Tabla de contenidos para 2021-11-30 en Mercury

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za MORE residents of eThekwini Municipality have come forward to complain about not receiving orange bags meant for the collection of waste for recycling. This is despite the municipality insisting that the programme meant to deliver orange plastic bags was progressing without any hiccups. Residents from uMhlanga claimed that they did not recall the last time they received the orange bags. One resident, who declined to be named, claimed he had faced problems with the black refuse bags and had last received them almost three years ago. He said the municipality only resumed the supply recently. The problem of non-delivery of orange bags was confirmed by DA ward councillor Nicole Bollman, who said it was frustrating for residents not to get their supply, a move that has pushed…

Mashudu Sadike and Sibusiso Mboto DEFENCE Minister Thandi Modise has emerged as a frontrunner for the position of ANC deputy president in a CR22 slate released by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s supporters ahead of the governing party’s elective national conference next year. In the proposed slate, Modise, who is the former Speaker of the National Assembly, replaces out-of-favour Deputy President David “DD” Mabuza, who has been dumped from the top six along with ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and his deputy, Jessie Duarte. According to the new line-up of the CR22 faction leaked to Independent Media yesterday, Ramaphosa, ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe and treasurer-general Paul Mashatile will retain their positions after next year’s conference, should the group emerge. Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu will replace Magashule as ANC secretary-general…

MUHAMMAD OMAR | Durban North During a recent trip to Southern Ireland, where the new Covid-19 cases were increasing in the thousands each day, the basics were you had to wear a mask in enclosed and public areas. We seem to be on par with that. The cold weather (14ºC) made the mask a bit of a windshield, especially when visiting the Cliffs of Moher, Clare. This is a great hike and pit drains scenery. Also, the Ring of Kerry and the Skeilig cliffs near Portmagee. These localities have featured in many western movies. Southern Ireland is underrated and astounding. The “farm” roads are tarred, narrow and keeping to the speed limit 80/100km/h is impossible. It was interesting to see a few Durban-made Hilux bakkies. Seems that my…

THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN | Kloof It was desperation time for the ANC in Durban. Having lost all three metros in Gauteng, the ANC was desperate to cling on to the third-largest metro in the country. But with opposition ganging up against it, this was by no means an easy challenge for the ANC. It was going to be a tough fight all the way down to the wire. While the bigger parties stood firm on their terms and conditions, the smaller parties, salivating at the prospect of a lucrative deal with the ANC, jumped at the offer dangled by the party. And they grabbed it, giving the corrupt ANC a lifeline to govern the city for another five years and taking it to the rubbish dumps. Visvin Reddy proudly…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za THE corruption trial of former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and her 19 co-accused will resume this morning at the Durban High Court. However, all parties were mum yesterday about whether it will proceed as planned. The drawn-out case started in early 2019 when the Hawks pounced on Gumede and others, accusing them of pocketing bribes after issuing a R320 million waste contract in 2017. The State alleges that Gumede, former city manager Sipho Nzuza and others were involved in a criminal enterprise to fleece the eThekwini metro. The State alleges in the indictment that Gumede and Nzuza, among others, allegedly received kickbacks from service providers roped in to collect waste. Some of the beneficiaries of the money were allegedly Gumede’s daughter and relatives, whose home renovations were…

A man was shot twice and rushed to hospital in a serious condition following an attempted hijacking in Morningside, Durban, on Sunday. The incident took place at around 5.20pm in Valley View Road. According to police, the complainant, aged 58, alleged that while attempting to enter his home in Valley View Road, in Morningside, a white vehicle blocked his driveway from behind. “Unknown occupants exited their vehicle and approached him and an argument ensued. “One of the suspects tried to pull him out of his vehicle and when he resisted, they shot him twice in the arm before fleeing the scene in their getaway vehicle,” said police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele. The victim was rushed to hospital, said Mbele. “Charges of attempted murder and attempted carjacking were opened at Mayville…

