Índice para 2022-02-16 em Mercury

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za QUESTIONS have been raised about the real costs of vehicles that were given to Zulu royal queens by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government. The DA in KZN said in a statement yesterday that Premier Sihle Zikalala had misled the public when he had claimed last year that the vehicles bought for the queens were below R800 000 for each one of the six vehicles, in line with the prescripts of the national government. DA Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL) Zwakele Mncwango said the party was surprised by the costs that were disclosed in a written parliamentary reply to questions that were posed. Mncwango said the reply stated that five of the six cars – Toyota Prados – were purchased at a cost of more than R1 million each…

THERE is a difference between keeping peace (peacekeeping) and making peace (peacemaking). Peacekeeping takes a lot of work and saps energy. It’s never-ending. Peacemaking lays the groundwork for authentic peace to rule. Peacekeepers work hard to keep tensions from rising. They often pretend nothing is wrong. Peacemakers allow tensions to be aired and might even precipitate necessary conflict. Peacekeepers avoid conflict at all costs. Their reward is the semblance of tranquillity, and the slow demise of their integrity. Peacemakers invite necessary conflict. They know there is no other pathway to greater understanding between warring people. Peacekeepers may endure fake peace for decades – and feel “called” or anointed or special. Peacekeepers often have high levels of martyrdom. How else would they rationalise the stress of trying to hide the proverbial…

BENNY PILLAY | ADeC activist Durban In response to Mr Visvin Reddy’s letter (The Mercury, February 14) where we are reminded that our president accepted that our government must take responsibility for the July unrest. This revelation must surely now exonerate the residents of Phoenix who were wrongfully accused, arrested and denied bail. At a time when our intelligence was non-existent, these residents were made scapegoats and used as smokescreens to cover up for our national security shortcomings and exposed our vulnerabilities as a nation. Billions of rand was lost to looting and pillaging. Hundreds of businesses were forced to shut down and thousands of jobs were lost after a week-long reign of chaos and anarchy. The law-abiding, tax-paying citizens of this country have listened to President Ramaphosa…

When it comes to choosing a career, there are two types of people: those who as children knew exactly what they wanted to be when they grow up, and those who matriculate, find jobs and still don’t know what careers they’d like. Luckily for many of us in the second group, there’s the humble Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) – an academic all-star that carries serious career clout. The BCom is one of the most popular degrees because of its versatility. It’s a gateway to many different careers, some mega-niched and specialised, and others with a broad focus. Here are some of the things you can do when you apply for Regent Business School’s supported distance learning BCom programme: 1. Financial manager: According to the 2020 Adzuna Index Research*, there is…

| Mercury Correspondent THE provisional liquidators of Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), the company formerly contracted by the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) to pay grants, have lost their bid to change an April 2021 order by the Constitutional Court. The court had ordered that the profits made by the CPS over the duration of the social grants contract, between April 1, 2012, and September 30, 2018, should be audited and verified afresh. This follows a repeat direction by the Constitutional Court last week that the provisional liquidators of CPS must hand over documents to independent auditors to establish what profits the company made from the unlawful social grants contract. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application for joinder and variation of the April 2021 order with no order as to…

A 52-year-old Chatsworth man, who was arrested after police allegedly found drugs worth R2 million in his home, has been released on bail. Alvin Singh made his first appearance in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on Monday. National Prosecuting Authority KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Natasha Kara said Singh faces a charge of possession of drugs and was released on R2 000 bail. Singh was arrested at his Montford home on February 10. KZN police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said at the time that police had received reports of illegal drug trade taking place at a house in Chatsworth. “The team swooped on the premises and found 70 800 capsules of heroin, 50 pieces of rock cocaine, 15 mandrax tablets and 291g of crystal meth in an outbuilding. The estimated street value of the…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has once again supported the coal industry, saying a just transition was part of the process of moving to clean energy. He said the DA had failed to understand the debate on energy despite being warned by some economists. He said they supported a just transition, but this was a journey moving from high carbon emissions to low carbon emissions. When President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation last Thursday he talked about this point, said Mantashe. Mantashe has come under fire from opposition parties and civil society on his support for the coal industry. DA MP Kevin Mileham said Mantashe was a “self-confessed fossil fuel dinosaur”. “We have no energy policy to speak of, we are basing what passes for strategic…

