Table of contents for 2022-09-29 in Mercury

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said KwaZulu-Natal had 628 new cases brought against police, the third highest in the country. This was revealed in the 2021/22 annual report tabled by Ipid in Parliament yesterday. The report said during the year under review, the department recorded 5 295 new cases. These include 3 407 (64%) assault cases, 744 (14%) discharge of an official arm, 410 (8%) deaths as a result of police action, 223 (4%) deaths in police custody and 124 (2%) other criminal matters and misconduct. “Six provinces reported a high number of new cases ranging from 509 to 984. The Gauteng office recorded 984, followed by the Western Cape with 963, KZN 628, the Eastern Cape 598, the Free State 567 and Mpumalanga 509. Each of the other…

If you know your mother or father of advanced age longs for your calls or your texts or your visits and you are an adult, make a decision to meet your parents’ needs as best as you are able. Define to your parents how often you are likely to call or text or drop in so they are not anxiously awaiting contact with you, and then keep your word as best as you are able. This is how responsible and loving adults behave. If you know your drinking and driving increases the anxiety in your family and you are an adult, then it is time to grow up and do the right thing. Why would you knowingly cause the people you love the most and who love you to be…

The details of what documentation Donald Trump may have had at his Mar-a-Largo residence are based on media reports, as Farouk Araie notes (The Mercury, September 27). As such, they are purely speculative and conform to the mass media’s relentless, malicious narrative concerning the 45th president of the US. Until the report of the Special Master appointed to determine the contents of what the FBI took from Mar-a-Largo, what should be the focus is how it compares with two former presidents. In 2011, a court ruled that Bill Clinton was entitled to keep his confidential presidential records. Since 2017, with the full knowledge and co-ordination of federal officials, Barack Obama has been storing a vast number of documents in a furniture warehouse in Chicago. Biden’s vice-presidential records are sitting in…

There are 437 power reactors in the world, with a combined electrical capacity of 393GW. The US relies on nuclear energy to provide at least 20% of its total power requirements. The UK is busy with the construction of a huge nuclear power plant which will take between three to five years to complete. Nuclear energy is reliable, emits far less carbon and is cheap. The downside, however, is the exorbitant construction costs and the risk to life if nuclear plants are not built correctly. As a councillor in eThekwini Municipality, I was taken aback when I read that Durban is planning to source nuclear energy as part of a multibillion-rand plan to mitigate against the impact of load shedding. This was revealed by S’bu Ntshalintshali, manager in the office…

Two former post office officials from the Eastern Cape and their partners have been arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) on charges of fraud and money laundering. The 37-year-old branch manager, along with her boyfriend, 40, a former police officer, a former post officer teller, 35, and her 50-year-old husband, a former teacher, were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team in Queenstown this week. According to the provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, the suspects allegedly stole grant funds from the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) in 2020 and 2021. “The investigations revealed that the post office officials orchestrated the transactions by manipulating accounting entries on the systems in place to create an opportunity to siphon cash that was meant to pay…

A stranded tourist and her local tour guide who lost their way on a hiking trail in Cape Town were rescued thanks to technology used by local organisations on Tuesday. The 29-year-old tourist and her guide were hiking up India Venster. At one point, it was no longer safe to proceed or safe to retrace their steps. A decision was made by the duo to call the Western Cape Wilderness Search And Rescue for help. According to the on-scene rescue co-ordinator, Tim Lundy, the information received from the guide suggested the duo’s location was Cairn Buttress, high above Camps Bay. In a co-ordinated response, teams were dispatched to a staging point while the drone team determined the exact location of the missing pair. A drone from the Western Cape Government’s…

Four years after the Estina Dairy Farm case was provisionally withdrawn, three people appeared in court yesterday. One of them is former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane. Zwane and two others, former Sahara employee Ugeshni Govender and former director of Islandsite Ronica Ragavan, appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court yesterday. They face charges pertaining to the R280 million Estina Dairy farm and have been charged with fraud, theft, corruption and money laundering. Sindisiwe Seboka, spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate, said: “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…

