Table of contents for 2022-04-12 in Mercury

AT LEAST two people were killed and three people are missing as heavy rains left a trail of destruction across KwaZulu-Natal. Several areas, including eManzimtoti, were flooded due to the torrential rain on Sunday and yesterday. The eThekwini Municipality said two people had died – one in KwaMashu’s ward 47, and the other in uMlazi’s ward 87. Robert Mckenzie, KZN Emergency Medical Services’ spokesperson, said a 22-year-old man was killed after a wall fell on him in KwaMashu yesterday. Paul Herbst, a spokesperson for Medi Response paramedics, said that a landslide had occurred in uMlazi on Sunday, engulfing an informal dwelling, and the occupant was killed. In KwaDukuza yesterday, a woman was washed off a low-level bridge as she tried to cross the Nonoti River. IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson Dylan…

From law enforcement to service delivery, nothing seems to be working. I remember, about 12 years ago, SAPS and metro police were very visible and efficient, but these days, criminals are walking the streets freely. There is no stop-and-search of suspicious characters. We see SAPS and metro police just drive past suspects without a care in the world. In the past, if a vehicle had no number plate or false plates, it was immediately impounded. Schools are soft targets for criminals, and where is the crime intelligence and proactive policing? If you look at the size of some police officers, you wonder how are they able to catch criminals? Hijackings are increasing. I remember back when the Cato Manor Murder and Robbery Unit was in existence, we never heard of…

The proposed increases in property values in the Durban/eThekwini region, up to 30% or more, doubling in value in some cases, is outrageous. Considering the inflation rate is in the region of 4-5% and the impact by the Covid-19 pandemic during the past few years, this steep increase in property value and the ensuing rates is all the more unacceptable. How did the municipality arrive at these highly inflated property values? A second area of concern is the rebate provided for senior citizens. Many of these citizens had bought their properties at affordable prices many years ago and maintained them well, and if they happened to be in safe residential areas, their prices have risen sharply. Therefore, the upper limit for rebates, now pegged at R2 million, should be increased…

The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced former State Security Agency (SSA) finance clerk Kgaogelo Bopape to six years’ direct imprisonment for theft of R170 000. North Gauteng regional spokesperson for the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Lumka Mahanjana, said yesterday that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomed the sentence. “The NPA welcomes the sentence handed down by the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court of six years’ direct imprisonment to Kgaogelo Bopape, a former State Security Agency employee for theft of R170 000,” said. “The NPA hopes that this sentence will send a strong message that such crimes of theft, corruption and fraud will not be tolerated.” Bopape, 53, was working in the domestic currency division in the agency. Among her responsibilities was making funds available to members of the…

THE Road Accident Fund (RAF) has approached the Gauteng High Court to have the audit report released by Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke reviewed and set aside. Although Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula wrote to Parliament explaining he could not table the report because of the dispute between the RAF and the Auditor-General South Africa (A-G SA), Maluleke said there was nothing in law preventing her from publishing the audit report, if not tabled by the executive authority. She therefore submitted the report to Parliament two weeks ago in which the fund had been given a disclaimer of audit opinion for the 2020-21 financial year. In her audit report, Maluleke said she was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence for claims liabilities totalling R27.8 billion and claims expenditure amounting to R37.1bn as…

THE proposal made by the Automobile Association (AA) last week that the operations of blue light brigades that are responsible for the transportation of politicians should be reviewed, is long overdue. This is not only due to the fact that they pose a safety threat for all motorists and pedestrians, but also because the blue light brigades should be subject to the same laws as all other South Africans. The AA announced that it would communicate with the ministers of police and transport to have such a review instituted without delay. Layton Beard, the spokesperson of the AA, made it clear that “the blue light brigades are, simply put, a threat to other drivers”. Section 58 (3) of the National Road Traffic Act allows SAPS officers in the Presidential Protection…

