Tabla de contenidos para 2024-04-05 en Mercury

President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the launch of the R3.4 billion Newlyn Park Bayhead Rail Terminal project at the Port of Durban yesterday, describing the project as a good model of a public-private partnership. Newlyn Investments, a leading South African developer of storage infrastructure in close proximity to both coastal and inland logistics hubs, at the 2018 investment conference, initially pledged an investment of R2bn in the redevelopment of the terminal. The company, through its affiliate Unitainer, at last year’s investment conference also pledged an investment of R4bn for the development of a manganese storage and handling facility at the Coega Special Economic Zone, in Ngqura, Eastern Cape. Ramaphosa said yesterday that the project, which will facilitate the movement of sea, rail and road cargo through the Port of Durban via…

RESULTS of Independent Media and IOL’s first poll survey in the run-up to the national and provincial elections show that 75.1% of registered voters in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban actually planned to vote on May 29. The news agencies commissioned African Innovation Research SA (AIRSA), a subsidiary of African Innovation Solutions, to conduct bi-weekly polls. The results of the first poll survey using a sample of 1 000 respondents from the major cities were made available yesterday. The respondents provided insights into their views on voter registration, the upcoming elections, perceptions of the presidency, preferences for the next president, party predictions, and youth-related issues. While the poll may not be reflective of the national sentiment, Independent Media and IOL have commissioned AIRSA to undertake a national poll in all…

Wheelchair-bound Pope Francis visited a Roman prison on Holy Thursday and performed a remarkable gesture which stunned the world. The 87 year-old Roman Catholic leader stooped down and washed and kissed the feet of 12 women, replicating the example set by Jesus who washed the feet of 12 disciples at the last supper before he was crucified. Some women cried when the pope kissed their feet. They were not any women but inmates of the Rebibbia prison. They were in prison for some crime they had committed. But it didn’t matter to the pope. In this truly humbling act the pope demonstrated that he was following the Christian teachings of all human life being equal and precious. This Easter ritual has been performed in the past but only to men.…

Although April Fool’s Day has passed, its ‘logic’ is being promoted by the Gates Foundation where the teaching of maths is concerned in the US. A report in the World Net Daily of April 2 notes that the Gates Foundation is anxious to eliminate racism in the teaching of maths because people of colour are disadvantaged and denied full access to the world of maths. A document titled A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction provides a “toolkit” for pupils to solve maths problems by eliminating the requirement of having to arrive at the “correct” answer. The Gates-funded project justifies its approach as necessary to remove “white supremacy culture that infiltrates classrooms in everyday teacher actions which perpetuate harm to students of colour”. Thus, in terms of the aim to “dismantle…

The eight-year-old girl from neighbouring Botswana, the only survivor of the bus crash in which 45 Botswana nationals died in Limpopo, has been discharged from hospital. The child, Lorraine Atlang Siako, was escorted by medical care workers and government officials to the Polokwane International Airport to catch an hour-long connecting flight to OR Tambo International Airport in Joburg on Wednesday. From Joburg, Lorraine and her mother are scheduled to catch a flight back to Botswana where they are based. Last week near Mamatlakala, in Limpopo, a bus ferrying Botswana nationals careened out of control and plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass. The ill-fated bus had been travelling from Botswana’s capital Gaborone to the popular Saint Engenas Zion Christian Church in Limpopo for the annual Easter service. Speaking to…

A 35-year-old former court manager has been sentenced to a seven-year jail term by the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court after being convicted on fraud and money laundering charges. Gaobuse Desmond Mokhobo was also convicted of the contravention of Section 4(1) of Rica, Act 70 of 2000. He was arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks. The provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Christopher Singo, said Mokhobo’s crimes took place during 2019. “The Department of Justice became suspicious of fraud involving third-party funds at the Zastron Magistrate’s Court. They then reported the matter to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team in Bloemfontein. “It was discovered that the accused, who was employed at Zastron Magistrate’s Court, would make deposits into the bank account of his partner using the…