The eThekwini Municipality said it has closed more southern region beaches due to poor water quality. Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said in a statement yesterday that the latest round of water testing for beaches had shown improvement for some of the beaches, but a deterioration for others. However, Mayisela said though water quality in central beaches had significantly improved, they remained closed pending further monitoring. “In the southern region, water quality is poor with the result that some south beaches will be closed with immediate effect,” he said. The following beaches will be closed: Isipingo, Amanzimtoti Main, Warner, Garvies and Winklespruit beaches. It joins other beaches that were closed on September 16 including Brighton, Ansteys, Point, Ushaka, Addington, South, Wedge, North, Bay of Plenty, Battery, Country Club Thekwini, Laguna, Baggies…

FOURTEEN men charged in connection with the gang rape of eight women in West Village, west of Johannesburg, in July, appeared in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court yesterday. They are charged with multiple counts of rape, sexual assault and robbery with aggravated circumstances. The men were linked to the rape of the eight women who were shooting a music video at an abandoned mine. The suspects were among 82 illegal miners arrested during raids launched after residents went to the mine shaft and raided the area. The 14 men were initially charged with being in the country illegally, but are now facing additional charges including multiple counts of rape and robbery with aggravated circumstances. One of the 14 suspects is reportedly a minor, and he will be tried separately, in line…

How important is the Osun River to Nigeria? The Osun River is one of the major rivers in southern Nigeria, draining into the Gulf of Guinea. The river takes its source from Ekiti State. But it’s culturally linked to the ancient city of Osogbo. A stretch of the river that flows by a sacred grove in the ancient town of Osogbo has been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site due to its cultural significance. It is one of two such designated sites in Nigeria. The river provides a wide range of cultural ecosystem services such as natural scenes for eco-tourists and the site for filming Nollywood movies. A large number of foreign tourists visit the river each year. The visits are either to pay homage to the river goddess (Osun)…

At least 22 people were killed when two Ugandan military helicopters crashed in east Democratic Republic of Congo, a DRC army spokesperson said yesterday. Uganda sent troops to its central African neighbour in December to help fight a rebel group known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). Uganda’s army confirmed the one helicopter crash. Another military source in Congo said the first helicopter crashed on Monday over the village of Boga in Ituri province, while the second fell at the Kabarole border area between the two countries. Three Congolese soldiers died in the first crash, the source said. The ADF began as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in Congo since the late 1990s. Uganda blames the group for a triple suicide bombing in its capital Kampala in…

ADDIS ABABA: Satellite images show the mobilisation this month of military forces in towns on either side of Ethiopia’s northern border with Eritrea, a private US company said yesterday. The images show reported military activity in the aftermath of the breakdown of a five-month ceasefire in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Tigray forces have battled Ethiopia’s federal army and its allies, including Eritrean troops and fighters from Ethiopian regions, over the course of a nearly two-year war. Images collected this week show military forces, vehicles and artillery positions in the town of Shiraro, near Tigray’s northern border with Eritrea. | Reuters…

Paris: Almost half of all bird species are in decline globally and one in eight are threatened with extinction, according to a major new report. The four-yearly State of the World’s Birds report comes as the UN steers an international process to protect nature. Using data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the report said 49% of bird species worldwide have declining popula-tions, with populations falling even in species not normally rare or at risk. About 13% are considered threatened. The main threats are the growth of unsustainable agriculture, logging, invasive species, over-exploitation and climate change. | AFP…

TWO KwaZulu-Natal universities have said they have seen an increase in the number of students seeking psychosocial help with issues including self-esteem, anxiety and depression. The universities were commenting after Minister of Higher Education Dr Blade Nzimande revealed recently that more than 14 000 tertiary students had reached out to the Department of Higher Education’s Higher Health programmes in the past year, in need of psychosocial support. Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) director of student counselling, Dr Paulette Naidoo, said that while she did not have statistics, a large number of students had sought help. “Some of the issues include family problems, relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, anxiety and mood disorders, and psycho-social challenges affecting emotional well-being, eg. financial aid and accommodation difficulties.” Naidoo added that MUT had a dedicated student…

AFTER voting in favour of the decision to divorce the ANC and urge the SACP to contest the 2024 national elections directly, Cosatu members made a U-turn yesterday and gave the governing party another chance after the secretary-generals of the affiliates reached a compromise deal. It is understood the deal was struck following concerns that it might tear Cosatu apart, after some unions threatened to break away from it. The threat allegedly forced the union leaders who supported the earlier motion to dump the ANC to grudgingly agree to a reprieve. In a dramatic development at the 14th Cosatu congress in Midrand yesterday, the federation’s leaders gave the ANC’s top leadership another lifeline to resolve the protracted wage dispute with public sector unions. Cosatu opted to postpone the decision on…

