Índice para 2022-11-24 em Mercury

CILO CYBIN Holdings’ initial public offering (IPO) to raise R500 million was unsuccessful, leading it to delay JSE listing plans for now. Cilo Cybin said yesterday that it had only managed to raise R20.5m and did not meet the JSE Limited minimum capital requirement for a listing. “The Cilo Cybin board are humbled and express gratitude for the support Cilo Cybin received from the general public during the IPO process. “A total of 1 892 members of the public subscribed for an aggregate amount of R20.5m of Cilo Cybin shares. “Unfortunately, the JSE Limited minimum capital requirement for a listing as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) as set out in the Cilo Cybin Prospectus, has not been met within the set timeframe, and the listing on the…

MASS murders in KwaZulu-Natal have once again been thrust into the spotlight as the quarterly crime stats released by Police Minister Bheki Cele yesterday showed that the province recorded 80 murder dockets with 185 deaths. The statistics for July to September 2022 showed KZN had the highest number of people killed in multiple murder incidents with 185, followed by Gauteng with 145 and the Western Cape with 113. In at least two of the incidents in the province during the period, seven people were killed. Earlier this month, 11 people were killed in two separate incidents. Five men were killed by gunmen at Ndwedwe Mission and six people were shot dead at an informal settlement in Clermont. Inanda and uMlazi police stations in Durban also reported the most murders in…

Tournament favourites Argentina were humiliated in the World Cup. They suffered a shock defeat in the first round of the group stages to Saudi Arabia, a Middle East nation that “never kicked a ball before”. We all expected Argentina to have an easy match against Saudi Arabia and thrash them with a big score as England did against Iran. Argentina walked on to the pitch confident of an easy win against the minnows to bag their first three points. But it didn’t go according to plan. Though they gave away a penalty which was easily converted by none other than the great Lionel Messi, Saudi Arabia showed that they were no pushovers. They stunned the South Americans when they struck back with two excellent strikes, causing one of the biggest…

Almost every weekend, residents around Botanic Gardens in Durban experience unbearable noise coming from music and young people singing at a place adjacent to the gardens; using loudspeakers, to the extent that you feel as if they are in your bedroom. They usually start in the morning and finish late in the evening on Saturdays, Sundays and sometimes Fridays. I usually phone the metro police requesting them to do something, but the police supervisor always claims that those “parties” are permitted by the municipality and the police cannot do anything. Then I repeat myself each time by telling them that this kind of nuisance is still illegal in any modern society like South Africa, even if it is approved by any official, and it is the responsibility of the police…

A 28-year-old man is expected to appear in the Belfast Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga on charges of fraud and theft. The suspect was arrested on Tuesday morning by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks). The man is alleged to have stolen coal from struggling power utility, Eskom. This as the country grapples with Stage 2 and Stage 4 load shedding. According to Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Philani Nkwalase, the truck the suspect was driving was sub-contracted to collect coal from the Msimbithi Coal Mine in Wonderfontein near Belfast and deliver it to Camden power station operated by Eskom in Ermelo. “It is alleged that the truck driver deviated from that route with the original coal worth approximately R30 000 and delivered it to an illegal coal yard on…

I WAS reading the Idler’s column when I was still at school. In those days it was still on the back page of the newspaper, making for an easy switch from the front page heavy stuff to something more entertaining. Then, some time in the 1960s, there was a change. Sport was to go on the back page – as in all other newspapers – and the Idler went inside. The switchboard was apparently jammed by protests. In those early days the Idler’s actual name was not published, but before too long I was to meet them in person as I joined the wordsmiths’ trade, and all were as entertaining as the stuff they wrote. There was Denis Henshaw, who had two spells as Idler, and induced fury in budgie-fanciers…

One of the many advantages of living in China is you can hop on to a low-cost airline and visit any of the neighbouring countries. Since my Sussex days, a trip to Bali has been on my bucket list. A classmate in the UK came from Indonesia and had a background in tourism. In fact, to this day she runs a tourism business and was studying the developmental effects of tourism from a political and governance slant. In her study, and one supposes in any research, there was no better case study than Bali. The contradictions of development through tourism were, therefore, stark when our vacation finally came in January 2019, just before Covid-19. The developmental effect that tourism has on the local Balinese economy has been significant, bringing many…