The judiciary’s response to Lindiwe Sisulu’s article is misguided WHOSE interests do our Constitution and judiciary serve? Let me jump into the fray on a robust raging debate sparked by Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s article titled “Hi Mzansi, have you seen justice?” – published by Independent Media on January 6, and about which many South Africans conversed on various platforms, notably social media and television. The departure point of my opinion piece is only on the judiciary’s reaction and response to the article, with a specific focus on Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s approach. However, the essence of my views resonate with popular assertions that the Constitution remains arguably a “living document” and therefore is not immune from criticism by any South African. Interestingly, the fanfare prompted by the opinion…

The WHO has delivered medical supplies to Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region for the first time since July – but cannot get the fuel needed to distribute the aid, it said. The World Health Organization said an airlift of the supplies had begun on Friday to the regional capital Mekele, where they are now being held in storage. The supplies include antibiotics, medicines for malaria and diabetes, treatment for severe acute malnutrition, supplies for reproductive health, plus personal protective equipment. The shipments were via the WHO’s sister UN agency the World Food Programme, with further flights planned this week. However, the WHO cannot get the medicines and equipment to where they are needed across the northern region. “There is a fuel problem to transport these supplies to health centres and hospitals,”…

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian teenager accused of killing her newborn baby conceived by rape was charged with murder yesterday, her lawyer said, as activists called for her to be released on bail. The 15-year-old, whose identity has been withheld by authorities, was detained last week after a baby boy was found with stab wounds to his chest in a house in the eastern state of Terengganu, said police. Murder carries the death penalty in Malaysia, but minors found guilty of capital offences may instead serve a life sentence at the discretion of the king. The girl has alleged she was raped last year by a young man whose whereabouts remain unknown.…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za ETHEKWINI Municipality is forking out R6.9 million of ratepayers’ money to get experts to assess the unauthorised work of private contractors that the city has been billed for. This revelation emerged during an executive committee meeting yesterday. It left most opposition party councillors demanding that the city take a tougher stance against contractors that invaded sites, did work without prior authorisation, and then billed the municipality. The city revealed that it had received claims for work it did not authorise dating back to 2019. It now has to pay consultants R6.9m to confirm that the work was done, and to the satisfaction of the municipality. If the consultants find that there was value for money, the city will then pay the invoices. The municipality has in the…

Siphokazi Vuso, Mashudu Sadike, Thabo Makwakwa and Noni Mokati Former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng’s admission this week that he did not issue the directive last year that asked former president Jacob Zuma to submit a 15-page affidavit ahead of the Constitutional Court handing down its contempt of court ruling, has raised questions. The Office of the Chief Justice yesterday refused to disclose the name of the Justice responsible for issuing the directive last year ahead of the Concourt jailing him for 15 months for contempt of court over his refusal to testify before State Capture Commission chairperson and acting chief justice (ACJ) Raymond Zondo. Asked who signed the directive dated April 9, spokesperson for the judiciary, Nathi Mncube said: “ACJ (Zondo) could not have taken a part in the…

DNA testing on seized ivory shipments that reveals family ties among African elephants killed for their tusks is helping to identify poaching areas and trafficking networks at the centre of an illegal trade that continues to devastate the population of Earth’s largest land animal. Researchers said on Monday that they conducted DNA tests on 4 320 elephant tusks from 49 ivory seizures, totalling 111 tons in 12 African nations from 2002 to 2019. The results could help crack the transnational criminal organisations behind the trafficking and strengthen prosecutions. “Combining these results with evidence collected from our law enforcement collaborators enables us to collaboratively connect the dots across a massive criminal network,” said University of Washington biologist Samuel Wasser, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.…

