Table of contents for 2022-07-12 in Mercury

CAPITAL & Regional’s Walthamstow residential development has been sold to Long Harbour for £21.65 million (R438.12m), so that construction of the development can commence. Capital & Regional, the UK convenience and community-focused shopping centre real estate investment trust (Reit) with a secondary listing on the JSE, yesterday said the sale of the residential development project at its 17&Central community shopping centre in Walthamstow, London, to specialist residential developer Long Harbour, had been concluded. The deal was in line with its strategy to create value from its portfolio through reconfiguring or repurposing underutilised space for other uses, which also help to drive footfall and operational performance. Capital & Regional plans to use most of the proceeds to reduce its loan facility within The Mall Limited Partnership. Its share price rose…

GOLD FIELDS said yesterday it plans to increase its dividend policy and will apply to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange in an effort to sweeten shareholders’ sentiments around its Yamana Gold acquisition. The JSE and New York-listed miner said it was planning to increase its dividend payout policy to between 30 and 45 percent of normalised profit, an increase compared to its standing policy of between 24 to 35 percent. Gold Fields’ share price on the JSE nevertheless fell by 0.82 percent to close at R157.25 yesterday following the announcement. Yamana Gold operates gold, silver, and copper mines in Canada, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina. In May, Gold Fields said it planned to acquire Yamana in a deal valued at about R10 billion and shareholders expressed…

THE government is toying with the idea of revisiting the issuing of liquor licences across KwaZulu-Natal after it emerged that Sweetwaters, in Pietermaritzburg, has no fewer than 160 taverns and 50 bottle stores. Acting Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Jomo Sibiya said the high number of liquor outlets, and the easy access to liquor, made the area an alcohol precinct. Sweetwaters is home to Samukelisiwe Tavern, the scene of Saturday’s mass shooting in which four people were killed: Nkosingiphile Nsele, Mdumiseni Ngidi, Nkosinathi Mdladla and Simphiwe Mthembu. “It cannot be that you have so many people trading in one precinct. There needs to be stricter regulations on the issuing of trading licences to avoid an oversaturated market. “The Transport Department does that with taxi operating licences, so something should…

Top European hotel chains are hiring workers without experience or even a resume as executives admit years of underpaying staff have come back to bite, leaving them unable to meet post-pandemic travel demand. Thousands of workers left the hospitality industry amid international travel Covid-19 shutdowns. Many found better employment elsewhere, leaving hoteliers facing a shortage. Europe’s largest hotelier Accor is running trial initiatives to recruit people who haven’t previously worked in the industry, chief executive Sebastien Bazin said. “We’re interviewing people with no resume, no prior job experience and hire within 24 hours.” In the short term, Accor is filling roles in France with young people and migrants while also limiting services. “It’s students, people coming from North Africa. And closing restaurants for lunch or (opening them) only five days…

MY DEAR Mr Essa (The Mercury, July 7). Why should India fool anyone? She has a rich civilisation dating back more than ten thousand years. Kashmir was always a part of India. The politicisation of Muslims in the valley for the past 50 years was due to belligerent Muslim countries. As far as article 370 is concerned it was an errant prime minister who introduced it for the benefit of the Congress Muslim vote bank. Why don’t you inform readers about the two Hindus who were beheaded by Muslims in Udaypur last month and videotaped and showed on the internet? Instead of bringing two beliefs together to live in peace your letter shows bias.…

SOUTH Africa being a water-scarce country requires every drop available to ensure water security. This calls for the strengthening of water conservation efforts and using it in a wise and sparing manner. It also calls for the protection of water resources to prevent pollution. Our water resources, especially our rivers are an important part of our lives. Rivers are the lifeblood of the nation. Rivers give life and provide a multitude of benefits for the communities around them. Our rivers and streams provide us with water, food and places for recreational, cultural and religious activities. This calls for all of us to always respect and protect our water resources and keep them clean, healthy and free flowing. Pollution is a menace to water resources and water security. It threatens the…

A 64-year-old man allegedly shot his son dead in Kwanobuhle near Kariega, formerly Uitenhage, in the Eastern Cape. The father and his 35-year-old son allegedly had an argument on Saturday. Eastern Cape police spokesperson Priscilla Naidu said: “It is alleged that on the mentioned date at 18:55, the elderly man and his son had an argument. The man went to his bedroom and returned with his licensed firearm and shot his son twice (in the chest and left arm). “The victim ran out into the street and collapsed. He was taken to hospital by a resident but succumbed to his injuries.” His other son, aged 39, allegedly attacked his father with a brick after hearing about the incident. The father was arrested at hospital while receiving treatment. In a separate…