SON Heung-min will be able to play in South Korea’s opening World Cup match against Uruguay this afternoon despite wearing a mask after facial surgery, coach Paulo Bento said. The Spurs attacker and South Korean skipper had surgery earlier this month after suffering a fracture around his left eye in a collision during a Champions League game. “Son can play and will be able to play,” Bento said yesterday. It remains to be seen to what extent the South Korean talisman features, with the Portuguese boss cautioning: “He knows and we know that after this injury we cannot take any risks.” The 30-year-old Son has been training in Qatar in a mask and South Korean fans have been eagerly awaiting updates on his fitness. At one training session in Doha…

THE family of Struggle icon Dulcie September may be one step closer to justice, as they say they recently met with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) to look into her death. The development comes after the Tribunal judiciare de Paris (Court of Paris) last week heard final arguments in a civil case to determine whether the French state should have provided her with protection, more than 34 years after September’s assassination. The case between the family and the French state hinged on the fact that September, before her assassination, had twice approached French authorities for protection, informing the local police that her life was in danger, but they allegedly did nothing about it. September was shot five times in the head from behind with a 22-calibre silenced rifle…

On Monday we discussed Chinese athlete Ben Changxian – “Uncle Chen” – who chain-smokes as he runs marathons. It prompts my old pal Ernie Robertze to recall days of yore when he used to run in the Milk Marathon. He too would light up as he jogged about Durban “and boldly so as I was crossing the finishing line”. I am shocked. As far as I know, Ernie doesn’t smoke these days, but then he’s hidden away in the bush up in Zululand and you never know what he might be getting up to. The Milk Marathon was in aid of a charity. It went up hill and down dale all over the city. Ernie – also known as “Spook” because he was once a detective in the CID –…

TODAY is Thanksgiving in the US. It is a national or federal holiday, which means it is honoured in all 50 states and all US territories. It is the day many Americans eat more food in a single sitting than anyone needs to eat in an entire week. Then, bloated and sleepy, many will watch American football while arguing about Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and who in the family prepares the best pumpkin pie or turkey or green beans. Despite my cynical tone, it’s a delightful event and I love it. For years, my sons and I have gone to Durban’s own Nolan Smith’s home in Indianapolis. While Nolan has retained most of his South African ways – he has no trace of an American accent – he…

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in KwaZulu-Natal has said it will ensure that the ward 99 by-election will be free, fair and credible. The declaration comes after the IFP expressed concerns over what it regarded as irregularities with the voters roll in eThekwini ward 99 on the Durban South Coast. The ward will host a by-election next month, this after its councillor Mnqobi Molefe was killed in September this year. The ward consists of areas such as Amahlongwa, Craigieburn and eMkhomazi and is considered as having one of the most diverse mixes of voters in the metro and KZN. At a press briefing to announce a joint plan with the DA for the by-election on Tuesday, IFP Treasurer Narend Singh said they had noted some irregularities, including a…

ON TUESDAY, September 11, 2001, the world was shaken by live TV footage of huge aircraft crashing into New York skyscrapers and people leaping from the windows to their death to escape the inferno that followed. It came to be known as 9/11. The attacks were four co-ordinated missions carried out by the militant Islamic network al-Qaeda against the US. That morning 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the North-eastern US to California. The hijackers crashed the first two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City, and the third into the Pentagon (headquarters of the US military) in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane was intended to hit a federal building in Washington DC, but crashed in a field following…

Reports perpetuate victim shaming and sensationalism South Africa is a country that experiences a very high level of gender-based violence. During the UN’s annual international 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the country’s news media coverage of violence against women and children increases. As well-intentioned as this may be, studies have exposed several shortcomings in the coverage, noting that these undermine what the campaign aims to achieve. This matters because of the importance of news outlets in our media-saturated world. Research into the factors that shape opinions on violent crimes and the criminal justice system argues that most people’s views are not based on personal encounters with the system. Instead, perspectives are formed primarily from seeing, reading, or listening to secondary sources, such as mainstream news media. French…