Mercury Reporter The board of Umgeni Water says it has initiated various actions, some in conjunction with eThekwini Water and Sanitation, aimed at accelerating processes to bring relief to consumers affected by water shortages caused by a shaft pump failure at its Durban Heights Water Works. The shaft pump conveys raw water to the Durban Heights Water Works and its failure has resulted in reduced volumes of raw water reaching the plant and a decrease in potable (drinking) water production. Raw water is treated at Durban Heights Water Treatment Works and supplied as potable water to eThekwini Water and Sanitation. As a result of the reduced supply from this plant, there is inadequate water for eThekwini Water and Sanitation to supply to some areas in the central, south and north…

In the warm atmosphere of celebrating the Centennial of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and at a time when time frames of the two centenary goals converge, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee was successfully held in Beijing from November 8 to 11, 2021. It adopted the Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party’s Centennial Struggle (hereinafter referred to as the resolution). The meeting, held at a critical moment when China embarked on a new journey of building a great modernised socialist country, summed up the achievements and experience of the party over the past 100 years, highlighted that the party has established Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party…

When young nuns at a convent in Eastern Europe told their Mother Superior that a priest had tried to molest them, she retorted that it was probably their fault for “provoking him”. When African nuns in Minnesota asked why it was always they who had to shovel snow, they were told it was because they were young and strong, even though white sisters of the same age lived there too. As the Roman Catholic Church pays more attention to the closed world of convents, where women spend much of their time in prayer and household work, more episodes of psychological, emotional and physical abuse are coming to light. A new book, Veil of Silence by Salvatore Cernuzio, a journalist for the Vatican’s outlet, Vatican News, is the latest exposé to…

GABORONE: Botswana’s Court of Appeal has upheld a 2019 ruling that decriminalised gay sex, a decision hailed by the gay community as establishing the southern African country as a “true democracy”. Yesterday’s decision in effect struck off two sections of the penal code that had outlawed homosexuality. Before the 2019 High Court ruling engaging in gay sex in Botswana was punishable by up to seven years in prison. The state had argued on appeal that the penal code outlawed gay sex and there was no evidence that people’s attitude towards homosexuality had changed.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za Duanne Olivier’s dominance in the domestic four-day competition has put him firmly in the picture for an international recall, should India tour South Africa later this summer. Olivier confirmed yesterday that he has availed himself for Proteas selection after chatting to convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang. “(The selectors) did speak to me,” Olivier said. “They basically asked me if I am open to play for the Proteas again and I said ‘of course, yes,’ but I can’t select myself, it’s up to them if they want me or not. All I can do is to focus on the present and take it day by day.” Olivier has been in outstanding form for the Highveld Lions through the first four rounds of the tournament, claiming 28 wickets at…

South African motorists and commuters are facing a crisis, with petrol and diesel set to go up by a massive margin in December, pushing the petrol price past R20 per litre for the first time. According to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, both grades of petrol will go up by 81 cents per litre from tomorrow, while 50ppm diesel will increase by 74 cents and 500ppm by 72 cents. Illuminating paraffin will rise by 42c/l. The December fuel price adjustment will see the cost of 95 Unleaded Petrol rising to R19.63 per litre at the coast and R20.35 in the inland regions, where 93 Unleaded will rise to R20.13. The wholesale price of diesel will increase to R17.30 at the coast and R17.92 in Gauteng, keeping in…

A team of experts has found a mummy estimated to be at least 800 years old on Peru’s central coast, one of the archaeologists who participated in the excavation has said. The mummified remains were of a person from the culture that developed in the area between the coast and mountains of the South American country. The mummy, whose gender was not identified, was discovered in the Lima region, said archaeologist Pieter Van Dalen Luna. “The main characteristic of the mummy is that the whole body was tied up by ropes and with the hands covering the face, which would be part of the local funeral pattern,” said Van Dalen Luna, from the State University of San Marcos. The remains are of a person who lived in the high Andean…

FAROUK ARAIE | Gauteng The advent of the fourth wave and the appearance of a new Covid-19 variant dubbed B1.1.529 is an uncanny and remarkable coincidence by any stretch of the imagination. The global hype that accompanied the earth-shattering announcements are truly staggering, propelling the Covid-19 virus into another dimension. Stock prices tumbled as shares in global companies were decimated. Within 24 hours, major nations went into hyperventilation as they closed their borders and imposed air travel bans in a move that was so well choreographed that it defies logic and explanation. South African scientists discovered the new strain, whose origin is most certainly not in southern Africa. For alerting the world, we were quarantined by global edicts. The predictions and synchronising of the chain of events as…

