disagree – and everyone gets a turn at some point. “We need to talk”, is celebrated. Unhealthy families, if they talk, the conversation is scripted. Topics to avoid are known even though they are probably not clearly defined as “no-go” topics. People just know not to “go there”. “We need to talk”, fills family members with apprehension and fear. Healthy families…

Things fall down, not up. The physicists have obliged us with an explanation of this. Newton formulated a law of gravitation, one of a series of natural laws which, we are told, describe the physical universe. Knowledge of these natural laws enables you to plan your actions and reach a desired goal. Act in ignorance or disregard of them and you suffer the consequences. In like manner, the economists at the time of the Industrial Revolution developed a series of laws which, they said, were as true for the social and economic world as were the laws of the scientists for the physical world. They formulated a set of doctrines which were the natural laws of economics. In these crises a great part not only of the existing products, but…

A stone scoreboard used in an ancient football-like ball game has been discovered at the famed Mayan Chichen Itza archaeological site in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, archaeologists said this week. The circular piece, measuring 32cm in diameter and weighing 40kg, displays hieroglyphic writing surrounding two players standing next to a ball, according to a statement from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). “In this Mayan site, it is rare to find hieroglyphic writing, let alone a complete text,” said Francisco Perez, one of the archaeologists co-ordinating the investigations in the Chichanchob complex, also called Casa Colorada. The stone, believed to be a scoreboard, dates from between 800AD and 900AD. The ball game was a traditional practice of Mesoamerican peoples and is believed to have had ritual undertones. INAH researchers…

Wildlife experts and biodiversity conservation organisations remain frustrated with inadequate enforcement of protective regulations for biodiversity, after the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) withdrew the recently amended protected species regulations in a Government Gazette notice. This would have increased the number of terrestrial and freshwater species to be protected by stricter wildlife laws. In addition, related legislation was withdrawn pertaining to stricter management of elephants and rhinos, trophy hunting of leopards, as well as amendments to the alien and invasive species list and list of critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable and protected species. Environment Minister Barbara Creecy withdrew regulations pertaining to Threatened or Protected Terrestrial and Freshwater Species (TOPS) and the associated species list in the gazette on March 31, just a day before the notices were set to…

THE South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) believes the eThekwini Municipality’s lack of climate-proofing plans has led to the sewage crisis that holds the city in its grip. The municipality is facing separate court challenges to compel it to produce a court-approved plan to address the sewage crisis which has taken its toll on businesses, tourism and the economy. Two floods last year claimed more than 400 lives, left more than 40 000 people displaced and destroyed more than 12 000 homes, including infrastructure such as roads, health centres and schools. Kershni Ramreddi, SDCEA Energy and Just Transition project officer, said the massive sewer spills that resulted for most of 2022, and which are a continuing issue, flow through rivers on to Durban’s beaches. “Despite widespread awareness of the extremely…

WORK on the multimillion-rand Umbhayi housing project in oThongathi is expected to resume later this year, with the tender expected to be awarded in August. The project was first launched in 2017 at a cost estimated at R120 million. It was meant to benefit hundreds of needy families but has been lying fallow, falling into a state of disrepair and without having benefited a single person. The delays, also reported on by The Mercury last year, have raised the ire of the opposition parties in the eThekwini council who are demanding answers and said failure to complete this and other projects was a blight on the City which undermined it in the eyes of the community expecting services. Oscar Kunene, a strategic executive in the human settlements unit, eThekwini Municipality,…

What do we talk about when we talk about China? Some might say it is the second-largest economy with tremendous political and economic sway. After decades of rapid economic growth, some people started to believe China is more of a developed country than a developing country. For these people, here are some facts that might bring a new perspective. Baisha is a small county in Hainan, a tropical island province of China. The county has rich and precious ecological resources. Yet its large areas of tropical forests and mountains also cut it off from the outside world. Before 2020, it had long remained the only deeply impoverished county in the province. After years of relentless effort, a sustainable natural rubber industry was finally built up in Baisha, and the county…

Abortion opponents this week urged a federal appeals court to allow the suspension of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, in a case with far-reaching impact on how the US government regulates medicine. In a filing with the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, lawyers for groups and doctors who oppose abortion and challenged the FDA’s more than two-decades-old approval of the drug said a government request to stay the suspension was unprecedented and should be denied. The plaintiffs reiterated their arguments that the FDA failed to adequately consider the drug’s risks, including complications requiring hospital visits and psychological harm. The abortion opponents’ requests came after the US Department of Justice urged the appeals court to put US District Judge Matthew…

LONDON: Britain’s Prince Harry will attend the coronation next month of his father King Charles but his wife Meghan will remain in California with the couple’s children. The announcement ends speculation as to whether the king’s youngest son would attend following his stinging criticism of the royal family since he stepped back from royal duties in 2020. Charles will be crowned next month in a ceremony that dates back 1 000 years, following the 70-year reign of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who died last year. Charles’ coronation is expected to draw foreign heads of state and dignitaries. | Reuters…

Amsterdam: Dutch police arrested two protesters who ran towards French President Emmanuel Macron outside Amsterdam University yesterday, police said. The arrests came a day after demonstrators against Macron’s controversial pension reforms heckled him during a speech in The Hague. The incident happened just after the French president had got out of a limousine with Dutch King Willem-Alexander and was being greeted by Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema. It was the second such disruption in two days after protesters heckled Macron as he gave a speech on European sovereignty in The Hague on Tuesday. | AFP…

MILAN: Italian prosecutors yesterday identified the bear responsible for killing a runner in the Alps last week as one that had previously attacked two other people. Local authorities have asked for the animal to be put down. They had applied for the bear to be euthanised in 2020, when it attacked a father and son near the same area. A court ruling overturned the decision at that time. Prosecutors said DNA samples taken after the latest attack matched a 17-year-old female bear identified as “JJ4”. It wears a GPS-equipped radio collar. The incident has reopened a debate on human-wildflife conflict in an area that was repopulated with bears from 1999 under an EU programme. | Reuters…