Innholdsfortegnelse for 2022-04-07 i Mercury

THE ANC is set to meet with its coalition partners, the bloc of smaller parties, in eThekwini Municipality to iron out their differences. This comes as the party fears that if the issues are left unattended to, it could pose a serious challenge to the functioning of the metro. ANC provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela confirmed yesterday that there were plans to meet with the parties. On Monday the city failed to approve the appointment of the city manager after the bloc voted against it on account that it was not consulted. They voted with the opposition parties who objected because the process had been mired in irregularities. The Mercury understands that the smaller parties held a meeting yesterday, however, the matters that were discussed were not immediately clear. The smaller…

The ANC is busy preparing for, or participating in, its elective conferences to put in place a new leadership. Regional and provincial elections will culminate in a national general council where the powerful national executive committee (NEC) and president of the party will be elected. There is much at stake in these elections. Over the years, leadership positions within the ANC have become a means to access top positions in government. Regional leaders become mayors and members of executive committees of municipalities; provincial leaders are certain to become premiers and MECs and those elected on the NEC are most likely to become Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers. But wait a minute. The ANC is at its weakest. Its membership figures have dropped drastically and it has lost most metros because…

THE rising unemployment in South Africa continues to make new records every year. The recent official statistics show that the average unemployment rate exceeded 35% for the first time, and what is more concerning is the fact that unemployment has exceeded 43% in youth aged between 25 and 34 years. This is the age where young people are full of energy and dream to have a good job to help themselves and their loved ones and have meaning in their lives. In other words, finding a job is their basic right that the government should secure. Failing them means a death sentence to all their dreams and belonging to South Africa. The big question to the government here is: will these young unemployed people keep quiet for long while they…

Embattled Mpumalanga ANC treasurer Mandla Msibi has agreed to stay away from all ANC activities in accordance with the party’s step-aside rule that sidelines leaders who are facing criminal charges, pending the outcomes of their cases. This comes after ANC treasurer Paul Mashatile reminded Msibi of the party’s resolution at its 54th conference in Nasrec, and ordered him to vacate office by Monday. Msibi confirmed that he had stepped aside: “Yes, I did. I did that as a disciplined cadre of the movement.” Msibi was elected after 161 branches nominated him as treasurer at the 13th provincial elective conference at Witbank Dam this past weekend. He accepted the nomination through a letter as he was not allowed to attend. Msibi had previously vowed to challenge the charges against him. Speaking…

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) said yesterday that it has received the first part of its allocation from the National Treasury and would start processing payments of allowances to university students. Last week, several university students complained that they were yet to receive their allowances. NSFAS spokesperson Kagisho Mamabolo said: “NSFAS can confirm that it has since received the first tranche of its budgetary allocation for the first quarter of the financial year. The scheme will thus be able to start processing payments to institutions and paying student allowances from Friday.” Mamabolo said official communication had been sent to all the institutions on the allowance payment process, and institutions that had compiled with the 2022 NSFAS Eligibility Criteria and Conditions for Financial Aid would receive payment. “The communiqué…

EThekwini Municipality says permission has not been granted for Operation Dudula to march in the city on Sunday. This comes after Operation Dudula movement national organiser Zandile Dabula told the media on Tuesday that they were going ahead with the march. “After two previous attempts to hold the march in Durban, we are happy that we will be able to march on Sunday,” Dabula said on Tuesday. However, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela yesterday denied that the city had granted permission for the march. “The city denounces disinformation by the Dudula movement to the effect that it has granted it permission to march this Sunday. The application is currently being drafted and will then proceed to the office of the city manager for approval or not,” said Mayisela. He pointed…