PENNY MSWELI | Port Shepstone IT’S sad to hear and read about the escalating number of girls, some as young as 9, and teenagers falling pregnant (whether by boys or grown men). The topic is on everybody’s lips. It seems just as contagious as the pandemic we are facing except that with Covid-19, a solution seems to have been found. The tendency to exclaim when the hot topic is spoken about isn’t good enough; there is nothing new about this. Considering the experience I’ve gained from my previous interaction with foundation phase pupils, the cat steals my tongue when I think about their age and prematurity. Luckily for me, during my more than two decades of teaching, I haven’t witnessed any of this from close proximity. The good…

The son of a prominent Mozambican businessman, abducted a month ago in Benoni, has been rescued. The police said Jahyr Abdula had been safely rescued. “We applaud all involved in the safe return of Mr Abdula. We are intensifying efforts to arrest the remaining suspects. “We will leave no stone unturned until we have all suspects in police custody,” said national police commissioner General Khehla Sitole. Abdula, the son of businessman Salimo Abdula, was abducted on October 15 together with four friends. He was rescued in Heidelberg on Friday. “The search for Mr Abdula ended when a multidisciplinary team comprised of the SAPS Crime Intelligence, the DPCI, Special Task Force, SAPS Airwing, SAPS Johannesburg flying squad and security companies pounced on an identified address and rescued the traumatised, malnourished victim,”…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za CHILDLINE KwaZulu-Natal has described the beheading of a 6-year-old girl in Estcourt as a heartbreaking case. Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said police received a report on Thursday night of a girl, 6, who was killed at KwaSobabili in Ntabamhlophe. “Upon arrival, police found the beheaded body of the girl lying in a rondavel. The child’s head was recovered on Friday in the river by police officers from the search and rescue unit. A 20-year-old suspect was arrested on Friday morning.” Adeshini Naicker, acting director of Childline KZN, expressed shock at the incident. She said communities needed to help bring an end to the scourge of violence against women and children. “This is heartbreaking, especially since this happens in the midst of 16 Days of Activism…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za A “GOOD” mathematics and science teacher fired in 2014 for approaching a pupil about having a romantic relationship has failed in his attempt to be allowed back into the profession. Tosa Thomas Mofokeng, who now operates a taxi business in Bloemfontein, learnt the hard way last week that his guilty verdict for sexual misconduct at Lereko High School seven years ago meant that he will never set foot in a classroom again. The Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) delivered its ruling in the case that Mofokeng lodged. He dragged the Free State Education Department to the ELRC, claiming that it unfairly dismissed him from La Wesi High School last year. His ELRC application followed his thwarted attempt to be employed as a Grade 12 maths and science…

THE South African Medical Association has called for the establishment of specialised medical courts to deal with medico-legal cases. Chairperson Dr Angelique Coetzee said: “Recent cases have again demonstrated the deficiencies the current legal framework has with medical cases. Magistrates are often placed in the unenviable position of adjudicating exceedingly complex clinical interventions, without possessing the necessary training or medical expertise.” Coetzee said the association supported the view of eight other health-care organisations who recently wrote to Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola, urging a review of the current legal framework. In the letter, they write: “Our organisations are committed to the highest level of safety for all patients in South Africa. This will, however, require replacing the current culture of blame and fear with one of learning,…

THE government’s decision to establish a task team to look at making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for specific activities and locations, is long overdue and will assist in economic recovery efforts. Speaking during a televised address on Sunday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government had set up a task team that would undertake broad consultations on measures that would make vaccination a condition for access to workplaces, public events, public transport and public establishments. The move comes in the wake of a slow vaccination drive that has seen only 35% of the adult population being fully vaccinated. The country’s fight against Covid-19 has also been undermined by the discovery of the new Omicron variant, a move that has seen all the major countries impose a travel ban on South…

