Table of contents for 2022-06-22 in Mercury

THE new municipal manager for the eThekwini Municipality must be an individual who has managed a “big” municipality or organisation. That is the new amendment that has been added to the selection criteria for the job. The amendment specifies that the suitable candidate must have been in charge of an entity that has more than 1 500 staff members and a budget of R5 billion or more. A source aware of the changes said eThekwini was “no longer interested in candidates from municipalities that have a handful of wards”. The metro has restarted its search for a municipal manager after attempts to fill the vacancy in April failed. Its executive committee discussed the issue yesterday under confidential items and approved the recommendation to put out a new advert…

AS IF the Brits were not going through enough political turmoil, Larry, the Downing Street cat, could now have a rival … And, according to Sky News, the potential rival is named after Britain’s first Labour prime minister. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, has announced that he has a new kitten that he has named Attlee, after the first Labour prime minister, Clement Attlee. The Speaker is known for his love of animals, with a wide array of pets named after key figures from across the political spectrum. Attlee is a 4-month-old brown tabby and follows in the pawsteps of his predecessor, Patrick, a ginger tabby who died. He was named after a Tory peer. During his time in office, Patrick was elected Purr Minister in…

THINGS I really wish were a way of life in our various communities: Mutual respect expressed in the common courtesies of “please” and “thank you” and in greetings as simple as a friendly “hello” and “good morning”. Handwritten thank you notes and cards for kindnesses received. Offering seats on buses and trains to anyone and everyone who appears even a day older than you are. A helping hand with opening and closing doors or carrying packages. Friendly chit-chat with strangers in queues or waiting rooms or in airline departure areas. Respect for teachers and elders and a sense of humility rather than a sense of entitlement. Listening without interrupting. People who clean up after themselves. Children who do not interrupt adults when the adults are speaking.…

A Home Affairs official who allegedly issued a fraudulent passport to a Bangladeshi national who has become popularly known as, “Lebogang from Bangladesh”, was arrested on Monday. Last month, a man from Bangladesh, Fahim Kazi, tried to leave the country using a passport with his picture, and the name Lebogang Ndlovu. Kazi was arrested on May 12. Spokesperson for the Minister of Home Affairs, Siya Qoza, said the Home Affairs official who allegedly fraudulently issued the passport had been traced to the department's Benoni office. Qoza said the official was caught during a multi-disciplinary operation by the Department of Home Affairs Counter Corruption Branch together with the Hawks and other law-enforcement agencies. The official is on suspension and her disciplinary hearing is scheduled to take place this week, he said.…

An amount of R1 billion has been set aside by the eThekwini Municipality for new road construction and maintenance of existing roads. EThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said while the city had been making strides, especially in building access roads in rural areas, it had suffered a setback because of the recent floods. “While we are making great progress in the provision of access roads in the township and rural communities, it is rather unfortunate that some of this infrastructure was washed away by the recent floods. “Some of this road infrastructure was severely damaged and through the re-prioritisation of the budget, the city has allocated R1 billion for new roads and maintenance,” he said. Kaunda spoke on what had been achieved regarding road infrastructure, and said last year, they committed…

questions posed to Supreme Court of Appeal Judge President Mandisa Maya during her interview for the position of Deputy Chief Justice were about the exclusion of female candidates and not about the appointment of Raymond Zondo as Chief Justice of the Republic. This was clarified yesterday by Narend Singh, one of the commissioners of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). It was reported on Tuesday that Judge Maya had said she was disappointed when President Cyril Ramaphosa overlooked her and appointed Justice Zondo as the head of the judiciary. But yesterday Singh, who had interviewed Judge Maya, clarified that while the interactions were captured accurately in the story, the context of the question that he had asked the judge referred to appointments made in the Constitutional Court and not the Chief…

Police seized more than 260 bricks of cocaine from a vessel at the Durban harbour at the weekend. Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Bonnie Nxumalo said the Durban-based Hawks’ narcotics enforcement bureau was investigating where the cocaine originated from. “On Saturday, the Hawks team and SAPS Operational Response Services were alerted about a suspicious consignment in a vessel ferrying trucks. The team … recovered canvas bags with 265 bricks of cocaine. The drugs have an estimated value of R111 million. Preliminary investigation was conducted and the owners of the shipment could not be located,” she said. Nxumalo said the drugs were seized subject to an ongoing investigation. No arrest had been made yet. Six months ago, drugs worth about R240m were seized at the harbour. At the time, Hawks spokesperson…

Leaders from the 54 Commonwealth countries gather in Rwanda under tight security this week for a long overdue but controversial summit that was twice postponed by Covid. Flags, from the tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu to South Asian giant India, are flying at the airport and the palm tree-lined road leading to the city and the Kigali Convention Centre, where the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) takes place on Friday and Saturday. Some $4.7 million has been spent sprucing up the capital, with President Paul Kagame keen to portray “the country of a thousand hills” in the best possible light. But the event, which was supposed to have been held in June 2020, takes place amid outrage at Britain’s migrants settlement deal with Rwanda, and questions about the host…