POLICE Minister Bheki Cele has vowed that police would not allow criminals to terrorise residents. He was speaking to the community of Mariannhill yesterday after a gang of nine suspects died in a shoot-out with police on Wednesday. Cele also visited the family of a teenager who was allegedly raped by the gang. According to the police, four of the killed suspects were connected to the rape of the 16-year-old in January. The teenager’s mother, who can not be named to protect the identity of the girl, said she remembers the day of the incident vividly. “It was around 12.05am when we heard noises coming from the kitchen. About five minutes later, a boy came in and held a gun to my face.” She said five more boys came into…

The 15 people arrested in connection with alleged fraud, corruption and racketeering at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape will spend another weekend behind bars. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that the application made by the defence counsel to have the matter struck off the roll was denied. NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali confirmed that the bail application will now proceed on April 11 and April 12. The 15 people were arrested in various provinces over the Easter weekend and have appeared in the Dimbaza Magistrate’s Court over three days. Among the accused is slain rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes’ former bodyguard Anwar Khan, who is from Durban. While police initially said the accused were facing a string of charges which included murder, attempted murder and kidnapping, the…

Banyana Banyana have been the flag-bearers for South African soccer for a number of years now. They won the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, and became the first SA senior team to reach the knock-out stages of a Fifa World Cup last year. They made it out of their group in Australia and New Zealand, and went down in gallant fashion to the Netherlands in the round of 16. But now coach Desiree Ellis and her team have an opportunity to right a wrong from their recent past: qualify for the Olympic Games. Having competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Banyana missed out on the Tokyo edition in 2021. After drawing 0-0 away in the first leg of the 2019 second-round qualifier against Botswana, Banyana just needed a…

NATO foreign ministers celebrated the 75th anniversary of their alliance yesterday with flags, cake and marching bands, while its secretary-general reminded the US that it needed its allies more than ever as the Ukraine war enters its third year. The alliance’s 32 member states have agreed to start planning for a greater role in co-ordinating military aid to Ukraine to help it battle Russia in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, and show unity as Ukraine awaits a package worth $60 billion that remains stalled in the US Congress. On the second day of a meeting in Brussels, the ministers marked the signing in Washington on April 4, 1949, of the North Atlantic Treaty that established the transatlantic political and military alliance. European leaders, who make up the bulk…

THE BEER Association of South Africa (Basa) said yesterday that Charlene Louw had been appointed as its new CEO. Louw has had extensive experience in commercial and corporate law for more than 20 years. After practising as an attorney, she moved on to senior roles in the energy and private security sector. She also held leadership positions in public-facing entities such as the Road Accident Fund and Pikitup. The beer industry is a significant contributor to the economy. It supports more than R70 billion gross value added to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), representing R1 in every R79 of South Africa’s GDP. It supports the livelihoods of nearly 250 000 people. Basa’s members are Heineken SA, South African Breweries, United National Breweries and the Craft Brewers’ Association…

THE decision by eThekwini Municipality to “revamp” its policy on managing its property portfolio, allowing unused property to be released quicker to developers, has attracted more than R2 billion in investment and will create thousands of jobs. EThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda revealed yesterday that the decision by the council to pro-actively release property that the council was not intending to use was paying dividends. He was addressing delegates at a property conference at the Durban International Convention Centre yesterday. Kaunda said: “As part of our efforts to transform the property market in eThekwini Municipality, we have embarked on a programme of using our property portfolio to attract new investment and to enable those who were deliberately excluded from participating meaningfully in this economic sector.” He said this initiative follows…

Hi ladies, If your husband says he doesn’t want to be married or doesn’t love you anymore, as much as it hurts, the best thing you can do is nothing. Go about your business, act happy, be nice; don’t beg, don’t plead, don’t cry and try to make him feel sorry for you. Listen to me: As hard as this sounds, it works. Work on yourself, be your own person, let him always see you are happy. Men don’t want to pull away from happy women! They want to pull away from a woman who is yelling and nagging. I am not saying this is your fault by any means. Starting today, start taking care of yourself – pamper yourself, love yourself the way you want to be loved, throw…

Numerous letters attacking my “one sided” views on Israel, Gaza, the USA, Britain, India, and many others that crucify Minister Naledi Pandor for placing Palestine on a pedestal, refer. Also yet others replacing my side-view of the Baltimore Bridge disaster (and replacing it with a most exciting, very “relevant”, Google-based History lesson that everybody really cares about, as well as the usual Zionist dig at how Hamas is making some commission for each body bag, also refer: I feel chuffed that my “blind and biased” views actually get such focussed, albeit some blood pressure pounding ranting. It’s great to keep conversations going. Life becomes absolutely boring otherwise, if everybody repeats something that everybody else already knows. Did anybody pick up that none of these writers ever refer to the tens…