How multinationals avoid paying taxes in Africa and what should change In developing countries, and the sub-Saharan region especially, the scale of unmet basic needs is enormous. It is estimated that 3 billion people in the developing world subsist on less than $2 (about R29) a person a day. About 2.37 billion people are without food or unable to eat a balanced diet on a regular basis. The prevalence of undernourishment is highest in sub-Saharan Africa: 24.1%. Out of the almost 60 million children not in school, 33.8 million are in this region. Revenues from taxation are fundamental to changing this dire situation. Taxes enable the state to redistribute wealth to alleviate poverty. They also provide education, health care, social security, pensions, efficient public transport, clean…

We all live within intricate networks of triangles. They can be empowering platforms or vicious traps, while most are somewhere in between such dramatic extremes. Here are a few ways to detox your many triangles: If you have an issue with someone, address it directly with that person and avoid speaking about your issue to others. This is “sending your mail to the right address”. Be responsible to others and not responsible for them. Honour all the adults in your life by relinquishing responsibility for them and by being responsible to them. Get out of “the middle” and then stay out of the middle of relationships of which you’re not a part. Inserting yourself into things that are none of your business will run you ragged until you’re fully depleted.…

It is indeed unwise to speculate on the probable cause of the gruesome crash of China Eastern Airlines on March 21 . The magnitude and horror of the crash defies aviation logic. The Boeing 737-800NG is a superb aircraft that is the workhorse of global aviation. The vertical nose down plunge of 20 000 feet in less than one minute is unprecedented in aviation circles. The scope and depth of this sonic plunge is extraordinary, as it sends shivers down one’s spine. It is unprecedented for an aircraft at cruising mode to react in such a violent manner. The shattering impact of this bewildering plunge resulted in the plane disintegrating into over 49 000 pieces. Some pieces tore 18m into the soft earth; in essence the plane was obliterated as…

With ongoing concerns about the backlog in DNA testing at the police national forensic science laboratories, newly appointed police commissioner Lieutenant-General Fannie Masemola has committed to employing more scientists to get it back on track. He said the machines needed to process DNA samples in the country’s forensic labs had been repaired and that more effort would go into ensuring that they remained in good working condition. By September last year, the backlog exceeded 240 000 cases, and last month Police Minister Bheki Cele said it would be cleared within six months. Ilitha Labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said the organisation was disappointed by these delays, which he said caused challenges in court proceedings for victims and survivors of gender-based violence and femicide. “We had hoped that this problem had been…

A University of the Free State (UFS) student has been arrested on charges of arson after a fire that gutted the clinic and computer laboratory was found to have been started intentionally. The fire was allegedly started by disgruntled students who had not yet received funds from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. The university said the preliminary finding of the urgent investigation into the fire on the Qwaqwa Campus of UFS on April 4, indicated that the two buildings had been intentionally set alight. UFS spokesperson, Lacea Loader, said: “This was established by the SAPS and the university’s Protection Services on Tuesday morning. Since the outbreak of the fire, one person – who is a registered student – has been arrested by the SAPS, and a process is under…

THE election of murder accused Mandla Msibi as ANC Mpumalanga treasurer is the clearest indication yet that the party’s much-hyped renewal is nothing but wishful thinking. It demonstrates that ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa’s message of renewal has not been fully embraced by the branches and provinces, and is only repeated by those close to him. If anything, Msibi’s election says the opposite of what the Ramaphosa camp has been preaching. The party may have subsequently asked him to step aside as he has been charged, but it was the branches in Mpumalanga that showed their confidence in him. Of course, this is not to say that Msibi is guilty of the crime, far from it. He still enjoys his constitutional rights of being presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a…

THE FUEL RETAILERS Association explained that the retailer margin was at R2.28 per litre and remained fixed cents per litre (cpl) regardless of fuel prices going up. It was the basic fuel price that changed monthly, which drove prices up. Retailer margin breakdown: • R1.33 cents per litre: Opex to cover expenses. That is where the credit cards under recovery sits. (Opex operational expenditures are the on-going costs that businesses need to run, and for fleet managers, this includes expenses such as fuel, staff costs and expenses for supplies that are needed to keep machinery working.) • 31.1 cents per litre: Entrepreneurship compensation to cover for profit before tax. Fuel retailers don’t get or realise all of the full allocation as they get…

