Table of contents for 2022-06-29 in Mercury

Members of the public who experience symptoms similar to monkeypox are being urged to report to their nearest health-care facility for early detection and treatment. This was said by the Health ministry yesterday after Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla confirmed that the country had recorded another positive case of monkeypox disease. The second patient is a 32-year-old man from Cape Town who had no travel history, which suggests there is a high possibility of local transmission. The first case was a man in Joburg who also had no travel history. Phaahla urged the public to observe good hygiene practices and other preventive measures which proved to be effective against Covid-19 and other infectious diseases, in order to prevent the spread of this virus. “The source and linkage of cases remain…

Facing tough or difficult decisions? Facing conflict with people you love? Do what is possible, be kind, be assertive, act within your budget, and then, let the rest take care of itself. Do not explain, try to justify yourself or others, excuse, attack or chase others, and then, let the rest take care of itself. Be as playful as possible – some circumstances need a little mirth and humour – without being flippant or dismissive and then, let the rest take care of itself. There are circumstances, of course, where playfulness is inappropriate. Know the difference. Make no heroes of others, and take no victims, in all that you decide to do, and then, let the rest take care of itself. Healthy people value their own freedom and the freedom…

THE huge earthquake that killed more than a thousand people in Afghanistan last week, is a grim and graphic reminder that many parts of our planet are locked in a seismic grip, that erupts without warning. The latest quake was felt as far as India and Pakistan. World-class geologists and famous seismic institutions have over the past 20 years, warned us of the approaching catastrophes awaiting mankind. The evidence is overwhelming, the Cascadia subduction zone and the San Andreas Fault Line off America’s west coast will rupture in a 9m mega quake. These long fault lines have the capacity to produce a mega quake, remember San Francisco in 1906? Scientists from The National Research Institute of India and Stanford University, analysed the fault that separates the Asian and intercontinental plates.…

The article in The Mercury regarding the squabble about unveiling new Durban Solid Waste vehicles (June 28) left me flabbergasted. I first checked that I hadn’t by some amazing feat travelled backwards or forwards in time to April Fool’s Day. I wonder if there is any other place on this planet that has a ceremonial occasion, with invited guests to unveil refuse trucks? How was this momentous and historical occasion going to happen? Were the mayor or his deputy going to cut ribbons and make stirring speeches about this ground-breaking event and toast it with canapés and French Champagne? John Cleese could not have written a better farce. New refuse trucks should be budgeted for and purchased as a matter of course for keeping a large city clean. I always…

Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi has lashed out at the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) for instituting court action against the department over the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP). The minister’s open letter comes after the foundation on June 15 launched legal action to challenge Motsoaledi’s decision to terminate the permits. The Department of Home Affairs announced the permits, which ended on December 31, will not be extended. This decision by the minister was said to have the backing of the Cabinet. However, the foundation and many others have since accused the minister of xenophobia, with civil rights groups arguing it would be impossible for current permit holders to successfully apply for other permits. The HSF said the process followed by the department was flawed. “Our position is that those who…

Just days before the country was set to switch off the analogue TV signal, the Constitutional Court has made a ruling to halt the move. Constitutional Court Justice Nonkosi Zoliswa Mhlantla, with other justices concurring, yesterday handed down judgment in two consolidated applications for direct appeal against a judgment and order of the Pretoria High Court. In October last year, e.tv launched an urgent application in the high court on the basis that the analogue switch-off would permanently prevent millions of people, who had not migrated to digital television transmission and who were not in possession of set-top boxes (STBs) , from receiving free-to-air television transmission on their analogue television sets. Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and SOS Support Public Broadcasting were admitted as intervening parties in the matter. The high…

Leaders from the Group of Seven wealthiest democracies said they would urgently explore price caps on Russian oil and gas “to prevent Russia from profiting from its war of aggression”. However, they did not impose any new energy sanctions as their summit concluded in Germany. Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine dominated discussions, with intense discussions between the US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan over how to curb Moscow’s ability to finance the war through selling fossil fuels. The G7 leaders also agreed to contribute $4.5 billion (about R72bn) to address global food security, with over half the money coming from the US. “We have a period of uncertainty before us, it will be challenging, and that’s why decisiveness is important,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in closing remarks,…

A Sri Lankan government minister was in Qatar yesterday and another will travel to Russia at the weekend in search of energy deals to alleviate a severe fuel shortage that is crippling the economy of the island nation and forcing many schools to close. The South Asian country of 22 million people is in the grip of a financial crisis that has left currency reserves perilously low, making imports of essential goods including food, medicine, petrol and diesel increasingly difficult. Protests, some violent, have erupted in recent months and key ministers have resigned, leaving President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe fighting to stabilise the nation. In a step aimed at getting more fuel into Sri Lanka, the power and energy minister said that the duopoly controlling imports…