THE Isipingo Temple does not draw the same crowds between Good Friday and Easter Monday as it did in the 1970s. The reason for this is various temples have now used the Amman prayers as a drawcard. If memory serves me correctly, a local temple is concerned more about self-enrichment through the family- owned temple. Even the priests are drawn from the family circle; some have no experience, just a dhoti, and he becomes a guru. There has to be a change of thinking among our devotees as well. Many temples, including the Cato Manor Temple, allowed animal sacrifice. Thankfully, they became enlightened and stopped. Our Tamil scriptures do not endorse the slaughtering of animals for God. It is man-made. However, times have changed, life has become faster, our children…

As the search for missing 6-year-old Joshlin Smith has gone international, the Saldanha Bay community is divided about the prospects of the girl being found. Police Minister Bheki Cele has, this week, confirmed in a TV interview that they were working with Interpol in the search for Joshlin. “It’s an awkward and painful case, especially after visiting the family and community. I found a very united community even when there was politics, but everybody agreed that the biggest (matter) was to find Joshlin … the South African police working with their sister organisation have expanded the net. “A week ago, a (ship) was searched in London because there was information that was indicating she could have been in that one. It took about two and a half days for the…

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is set to auction the luxury Pretoria East home of former Eskom official Duduzile Moyo and her husband, Mmoloki Moyo. The house is in Pretoria’s lush Silver Lakes Golf & Wildlife Estate which, according to the estate website, has a game reserve, golf course and state-of-the-art security, among other amenities. Moyo’s two vehicles, a Mercedes-Benz Viano and a Chevrolet bakkie, will also be up for sale to recover losses suffered by Eskom through kickbacks Moyo allegedly received. The SIU is seeking to recover R24 million from Moyo, who is accused of receiving kickbacks from a supplier. SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said: “She had allegedly received almost R25 million from an Eskom vendor, Tamukelo Business Enterprise, which was appointed to transport raw materials and…

Nominating politically or morally tainted candidates for office flies in face of reason SHOULD there be a political price to pay for a corrupt politician who squandered public finances, who is an unrehabilitated insolvent, who was declared to be of unsound mind by a court of law, who was convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine? Common sense says yes. As do ordinary citizens who raised objections against politically and morally tainted candidates who must never be allowed to stand for public office. But since the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s March 26 determination that a handful of candidates – including the former president of the ANC and the country, Jacob Zuma – do not qualify to stand for…

The leaders of the US and Israel were set to speak yesterday after Washington expressed “outrage” over Israel’s killing of seven aid workers and growing concern over its military operations in besieged Gaza. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold their first phone discussions since the Israeli strikes on Monday killed the employees of the US-based charity World Central Kitchen. The bodies of six foreign staff of WCK – Australian, British, Polish and US-Canadian citizens – were repatriated from Gaza via Egypt on Wednesday, while the Palestinian employee was laid to rest in Gaza. Biden and Netayahu were also expected to discuss Israel’s plans to send ground forces into Gaza’s densely crowded far-southern city of Rafah, and Israel’s wider conflict with Iran and its allies after it…

A 37-YEAR-OLD man who is in critical condition after being attacked by monkeys in a Hong Kong country park has tested positive for B virus, making him the first person in the city to contract the deadly infection. Hong Kong authorities are investigating the case and warning the public to refrain from touching or feeding wild monkeys. Anyone injured by monkeys should seek immediate medical attention, the Centre for Health Protection said this week. The man was admitted to the hospital for fever and “decreased consciousness” on March 21. Family members said he was injured during a visit to Kam Shan Country Park, a hiking destination known for its troop of wild monkeys, in late February. His is the first case in Hong Kong of the rare infection that can…

