Table of contents for 2021-10-11 in Mercury

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised the electorate changes after the November 1 local government elections, saying the governing party has been found wanting in the past. Ramaphosa said this yesterday in KwaNdengezi, west of Durban, during campaigning for his party. He started in uMlazi, south of Durban, where he criss-crossed parts of the township asking voters to give the ANC another five-year mandate to rule the local government sphere, saying they were the only party capable of delivering. Among the pending reforms that he claimed had been enacted, was to ensure that only the best members were deployed to public office, and that there would be rigorous interviews for ANC mayoral candidates. “Our mayor (of eThekwini metro) will come out of a group of a…

Seeking to please his wife who had wished for a more diversified view from their family house, a Bosnian self-thought innovator has built a rotating house allowing her to watch a rising sun in one moment and passers-by in the next. “I got tired of her complaints and frequent refurbishing of our home, and said: I’ll build you a rotating house so you can spin it as you wish,” Vojin Kusic, 72, said in front of his new house that attracts the attention of visitors. Situated in northern Bosnia near the town of Srbac, the house spins around a 7-metre axis designed by Kusic, with the view of cornfields and farmland changing to forests and the river at the desired speed. “The house can make a full circle for 24…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff With election slogans now festooning street poles, one that is devoid of credibility is the ANC’s claim of “Better Together”. While neglect is a reality in every ward, the neglect of roadworks on the M7, which affects four wards, exemplifies eThekwini’s decline under the ANC. For 14 months, the overpass off the M7 near Southway Mall has been out of commission. The only way to reach Umbilo Rd from the M7 is by means of the minor feeder road intended for traffic destined for Seaview. Yet that minor road has to carry traffic from the Bluff, Clairwood and Montclair headed for the Umbilo, university and Glenwood areas. Its intersection with Sarnia Road is not signalised, which makes it hazardous, as well as causing…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za The Justice and Constitutional Development Department has disclosed R2.963 billion in irregular expenditure that had been incurred as at March 31, 2021. Head of department Doc Mashabane revealed this in the annual report tabled in Parliament recently. Mashabane said a total of 34 new cases – amounting to R75 million– were detected and reported to the National Treasury. “Irregular expenditure increased by R401.6m during the financial year 2020/2021. The increase includes expenditure amounting to R140.3m for the previous financial years incurred by the department,” he said. Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke said effective and appropriate steps were not taken to prevent irregular expenditure. “The majority of the irregular expenditure disclosed in the financial statements was caused by non-compliance with supply chain management legislation,” she said. However, Mashabane said…

Facebook Inc has apologised to users for a two-hour disruption to its services on Friday and blamed it on another faulty configuration change. It confirmed its social media platform, Instagram, Messenger and Workplace were impacted by the latest outage – the second in the week for Facebook after one on Monday. During the latest outage, some users were unable to load Instagram feeds; others were not able to send messages on Facebook Messenger. Last Monday, the social media giant blamed a “faulty configuration change” for a nearly six-hour outage that prevented the company’s 3.5 billion users from accessing its services. | Reuters…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za WITH about two weeks left until the matric class of 2021 write their final exams, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the department was ready to present credible final exams. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) hosted a media briefing on Friday to provide an update on its readiness for the 2021 National Senior Certificate exams, starting on October 27. The 2021 matric exams will once again take place during the Covid-19 pandemic. “This is the Grade 11 class of 2020, that did not complete their curriculum, but through the sheer hard work and dedication of our teachers, they have been able to cover the entire curriculum of 2021, and they even had enough time to do revisions,” the minister said. Motshekga said there were…

Kristin Engel kristin.engel@inl.co.za While industry partners and stakeholders in the tourism sector across Cape Town and South Africa welcomed news that the country had been removed from the UK’s red list, some travel associations remain concerned regarding acceptance and proof of travellers’ vaccination status. Sun International hospitality chief operations officer Graham Wood said: “The busy travel season of November through to March, particularly out of the UK and Europe, will be buoyed by this announcement. So this is a real boost for our travel and tourism industry that, as we know, has been decimated by the effects of the global pandemic over the last 18 to 24 months.” Association of Southern African Travel Agents chief executive Otto De Vries said the next priority must be to provide clarity on the…