Chennai: Police are probing a complaint filed by a woman Yasmin, 28, that two men robbed her of Rs 2.5 lakh (R53 869) she had received by selling her baby. Yasmin thought a woman, Jayageetha, who arranged the sale of the baby, might be behind the money theft. Police are searching for Jayageetha and the two men. Yasmin said she met Jayageetha at a hospital. Yasmin wanted to abort her second child as her husband had left her and she was struggling. Jayageetha convinced her to sell the baby. Yasmin gave birth to a boy on November 21. A week later, Jayageetha paid her in cash. But on returning home, two men followed her and snatched the money.…

Sydney: Climate change is the “overwhelming factor” driving the country’s ever-more intense bushfires, Australian government scientists believe – directly contradicting claims by the country’s political leaders. In a peer-reviewed study, scientists at state agency CSIRO reviewed 90 years’ worth of data and concluded climate change was the major influencing factor behind megafires like those that ravaged Australia in 2019-2020. The experts studied a range of fire risk factors – from the amount of dead vegetation on the ground to moisture, weather and ignition conditions – to see what could be driving catastrophic blazes.…

Cricket's oldest rivalry, pitting Australia against England, always throws up on-field rancour, but the upcoming Ashes series has been engulfed by controversy before a ball is even bowled. With the opening Test starting in Brisbane on December 8, Australia's preparations have been consumed by a text-message scandal while English cricket is facing claims of institutional racism. First to Australia and Tim Paine, who quit as Test captain earlier this month when lewd text messages he sent to a female colleague in 2017 were about to be made public. The 36-year-old, previously seen as squeaky-clean, had been appointed to repair Australia's reputation after the 2018 "Sandpaper-gate" ball-tampering scandal which rocked cricket and cost Steve Smith the captaincy. Paine has now withdrawn from the Australian Test squad completely, despite teammates urging him…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za EPP, THE NETHERLANDS-based owner of retail property in Poland, will delist from the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and from its secondary listing on the JSE, prior to an internal reorganisation of the company, EPP said yesterday. The delisting plans follows Redefine Properties’ announcement to buy all the shares it does not own in EPP in order to recapitalise and to restore EPP to a dividend paying company by 2023. Redefine already owns 45.44 percent of EPP. EPP’s share price increased 2.67 percent to close at R12.32 on the JSE yesterday, while the Redefine’s share price closed up 4.17 percent percent to close at R5. EPP owned 29 retail properties and six office complexes in most of Poland’s regional cities as at June 30, 2021. It…

Nomonde Zondi Nomonde.Zondi@inl.co.za FAMILY members, whose loved ones are buried at the Azalea Cemetery in Pieter- maritzburg, are worried that the invasion of the cemetery land by squatters, who have subsequently built houses on the graves, will lead to the destruction of the graveyard. The family members said the land invasion was an insult to their loved ones buried there. It is understood that people from the surrounding areas such as Imbali, Ashdown and Willowfontein have been burying their loved ones in the cemetery over the past 30 years. Bernard Mtolo, who said he buried his wife in the cemetery, was shocked to discover that a house had been built next to her grave. “That house is surrounded by the graves and it is a disturbing sight. I have no…

| Lynn Johnston SOME small compensation… instead of watching the Sharks versus the Scarlets at the weekend, it was the Blitzbokke versus the USA to win the Dubai Sevens in fine style. Food for thought. If only the 15-man game could absorb some of that Sevens finesse – running and passing, chipping ahead – what a spectacle it would become, something like what William Webb-Ellis intended. Except that the Covid bug has something against rugby. Has there ever been anything like it – the Welsh teams skedaddling it back home at the last moment? Now it seems we’ll be playing our Currie Cup opponents in the meanwhile, though still in the north-south United Rugby Championship. And we’ll eventually play the northern hemisphere sides later on when things have settled…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff Beyond the hoopla characterising prospects under the contrived coalition which has parachuted the ANC back into power, eThekwini Municipality looks set not only for more of the same kakistocracy but for a situation in which political manoeuvring and intrigue takes precedence over governance. Certain of the small parties like Visvin Reddy’s Adec, which supports the Freedom Charter, are natural ANC allies. But most of the others have clearly been lured into propping up the ANC by the prospect of perks, chairmanships and favours. In so doing, they have opportunistically betrayed their voters and destroyed the most important asset in politics – credibility. That is especially true of the Minorities of South Africa (Mosa), whose policies of merit and the abolition of B-BBEE differ…

