Inhoudsopgave van 2023-05-03 - Mercury

Traditional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal have cautioned against any moves to divide up land under their authority, or to impose municipal rates on residents who live under their jurisdiction without their consent. This sentiment was expressed by Amakhosi as the Municipal Demarcation Board continues to get input about proposals regarding changes to municipal boundaries. Inkosi Nhlakanipho Maphumulo said it was important to revisit how some of the wards had previously been split up in amakhosi-run areas across the province. He insisted that such a move had in some instances created confusion for residents. “There are instances under the system where one’s property falls within two wards, something that simply does not make sense. In fact such a move creates confusion that is unnecessary. That is why we are of the…

THEY’RE tough on shoplifters in the southern India state of Kerala. A culprit named Arikomban has been punished by being sent to a tiger reserve, according to the BBC. Shoplifting possibilities are limited in Penyar Tiger Reserve. Also, relationships between shoplifter and tiger are fraught. Yet Arikomban knows how to look after himself. He’s killed seven people on his shoplifting expeditions in Kerala. Okay, Arikomban is an elephant. His name means “Rice Tusker”, arising from the way he shoplifts on his visits to town, smashing the shops to bits as he tucks into the rice stocks, human beings sometimes unfortunately getting in the way. His relocation to Penyar follows a controversial court case in which opponents of the relocation argued that moving away one animal solved nothing. He was given…

I’m sick of living in the dark on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast while Durban gets away with virtually no load shedding. We are having 2x4-hour plus 1x2-hour outages in a 24-hour period sometimes. Looking at some areas in Durban on the same load-shedding stage – they usually have 1x2-hour outage (maybe two and sometimes even none) and they’re usually at an acceptable time of night or early morning. We also have hospitals (which is often the excuse given for no load shedding). The other excuse given is because of the April floods, which were just as bad on the South Coast. Even our main road collapsed badly and after months of waiting was repaired thanks to local businessmen and people who care for the coast. Our businesses, which have a…

President Cyril Ramaphosa thought he had found the answer to the energy crisis crippling the country. He would appoint a man specifically to be in charge of electricity. Three would be better than two, he thought. They could share the responsibilities and workload. So along came Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa with a flourish, shining his bright torch into the dark, hidden corners of Eskom. In the first few weeks he was active like a new broom, visiting several power stations to find out what was going on behind the scenes. Some Eskom staff didn’t like the new boss snooping around. But this was the least of Ramokgopa’s worries. Besides having to prove that he was the man who could solve South Africa’s energy crisis, he had to contend with two…

With the intervention of the court, a child born nearly four years ago will, for the first time, officially have a name and legal standing in South Africa after bureaucratic red tape has denied him this up to now. The parents of the child (not identified as he is a minor) did everything asked of them by the Department of Home Affairs to register the birth of their child. They even underwent a compulsory paternity test. Yet they received no help in their desperate bid for their child to have an identity. The parents have been in a permanent relationship since August 2009 and moved in together at the end of 2016. While discussing marriage, they elected to wait until after birth to start the lobola negotiations. When the child…

Two more officials from the Ngqeleni Correctional Centre have been suspended following the escape of two inmates from the prison in the Eastern Cape last week. This brings the number of officials suspended to 10. These are officials who were on duty during the escape. One of the two inmates, Siyabulela Khohliso was re-arrested on Monday in the Libode area and transferred to the Mthatha Correctional Centre. “All efforts are now focussed on finding Athini Nothi Mzingelwa,” said Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo. Khohliso and Mzingelwa escaped from the facility’s sports field on Freedom Day. DCS said they were convicted of rape. Khohliso was serving a 10-year sentence and Mzingelwa was sentenced to eight years behind bars. The national commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services,…