In the middle of the Indian Ocean lies a little gem of a paradise. Chagos is a group of seven atolls comprising 60 little islands far from the madding crowd. Except for Diego Garcia, the islands are uninhabited. Some 200 years ago Chagos was an unspoilt, pristine home to a rich biodiversity of corals, marine creatures and numerous sea birds. But then came man. He saw this paradise in the middle of the ocean and found it irresistible. He just couldn’t leave it alone to the fish and the birds. He had to make his ugly mark on the island. In colonial times the British were everywhere, even in the most remote corners of the globe, always on the lookout for opportunities to expand their empire. Whether it was big…

French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday embarked on a final fortnight of bruising campaigning against far-right rival Marine Le Pen for a French presidential election run-off whose outcome is far more uncertain than their encounter five years ago. With final results in, Macron came first in Sunday’s first round of voting with 27.85%. Le Pen was second with 23.15%. As the top two finishers, they advance to a second round on April 24. Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon came close, after a late surge gave him a score of just under 22%. The duel between Macron and Le Pen is a re-run of the 2017 election final from which Macron emerged victorious with 66% – but this time polls predict a closer contest that will crucially hinge on voters who backed other…

LOS ANGELES: After a high-profile libel case in London, actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard headed back to court yesterday, this time in the US, for a blockbuster defamation case involving allegations of spousal abuse. The case pitting Depp, 58, against Heard, 35, will be broadcast live. Both are expected to testify, along with actors James Franco and Paul Bettany, and billionaire Elon Musk. The case centres on a column written by Heard for The Washington Post in 2018, describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse” who was pilloried online after her assault claims. | AFP…

At leasT 50 people were killed and dozens abducted by gunmen in Nigeria’s Plateau state, residents said yesterday, the latest in a spate of attacks by armed gangs in the northern parts of Africa’s most populous nation. Such attacks are not common in Plateau, in central Nigeria. But the state shares a border with Kaduna state, where suspected bandits blew up train tracks, killed eight people and kidnapped dozens last month. Fifteen soldiers were last week killed by gunmen who attacked a Kaduna army base. Jonathan Ishaku, spokesperson for Plateau Elders Forum, said 50 were dead and 70 people, including women and children, kidnapped. | Reuters…

The fraud, money-laundering and corruption trial of former president Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thales was postponed yesterday after debate on whether Judge Piet Koen had the discretion to allow Zuma’s Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) reconsideration application process to run its course. Judge Koen yesterday granted an adjournment, saying the reconsideration application was part of an application for leave to appeal and that he could not find that Zuma’s litigation amounts to an abuse of court process. The judge said May 17 would be a holding date pending SCA president Judge Mandisa Maya’s decision and if the reconsideration application had not been finalised, the trial would reconvene so another date could be determined. The court heard that Zuma’s doctors had advised him not to attend court, with advocate…

An early step – I will not say a “first” step – to facing our fears and having some handle on conquering them is to establish exactly what they are. I believe none of us can face, conquer or successfully negotiate what we cannot name or refuse to try to name. Our labels or tags – specific or generic – on our fears might not be accurate, but locating and naming them helps make them seem manageable. Until we ourselves are in the driver’s seat of our lives, our fears will be quite willing to do the steering and they are erratic and untrustworthy and dominating guides. Let’s name, list, write about our fears as honestly and brutally as we know how, so once identified, they may take their seats…

The article published on the front page of your Friday, April 8th edition regarding the vast sums of additional expenses incurred by the agricultural sector in transporting farmers’ goods to the market as a result of our province’s poor roads, as well as the predicted spectre of food shortages, as a result, has led me to “sing the same song” again regarding my recent contributions about our poor roads. The spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal provincial roads authority blames the poor condition on heavy rains, inadequate funding, etc. To me, these arguments just do not wash. Any competent, experienced roads engineer or authority will know that rainfall is a normal occurrence and that money for roads is always in short supply and will make plans to cater for these situations.…