THE family break, the schism between brother and brother, daughter and mother, can be resolved. That loss of a long-held friendship, that business or church break-up, can be healed. While being right is more important than being loving, the schism, the pain and the hardness will grow. Oh, you may say there is no more pain, no hardness, but this is just one source of your anger. That flare of hot anger you feel in totally unrelated circumstances? This is where it started. That capacity you have to ignore the needy, treat the outcast with contempt? This is one of the places that the inhumane ability began in you. You may indeed have been right, but yet you are alienated from each other just as if you’d been wrong and…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za THE Department of Health has urged South Africans not to panic over the spread of the Omicron variant as the country was “expecting and prepared” for the fourth wave. While a new variant and mutations were expected, scientists said they were still studying the effects and strength of it against the current vaccines. Epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist Professor Salim Abdool Karim said they were quite amazed at how fast the number of infections was rising but said they were not caught off guard. “We expected and prepared for a new variant as far back as in September. “The government then invested in building capacity to do genomic frequency and this early evidence has given us the best fighting chance against this new variant,” he said. Abdool…

Soon after the National Party came to power, a number of aircraft crashed at huge cost IT’S that time of the year again. Thirty four years ago, on the night of Friday , November 27/Saturday, November 28, 1987, South Africa’s worst air crash took place. SAA’s Boeing aircraft at the time were given the names of our mountains. The Helderberg Range is close to Somerset West, so how can we forget? Looking back, soon after the National Party notoriously came to power in 1948, quite a number of air disasters happened in South and Southern Africa, with the loss of many lives. In 1954 a Comet plunged into the Mediterranean Sea en route from London to Jan Smuts Airport, Johannesburg, with the loss of 14 passengers and seven crew.…

GENEVA: The heavily mutated Omicron coronavirus variant is likely to spread internationally and poses a very high risk of infection surges that could have “severe consequences” in some places, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday. No Omicron-linked deaths had yet been reported, though further research was needed to assess its potential to escape protection against immunity induced by vaccines and previous infections, it added. In anticipation of increased case numbers as the variant, first reported last week, spreads, the UN agency urged its 194 member states to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups and ensure plans were in place to maintain health services. “Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,” the WHO said. “The…

PARIS: Plans to replace the gothic ambience of Notre Dame cathedral with a softer vibe of modern art and warm lighting have raised a few eyebrows, but the priest in charge denies any radical transformation is afoot. With the cathedral set to reopen in 2024 – five years after a fire devastated much of its roof and spire – church authorities are putting forward new plans on December 9 for how the public will experience the iconic Parisian landmark. They include Bible quotes to be projected in multiple languages on the walls and new art installations in place of its little-used 19th century confessionals…

Julie Anne Genter planned on getting to the hospital by bike before her daughter’s birth, but she didn’t know she would be the one pedalling. The New Zealand MP was already having contractions when preparing to bike to the hospital on Sunday morning. An avid cyclist and member of New Zealand’s Green Party, she planned to make the 10-minute trek riding in the front of a cargo bike driven by her husband. When they realised it would be too much weight with her hospital bag, she told the New Zealand news outlet Stuff she “just got out and rode”. It’s not immediately clear what kind of bicycle she took to the hospital, although she has talked about owning an electric cargo bike. Less than an hour after arriving at the…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker refuses to believe that his team’s dream start to the season has been undone over the last couple of matches. Stellies enjoyed an 11-game unbeaten run that saw the winelands-based club rise to a lofty second on the DStv Premiership table. However, Barker’s charges have slipped to two consecutive defeats to Orlando Pirates (3-0) and Royal AM (1-0) in their last two games. They are still in third position and Barker is adamant this is not the beginning of an unwanted streak of defeats. “You can’t take away 11 games of good football that we have played. I don’t think so. We can’t now think that in three days we have thrown everything away,” Barker said. The Stellies mentor remains pleased…