Inhoudsopgave van 2023-03-15 - Mercury

Former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede’s lawyer yesterday called into question the powers of the eThekwini Municipality’s City Investigations Integrity Unit (CIIU), especially when it comes to enlisting the help of external service providers for forensic investigations. Gumede and her co-accused, who include former Durban city manager Sipho Nzuza, former exco member Mondli Mthembu, Robert Abbu, who was Durban Solid Waste’s (DSW’s) deputy head, and Sandile Ngcobo, the former deputy head of supply chain management, face several charges, including conspiracy to commit corruption, corruption, fraud, money laundering, racketeering, contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and contravention of the Municipal Systems Act, amounting to more than R300 million. Advocate Jay Naidoo yesterday put it to the State’s first witness, Mbuso Ngcobo, head of the CIIU, that the unit had broken…

The National Freedom Party (NFP) is deeply troubled about the public service workers’ strike. The party calls for urgent government action to address the workers’ demands and avoid further disruption of essential public services. The strike action is a clear indication of the urgent need for government to prioritise the demands of our public service workers. The NFP recognises the critical role these workers play in our country’s development and we call on government to engage in constructive negotiations to find a lasting solution to the crisis. The NFP believes that a fair and just resolution to the current impasse can be achieved through dialogue and compromise. Currently government is facing immeasurable strain due to load shedding. As such, a quick resolution is paramount, otherwise, these strikes will grind the…

The DA is aware of pupils in KwaZulu- Natal who have not been placed in schools and who are still sitting at home despite the academic year having started two months ago. The reasons are varied and include transfers from other provinces and lack of space in appropriate schools – such as special-needs environments. Then there are the pupils whose parents unfortunately waited until the last minute to apply for school placements. In this case, many of the appeals for help that landed on my desk, were only after schools had already opened in January. Looking at these, it is clear that some parents forget that applications for the following school year begin now. So why wait? Parents are urged to begin applications for 2024 as early as next month.…

ALL eyes will be on retired Professor Daya Reddy as he takes the reins as UCT’s interim vice-chancellor (VC) amid ongoing student protest actions. Reddy, appointed on Monday at a special meeting, is expected to serve in the role for about six months from today, after the VC position became vacant on March 3 when Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng left office. This follows months of a messy battle with Council, which led to Phakeng being placed on leave and an early exit settlement agreement. Deputy vice-chancellor for Research and Internationalisation, Professor Sue Harrison, had been appointed to act as the vice-chancellor. Reddy served on three occasions as an acting deputy vice-chancellor and three terms on the university’s Council as a member elected by the senate.| Mercury Correspondent…

THE fact that a husband said “I do” at the altar but, a week later, while on honeymoon on an island, humiliated and belittled his wife and then kicked her out of their house two months later, has come back to bite him. The once shiny-eyed bride is claiming more than R800 000 from her estranged husband. The parties are embroiled in divorce proceedings and thus cannot be named for legal reasons. The first claim is based on fraudulent misrepresentation; she said when he had put the ring on her finger, he knew he no longer wanted to marry her. As a result of the “fraudulent misrepresentation”, she had incurred economic losses as she had spent R331 342 on the wedding. Her second claim is for the impairment of her…

Doctors’ unions, the SA Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu) and the SA Medical Association (Sama), say practitioners are feeling the strain of backlogs in surgeries that have had to be rescheduled due to the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) wage strike. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health said it was looking at ways to address the backlog after striking workers returned to work yesterday. Dr Cedric Sihlangu, general secretary of Samatu, said surgeries that were booked for last week had to be postponed. “The problem for our members is that this week there are surgeries that have already been scheduled and we have to try and squeeze in the surgeries that were scheduled for last week. “The issue is that surgeries are booked months in advance…