AS South Africans enjoy the eased restrictions that come with level 1, the dark cloud of the dreaded fourth wave, which is predicted to start in a month and continue into the festive season, is an ever-present reminder of the tumultuous nature of Covid-19. Indeed, it appears that the country is now experiencing the calm before another storm. It has intensified its vaccination drive in anticipation of the expected fourth wave and is encouraging more people to get vaccinated. The message is still clear and people are being asked to sanitise, maintain their social distancing and to avoid large crowds and gatherings. Deputy President David Mabuza, on the campaign trail in KwaZulu-Natal this weekend, spoke of the Covid-19 paradox that is taking place in the country when he said there…

Islamabad: Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, 85, the founder of the Pakistani nuclear programme, died due to lung problems yesterday, his family said. Khan’s health started deteriorating on Saturday night. He was rushed to the Khan Research Laboratories Hospital in Islamabad, his family said. In August, the nuclear scientist was admitted to the same hospital after testing positive for Covid-19. He had been moved back home after being successfully treated. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Twitter that Khan was loved by the nation over “his critical contribution in making Pakistan a nuclear weapon state”.…

A Franciscan nun from Colombia kidnapped by jihadists in Mali in 2017 was freed at the weekend, Mali’s presidency said. Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez was taken hostage on February 7, 2017, in southern Mali near the border with Burkina Faso where she had been working as a missionary for six years. A statement on the presidential Twitter account paid tribute to her “courage and bravery” along with photos of the nun taken after her release. “I thank the Malian authorities, the president, all the Malian authorities for all the efforts you’ve made to liberate me. “May God bless you, may God bless Mali,” Sister Gloria said on television showing her with Mali’s interim president Colonel Assimi Goita and the archbishop of Bamako, Jean Zerbo. “I am very happy. I stayed…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE DA has set its sights on winning almost half of the wards that are controlled by the ANC and other parties in eThekwini Municipality during the local government elections. While reluctant to reveal the wards the party is targeting in its “ward-by-ward strategy”, party leader Francois Rodgers said it hoped to gain about 40% of the wards currently in ANC hands. Instead of putting up mayoral candidates as the face of its campaign in eThekwini, the party has opted to focus on a different strategy to win individual wards as it seeks to whittle down the ANC majority. Should it be able to cut the ANC majority to below 50%, Rogers said, it would consider forming a coalition to take over the municipality. EThekwini has…

When men and women allow another to come close and then have expressed their deepest thoughts, I have discovered a few common fears. I have identified them within myself and in extended moments of vulnerability I shared with others: The fear of exposure, of being discovered as a fraud, fake or failure who has been able to masquerade successes. The fear of abandonment, of discovering no one stayed or remained faithful to friendships, to the continued enjoyment of familial connections, formal and informal. The fear of aloneness, discovering there is no one in your circle, your corner, there is no one on your team. The fear of total dependence, discovering you are in the hands of strangers, helpers who talk loudly, speak in commands; regard you as needy flesh, a…

FAROUK ARAIE | Johannesburg As we enter election day in November, we are a pale shadow of what we were under our founder, beloved Nelson Mandela. We were the leaders of Africa because we had the moral high-ground. We had values. We pledged allegiance to a nation with liberty and justice for all. Sadly, we have become divided into ideological tribes with leaders encouraging acrimony. South Africa has lost its moral compass. We have abandoned the lofty philosophical goals that created our nation from the ashes of apartheid. Today we are leaderless and voiceless. We are in a time of despair. What in the world has happened to our rainbow nation? We are in a dysfunctional mess. As our society becomes one of rot, behaviours and principles of…