Law-enforcement teams have impounded a truck carrying 1 000 master cases of illicit cigarettes with a tax value of R20 million in Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng. The law-enforcement team comprising of Sars officials, the SAPS and the Tshwane Metro Police acted on a tip-off and intercepted a truck carrying illicit cigarettes in Bronkhorstspruit in the early hours of Monday. Sars Commissioner Edward Kies- wetter said the illicit cigarettes were imported through Beitbridge border post where they were falsely declared as tea leaves. When the truck was stopped at Bronkhorstspruit, the driver fled. “On being approached, the driver fled and the truck and its consignment was detained. The truck was carrying 1 000 master cases of illicit cigarettes valued at a tax prejudice of R20m.” Kieswetter said the truck and its…

MinERALS and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has denied there is any fight between him and Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa over the powers of the new minister. Mantashe said he was working closely with Ramokgopa in resolving the energy crisis in the country. The Cabinet and President Cyril Ramaphosa wanted to end load shedding and were taking all steps to reduce it and subsequently end it, he said. Mantashe, answering oral questions in the National Council of Provinces yesterday, said Ramokgopa was leading the energy action plan to deal with the crisis. “There is no contestation on that. There is no fight between the ministers. He is leading that exercise and we are supporting him. Anybody who writes stories that we have a big fight imagines that fight,” said Mantashe.…

Hit by devastating earthquakes in early February, Türkiye now faces environmental challenges on the disposal of the waste and rubble left over from the destroyed buildings and roads. Two massive earthquakes destroyed cities on large swathes of land in southern Türkiye on February 6, killing nearly 51 000 people. Referred to as “the disaster of the century” by the Turkish government, the catastrophe caused about 227 000 buildings to collapse or sustain heavy damage, according to data from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised new homes for the millions of people affected by the disaster within a year. In the cities ravaged by the tremors, where reconstruction is currently under way, workers had started to clear a staggering amount of rubble…

Kenyan police fired tear gas at a small group of protesters in Nairobi yesterday as the opposition resumed anti-government demonstrations over high living costs and alleged voting fraud in last year’s election. A Kenyan television station yesterday showed police firing tear gas to disperse a handful of protesters in Nairobi’s Mathare suburb, as well as footage of a minibus that had been set on fire on a road leading to the city centre. In the CBD there was a large police deployment and some shops remained closed. The police said on Monday that the protests would be considered unlawful. Raila Odinga’s Azimio La Umoja coalition said the protests would go ahead. | Reuters…

KAMPALA: Uganda’s parliament yesterday passed one of the world’s strictest anti-LGBTQ bills mostly unchanged, providing for long jail terms and the death penalty, after the president requested parts of the original legislation be toned down. The new bill retains most of the harshest measures of the legislation adopted in March, which drew condemnation from the US, EU, UN and major corporations. The provisions retained in the new bill allow for the death penalty in cases of “aggravated homosexuality” – gay sex when HIV-positive, and for a 20-year sentence for promoting homosexuality. The US said it was assessing the law’s implications for its HIV/Aids programme in Uganda. | Reuters…

Washington: A group of US lawmakers has called for Chinese fast fashion brand Shein to be investigated over claims that Uyghur forced labour is used to make some of the clothes it sells. A letter to the Wall Street watchdog comes amid expectations the firm may sell its shares in the US. “We have zero tolerance for forced labour,” Shein said. The company also said it had no plans for a listing on Wall Street. Shein added: “We are committed to respecting human rights and adhering to local laws and regulations in each market we operate in. Our suppliers must adhere to a strict code of conduct.” | IANS…

Shukri Conrad’s SA ‘A’ side includes selections for the future and also gives an opportunity to players to rekindle their international careers. The SA ‘A’ squad that will tour Sri Lanka later this month was selected by Proteas Test coach himself and the appointment of Tony de Zorzi as captain stood out on the day of the squad announcement. It is long-term thinking from Conrad. Clearly, the Test coach aims to build a future Test leader in the 25-year-old. De Zorzi has captained Western Province on many occasions and that experience will come in handy on this tour. The addition of Jordan Herman, Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs was also long-term thinking. Despite their lack of experience, Conrad recognises the immense skill the youngsters have already displayed in their young…