Consequences of failing to dare when the moment calls for it are disastrous A RECENT report in the Mail & Guardian of March 10-16, about R41 million disappearing into thin air, caused me to think deeply about what has been my observation about the wastage of potential that this land has for its people – the Zulu nation. South Africa is one country. What affects people in the eastern escarpment or the western shores, the northern corridors adjoining the Limpopo River, bordering Zimbabwe and Mozambique, or the southernmost tip of Africa, near the Cape Agulhas – all of these affect me. Now one may say you are so far removed it is none of your business. Shenanigans must cease. Against the backdrop of the shenanigans going on there, and…

Poorer countries are losing healthcare workers to wealthier ones as the latter seek to shore up their own staff losses from the Covid-19 pandemic, sometimes through active recruitment, the World Health Organization said yesterday. The trend for nurses and other staff to leave parts of Africa or Southeast Asia for better opportunities in wealthier countries in the Middle East or Europe was already under way before the pandemic but has accelerated since, the agency said, as global competition heats up. The WHO has added eight extra states to its list of vulnerable countries which was last published in 2020: Comoros, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, East Timor, Laos, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. About 115 000 health-care workers died from Covid-19 around the world during the pandemic but many more left their professions.…

BRUSSELS: Buildings across Europe could be renovated to cut emissions and save energy after the European Parliament yesterday approved a bill that aims to lower households’ energy bills and wean EU countries off Russian gas faster. Buildings account for 40% of the EU’s energy use, and most are heated by fossil fuels. The proposed new rules could require millions of buildings to be upgraded using methods such as insulation or efficient heating systems. Of 637 MPs present, 343 were in favour of the new rules which would require all EU buildings with a G energy performance certificate – the worst-performing 15% per country – be renovated this decade. | Reuters…

SurvivOrs of Cyclone Freddy clung to dwindling hopes of finding missing relatives yesterday after the storm slammed into Malawi for its second strike on Africa in a record-setting rampage. At least 190 people in the impoverished country have died since Freddy smashed into southern Africa at the weekend, just weeks after it made a deadly hit in late February, according to a provisional UN toll. Many have died in mudslides that have washed away makeshift homes in the country’s commercial capital, Blantyre. Despair settled on Chilobwe, a township on the city’s outskirts that accounts for around half of the victims. Drenched in rains that have been falling for days, survivors milled about in disbelief, looking at flattened houses and structures. Many believed there were still people trapped underneath the muddy…

ENERGY experts say at the current trajectory of high-level blackouts in the country, this year is on schedule to be the worst year on record, and will have a significant impact on businesses, consumers, and food production prices. A Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) report indicates that, up until now, last year had been the worst year of load shedding. However, experts say Eskom’s continuing maintenance breakdowns and the need for additional capacity, combined with alternative stages of between 4 and 5 or higher, mean South Africans are in for a tough year ahead. The report, “Statistics of utility scale power generation in South Africa 2022”, released last month, said that last year, there was load shedding for 3 773 hours with an upper limit of 11 529…

Our beleaguered and fractured nation faces a general election in 2024. This will be the most crucial and pivotal event since the advent of democracy 27 years ago. The right to vote is a symbol of our equality and the true source of our liberty. We should never forget what it took to get the right to vote and how important it is to the workings of a free and democratic society. We the people have a sacred obligation to safeguard for ourselves and our posterity – the blessings of liberty our Struggle heroes fought so hard to achieve. And the most fundamental obligation is the responsibility of every eligible citizen to vote. We have witnessed first-hand how our democracy has come under assault from all factions and how much…

President Cyril Ramaphosa is all smiles now. And why shouldn’t he be? For several months the Phala Phala scandal hung like the sword of Damocles over his head. Now he has been cleared and vindicated by both the public protector and the SA Revenue Service (Sars). So relieved was he that he took to the streets in Stanger and Pietermaritzburg, urging residents to register and vote for the ANC. “The ANC will give you jobs,” he promised. How many times have the poor masses heard that old, scratchy song? The preliminary report from acting Public Protector advocate Kholeka Gcaleka clears the president of any wrongdoing on his Limpopo farm, putting most of the blame for the debacle on his henchmen. It is an indicator of what’s to come in the…