MUHAMMAD OMAR | Durban North WHILE the ANC and DA are at loggerheads regarding the Phoenix poster wars, there is a lot more under the surface that matters. First, the critical role players seem to be silent in these deliberations. Many community leaders and activists, notably the legendary Karou Chaou or KC, were involved. I had the privilege of meeting him and mentioned that “you are the Malema of the SA Indian community”. Not sure if that was a compliment or otherwise. Except KC has his own brand of clothing and not some bling European label with the occasional red overall. The Gandhi burning of British textiles should be a lesson for many “Gucci revolutionaries”. Among the others were Mr Ronnie Veeran who together with the committee had…

Sameer Naik sameer.naik@inl.co.za The excessive abuse of alcohol by South Africans has contributed to the shocking rise in high blood pressure rates in South Africa. High blood pressure (hypertension) rates in South Africa and Africa have skyrocketed, with the continent now becoming the epicentre of the disease. High blood pressure rates in Africa have climbed by more than 30% in the past decade, with an estimated 31% of men and 36% of women in South Africa being affected. It is the single biggest cause of premature death globally. While there are a number of factors that have led to the shocking increase, the abuse of alcohol by South Africans is one of the driving factors. The World Health Organization (WHO), which produces global alcohol and health status reports, recently released…

Nomonde Zondi Nomonde.Zondi@inl.co.za The La Mercy family, who had to move out of their home after a mudslide hit their property last week, are still struggling to clean out the yard. Last week, The Mercury reported that Natalie Cooper and her mother Saroj Naidoo were rescued after they were trapped in their house due to a mudslide caused by heavy rain. The mudslide came after a nearby house partially collapsed last month after a stormwater pipe burst in heavy rains. Cooper’s husband, Matthew, said yesterday that the family were still struggling to remove the mud in the yard. “I have hired some guys to help me remove the mud in my house, but it is not easy because there is a lot to do and it is costing me a…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za The National Freedom Party dedicated its election manifesto to the party’s late president, Zanele KaMagwaza-Msibi, when it launched its local government election plan in Nongoma yesterday. The party will be contesting the local government elections for the first time in 10 years. NFP secretary-general Canaan Mdletshe said it was a sad day for the party as it launched its election manifesto without its leader. He said KaMagwaza-Msibi’s death had deeply affected the organisation, but the current leadership had coped well. “We have taken the baton and are running forward,” he said. Mdletshe said KaMagwaza-Msibi laid a solid foundation for the party and while it would be difficult without her leadership, they were confident in their capabilities to take the party forward. While delivering the party’s election manifesto,…

We have one choice only – a thieving or thriving democracy “SO WHAT I heard today is, it’s more about what we do and not necessarily what we say that enhances the brand of our country.” These are the words of Clayson Monyela, the head of public diplomacy at the Department of International Relations and Co-operation. He made this statement two weeks ago as part of his opening reflections during the panel discussion when Brand South Africa – the agency responsible for managing the country’s image and reputation, hosted its fifth annual Nation Brand Forum. Themed “Believe in South Africa”the 2021 Nation Brand Forum had gathered social partners from business, civil society and the government with a mission to reflect on the challenges of economic recovery during the Covid-19 pandemic.…

Kunduz: The imam had just led his congregation in a chorus of “Allahu Akhbar” (God is Greatest) when Abbas recalls hearing a “terrible sound” before being knocked to the ground. “It was a noise I had never experienced in my 24 years,” he said from his hospital bed in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz. Now Abbas knows that a suicide attacker had detonated his bomb, ripping through the crowd during Friday prayers at the Gozar-e-Sayed mosque and instantly killing dozens of Shia worshippers. But despite the distress and his injuries, Abbas vowed to continue his work as a prayer caller (muezzin) and reciter (Qari) at the mosque, saying he sees it as his “human responsibility” to carry on. Friday’s blast killed around 100 Shia Muslims, according to locals, the…

