Table of contents for 2022-11-03 in Mercury

A CAPE TOWN-based property developer has been named as an alleged central figure in helping President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special adviser, Bejani Chauke, store more than $20 million in cash three weeks after the Phala Phala farm scandal was exposed. This is contained in a document apparently authored by former State Security Director-General Arthur Fraser and forms part of UDM leader Bantu Holomisa’s submission to the independent parliamentary panel, established to determine whether Ramaphosa has a case to answer over the scandal. The letter, believed to have been intended to assist the Hawks in their probe, alleges that property mogul Zahir Vallie, owner of Z Prop, was contacted by Chauke three weeks after charges were laid against Ramaphosa. Chauke, the document alleges, is “said to have moved $20m in cash” to…

A report that angry pupils at a Zululand school torched part of the building, after school management postponed their matric dance, is disturbing and must be condemned. Clearly, the pupils did not stop to consider that this is the school that brought them to this point in their academic career. Nor did they spare a thought for the many pupils who will follow them. This is a shameful and abhorrent act. The DA sincerely hopes that SAPS will track down the culprits and throw the law book at them. Rural schools are few and far apart. Those who will need the facilities at this particular school will now be forced to travel to find them. At the least, KZN’s Education Department will have to deploy expensive temporary structures to the…

Mariachi bands have long been a staple of Mexican culture, and now their lively songs are finding a new use: reawakening the memories of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The Mexican Alzheimer's Center is promoting the therapy, hoping the music will stir up recollections of times past among patients with the degenerative illness, encouraging them to sing or even dance to familiar old tunes. “It makes me very sad, because I remember my husband, but apart from that, I listen to the music with joy because it brings back many memories that make me very happy,” said Leonor Camacho, a 90-year-old with Alzheimer’s in Mexico City. Songs with links to her husband, relatives and friends are played to Camacho to complement her daily therapy, which includes saying tongue twisters with…

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane yesterday again pleaded in vain to have the impeachment inquiry into her fitness to hold office halted due to the absence of her legal counsel. She had been given until Monday to sort out her legal representation issues after her team, led by advocate Dali Mpofu SC, walked out of the inquiry. This was after their application for a postponement pending her review application was declined. Mkhwebane told the inquiry on Tuesday that she had tried everything in her power to determine, clarify and reconfirm the situation of her constitutionally enshrined right to legal representation in the Section 194 inquiry and position of her current legal team of attorney and advocates. Mkhwebane said Seanego Attorneys were still representing her. “They are not available to attend today,…

Cosatu-affiliated trade unions have been issued with a strike certificate and can join the Public Servants Association (PSA) as they embark on a strike after wage talks with government stalled. Wage talks failed to resolve the issues at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) earlier this week. Unions initially demanded a 10% increase when negotiations started in May 2022 and later revised this to 6.5%. The counter offer of 3% made by acting Public Service and Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi has been rejected by the unions. Last week, this offer was reaffirmed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana during his medium-term budget policy statement, which projected growth averaging 3.1% per year in the public service wage bill. Some workers have already started with demonstrations and held pickets outside the offices…

Minister of Police Bheki Cele says the government has managed to improve the capacity and operations at DNA testing laboratories by 30% since April. Speaking at the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide recently, Cele said the fast-tracking of operations formed part of the government’s plans to reduce DNA backlogs that had stalled some rape and gender-based violence probes. In April the backlog stood at 241 000 and it now sits at 71 000. Cele said in KwaZulu-Natal there were challenges as the backlog was influenced by flood damage to the eManzimtoti laboratory, south of Durban. He said the lab will be moved to the city centre. “Public Works together with the police are working on that and once it is fully (operational), it will take pressure off the…

THE eThekwini Municipality said the coronation ceremony held at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, where Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini received his certificate of recognition, boosted the city’s economy. A statement issued by the city yesterday said the stadium precinct was a hive of economic activity on October 29 with arts and crafts on display as well as a fashion and food pop-up marketplace. The city said the activities boosted local businesses in the informal economy as well as the hospitality and tourism industry. Over 150 informal traders were issued with special event trading permits to sell their products at demarcated trading areas, said the statement. “They benefited from the thousands of visitors and well-wishers who converged at the Moses Mabhida Stadium for the significant ceremony.” The demarcated areas were located…

The truck driver whose vehicle allegedly crashed into several other vehicles on the N3 near the Mariannhill Toll plaza on Tuesday, killing three people, made a brief appearance in court yesterday. The truck driver, 44-year-old Vuso Tego, appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court facing charges of culpable homicide, alternatively negligent and reckless driving. The NPA said Tego’s case was remanded to November 4 for address verification and for bail consideration. Among those who died on Tuesday were Pradhil Koblall Thakur, the son of Minority Front leader Shameen Thakur Rajbansi, and his fiancée, Priyanka Nunkumar. The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Sipho Hlomuka, welcomed the arrest of the truck driver, and sent condolences to the Rajbansi family. Hlomuka said a multi-disciplinary team from different agencies was investigating the…