ILSE HAAS | Bothasig AFTER months of preparations the R4 million State of the Nation Address (Sona) has come and gone. No one even wiser. Big question: How can Cyril Ramaphosa stand there for an hour and 30 minutes straight-faced (not even a sip of water in between), telling citizens the same stories we’ve heard over and over, just repeating the “sing-song” full of hopes and promises? Not even coming near the daily problems, overpopulation, rapes, killings, looting, hospitals, schools in appalling conditions and the dysfunctional municipalities. The rail system is in shocking condition. Court cases are dragged on for months and years, just filling the lawyers’ pockets. While everyone is accusing each other of wrongdoing, former president Jacob Zuma is giggling in the background. Why mention…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za The Automobile Association (AA) has called on the government to address rising fuel costs by announcing a review of the fuel-price model as a matter of urgency. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is due to deliver his Budget speech next week. AA spokesperson Layton Beard said the government must act quickly to deal more effectively with the fuel price. Beard said that one way to do that was by reviewing the fuel-pricing model. “Our economy is closely linked to the fuel price; it is a major input cost in the manufacturing, retail and agricultural sectors. “We have noted before that a review of the current structure of the fuel price, as well as an audit of all the elements which comprise the fuel price, should be done sooner…

The interim interdict temporarily stopping geoscience data company Searcher from seismic blasting along the West Coast remains in place, the Western Cape High Court has ordered. Judge Daniel Thulare on Monday said the company would have to wait until February 24 to hear the outcome of its bid to have the interim interdict set aside. This was as the court heard arguments by Searcher to reconsider the interdict which ordered it to stop the seismic blasting until full arguments could be heard in an initial application by West Coast communities to block the seismic survey. The interim interdict was granted by Judge Thulare last week, after Searcher had failed to file its responding papers on time. However last Wednesday, Searcher filed an urgent application asking the court to reconsider the…

EZEMVELO KZN Wildlife has denied claims that elephants from the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park are currently on the loose in the neighbouring area. Spokesperson Musa Mntambo said yesterday that at present no elephants were on the loose. He was responding after a social media post said there were elephants roaming in the neighbouring community. “The recent incident of elephants escaping occurred on February 7,” Mntambo said. He added that they escaped after heavy rains. “There are electrical fences there so when it rains, the rivers fill up with rubble and dead trees, which flow towards the fence and damage it. So the elephants use those gaps to escape,” he said. He added that after failing to locate the escaped elephants on foot, a helicopter assisted in the search for them. He said…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za WENTWORTH teenager Kimberley Lucas achieved outstanding matric results last year, with four distinctions including 99% for maths, but due to the financial situation at home, she did not apply to study at a university. When Kimberley’s matric maths teacher, Beverley Hargreaves, discovered that she had not applied for entrance at a university, she set about finding help. Now, Kimberley, 17, has been given a full bursary to study actuarial science at Stellenbosch University. Kimberley’s mother, Raylene Haines, said she was delighted that her daughter’s hard work and determination had paid off. Haines said that her daughter had the passion and drive to perform well in matric. “This was always her dream and I feel so proud to see it come true. She achieved four distinctions, and this…

The SPCA and the government need to act against irresponsible pit bull owners. In recent weeks, reports have emerged of pit bulls killing people. This includes a 3-year-old who was mauled in Cape Town. In 2020, a 5-year-old girl, Opelong Langa, was killed by a pit bull outside her home in Atteridgeville, Pretoria. Asked about the attacks, Jeanette Erasmus, the president of the Pit Bull Federation of SA, said the reasons behind the incidents could vary. Some breeders bred dogs that were not pure-bred, and parents sometimes failed to teach their children to respect pit bulls, she said. “We have to start asking ourselves, is it really pit bulls, or is it lookalikes? You can say it is a pit bull when it is a registered dog. There are so…

BRUSSELS: Nato defence ministers are due this week to set in motion a plan that could establish four multinational battlegroups in southeastern Europe in response to Russia’s military build-up in Ukraine, four diplomats said. Allied ministers meeting today will decide whether to order their military commanders to draw up plans to deploy battlegroups of some 1 000 troops each to Bulgaria and Romania, and possibly to Slovakia and Hungary. With Nato meeting as the US warns of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, diplomats said the ministers will probably agree to direct commanders to come up with a detailed plan. “There will be a tasking that allows us to escalate but also to de-escalate if Russia pulls back its military,” a senior Nato diplomat said, stressing that any new battlegroups…