BEIRUT: Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad has announced the resumption of power supply across the country after a blackout. Lebanon was left without electricity on Saturday after the country’s two largest power stations stopped operating over a fuel shortage. “The (power) network returned to its normal operation, which was before the gas-oil [a product of oil refining] at the stations ... ran out,” the official said, as quoted by the OTV broadcaster. Lebanon has been paralysed by a deepening economic crisis as supplies of imported fuel have dried up. The Lebanese currency has fallen by 90% since 2019.…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za FORMER KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu is optimistic that mediation efforts in the Zulu Royal House will eventually bear fruit, but admits that this will not be an easy task. Mchunu is part of a six-member team that was appointed by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma at the instruction of President Cyril Ramaphosa to broker a truce among royals who are at loggerheads about who should be the next king following the death of Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu earlier this year. While King Misuzulu kaZwelithini is seen by many as the rightful heir to the throne, some royals have challenged this, even questioning the authenticity of King Goodwill Zwelithini’s will. Prince Simakade Zulu and Prince Mbonisi Zulu are two of the names that…

| Maureen Murphy HONOUR among thieves? British tennis star Andy Murray has been playing in the Indian Wells tournament in California, where it’s pretty hot – 39ºC – and his tennis shoes have been getting pretty sweaty and smelly. So much so, that he decided to give them an airing. But his hotel room doesn’t have a balcony. He couldn’t live with the smelly shoes in the bedroom. So he decided to give them an overnight airing by hiding them under his car outside. And here an unusual connection enters the story – Andy’s wedding ring. He’s not allowed to wear it on court, according to Sky News, so he ties it to a shoestring on one of his takkies while he plays. (If wedding rings bring unfair advantage…

EBRAHIM ESSA | Durban While many companies are making visible changes to their normal rules and regulations during this horrible period, there are some that are going out of their way to be difficult, making conditions not only tiresome and frustrating, but perilous. Banks are the biggest culprits. Last week a PRO called me to rate their specific bank in various areas. I made it very clear at the outset that I would only go through the process if I was allowed to make recorded comments of my own, many of which were not covered by mere “zero up to 10” selections. After giving mostly very good ratings to all the questions it was now my turn and this is what I said: “All banks, especially in this…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za Police officers have been hauled over the coals for their alleged involvement in the escape of several suspects. While more than 500 suspects escaped from lawful custody, the police have taken disciplinary action against 270 officers who allegedly helped suspects to escape. The disciplinary action led to one police officer being fired and others had their salary docked for two months and got a written warning, said the police in the annual report before Parliament. “A total number of 545 persons escaped from police custody in 412 incidents, during 2020/2021, compared with 680 persons, during 2019/2020, a decrease of 135 escapees or 19.85%, achieving the targeted decrease of 2%.” A total number of 202 escapees were re-arrested within 24 hours. The highest number of escapees escaped from…

SOUTH Africans will head to the polls on November 1, most likely under challenging circumstances given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. A key concern over a considerable period has been low voter turnout and lack of participation in electoral processes by young people in the country. The Electoral Commission of SA’s latest statistics show that in the 18-19 age group there are 177 000 registered voters; in the 20-29 age group 4.4 million. This is a decline from registered voters for the 2019 national and provincial elections, which had 341 000 registered voters in the 18-19 age group and 5.3 million in the 20-29 age group. It is common knowledge that South Africa has a bulging youth population; a significant proportion of young eligible voters. The youth vote represents…

VIENNA: Austria’s ruling coalition soldiered on yesterday after Chancellor Sebastian Kurz quit to keep it alive, but a top newspaper likened his future role in parliament to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s stint as prime minister in name only. Prosecutors placed Kurz and nine others under investigation last week on suspicion of corruption offences, as part of what they suspect is the use of public funds to produce manipulated polling and newspaper coverage favourable to Kurz. Kurz denies wrongdoing. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will take over the chancellorship today, according to reports.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za North West Dragons 158/7 Eastern Storm 157/6 Dragons won by one run Senuran Muthusamy’s smartly timed half-century, proved the difference between the two teams in a gripping final Pool C match, that saw the Dragons qualify for the quarter-finals of the CSA Provincial T20 Knock-Out yesterday. The North West’s stand-in captain scored 62 not out off 38 balls, sharing a crucial 48-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Wesley Marshall, that kept the momentum of the Dragons innings going at crucial stages. However, it was his finishing with the bat that was influential in the outcome. Marshall dominated the first half of the innings with another muscular half-century, in which he pounded the ball with great force through the field and on three occasions over it.…