Have you heard of Armenia and Azerbaijan? You hardly know they existed. These two mountainous landlocked countries are in the Caucasus region on the border between Europe and Asia and were once behind the mighty Iron Curtain. When the Soviet Union broke up, Azerbaijan, which included Armenia, became independent. Armenia then broke away from Azerbaijan and they both went their separate ways. But now they are involved in a border dispute. Armenia claims that Azerbaijan has encroached on its territory and has occupied 104km² of its land. Fierce border clashes have broken out with casualties on both sides. Who steps in to resolve the dispute but their old master, Russia? With no justification whatsoever, Putin has invaded Ukraine and has occupied a large part of Ukrainian territory. Every day he…

WHEN will TV’s advertising copywriters give us a break? You switch on to watch rugby or get the world news. You get a series of ads. Okay, fair enough, that’s the name of the game. We can wait. But the content? We get a group of middle-aged women telling us how they were martyrs to flatulence, diarrhoea and constipation – until they discovered the wonder muti they’re advertising. Is this not a bit much? We’re happy, of course, that they’ve found relief from flatulence, diarrhoea and constipation but is this really a TV topic? Yet maybe I’m wrong. Who remembers Bill Williams, that wonderful burly, moustachioed British pianist/songster who used to entertain us at the Edward Hotel, especially with his End of the News number? Hey-ho, everything’s fearful, We do…

There must be a ceiling to what any government official, irrespective of status, can be granted in any legal proceedings in which they are implicated. There are visibly bizarre things happening in suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s Section 194 parliamentary impeachment inquiry. Her legal counsel, Dali Mpofu, suddenly withdrew his representation, indicative of the state of this nation. It is becoming a bit of a circus a la Zuma style – the so-called “Stalingrad” tactic – to delay proceedings as much as possible so that when her tenure ends in October 2023, she may well be “free” of impeachment, leaving the taxpayer red-faced and footing the bill – the only winners being her legal representatives. Mkhwebane has a right to legal representation – as do all of us – in…

The US White House is hosting officials from 37 countries, including South Africa, and 13 global companies in Washington this week to address the growing threat of ransomware and other cyber- crime, including the illicit use of cryptocurrencies, a senior US official said. The in-person meeting follows last year’s virtual inaugural meeting of the informal Counter-Ransomware Initiative, adding seven more countries and bringing in a diverse group of private sector players for the first time. The White House hopes the meeting will allow participating countries to “institute a set of cyber- norms that are recognised across the globe to counter criminal ransomware threats and hold malicious actors accountable”, the official said. Participants plan to issue a joint statement at the end of the meeting, including a pledge to redouble efforts…

Growing employee-related and bulk purchase costs and rising consumer debt in the country’s leading municipalities have seen the finances of these cities come under severe strain. The bleak picture of the finances of cities was painted by SA Cities Network (SACN) in its latest report. The 166-page report looked at the performance of the country’s nine major cities, including Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. Titled State of City Finances, the report detailed and analysed municipal finances over two local government administrative terms from 2011-2016 and 2016- 2021. The report noted that between 2016 and 2021, employee-related costs grew at an average of 10.3% for the cities combined – significantly above inflation – pointing out that the costs were the second fastest growing expenditure item after debt impairment. “The increases…

The R280 million-Estina dairy fraud and corruption case involving former minister Mosebenzi Zwane has been transferred to the Bloemfontein High Court for trial. The matter will be heard in the Bloemfontein High Court on January 25 next year. Zwane and his co-accused stand charged with contravening the Public Finance Management Act, fraud, corruption, and money laundering. The charges stem from the alleged looting of the Free State Department of Agriculture through a company called Estina. “On July 5, 2012, Estina (Pty) (Ltd) entered into an agreement with the Free State Department of Agriculture to establish and implement a dairy farm project in Vrede, to benefit previously disadvantaged farmers and to uplift the people of the Vrede area. “In terms of the agreement, Estina was to provide a capital injection of…

Extract from ‘Letters to my Mother: The making of a troublemaker’ by Kumi Naidoo By 1983 I was pretty immersed in the Struggle and heavily involved in grassroots organising in my community, but a lot was happening on the ground elsewhere as well, much of it a response to the increased repression. The government’s moves to introduce a tricameral parliament, in effect trying to play “divide and rule” between the majority African population and the Indian and coloured minorities, actually galvanised a lot of resistance, and we saw the formation of the United Democratic Front during that time, and also efforts to bring young people together on a more united platform. The ANC tradition of making a statement on 8 January every year was always a special day for me…

IF you had the opportunity to speak to Cheslin Kolbe privately and ask him what his favourite position in a rugby team would be, he would probably tell you fullback. Of course, he wouldn’t say that publicly, as most rugby players are trained to avoid saying what’s really on their minds, in case it may cause controversy or offend someone. Not that Kolbe doesn’t speak his mind when facing the media, but he is such a nice guy that he wouldn’t want any trouble with his coaches anyway. If you had to probe the 29-year-old a bit further on what jersey he prefers, he may also say No 10, as that is where he played most of school rugby at Brackenfell High, which is about a 35-minute drive away from…

