Inhoudsopgave van 2024-02-26 - Mercury

INDEPENDENT Media’s Business Report, in conjunction with The Mercury, will be unpacking the socio-economic ramifications in the light of the current jobs bloodbath decimating the mining sector in the next few weeks. Companies such as Sibanye-Stillwater, Impala Platinum, Anglo American Platinum, Kumba Iron Ore and ArcelorMittal South Africa have started stream-lining operations and laying off hundreds to thousands of staff recently, as reported on in Business Report. This has also led to some shafts, mines and smelters being closed amid a downturn in some commodity prices and constraints with electricity and rail as well as port constraints have left South African bulk commodity miners in the lurch. This as each mining employee supports between five and 10 dependants, according to the Minerals Council South Africa. High…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has established a “presidential war room“ for eThekwini to work with the business sector to tackle water, electricity and infrastructure challenges facing the metro. Ramaphosa announced the presidential eThekwini working group on Friday during an engagement with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry NPC and business, saying the initiative was a partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal Growth Coalition. The meeting was also attended by Ministers Pravin Gordhan (Public Enterprises), Bheki Cele (Police), Senzo Mchunu (Water and Sanitation), Kgosientsho Ramokgopa (Electricity) and Sihle Zikalala (Public Works and Infrastructure). The latest Durban Business Confidence Index (BCI) Report for the fourth quarter of 2023, compiled by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), found that business confidence had recorded a decline of 6.56 index points, settling at 38.12. The majority of businesses…

THE DA in eThekwini welcomes the arrest of an employee from the disaster management centre responsible for the monitoring of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. According to reports, he was arrested for allegedly sabotaging CCTV cameras. We have for years probed the non-functionality of the 499 CCTV cameras – a vital crime-fighting resource in the city. Crime statistics in the city have increased tenfold with the eye in the sky gone blind. The DA had several times also raised the reluctance of the Metro Police Department to take over the monitoring of the CCTV cameras, as promised by commissioner Mchunu last year. Competent, experienced law enforcement officers should be responsible for monitoring the CCTV cameras. To date, it is still being done by the disaster management centre. Most of the city’s…

COME awa’ the Kilties! Wow, what wonderful rugby in the Scotland-England game at Murrayfield, the lead changing continually, the Scots running out winners 30-21, Duhan van der Merwe scoring a hat-trick of tries for Scotland. The damsels of The Pub With No Name were beside themselves with excitement. And they did in the end supply elastic for a fashioning of catapults for the time-honoured celebratory feu de joie in which the street lights are shot out. So the question of the damsels’ rugby loyalty is now established. Scotland! Let the wind blow high, Let the wind blow low, Down the street in ma kilt I go. The lassies they all call hello, Donald whaur’s yer troosers? Van the Scotsman AS A man born and bred in Dundee, Northern Natal (where…

As long as the US is a member of the United Nations, we will not see a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, let alone a free Palestine. Apartheid Israel has initiated the most severe collective human trauma, suffering and physical destruction across Gaza, and the US has repeatedly vetoed every attempt for a long-lasting humanitarian ceasefire to be declared. I believe a petition should be sent to the UN Security Council to have the US expelled from the UN, to free the world of this warmongering bully nation, disguised as a democracy, with powerful military bases all over the globe. The UN is an international body conferred with the obligation to prevent war, protect human rights and promote social justice and harmony. If the UN cannot guarantee human rights and safety…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe allegations of corruption in the Free State Department of Public Works, Infrastructure and Human Settlements, the Free State Provincial Legislature and KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport. The scope of the investigation in the Free State, will probe the procurement and contracting for goods and services that relate to the Ramkraal Project in the Free State. “The SIU would investigate payments made in a manner that was not transparent or cost-effective; contrary to applicable legislation, and any related unauthorised, irregular, or fruitless and wasteful expenditure”. Maladministration, malpractice, corruption and fraud will be probed. In terms of the KZN Transport Department, contracts relating to the construction of bridges at the Mngwenya, Umlalazi, Mhlathuze and Phethu River would be investigated. The proclamation…