India overtook Australia yesterday to go No 1 in new Test rankings issued by the ICC, while also retaining the top position in T20s. England remained third in Tests but reduced the gap behind the top two teams significantly, the rankings published by the ICC showed. England have won 10 out of 12 Tests since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum joined forces last year following a woeful run of one win in 17 matches. The new annual rankings reflect all series completed since May 2020 and drop results from the 2019/20 season, the ICC said. India last topped the Test rankings for a month in December 2021, while Australia has been No 1 since January 2022 after hammering England 4-0 in the Ashes. The table remained otherwise unchanged,…

ALL eyes will be on the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court today when two former G4S employees make their first appearance alongside their co-accused – including convicted murderer Thabo Bester’s girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana – who are set to apply for bail. The two G4S suspects were arrested on Monday and face a charge of assisting an inmate to escape from lawful custody and defeating the ends of justice. “The team investigating this case have so far arrested eight suspects, and we cannot rule out the possibility of effecting more arrests,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe. Magudumana, former G4S employee Senohe Matsoara, CCTV technician Tebogo Lipholo and Motenyane John Masukela, a former G4S employee who was arrested last month, will appear in court today. Magudumana’s father, Zolile Sekeleni, and Bester will…

THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has claimed that it was “duped” by Pacina Retail about its ability to handle the R2 billion National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) contract to deliver food to schools. The programme was on the brink of collapse recently as Pacina Retail struggled to deliver food, leaving thousands of KZN schoolchildren hungry. However, Pacina has disputed claims that it failed to meet the tender’s expectations, stating that it had delivered thousands of tons of food to schools. It also disputed allegations that it had delivered rotten food. It was awarded the tender as the sole supplier of the programme to deliver food to 5 400 schools and feed more than 2 million pupils. This award was a marked departure from the system used before where individual suppliers…

Freedom Day has come and gone; people are murdered in our country every day. These souls have lost their right to freedom; a lawless nation snatched their precious freedom in an orgy of violence unprecedented in our recorded history. Crime has engulfed every province in our rainbow nation. The brutality and the brazenness of some of these horrendous murders is absolutely revolting. Our hard-won democracy is in peril as we stagger from crisis to crisis. It is extremely distressing to hear of violence that we have to encounter every day as law-abiding citizens. We are witnessing a tsunami of lethal violence as criminals and murderers engulf the country in an orgy of mindless killings that has numbed our nation into a state of paralysis. It is said 60 innocent people…

There is much consternation in rugby circles about the possibility of Siya Kolisi missing the upcoming Rugby World Cup because of a recent injury. I sincerely hope that he recovers in time to play. However, if he does not participate in the World Cup all is not lost, judging by New Zealand rugby history. I was in New Zealand at the time of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and vividly remember waking up one morning to learn that the talisman New Zealand rugby flyhalf Dan Carter had been badly injured in practice a few days before the tournament kicked off. The whole nation was in mourning about the possibility of the All Blacks having to play without him and the news broadcasts did nothing else but discuss the matter on…

For the first time, married women will now be able to compete for the Miss South Africa crown, following changes to this year’s rules regarding entrance requirements. No matter what an entrant’s matrimonial status, they are now eligible to enter the Miss South Africa race to the 2023 crown, the Miss South Africa organisation announced, making it possible for all women, straight, trans, queer, large, small, short, tall or married, and with or without children, to take part in the pageant. Another addition is the inclusion of a seven-part TV series called Crown Chasers, a reality show showing the Miss South Africa competition as never been seen before. In the series, those competing for the crown will be placed in real life Miss South Africa scenarios that include several challenges,…

Relocation matters involving children are probably one of the thorniest issues a family court is called upon to resolve. These were the words of a judge who granted an application in favour of the mother of two small children to relocate with them to the UK. The mother, a chartered accountant, said she had obtained employment in the UK and, besides, she and her now former husband always planned to relocate from South Africa. The father, on the other hand, said he did not have a problem with his former wife and children moving to the UK, but he said this was not the right time as the children were too young. The mother turned to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg to obtain permission to relocate with their son, aged…

