Tabla de contenidos para 2022-10-20 en Mercury

MARKUS Jooste’s family trust Silver Oak only has assets worth around R100 million and not billions of rands as suggested in the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) attachment order for the assets of the alleged mastermind of the massive corporate fraud at Steinhoff, according to a Silver Oak Trust trustee. This was according to Gary Harlow, a trustee and one of the respondents in the attachment order that SARB obtained from the Cape High Court, and acted upon on Tuesday when its officials appeared at Jooste’s Hermanus home. Harlow, a director that has sat on many boards in South Africa, and somebody who knew Jooste for 30 years, was interviewed yesterday by Biznews.com According to the attachment order disclosed on the SARB website, Jooste’s assets to be attached include…

Experts say the seizing of the assets of former CEO of Steinhoff, Markus Jooste, may change the public’s perception of fraud and corruption and will turn the spotlight on the State’s effectiveness to carry out a complex forensic auditing investigation. It is alleged that Jooste, the former CEO of Steinhoff, was the ringleader in a financial fraud scheme that saw investors lose out on more than R200 billion and resulted in a majority collapse of the share price five years ago. On Tuesday the South African Reserve Bank attached more than a billion rand worth of assets belonging to Jooste after an order was granted by the Western Cape High Court on the basis that Jooste and others were suspected of contravening foreign exchange regulations. The assets include Lanzerac wine…

Authorities in northern Iraq on Sunday unveiled an “archaeological park” of 2 700-year-old carvings from the rule of the Assyrians, including showing kings praying to the gods. The 13 stunning monumental rock-carved bas-reliefs were cut into the walls of an irrigation canal that stretches for some 10km at Faida. The panels, measuring 5m wide and 2m tall, date from the reigns of Sargon II (721-705 BC) and his son Sennacherib. “Perhaps in the future others will be discovered”, said Bekas Brefkany, from the department of antiquities in Dohuk, in Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdistan region. Faida is the first of five parks authorities hope to create, part of a project to be “a tourist attraction and a source of income”, Brefkany added. The carvings were unearthed during several digs over recent…

One wonders what we offer the international markets in terms of investment opportunities and as a holiday destination. We have unreliable electricity; serious water problems; crime that is out of control; assassinations of police officers, gang members, councillors and investigators; major service delivery issues; crippling strikes, with the accompanying destruction of the economy; municipal management hobbled by the inability of councillors to address the purpose of their functions, as they would rather focus on power control at all costs; and, in the case of Durban, untreated sewage pumped into rivers. We have safety-warning videos at our main airport, and frankly, little support from the police, who apart from areas of good policing, want a job but do not want to work. Hospitals are dysfunctional, whistle- blowers suspended and some murdered,…

Government can take a leaf out of the book of the DA-led uMngeni Municipality, where true stakeholder engagement and project consultation is paramount to governance. Recent DA oversights in uMngeni have revealed how the councillor cohort actively engages local business and citizens to help formulate developmental plans for economic growth. The Howick Falls precinct upgrade is now at the heart of uMngeni’s newest tourism initiative. Neglected for years and a haven for criminals and public drinking, the Falls has massive tourism potential. Plans are now afoot to engage local citizenry in helping create what the final product should look like, while also preserving its historic significance. While KZN’s Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs has made R5 million available to the district municipality for the upgrade, the DA…

The family of slain Hillary Gardee are suing the government for R18 million for acting negligently in the release on parole of the man accused of murdering their daughter. The letter, drafted by MM Mashele Attorneys in Pretoria, states the Department of Justice and Correctional Services “acted negligently” in releasing Hlabirwa Rassie Nkuna on parole . Additionally, the department is accused of failing to rein in Nkuna for absconding from parole management for two years. Nkuna “violated his parole conditions for a period of almost two years after his release in 2019. The parolee was arrested for an alleged rape offence and subsequently the case was withdrawn. However, your department did not press charges for violating his parole conditions”, the lawyers’ letter read. “If the parolee had been…

Transnet said that recovery plans were under way to resume full operations and clear the backlog following the return of most staff after reaching a wage agreement on Monday with its majority union, United National Transport Union (Untu). Transnet had faced a crippling strike that lasted 12 days. Its other recognised union, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu), has yet to accept the wage agreement. Transnet spokesperson Ayanda Shezi said that Transnet SOC Ltd (Transnet) had begun the implementation of recovery plans across its operations. “Employee attendance is up across the board, averaging between 70% and 80%, with more employees expected to return over the next two days.” Shezi added that Transnet continued to prioritise the safety of employees and assets, as operations prepared to ramp up.…