Three people who were arrested last year in connection with the theft of $580 000 (about R10 million) at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in February 2020 appeared in court on Friday. Imanuwela David, 39, is charged alongside siblings Froliana Joseph, who was a domestic worker at the Phala Phala farm and her brother, Ndilinasho Joseph. The alleged mastermind behind the heist, David, was denied bail in December as the Bela Bela Magistrate’s Court ruled he was a flight risk. During his bid for bail, the court heard that David owns a Mercedes-Benz, and lived at a luxurious estate in Cape Town after the Phala Phala theft. Police also established that David had purchased a house in Tlhabane West, Rustenburg, after the Phala Phala theft. The Joseph siblings…

Nine people died when a bus transporting ANC supporters from the party’s election manifesto launch in Durban overturned near Paulpietersburg, in eDumbe Local Municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal, yesterday morning. The crash comes after six ANC supporters died in a bus accident in Magoebaskloof near Tzaneen in Limpopo while travelling to Mpumalanga for the party’s January 8 anniversary celebrations last month. KZN Department of Transport spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane said the accident occurred at about 5am as the bus was travelling back from the ANC’s Mayihlome Rally at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. “The law enforcement team confirmed nine fatalities. However, they have not concluded the full recovery of the bus at the accident scene. Scores of other occupants sustained injuries, with four being critical. They have all been taken to…

Despite efforts to avoid retrenchments for some employees at its South African platinum group metals (PGM) operations, there remains uncertainty about the future of an additional 1000 workers at one of Sibanye-Stillwater’s Marikana shafts. Mineworkers at this location have been instructed to minimise losses to the break-even point to prevent lay-offs. The lay-offs in this region are poignant as it is the site of the Marikana Massacre, situated near Rustenburg in South Africa’s North West. On August 16, 2012, police gunned down 34 striking mineworkers at the then Lonmin platinum mine outside Rustenburg. In total, 44 lives were lost during the six-week-long labour dispute after a protracted wildcat strike of about 3 000 miners demanding a wage of R12 500. In 2017, Sibanye-Stillwater agreed to buy troubled miner Lonmin for…

THE last bhoma (hut) has been burnt in Adelaide, a symbol of a young man coming back home after spending time at the mountain of manhood. During the 2023/2024 summer initiation season, 150 boys climbed the mountain of manhood in Adelaide and there were no fatalities. A circumcision officer in Adelaide, Phindile Njumbunxa, confirmed that all the boys came back alive. Although the Eastern Cape recorded 34 deaths of initiates, Adelaide recorded zero. This is not new. I am turning 42 this year and ever since I became aware of initiation of boys as a rite of passage to manhood, I have never heard of a death of an initiate in Adelaide. When I spoke to one of the elders, Mncedisi Faku, who is a retired ikhankatha (carer), he…

Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen clashed throughout the Gaza Strip over the weekend, as mediators picked up the pace of talks over a possible ceasefire to free hostages held by Hamas and bring a measure of Ramadan respite to the battered enclave. Prospects for securing any truce looked uncertain, however, with Israel saying it was, in parallel, planning to expand its sweep to destroy Hamas, while the Islamist faction stood firm on its demand for a permanent end to the nearly five-month-old war. Residents said Israeli forces shelled several areas of the enclave as tanks rolled into Beit Lahiya and soldiers and gunmen waged running battles in the Zeitoun sector of Gaza City, both in the north, which had been conquered early in the offensive. At least 86 Palestinians were…

