Índice para 2022-12-01 em Mercury

STANDARD Bank Group assisted more than 40 African businesses showcase their products at the 2022 China International Import Expo (CIIE) recently held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10. As the largest global import promotion event, the 5th CIIE exhibited products from more than 100 countries, including 280 of the world's top 500 enterprises. Over the past four years, the CIIE has successfully introduced more than 1 500 new products, technologies, and services, with an accumulated turnover exceeding $270 billion (R4,6 trillion) to the Chinese domestic market. Since travel to China is currently restricted due to Covid-19, this year’s CIIE allowed the physical exhibition of products, even though business owners couldn’t attend in person to promote their goods. The physical exhibition of pro- ducts, supported by…

THERE was jubilation at Menzi High School in uMlazi as matric pupils wrote English Paper 3, their final paper. Although the exams officially end next week, Menzi matric pupils were delighted that their exams were over and said they expected good results. Principal Muntu Ntombela said the school was aiming for a 100% pass rate for the 11th consecutive year. “For us, 100% is given, but we are working for a 100% Bachelor pass for all pupils. Teachers worked very hard and had sleepless nights. They formed study groups and held afternoon classes. As a school, we will excel in all subjects but Maths Paper 2 gave pupils a hard time because many did not finish the paper.” Pupil Sisanda Cebekhulu said she made a lot of sacrifices in her…

A LITTLE story comes this way – author unknown – contrasting the fires of youth with the discretion of later years. An Airbus 380 is on its way across the Atlantic. It flies consistently at 800km/h at 30 000 feet, when suddenly a Eurofighter with Tempo Mach2 appears. The pilot of the fighter jet slows down, flies alongside the Airbus and greets the pilot of the passenger plane by radio: “Airbus, boring flight isn’t it? Now have a look here.” He rolls his jet on its back, accelerates, breaks through the sound barrier, rises rapidly to a dizzying height and then swoops down almost to sea level in a breathtaking dive. He loops back next to the Airbus and asks: “Well, how was that?” The Airbus pilot answers: “Very impressive,…

The Russian army’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and the ripple effects of Western sanctions against Moscow have raised international food and fuel prices, leaving millions of Africans facing an “unprecedented food emergency” this year, the World Food Programme has said. Kenya, Somalia and large parts of Ethiopia are at risk of acute food insecurity, the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) said this week. In Sahel and West Africa, more than 40 million people could go hungry in 2022, according to the FAO, up from 10.8 million people in 2019. Even before the Russian invasion in late February, the pandemic and a long period of drought had already hit African economies hard. The war in Ukraine made things critically worse since the continent imported about a third of…

It never ceases to astonish me that whereas many politicians are driven by a powerful instinct for self-enrichment they are entirely bereft of any vestige of common sense, and the release on parole of Janusz Walus is a case in point. That Walus committed a despicable crime is not in dispute, but he has paid for his sins by serving the better part of 30 years behind bars. To release the fellow on parole and simultaneously order that he serve the period of that parole here in South Africa is sheer lunacy! Walus has a target on his back three feet wide and he will be instantly attacked – and very likely killed – the instant he sets foot in the public domain. The authorities have demonstrated their inability to…

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has warned that the growing case load of investigations may become a future financial burden if its clients, which include government departments and entities, do not pay for the service. The SIU’s comment comes after Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke told members of Parliament that her office was also owed millions of rand by departments and entities for the services they had provided. The two entities get their money from the national budget, just like departments get their share when the minister of finance announces the Budget allocations early each year. SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said while the entity was functioning well with no financial pressures, there may be issues in the future. “We are still financially stable because we have taken steps to ensure that we…

While rolling blackouts and increasing fuel costs continue to cripple South Africa, delegates at the first Green Hydrogen Summit in Cape Town this week were told it was time to move in a new direction. The summit was attended by ministers and delegates all eager to see the country’s potential as a large-scale, low-cost, green hydrogen production hub and investment destination. Green hydrogen (GH2) is created when water is split into oxygen and hydrogen using wind or solar energy, and can be used as an alternative fuel to power industrial processes. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, head of Infrastructure and Investment in the Presidency, said South Africa was regarded as one of the main future suppliers of green hydrogen products to the world due to the “outstanding potential of renewable energy sources and…