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has again used confidentiality and non-disclosure clauses as his latest explanation for not providing some information on South African Airways (SAA) aircraft. This was in response to two sets of parliamentary questions sent to him by DA MP Alf Lees. Lees wanted to know if SAA had leased, purchased and/or acquired any aircraft since September, 2021. He also enquired about the details of each aircraft, the date each was received by SAA, the lessor and/or seller of each aircraft, costs of each lease and the full terms of each lease. In his written response, Gordhan confirmed that SAA had leased six aircraft since September, 2021. He also said the aircraft lease cost was a “power-by-the-hour agreement”. Gordhan said one Airbus A330-300 was leased from a…

INTERNATIONAL relations experts say the country needs to make a swift decision on the impending visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin or risk alienating trade partners on all sides. The International Criminal Court (ICC), of which South Africa is a full member, issued a warrant of arrest against Putin for alleged war crimes related to the abduction of children from Ukraine. Reports have emerged that the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) has received a legal opinion which says South Africa cannot legally ignore the warrant. Putin and heads of state of all BRICS countries have accepted the in-person invite from President Cyril Ramaphosa to attend the summit in Durban in August. Dr David Monyae, director for the Centre for Africa – China Studies at the University of Johannesburg…

Vital to address South Africa’s ongoing inequality Many people disingenuously complain that social grants are an unnecessary burden to the taxpayer. To date, 44% of South Africa’s 60.6 million people rely on their social grants as compared to fewer than 7 million registered personal income taxpayers. Of course, the situation does not look good, and the sustainability of social grants is questionable. According to the SA Revenue Service, tax revenue from personal income tax is still concentrated at the top. It is estimated that a mere 17.9% of South African taxpayers earn over R500 000 a year, but they account for 52% of all taxable income. This does not come as a surprise since the apartheid economic design is almost intact, with whites often still holding senior positions and…

A computer scientist often dubbed “the godfather of artificial intelligence” has quit his job at Google to speak out about the dangers of the technology, US media reported this week. Geoffrey Hinton, who created a foundation technology for AI systems, told The New York Times that advancements made in the field posed “profound risks to society and humanity”. “Look at how it was five years ago and how it is now,” he was quoted as saying in the piece, which was published on Monday. “Take the difference and propagate it forwards. That’s scary.” Hinton said that competition between tech giants was pushing companies to release new AI technologies at dangerous speeds, risking jobs and spreading misinformation. “It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using…

NEW YORK: Serena Williams has confirmed she is expecting baby number two, telling reporters at the star-studded Met Gala in New York this week that there were “three of us” on the red carpet, where she arrived with husband Alexis Ohanian. The 23-times major winner announced last year that she was “evolving away from tennis,” saying that she wanted to grow her family after welcoming daughter Olympia in 2017. A return to competitive tennis appears highly unlikely for Williams, one of the most decorated athletes ever to pick up a racket. | Reuters…

Seoul: South Korea and Japan agreed to resume their long-stalled finance ministers’ meeting “at an appropriate time this year” as the two countries gear up to normalise economic ties after several years of trade tensions. Officials from Japan will visit South Korea next month to work out details of the meeting, the ministry of economy and finance said. The agreement was reached during a meeting between South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho and his Japanese counterpart, Shunichi Suzuki. Seoul and Tokyo also agreed to expand co-operation in global platforms, such as the Group of 20 and the ASEAN+3. | IANS…

LONDON: Apple Inc urged a London tribunal yesterday to block a $2 billion (R18.4bn) mass lawsuit accusing it of hiding defective batteries in millions of iPhones by “throttling” them with software updates. The tech giant is facing a lawsuit of £1.6 billion plus interest, brought by consumer champion Justin Gutmann on behalf of iPhone users in the UK. Gutmann’s lawyers say Apple concealed batteries issues in certain phone models and “surreptitiously” installed a power management tool which limited performance. Apple said the lawsuit was “baseless”. Gutmann asked the Competition Appeal Tribunal to allow it to proceed to a trial. | Reuters…