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said yesterday that a decision by the House of Commons speaker to break with procedure due to threats facing some MPs over their views on the Gaza conflict sent a dangerous signal that intimidation works. Parliament descended into chaos last week as tensions flared over a vote on whether to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and the exact language to use. The speaker of the lower house, Lindsay Hoyle, said he broke with usual parliamentary procedure for the vote because of “absolutely frightening” threats against MPs. On Saturday, Sunak’s Conservatives suspended one of their MPs and former party vice-chairperson, Lee Anderson, after he refused to apologise for saying the London mayor was under the control of Islamists. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters had gathered outside…

Doha: Qatar yesterday announced new plans to expand output from the world’s biggest natural gas field, saying it will boost capacity to 142 million tons per year before 2030. The new North Field expansion, named North Field West, wou;d add a further 16 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year to existing expansion plans, Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said. This would bring Qatar’s production capacity to 142 million tons once “the new expansion is completed before the end of this decade” – a nearly 85% rise from current production levels. Qatar is one of the world’s top LNG producers alongside the US, Australia and Russia. | AFP…

Lisbon: Portugal’s official election campaign began yesterday, with the March 10 legislative vote likely to see a breakthrough by populist parties after an influence peddling scandal brought down eight years of Socialist government. Portugal, which this April celebrates half a century since its “Carnation Revolution” put an end to an almost equally long fascist dictatorship, has avoided the right-wing and anti-establishment parties that have recently scored successes elsewhere in Europe. That exception is expected to end. The Chega party (“Enough” in Portuguese), formed in 2019 by a former football commentator is credited with 15% to 20% of the vote. | AFP…

The Blitzboks arguably had their poorest showing this season at the Canada SVNS in Vancouver after failing to make the play-offs and having to fight for ninth place. After starting the tournament on a strong note against New Zealand, attacking and defending like the Springbok Sevens are known for, they failed to keep up the intensity when they faced Great Britain and Ireland. They underperformed against the European sides and head coach Sandile Ngcobo will not be happy with his troops’ showing in a tournament they usually do very well in. Yesterday evening, they had to play for ninth place against Australia. Their display in Vancouver will see them slip from fourth position on the overall log, and they will have it all to do in Los Angeles, the next…

BYTES Technology Group, which is secondary listed on the JSE and with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), on Friday released more information after its CEO, Neil Murphy, resigned under a cloud last week after failing to disclose share transactions on the LSE. On Wednesday, Murphy notified the board that he had made a number of trades in the company’s shares that had not been disclosed to the company or to the market in compliance with regulatory requirements. Bytes said it understood that Murphy’s current holding of shares was 2.9 million shares and remained unchanged from the position notified to the market on November 28, 2023. In aggregate, Bytes, one of the UK and Ireland’s leading software, security, AI, and cloud services specialists, updated the market…

THE SOUTH African sugar industry is synonymous with the rural economy, and rightly so. The industry operates in deeply rural areas of KwaZulu- Natal and Mpumalanga, where alternative jobs are minimal. The industry, especially the farming element of it, is not seen as being technologically advanced. However, this perception is far from reality. In modern-day farming and milling, even in South Africa, technology is the nexus of the operations, thereby providing the basis for the sustain- ability of the industry. A few examples of technology being embraced include highly sophisticated sugar cane breeding facilities, specialised farming implements, load cells in cane and sugar haulage vehicles, voluminous pieces of equipment in sugar mills and embracing energy- efficient processes to reduce the carbon footprint. And the industry knows that continuous improvement is…

Amid tensions between the US and South Africa over the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas, there is uncertainty over the five-year reauthorisation of the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) programme. Pepfar is up for reauthorisation for the 2025-2030 period. Siphumelele Duma, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg, said there have been recent strong and apparent tensions in US/SA relations. Relations between the two countries have been on a downward trend since the Russian “invasion” of Ukraine, he said. This resulted from South Africa refusing to take a stance against Russia and instead lobbying for a negotiated settlement. “This was not good enough for the US and its Western allies,” he said. Duma…