ONLY some of the 16 candidates nominated for the ANC’s top six positions have produced their financial records, the electoral committee confirmed yesterday. The guidelines for electing National Executive Committee (NEC) members states that all campaigns must submit detailed financial reports to the committee’s head, former president Kgalema Motlanthe. The committee has the right to demand further information and bank statements, details of assets, properties and investments and details of the campaigns and campaign workers. The rules were implemented after ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa was accused of using almost R1 billion in his 2017 election campaign. Ramaphosa and former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize are among those who will have to disclose their records. Secretary of the committee, Chief Livhuwani Matsila, said most of the candidates who had been announced…

Congratulations to The Mercury on celebrating their 170th anniversary. While scores of other newspaper titles, both locally and abroad, have folded under the pressures of technological advances, financial constraints and cutbacks on resources, the newspaper has held firm, albeit on a much reduced readership. It’s tough out there in the media industry and only the most adaptive and resilient survive. Congratulations are also in order for columnist Rod Smith, whose popular daily column in The Mercury has now been running for 22 years. I personally enjoy some reflected pride in this remarkable achievement, having had the pleasure of “hiring” him in 1999 when I was editor of the newspaper back then. He’d been writing a weekly editorial column in The Indianapolis Star in the US when he breezed in one…

Samsung, or rather “samsung” with a lowercase S, is one of the most commonly used passwords in at least 30 countries, a recent study by password management solution company Nordpass has shown. According to SamMobile, using the name of your smartphone/TV/home appliance brand, for example, Samsung, as a password is not the worst offender, but it has grown in popularity in recent years. While the “samsung” ranked 198th in 2019, it rose to 189th in 2020 and 78th in 2021. The most popular password is “password,” which was reportedly chosen by nearly 5 million users, while other commonly used passwords include “123456,” “123456789,” and “guest”, according to the report. | IANS…

A Montana, north of Pretoria, woman who slipped and fell as she left McDonald’s in the Wingtip Crossing Shopping Centre lost her damages claim against the owners of the fast food outlet. Mandie Lombard turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, after she fell outside the outlet in June 2019. She had just fetched her lunch. She sued MSA Devco (Pty) Ltd, trading as McDonald’s Wingtip, for the injuries she had suffered. During the trial, video footage was admitted into evidence showing her slipping on the ramp leading to the outside. It showed how she fell, the moment when her right foot left the rubber carpet, which partially covered the ramp area, and when she stepped on to the tiled area. According to Lombard, she slipped and fell on a…

THE taxi rank operating close to the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) may be relocated as the city looks to upgrade the precinct around the facility to meet international standards. ANC councillor Thanduxolo Sabelo was the first to raise the issue of the taxis being located too close to the ICC, at an executive committee meeting this week. The councillors and ICC board members, fearing this could stir up a hornet’s nest, quickly pointed out that the taxi industry was an important stakeholder and any action would not be imposed on it or undermine its business. At the meeting, there were discussions to make the area around the ICC safe and attractive, and to ensure that the precinct was in line with other similar facilities around the world.…

ANC National Executive Committee member Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma says the ANC presidency race is far from over, adding that she was still optimistic about her chances of leading the party. Speaking to Alex Mthiyane on Gagasi FM Radio last night, Dlamini Zuma expressed optimism about her prospects of emerging victorious at the December conference. She insisted that the results announced by the ANC electoral committee were simply from nominations by branches and not delegates. The committee announced that incumbent president Cyril Ramaphosa and former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize will contest the position of party president. “Branches take instructions from leadership, but at conference it is the delegates that decide who to elect. That is why one is optimistic about the chances of leading the ANC,” said Dlamini…

TRANSPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula’s decision to appeal against a Makhanda High Court judgment directing him to take steps to protect Intercape buses and its passengers is barely surprising, judging by his dismal track record. The fact that it took the court ruling for Mbalula to actually know he should assume some responsibilities in making the operating environment safe for the bus company should be enough to tell you he is sleeping at the wheel. Intercape should not even have had to approach the courts in order to have Mbalula and his colleagues in the police intervene and help bring to an end these senseless attacks on buses. It’s perhaps worth reminding the honourable minister of the following: more than 150 violent attacks on Intercape buses have been recorded, including the…