Tabla de contenidos para 2021-10-25 en Mercury

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za JSE-LISTED Rebosis Property Fund’s A and B shares leapt on Friday after it said it had entered into a sales deal with Ulricraft, a special purpose vehicle owned by Vunani Capital Partners (VCP), which could see the debt-heavy firm dispose of its commercial office portfolio for R6.32 billion. The company announced the deal in a late JSE Sens statement on Thursday as the markets closed. Rebosis B shares on Friday closed at 28c, 3.7 percent higher, after rising to an intraday high of 31 cents, nearly 14.8 percent up. Rebosis A shares on Friday closed at 95c, closing 18.75 percent higher after leaping to an intraday high of 119c, nearly 49 percent higher. Rebosis founder and chief executive Dr Sisa Ngebulana…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za ALMOST a week before the country heads to the polls to elect their local governments, various parties spent the entire week canvassing for votes, with the ANC sending its big guns across KwaZulu-Natal. The ruling party’s second in command, David Mabuza, started his campaign in Newcastle on Saturday and rounded it up in Ladysmith where the IFP is showing signs of coming back to life. KZN provincial chairperson Sihle Zikalala was sent to the troubled Umzimkhulu area in the south of the province to address a Siyanqoba rally. The IFP’s founder and president emeritus, Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi, went to bolster the campaign in Durban where the party is hoping to increase its tally of councillors in the eThekwini municipality, the only metro in KZN . Addressing a…

Long before Columbus crossed the Atlantic, eight timber-framed buildings covered in sod stood on a terrace above a peat bog and stream at the northern tip of Canada’s island of Newfoundland, evidence that the Vikings had reached the New World first. But precisely when the Vikings journeyed to establish the L’Anse aux Meadows settlement had remained unclear – until now. Scientists have said a new type of dating technique using a long-ago solar storm as a reference point revealed that the settlement was occupied in 1021 AD, exactly a millennium ago and 471 years before the first voyage of Columbus. The technique was used on three pieces of wood cut for the settlement, all pointing to the same year. The Viking voyage represents multiple milestones for humankind. The settlement offers…

Teaching and encouraging children to speak up and to speak out and to voice their likes, dislikes and opinions, and to do so from a young age, will make a remarkable difference to a young life. Please, let the days when children were “seen and not heard” be gone. Of course, if it is you – the parents – who are encouraging a child to speak up, the child will also do so with you. This is something you want. It may not always feel comfortable or convenient, but you are teaching an amazing and wonderful life skill to be used for the long haul. Learning to speak up and to speak out, to “self-advocate”, is a good thing for many reasons. If your child can speak up to you,…

EBRAHIM ESSA | Durban Some high school somewhere is insisting that girls continue wearing skirts only, never pants, to avoid expulsion. Here we go again with these age-old, colonial-imposed traditions. Pupils must wear uniforms. Boys in high school must wear pants. Girls in any school – secondary or primary – must wear skirts. It’s a biblical injunction. It’s found that any girl wearing pants in school just quietly goes about her studies, her interaction with other pupils – male and female – is very relaxed, she does not feel intimidated, and is treated as an equal, feeling very secure that boys are not ogling her body, not having evil (but normal) intentions. But heavens! All that is not permitted. You are a girl. Lowest of the low. Your…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za QUALIFYING households with an income of R3 500 or less a month are urged to visit their nearest post office as soon as possible to apply for a free government-subsidised decoder, also called a set-top box. Qualifying households do not have to pay for the set-top box, post office spokesperson Johan Kruger said. During this year’s State of the Nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the government should complete the migration to digital broadcast by March next year. The analogue TV signal will then be switched off and only digital TV transmissions will be broadcast. Analogue TV sets will then only work if they are connected to a decoder. Kruger said qualifying households that applied before November would receive a decoder before the analogue TV signal…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za WITH the local government elections less than a week away, Mahlangu Ngcobo has set his sights on becoming Ward 12 councillor in Mpophomeni Township, near Howick, come next week. Should he win the contest, he will have to resign from his position as bodyguard to uMngeni Municipality Mayor Sizwe Sokhela. The 46-year-old Ngcobo confirmed that he was running for public office as an independent candidate and was optimistic about his chances, saying he enjoyed significant public support. He told The Mercury his name had been approved by the community when the ANC conducted public meetings in which councillor candidates were nominated. But he had been shocked to discover that another ANC candidate in Ward 12 emerged. “As an ANC member, I cannot say where things changed, all…

