Table of contents for 2022-08-22 in Mercury

PURPLE Group’s share price surged 10.95 percent on Friday morning after announcing that it had reached a partnership agreement with an e-wallet provider in the Asia-Pacific region. In a JSE market announcement, Purple Group said the provider, which had requested not to be named before its commercial product launch next month, will offer the EasyEquities investing services to its significant user base in the region, comprising “tens of millions of users”, through its e-wallet app. Purple Group owns the online platforms EasyEquities, EasyProperties, EasyCrypto and GT247.com. Its EasyEquities platform started in 2014 allows investors to buy fractional ownership of shares listed on the JSE and the New York Stock Exchange. It has more than a million users. EasyEquities’ revenue increased by 27.9 percent to R108.7 million in…

Zulu King Misuzulu remains willing to engage with his siblings who disputed his rise to the throne. Royals who stood against the crowning of King Misuzulu kaZwelithini as the new ruler in the kingdom will have to demonstrate a willingness to reconcile as the door remains open to such a move, a senior royal, Prince Thulani Zulu, said yesterday. His comment comes days after the successful performing of the Ukungena Esibayeni (entering the kraal) ritual by King Misuzulu on Saturday in which the king was introduced to his ancestors and to scores of people. The prince admitted that the divisions that played out in the public in the past weeks and months had tarnished the royal family image. “We never got out of the house to express our opposition or…

Since The Mercury’s publication of a report on July 26 headed “Debunking myths about Covid-19 vaccines”, contradictory evidence has emanated from Pfizer’s documentation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Professor Nigel Garrett and Dr Richard Lessells, both associated with UKZN medical research, extolled the virtues of being vaccinated and even claimed that the unvaxxed had a “six times higher risk of dying”. Lessells was reported as saying “no vaccine has become ineffective”. Their colleague, Dr Nokukhanya Msomi, insisted that “the vaccines are safe”. But this past week, two sources from within the US medical establishment have revealed that what Garrett, Lessells and Msomi claimed is specious. Compelled by a US court in January to release all documentation relating to its vaccine by August, the latest tranche of…

I AM WRITING about the importance of mental health and well-being education in the home, learning institutions and the workplace. Like a motor vehicle that requires constant checking of tyre pressure, oil and petrol levels plus general maintenance, our physical and mental health also requires constant monitoring and tender loving care. With happenings being what they are in families, communities, in society and around the globe, human beings are facing different and novel challenges and hurdles in terms of health, behaviour issues with children, employment, rising costs of living, managing finances and other social concerns. It is highly important to raise mental-health awareness and well-being in homes and in schools, since, like adults, young people are also affected by everyday challenges and distress. Human beings, especially, children, need direction, practical…

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) says that the ANC owes R86 million in provident fund contributions for at least 535 of its staff members. In a statement released last week, the FSCA said that the ruling party had not been meeting its obligations to make regular retirement contributions for its staff. The FSCA said an agreement had been reached with the ANC to pay R10m per month into the fund until it is up to date again. It also suggested that the fund provides monthly reports about the status of the contributions made by the party. “The onus on ensuring that there are no arrears contributions, and to consider appropriate action if there are such arrears, remains on the trustees of a fund. Both employers and funds are reminded…

A 29-year-old Vryheid woman who stabbed a woman in her neck following a fight over her boyfriend has pleaded guilty to the murder. Mbali Msezane, 29, admitted to killing Nkosingiphile Mampe Zulu, 38, on May 14, in Vryheid, Northern KwaZulu-Natal. Msezane and Zulu were both patrons of the Stop and Buy Tavern in the Vryheid area. In a plea and sentence agreement handed to the Pietermaritzburg High Court by attorney Pauline Andrews, Msezane said she had been consuming alcohol since early that morning. Her boyfriend, Nhlakanipho Msima, suggested they pop in at Stillwater Tavern. Msezane said Zulu and a group of women were also at the tavern. “She was mumbling in my boyfriend’s ear. I couldn’t hear; the music was very loud. I heard my boyfriend telling her she must…

