Inhoudsopgave van 2023-01-11 - Mercury

Manufacturing output in South Africa is expected to continue struggling as the impact of the Transnet strike and intense power cuts of up to Stage 6 continued to weigh on the sector, after activity fell to a five-month low in November. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) yesterday showed that manufacturing production fell by 1.1% from a year earlier in November, less than expected compared with market forecasts of a 3.5% decline. This downwards print in November followed a 1% increase in the preceding month of October, and was the first monthly decline in the country’s factory activity after four consecutive months of increases since July. This was a turn for the worse for the manufacturing industry which was a significant positive contributor to the 1.6% growth in gross…

’TWAS an eerie stroll along the Durban beachfront the other morning. Bright sunshine. The height of holiday season. Yet not a soul on the beaches. Nobody fishing. Nobody surfing. Brownish water almost out to the horizon. Floodwaters? Certainly. E. coli? Who knows? Or could it be that our seas are being tainted by oil? My old mate Gus McCleod-Henderson, who is of a scientific bent, sends in an item which he says illustrates how oil enters the ocean. “If you’re an environmentalist like me, you hate to see this kind of thing. When will people start caring? “This may be hard to watch, but force yourself to watch it more than once just to convince yourself that, yes, these things are actually happening in 2023. No wonder our coral…

The recent article on electronic media about the costs involved in the ANC golf day is very similar to the ANC dinner that I recently wrote about. In response to the concerns raised by many across the social platforms regarding this golf day, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula had this to say: “We don’t have money. “We raise money from people who have got money.” Anyone wishing to spend R75 000 to play a round of golf with a minister or R350 000 to play with President Cyril Ramaphosa? This invitation is tantamount to opening up further channels of corruption. Who in their right mind would spend this type of money with a government official without getting something in return? This and the gala dinner just confirm that the ANC has…

What is a party hack? Is it someone who puts party before country? Is the policy of “cadre deployment” a policy of putting party before country? By all reasonable norms, it is. Last week Kevin McCarthy was elected as Speaker of Congress in the US. During his swearing-in he said: “Now that I have been elected Speaker of Congress, my first duty is to serve the country and not in the first instance my political party.” That, I believe, is the correct attitude for an elected senior public official whose salary is being paid by the taxpayer. In correctly attending to the municipal chaos in Mangaung (Bloemfontein), the newly elected secretary-general of the ANC – Fikile Mbalula – said that strict steps would be taken against ANC councillors who co-operated…

While there had been several calls by some sections of the ANC for the controversial step-aside rule to be scrapped, the policy was reaffirmed at the party’s elective conference last week. The party’s conference came to a close at the Imvelo Safari Resort near Bloemfontein in the early hours of Friday, after gruelling discussions regarding its implementation of policies before re-elected president Cyril Ramaphosa closed the conference. The conference resumed last week after it was adjourned in Nasrec late last month, following the choosing of the new leaders where Ramaphosa emerged victorious, beating his former ally Dr Zweli Mkhize to the position of president. The second leg of the conference coincided with the celebrations of the governing party’s birthday that was also closed by the January 8 statement by Ramaphosa…

THE deadline for the government to disclose the true reasons behind the Covid-19 lockdown regulations was not honoured – a move which could see Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma back in court to explain why she should not be held in contempt. This is according to public interest body, Sakeliga, which said the minister was in contempt of a court order instructing her to submit records concerning her 2020 state of disaster decisions. Sakeliga has now started a process to have the minister declared guilty of contempt of court. In terms of an order obtained by Sakeliga in November, by December 22 Dlamini Zuma should have submitted to it a variety of records she had relied on when declaring the national state of disaster…

Strategic partnership has brought substantial benefits to both countries The long-standing fraternal relations and solidarity that existed between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the ANC and other South African liberation movements, culminated in the signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between South Africa and China in Pretoria in 1997, with the provision for it to take effect on January 1,1998. The establishment of diplomatic relations ushered in a new era for South Africa and China co-operation. It paved the way for closer political, economic, cultural and people-to-people ties, in a spirit of increasing friendship and constructive dialogue. The official establishment of diplomatic relations in 1998 was celebrated with a state visit of the highest symbolic significance by then President Nelson Mandela to China…

London: A Church of England funding body apologised yesterday for its historic links to slavery, after researchers unearthed the slavery links by combing through ledgers from more than 200 years ago at Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s official London residence. The Church’s commissioners committed £100 million (about R2 billion) of investment over the next nine years to “a better and fairer future for all” to address the wrongs of the past. The money will target “communities affected by historic slavery”, and further research about church links to the practice. |…