A GAUTENG teacher who was accused of racism has won a case brought against her at the Education Labour Relations Council. The arbitration ruled yesterday that Anneke Smit, who had since been fired from her job as a teacher at a Pretoria school, was falsely accused of racism, suspended and unfairly dismissed in September 2021. The arbitration also ruled that Smit receive 10-month compensation and she may return to the school at Hoerskool Montana on August 1. Solidarity, representing Smit, accused Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi of rejecting her application to appeal. | Mercury Correspondent…

DRASTIC steps should be taken to crack down on the proliferation of illegal firearms in the country as they are contributing to gun-related crime. While the country was still mourning the mysterious deaths of 21 young people at Enyobeni Tavern in East London two weeks ago, more patrons were killed in two drinking spots, in Soweto and Pietermaritzburg, at the weekend. Unlike the Enyobeni tragedy, the innocent victims of the latest incidents had their lives snatched from them by brazen gunmen who have no respect for human life. In Orlando East, Soweto, 15 people lost their lives at Emazulwini tavern following a mass shooting on Sunday morning. At Samkelisiwe tavern in KwaNxamalala, Sweetwaters, in Pietermaritzburg, the gunmen shot and killed four patrons on Saturday night. In both shootings several people…

Russian weapons pounding Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv killed at least three people yesterday, authorities said, while rescuers pulled survivors from the rubble of an earlier strike on an apartment block that killed 19 people in another city. The artillery, multiple rocket launcher and tank attack on Kharkiv also injured 31 people, including two children, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said. The Ukrainian president’s office said residential areas had been hit. In the city of Chasiv Yar, further south, rescuers made voice contact with two people in the wreckage of a five-storey apartment building hit by a rocket on Saturday, and emergency services pulled a man from under the concrete debris, where up to two dozen people were trapped. The attack on Chasiv Yar was part of Russia’s push to capture…

SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk yesterday mocked Twitter Inc’s threat to sue him following his move to abandon the $44 billion (about R750bn) takeover deal, saying the social media firm would need to disclose more information on bots and spam accounts. The Tesla Inc chief made public his intention to ditch the offer on Friday because Twitter had breached multiple provisions of the merger agreement. Twitter is planning to sue Musk and force him to complete the acquisition. Legal experts say the social media company has a strong legal case against Musk, but could opt for a renegotiation or settlement instead of a long court fight. | Reuters…

AHMEDABAD: Labourers masquerading as cricket players, clever camera angles and fake team names were all part of an elaborate hoax cricket league in western India shown on YouTube that was used to draw money from gamblers in Russia, police said yesterday. Fashioned along the lines of the Indian Premier League, a group of men in the western Indian state of Gujarat hired a field, set up cameras and asked local labourers to dress up in team uniforms and play cricket. This was then streamed on YouTube to unsuspecting betting operations in Russia, who bet on match outcomes, police said. Betting on cricket is illegal in India. | Reuters…

NEW “politically motivated” EU regulations could see R654 million of South African citrus destroyed, the Citrus Growers Association of South Africa (CGA) said yesterday. Deon Joubert, CGA special envoy for Market Access and EU Matters, said last month the EU’s standing committee on plant, animal food and feed published what he called drastic and arguably misinformed new regulations requiring the cold treatment for oranges heading to the EU, as a means to address false codling moth interceptions from Southern African orange exports. Joubert said if enforced this month, these new regulations could result in millions of cartons of citrus headed for the EU being destroyed. “Despite objections from a number of countries, including European markets that import South African oranges, these new regulations were published in the Official Journal…

ORION Minerals’s share price surged nearly 5 percent yesterday, after it announced excellent results from the recently completed in-fill drilling at its Prieska copper-zinc project in the Northern Cape. The shares traded at 23 cents intra-day on the JSE after the group said it had received highly encouraging initial assay results from an in-fill drilling programme designed to upgrade the existing shallow inferred resource, in the +105-level crown pillar area at its project. According to the group, 14 in-fill holes were completed for 917.87 metres of drilling, designed to upgrade the existing inferred supergene resource of 630 000 tons at 2.2 percent copper and 1.8 percent zinc to the higher-confidence indicated category, as part of ongoing feasibility studies on the early production strategy. “Final…