A MSUNDUZI Municipality employee was absent from work between December 2016 until the end of 2019, but still managed to rake in a salary throughout the period. This was revealed by the auditor-general when the municipality’s top brass appeared before Parliament’s co-operative governance and traditional affairs portfolio committee yesterday. The information comes as part of a follow-up on progress by the municipality since it was placed under administration in 2019. Committee members believe what was uncovered by the AG’s office is a fraction of the problems at the municipality. Treasury’s Kavitha Ruplal told committee members the municipality had approached the office for assistance with its budgeting. “We are now in the process of revising their financial recovery plan.” Committee member Cilliers Brink described the situation in the municipality as depressing,…

Mankind is blissfully unaware that we are inching towards full-scale strategic nuclear war. The US and Nato are preparing to take on Russia in a conflict that will destroy Europe and North America. The Northern Hemisphere will be obliterated in an exchange of atomic weapons. Our leaders are in denial, their sense of balance is slipping away. Let there be no mistake, humanity will cease to exist should the nuclear button be activated. During the Cuban missile crisis, we had rational leaders who knew the consequences of a nuclear exchange. Today’s leaders are playing nuclear roulette with the lives of 8 billion people. It is clear that warmongers are in control, not realising that their folly will doom the human race. Last week, Nato and Russia,were engaged in exercises involving…

When I write a short list of ways to maintain healthy relationships, it is usually in response to remarks I have heard or situations I have faced with clients. Sometimes they may be a cumulation of insights gained over a period. A few things I have wanted to underscore in relation to recent exchanges and observations: Try to stay out of the middle of other people’s relationships. No, there is nothing you can do to make your son-in-law warm to your husband or make your husband want to spend time with his son-in-law. You, wife and mother-in-law, are not part of their relationship. Yes, you do have a relationship with each of the men but they are going to have to face each other (or not) without your help. You…

It is pathetic that the once sunshine city of Harare which was the envy of Africa has become a laughing stock because the standards have deteriorated to the extent that Zimbabweans are abandoning Harare for foreign cities. The endurance of pain, suffering and discomfort among residents of Harare ranges from raw sewage flowing from blocked drains and a shortage of domestic clean water to litter dumped everywhere around the city centre and high-density residential areas, resulting in outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. There is no hope that the solution to the problems crippling Harare is within the reach of the careless, clueless, chaotic and corrupt Zanu-PF government. Refuse is not being collected even around the city centre and is now a big health scare. Housing stands…

The IFP has written to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) with an objection to the voters’ roll ahead of the by-election in ward 5 Mthonjaneni Municipality in the King Cetshwayo District in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The by-election is set to be held on November 30. The IFP has scored victories in several by-elections in the province in the past few months, including in ANC strongholds. It won by-elections in uMuziwabantu Municipality (Harding), in the City of uMhlathuze (Richards Bay), as well as in Mthonjaneni (Melmoth), uMvoti (Greytown) and uMfolozi. The IFP said in its letter to the IEC that it had discovered discrepancies regarding voters who had registered online and manually to vote in the ward 5 elections. The party said some of the voters were previously on the…

Cape Town residents were left shocked yesterday morning when a tandem paraglider accompanied by a pilot landed in the middle of a busy street, slamming against a vehicle. While the duo escaped the incident unharmed, a recording of the dramatic landing was made by motorists and by-standers who shared it online, also expressing shock at catching the pair paragliding in adverse weather. Sea Point councillor Nicola Jowell said she was surprised the paraglider and pilot from an unnamed tandem paragliding company had taken to flying in the midst of thunderstorms, lightning and heavy winds. Jowell said: “I was really surprised when I learnt of the incident, but I also know the companies that facilitate tandem paragliding take really good care not to injure their clients or pilots. They are very…

Chinese President Xi Jinping in his work report to the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress said the government prioritises environmental protection and sustainable green lifestyles. In his address to the Congress on October 16, he emphasised China’s commitment to the green transformation of its economy in line with achieving peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. These goals will be accomplished, he stressed, by the development of low-carbon industries and a national sustainable lifestyle, which can only come about if the country improves the efficiency of its energy use and promotes clean energy alternatives, in particular, the “clean and efficient use of coal”. Xi also said harmony with nature is a key feature of “Chinese modernisation”. He noted in the report that the country should take…

Multiply Titans 158/6 ITEC Knights 120/8 Titans won by 38 runs. THE Titans’ spin quartet tied the Knights in knots yesterday, earning the ‘Sky Blues’ a spot in the final of the CSA T20 Challenge for the second season in a row. After the bat-a-thon these two teams produced on Monday, when they shared a world record aggregate of 501 runs, yesterday afternoon’s semi-final was a more balanced affair that demanded greater patience from the batters. The Titans tweakers did a much better job than the Knights, and the depth at their disposal proved too much for the Free Staters. The Titans elected to bat, which allowed for an enthralling mini-battle between Gerald Coetzee and the talk of the sport at the moment, Dewald Brevis. The Titans teenager failed to…