A World Health Organization committee (WHO) will meet on January 27 to consider whether the Covid-19 pandemic still represents a global emergency, a spokesperson said yesterday, three years after it was first declared. The WHO spokesperson, Carla Drysdale, confirmed the timing of the meeting at a Geneva press briefing. The Emergency Committee advises WHO director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who makes the ultimate call on whether an outbreak represents a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern which is the UN agency’s highest level of alert. Several leading scientists and WHO advisers say it may be too early to declare the end of the Covid-19 pandemic emergency phase because of high levels of infections in China which dismantled its zero-Covid policy last month. However, the WHO also said…

The number of journalists who were attacked while covering the protests that broke out in Brazil has increased to 14, the Union of Journalists of the federal district of the country said. Among the injured journalists are employees of such media outlets as the Washington Post, Anadolu, Reuters and AFP, many of whom had their equipment stolen. Supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, protesting the results of the presidential election last year, stormed key government buildings in the Brazilian capital on Sunday. Police regained control of the buildings in the evening and arrested more than 400 people the same day. Security forces in Brasilia have launched an operation to disperse a protest camp located near the headquarters of the Brazilian armed forces. Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da…

Financial services authority mulls R15m penalty imposed on the former chief executive The Financial Services Tribunal (FST) yesterday dismissed an application from former Steinhoff International Holdings CEO Markus Jooste to suspend public censures imposed on him by the JSE, and the JSE’s prohibition of him becoming a director of a listed company for 20 years. However, the JSE said in an update yesterday that Jooste’s application to suspend the R15 million in fines imposed on him by the JSE was still being considered by the FST. Jooste is alleged to have master- minded the accounting frauds that led to South Africa’s biggest corporate collapse of some R200 billion in market capitalisation alone in 2017. He has contested the censures and fines imposed on him by the JSE. “The…

Covid-19 testing and surveillance of wastewater for detection of cases, including on international flights, is set to increase as the Health Department seeks to respond to the first case of the XBB.1.5 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Minister of Health Dr Joseph Phaahla yesterday announced that after consulting with the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientists, it was decided that there would be no restrictions or travel ban imposed in the country. Instead, Phaahla said measures would be put in place to increase Covid-19 testing and to encourage members of the public to get vaccinated and have booster shots. The move has been welcomed by medical experts who said the actions being taken were appropriate. Phaahla said that the XBB.1.5 variant was responsible for an increase in the number of…

I am careful when I write or speak publicly about my sons. I try to be sensitive to the fact that they don’t deserve their lives to be on public display. My observations reveal they really don’t care too much about what I write or divulge about us. If anything, they quite enjoy it but don’t seem to give it much thought. I think they are used to it. I recently asked both boys to attend a public event at which I was speaking and each readily agreed. Before the event, Nate, 20, who towers over his brother and me, hovered around me. He straightened my tie and tapped my hair into place. I found this rather amusing from a young man who’s not used a comb or a brush…

The critical situations in Ukraine and Palestine glaringly expose the double standards and impotence of the UN. The impotency of the UN in halting the level of violence is a shocking indictment of this biased and prejudiced organisation. What is needed is an international judicial structure that is independent of the power constellation prevailing in the UN Security Council. The UN, both in principle and in practice, was the closest thing we would have had to a world government coming together to tackle the challenges faced by all humanity. It is an utterly useless organisation when it comes to protecting human rights and enforcing security. The UN has proven itself a failure for its entire history and will continue to do so. It is a diseased, inept and impotent organisation.…

A KwaZulu-Natal police sergeant was shot dead while asleep in his home on Monday in the Zululand area. The shooting took place at about 4.30am. Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said Richards Bay Serious Organised Crime Investigation members were investigating the case. “A police sergeant, 42, was shot and killed while asleep in his residence. The motive for the killing is unknown. No arrest has been made.” The incident report stated a female police officer was also in the home at the time of the shooting. She told police that a man entered the home through a toilet window and pointed a firearm at her, instructing her to keep quiet. She said she was taken to another room and then heard several gunshots. In another incident, a policeman was also…

SIMPLY because the mother has had a child with the father does not mean that her entitlement to a life of her own must be discounted and ignored while he can continue as he chooses, a judge said. This was in allowing the mother of a 2-year-old to move to another province with her daughter. The mother turned to the high court sitting in Pietermaritzburg as the father of the child refused her permission to relocate the child. The parties were never married and the child was born from their romantic relationship. They broke up when the child was 14 months old and had a parenting plan in place, which, among others, stated that neither party should be allowed to relocate outside the borders of KwaZulu-Natal and/or South Africa without…