THE Stellenbosch University (SU) has cited “complexities” as the reason its Central Disciplinary Committee (CDC) has yet to determine the outcome of suspended Theuns du Toit’s hearing. Du Toit was filmed urinating on the belongings of a fellow student, Babalo Ndwayana. SU spokesperson Martin Viljoen said the committee indicated that due to the complexity of the matter and the amount of evidence to be considered, they were not able to provide an outcome yet. “They will take time to consider the evidence and provide a written outcome. A date for when this process will be completed is not available yet. The CDC is an independent and objective, but closed committee of experts in line with the Disciplinary Code for Students of SU. Neither the composition nor the confidential internal proceedings…

IF YOU are looking for love: Resist the urge to buy it through gifts or paying for meals, lending money or giving resources to the one whose love you desire. Resist the urge to pay back every compliment or downplay every positive thing that is said to you by the object of your love and attention. Give up the jesting and the jousting in conversations, especially when talking with the one who’s love you seek. It gets old and it puts up intimacy blockades and stops the very closeness you desire. You won’t find it if you seek it through sexual contact when you haven’t had the time (yes, months or even years) to get to know the person whose attention and love you really want. If you think sex…

THIS mad social whirl. I find myself attending two lunches to celebrate the 80th birthday of my old mate Whisky Wimble – one at Salt Rock, the other at Ballito – plus I am taken by the gorgeous blonde food writer, Wanda Hennig, to sample two establishments that are about to open in Durban. Whisky is a fellow I was at kindergarten with, also prep school and high school. Also the navy. Also we shared digs in Maritzburg and London. His nickname is the result of alliteration, not an undue attachment to the amber fluid, though I do recall an occasion in our younger days when we returned to a beach cottage at Chaka’s Rock after a jolly evening and he kissed his dad goodnight in bed, mistaking him for…

AN MPUMALANGA agency mandated with funding businesses has cautioned that the rampant cases of cable theft in South Africa might result in compromised food security. Chairperson of the board of the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency, Thabo Motau, told The Mercury’s sister paper Pretoria News that if cable theft was not urgently attended to, farmers were likely to end up working for nothing. He said while the global economy was already not at its best due to various issues, including the effects of the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, cable theft was a phenomenon the country could do without. “From an economic point of view, cable theft is quite a challenging phenomenon that various businesses are dealing with. “If you look at it from an agricultural point of view, farmers are…

ANGRY Gugulethu residents have accused firefighters of not doing enough at a fire in which a 5-year-old boy died at the weekend. The firefighters came under attack from KTC residents after they arrived at the scene on Saturday evening. City Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said the fire engine’s windscreen was damaged and the crew had to withdraw and drive to the Nyanga police station to report the incident. “Fire Control received the call at 19:52 on Saturday. The first arriving appliance, from Ottery, was on scene at 20:09. “The crew ran out a fog jet to extinguish the fire when community members told them to leave,” said Carelse. KTC community activist Nosiseko Adams condemned the attack on the firefighters. “Look, I understand the frustration by residents, but…

Even the promulgation of the National Health Act regulations has hit a snag LIKE the rest of the world, South Africa continues to grapple with Covid-19 and how to adequately respond to the pandemic. Although the rates of hospitalisations and deaths during the fifth wave have been much lower than in previous waves, the government continues to encourage citizens to get vaccinated to mitigate the effects of future waves. For some time now, the question on the minds of many has been whether to vaccinate or not. Even though Covid-19 vaccination coverage is progressively expanding across the country, the number of vaccinated people remains way below the government’s target (70%) by this period. Of South Africa’s population of about 60 million people, only 31% (just below 19 million)…

Sri Lanka’s embattled president was flown to an airbase near the main international airport yesterday, officials said, raising speculation he will flee into exile abroad. Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the presidential palace in Colombo under naval protection on Saturday, shortly before tens of thousands of protesters overran the compound. Hours later, the parliamentary speaker announced Rajapaksa would resign tomorrow to allow a “peaceful transition of power”. The 73-year-old leader had taken refuge at a navy facility, a top defence official said, before being brought to the Katunayake airbase – which shares a perimeter fence with the country’s main Bandaranaike International airport. “He and his entourage were flown back to Colombo in two Bell 412 choppers,” he added. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said Rajapaksa had officially informed him of his…

The global population is projected to reach 8 billion on November 15, with India projected to surpass China as the most populous country in 2023, the UN said yesterday on World Population Day. “It is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The growth rate is at its slowest since 1950, having fallen under 1% in 2020, according to the World Population Prospects 2022. The world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050 and peak at around 10.4 billion during the 2080s.Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to contribute more than half of the increase up to 2050, said…