THE Sekunjalo Group of Companies’ (Sekunjalo) bank accounts at Nedbank will continue to remain open after the Western Cape High Court dismissed Nedbank’s appeal against the interim interdict granted to Sekunjalo in June which prevented the bank from closing them. Nedbank had sought leave to appeal the judgment handed down in June by Judge Mokgoatji Dolamo and had argued that the matter was appealable and as such had reasonable prospects for success. They had argued that the section of the Equality Act, which governs appeals from the Equality Court, allowed for an appeal against any order of such court and as such the order was appealable. Dismissing the application for leave to appeal with costs, Judge Dolamo said: “The logical conclusion of this line of reasoning is that any order…

Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen yesterday told the court that he was considering whether he should recuse himself from the arms deal trial. The judge made the comment yesterday before the arms deal matter involving former president Jacob Zuma and company Thales was postponed to January 30. Zuma is accused of pocketing millions in bribes from Thales, which were allegedly channelled through a business owned by Schabir Shaik, a Durban businessman who in 2005 was convicted for similar crimes. Zuma has launched a private prosecution against state prosecutor Billy Downer for allegedly sharing his medical records and has also asked the Constitutional Court to consider his special plea application to have Downer removed from the case as he alleged that the prosecutor is biased against him. Jacob Zuma Foundation…

Forty-five years ago yesterday, the media industry in South Africa was pulverised when the apartheid regime arbitrarily banned publications and arrested journalists. The persecution was the strongest signal of the apartheid government’s growing discomfort with print media players who dared to question the status quo. Radio and television stations were understandably left untouched as they fell under the fiefdom of the state-run SABC. “Black Wednesday” has since become known as Media Freedom Day in the country. The spectre of October 19, 1977, and the usual harassment of journalists henceforth were never lost on activists. The release of Nelson Mandela from incarceration in 1990 provided the tonic for the advocacy for a free media dispensation. With the advent of democracy in 1994, freedom of the media was guaranteed in the Constitution.…

Pro-Kremlin officials said they were pulling out of the key southern Ukraine city of Kherson yesterday, as Kyiv’s forces advanced on territory in Russian hands. Kyiv’s recapturing of swathes of its territory in the east and parts of the south has, however, been followed by missile and drone strikes that have demolished large parts of Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter. “The entire administration is already moving today,” to the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, said the Kherson region’s Moscow-installed head, Vladimir Saldo. But the Ukrainian presidency’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, accused Russia of “trying to scare the people of Kherson”. Ukrainian forces “do not fire at Ukrainian cities”, Yermak said. Saldo said the pull-out was a precaution and vowed that Russian forces would continue to fight against…

SEKUNJALO Investment Holdings (Sekunjalo), its group of companies and chairman Dr Iqbal Survé said yesterday they were pleased commissioners Gill Marcus and Emmanuel Lediga had withdrawn their notice to oppose the review. On Tuesday, Marcus and Lediga officially submitted their notice of intention to withdraw opposition to the official review of the report they helped compile. The black-owned conglomerate took the Mpati Commission Report into alleged impropriety at the Public Investment Corporation to the high court for an urgent formal review of its contents and to have it set aside. Survé said Sekunjalo’s detractors had used the report against the group and its subsidiaries even though the commission had never proved any misconduct by Sekunjalo. “This is a significant victory for Sekunjalo and its Group of companies. For Sekunjalo, this…

WITH just 10 days to go before the eagerly awaited handover of the certificate ceremony for the government to officially recognise King Misuzulu kaZwelithini as the Zulu monarch, traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch and nation Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has raised concern over what he called a breach of protocol by the KwaZulu-Natal premier and executive council during a visit this week. This follows KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube’s courtesy visit to KwaKhangelamankengane Palace on Tuesday, in which she was accompanied by Members of the Executive Council (MECs) to pay homage to the king. In a statement, Buthelezi noted that the king had been with two princes when the premier and her MECs arrived at the palace, adding that the move to visit the king to introduce herself and the…

Cows are one of the most important domesticated animals. They have been with us for a very long time, being first domesticated in Asia some 10 000 years ago. They are an important source of food and nourishment, giving us meat, the all important mineral-rich milk and dairy products and hide which is made into leather. Cows are regarded as sacred animals in India. Hindus do not eat beef, so slaughtering of cattle is taboo. The poor rural communities use cow dung as fuel. They even coat the sandy floors of their huts with it. But the much-loved humble cow is now becoming a problem, both to man and the environment. There are an estimated one billion cows on Earth to feed eight billion people with a growing appetite for…

Dis-Chem’s dilemma over demographic employment ratios because of the dictates of the Employment Equity Act highlights the absolute farce of adherence to the principle of non- racialism (The Mercury, October 18). Before 1994, the National Party government had begun to ease up on racial job reservation. Yet despite all the denunciation of apartheid by its opponents, racial discrimination thrives in the Employment Equity Act. As long as that act is on the statute book, it is going to present employers with a dilemma, while causing frustration, despair and malice among those it marginalises. For millions born since 1994 who had nothing to do with apartheid, legalised discrimination between population groups should not be happening. The Employment Equity Act impugns the spirit of the preamble of the Constitution, which enshrines the…