It is all very well for the municipality to close swimming beaches in and around Durban due to poor water quality, however, what is being done to address this crisis? The public will not accept these vague statements indefinitely. And, with the December holidays looming, it is imperative that the beaches are open for swimming, or else the tourism sector will suffer greatly. Transparency from the municipality would go a long way in helping the public understand, exactly, what the challenges are and what is being done to solve the situation. For instance: How many breakdowns in infrastructure are there on each of these river courses leading into the sea where beaches are closed? Which are currently being worked on? What is the estimated time frame for each of these…

One thing becomes increasingly clear with each day that brings us closer to the ANC national conference, the leadership contest is not about South Africa and its many problems. The last thing on the ANC’s mind right now is the 45%-plus jobless rate, the debilitating level of violent crime or the spiralling cost of food and fuel. It should be focused on the fact that we go without electricity for eight hours a day and yet it has no workable plan to fix it. And that so many state hospitals are failing death traps. Up to half our freshly piped water leaks away, our rivers are polluted and seas full of E coli, yet the ANC leadership looks away. As it does with the carnage on our roads and violence…

A husband who did not want to share half of his pension fund with his now ex-wife as part of their divorce settlement because he claimed she has a gambling problem, got no sympathy from the court. The wife turned to the Johannesburg High Court for an order of divorce, which included that 50% of her husband’s pension benefits from the state, where he was employed, be paid over to her as they were married in community of property. But the husband was adamant that she deserved nothing because, apart from her “gambling problem”, she did not cook and wash his clothes as a good wife was meant to do. He asked the court to order the forfeiture of her entitlement to half of his pension, worth about R3 million.…

The leader of the National Christian Resistance Movement, a right-wing organisation that planned to overthrow the government and kill African people, has been sentenced to two life terms of imprisonment. Harry Johannes Knoesen, 63, was convicted and sentenced this week in the Mpumalanga High Court. Knoesen was convicted for incitement to carry out a terrorist attack in South Africa, soliciting support/recruitment of persons to carry out terrorist attacks in South Africa and unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), during the period from December 2018 to November 2019, Knoesen developed a deep-rooted hatred, for the democratic dispensation, established under the auspices of the Constitution and implemented by the South African government. “He sought to justify his beliefs on religious grounds,…

Twenty-two years after South Africa dumped the apartheid model for municipalities and adopted the wall-to-wall system, the government is admitting that it has encountered serious financial setbacks. The admission was made by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in her opening address at the two-day local government summit in Johannesburg this week. Dlamini Zuma, the minister of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, said some of the obstacles were not foreseen. According to a November 2020 discussion paper put together by Dr Mike Sutcliffe, the former city manager of eThekwini who now heads City Insight, a consulting firm on local government issues, the wall-to-wall model was implemented in the year 2000. The system meant that every inch of the country should be covered by a municipality, moving away from the…

THE family of former Verulam mayor Sagadava “Manna” Naidoo say they now have a sense of relief following the arrest of three men in connection with his murder. His son, Yushen Naidoo, said yesterday that the family were pleased that people had been brought to book. Naidoo, 74, was found murdered in a Cottonlands sugar cane plantation on May 26 after he had been reported missing the day before. He was found with his hands and legs tied and had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Naidoo’s family had contacted Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) to help locate him after they were unable to reach him on his phone as he lived alone. Rusa then discovered his home unlocked and four firearms missing from the safe. His white bakkie was also missing.…

A PRISONER has been charged after his pictures inside an Eastern Cape prison went viral on social media. Spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), Singabakho Nxumalo, said the inmate’s cellphone was confiscated. “The Department of Correctional Services has confiscated a mobile phone used by an inmate to flamboyantly post his image on social media. “The identified inmate is incarcerated at St Alban’s Correctional facility in the Eastern Cape Region and he has been moved to a Special Care Unit for the purposes of an investigation and will be formally charged,” Nxumalo said. He said cellphones were defined as contraband in correctional centres. “Hence illegal access and usage is a punishable offence. “The said inmate will also face other charges for tailoring his offender uniform as this is against…