THE KwaDukuza Municipality has issued a warning to contractors that shoddy work won’t be tolerated as it looks to rebuild its infrastructure following the devastating floods earlier this year. Mayor Lindile Nhaca made the comments while tabling her first adjustment budget before the council last week. She said the municipality would not tolerate any infrastructure repairs that fell apart before the end of their lifespan, and any contractors that had been implicated in poor workmanship would not be considered for any work by the municipality. “By way of background, on July 28 KwaDukuza Municipality received a R109 million Municipal Disaster Recovery Grant to be used for the rehabilitation and renewal of roads, and stormwater and road infrastructure. “When the State of Disaster was declared in April 2022, all spheres of…

Two men have been arrested in Cape Town for the alleged theft of a cargo container carrying boxes of chocolate worth R1.5 million. The stolen cargo, which had been snatched from Cape Town Harbour last week, was reportedly traced back to the suspects at a Kensington residence. Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said officers arrived at the residence to find the suspects in the process of offloading the container. Traut said: “On Saturday morning, police apprehended two male suspects for the possession of the stolen cargo valued at R1.5m, as well as presumed stolen home appliances.” In a separate incident, police apprehended three men for the alleged hijacking of a truck that was carrying boxes of meat, also worth R1.5m. Police said an initial report of the incident indicated that the…

PARIS: French president Emmanuel Macron will travel to Algeria, the Elysee Palace announced on Saturday, saying the visit will take place from Thursday to Saturday. Macron accepted an invitation by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, his office said. It will be his second official visit to the country which has close business ties with Paris. Algeria, with its large natural gas reserves, has also become a centre of attention for the EU in its efforts to cut back imports from Russia. French relations with Tebboune soured last year when Macron’s remarks about Algeria’s history led to a diplomatic dispute linked to the two country’s shared colonial past. |…

Russian fertiliser and agricultural products must be able to reach world markets “unimpeded” or a global food crisis could strike as early as next year, UN Secretary General António Guterres said. “It is important that all governments and the private sector co-operate to bring them to market,” he said from the Joint Co-ordination Centre (JCC) at the weekend. The JCC oversees the implementation of the Ukrainian grain export agreement signed last month by Kyiv and Moscow with the UN and Turkey as guarantors. The agreement also guarantees Russia the right to export its agricultural products and fertilisers despite Western sanctions. “What we see here in Istanbul and in Odessa is only the more visible part of the solution. “The other part of this package deal is the unimpeded access to…

Delayed talks on Chad’s future that the ruling junta says are a “decisive moment” opened on Saturday, even as some opposition groups boycott the gathering. More than 1 400 delegates from the military government, civil society, opposition parties, trade unions and rebel groups gathered in N’Djamena for the “national dialogue” that is scheduled to last three weeks. Junta chief General Mahamat Idriss Deby described the forum, his brainchild, as a “decisive moment in history of our country” after arriving in military dress surrounded by tight security to open the forum. Earlier, he had first inaugurated a statue symbolising national unity at the January 15 palace in the capital N’Djamena before reviewing an honour guard. “This dialogue should allow us definitively to put recourse to arms behind us,” said government spokesman…

The Springboks haven't won in Australia since 2013. So, motivation loading ... The Boks will face the Wallabies in Adelaide for the first time on Saturday, and that alone would make victory this weekend a sweet one. But besides the 'novelty' of a Boks v Wallabies fixture in Adelaide, after playing most of their Tests in Perth and Brisbane over the last few years, Jacques Nienaber and his team will be desperate to return to the form that saw them become world champions. That will start with passing what will be a few tough remaining Rugby Championship tests. After the first Test in Adelaide, they will face Australia again in Sydney a week later, before concluding their campaign with back-to-back games against Argentina in Buenos Aires and Durban on 17…

Global anti-money laundering body puts country on notice for need of changes SOUTH Africa’s much-vaunted financial systems may face an existential threat that could further derail its economy, according to Yolande Butchart, a foreign exchange consultant at Brent Wealth Management. In an Investment Report published by Brenthurst Wealth, Butchart said if the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering body, placed the country on notice that unless certain changes were made, South Africa would be lumped with pariah states like Pakistan, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Syria. “The danger to the economy lies in further loss of credibility as an investment destination, which is already hampered by the junk investment status conferred by the major rating agencies,” Butchart said. According to Butchart, the bad news for South African citizens…