THE quick action of correctional services officers prevented Gauteng ANC and SACP supporters from storming the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre with the aim of pouncing on Polish immigrant Janusz Walus – killer of former SACP general secretary Chris Hani. The drama unfolded yesterday at the main entrance, when some of the protesters rushed to the gate with the clear intention of opening it to allow fellow protesters to gain access. Correctional services officers overpowered them and closed the gate. The protest comes after the Constitutional Court ordered that Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola release Walus on parole. Walus has spent 29 years incarcerated at the centre following his role in the murder of Hani on April 10, 1993. The plot to storm the centre happened despite reports…

The recent G20 Bali Summit carried a variety of unprecedented factors. It took place during a tumultuous time in human history. The G20 was set from the beginning to deal with issues of recovery from health and economic pandemics. The summit also had to deal with undercurrents of tendencies towards unilateralism at the expense of multilateralism, threats to world peace and issues of climate change. The summit was framed on three main pillars as proposed by the host country, Indonesia: global health architecture, sustainable energy transition, and digital transformation. Most notable and a takeaway from the G20 Bali Summit was the steadfast stance taken by China in the show of its resoluteness to finding solutions to the current global crisis. Under the theme of “Working Together to Meet the Challenges…

Half the world’s democratic countries are experiencing an erosion of democracy, intensified by war in Ukraine and economic crisis, an international think tank said in a report yesterday. “We’re seeing extraordinarily severe headwinds for democracy now, intensified by the political fallout from the economic crisis that started with the pandemic and the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine,” said International Idea secretary- general Kevin Casas-Zamora. “It might be that the credibility of elections is challenged. It might be that the rule of law is under assault. It might be that civic space is being constrained,” he said. The number of democracies with the most severe democratic erosion – a group dubbed “backsliding” countries, which has included the US since last year – increased from six to seven in 2022…

At least 16 people were killed and 24 others wounded yesterday in a blast at a madrasa in Afghanistan’s northern city of Aybak, about 200km north of Kabul. There have been dozens of blasts and attacks targeting civilians since the Taliban returned to power in August last year. The local chapter of the Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for most of these. The casualties were mostly youngsters. “All of them are children and ordinary people,” said a doctor in Aybak, who asked not to be named. A provincial official confirmed there was a blast at Al Jihad madrasa, but could not provide casualty figures. The Taliban, which frequently plays down casualty figures, said 10 students had died and “many others” were injured. “Our detective and security forces are…

LONDON: More than 10 000 ambulance workers across England and Wales have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay and conditions, the GMB union said yesterday. Britain’s state-run National Health Service (NHS) is braced for a wave of unprecedented industrial action this winter, with up to 100 000 nurses due to take strike action on December 15 and 20 for the first time in their union’s 100-year history. The union said it would meet soon to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas. The NHS is dealing with record levels of patients on waiting lists for hospital treatment due to the pandemic and a staffing crisis. | Reuters…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has been found guilty on all four counts of serious misconduct by the Section 89 panel investigating the Phala Phala scandal. In its report released last night, the panel found the embattled president may have committed a serious violation of the Constitution by “acting in a manner inconsistent with his office”, exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business, as well as a violation of sections of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) over the foreign currency that was held at his property in Limpopo in 2020. In damning findings that could lead to the establishment of an impeachment committee and could prove detrimental to Ramaphosa’s attempts to retain the ANC presidency this month, the panel…

In reference to Terence Grant’s pathetic assumptions about “Even a well-raised pit bull can turn aggressive” (November 29), it makes me wonder what gives him the platform to deliver such an absurd remark? Does he work with them? Does he rehabilitate them? I do! I work with pit bulls. I have rescued pit bulls. I have rehabilitated them. Only two of 67 were put down. He clearly has no dog behaviourist experience but gives advice with zero experience. It’s the human, not the breed!…

Indian languages are dying. As our elders pass on, so do the languages they or their predecessors came to South Africa with and passed on to us. The problem is that in my formative years, I attended Hindu Tamil Primary School where the vernacular languages were taught, including Urdu and Gujarati. Lately, pure languages like Tamil, Hindi and Urdu hardly appear as spoken languages, even on commercial radio and television programmes. Lately, in certain schools, Mandarin appears on the curriculum, so why don’t languages such as Urdu, Tamil and Hindi? I admire what Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Türkiye, has done. In order to get Turks to continue speaking and communicating in Turkish, the government has translated academic books published by international non-Turkish authors and, wait for this, even…