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron was under pressure yesterday to explain his past support for taxi app Uber while he was economy minister, following media revelations that have been seized on by critics. According to investigations by media, Macron held several undeclared meetings with Uber executives while minister from 2014-2016. Le Monde newspaper also alleged that Uber struck a secret “deal” with Macron on regulation of the company’s services at a time when it was upending the traditional taxi market. Opposition MPs on the left and far right slammed the president, a former investment banker The “secret deal” entailed Macron promising to help Uber work around legislation introduced in 2014 which sought to regulate new app-based taxi hailing services. Le Monde described Macron as “almost a partner” for Uber over…

LONDON: British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has entered the race to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister This takes the number of candidates to 11. Truss, who has held ministerial jobs in a number of government departments, said she would slash taxes and maintain a tough line with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Johnson was forced out last week after his government imploded over a series of scandals. The contest is for the leadership of the ruling Conservative Party, with the winner becoming prime minister. The aim is to find a successor by September. | Reuters…

THE RAND yesterday breached the psychological R17-mark to the US dollar for the first time in 22 months on fears of a global recession as the markets brace for another hawkish US Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates. The domestic currency had weakened by more than 1 percent to R17.08 by 4pm yesterday after opening trade at the JSE at R16.92 to the greenback at 9am, also pressured by the dollar strength following Friday’s strong US jobs data. This was the weakest the rand has been since September 2020 after demand spiked following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. Unemployment in the US remained unchanged at 3.6 percent in spite of the world’s largest economy adding another 372 000 jobs in June. This has left a confusing picture…

THE HUMAN, social and economic impact of the July 2021 unrest have been significant in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Adding to the complexity has been the April 2022 floods in the province which exacerbated the challenges of repairing infrastructure and getting KZN fully operational. And then there has been the rise of the so-called “construction mafia” that has seen a criminal element holding construction sites to ransom and demanding builders use only their people to cover a portion of the local procurement requirement. It hardly comes as a surprise then that recovery has been slow, with individuals, local companies and multinationals opting not to rebuild their damaged properties in Durban. Furthermore, it has become more expensive over the past 12 months to put up new buildings in the province. This can be…

I was watching Wimbledon and wondered why there were no South Africans participating in this cream of tennis tournaments. And then I saw the name Kruger on the screen. Could it be a South African? To my surprise, I saw RSA written next to the name, Isabella Kruger. Yes, an Afrikaner girl was in London taking part in the Wimbledon Junior Championships. Her father was a rugby player, but she chose a refined, elite sport. But just as my hopes were raised to see a South African in Wimbledon they were dashed when Isabella went crashing out in the quarter-finals to Victoria Mboko, from Canada. But all was not lost. Making an even greater impact in the sporting arena was Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur, raising the flag for her…

Around 1999-2000, I visited Robben Island, a tiny island west of Cape Town. After a rocking ferry-boat ride, which brought about nausea in a few passengers, we finally disembarked and stepped into a tourist bus to take us around the island. In addition to a mausoleum dedicated to a Muslim saint, we were shown various sites of activity, including a labour site for breaking rocks. What was really sad was to view the local graveyard. Exactly which prisoners were buried there, miles away from the mainland, is still not certain. The island was not being used for the first time as a penal colony by the apartheid government. It had been used centuries earlier to dump, especially, black prisoners and slaves who had taken part in strikes against the Dutch…

Just for a moment, while watching a clip that went viral on social media as Police Minister Bheki Cele unleashed a vitriolic, but a clearly racial, tirade at Action Society head Ian Cameron in Gugulethu, Cape Town, I thought this had to be a madman possessed. But on sober reflection, Cele, like many of his Cabinet cronies, could not handle the heat of criticism and the facts presented to him, so his verbiage at Cameron was nothing more than pure inanity. It was, to say the least, disgusting, and a poor reflection on a man entrusted with protecting the citizens of this country against rampant and horrific crime. This did not come as a surprise, though. His glaring impotence to act decisively during the July 2021 unrest to prevent the…

With the ever-increasing levels of crime and young children being more vulnerable to danger, a group of 29 women from Cape Town have opened their homes to offer a safe space for school-aged children. The community-led initiative is called “Afternoon Angels” and offers after-care facilities and extracurricular programmes and has been effective in securing the safety and well-being of children in townships. The programme creates safe places to play, do homework, and to enjoy nutritious meals and is located within the children’s own communities. These home-based sanctuaries are run by selfless “Mamas” who lessen the risk of them venturing further afield into harm’s way. The programme is being supported by non-profit Ikamva Labantu. According to Thembiso Panziso, who runs the after-school club in Khayelitsha, the community is plagued by rape,…