Paris: He starred in one of the most iconic musicals in film history, but his wife said that Gene Kelly also had a cameo in the Cold War. Patricia Kelly (nee Ward) was 26 when she was sent to make a documentary about the dancer, then 73. She soon became his biographer, and his third and final wife. Among the tales she gathered about Kelly’s eventful life was his time as a cultural ambassador to Africa at the peak of the Cold War. Kelly was close to US president John F Kennedy. “Gene used to sing Irish rebel songs with him in the White House,” Patricia said. After performing at Kennedy’s inauguration in 1964, he fell into conversation in fluent French with singer Yves Montand and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.…

London: A bill that overrides parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a Brexit trade deal between the UK and the EU, passed the first hurdle in the House of Commons, the lower house of the British Parliament. The bill, which contains measures to remove checks on goods moving to Northern Ireland from Great Britain, was passed 295 to 221. It must now go through line-by-line in-depth scrutiny by MPs and a further Commons vote and then pass to the House of Lords, the upper house, before becoming a law. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expected the bill would come into force by the end of the year if the parliament co-operates. | IANS…

The celebrated Orlando Pirates, who have won only one trophy in the past seven seasons, have brought in a three-man Spanish technical team headed by coach Jose Riveiro in a desperate attempt to restore the club to its former glory. Riveiro has added fellow Spaniards Sergio Almenara (assistant coach) and Miguel Bellver Esteve (fitness trainer) to his backroom staff. He becomes only the second Spaniard to coach in the Premiership after Antonio Lopez Habas spent four years in South Africa, coaching Mamelodi Sundowns and Wits (2009-2013). Riveiro is the latest in a line of foreign head coaches, many of whom have coached with great success at the PSL’s “Big Three” clubs. German Josef Zinnbauer was the last Pirates coach to win a trophy after he ended a six-year barren spell…

As Eskom yesterday implemented Stage 6 load shedding for the first time since 2019, KwaZulu-Natal business chambers questioned how companies in the province were expected to survive on top of the other challenges they faced brought on by last year’s unrest, the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent floods. Eskom said yesterday that Stage 6 power cuts had to be implemented due to the unlawful and unprotected labour action that had caused widespread disruption to its power plants. Last night, Eskom said following a productive meeting it had with union leadership, the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa had urged their members to return to work immediately. However it said the system would still take some time to recover. While the DA in eThekwini…

WHILE we snuggle up in our homes with hot cooked meals, dressed in warm clothing, under our blankets, heaters and a/c switched on, commuting in our cars, living in well-looked-after neighbourhoods, let’s spare a thought for those who are very less fortunate than us – for those who do not have a roof over their heads, no electricity and clean water, hot cooked meals, warm clothing and bedding, and live in makeshift structures they call home, etc. We have the luxuries we can afford, yet we complain. We waste, we always want more. How many of us share what we have when we have too much? A few, maybe. The most vulnerable are experiencing the hardship that winter brings. God have mercy upon the homeless who straddle the streets for…

SOME mindbogglers of the English language come this way: If you take an Oriental person and spin him around, does he become disorientated? If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren’t people from Holland called holes? Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled? If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker? When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say? Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites? Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things? Why isn’t the number 11 pronounced “onety-one”? “I am” is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that “I do” is…

BELGIUM is a small country in Europe. Unlike Italy, France, Spain and Germany, it hasn’t been a belligerent nation. You never heard of Belgium invading another country. Belgium is a refined, peaceful, First World nation, known for its cuisine and gastronomic delights, chocolates and beers. Its cosmopolitan capital Brussels, the headquarters of the EU, can vie with any of the big cities of the world. But there is one ugly blot on Belgium’s squeaky clean image. It’s Congo and Patrice Lumumba. Though Belgium was the smallest of the colonial powers, it committed some of the worst atrocities: wars and plunder, subjugation of the masses, forced labour, torture and mutilations, child labour, imprisonment and, of course, the exploitation of Congo’s minerals and natural resources. It is estimated that 10 million Congo…

The remains of a tortoise and its egg have been unearthed by archaeologists in Pompeii, the Roman city buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. The animal was found hidden under the clay floor of a storehouse and probably died before Vesuvius erupted. “It had dug itself a burrow where it could lay its egg,” said Valeria Amoretti, who works as an anthropologist at the site. The unusual find came to light during excavations of an area that had been devastated by a violent earthquake in 62 AD and was subsequently absorbed into a public bath house. The site was originally an opulent home with refined mosaics and wall paintings, dating back to the 1st century BC, and archaeologists are not sure why the building was not restored but…