The recent statement on the electronic media by President Ramaphosa that only qualified persons will be employed in municipalities raises some very interesting points. It is well known that all municipalities have unqualified persons in jobs of responsibility that they are not qualified to perform, this can be born out by how many clean audits are achieved among all municipalities, and furthermore coupled with the numerous and various unaccounted for and unbudgeted expenditures. If these were people qualified (with the proper educational levels for the positions), municipalities would not be in the situation that many find themselves in. It would seem that no cognisance was ever taken in the past of the various individuals’ educational qualifications levels when these people were originally employed. Well, if we are now going to…

Senior ANC members in KwaZulu-Natal say the race for party president is far from over as provinces lobby one another to discuss how delegates will vote at the upcoming elective conference. In recent days, former health minister Zweli Mkhize has campaigned with the business community and the Shembe church, which has a following of 5 million, while Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has released a video assuring her backers that she has not pulled out of the race. Lobbyists for both candidates, who will take on President Cyril Ramaphosa at next month’s elective conference, point out that historically the nominations before an ANC conference do not necessarily mean votes at the actual event. They argue that taking the nominations process, where Ramaphosa received 2 037 and…

Power utility Eskom says two security guards hired to protect the Port Rex power station in East London were arrested for stealing nearly 6 000 litres of diesel this week. The guards, employed by an Eskom contractor, were arrested while on duty at the power station for stealing diesel valued at over R145 000. Eskom’s general manager for security, advocate Karen Pillay, said it was established through an internal probe that the suspects allowed a vehicle to collect the diesel from the site during their night shift. Pillay said the internal investigations supported by the Bidvest Protea Coin Investigation Team and SAPS led to the arrest of the two security guards a few days after Eskom laid criminal charges for theft. The two suspects were expected to appear in the…

THE National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has passed the Electoral Amendment Bill, which will allow independent candidates to stand for election in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. The bill was, however, passed with amendments, including one providing for the establishment of an electoral reform consultation panel that must look into the country’s electoral system after the 2024 elections. The bill is a sequel to a Constitutional Court judgment delivered in June 2020, which found that the Electoral Act was unconstitutional because it required candidates who wanted to stand for elections to be members of political parties. Parliament was given until June 2022 to remedy the defect, but it asked for an extension, which ends on December 10. The amended bill provides for requirements that must be met by persons…

Working to promote a universal sense of oneness Today, India begins its G20 presidency. The previous 17 presidencies of the G20 delivered significant results – for ensuring macro-economic stability, rationalising international taxation, and relieving debt-burden on countries, among many other outcomes. We will benefit from these achievements and build further upon them. However, as India assumes this important mantle, I ask myself – can the G20 go further still? Can we catalyse a fundamental mindset shift to benefit humanity as a whole? I believe we can. Our mindsets are shaped by our circumstances. Through all of history, humanity lived in scarcity. We fought for limited resources because our survival depended on denying them to others. Confrontation and competition – between ideas, ideologies and identities – became the norm. Unfortunately, we…

The exceptionally long La Nina, which has worsened drought and flooding around the globe, is set to continue into February or even March, the UN warned yesterday. The current La Nina weather phenomenon – the cooling of surface temperatures which can cause widespread effects on global weather – started in September 2020. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said there was a 75% chance La Nina will persist during December-February, and a 60% chance during January-March. It is the first triple-dip La Nina of the century and only the third since 1950, the organisation said. La Nina’s large-scale cooling of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean normally occurs every two to seven years. The effect has widespread impacts on weather around the world, typically the opposite impacts…

An experimental Alzheimer’s drug from Eisai and Biogen slowed cognitive decline in a closely watched trial but may carry a risk of serious side effects for certain patients, according to detailed data presented this week. The drug, lecanemab, was associated with a dangerous type of brain swelling in nearly 13% of patients in the trial that spanned 18 months and enrolled nearly 1 800 participants with early-stage Alzheimer’s. Some patients also experienced bleeding in the brain, with five suffering macrohaemorrhages and 14% suffering microhaemorrhages – a symptom linked to two deaths of people receiving the drug in a follow-on study. The companies said in September that lecanemab – an antibody designed to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta – reduced the rate of cognitive decline on a…