BOGOTA: Colombia’s armed forces have captured Dairo Antonio Usuga, known as Otoniel, in the biggest blow to drug trafficking in the Andean country since the death of the notorious Pablo Escobar, President Ivan Duque said on Saturday. Otoniel, 50, was captured during operation Osiris in a rural area of Colombia’s Uraba region, located in Antioquia province, Duque said. Dairo Antonio Usuga, who headed the country’s largest narco-trafficking gang known as the Gulf Clan, was captured near one of his main outposts in Necocli, near the border with Panama. Images released by the government showed the 50-year-old Otoniel in handcuffs and surrounded by soldiers. “This is the hardest strike to drug trafficking in our country this century,” president Ivan Duque said in a message. He added that the arrest was “only…

ABUJA: Nigeria will today launch a digital currency, the eNaira, the central bank said, months after it barred banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in cryptocurrencies. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has said the eNaira would operate as a wallet against which customers can hold existing funds in their bank account. “The eNaira, therefore, marks a major step forward in the evolution of money and the CBN is committed in ensuring that the eNaira, like the physical Naira, is accessible by everyone,” the bank said. Nigeria has named Barbados-based Bitt Inc as a technical partner in developing the eNaira.…

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia conducted an airstrike yesterday in the western part of the Tigray region that hit a training site of the rebellious Tigrayan forces and an arms depot, government spokesperson Legesse Tulu said. It was not possible to verify the claim as communications are down throughout most of war-hit Tigray. “ … there was a successful airstrike in Mai Tsebri targeting a training site of illegal recruits of the TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) and a depot of heavy artillery,” Tulu said. TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda said he had no information about any strike yesterday. Ethiopian forces and forces loyal to the TPLF have been fighting for almost a year in a conflict that has killed thousands of people.…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg With just a few days to election day on November 1, I extend my appreciation and best wishes to all candidates who have put their names forward to represent and serve their communities. Service to others is a moral and righteous duty. Governance is about ethical management and the most effective leaders are those who are servant leaders. I hope all registered voters exercise their democratic right and civic duty by voting in this election. Participation in the electoral process by voting is the most basic act of citizenship and responsibility as it supports democratic principles and functioning. Voting empowers citizens to elect new councillors and it brings about the required change needed to improve service delivery of municipal services. In addition, voting gives…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff When subjected to scrutiny, the DA’s boast that it “gets things done” does not pass muster in respect of the neglected roadworks on the M7. The intersection of Titren Road with the M7 at Southway Mall has been a traffic nightmare for the best part of two years. Yet behind the concrete barriers that have reduced this three-lane carriageway to a single lane, no roadworks are being carried out. Daily huge volumes of traffic converging on the port or heading inland are compelled to queue up and squeeze through the single-lane aperture at the intersection. Significantly, however, that intersection is the confluence of three DA wards – 64, 65 and 33. Why have those respective DA councillors not prevailed on eThekwini Roads Department…

SABER AHMED JAZBHAY | Newlands West Every South African who directly or indirectly experienced deaths in detention in the 1970s and 1980s ought to recoil in horror at the perceived insanity at this present point in time. Jeetendra Jaikissoon’s death demands urgent answers before November 1. Post-mortems don’t take ages to be done. Information must be accessible to the public since this is a matter of public interest and a great deal hinges on what happened and the cause of death to shape the outcomes in the election. We are waiting.…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE investigation into allegations of malfeasance against the then board of directors of KwaZulu-Natal Ezemvelo Wildlife is yet to get off the ground, more than a year after it was initiated. Members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) were informed on Friday when Ezemvelo appeared before the committee that the allegations against the board that led to its suspension were yet to be investigated. The board was suspended by the then MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Nomusa Dube-Ncube in August last year. A forensic investigation was instituted and is being handled at the Office of the Premier. Some committee members said it seemed the board was suspended just to show that something had been done in the face of alleged irregularities. Ezemvelo’s…

SERIAL killer and ex-policewoman Rosemary Ndlovu is waiting to hear her fate after she was found guilty of six counts of murder on Friday. Judge Ramarumo Monama found her guilty of six counts of premeditated murder. He delivered his four-hour judgment at the South Gauteng High Court, sitting in Palm Ridge. Judge Monama ruled that despite relying on circumstantial evidence, the State proved beyond reasonable doubt that Ndlovu, 43, killed her relatives and a lover for insurance payouts. She walked away with over R1.4 million from her heinous scheme that started in 2012 and ended in 2018, shortly before her arrest. The relatives she ordered hits on were her sister Audrey Ndlovu, her nephews Mayeni Mashaba and Brilliant Mashego, her cousin Madala Homu, and Zanele Motha, her niece. The sixth…