THE Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) is being urged to intervene amid a spike in abalone and crayfish poaching in Western Cape coastal communities. Replying to a parliamentary question from the DA recently, Police Minster Bheki Cele revealed that almost half a million abalone and crayfish had been poached in the Overstrand region. He said 441 847 abalone, 15 089 crayfish tails and 8 301 whole crayfish had been confiscated during police operations in Gansbaai, Hangklip, Pringle Bay, Hawston, Kleinmond and Hermanus over the past five years. DA committee member for the DEFF, Dave Bryant, said the statistics only scratched the surface of the real numbers. “The DEFF is not doing enough to manage and monitor the poaching of these two species. The recent DEFF budget confirmed a…

FORMER Bosasa senior executive Carlos Bonifácio would love to have his Nedbank banking accounts re-instated following his acquittal this month from state capture-related corruption charges. However, the former chief accountant of the now-defunct Bosasa has little hope this will ever happen, as the bank, where he had been banking for 40 years, made it clear it wanted nothing to do with him any more. This was when it arbitrarily closed his accounts in October, 2019. His crime? Being a reputational risk to the bank following allegations that he was involved in bribery. Nedbank declined to comment, saying it is bound by client confidentiality and unable to discuss clients with third parties. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)’s Investigating Directorate, which has been assigned state capture-related cases, officially dropped the charges against…

AT LEAST nine deaths have occurred since the opening of the winter initiation season, which has sparked outrage among civil justice organisations. The youngest victim recorded during this season was a 6-year-old in Limpopo. Sikelela Zokufa, the spokesperson of initiation association Somagwaza Institute, said they condemned the deaths of initiates. “What we have found is that the boys die mainly due to dehydration. During the traditional initiation procedure, nobody should lose their lives. We have worked with authorities in our province to ensure we have a track record where no lives have been lost this year,” said Zokufa. “We also condemn the carelessness of the traditional surgeons and carers of the initiates. “We encourage any institutions who want to come on board and ensure the safety of boys during the…

AS THE rain continues to fall, the housing backlog in the Western Cape stands at nearly 600 000. Shamefully, the DA is more interested in servicing plots for more informal settlements in the province than building integrated human settlements. Annually, the number of houses built in the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town, in particular, as opposed to the euphemism of “housing opportunities”, has dropped significantly. Infrastructure is the new name for building houses in the Western Cape, and according to its MEC, Tertuis Simmers, there are only two projects in the pipeline in the Western Cape based on the Conradie Park model. The Conradie Park model, now touted as a DA success, was actually an ANC initiative when the ANC was governing the Western Cape. The Conradie…

Family and friends of Japan’s assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe paid their respects yesterday at a wake in Tokyo as Washington’s top diplomat hailed the ex-premier as a “man of vision”. Japan’s ruling coalition declared victory in a sombre election held on Sunday, just two days after Abe was gunned down on the campaign trail. Abe’s body was moved from his family home to the Zojoji temple yesterday where his wake was held ahead of today’s private funeral. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a previously unscheduled trip to Japan while travelling in Asia to offer Washington’s condolences. He handed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida letters from US President Joe Biden for Abe’s family. Abe “did more than anyone to elevate the relationship between the US and Japan”, Blinken…

Thales, Qualcomm and Ericsson unveiled yesterday a plan to allow smartphones to communicate directly with satellites, a “space-based network” they hope will bring connectivity to the entire globe. The three firms envisage launching hundreds of satellites with 5G capabilities to bring coverage to “extreme geographies or remote areas across seas”. The plan would potentially cut out the base stations and antennas that current mobile networks need to send and receive data. But the idea is still in its early stages. The firms said they had carried out “multiple studies and simulations” and would now explore possible uses of the technology. “The result could effectively mean that a future 5G smartphone could use 5G connectivity anywhere on Earth,” they said. They also suggested space-based networks could be used as back-up…

Madrid: An American and two Spaniards were gored yesterday during a danger-filled fifth bull run of Spain’s famed running of the bulls through the cobblestoned streets of Pamplona. The bulls broke into separate groups, and one of them trailed behind the rest, making the course extra unpredictable for runners. Several daredevils slipped or tripped while the bulls charged down the narrow streets of the bull run route. One bull repeatedly tossed a runner in the air. A 29-year-old Spaniard was gored in the knee and two other men were gored inside the northern city’s bullring at the end of the run, the regional government of Navarra said. | AFP…