It beggars belief that eThekwini Municipality actually thinks that holding a crime summit will be the panacea to deal with the rampant crime that is billowing out of control. (The Mercury, October 19) As with all summits, bosberade, conferences, task teams, etc, it will just be another costly junket for a lot of self-opinionated “experts” to disburse a lot of hot air – as well as being fed at ratepayers’ expense and the net result will be a big fat zero. Why exactly do we have such decorated police both in the Metro Police and SAPS when they seem unable to devise strategy and implement time-honoured crime prevention and subsequent action as laws are broken? There is absolutely no alternative to a strong, visible, motivated police force – it does…

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) says anyone is welcome to visit inmates at its 243 facilities, but everyone must book before visiting. “It is important to highlight that no member of the public can ever be denied an opportunity to visit an inmate in line with the prescribed procedures as outlined in the Correctional Services Act,” DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said. “The 243 correctional centres across the country allow the public to make bookings to visit both remand detainees and sentenced inmates, with dates and times allocated for such visits. There is nothing in the law prohibiting ministers from visiting inmates; however, it has to be stated that the same procedures meant for members of the public apply equally to the executive and individuals who may want to provide…

FAMILIES from Mega Village informal settlement in uMlazi, who were left homeless after the April floods, have endured sleeping outside after they were evicted from a shelter to living like sardines in a temporary shelter in Berea. More than 100 people, including the elderly, mothers and children from the informal settlement, who had found refuge in the Tehuis Hostel in uMlazi, were recently evicted and spent the night outside Lamontville police station after being denied access to Wema Men’s Hostel due to a security risk. The Mercury visited the building where the displaced families were moved to in Berea. One room had up to four families (mothers and children) living together, in other rooms men were sleeping in groups of six to eight on the floor while those without rooms…

IF THE yardstick to measure a country’s success was how well it protected its children, South Africa would be ranked among the bottom nations, if not last. For our children violence is a daily occurrence that the country seems to normalise. They are not safe even in the presence of family members, their supposed primary caregivers at all times. This editorial space is not sufficient to list all the recent violent incidents that should have outraged the nation. Perhaps quoting recent reports indicating that more than 500 children in the country have been murdered in the first half of the year, at a rate of three a day, puts into perspective the situation we are dealing with. In fact it’s a crisis that requires all of us to pause and…

One of the poorest and most arid states in the world, the landlocked nation of Chad has been hit by exceptional floods that have affected hundreds of thousands of lives. In the beleaguered capital of N’Djamena, a field of tents has sprung up to provide emergency shelter. Victims are striving to salvage what they can from the ruins of their homes. In Walia, a poor neighbourhood to the south of the city, dozens of homes were ravaged last week after the Chari River burst its banks following torrential rains, an AFP journalist said. Water levels rose by up to 5m, which local officials said was unprecedented, and swept aside makeshift defences erected by desperate inhabitants. “The flood defences gave way and my house was completely engulfed,” said Antoinette Nemercie, a…

ACSION said yesterday that a potential cash offer for the property company might lead to a delisting from the JSE. “Shareholders are advised that Acsion is considering a potential de- listing of the company’s shares from the securities exchange operated by the JSE, on the basis that the delisting would be accompanied by a cash offer, which, if successfully concluded, may have a material effect on the price of the company’s securities,“ it said. Shareholders were told to exercise caution in dealing with the shares. The firm, with a market cap of more than R2 billion, has an investment portfolio consisting of eight well-established, strategically located retail properties, a light industrial property and a mixed-used development, all located in South Africa, as well as an international retail property situated…

A TEXT message allegedly from the mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Mxolisi Kaunda, taking his deputy, Philani Mavundla, to task for undermining him, has laid bare the purportedly strained relationship between the two men at the helm of the city’s political leadership. In the text message, written in Zulu, Kaunda criticises Mavundla for putting a picture of himself on a municipal poster instead of one of the mayor. The poster promoted a clean-up campaign the city recently undertook with the Premier Soccer League football club, Kaizer Chiefs. When The Mercury contacted Mavundla for comment, the deputy mayor did not deny the authenticity of the message, but said, “We will not comment on this matter.” Asked about his relationship with Kaunda, he said, “I came to this city to help service the…