COLOMBIA’S government on Friday announced an expedition to remove items of “incalculable value” from the wreck of the legendary San Jose Galleon, which sank in 1708 while laden with gold, silver and emeralds estimated to be worth billions of dollars. Culture Minister Juan David Correa said seven years after the discovery of the wreck off Colombia’s coast, an underwater robot would be sent to recover some of its bounty. Between April and May, the robot would extract items from the outside of the galleon to see “how they materialise when they come out (of the water) and to understand what we can do” to recover the rest of the treasures, said Correa. The operation will cost more than $4.5 million (about R86.6m) and the robot will work at a depth…

AS THE ANC sinks down to 40%, we see the petty squabbling start to arise. Unfortunately for the ANC, former president Jacob Zuma has been the custodian of many of their dirty and dark secrets. He has now started to squeal. It’s all extremely interesting to read about these “skeletons in the ANC’s cupboard”. However, beyond the interest, all these shenanigans are costing our beloved country. As we have seen, every single parastatal is on its knees and the majority of municipalities around the country are bankrupt. This goes beyond politics. We are all in Ship South Africa together and the ANC has effectively done everything in its power to try to scuttle the ship. Let us hold hands and work together to make sure we can plug this nasty…

You volunteer with abandon to do things you know very little about and to look good in the eyes of people you hardly know. This ratchets up expectations so you have much to live up to and are placed under great pressure. Keep lots of secrets. Take on problems that other competent people have already found impossible to solve. Feeling, at least for a while, as if you are Superman or Wonder Woman, can offer a real charge. Gossip a lot. Get slap-bang in the middle of other people’s conflicts, especially if the conflicts are none of your business, and especially if the conflicts have a long history. Being the new hope on the block will get you fired up. You’ll even feel very spiritual. Agree to roles (at work…

The biggest livestock carrier Al Kuwait has placed the spotlight on ethics of live animal transportation. We have always known about it but would probably not have done much about it if we hadn’t had such hot weather and the stench reached our shores as this boat came into our waters. How could the people on board breathe, one wonders? Can one imagine the cruelty to these animals who had travelled all the way from Brazil destined for Iraq where they would be slaughtered? Hell on Earth. The SPCA were at first denied access but were eventually allowed on board, where the smell of urine and faeces was overwhelming. Can one imagine the misery! Shame on man’s inhumanity. The state vet had approved the vessel to berth and collect animal…

A THIRTY-eight-year-old mother and 46-year-old father have been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for the abuse of their five children. The North West High Court sitting in Klerksdorp was dealing with charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH), assault, child negligence and culpable homicide. They were sentenced following their arrest in May and October 2021 for the mistreatment of their five children in Alabama, near Klerksdorp. North West police reported that the mother was attacking and abusing her children, who ranged in age from 3 weeks to 13-years-old, by punching them, pushing them against a wall and denying them food. On May 14, 2021, the father called the police to report an assault. Police responded immediately, and the mother was arrested but freed on a warning…

Western Cape High Court judges have called for the swift prosecution of a disbarred Stellenbosch attorney who allegedly helped himself to more than R7 million from unsuspecting clients in a two-year period. Conveyancer Hanro Erasmus Steffen, has been struck off the roll of attorneys and barred from practising. The court was scathing on the conduct of the attorney. The court struck him off the roll after the Legal Practice Council (LPC) applied for Steffen’s disbarment. The LPC had first suspended Steffen in March 2022, when it received a complaint that he had misappropriated R3.9m from a trust fund. They later learnt he stole another R3.3m from eight clients between October 2020 and April 2022. The presiding judges, Mark Sher and Patric Gamble, said Steffen stole money paid into his account…

THE SANDF says its mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is about peace and sustainability, and not commercially motivated. Earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of 2 900 SANDF members to help the country fight rebel attacks that are driving one of Africa’s most serious humanitarian crises. The mission has been heavily criticised as shortly after the deployment two South African soldiers were killed during an attack in the DRC. Siphiwe Dlamini, head of communication for the SANDF, said it was “shocked and dismayed” at claims contained on X (formerly Twitter) “alleging that the deployment of the SANDF soldiers to the DRC is commercially motivated and related to the minerals in that country, in particular the eastern DRC”. “The SANDF wishes to state…