The SANDF has reiterated that safeguarding and patrolling the national borders of South Africa was its responsibility and not that of “any other non-State grouping or groups”. “The SANDF would like to reiterate what the Department of Home Affairs said, that it would be illegal for any civil organisation or NGO including business to conduct patrols at any borders of the Republic of South Africa,” said SANDF national spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini. “This follows a video that has been circulating on social media and other news platforms that alleges members of the AfriForum had taken over the responsibility for border patrols. “It must be stated that the Constitution of the Republic mandates the SANDF to protect and secure the territorial integrity of the Republic,” he said, adding that the military will…

THE amount of money to be spent by the eThekwini Municipality on the upcoming SA Local Government Association (Salga) games has been reduced from R7 million to R5.8m. A report tabled before the executive committee showed that city officials had managed to reduce the expenditure by more than R1m following demands by councillors for the costs to be cut. However, the DA said the R5.8m expenditure was still too high and called for further cuts. The city came under fire last week following revelations that it planned to spend more than R7m to take part in the Salga games. The money was to be spent on Salga uniforms, catering, food and transport. The municipality was planning to send more than 300 people on the trip, including 40 councillors. The revelations…

Firefighters and soldiers searched yesterday for survivors in the rubble of a Ukrainian shopping mall, where authorities said 36 people were still missing after a Russian missile strike that had killed at least 18. Relatives of the missing were at a hotel across the street from the wreckage of the shopping centre, where rescue workers had set up a base. Exhausted firefighters had battled the blaze overnight and searched for survivors, mostly in vain. Heading the rescue team, Oleksandr (no surname given) said his team had worked all night. “We pulled out five bodies. We didn’t find anybody alive,” he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in the attack in the city of Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, far from the frontline. He called it…

At least 13 people were killed and some 250 got sick when a crane loading gas tanks on to a ship in Jordan dropped one of them, sending plumes of toxic yellow smoke into the air. A video posted by state media, apparently captured by closed- circuit television cameras at the scene, showed the storage tank slipping from a hoist as it was lowered to the deck of a ship at the port of Aqaba and exploding, engulfing the area in toxic clouds. Dock workers were pictured fleeing the area on foot. A truck carrying a second gas tank had been slowly reversing towards the ship moments before the explosion, and quickly altered its course to escape the yellow gas clouds. According to authorities, the tank contained chlorine, a poisonous…

Mumbai: At least 19 people were killed after monsoon rains caused a four-storey building to collapse in Indian megacity Mumbai, authorities said yesterday. Officials said the building collapsed before midnight on Monday, trapping more than 20 residents. By yesterday afternoon 13 people had been rescued but emergency workers retrieved 14 bodies from the rubble. Heavy rainfall hampered operations as rescuers moved concrete slabs and sifted through mud and rubble searching for survivors. The monsoon rains are vital to replenish rivers and groundwater but the deluge also causes widespread destruction. | AFP…

NASA’s first-ever launch from a commercial site outside of the US blasted off from Australia’s Outback late on Sunday, in a “historic” moment for the country’s space industry. In the first of three planned launches from the Arnhem Space Centre, the rocket, carrying technology likened to a “mini Hubble” telescope, lifted off – blasted about 350kms into the night sky. “It is a momentous occasion for us as a company in particular, but it’s historic for Australia,” Equatorial Launch Australia CEO Michael Jones told AFP ahead of the lift-off. Jones, whose company owns and operates the launch site in the far north of Australia, described it as a “coming out” party for the country’s space industry and said the chance to work with Nasa was a milestone for commercial space…

I have to ask … do our councillors have no shame? Forty of them deem it important to attend the Salga (South African Local Government Association) games … in what capacity? People in eThekwini are struggling, homeless, and unemployed, yet these councillors think they are so important that the city must blow R7m on indulging themselves. I am sure I am not the only one who is shocked at this obscene proposal. Maybe if the councillors were part of the sports team, it would be a good exercise. It beggars belief!…

LAST week, a homeless man was in urgent need of medical attention. He had a wound on his leg which had turned septic and he was in terrible pain and could not walk. He could not get the help he needed at the local clinic. It was late at night and bitterly cold when I reached out to Prem Balram of Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) and without a second’s hesitation he dispatched an ambulance to oThongathi to attend to the man. Rusa paramedics Shabnam Ismail, Siyabonga Mthethwa and Devan Perumal were kind, compassionate and extremely professional. They checked the man’s vitals and reassured him he was in good hands before stabilising him. He was then transported to a local provincial hospital. During the trip there and up until the…

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has again come under scrutiny in a case before the high court. Three Mpumalanga judges this week raised concerns about its ability to function and asked how and when it would up its game. The president of the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court, Judge Francis Legodi, his deputy, Judge Sheila Mphahlele, and Judge Brian Mashile peppered the legal counsel acting for the RAF, Cedric Puckrin SC, with questions such as what contingency plans were in place when the RAF fired its panel of attorneys in 2020. The judges made it clear that as things stood, the courts had to step in to ensure claims were dealt with adequately and to try to ensure that things ran smoothly. They said the courts were inundated with…