GALE-force winds still swirl about new British Prime Minister Liz Truss, having sacked her chancellor (what we would call minister of finance) after only weeks in office; as her MPs speculate openly about her being removed, and as one Tory MP suggests that her programme seems to be one of “libertarian jihadism”, the British population being used as “laboratory mice” in a programme of extreme, far-right economic experimentation. This is strong and unprecedented stuff. It has roused the Muse in former Mercury columnist Wordsworth (aka John MacDonald), who used to write on the foibles and vagaries of the English language and is now based in Bulgaria. Last week Wordsworth volunteered a song about Truss and her chancellor based on the Beatles’ number Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. It seemed to go down…

The most significant and holy festival of Diwali has arrived and will be celebrated on Monday, October 24. It will be celebrated in the traditional way by lighting fireworks which forms an integral part of our celebration. It is also this time of the year when the fireworks debate will start. Let us show respect and compassion for our animals. The need for more restrictions for big bangs is necessary. Deepavali is a sacred religious and auspicious occasion that calls for the refinement of our spiritual humanitarian and other values of bonding, sharing, promoting goodwill and charity. We need to be responsible during this period and take every precaution to keep our animals safe. It is also very important to note that with unemployment, rising cost of food and the…

FREE gifts we can give to everyone we encounter – intimate or casual: We can give one another room to move, freedom, space, permission to be different, and separate. No permission is required given that all people are free. It seems some do not know it or believe it. We can offer one another a positive attitude, a can-do spirit, an approach to problems and requests, with a co-operative, and creative drive. We have all had the draining experience of legitimate requests meeting unnecessary resistance. We can give one another the benefit of the doubt, the stance that assumes no malice when things don’t run according to plan. An air of suspicion can kill any relationship, casual or intimate. We can offer one another a listening ear before leaping to…

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) said its recent engagements with Eskom “went well” and the power utility would consider its request to suspend load shedding at schools and other exam venues. During a matric prayer service on Sunday held at Kgolathuto Senior Secondary School in Free State, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the department was in talks with the power utility to suspend power cuts during the upcoming exam period. Yesterday department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the discussions with Eskom about power cuts being suspended for exam venues had gone well. He said the power utility said it would seriously consider the department’s request. However, Mhlanga said should Eskom fail to assist the department, it would implement its back-up plans. “We have experienced load shedding during exams before…

The arrival of veggie “meat” dishes on Parisian steakhouse menus with names such as “tenderloin” and “flank” poses a challenge to French government efforts to ban meat names for plant-based products. The global market for plant-based meat-like food has been booming, attracting major investment from global agrifood groups hoping to capitalise on a trend towards healthy eating, including less red meat. And new technologies are making such products look ever more authentic and appetising. However, the French government, backed by farmers and the meat industry, has been trying to ban the use of meat and fish names for plant-based protein food in an effort to avoid confusion over the trendy alternatives. France’s highest administrative court suspended a ban due to take effect this month, saying it gave operators too…

The repair and restoration of Aqueduct 1 and Aqueduct 2, which convey raw water from Nagle Dam to the Durban Heights Water Treatment Works is progressing according to schedule. This comes after the aqueducts were extensively damaged in the April floods. Aqueduct 1 and Aqueduct 2 are among four aqueducts that convey raw water from Nagle Dam to the Durban Heights Water Treatment Works for treatment and supply to eThekwini Metro. The treated water is supplied to areas in the north, south, central and inner west Durban. Shami Harichunder, Umgeni Water’s corporate stakeholder manager, said a significant amount of work had already been completed on Aqueduct 1 and full restoration is expected by December 22, which is in line with time-lines provided by the contractor and agreed to by Umgeni…

‘The ANC can learn much from the CPC despite differences in political systems’ As political and economic instability continues to clasp London and protests plague Paris once again, Washington seems uncertain about what will happen in the upcoming mid-term elections. The world, therefore, looks once again to Beijing for stability and vision. After being elected from electoral units across China, 2 296 delegates are attending the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing this month. In enhancing the party’s leadership, reports from China indicate that there are strict criteria for candidates, meticulous procedures and rigorous electoral discipline. Tibet and Xinjiang, both autonomous regions, had uncontested elections of delegates, whereas in the rest of China, competitive elections of delegates were held. Delegates are said to be…

The EU is working towards fresh sanctions on Iran after collecting “sufficient evidence” that it is supplying Russia with deadly drones for use in Ukraine, a spokesperson said yesterday. “Now that we have gathered our own sufficient evidence, work is ongoing in the (European) council in view of a clear, swift and firm EU response,” said Nabila Massrali, spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. EU diplomats said there was work under way yesterday to draw up a list of Iranian individuals and entities linked to the drones who would be added to the bloc’s sanctions blacklist. Ukraine has for weeks accused Iran of supplying Russia with Shahed-136 drones – unmanned aircraft equipped with a warhead – for attacks, and urged EU sanctions. Borrell on Monday said evidence was…