The long-standing rivalry between Banyana Banyana and the Nigerian women’s team will once again take centre stage as the two nations bid to grab qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games. The South African women’s team made the daunting trip to Nigeria to play the first of two legs to determine who jets off to Paris in July between the two continental powerhouses. Banyana and the Super Falcons will kick off at 6pm SA time today at the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja. A victory for the defending Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) champions will see them join either Zambia or Morocco as the two teams to represent Africa at the Paris Olympics. Banyana coach Desiree Ellis named the strongest possible 23-player squad to get the job done over…

THE north-east wind and the settled seas have led to some amazing catches over this past week. The north coast has seen the most variety in inedible action. The banks that are shallow enough to wade onto are the first choice when looking for spots to fish. The main species coming out have been diamond rays, brown skates, sandies, thorntails and grey sharks. Mackerel and redeye sardine are the most successful baits when targeting these species. On the edible side, the north coast has produced some good catches of kob and snapper salmon. Fleshy baits paired with chokka have been the most consistent producers of fish. On a disturbing note, there is still a strong sewage smell in the uMhlanga lighthouse area. When will something be done about this? The…

THE SOUTH African bourse was the best performing among major emerging market (EM) peers FTSE/JSE Capped Swix Index, up 2.9% month-on-month (m/m) in March, as it clawed its way back towards positive territory. However, the FTSE/JSE Capped Swix is still down 2.3% in the year to date. Gold miners rose 24% m/m and were a major boost to the JSE’s performance, as shares of these miners tracked the price of the yellow metal higher. Gold was up 9% m/m, with the price posting new all-time highs during the month. Platinum group metal (PGM) miners increased 11% m/m and also benefitted from March’s bounce in metal prices. PGM and gold miners were responsible for more than 2% of the FTSE/JSE Capped Swix’s performance last month. Shares geared towards…

FROM being Speaker of the National Assembly to now being an accused and a pensioner – Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula had her first dreaded day in the dock yesterday and was released on R50 000 bail after being in custody for about five hours. Not showing any visible emotion, Mapisa-Nqakula, 67, entered the dock at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court accompanied by members of the State’s investigating team and the police. She patiently sat and endured the flashing media cameras and did not once glance in the direction of her husband, Charles Nqakula, good friend Baleka Mbete and others who sat in the public gallery to offer support. It was a long day for her, as she handed herself over to the police at the Lyttelton police station shortly after 7am yesterday.…

PHEW! The Sharks pulled it off against Edinburgh over Easter weekend, though with some anxious moments and woeful placekicking. The Bulls, by contrast, got walloped 47-14 against Leinster, and I don’t know how you recover from that. Our fellows now have a couple of weeks of preparation for Glasgow Warriors. Let’s aim for a 100% clicking into readiness. The damsels of the Pub With No Name are strumming at their knickers in anticipation of supplying elastic for a fashioning of catapults for the time-honoured celebratory feu de joie in which the street lights are shot out. ’Erewego, ‘erewego, ’erewego! New strategy? IS Nato developing a new military strategy? Sky News reports that British commandos have been in the north of Norway learning how huskies can get involved in operations. What…

Following the resignation of Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as the Speaker of the National Assembly, the DA calls for the urgent election of a new Speaker. This resignation has created a vacancy in Parliament. Both the rules of the National Assembly and, crucially, the Constitution state clearly that once a vacancy has been created, an election of a new Speaker must take place. Section 52(1) of the Constitution states: “At the first sitting after its election, or when necessary to fill a vacancy, the National Assembly must elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from among its members.” The DA will be writing to the Secretary to Parliament, Xolile George, to initiate the necessary processes as the only official duly empowered by the rules of the Assembly to do so. The 6th…

THE IFP in KwaZulu-Natal is deeply concerned by the ongoing crisis of unemployment among doctors in the province and condemns the government’s failure to fulfil its promises to address this pressing issue. The recent protest by unemployed doctors outside the Natalia building in Pietermaritzburg, which serves as the KZN head office for the Health Department, underscores the severity of the situation. Despite assurances from Health Minister Joe Phaahla that they would employ young doctors in public hospitals by April 1, many remain without job opportunities. The IFP therefore calls on the KZN Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane, to immediately ensure that all departmental doctors’ vacancies are filled within the province. It is unacceptable that these dedi cated professionals had to camp outside throughout the night, awaiting attention from relevant department leaders…