LONDON: Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said yesterday it had signed a letter of arrangement with Japan to work together on research for a fighter jet sensor to detect lethal threats. The universal radio frequency sensor technology could help armed forces to better detect future threats from air, land and sea, quickly and accurately locating targets and denying surveillance tech operated by adversaries, the MoD said. Britain, which has been seeking to deepen its relationship with the Asian nation, said the work on the project was set to start in April, with 75 jobs expected to be created across the UK as part of it.…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za FALLOUT from a forensic investigation into Oceana appears to be snowballing, as the fishing products group yesterday announced the surprise resignation of its chief executive (CEO) Imraan Soomra. Only days before this, Oceana Group suspended its chief financial officer, Hajra Karrim, “on a precautionary” basis, saying it had started a process to appoint an acting CFO. This was days ahead of the anticipated completion of an internal audit investigation by law firm ENSAfrica into how the group accounts for its US fishing interests. The news sent the group’s shares tumbling 4.59 percent lower to close at R55.51 with investors spooked by the “fishy” fallout. Its shares have fallen 22.43 percent in three years. Last week Oceana said it had to once more delay the release of…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za GOLD prices advanced to an eight-month high, rising above $1 870 (R28 360) early yesterday, as an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine continued to drive investors away from riskier assets, in favour of the safe-haven yellow metal. The crisis in eastern Europe has weighed in on the markets, extending a global sell-off fuelled by fears that Russia is about to invade Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due for talks in Moscow yesterday, in search of a diplomatic solution to avoid a war in Ukraine. Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg also said that indications that Russia was willing to pursue diplomacy over the Ukraine crisis were positive, though there was no evidence yet of Moscow pulling back troops from the border. However, the price of gold…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za The head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Shamila Batohi said yesterday that the wheels of justice were beginning to turn with regard to corruption cases. Appearing before the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) to brief it on Special Investigating Unit (SIU) cases, Batohi said there had been notable arrests in recent weeks involving the private sector, including the Tongaat Hulett case in KwaZulu-Natal. “It is an indication that the wheels of justice are moving,” she said. However, the prosecuting boss noted that her three years at the helm at the NPA had been extremely challenging. “What is clear is that even though we are not where we want to be, we are far from where we started,” Batohi said. “There has been a lot of…

| Floyd Dell HAVE we become so enslaved to electronic gizmos that we’re losing our capacity to communicate and interact vocally as human beings? A woman named Jane was on a train from Edinburgh, according to Sky News. Sitting across the aisle from her was a man who, she was convinced, was Radio 1 DJ Greg James, whom she greatly admires. But she wasn’t quite sure it was him. Did she walk across, tap him on the shoulder and say something like: “Pardon me if I’m wrong but aren’t you the Radio 1 DJ, Greg James. If I’m right I’d like to tell you I simply love your Breakfast Show … ” No, she did not. Instead she texted her daughter Colleen to tell her who she thought she…

DR IVO REUNING | Gillitts I refer to the latest letter of Mr Du Bois as published (The Mercury, February 14). As expected, Mr Du Bois continues to search for and somehow find opinions that fit into his radical fringe views. He defends the extremist Epoch Times and World Net Daily, then quotes Robert Kennedy out of context, and runs down the renowned international pharma companies. Not a word about the facts as published in virtually all countries around the world, some of which I have already quoted: that the death rate from Covid-19 for unvaccinated people is 10 to 20 times higher than for the vaccinated that for many months hospitals around the world were overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients, and no ICU beds were available for other…

T MARKANDAN | Kloof West Ham football player Kurt Zouma was seen on video slapping and kicking his pet cat. Someone could be heard laughing in the background, enjoying the cat’s misery. His brother, also a soccer player, took the video and posted it on social media. The video went viral and kicked up a stir among animal lovers. More than 60 000 people signed a petition demanding justice for the cat. Animal rights groups were furious and wanted his head. Animal lovers go to extraordinary lengths to care for their pets, often spoiling and pampering them. They give them the best food, send them to dog parlours for grooming, host lavish birthday parties and even keep them in hotels for pets. How the rich flaunt their…