The closing stages of the Premiership season has been full of thrills and spills as the 16 teams are chasing respective targets at the top, middle and bottom of the standings. Already crowned the champions — for a record-extending sixth time in a row — it would seem as though Mamelodi Sundowns have nothing left to play for going into the rest of the league season. But that’s not the case. They want to continue winning matches as that will aid their bid of beating their 71-point record they set during the 2015-16 campaign. So with the last three games boasting nine points which would see them reach the 73-point mark, their next three opponents, which include AmaZulu who will host them today, should be wary. Sundowns are also full…

A Durban resident, who was among the 53 South Africans evacuated from Sudan following the armed conflict, has described the carnage he witnessed while being evacuated from Khartoum. Ash Ramraj said he had been working in Khartoum since the end of March for a corporate company with other South Africans in the automotive industry. “I was living in a block of flats which the company had purchased. It was a shock for me on April 15, when I was in a meeting and we were informed that a war had broken out. “We had to leave work and be taken to our apartments.” Ramraj said that night they could see smoke in the city. “We could hear explosions, bomb blasts and the gunfire and that was day one on Saturday.…

Use another or others for undisclosed ends, the seed at the heart of manipulation and dishonesty. Use personal power, minimal or vast, to ends for which it is neither awarded nor intended, the essence of intimidation and arrogance. Use guilt, punishment, exclusion, to get or keep another or others in order or under control, the height of domination and darkness. Speak ill of absent others and those who cannot self-defend or offer an explanation, especially if the sentiments are not first expressed directly face-to-face to the subject or subjects of negative talk, the mark of cowardice. Blame another or others for things or outcomes and deflect responsibility, be it through avoidance or complicity, an indication of authentic immaturity. Fall for, be seduced by a “single story” – a partial truth,…

About a hundred refugees, mostly from the DRC were forcibly removed from Brooklyn in Pretoria last Friday. These unfortunate victims of war and colonialism brought about, as per the usual vile formula of Western exploitation of local mineral resources, had to frantically flee their country. Some of the refugees who were interviewed complained: “This is not fair. The DRC is probably the richest country in the world in terms of natural resources and we are made to look like beggars.” The refugees have been bumped around among different townships in the capital but, according to them, have suffered for the past few years without proper sanitation, water, electricity or decent education for their children. Also heading that list is xenophobic attacks. All this explains why, in desperation, they have decided…

What joy it was on Freedom Day to hear the president of South Korea delivering a brilliant speech to the joint houses of the United States Congress. In it he focused on the principles of freedom, democracy and the rule of law – the basic tenets of all Free World countries – and touched on some of the abuses of those countries which don’t practise them. He used the example of North Korea, where a citizen is liable to be executed for reading the Bible. Other examples he could have included are Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and China’s series of on- going human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and other religious minorities. I believe many of your readers will have found it bizarre that our government could turn its…

A 37-year-old police constable attached to Masoyi police station in Mpumalanga was due to appear in court yesterday after he allegedly gunned down his wife, her sister and her brother. Robbie Raburabu, the acting national spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), said the officer allegedly used his service pistol to kill the three. “The family were meeting following a dispute between the suspect and his wife. When things did not go the suspect’s way, he allegedly fetched his service pistol and fatally shot the three family members,” said Raburabu. Ipid investigators were summoned to the crime scene at Kamajika Trust, near Sabi Sands, and the officer was arrested. In March last year, a former police officer turned the gun on himself after allegedly shooting his wife and gunning…