SUPPORT has grown in the search for missing Joshlin Smith from Saldanha Bay along the Western Cape West Coast. The 6-year-old went missing a week ago while she was left in the care of her mother’s boyfriend. Missing posters for Joshlin have gone viral on social media and has been shared across the country. Joshlin was last seen at her Middelpos home in Diazville. Since last Tuesday, community members accompanied by officials including Mayor André Truter have been searching for Joshlin. At the weekend, organisations including the Western Cape Missing Persons Unit and political parties assisted with the search. In Elsies River, residents held a prayer meeting for the girl’s return. Omar Esack, from Goodwood Community Safety Services, said: “We are here in support of the family. My nephew was…

RECENT reports about the escalation of tension between the ANC and the newly formed Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party in KwaZulu-Natal are deeply concerning. The increased incidence of violence, threats and insults between supporters of these political formations is reminiscent of a dark chapter in South Africa’s history. On Saturday, the ANC intensified its election campaign, culminating in the launch of its manifesto at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. It is crucial for political leaders from all parties to prioritise peace over violence. KZN has a painful history of political turmoil, with the apartheid government fuelling black-on-black violence that resulted in the loss of numerous lives in clashes between the ANC and the IFP. The wounds of the past are still fresh, and the emergence of new political players like…

The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died unexpectedly in prison nine days ago, was handed to his mother on Saturday in the Arctic city of Salekhard, his spokesperson said, though it was unclear what will happen next to the body. Navalny’s family and supporters have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having him killed, an accusation that the Kremlin has rejected. He survived a poisoning attempt in 2020 and years of harsh treatment in prison, including long spells in solitary confinement. Navalny’s team said on social media platform, X, yesterday that his death certificate says he died of natural causes. In a video recorded before the release of the body, Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya accused “demonic” Putin of “torturing” the corpse of a political opponent. Navalny’s allies…

Sao Paulo: Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro took his legal woes to the street yesterday, calling for a massive show of support from supporters amid accusations he plotted a coup to stay in power. The 68-year-old former army officer has urged his backers to attend a “peaceful rally in defence of the democratic rule of law” in Sao Paulo which organisers hope will draw at least 500 000 people. Bolsonaro has had his passport seized by police as he and his inner-circle face scrutiny over plans to try to remain in power after he lost the 2022 elections to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has denied the claims and he refused to answer questions during a half-hour interrogation last week at federal police headquarters in Brasilia. |…

GUWAHATI: India’s Assam state has scrapped an 89-year-old law that allowed marriage involving underage Muslims, against opposition from leaders of the minority community who called it an attempt to polarise voters on religious lines ahead of elections. Assam, which has the highest percentage of Muslims among Indian states, at 34%, has previously said it wants to implement uniform civil laws for marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance. Nationwide, Hindus, Muslims and Christians follow their own laws and customs or a secular code for such matters. Muslim opposition leaders said repealing the colonial-era law was discriminatory. | Reuters…

Striker Jermaine Seoposenwe has given a breakdown of what Banyana Banyana must do to kill off their Olympic qualifier against Tanzania tomorrow night. Banyana were in beast mode in the first leg of their third-round Olympic qualifier against Tanzania on Friday afternoon in Dar es Salaam, winning 3-0. That result put them in a firm position to progress to the final and last round of the qualifiers where they’ll face Nigeria or Cameroon but the South Africans are not leaving anything to chance going into the second leg at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. “We need to try and control the game from the start,” Seoposenwe said. “We have the quality, even though it shows up in patches sometimes. “We need to control the match, dictate the play and tempo as…