WITH adolescents being the most at-risk age group for suicide in the country, the SA Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) said it wanted to encourage parents, teachers and the community to have difficult conversations around teen depression and suicide prevention. Teen Suicide Prevention Week began yesterday and ends next Monday. According to Sadag, the average suicide rate in teenagers was 8% of all deaths that have been reported by academic hospitals in the country, and the real figure could be higher. It also said 20% of high-school teenagers attempted suicide. “Mental health education is crucial and factors contributing to teenagers ending their lives need to be looked at. We must all assist those who might be going through the same problem,” said the organisation. Factors identified as contributing to suicides…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied having direct knowledge of the misuse of public funds or information that certain ministers or officials directed the use of public funds during the campaign for positions in the ANC. Ramaphosa, who wrote back to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) after the committee sent a list of eight questions to him, said some of the information was already in the public domain. He confirmed he made the statement on the misuse of funds at a meeting of the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) in March last year. The meeting was held over three days. Some of the information he was referring to was contained in the High-Level Panel Report that was released in 2018. The other information came from the…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za Crime experts have raised concern over the state of the SAPS following three recent incidents involving police officers. In KwaZulu-Natal, police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker confirmed that a departmental investigation had been registered against a police officer in Newcastle after a video surfaced last week of the officer visibly drunk in uniform. In a separate incident, a former Mandeni police station commander, Colonel Ziningi Zulu, died by suicide on Friday. Zulu faced two counts of theft of exhibit money amounting to almost R180 000 which had been kept at the station and had been expected to plead guilty. Last Wednesday in Gauteng, a police officer shot dead his partner, a nursing assistant at Tembisa Hospital, before turning the gun on himself. He remains in critical condition in…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za The Pietermaritzburg High Court is today set to rule on whether former president Jacob Zuma has reasonable grounds to be given the legal nod to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal in his battle to remove senior State advocate Billy Downer SC from his corruption case. Today’s ruling follows a decision on January 31 by Judge Piet Koen to reserve his judgment following day-long oral arguments by Zuma’s legal team, led by advocate Dali Mpofu SC (senior counsel), which argued that another court may rule differently. In the main, Zuma, who will skip the judgment, wants Downer to be removed as the chief prosecutor of his arms deal corruption case, accusing him of bias against him and having acted unlawfully on several occasions while handling confidential information.…

THE torrent of man-made chemical and plastic waste worldwide has massively exceeded limits safe for humanity or the planet, and production caps are urgently needed, scientists have concluded for the first time. There are an estimated 350 000 different manufactured chemicals on the market and large volumes of them end up in the environment. “The impacts we’re starting to see today are large enough to be impacting crucial functions of planet Earth and its systems”, said Bethanie Carney Almroth, co-author of the new study. The study, by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, comes before a UN meeting in Nairobi at the end of the month on tackling plastic pollution “from source to sea”, UN Environment Programme head Inger Andersen said. Chemicals and plastics are affecting biodiversity, piling additional stress on already…

SYDNEY: A large crocodile that had outworn its welcome among increasingly anxious residents of Australia’s tropical far north has been caught and is awaiting its new home. The 3.8-metre mature male was carefully removed from the Herbert River in Queensland and transported to the city of Townsville earlier this week, to ultimately join one of the state’s crocodile farms or zoos. Queensland Department of Environment and Science wildlife officers said the “saltie” – which is what locals call the saltwater variety of the world’s largest living reptile – had become a “problem” in recent weeks having twice approached people along the riverbank.…

Honduras has received an official request from the US for arrest and extradition of Honduras former president Juan Orlando Hernandez. On February 7, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Hernandez had been included in a list of corrupt actors in 2021. Yesterday, the Honduras Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that it had notified the country’s Supreme Court that “the US Embassy formally requested the arrest of a Honduran politician for the purposes of extradition”. According to CNN Espanol, the US requested Hernandez’s extradition, prompting the President of the Supreme Court of Honduras to urgently convene a plenary session to appoint a judge to adjudicate the matter. Hernandez served as head of state from 2014 until last month. Early this month, the US placed him on a black…