London: The UK’s most senior police officer of colour has said the duchess of Sussex faced “disgusting” threats to her life during her time in the royal family. Neil Basu, whose father was from India, said that as head of counter-terrorism, he had to deal with credible threats from far-right extremists against Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry. Markle, a mixed-race former television actor, married the prince in 2018 but they quit royal life in 2020 and moved to the US. Basu, 54, who is stepping down from London’s Metropolitan Police, said people had been prosecuted for those threats. | AFP…

NEVER mind Springbok cavalry coming to rescue, the Sharks have a potential saviour emerging from their own ranks in the form of Curwin Bosch, who has recovered from a broken arm and looks set to start at flyhalf tomorrow against the visiting Ospreys. The stalwart fractured his arm in pre-season training ahead of the United Rugby Championship, as did back-up flyhalf Lionel Cronje, and the Sharks underwent their URC tour in October with Boeta Chamberlain as the only fit No 10. Last week, Cronje played off the bench in the defeat to Cardiff and looked rusty while Chamberlain struggled, so Bosch is likely to slot straight back in for the must-win match at Kings Park. He will be partnered by returning Springbok Jaden Hendrikse while another Bok, Makazole Mapimpi will…

THE eThekwini Municipality says the latest E Coli tests at uMhlanga beach show improving water quality which has made it optimistic that it will be opened for the festive season. EThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and his executive committee members are today expected to give an address on the state of the city’s beaches. Officials from the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) said the municipality had applied for three beaches to be opened last week and put in another application on Tuesday. UMhlanga was not among the three applications and it was not immediately clear if it could be in the application put in on Tuesday. The latest readings, provided by the city, for uMhlanga Main Beach and uMhlanga Bronze Beach, show the E coli levels have…

Love is a choice and not a feeling – is something you will have read and heard all through your adult life. I’d like to suggest it is both a choice and often a feeling, and loving others is far more complicated and difficult than it is often made to sound. To love – not fix, not control, not teach – is often a very hard choice to make. It is perhaps easier to ignore someone or situations where love and acts of love could be very helpful. Avoidance always seems less complicated and indifference can be very convenient. People are complicated and loving people can get very messy. When a person makes a choice to love – not fix, control or teach – feelings of love can follow, wonderful…

I write on behalf of New Contrast, South Africa’s longest-lived literary journal. Founded in 1960 as Contrast, we publish both new and established writers. We are multilingual, publishing poems and short stories in English, Afrikaans, Afrikaaps, Xhosa, etc. We are South Africa’s leading literary journal. The two decades of the internet era have hurt us, with declining subscriptions, notwithstanding that we offer a digital subscription option, and have a website and social-media presence. We face bankruptcy and closing down. Sadly, all our funding applications to the National Arts Council and the Western Cape Culture Department have been rejected. We appeal to readers to subscribe and donate so we can continue to serve South African literature. Please go to our website https://www.newcontrast.net for details.…

THE judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal regarding the azaan is a victory for the right to propagate one’s religious duties within reasonable bounds. With the dust of litigation now settled, let us exercise tolerance and moderation with other religious groups. Islam teaches moderation and tolerance in executing its mandate to humanity. We must not let a clash of symbols of worship become a clash of civilisations. Religious tolerance is the highest evidence of culture in a people. Intolerance has led to, and continues to lead to, some of the most degrading violations of human rights. These violations aggravate historic mistrust and threaten regional and international security. Recognising the divisive effect of religious intolerance, the UN has sought to protect and promote free dom of thought, conscience, religion and…

More wet weather has been forecast for KwaZulu-Natal as South Africa is experiencing above average rainfall in the rainy months due to the effect of the La Niña system. This is according to experts, after heavy rains caused damage in Osizweni in the Newcastle area at the weekend. A few weeks ago, heavy rains led to flooding of homes in the Msunduzi Municipality in Pietermaritzburg. Professor Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, a lecturer in Climate Change and Food Systems at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), said that according to the South African Weather Service, the country was experiencing above average rainfall due to the La Niña system. “There is a possibility of localised flooding in KZN due to the amount of rainfall we are expecting. “What causes flooding is when rain that saturates…