The SANDF is conducting an investigation into an incident in Mozambique after a video has gone viral, purportedly showing South African soldiers in the vicinity where bodies of dead people are being thrown on to a pile of burning rubble. In a statement issued yesterday, the SANDF said it was recently made aware of a video clip circulating on social media “depicting members in a yet unidentified Defence Force uniform throwing deceased bodies in a pile of burning rubble as well as SANDF member(s) standing around watching them”. “The incident is believed to have taken place during November 2022 in Mozambique, where South Africa has committed forces as part of the SADC Mission in Mozambique (Samim). “Once the forces are committed, they form part of a combined force and fall…

LONDON: Space sector bosses said yesterday they were disappointed by the failure of the UK’s historic first attempt to launch satellites from home soil but pledged to try again. The failure of the mission on Monday night is a blow to the UK’s fledgling space sector. A Virgin Orbit Boeing 747 carrying the 21m-long rocket took off from a spaceport in Cornwall, south-west England. The rocket then detached from the aircraft and ignited as planned at a height of 10.6km over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland. But as it was due to enter orbit and discharge its nine satellites, scientists reported an “anomaly” that prevented it from reaching orbit. |…

Cotonou: Benin’s electoral officials were tallying ballots yesterday after a parliamentary vote seen as a key test of democracy in the West African state. Final results from Sunday’s vote, which observers from the regional bloc Ecowas (Economic Community of West African States) hailed as peaceful and calm, are expected by the end of the week. Opposition parties took part for the first time since President Patrice Talon came to power. Talon, a cotton magnate first elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2021, has promoted political and economic development but, say critics, at the cost of stifling Benin’s once-vibrant political culture. |…

Israel’s parliament started voting overnight on reviving a law which gives settlers in the occupied West Bank access to civilian law, while their Palestinian neighbours face military courts. The session marks the first legislative move since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office last month, at the helm of the most right-wing government in Israeli history. The legislation, which has been repeatedly renewed since Israel seized the Palestinian territory in the 1967 Six-Day War, hit a stumbling block in June, contributing to the previous government’s collapse. Some members of the then coalition opted to vote against the law, which grants some 475 000 West Bank settlers the same rights as citizens living in Israel. The opposition then led by Netanyahu went against its ideological support of settlements to defeat the legislation,…

A court in Uganda yesterday quashed a section of a communications law that has been used to prosecute government critics, journalists and writers, including two who fled to exile in Germany, its judgment said. Under Uganda’s Computer Misuse Act, one of the sections proscribes the use of electronic communication to “disturb the peace, quiet or right of privacy of any person with no purpose of legitimate communication”. Punishments for offenders can range from steep cash penalties to jail sentences of several years. In a ruling on a petition filed by a rights activist who was seeking the quashing of that section of the law, the Constitutional Court in Uganda agreed, saying that it violated the constitution. Constitutional Court Judge Kenneth Kakuru, who wrote the lead judgment on behalf of a…

The tourism and hospitality industry in South Africa has heaved a sigh of relief after the government decided to not impose any crippling restrictions on travel and gatherings, at least not yet, in spite of a highly-transmissible Covid-19 Omicron sub-variant detected in the country. Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla yesterday said the government will not impose any internal restrictions as a result of the emergence of a newly found Covid-19 sub-variant. The XBB.1.5 sub-variant of the globally dominant Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa on December 27 by Stellenbosch University researchers and reported earlier this month. Phaahla said scientists were producing more genomes to determine if the new coronavirus variant was spreading. In the meantime, there would be no restrictions on travellers from affected countries, such as China…

Argentina’s cash has lost so much value in recent years that local artist Sergio Guillermo Diaz finds painting on even the most valuable banknotes in the South American country has become affordable. With annual inflation nearing 100% last year, the largest denomination, the 1 000-peso bill, is worth around $5.60 (R95) officially or just $3 (R51) on parallel markets commonly used to skirt capital controls. “Nowadays it makes sense for me to paint on the largest denominated bill here in Argentina. Once I paint on it, I can sell it for much more than what the bill is worth,” Diaz said. He said he weaves the themes of inflation and the peso’s depreciation into his works On the banknotes he has painted pictures ranging from soccer star Lionel Messi lifting…

The IFP extends its best wishes to all pupils, teachers and school support staff as the 2023 school year begins. As pupils in our inland provinces begin school today, with our coastal schools opening on January 18, we urge parents and guardians to remind their children of the value of a good education, and to encourage those who might be hesitant to return to school to continue with their education. A new year provides a new opportunity for pupils to expand their knowledge and skills, and to invest in their future. We would like to make special mention of the pupils in Grade 1 who will be beginning their school career, and those who will be writing matric: may you be successful in all your endeavours this year. As the…