NKASHI: Race for the Okavango is a groundbreaking feature documentary film in Setswana that inspires Africa to take pride in sharing more important stories about climate change, nature and culture preservation, in indigenous languages. The documentary premiered in Gaborone’s New Capitol Cinema River- walk on Thursday where Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi was accompanied by his wife Neo Masisi. The National Geographic Society Impact Story Lab. in close collaboration with a team of film-makers from Botswana and other artists, saw the project, which celebrates local culture, community building and ecosystem education, come to fruition. The Okavango Basin spans three countries, Angola, Namibia and Botswana, and is made up of the rivers that feed into the Okavango Delta. The Okavango Delta, based in northern Botswana, is one of the most unique…

AS A result of challenges including transport costs and load shedding expected to persist or worsen in 2023, the estimated predictions for SA citrus exports show only moderate growth or a decrease when compared to last year. Ahead of the Southern African 2023 citrus export season kicking off next month, citrus-growing varietal focus groups presented their predicted export volumes for the upcoming season at the Citrus Marketing Forum held last week. “The 2023 export season comes after an extremely tough year for growers, which resulted in 5.7 million cartons less being packed for export in 2022 (164.8m cartons in total), than what was predicted at the start of the season as well as only 1 in 5 growers making a positive return,” Citrus Growers’ Association chief executive Justin Chadwick said.…

THE Department of Health buildings in Limpopo have been plunged into darkness after the Polokwane Municipality cut their lights on Monday. Others that were cut off are the provincial Department of Public Works, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and bus utility Great North Transport. According to the Polokwane Municipality, 10 departments, including Great North Transport, owe the municipality more than R250 million in service fees combined. Speaking to Independent Media yesterday, municipal spokesperson Thipa Selala said the operation was part of their debt recovery measures. However, Department of Health spokesperson Neil Shikwambana said: “The department is worried that the provision of health care will be significantly disrupted unnecessarily at some of its facilities around the Polokwane municipal area.” | Mercury Correspondent…

The year 1971 was an eventful one. The third Apollo mission to the moon was launched, and Intel released the world’s first microprocessor. The Apollo mission sought to test the frontiers of space and science, but in South Africa, another mission was quietly being stitched together. The non-racial Southern Africa Lawn Tennis Union (Saltu) prepared to send six promising young black players on a historic four-month tour of Europe. Saltu, an affiliate of the SA Council on Sport, championed non-racial sport and proclaimed there could be “no normal sport in an abnormal society”. Dubbed the “Dhiraj” squad, after tennis champ Jasmat (Dhiraj) Soma, the players included Hiralal (Dhiraj) Soma, Alwyn Solomon, Oscar Woodman, Hoosen Bobat and Cavan Bergman. The black players’ frontiers were modest – to compete against tennis players…

Shockwaves from Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse triggered big moves in bank shares yesterday as investors fretted over the financial health of some lenders, in spite of assurances from US President Joe Biden and other global policymakers. An indicator of credit risk in the euro zone banking system leapt to its highest since mid-July, as worries about contagion risks from the collapse of two US banks compounded investor concerns about the impact on lenders of rising interest rates. The VIX volatility index, Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, neared six-month highs overnight, although futures pointed to a higher Wall Street open and European bank stocks recovered from falls earlier yesterday. US regional banks bounced in pre-market trading after recent brutal losses, with shares in First Republic Bank FRC.N up 58%, a day…

ATHENS: Flights to and from Greek airports will be grounded tomorrow when air traffic controllers and civil aviation workers walk off the job to join a 24-hour nationwide strike over the country’s deadliest train crash on record. On February 28, a passenger train with more than 350 people on board collided head-on with a freight train, killing 57 people and injured dozens. The general strike, called by the country’s largest private and public sector unions, is the latest in a series of protests against a political system that has ignored calls by unions over safety measures. All flights will be halted on March 16 and only overflights, emergency and search-and-rescue flights will take place. | Reuters…