THE SOUTH African National Energy Development Institute said on Friday that it foresees as much as R300 billion foreign direct investment in the next three to five years by Japanese companies, who want to benefit from South Africa’s green hydrogen economy. Green hydrogen is when the energy used to power electrolysis comes from renewable sources like wind, water or solar. This comes after the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) earlier this month hosted a high-profile Japanese business delegation from more than 30 companies, together with South African private and public sector delegates at a green hydrogen seminar in Johannesburg. The seminar followed the signing of a memorandum of co-operation between Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and South Africa’s Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation in October…

THE ANC outlined six priorities, including job creation, driving industrial growth and tackling the high cost of living, during the launch of its election manifesto at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday. But political analysts highlighted the need to fix the country’s power crisis and ensure a stable electricity supply for these promises to be kept. The stadium was filled to its 56 000-seater capacity with the adjoining People’s Park converted into an overflow for more supporters on Saturday. ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said the manifesto would provide a way forward for the country, sustaining and improving its democratic gains. He said at the 2024 elections scheduled for May 29 the party would go beyond celebrating accomplishments and focus on the future. “We will focus on six…

With the passing (or bluntly put, murdering) of Alexei Navalny in Russia, I am reminded of the similarities between Navalny and Nelson Mandela. Both fought passionately against oppression by the state, both got sent to prison for their beliefs, except that Mandela lived and became an important statesman on the world stage, while Navalny is dead. It is axiomatic that serious opposition to Vladimir Putin winds up dead. The number of Putin’s opponents who have jumped out of high-rise windows or come into contact with deadly poisons seems too numerous to mention. Among them, Navalny and Litvinenko. There was the poisoning of Scripal. All these attempted and successful events have been denied by Putin as nothing to do with his government. Not long ago his protégé in Ukraine got on…

I THINK there is a lot that many people don’t understand about the Struggle for liberation of the people against apartheid oppression. Many seem to think that only those who went into exile were involved in the Struggle, which was definitely not the case. While most of us have no experience of what kind of life those exiled in different countries were subjected to, many who remained in the country kept the liberation Struggle alive, forever being harassed by what was commonly known as the “Special Branch”, that hired your closest friends to spy on you, monitoring your every movement, even the books you read, including occasional visits, where you would be rudely woken up, by the Special Branch and taken to the police station for questioning at ungodly hours…

IT’S heartening to read that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is holding an inquiry into the illegal occupation of Palestinian land following the six-day war in 1967 when Israel went to war with Egypt, Syria and Jordan, resulting in the occupation of Palestinian territory. The 1967 war was nothing short of an Israeli land grab. That the ICJ is holding an inquiry is a direct result of South Africa’s standing up to the Israeli war machine at the international court over the destruction of Gaza and more than 30 000 Palestinian deaths. The old saying, “the chickens always come home to roost”, is playing out for Israel, who in the years ahead will, through these pressures, lift the blockade and return Palestinian land to the Palestinians so…

A 52-YEAR-OLD man was killed in Phoenix on Friday night. He was gunned down while seated in his car in the Sunford area, according to private security company KwaZulu-Natal VIP Protection Services. The company reported that the victim was sitting in his vehicle when another car pulled up next to him and its occupants opened fire at him. A murder case has been opened, said KZN police spokesperson Nqobile Gwala. “It is alleged that the body of a 52-year-old man was found with gunshot wounds in the Sunford area in Phoenix. It is alleged that unknown suspects in a vehicle fired shots at the victim. He was declared dead at the scene. A case of murder was opened for investigation at Phoenix SAPS.” In an unrelated shooting, a 46-year-old Joburg…

The parents of a now 12-year-old whose foot was severely deformed after a drip on the limb was left unchecked for 10 hours after birth, have succeeded in their claim against the Gauteng MEC. The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, found that staff at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria were negligent for not checking-up on the drip for 10 hours. It is not known how much the parents are claiming, but Judge Noluntu Bam ordered that the Gauteng health authority pay for damages that can be proven. If the parties fail to settle on the amount, the matter will be back in court at a later stage to hear the evidence of the parents and experts regarding the scale of damages. The parents’ claim was based on allegations that…