SOUTH Africa’s two largest workers union federations have put their differences aside in a bid to tackle the country’s worsening economic crisis and rising unemployment. Thousands of workers affiliated to the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) will on Wednesday down their tools and join the national strike against what they believe is an impending economic collapse. Giving an update on their readiness yesterday, Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi said their socio-economic strike represented a push back and a response by the workers to the ongoing class warfare directed at them by both public and private sector employers. Losi said the growing frustration in the country was mainly being fuelled by policies that favour the elite at the expense of the poor, especially…

A Nepali mother of two, Parwati Sunar, finds herself attending the same school as her son after returning to an education system she fled at the age of 15, when she eloped with a man seven years her senior. “I enjoy learning and am proud to attend with classmates who are like my own children,” Sunar said from her village of Punarbas on the south western edge of the Himalayan nation,where she studies Grade 7. Just about 57% of women are literate in the country of 29 million, and Sunar, 27, said she hoped to become “literate enough” to be able to keep household accounts. “I think I should not have left my school,” she said,explaining the desire to catch up on the lessons she missed, having had her first…

Keshav Maharaj won two awards in one night. Amid the prejudices of apartheid South Africa, a young boy, quiet and determined with an ambitious enthusiasm in his heart, was named Cricketer of the Year and Men’s Player of the year at the Cricket South Africa (CSA) awards. Without doubt he was a standout player in the men’s national team, and has become a crucial part of both the ODI and T20 squads. There are leaders and then there are leaders. Keshav Maharaj has etched his name and legacy in sporting history. Following in his dad, Athmanand Maharaj’s footsteps, who played provincial cricket, is a proud moment and an amazing experience for all cricket enthusiasts and the Maharaj family. There’s never been a better time to celebrate, and to me this…

If you* want to grow into a better person than you already are, I cannot emphasise strongly enough how important these overlapping very tough principles are and how difficult they are to incorporate into our daily thinking and behaving: You determine the kind of person you want to be. Who you are is up to you. Until you decide and assume full responsibility for who you are and will become, other people, circumstances, the day-to-day dilemmas you face, will shape who you are. The sooner you assume the power you do have over your own life, the better. You get the pleasure, and the pain, of determining the degree your unresolved past issues will shape your present and your future. This is not to suggest you have to simply “get…

National Health Minister Joe Phaahla has confirmed that a fifth case of monkeypox has been detected in South Africa. A 28-year-old man from Gauteng was the fifth confirmed case. The man had recently travelled to the Netherlands and Spain, the minister said. “This case was confirmed through a private laboratory. Samples were also sent to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) for sequencing and contact tracing was activated immediately,” Phaahla said. South Africa had recorded five positive cases from June 22 to August 17. “There is no link between the first four cases. The team is trying to establish if there is a link between the 4th and 5th cases since both have been to Spain, which has so far recorded over 5 000 positive cases and two deaths.”…

THE eThekwini Municipality has committed to ensuring that damaged sewer pump stations are repaired. EThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda conducted an oversight visit to the Isipingo Wastewater Treatment last week to assess progress the city was making in repairing the sanitation infrastructure damaged in the April floods. The damaged pump stations and sewer pipes have been the major cause of sewage spills that have led to water pollution at beaches and in rivers in Durban. Recently, hundreds of dead fish washed up on the Isipingo Lagoon shore. The city said the deaths were linked to two damaged sewer pump stations in the area contributing to the sewer spillage. Kaunda said these two pumps have since been repaired. “The team will continue to monitor the water quality through sampling and field surveys.”…

Public Works Minister Patricia de Lille has released four state-owned land parcels for human settlement developments and accommodation for residents affected by the flooding in KwaZulu-Natal earlier this year. “I have signed off the release of four parcels of land on a gratis basis to be released to the Housing Development Agency (HDA) for human settlement development purposes,” she said in a statement yesterday. She said the four parcels of land were located in the eThekwini metro and another land parcel would be released within the next two weeks. De Lille said the five properties were located in the sub-regions of the eThekwini metro with access roads to the properties in good condition. “After consideration of various factors, it was recommended that the five properties be released as they were…