Tens of thousands of workers walked out on the first day of Britain’s biggest rail strike in 30 years yesterday with passengers facing further chaos as both the unions and government vowed to stick to their guns in a row over pay. Some of the more than 40 000 rail staff gathered at picket lines, causing disruption across the network and leaving major stations deserted. The London Underground metro was also mostly closed due to a separate strike. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under pressure to do more to help Britons facing the toughest economic hit in decades, said the strike would harm businesses recovering from Covid-19. Unions have said the rail strikes could mark the start of a “summer of discontent” with teachers, medics, waste disposal workers and even barristers…

KYIV: Actor and humanitarian envoy Ben Stiller met in Ukraine with refugees and officials including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this week as part of his visit to the region on World Refugee Day. “It’s a great honour for me,” Stiller told Zelenskiy during a meeting in Kyiv.Stiller, a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency, marvelled to fellow actor Zelenskiy, about “the way that you’ve rallied the country, the world. You quit a great acting career for this”. Zelenskiy replied: “Not so great as you!” Stiller had earlier visited Ukrainian refugees in Poland. He said his aim was to stand in solidarity with the refugees. | Washington Post…

Orlando Pirates have done Bafana Bafana a massive favour by signing 21-year-old Baroka striker Evidence Makgopa, who is a key player in the national team’s rebuilding plan. Bafana coach Hugo Broos has come under fire for including Makgopa in the most recent Afcon qualifier squad to face Morocco after the striker had a lean spell of three league goals in 28 matches. In his defence, Broos said: “I keep confidence in him because if I let him down now, he’s gone, and I don’t want that because this is a young guy with qualities. “I hope that he will one day go to a club where they will work with him, and you will see, he will be a good striker.” At Pirates, Makgopa will be training far more intensely…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa is facing a multi-pronged offensive initiated by the country’s main opposition party who are demanding answers in the Phala Phala farm theft controversy that has engulfed the Presidency. Opposition parties have questioned the suspension of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane soon after she was asked to investigate the president, and more recently, the delays in the release of part five of the State Capture report. Ramaphosa has come under scrutiny since former spy boss Arthur Fraser submitted an affidavit to police on June 1 which alleges that the president did not report the theft of “large undisclosed sums of foreign currency in the form of US dollars concealed in his furniture at his Phala Phala residence”. Fraser has also alleged that Ramaphosa tried to cover up the February…

In March 2020, when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the nationwide Covid-19 shutdown and its regulations, very few people would have predicted what we are about to witness. The 2023 cohort will graduate with zero lecturer experience. Covid-19 has had a tremendous negative impact on a number of sectors, including the economy, health and education. A lot of literature has been produced in these sectors and others, but the nation is yet to quantify the real impact Covid-19 has had in changing the way things have been done, monitored, assessed and evaluated. In this article, I will zoom into the impact this pandemic has had on education, with specific reference to the higher education sector. Granted, our education sector has had its historic challenges that the authorities have been grappling with…

NINE of South Africa’s 26 universities have been ranked among the top institutions in the world in the 2023 QS World University Rankings. The rankings, published earlier this month, assessed more than 1 400 universities on eight key indicators, to capture university performance and help guide prospective students. According to the indicators, academic reputation accounted for 40% of the overall score, looking at the teaching and research quality provided. More than 130 000 expert opinions were collected from the higher education space, resulting in the ranking being the largest survey of academic opinion in the world. In terms of employment reputation, the group looked at how institutions prepared students for successful careers, and those which provided the most competent, innovative and effective graduates. Secondly, the faculty-to-student ratio was taken into…

Cabinet is expected to make a decision soon on the continued mandatory wearing of face masks. This comes on the back of recommendations from National Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla. In a letter, dated June 20, 2022, which was shared on social media, Phaahla also recommended that the regulations regarding the number of people allowed at gatherings be dropped. He also recommended that the travel restriction that those entering the country must have a Covid-19 vaccination certificate or a negative Covid-19 test result be ditched. In terms of gatherings, there is a limit of 50% of venue capacity for those who are vaccinated or have negative tests, while a maximum of 1 000 people are allowed indoors or 2 000 outdoors if not vaccinated or tested. “We have been monitoring…

The misuse of prescription and over-the-counter codeine-containing products is a global public health issue that needs to be addressed, said independent community pharmacies at the start of Drug Awareness Week. As the SA National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence marks Drug Awareness Week, the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA) has warned on the dangers of codeine addiction. “Getting your hands on opioids isn’t always the shady street corner drug deal we picture in our minds,” said Jackie Maimin, ICPA chief executive. The ICPA said codeine, commonly found in cold, cough medicines and headache tablets, is the most regularly used legal and readily available opioid in the world, and South Africa is one of the few countries in the world where codeine is still available over-the-counter. As a result, codeine…