During Donald Trump’s presidency never a day passed without hostile, negative mainstream media reporting, the vindictive Russia hoax investigation along with impeachments and relentless accusations against members of his family. Yet Joe Biden’s blatant violations of his oath of office and un-American policies are devoid of critical mainstream media attention. The fact that the following actions of the Biden administration enjoy media tolerance amounts to hypocrisy: Whereas Trump’s efforts to protect the security of the US southern border were criticised, Biden promotes illegal immigration. Already 2 million illegal aliens have been permitted to enter and have been transported freely to all parts of the US. Yet Biden offered $14 billion to Ukraine to protect its borders. Violation of the 1st amendment by awarding $1 billion to the mainstream media to…

THE eThekwini Municipality is battling to cope with the widespread destruction of its infrastructure and has so far coughed up more than R40 million to repair the damage. In response to the DA’s questions, the municipality revealed the extent of the damage to its infrastructure, which has a severe impact on its ability to deliver services. Deputy mayor Philani Mavundla said that the city has “spent approximately R40m to replace infrastructure that has been vandalised” in the period between July last year and February. The city said water and electricity infrastructure was being vandalised by criminal syndicates who sold the stolen items as scrap metal. EThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda revealed at a media briefing last week that recently, the city was forced to close beaches for fear of contamination after…

Families of executioners of political activists won’t be allowed to rest APRIL 6 these days has a dubious distinction. Some of our Afrikaner fellow South Africans regard it as the day civilisation came to our country in 1652. They also refer to it as “Founders’ Day”. However, when apartheid decided to hang Solomon Mahlangu in 1979, the best-known and best-loved anti-apartheid activist, who fought valiantly against it, in their notorious Pretoria jail, they made a crucial and fateful mistake by doing it on this day, April 6. The age-old belief that “good triumphs over evil” comes to the fore, etched firmly in our conscience, in various other incidents in our history. As far back as 1723 three slaves were sentenced to death, their heads impaled on poles to deter others.…

Ukraine said yesterday its forces were still holding out in the port of Mariupol, where Russia was renewing its assault in a siege believed to have killed thousands of trapped civilians. “Communication with the units of the defence forces heroically holding the city is stable and maintained,” Ukraine’s military commander-in-chief, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said on Facebook. “We are doing the possible and impossible for the victory and the preservation of the lives of personnel and civilians in all directions. Believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine!” A post on the Facebook page of a brigade of marines holding out in the city said they had run out of ammunition and were now facing death or capture, with yesterday likely to be the “ultimate battle”. Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to the…

A string of deadly storms pummelled Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique with more intense rainfall because of climate change and global warming, new research found yesterday. Three tropical cyclones and two tropical storms hit south-east Africa in just six weeks in the first months of this year, causing widespread flooding. More than a million people were affected and at least 230 died. The analysis was carried out by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network of scientists, which has pioneered ways to speedily link extreme weather events to climate change. They said it was climate change that had made the heavy rains brought by the back-to-back storms both heavier and more likely. After Tropical Storm Ana smashed into the region in January, Tropical Cyclone Batsirai hit Madagascar in early February, followed in…

LOS ANGELES: Elon Musk is no longer joining the board of Twitter, the chief executive of the social media company said, in a reversal less than a week after announcing the Tesla and SpaceX chief would be appointed. Musk was named to join the Twitter board after buying a major stake in the firm and becoming its largest shareholder. “Elon has decided not to join our board,” Parag Agrawal tweeted. “I believe this is for the best.” Currently the world’s richest man and with more than 80 million followers on the microblogging platform, Musk last week disclosed a purchase of 73.5 million shares (9.2%) of Twitter’s common stock. His announcement sent Twitter shares soaring more than 25%. In reaction to the news, Musk tweeted a smirking emoji. The billionaire tech…

BRITISH Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has asked the government’s ethics advisor to review whether he followed all the rules after revelations about his family’s financial affairs stoked political controversy. In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Sunak requested that the government’s adviser on ministerial standards, Christopher Geidt, assess his declarations of interest since he first became a minister in 2018. Johnson has agreed to the request. It follows a leak last week revealing that his wealthy Indian wife, Akshata Murty, had benefited from “non-domicile” tax status in the UK, shielding her overseas income from taxes at a time when they are rising for most Britons. | AFP…