A pensioner from Rosettenville in Joburg is R135 million richer after he successfully claimed his winning Powerball jackpot ticket from the November 25 draw. According to national lottery operator Ithuba, the pensioner was the second- highest Powerball jackpot winner for 2022. The player said: “I was so excited when I found that I won, I kept on screaming, ‘I got it! I got it!’” In a voice clip provided to Ithuba, the winner said he was excited to win and his win was a dream come true. “My life and my family’s life is going to change forever. I am so thankful to Ithuba for this amazing jackpot.” He told Ithuba he planned to buy a new house. The pensioner worked in the construction industry for 40 years and attributes…

Sixty-one people accused of instigating last year’s unrest may be charged with terrorism-related offences. The accused, who face charges of conspiracy to commit public violence, incitement to commit public violence and incitement to commit arson, appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday. “The State advised the court of its intention to make an application to the National Director of Public Prosecutions to charge the accused in terms of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorism and Related Act,” said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) provincial spokes- person, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara. She said the 61 accused remain out on bail or a warning and by order of the court, cannot post any information regarding the case on social media. “They also have to inform the investigating officer should they wish to leave KZN…

The more things change, the more they stay the same in the DA, and no one knows that better than the unending list of senior black leaders who were either booted out or resigned from the party. We know the DA is a party that does not take kindly to any kind of scrutiny, and we expect a few nasty words hurled at us over our assessment in how it handles pertinent issues. However, its double standards are too glaring to ignore, especially for a party that has ambitions to one day govern this country. Take, for example, the latest debacle involving Western Cape legislature speaker Masizole Mnqasela, whose membership the DA terminated this week. Apparently he lost his membership after the disparaging remarks he made about the party or…

Kenyan President William Ruto yesterday launched a low-interest credit scheme to boost financial access for the country’s poorest citizens, fulfilling a campaign promise made to voters. Ruto, who once sold chickens on the roadside, has vowed to lift the lives of Kenyans battling high inflation and unemployment. The 50-billion-shilling “hustler fund” will offer personal loans of up to 50 000 shillings (about R6 900) to any Kenyan with a cellphone and a mobile money account, with interest charged at 8% a year. The fund will eventually also offer small-scale enterprises and start-ups access to credit, with those loans set to be launched by the end of May next year. The new fund will require borrowers to set up a savings account, with 5% of the loan amount going into a…

QUETTA: A Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber rammed a police escort for a polio vaccination team in south-western Pakistan yesterday, killing four people and wounding more than 30, police said, just two days after the militants ended a ceasefire. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, near the Balochistan provincial capital, Quetta. Islamist militants in Pakistan often target polio vaccination teams, having spread rumours that the immunisation effort is a Western tool to spy and make Muslims infertile. Separately, the army said it killed 10 militants, but did not clarify whether they were TTP or Baloch separatists. | Reuters…

PARIS: The humble baguette, France’s staple bread, has made it onto the UN’s cultural heritage list. Paris-based UN heritage body Unesco yesterday voted to include the “artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread” on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which already includes around 600 traditions from over 130 countries. “The baguette is a daily ritual, a structuring element of the meal, synonymous with sharing and conviviality,” said Unesco. It has been a central part of the French diet for at least 100 years. One legend has it that the bakers of Napoleon Bonaparte came up with the elongated shape to make it easier for his troops to carry. | Reuters…

WITH rainbow flags and "OneLove" armbands, World Cup fans have protested against host Qatar's anti-LGBTQ policies, but many queer Arabs fear a Western solidarity push could do more harm than good. Gestures in support of the local LGBTQ community have unleashed a torrent of homophobia, activists and community members say, creating new risks for people who have long relied on discretion to survive. "It's not great to live in the shadows, but it's also not great to live under a spotlight," said a 32-year-old entrepreneur from neighbouring Gulf nation Bahrain, who requested anonymity for safety concerns. "The World Cup will end, Fifa will leave, and the hate will continue." LGBTQ rights in Qatar - where homosexuality is illegal - and concerns over the use of the rainbow flag during the…