Mexico City: While dismissing the US State Department’s travel advisories for Americans to avoid holidays in Mexico, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country was safer than the neighbouring nation. The advisories issued on March 10 which include “do not travel” warnings for Mexican states marred by drug violence, came after the kidnapping of four Americans in Matamoros who were attacked by gunmen believed to be linked to the Gulf cartel. Two of the Americans and a Mexican died in the incident. Lopez Obrador said the advisories were part of “a campaign” against Mexico, mainly by “conservative” US politicians. | IANS…

Alphabet Inc’s Google yesterday unveiled a flurry of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for its email, collaboration and cloud software, taking aim at Microsoft Corp days before its rival is expected to make a similar announcement. In a replay of last month’s duelling chatbot launches by the tech giants, Alphabet touted a “magic wand” for its popular Google Docs software that can draft a marketing blog, training plan or other text, then revise its tone at users’ discretion, a company official demonstrated to reporters. Microsoft, meanwhile, has teased a Thursday event about how it is “reinventing productivity with AI,” which is expected to showcase its competing Word processor. Alphabet also said its AI will be able to summarise message threads in Gmail, craft slide presentations, personalise customer outreach and take meeting…

Bjorn Fortuin may have felt at one stage of his career that he was always set to be the groomsman. No matter how well he did at domestic level – and even when he did get a rare opportunity in international cricket – he was never quite going to be the premier spinner for the Proteas. Fortuin even worked hard at his batting, with the second arrow in his quiver now elevated to a higher level in a bid further his chances of regular recognition. But with Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj ahead of him in the white-ball queue – and Senuran Muthusamy also propelled to the Proteas Test side alongside Maharaj and Simon Harmer – the odds lengthened even further for Fortuin. Timing, is everything, though, and while it…

HEY, they know how to live it up in Key West, Florida, in the US They make da music by blowing into conch shells. They also have a Conch Shell Blowing Contest every year. Should we not be looking at something similar here in Durban, to attract tourists? In Key West, a visitor from Georgia won the men’s competition by playing the Jimmy Buffet song, Fins, on a pink-lined conch shell with holes so it can be played like a flute. The women’s competition was won by a lass who came all the way from Ontario, Canada, to blow a long, loud blast on her conch that simply blew the judges away, according to Huffington Post. A couple from Avon Lake, Ohio, performed a conch-shell-and-vocal duet parodying Elvis Presley’s Hound…

AN online news website reported that eThekwini is bleeding cash as workers claim billions in overtime pay. Well, really? What can we expect from this metro that seems to employ the wrong people in management positions? I say this because if there were qualified managers in the metro, it would not be bleeding. This bleeding is all self inflicted. It’s totally ridiculous that overtime can be allowed to accumulate to such high amounts which again in turn is a direct and total reflection on the current management skills – or the lack thereof – in the metro. One just has to look at the metro staff employed and at the management that oversees their employees that work at ground level to see what their productivity levels are. Most days one…

APPROPRIATE for all relationships … The next time we are together: I will leave my phone at home, or in the car, or turned off, so I can spend uninterrupted time with you and give you my full attention. I will talk about whatever you want to talk about without turning the conversation to be about me, my children, my aches, my losses, my boss or my past relationships. I will listen to you without waiting to speak, without following your story with something bigger, better or more dramatic. I will actually listen. I won’t use every moment of silence as an on-ramp for my bigger, bolder or braver story. Even when I ask questions, they will be an attempt to identify more closely with you rather than seek…

THE estate of a deceased man to whom Eskom owed about R116 000 in overpaid electricity accounts has applied for the winding up of the power utility for failing to pay. The executor of the estate of Christopher Kingsley turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, after Eskom simply did not pay the money back. It asked for the winding up of Eskom in terms of the Companies Act. Acting Judge Stefan Maritz was told that Eskom, despite numerous demands for payment, failed to do so. According to the executor, Eskom is thus “deemed unable to pay its debts”. The court was told Kingsley held two electricity accounts with Eskom. On one he had a credit balance of just over R10 400 and on the other, a credit balance of…