BY electing Zandile Gumede as chairperson of eThekwini Region, ANC members “gave the middle finger” to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the renewal project, demonstrating that they would not have the courts deciding who should be their leader. This is the view of political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe after Gumede, who is facing corruption charges, defeated Thabani Nyawose for the position of regional chairperson at the ANC regional conference on Sunday night. There had been suggestions that the leadership race would be closely contested, but in the end the Gumede slate won by a clear margin. Seepe said three factors affected the outcome: Issue of constitutionalism. Inconsistency in the application of the step-aside rule. The suspected use of the courts to settle political grudges. “At stake here is the…

ABOUT 3 800 years ago a massive 9.5-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami with waves as high as 20 metres slammed the coastline of Chile’s Atacama desert, the world’s driest, according to study led by University of Chile academics. The study posits that a collision between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates produced the quake and 15-20-metre high tsunami waves. “At various points along the coast of the regions of Antofagasta and northern Chile, in general, there are paleo beaches or ancient beaches located between 4 and 7 metres above current sea level, whose formation cannot be explained by global changes in sea level, but by tectonic uplift as a result of large earthquakes,” said geologist Gabriel Easton, one of the study’s leaders. Easton underscored that the possibility of earthquakes…

SPLOSH, splosh, splosh! Kings Park was again a swamp the other night for the United Rugby Championship match against the Lions, but this time the Sharks adapted magnificently to the conditions – fierce rucking, keeping the play tight, hoofing the ball skyward – nothing too fancy. ’Twas so unlike when similar conditions prevailed against Edinburgh and our guys tried to play the open, running game with a wet ball. Saturday’s score of 34-10 to us says it all. The match was no doubt watched as well by people in Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Italy. The thought occurs again – in URC fixtures should the competing sides not be better identified as to locality and origin? Sharks? They could come from anywhere. There’s a strong club in England called the Sale…

Surgeons who listen to AC/DC while operating are more accurate and efficient, a new study has found. Interestingly, listening to rock music can have a calming effect and even lower blood pressure, and listening to fast-paced music proved a major factor in speeding up operations. Those who listened to AC/DC’s Highway To Hell and TNT in the trials went from taking 236 seconds to make an incision to 139, while they were also 5% more accurate. The Beatles’ Hey Jude and Let It Be also sped up the time taken to stitch up wounds by 50%, however, only when the music was played at a low volume. Overall, the study found that “soft rock and hard rock” can improve surgical performance. Lead researcher Cui Yang from Heidelberg University, Germany, wrote…

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has said more than 700 000 beneficiaries have not collected their R350 social relief of distress grants from the South African Post Office (Sapo). EFF MP Rosina Ntshetsana Komane wrote to Zulu asking about the number of beneficiaries who were approved to receive the grant and had yet to claim their money. Komane also asked about the measures her department had put in place to ensure all those entitled to the grant accessed it. The grant was introduced as a temporary relief measure for those who lost economic opportunities and were adversely affected by the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020. In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa extended the grant until March 2023. In her written reply, Zulu said 771 089 people had not collected their R350…

THE search continues for a missing St Lucia man after he and a fellow fisherman were thrown off their boat when it was hit by waves on Sunday. National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) St Lucia station commander Jan Hoffman said duty crew were activated at 7am following reports of two fishermen who had fallen overboard off a commercial fishing boat in the surfline at Mapelane Bay. “Our NSRI rescue vehicle responded, towing an NSRI rescue craft Jetrib to the scene. On arrival, it was determined that the two local fishermen had been ejected off the boat into the surfline after the boat may have been broadsided by two waves,” Hoffman said. A charter vessel had launched and rescued one of the fishermen in the surfline. “He was safe on the…

Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza has appealed to the public to stop the illegal movement of animals as the country was currently battling 56 outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) on farms and communal areas in KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, Limpopo, North West and Gauteng. Didiza said while the government was working hard to deal with the outbreaks, it was equally important for all concerned role-players to play their part in fighting the disease. “It is important that everyone commits and respects all imposed control measures and collectively find a sustainable solution,” the minister said yesterday. Government attributed the current outbreaks to the illegal movement of animals out of the FMD controlled zones in Limpopo. “I call on all citizens of South Africa to…