Two old men who made their mark on history died within days of each other on the opposite sides of the globe. One a man of the cloth and the other a football player. Their funerals became grand, massive events that attracted worldwide media attention. Former Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was head of the 1.3 billion-strong Catholic Church. He died at the ripe age of 95. Although his death was not untimely and tragic, he will be missed and mourned by his faithful followers. Thousands of mourners thronged St Peter’s Basilica to view his coffin as his body lay in state for three days before it was interred in a tomb in the Vatican Grottoes last Thursday. The tomb will be open to visitors to the Vatican. Across the Atlantic,…

THE recently launched South African imaging satellite called EOS SAT-1 has been hailed as the world’s first agriculture-focused satellite constellation. The satellite will provide the agriculture and forestry industry with high-quality data to support efficient and sustainable practices. Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande said the satellite would further cement South Africa’s position as an African leader in small-to-medium satellite development. In addition, the satellite would help the country to capture a valuable share of a niche market in the fast-growing global satellite value chain, according to Nzimande. Built locally by South African company Dragonfly Aerospace, the satellite was launched on January 3 by US aerospace company SpaceX at Cape Canaveral, Florida, as part of the Transporter-6 mission. The EOS SAT-1 satellite is the first of…

The battle against seismic surveys on South Africa’s coast will continue after civil society groups vowed to appeal against the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s (DMRE) decision to grant environmental authorisation for the proposed Searcher Seismic survey project to search for oil and gas resources off the West Coast. This is Searcher’s second attempt at surveying off the West Coast after its first attempt was stopped by the Western Cape High Court due to insufficient public participation, in particular consultation with affected small-scale fishers. The project, about 256km offshore of St Helena Bay to 220km offshore of Hondeklip Bay, off the West Coast, was granted Environmental Authorisation on December 20 by the DMRE. On the reasons for the decision, DMRE director-general Jacob Mbele said the identification and assessment of…

Durban councillor Visvin Reddy says he will be going back to drinking tap water after the latest tests on samples from different areas in the city showed that it was safe to drink. A stir was caused at the weekend after Reddy, from African Democratic Change, stated that he had taken ill and was hospitalised because of an E coli infection, implying that he could only have been infected from drinking water as he had not gone to any of the beaches that were suspected to be polluted. At the time, Reddy said he would engage the services of a private independent laboratory that specialises in water testing to conduct tests on random samples of tap water. In response, the eThekwini Municipality said it had conducted water quality tests which…

WHEN it comes to teaching young children about the world, parents may feel that some topics – like politics and religion – are too tough to broach. Money is another. Parents may not feel like they know how to approach the subject, or worry that they don’t set a good financial example for their kids. But money talk shouldn’t be avoided. Talking about it is the first stepping stone towards financial knowledge and, ultimately, to financial independence. Holding off the conversations for too long can leave your children in the lurch later in life. For instance, in South Africa, only 42% of adults are financially literate. In Ghana the figure is 32% and in Nigeria it’s 26%. This means a large number of adults in these countries do not know…

Yerevan: Armenia will not host Russian-led military exercises this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said yesterday, signalling growing frustration with Moscow. Pashinyan’s announcement comes after the leader of the ex-Soviet republic criticised the work of Russian peacekeepers in the South Caucasus, which has been plagued for decades by fighting between Armenia and neighbouring Azerbaijan where tension persists over their borders. The conflict claimed more than 6 500 lives and ended with a truce that saw Yerevan cede territories it had controlled for decades and Moscow send peacekeepers to Karabakh. |…

HELSINKI: A Finnish court of appeal began hearing an international war crime case yesterday in which a Sierra Leonean man is charged with murders, rapes and other atrocities during the Liberian civil war between 1999 and 2003, the court said. Prosecutors believe the suspect Gibril Massaquoi, 53, murdered, raped and mutilated civilians while he was in the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The RUF was an insurgent group that fought in Sierra Leone but also in Liberia for its ex-president Charles Taylor. Last year, Massaquoi was acquitted of all charges by a lower Finnish court. But the prosecutors took the case to Turku court of appeal. |…

Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement yesterday condemned cartoons of Iran’s supreme leader published last week by the French weekly Charlie Hebdo, and called on Paris to punish the satirical magazine. The magazine said the caricatures of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were published in support of protests in Iran sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women. Hezbollah, Tehran’s close ally, called on “the French government to take firm measures to punish the perpetrators of this act, who attacked what is sacred and flouted the dignity of an entire nation”. Following the publication of the cartoons on Wednesday, Iran summoned the French ambassador to Tehran and closed a research institute affiliated with France’s foreign ministry. |…