Paris: The coronavirus has killed at least 4 941 032 people since the outbreak was first reported in China in December 2019, according to a tally compiled by AFP yesterday. At least 243 270 300 cases of coronavirus have been registered. The vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms weeks or even months later. The figures are based on daily reports provided by health authorities in each country. They exclude revisions made by other statistical organisations, which show that the number of deaths is much higher. The World Health Organization estimates that the pandemic’s overall toll could be two to three times higher than official records, due to the excess mortality that is directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19. A large number of the less severe…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za EZEMVELO Wildlife is facing escalating threats from communities around some of its parks who are demanding full-time employment and are threatening to invade the parks and build houses. Some of these communities are legal “owners” of the land after they had launched successful claims on the land on which the parks and the reserves are established. Ezemvelo officials said while the challenges were faced only in about five of their 120 parks, they were affecting some of their biggest parks. Among those facing challenges are the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park and Mkuze Park. Officials have also recently received calls from some community members living around Lotheni Park, who claimed to have the right to use the park for cattle-grazing. In 2017, Ezemvelo signed an agreement with about 16 communities…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za In the aftermath of the death of an accused arrested in connection with violence during July’s unrest, Phoenix residents yesterday voiced their concern over the treatment of all the community members in custody. Jeetendra Jaikissoon, one of the men arrested for murder during the violence in Phoenix, died in hospital on Friday. He was in custody at Westville Prison when he complained of chest pains and feeling unwell. There have been calls from his family and community activists for his death to be investigated. His family have also hired pathologist Reggie Perumal to determine the cause of death. Yesterday, a community meeting was held at Pesco Hall in Phoenix. Speaking at the meeting, African Democratic Change leader Visvin Reddy said: “In the prison, some warders have adopted…

| Mitch Hedberg HAVE the Israelis taken up rugby? Last week we discussed how, in days of yore, celebrating club rugby players would tear about the streets of Durban stark naked late at night, entertaining cinema-goers on their way home. This was part of the ethos of amateur rugby. Now Associated Press tells us some 300 people lined up starkers the other day on the shore of the Dead Sea and smeared themselves with white paint. Was this another rite of rugby? No, this group were posing for American photographer Spencer Tunick to draw attention to the way the Dead Sea is shrinking (and no doubt becoming saltier) due to the waters of the rivers that run into it being diverted to agriculture. A good cause indeed and it…

TONY BALL | Gillitts Water and Sanitation Department spokesperson Themba Khoza implores your readers to “expose the thugs who vandalise water infrastructure” and proceeds to state the obvious ... infrastructure vandalism is a serious crime! (The Mercury, October 22) Mr Khoza, I think you are appealing to the wrong audience as I would venture to say that readers of The Mercury are fully aware of the consequences of destruction of infrastructure, but perhaps you could tell us who to report it to. President Cyril Ramaphosa seems unable to stop business forums from threatening contractors, whistle-blowers and councillors are shot in cold blood and justice is just another word in our lexicon to go with the politicians’ arsenal of meaningless rhetoric ... leave no stone unturned, face the full…

NARENDH GANESH | Durban North It is with great sadness that I have learnt of the death, while in custody, of Mr Jeetendra Jaikissoon, an “accused” arrested during the violence that flared up in July in Phoenix. Mr Jaikissoon, who was an accused arrested over murder with other members of the “Indian” community, had been repeatedly denied bail, despite all protestations against the charges as well as the fact that he was not a flight risk that would have compromised the investigation into the allegations levelled against him. The unrest in Phoenix was dubbed as “racial riots” noting that such an event occurred in what is considered a predominantly “Indian” area and the victims were classified as “black”. Race notwithstanding, and without any other evidence to the contrary,…

In the past two years, the reporting of child sexual exploitation and abuse online has reached its highest levels, with the Covid-19 pandemic being a huge contributory factor behind the spike in reported incidents. This is according to WeProtect Global Alliance who published its 2021 Global Threat Assessment recently. The report says the scale is unprecedented, with more than 3 million accounts registered across the 10 most harmful child sexual abuse sites on the dark web. Unicef South Africa and the Department of Social Development commissioned the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) at Unisa to conduct a survey earlier this year. The survey found that one-third of children in South Africa are at risk of online violence, exploitation and abuse. It also found that 70% of children surveyed use the…