The body of Refiloe Malope, 31, who was abducted in Limpopo in May, has been recovered from a disused mine shaft in Benoni, Gauteng. Specialised equipment was used to retrieve the body of the slain woman on Monday afternoon, said Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo. “After four hours, the body was brought up to the ground and that’s when it was positively identified as that of the missing Malope.” Police said another unidentified body was retrieved from the same mine shaft and investigations were under way to determine the identity and the cause of death. On Friday, the search was halted after the body was spotted at the bottom of the shaft with a special camera. The retrieval required specialised equipment which had to be sourced. Provincial commissioner of…

KWAZULU-NATAL Premier Sihle Zikalala has appealed for vigilance from Ugu District residents to guard against theft and vandalism of water infrastructure, warning that criminals were thwarting the government’s efforts to provide water to communities in the area. Speaking during an imbizo yesterday, Zikalala cited ageing infrastructure as one of the reasons for the region’s water supply problems. The water crisis on the South Coast came to light in around 2019, but the government has vowed to find a lasting solution. He said they had noted that the infrastructure was not coping with the demand for water, as the population in the area had been growing and this had been one of the reasons for water challenges. But he added that vandalism of infrastructure was another stumbling block. “There are people…

After more than 20 years of service, one of the eThekwini Municipality’s most loyal servants said farewell to the city yesterday. Members of the Executive Committee and senior municipal officials bid farewell to Adrian Peters, who is leaving the municipality in July. He has served eThekwini in different capacities, including in the engineering department. His last post was as Chief Strategy Officer. Peters said he was grateful for the time he had spent at the municipality and the relationships he had made. “While my formal employment ends, I still want to make contributions. The municipality has given me more than I could ever give back. It is not appropriate for me to walk away with all that I have learnt. I will continue to make myself available (to help the…

THE endless squabbles and court cases involving ANC politicians and warring factions are a burden to our courts. They also underscore the level of instability in our body politics, as well as infighting within the governing party. As it has become the norm, ANC members rushed to courts once again in their never-ending political and leadership disputes on the eve of elective conferences. Members of the governing party in Ekurhuleni filed court papers seeking to interdict the Gauteng ANC conference at the weekend over the participation of disputed delegates. The court had to sit in the middle of the night to hear the matter. It was dismissed, paving the way for the election of Panyaza Lesufi as new provincial chairperson. The same thing played out in the Eastern Cape…

The UN called for a “final and courageous effort” to break the deadlock over the rules for long-awaited elections in war-torn Libya, as talks between rival institutions began in Geneva. Parliament speaker Aguila Saleh and President of the High Council of State Khaled al-Mishri are meeting at the UN’s Palais des Nations for two days of talks to discuss the draft constitutional framework for elections. Presidential and parliamentary elections, originally set for December last year, were meant to cap a UN-led peace process following the end of the last major round of violence in 2020. But the vote never took place due to several contentious candidacies and deep disagreements over the polls’ legal basis, between rival power centres in the east and west of the country. “Your presence here today…

NEW YORK: Howard Stern wants to run for president. The 68-year-old radio presenter explained that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling and therefore deny millions of women across various US states access to a legal and safe abortion had led him to consider launching a bid for the White House in the 2024 election in order to overhaul the voting process. He said: “I’m actually going to probably have to run for president now … I am going to do the very simple thing that’ll set the country straight: one vote, one person. No more Electoral College … I’m going to … appoint five more Supreme Court justices.” | Bang Showbiz…

BOGOTA: At least 51 inmates died during an overnight riot in a prison in the south-western Colombian city of Tulua, the head of the national prisons agency said early yesterday, one of the worst incidents of recent prison violence in the country. The director of the Inpec prison agency told local radio a fire started during a protest by prisoners. “It is a tragic and disastrous event,” General Tito Castellanos, the head of Inpec, told local Caracol Radio. “There was a situation, apparently a riot, the prisoners lit some mattresses and a conflagration occurred.” Another 30 people were injured during the incident. | Reuters…

The United Rugby Championship-winning Stormers have been drawn in Pool B for the 2022-23 European Rugby Champions Cup. The draws for next season’s Champions and Challenge Cups took place at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin yesterday. The South Africa Shield winners, the Stormers, Bulls and Sharks will feature in the Champions Cup for the first time after making the URC playoffs. The 24 qualified clubs were grouped in four tiers based on their rankings in the Top 14, Premiership, and URC. They were then drawn into two pools of 12 - Pool A and Pool B. Clubs from the same league in the same tier were not drawn in the same pools. The 2022-23 season will be played over eight weekends, with four rounds of matches in the pool stages,…