Ahmedabad: Sri Lanka’s tourism minister, Harin Fernando, and former cricketer, Sanath Jayasuriya, who was recently appointed as tourism ambassador, said that it was safe to travel to Sri Lanka after months of political turmoil. They were in Ahmedabad at the weekend to promote tourism in the island nation. Fernando said the constant flow of negative news does not reflect the current situation and tourists were welcome to visit. Jayasuriya said that Sri Lanka is exploring new avenues to attract more tourists. “We are looking to give boost to religious tourism for which we are working with different spiritual centres,” he said. |…

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the EU and the leaders of US, UK and India have condemned the terrorist attack on the Hayat Hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Nearly 30 hours after al-Shabaab terrorists stormed the hotel, the siege that left dozens of people dead has ended, media reports said yesterday quoting government forces. Forty people died and more than 70 were injured in the terror attack, the Sputnik news agency reported citing the Somali Guardian. Al-Shabaab’s spokesperson Abdiasis Abu Musab said the group repelled more than 15 attacks launched by the government troops. “We are still investigating the explosions of many plastic bags that have been scattered around the hotel,” said Mohamed Ali, a military officer at the scene. The French news agency Agence France-Presse earlier reported that…

FINANCIAL markets moved mostly negative last week after three consecutive weeks of recovery. The annual inflation rate in the UK had increased by more than 10 percent in July (over last year July). This is the highest inflation rate since February 1982 and above expectations of 9.8 percent and much higher than the 9.4 percent recorded for June 2022. In the US the release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s minutes of its July meeting also caused nervousness around risky assets like bonds and equities. Although analysts, at first, after the release of the minutes on Thursday reacted positively as they evaluated the report as “dovish”. This means that the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes during the last two meetings at 0.75 percent per meeting…

Murders, house robberies and hijackings in KwaZulu-Natal all increased in the period from April to June this year compared with the same period last year. This is according to the crime stats for the first quarter that were released by Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday. Some decreases were registered for sexual offences, rape and business robberies, compared with the same period in 2021. Alarmingly, a total of 1 623 murders took place in the first quarter, compared with 1 404 last year. Nationally, 6 424 people were killed. Cele said the main causes for murders remained arguments and misunderstandings. “Retaliations and revenge murders were the second most common motive for murder, and vigilantism was the third most likely cause of murder in South Africa.” In KZN,…

As pupils, and even at university, we encountered various topics as suggestions for interclass debates. I recall some of the stuff that we debated about: Are school uniforms necessary? Should pupils suffer five days per week at school? Should India go nuclear? There were also some topics based on religion and on history: was Julius Caesar a dictator? (We were not permitted to talk about apartheid topics at school). There were thousands of other possibilities to argue about. However, I personally never met up with the following one: “Are human rights optional?” But that standpoint was in the grand old good days. Today we have some mutated organisms that believe otherwise. Genetically-modified minds that actually, for instance, still defend the massacre at Marikana. Ten years gone and the tears have…

When a house or building is abandoned, thieves and vagrants see an opportunity to move in and help themselves to whatever there is of value, eventually stripping it bare like an animal’s carcass. The process to repair and reinstate the derelict building to a liveable condition can be a long and costly one. This is in close analogy to the prevailing crisis we are facing in our country’s economy. With all the corruption, crime and political upheavals, the economy, too, is fast becoming like an abandoned building slowly being stripped to its core and looking increasingly threadbare. Perchance there will be nothing left to steal, or sell, and it may all very well come to a grinding halt, given the current state of affairs, particularly in some government departments and…

Do you know the Muffin Man? Do you know the Muffin Man? Do you know the Muffin Man Who lives in Drury Lane? THIS is, of course, an old rugby song. The fellows gather in a circle performing rhythmic knee bends to the tune, holding pints of beer on their heads. Then one of the circle is named. He starts performing the knee bends, balancing his pint on his head, not holding. Then another is named; then another and another. It gets very sploshy and entertaining. The Muffin Man came to mind at last week’s Traditional Schools Lunch at the Salt Rock Hotel on the North Coast. No, the fellows weren’t singing The Muffin Man (not until much later anyway); it was something said by one of the guest speakers,…