The ANC of President Cyril Ramaphosa have become masters in shifting blame, even in cases where the evidence against their failures is overwhelming. Take Eskom, for example. We need not remind you of some of the most ridiculous excuses they have given the nation for failing to keep the lights on. One thing is certain: none of the reasons admit to their incompetence. In this editorial we want to limit ourselves to the tragic deaths of 18 schoolchildren whose lives were cut short when truck driver Sibusiso Siyaya, 28, allegedly drove in the wrong lane for more than a kilometre before his heavy-load vehicle collided with a bakkie carrying the children in uPhongolo, KwaZulu-Natal. It’s a tragedy that should never have happened, and our condolences go to the grieving families.…

Iran’s police warned yesterday they would confront “with all their might” women-led protests that erupted nearly two weeks ago over the death of Mahsa Amini in custody, despite growing calls for restraint. Dozens of people have been killed since demonstrations erupted when the 22-year-old Kurdish woman died after being arrested in Tehran for allegedly breaching the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women. Widespread protests took place for a 12th straight night on Tuesday, according to opposition media based outside Iran, despite internet restrictions designed to impede gatherings and prevent images of the crackdown getting out. Iran was accused of killing 7 people and wounding 28 in cross-border strikes yesterday against Kurdish factions in Iraq that have denounced the protest crackdown in the Islamic republic, prompting Iraq to summon the…

Moscow was poised yesterday to annex a swath of Ukraine, releasing what it called vote tallies showing support in four partially occupied provinces to join Russia, after what Kyiv and the West denounced as illegal sham referendums held at gunpoint. On Moscow’s Red Square, a tribune with giant video screens had been set up, with billboards proclaiming “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson – Russia!” President Vladimir Putin could proclaim the annexation in a speech within days, just over a week since he endorsed the referendums, ordered a military mobilisation at home and threatened to defend Russia with nuclear weapons if necessary. The Russian-installed administrations of the four Ukrainian provinces yesterday formally asked Putin to incorporate them into Russia, which Russian officials have suggested is a formality. Russian-backed authorities claim to have…

Kathmandu: A search team retrieved the body of top US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson from the Himalayas yesterday, two days after she disappeared on the slopes of Nepal’s Manaslu peak. Nelson slipped and went missing while skiing down the world’s eighth-highest mountain, after a successful summit on Monday with her partner Jim Morrison, who led the search operations. Nelson, 49, is described by her sponsor, The North Face, as “the most prolific ski mountaineer of her generation”. A decade ago, she became the first woman to summit Everest and the adjacent Lhotse peak within the span of 24 hours. | AFP…

THERE’S something about Sir Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition in Britain, that reminds me more of a Tory personality than anything else – and it’s not just the knighthood that he earned in the prosecution service. There’s something refreshingly open about him that slips very readily into good humour. And, in this era of extremes, he straddles the middle ground. At the Labour Party conference in Liverpool this week, they sang God Save The King, not The Red Flag or anything like that. The Corbynistas must have been agonised. ’Twas not always so in the Labour Party. In days of yore I worked in England for a newspaper group called the South Essex Recorders (read in every corner of the globe) and there was a municipal by-election in the…

Political divisions and hostilities in Europe and Asia have reached new levels. Tensions are running high, with apocalyptic rhetoric emerging from all sides. The unending, primordial conflict between Russia, China and other powers will increase tension across the heartland of the various battlefields, and could serve as a catalyst for World War III. Any miscalculation or acts of political brinkmanship will lead to carnage unprecedented in modern warfare. Ukraine and Taiwan have now become pawns in the deadly game of political chess ominously unfolding, as nuclear powers compete for total control. As a bolt of lightning that flashes across the darkening sky is witness both to the approaching storm and to the unbearable tension which is giving birth to it, so the fires of conflicts have thrown a lurid light…

The DA in KwaZulu-Natal is in full support of social workers who recently picketed at the Nquthu District Court during a hearing involving a pastor who is accused of raping 13 boys and girls. According to reports, the man has abandoned his application for bail. It is our social workers who are at the forefront of dealing with social ills in our country and our province. The DA commends the actions of social workers and their demonstration calling for justice. We sincerely hope that the law will deal swiftly with this issue. In the event that the accused is found guilty, he must be dealt with harshly. The DA’s thoughts and prayers go out to these children and their families during this extremely difficult time. Justice must be served as…