Eskom implemented stage 2 loadshedding just after 6pm yesterday after one of its units at the Medupi power station tripped. In an alert on its Twitter page, Eskom said: “Unit five of Medupi power station has just tripped, taking some 700MW capacity with. Regretfully, stage 2 load shedding has been implemented immediately.” Earlier Eskom had said that four generation units had broken down, severely constraining the power generation system. “Today (Monday) four generation units suffered breakdowns, while the return to service of two others has been delayed. This together with the inclement weather, which has increased the demand for electricity, has placed the power system under pressure. Eskom is working hard to return as many of these generation units to service as possible,” Eskom said. Eskom said a generating unit…

THE stalwart newspaperman Jos Charle served in many roles in his long-standing career, including chairperson in the National Press Club, former Pretoria News news and executive editor, and ICC Cricket World Cup committee spokesperson. He was a Young Men’s Guild (YMG) member in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA), a Methodist Circuit steward in Moreleta and leader at Mamelodi Central Methodist Church where he served the community of Mamelodi. A man with absolute integrity, honesty and a determined, straight- forward “no-nonsense” personality, he was innovative, creative and a responsible leader. His leadership and administrative skills are almost legendary and could be deemed unprecedented in the Moreleta Circuit. He attended numerous seminars and conferences in the MCSA. He travelled globally and often represented not only his church but the country…

Pakistan’s parliament chose a more Western-friendly politician, Shehbaz Sharif, as prime minister yesterday, completing the ousting of predecessor Imran Khan in a political crisis that has sparked street protests and a mass resignation of MPs. Sharif’s election brings to a close a week-long constitutional confrontation that climaxed on Sunday when Khan lost a no-confidence vote, although the nuclear-armed nation is likely to remain prone to political and economic turbulence. Sharif, 70, who has a reputation domestically as an effective administrator more than as a politician, is the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Analysts say Shehbaz, unlike Nawaz, enjoys amicable relations with Pakistan’s military, which traditionally controls foreign and defence policy in the country of 220 million people. After the vote, Sharif vowed to tackle an economic malaise…

The looming execution of a US mother-of-14, sentenced to death in a controversial case for the murder of her daughter, 2, has provoked a backlash from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and a gro- wing movement beyond US borders. Melissa Lucio is to be put to death on April 27 for the 2007 murder of her daughter, Mariah, whose body was found at the family home covered in bruises, days after falling down stairs. Pregnant with twins at the time, Lucio’s life had been marked by physical and sexual assault, drug addiction and financial insecurity. Police suspected she had hit her child. After saying she hadn’t done it, she made an “extorted” confession, said Sabrina Van Tassel, director of the hit 2020 documentary The State of Texas vs Melissa. During the…

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force yesterday continued its operation to rescue 48 stranded tourists after at least two people were killed and several others injured when two cable cars in a ropeway collided with each other at Trikut hills close to Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar on Sunday. The rescue operation has been slow because the ropeway trolleys are stuck at a height of 182m and are not approachable from the ground, therefore the tourists are being rescued by the air force chopper. Trikut ropeway is one of the highest vertical ropeways. It is about 20km from the temple and is about 766m long. The Trikut hill is 392m high. | IANS…

A MONTH ago, Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was having sleepless nights over a lack of fit and in-form flyhalves at his disposal, and he says that has even considered Cheslin Kolbe as a stop-gap solution. Nienaber’s World Cup-winning flyhalf, Handre Pollard, has suffered a string of injuries and only this last weekend did he make a comeback when he played 20 minutes off the bench for Montpellier against Harlequins in the European Challenge Cup. Pollard’s backup in Japan, Elton Jantjies, seriously injured his shoulder and has been back in South Africa for surgery. “It was quite a shock when I thought about it a month ago that if we would have to play a Test match, both our regular players were injured,” Nienaber told media on Sunday in an online…