THE apartheid regime did not kill Solomon Mahlangu because his spirit continued to live on, ANC senior official Dr Gwen Ramokgopa said yesterday. The party’s co-ordinator in the secretary-general’s office was addressing the audience during an event to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of Mahlangu’s death. The commemoration included a wreath-laying ceremony at Mahlangu’s final resting place at Mamelodi West Cemetery and retracing the 52 steps that led to the gallows at Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria, where Mahlangu was hanged. The ANC Youth League and the Young Communist League said that an inquest should be opened into Mahlangu’s death. The Umkhonto we Sizwe operative died on April 6, 1979, at the age of 22. He had been convicted of murder and terrorism during the apartheid era. Ramakgopa…

Once again, our leadership demonstrates an amateurish approach to some serious issues. By removing green, yellow and red cards from the new field of Covid transgressors, it has shown that it does not fully understand the perpetual condition of an in-born resistance to some simple personal hygiene in most people. People will not wash up if they think they can get away with it. School’s out! Holidays are back. It’s amazing how the bottles of sanitiser that were all over are quickly drying up and not being refilled. Doomsday has just been cancelled. It’s disgusting to see some high-class-looking personnel dodging to even wash up at toilets in shopping malls. Nobody is now ever going to be troubled by once-perilous toilet doorhandles that carried the previous user’s invisible trademark, the…

Country roads, take me home. To the place I belong … THE lyrics of John Denver run through my head as I skirt the Valley of a Thousand Hills along the winding route of the Comrades Marathon. Hillcrest … Botha’s Hill … Drummond … Cato Ridge … Camperdown … Ashburton … then Maritzburg. The views are breathtaking. The road is virtually empty. Occasionally the N3 comes into view, a nightmarish spectacle of massive lorries dicing at high speed with the cars. Is there any other country in the world that transports its coal by road? Then peace and quiet again … sanity. This is the way to travel these days between Durban and Maritzburg – and return. Take the M13 from Durban to Hillcrest – a two-lane double carriageway, the…

A police officer who was injured 24 years ago while on duty is due to receive some compensation following a legal fight with the Compensation Commissioner. He had been a passenger in a police vehicle that collided with a minibus taxi while chasing a suspect. The problem arose as Roebel Botha was injured before the car accident; he suffered a neck injury while training for the SAPS specialised reaction force. The consequences of that injury were severe and he was diagnosed as having had a spinal stroke and later underwent a spinal fusion. Less than three months later the collision occurred and he ended up needing a second spinal fusion operation. The Compensation Commissioner refused to award compensation for the car accident in terms of the Occupational Injuries and Diseases…

Five farms in the Potchefstroom area in North West have been quarantined after the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District, the provincial department of agriculture and rural development said. Spokesperson Emelda Setlhako said a joint operation centre had been set up, including a team of vets from the North West’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, provincial disaster management office, farmers’ unions and the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD). “The working team, consisting of members from the Veterinary Services, is, to undertake inspections and collect samples where significant clinical signs are presented. “The team is conducting inspections and surveillance through blood sampling to determine the extent of the spread.” She said an auction in Potchefstroom received 12 cattle from one of…

THE sudden loss of more than 2 million jobs and R50 billion due to the July unrest last year have created a social, political, and economic crisis that dwarfs anything South Africa has seen in recent history. On April 1, President Cyril Ramaphosa lamented this catastrophe while giving testimony before the Human Rights Commission, saying “for one week and one day in July 2021, we stared into the heart of darkness”, watched in horror “as parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were engulfed in violence, looting, and destruction” in what caused many of us to feel “the greatest sense of betrayal that there were among us those who would go so far as to plot to destroy the country we have spent the past 28 years building”. But…