Student Representative Council (SRC) leaders at two KwaZulu-Natal higher learning institutions say they will be urging students to take part in the EFF’s national shutdown on Monday. EFF leader Julius Malema on Monday called on everyone unemployed, and concerned about load shedding, crime, corruption and gender-based violence, to join the shutdown in protest. Malema said they would be calling for President Cyril Ramaphosa to step down. “Stand up, South Africa. Let us go and fight, do not be cowards, the youth of South Africa you have never been known to be cowards,” said Malema. The University of KwaZulu-Natal EFF Student Command-led SRC in a statement vowed to close all five campuses at the institution. SRC president Wandile Majozi said they believed that all problems that the institution faced were rooted…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa signed off on the National Qualifications Framework Amendment Act in August 2019. The act states that criminal prosecution may result if someone “falsely or fraudulently claims to be holding a qualification or part-qualification registered on the NQF or awarded by an education institution, skills development provider, Quality Council or obtained from a lawfully recognised foreign institution”. This week, the Special Investigating Unit said it was probing new Public Service and Administration Minister Noxolo Kiviet after Fort Hare University officials implicated her in qualifications fraud. After matric, Kiviet allegedly skipped undergraduate studies, registered and obtained an honours degree in administration and master’s degree in public administration. In the past, then SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng was found by then public protector Thuli Madonsela to have lied about…

Pakistani police and supporters of Imran Khan fought pitched battles outside the former prime minister’s home in Lahore yesterday, wounding several on both sides, ahead of his expected arrest, a government spokesperson and witnesses said. Police hit Khan supporters in baton charges and lobbed tear gas canisters, some of which landed on the lawns of Khan’s house. “We will arrest Imran Khan today and present him in court,” said Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah. A lower trial court in the capital Islamabad had issued the arrest warrant for Khan for unlawfully selling state gifts while in power from 2018 to 2022, his aide Fawad Chaudhry said. Khan aide Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the former prime minister had secured “protective bail” from a court. Khan has been demanding a snap election in…

NEW DELHI: Lahore in Pakistan jumped more than 10 places to become the city with the worst air in the world in 2022, an annual global survey by a Swiss maker of air purifiers showed. IQAir said Chad in central Africa had replaced Bangladesh as the country with the most polluted air last year. Lahore’s air quality worsened to 97.4 micrograms of PM2.5 particles per cubic metre from 86.5 in 2021. Hotan, the only Chinese city in the top 20, followed with PM2.5 levels of 94.3. The next two cities were Bhiwadi, on Delhi’s outskirts (92.7), and Delhi (92.6). Chad had an average of 89.7, Iraq, the second most polluted air for a country, averaged 80.1. | IANS…

Hanoi: Vietnam’s Health Ministry has urged medical facilities to be vigilant for suspected cases of streptococcus suis, a bacteria that comes from pigs, after a number of human cases were found over the past few months, local media reported yesterday. Since the beginning of the year, a number of streptococcus infections have been recorded across the nation and the majority of cases have involved people eating pork products such as blood pudding, or those who slaughter pigs. Patients often need long-term, expensive treatment. Once people become infected with the virus, the disease leads to septic shock, coma and multiple organ failure. | IANS…

Dolphins chief executive Heinrich Strydom has hailed his team’s Cricket SA 4-Day Division 1 championship series success as “complete team effort”. The Dolphins claimed the title yesterday after posting 329 in their first innings before dismissing the Lions for 259 on the third day at the JB Marks in Potchefstroom. The Dolphins managed 222 in their second innings setting the Lions 293 to win. Imran Khan’s side had led the table heading into the last leg of round-robin fixtures on 109.46 points with the Titans in second place on 92.82. The Dolphins have moved to an unassailable 118 points and cannot be overtaken regardless of the results on the final day of the season. It is a remarkable turnaround for the Dolphins, who were last on the table after the…