Two men are expected to appear in the Cofimvaba Magistrate’s Court this week on charges of assault, robbery and malicious damage to property. Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana, the provincial police spokesperson in the Eastern Cape, said the arrests follow several attacks on Intercape buses by suspects in various districts in the province. “Subsequent to these incidents, the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant- General Nomthetheleli Mene established the investigating task team and deployed the Tactical Response Teams and Flying Squad members on the national roads to conduct highway patrols to prevent the escalation of these incidents and to protect lives.” Kinana said the two suspects, aged 26 and 37, were arrested on Saturday and Sunday in Cofimvaba in the Chris Hani District. “The suspects were arrested after they confronted people who were waiting for…

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has urged the Department of Transport to move swiftly with the plan to construct a concrete wall to bolster the government’s efforts to curb cross-border crime, especially vehicle theft, moving between South Africa and Mozambique. Dube-Ncube conducted a site inspection last week at the project in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality. The premier’s office said the concrete barrier wall would be constructed in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality on the KZN and Mozambique border. “An inspection was conducted in-loco along Border Gate 6 where a 5km stretch of the concrete wall has already been constructed.” The office added that the contract with the previous contractor was terminated. “The Department of Transport, under the leadership of MEC Sipho Hlomuka, has assessed the status of the project, and developed a…

Sudan’s war has forced 100 000 people to flee over its borders and the fighting, now in its third week, is creating a humanitarian crisis, UN officials said yesterday as gunfire and explosions echoed across the capital despite another ceasefire deal. The conflict risks morphing into a broader disaster as Sudan’s impoverished neighbours deal with a refugee crunch and fighting hampers aid deliveries in a nation where two-thirds of the people already rely on some outside assistance. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Cairo would provide support for dialogue in Sudan between the rival military factions, but was also “being careful about not interfering in their domestic matters”. “The entire region could be affected,” he warned yesterday as an envoy from Sudan’s army chief, who leads one of the warring…

Palestinian armed militant groups fired salvoes of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel yesterday after an Islamic Jihad leader died in custody following an 87-day hunger strike, the first such death in more than three decades. Khader Adnan, who was awaiting trial, was found unconscious in his cell and taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead after efforts to revive him, Israel’s Prisons Service said. Hundreds of people took to the streets in Gaza to rally in support of Adnan and mourn his death, and two separate rocket barrages were launched against Israel, claimed by an umbrella group of militant factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The Israeli military said at least three rockets were fired from Gaza in the hours after Adnan’s death and a further 22…

LOS ANGELES: Oliver Stone thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “great leader for his country”. The 76-year-old Platoon director believes that Putin, who launched his invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago, is “loved by the people” and his nation is doing a “great job” with issues such as nuclear energy. The Academy Award-winning film-maker is now at the helm of a documentary about Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “It could be my last film, you know, because I’m at that age where I can keel over tomorrow.” He said he considered himself to be in the “middle” of the political spectrum but claimed Democratic leader and US President Joe Biden was a “cold warrior in the worst sense of the word”, while his favourite president…

Kathmandu: A US mountaineer has died on Everest in the fourth fatality on the world’s highest peak this climbing season. Jonathan Sugarman, 69, was on an acclimatisation rotation at about 6 400m when he died yesterday, his expedition organiser said. “He was feeling unwell and passed away at Camp 2. Efforts are under way to bring back his body,” Pasang Tshering Sherpa of Beyul Adventure said. “We are trying to send a helicopter but it is snowing and the weather is not favourable.” This year’s spring climbing season on Everest had a tragic start last month with the death of three Nepali climbers on the treacherous Khumbu icefall. | AFP…

SA Rugby are playing the long game with regards to participating in the northern hemisphere, but they are sure that the benefits will be worth the wait. That was one of the main takeaways from the organisation’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Cape Town yesterday, where they reported that the group revenues for 2022 had reached R1.54-billion – an increase from R1.28b in 2021 – while the commercial interest in the flagship Springbok team is at all-time high. SA Rugby reported a group pre-tax deficit of R2.62-million despite the increase in revenue, which was mainly due to their significant expenditure of R330m to ensure the five franchises – Stormers, Bulls, Sharks, Lions and Cheetahs – are able to play in the United Rugby Championship (URC), Champions Cup and Challenge Cup…