Corruption Watch (CW) said it had received 2 110 reports in 2023. The organisation released its 12th annual corruption report, Changing the Landscape this week. It said in the past 12 years since its inception, it had received more than 46 900 complaints of alleged corruption from whistle-blowers. CW noted this was an average of 11 reports per day from every part of South Africa, “from ordinary people brave enough to expose corruption and the abuse of power”. In 2023 the organisation said most complaints largely focused on wrongdoing and malfeasance in the mining sector at 38%. The second highest number of reports received was in the policing sector at 23%, followed by business at 16%, basic education at 12%, and state-owned entities at 11%. The predominant types of corruption…

ENERGY experts have cautioned consumers against celebrating the nine days the country has gone without load shedding, saying this is a result of lower demand over the Easter weekend rather than an improvement in the Energy Availability Factor (EAF). The EAF refers to the percentage of available power that is being generated by the power utility. Energy expert Clyde Mallinson said there had been reduced demand over the Easter period. “This has resulted in no load shedding in the past days. There has been a slight improvement in the coal fleet but I wouldn’t say that is cause for celebration, as Eskom still needs to look at ways to add more capacity to the grid.” Mallinson said there had also been a reduction in the amount of planned maintenance. “It’s…

Residents from Bottlebrush in the Chatsworth area, south of Durban, torched and stoned police vehicles while officers were on foot in pursuit of suspects yesterday. Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi condemned the incident that happened in the early hours of the morning. According to provincial police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda, the police officers are members of the eThekwini District Task Team and they were tracing wanted murder suspects. He said the Public Order Policing officers were called to provide back-up in the operation. “When police officers were tracking and tracing the suspects on foot, a group of counter-productive residents torched a police vehicle to ashes and stoned another,” said Netshiunda. Mkhwanazi said no stone would be left unturned in the pursuit of those responsible. Netshiunda said the destruction of the…

ON March 14 South Africa and Zimbabwe announced that they had reached an agreement that would see Zimbabwe supplying water to South Africa. The agreement entails treated water being transferred from Beitbridge Water Treatment Works to Musina. South Africa’s Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, and his Zimbabwean counterpart, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Jongwe Masuka, both spoke about how this initiative is meant to alleviate the water challenges Musina has faced. The agreement between the two countries stems from a bilateral agreement of co-operation on water resource management signed in 2015. Although this agreement is important for South Africa, as it is water-scarce, the economic and political instability in Zimbabwe has led many to question whether this agreement will bear fruit. However,…

A helicopter plucked to safety yesterday six people stranded in a mining area after Taiwan’s worst earthquake in 25 years, and rescue workers reached 400 people cut off in a hotel in a mountainous national park by air and confirmed all were safe. Hundreds of aftershocks struck Taiwan’s eastern region, driving scores to seek shelter outdoors, as the death toll from Wednesday’s 7.2-magnitude quake rose to 10, with the tally of injured at 1 099, authorities said. A helicopter ferried to safety six miners trapped on a cliff in a dramatic rescue after the quake cut off the roads into Hualien’s soaring mountains, in footage shown by the fire department. The department said four foreigners remained unaccounted for – one Canadian, one Indian and two Australians. Rescue workers located most…

Brussels: Authorities arrested 22 people across four European countries yesterday as part of a probe into a suspected €600 million (about R12 billion) fraud of Covid recovery money. Dozens of raids were conducted with arrests in Italy, Austria, Romania and Slovakia as a result of an investigation into an alleged criminal network thought to have scooped up the funds, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office said. The Venice office of Italy’s financial police unit, froze assets worth over €600m on the authority of a pre-trial judge. Of the 22 arrested suspects, eight were put in detention and the other 14 were under house arrest. | AFP…

A GOLDEN Arrows outfit bound for their most difficult test yet this year are expected to keep carrying the torch for KwaZulu-Natal ahead of the weekend’s fixtures. Abafana Bes’thende continued their resurrection under head coach Steve Komphela as they fought back from two goals down to earn a point against SuperSport United on Wednesday. Having been tipped to plummet from the top eight following their 11-game losing streak, Arrows have found a new lease of life under the streetwise Komphela, and look every bit the side that surged to second place in the early stages of the season. Since taking over, Komphela has collected seven out of an available nine points in the league, with two wins and a draw. The Durban club kept their top-eight aspirations alive and now…