The head of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Andy Mothibi, revealed before Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry this week that more than R1.4 billion was looted by dodgy non-profit organisations and non-profit companies and former executives from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). During his presentation, Mothibi said the collapse of systems, including evaluation and monitoring, project management and other shortcomings and syndicates working with people inside the NLC, had contributed to the rot that had been uncovered through three phases of investigations carried by the SIU over the past two years. The DA’s spokesperson on trade, Mat Cuthbert, slammed the ANC and former executives of the NLC for the extent of corruption at the commission. He added that senior officials responsible for the corruption should be brought to…

The diesel price outlook for next month has improved. While it is still expected to rise, the increase has been forecast to be significantly lower than earlier data suggested. Late-month unaudited data released by the Central Energy Fund shows diesel is set for slight increases of 5c for 500ppm and 10c for 50ppm. This is far better than earlier in the month when a 75c increase was forecast. The price of petrol is expected to come down by around R1.07 per litre, which would see motorists pay around R21.60 for a litre of 95 unleaded at the coast and R22.31 in the inland regions. However, the final pricing structure could still change because of factors such as the slate levy and the official October fuel prices are likely to be…

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande has announced that the National School Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) applications for the 2023 academic year have opened. Nzimande said applications for student funding opened as of yesterday. For the 2022 academic year, NSFAS allocated a budget of R43 billion towards tuition fees, food, travelling allowance and study material. A total of 985 672 applications were received with 140 636 applications unsuccessful. Around 287 217 applicants received instant approvals as those in the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) category often receive automatic qualification for funding, Nzimande said. “Just under 300 000 Sassa beneficiaries received NSFAS. This cushioning by the government of youth and children from poor homes – the impact of NSFAS will be felt for decades to come because…

STATE prosecutor advocate Billy Downer has asked the Pietermaritzburg High Court to put a stop to the private prosecution against him by former president Jacob Zuma, describing it as an abuse of the process of the court. In August, Zuma was given a court date for the private prosecution against Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan after Zuma claimed that documents about his medical condition were leaked and published. The matter will be heard at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on October 10. Downer, the prosecutor in the State’s Arms Deals case against Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thales, last week lodged an application for the judge to review the amount that Zuma has paid as security. In papers filed this week, Downer accused Zuma of Stalingrad tactics and said the…

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast yesterday, South Korea’s military said, a day before US Vice-President Kamala Harris was set to arrive in Seoul. The launch came two days after South Korea and US forces conducted a military drill in waters off the South’s east coast involving an aircraft carrier. On Sunday, North Korea fired another ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast. Yesterday’s missiles were launched from the Sunan area of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. South Korea’s national security council held an emergency meeting, vowing to continue building “overwhelming” capacity to deter North Korea, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s office said. Japan’s coast guard also reported a suspected ballistic missile test. Following a stop in Japan,…

Typhoon Noru tore roofs from homes and caused power outages across central Vietnam yesterday, with hundreds of thousands of people taking refuge, after the storm claimed at least 10 lives in the Philippines. In Danang, Vietnam’s third-largest city, high-rise buildings shook as the typhoon made landfall in the early hours yesterday, bringing winds of up to around 120km/h, according to the national forecaster. More than 300 000 people in Vietnam hunkered down in shelters overnight after experts predicted the storm would be one of the biggest to ever hit the country. By yesterday, it had weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed into southern Laos, but forecasters in Vietnam warned of landslides and flooding in the typhoon’s wake. The defence ministry has mobilised around 40 000 soldiers and 200…

Tampa: Hurricane Ian strengthened to a Category 4 storm as it headed towards the US state of Florida yesterday, with forecasters warning of life-threatening storm surges and “devastating” winds after it reportedly killed two and left millions without power in Cuba. Mandatory evacuation orders had been issued in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with voluntary evacuation recommended in several others, according to the officials. In an advisory issued around the same time, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said “Ian has strengthened into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane.” The NHC said: “Catastrophic flooding is expected.” | AFP…