Karen Singh karen.singh@inl.co.za HOURS after a vehicle was hijacked in Sweetwaters in Pietermaritzburg yesterday, Durban police arrested four suspects and recovered the vehicle on the N3 highway. KwaZulu-Natal regional police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said that at 9.30am yesterday Durban Flying Squad police officers received information from a tracking company about a vehicle hijacked in Pietermaritzburg, travelling on the N3 highway towards Durban. “The vehicle was intercepted near the M13 on-ramp. With the assistance of the K9 Unit, four suspects aged between 19 and 25 were placed under arrest,” she said. Gwala said two knives were found inside the vehicle. The suspects were due in the Durban Magistrate’s Court today. Meanwhile, last month, three suspects, aged 28 to 31, appeared at the Durban Magistrate’s Court for allegedly hijacking a motorist…

POLICE are hunting for an awaiting-trial prisoner who escaped from the Phoenix police station at the weekend. KwaZulu-Natal provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said a case of escaping from lawful custody was being investigated. Gwala said it was alleged that five awaiting-trial prisoners escaped at 8am on Saturday. “Five awaiting trial prisoners escaped from lawful custody. Four were re-arrested and one is still at large,” she said. In July, in an attempted escape incident, IOL reported that two Westville Correctional Centre officials were stabbed in an early morning attack. Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said the officers were stabbed during an altercation with remand detainees. He said the incident was opportunistic, and the department would not tolerate such acts. | Karen Singh…

Rome: For some, going to prison can feel like escaping to freedom. A man under house arrest in Italy showed up at a police barracks asking to be put behind bars because life with his wife at home was unbearable, police said yesterday. The 30-year-old Albanian citizen living in Guidonia Montecelio, outside Rome, “was no longer able to cope with the forced cohabitation with his wife”, Carabinieri from Tivoli said in a statement. “Exasperated, he preferred to escape, presenting himself to ask to serve his sentence behind bars,” they wrote. The man had been under house arrest for drug crimes for several months and had a few years left to serve, Captain Francesco Giacomo Ferrante of the Tivoli Carabinieri said. “He lived at home with his wife and family. It…

BERLIN: German police said yesterday they had stopped more than 50 far-right vigilantes armed with pepper spray, a bayonet, a machete and batons who were trying to patrol the Polish border to stop migrants from entering the country. The vigilantes were following a call by the Third Way, a far-right party with suspected links to neo-Nazi groups, for its members to stop illegal crossings near the town of Guben on the German-Polish border. Police seized the weapons carried by the 50 suspects and made them leave the Guben area late on Saturday and in the early hours of yesterday, a spokesperson said. Some of the suspects had travelled to the Polish border from other parts of Germany. On Saturday, dozens of people held a vigil in Guben to show…

MOSCOW: Former England football captain David Beckham is set to become the face of the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, in a deal worth £150 million (about R 3.06 billion), The Sun newspaper reported yesterday. The 46-year-old has agreed to become the Middle Eastern nation’s ambassador, making £15m a year over the next decade under the deal. The World Cup 2022 in Qatar has been shrouded by controversy due to concerns over alleged human rights violations on the country's construction sites, and over Qatar’s attitude towards women and the LGBT community. Beckham was assured that fans in Qatar would be safe and allowed to display rainbow flags in stadiums. Qatar has become the first Arab nation to host a football world cup, which will be held from November…

WINDHOEK: Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta has revealed that Namibia has about 23 736 elephants, which leaves them unthreatened by extinction. In August, the government announced the sale of 57 live elephants out of the 170 elephants put on auction to a tune of N$5.9 (R6.7m), which sparked a social media outcry that Namibia’s elephant population was threatened by extinction due to the sale of elephants. Shifeta, while launching the National Elephant Conservation and Management Framework at the Bwabwata National Park in the Zambezi region last week, said the sale did not pose a threat to the existence of the species, as elephant conservation efforts had been successful. “Namibia has had a healthy and growing elephant population from about 7 000 elephants at independence to an estimated…

ROME: The great-grandson of former Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was named in the Lazio squad for the first time for their Serie A clash with Hellas Verona yesterday. Romano Floriani Mussolini, 18, was part of coach Maurizio Sarri’s 23-man group of players for the trip to Verona. He is the third child of Alessandra Mussolini and Mauro Floriani, and great-grandson of Benito Mussolini, who was prime minister of Italy from 1922 to 1943 after a fascist coup. A minority of Lazio fans, known as “ultras”, have links to the far right.…