A Limpopo man, who had a grudge against his neighbour, has been ordered to pay R200 000 in damages after he had him falsely arrested. He had a vendetta against the neighbour, had him arrested for no reason and caused him to be locked up and maliciously prosecuted. The nature conservationist in Limpopo will receive another R400 000 in damages from the police after he was locked up in a cell for three days under harrowing circumstances. The man, 67, was so traumatised after his ordeal that he broke down in tears on several occasions while testifying in court. He earlier turned to the Limpopo High Court sitting in Polokwane, where he claimed damages against the SAPS and his neighbour. Police and the neighbour, who is a former cop, accepted…

The Thulsie brothers, who were suspected of links to the Islamic State (Isil), were released on early parole last week. The Department of Correctional Services’ (DCS) spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, confirmed the brothers, Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, were placed on early parole on August 18. “Their sentences were backdated to their date of arrest and the time spent awaiting trial, to be considered as time served. That being a period of five years and seven months,” he said. But DCS would not elaborate on the conditions around the twins’ parole, saying that information was not generally released. It is not clear whether travel restrictions have been imposed on the siblings or whether their passports have been revoked. According to their lawyer, Yousha Tayob, the two men are happy to be back…

The SA Local Government Association (Salga) sees the salary increases given to the Msunduzi councillors as necessary, saying councillors were the least-paid office bearers and it was important to care for their well-being. As Msunduzi battles to deliver services and stay afloat, it resolved to increase salaries of its councillors during a special council meeting last week, a move that has sparked outrage from the opposition and civil society. This increase is still subject to approval from the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). The municipality has been under administration for a few years, largely because of its poor finances and the situation is so dire that experts from the national Treasury have been roped in to help. Critically, a report attached as part of the motivation for…

POLITICAL interference is behind the chaos in the eThekwini Municipality’s Durban Solid Waste (DSW) unit where employees have held the City to ransom due to unreasonable overtime demands. Staff in the DSW unit have embarked on a series of illegal go-slows due to the City’s decision to reduce its overtime budget by 50%. The City passed a resolution in June that required that all units cut their spending on overtime by 50%, and use this amount to fill vacancies instead. Explaining the reasoning behind the move, DSW head Raymond Rampersad said: “The overtime budget before was R110 million, but the previous year we spent R146m on overtime. “After the council took the decision to cut overtime by 50% across all units in favour of employing more people, my overtime budget…

BEIJING: The low water levels of the Yangtze River have revealed a submerged island in China’s south-western city of Chongqing and a trio of Buddhist statues on it that are believed to be 600 years old, state media Xinhua has reported. The three statues were found on the highest part of the island reef called Foyeliang, initially identified as built during the Ming and Qing dynasties. One of the statues depicts a monk sitting on a lotus pedestal. The Yangtze’s water levels have been falling rapidly due to a drought and a heatwave in China’s south-western region. The high temperatures are likely to persist for at least another week, official forecasts said. |…

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Ukrainians to be vigilant ahead of Independence Day on Wednesday, which also marks six months since Russia’s invasion, as fresh blasts hit Crimea and a missile wounded 12 civilians near a nuclear power plant in the south. Vitaliy Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region, said on Telegram that four children were among those wounded in an attack that damaged several private houses and a five-store apartment building in Voznesensk. The town is about 30km from the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant (PNPP), the second largest in Ukraine. State-run Energoatom, which manages all four Ukrainian nuclear energy generators, described the attack on Voznesensk as “another act of Russian nuclear terrorism”. Russia fired five missiles from the Black Sea overnight, and two of them were shot down by…

While England have been left wondering why they weren’t more assertive in their defeat to the Proteas at Lord’s, the tourists still feel there is room for improvement when the second Test starts in Manchester on Thursday Having had the weekend off to explore London, the focus from today will switch to how South Africa can wrap up the series at Old Trafford. In Dean Elgar, the Proteas have a captain who is pragmatic and in his own words “always going to find a negative somewhere.” Along with coach Mark Boucher, who Elgar effusively praised following the win at Lord’s, the captain will keep the players’ feet firmly on the ground as they start preparations for the second Test. “Even when things are going well, you have to look for…