Eastern Cape Social Development MEC Bukiwe Fanta expressed her disappointment at the sentence handed down to the Enyobeni Tavern owners Siyakhangela and Vuyokazi Ndevu. The couple were sentened to pay a fine of R5 000 each or serve a 100-day prison term. The East London Magistrate’s Court on Friday found that the State had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt that the couple were responsible for the sale of alcohol to minors. The prosecution argued that Enyobeni Tavern had failed to enforce age restrictions, a violation of the Eastern Cape Liquor Act. Additionally, testimony from neighbours and officials from the Eastern Cape Liquor Board corroborated the prosecution’s case. During a June 2022 celebration known as a “pens down party”, 21 young people lost their lives at the tavern. Nine girls…

The special military was caused by the approach of Nato countries towards the borders of Russia Exactly 10 years ago, in February 2014, a coup d’état took place in Kyiv with the direct participation of Western countries. The legitimate president of the country was forced to flee and a nationalist puppet government came to power. It launched a chain of events, as a result of which Russia took back the Crimea to save the Russian people in the peninsula from the bloody massacre. Moreover, hostilities began in the east of Ukraine and their culmination became the beginning of the Special Military Operation in February 2022. I am aware that for many esteemed South African readers the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, especially due to the passage of time and distance, has just become…

Donald Trump’s campaign plans to treat Nikki Haley as irrelevant after he dominated the Republican primary in her home state of South Carolina on Saturday, skipping attacks on her to focus instead on a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden, advisers said. The former president has easily swept all five Republican nominating contests thus far, winning states in the Midwest, Northeast, South and West and knocking out every challenger save Haley, a former South Carolina governor, along the way. Trump advisers said they plan to ignore their lone remaining Republican competitor to render her campaign an afterthought. That would mark a change in tactics by a campaign that has trained intense fire on Haley in recent weeks, with a barrage of vitriolic online attacks, pressure on her donors to switch…

Filipino protesters marched through Manila yesterday, marking the anniversary of the uprising that ousted Ferdinand Marcos, while vowing to prevent his son from repeating the dictatorship. Marcos jr won the presidency in a landslide in 2022, nearly four decades after a “People Power” uprising ended his late father’s 20-year rule and chased the clan into exile in the US. While Marcos jr remains popular, his campaign to alter the 1987 constitution has proved divisive. Critics warn the effort could lead to the abolition of term limits, with presidents currently allowed just one six-year stint in office. “The theme of this protest is to reject Marcos’s charter change move, which is a move to remain in power... which is basically what happened 38 years ago,” said economist Rosario Guzman, 58. Marcos…

Beirut: A blast from a landmine left by the Islamic State group killed at least 13 civilians foraging for truffles in the Syrian desert, a war monitor said. “Thirteen civilians, including women were killed when a landmine left by the IS group exploded while they were searching for truffles” in the desert in Raqa province, said the Syria Observatory for Human Rights. The desert is renowned for producing some of the best quality truffles in the world, which fetch high prices in a country battered by 13 years of war and a economic crisis. Every February to April foragers collect the delicacies in the area, a known hideout for jihadists and littered with landmines. | AFP…

WINDHOEK: Namibia’s late president Hage Geingob, who died in hospital on February 4, weeks after being diagnosed with cancer, was buried at the Heroes Acre yesterday with thousands of mourners, including 25 heads of state and former presidents in attendance. The burial was on the outskirts of Windhoek following 20 days of mourning. Soldiers gave Geingob a 21-gun salute while K-8 fighter jets flew past. Geingob, 82, Namibia’s two-time prime minister and third president since its independence from South Africa in 1990, has been in charge of the sparsely populated and mostly arid southern African nation since 2015. | Reuters…