A Durban ward councillor’s office was vandalised and robbed on Monday, allegedly by protesting residents, who were angry over power outages. Sibusiso Khwela, councillor for ward 19, which includes the areas of Klaarwater, Umbhedula, Insizakwazi, Shallcross, Savannah Park and St Wendolins, said that his office in Klaarwater was vandalised and items were stolen on Monday night. The guard’s room was also torched. Khwela said he believed that protesting residents in Klaarwater were responsible for the incident and he had opened a case with the police. He said that on Monday, Klaar- water experienced an electricity outage for several hours. “I was contacted by residents early on Monday regarding the power outage and I explained to them that eThekwini Municipality was aware of the situation and had assigned technicians to repair…

Fix broken education system; embark on inter-generational decolonisation mission THE rate of youth unemployment in South Africa remained unchanged at 66.50% in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 66.50% in the third quarter of 2021. This is according to the latest Stats SA data. The situation of about 70% of our youth aimlessly roaming the streets or being involved in unsavoury, if not criminal, activity is a scary picture. This army of economically inactive and unproductive but desperate and restive members of our race- and class-divided society is a ticking bomb that will take only a tiny spark to explode. It is long overdue that our country’s approach to youth development and empowerment is overhauled with a view to taking extraordinary steps that will ensure that our youth become architects…

Two members of Israel’s outgoing coalition government vowed yesterday to prevent a comeback by ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu, their fellow right winger, as the country braced for a fifth election in three years with polling predicting no clear winner. Sapped by infighting that ended his razor-thin parliamentary majority, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday announced he would move to dissolve the Knesset, with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid assuming top office in a caretaker capacity. A preliminary vote on that motion is set for today. The prospect of an election as early as October delighted Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader who was toppled a year ago after Bennett mustered a rare coalition of hard-right, liberal and Arab politicians. Surveys have consistently given Netanyahu’s Likud around 30 of parliament’s 120 seats, which would make…

Russia threatened yesterday to punish Lithuania with measures that would have a “serious negative impact” for blocking some shipments by rail to Moscow’s Baltic Sea enclave Kaliningrad, the latest dispute over sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine. On the ground in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s separatist proxies said they were advancing towards Kyiv’s main battlefield bastion. A Ukrainian official described a lull in fighting there as the “calm before the storm”. US Attorney General Merrick Garland was expected to become the latest international dignitary to visit Ukraine, where a Justice Department official said Garland would discuss efforts to prosecute war crimes. European countries, faced with the prospect that war and sanctions could lead Moscow to cut gas deliveries next winter, were searching for ways to protect their economies and keep…

Cambodian villagers on the Mekong River have caught what researchers say is the world’s biggest freshwater fish ever recorded, a stingray that weighed in at 300kg and took around a dozen men to haul to shore. Christened Boramy – meaning “full moon” in the Khmer language – because of her bulbous shape, the four-metre long female was released back into the river after being electronically tagged to allow scientists to monitor her movement and behaviour. “This is very exciting news because it was the world’s largest fish,” said biologist Zeb Hogan, ex-host of the Monster Fish show on the National Geographic Channel and now part of a conservation project on the river. “It is also exciting news because it means that this stretch of the Mekong River is still healthy…

After the recent horrendous floods that swept through KwaZulu-Natal that resulted in widespread death and destruction and untold misery and human suffering, political analyst and writer Eusebius McKaiser posed the following question: “If God exists, why didn’t he or she or they prevent the hundreds of deaths in KZN over the past few days? “It doesn’t make sense to hold on to the idea of an all-loving, all-powerful and all-knowing God if natural disasters like this cause such untold suffering.” Now here’s a question that will raise eyebrows, and have defenders of faith getting ready for battle. It is also rumination time for nihilists and atheists (those who do not believe in the existence of God), the agnostic (who believe the existence of God cannot be proven) and the Unitarian…

Two pedestrians died when a taxi knocked into them in Sunset Avenue, Chatsworth, yesterday morning. Robert Mckenzie, spokesperson for KZN Emergency Medical Services, said the minibus had knocked a group of pedestrians. “Sadly, two women sustained fatal injuries. Paramedics treated three other patients at the scene.” Two of the patients sustained minor injuries and one serious injuries. All three were taken to hospital. Police were investigating. Meanwhile, two ER24 paramedics were killed on the N1, Limpopo in the early hours of yesterday. The ambulance they were travelling in collided with a stationary truck, spokesperson Russel Meiring said. ER24 would work with authorities to establish the cause of the collision. “We offer our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of our ER24 brothers,” he said. | Mercury Correspondent…

ANC members in KwaZulu-Natal will have a chance to express their position on the highly contested step-aside rule at the ruling party’s provincial elective conference. However, only the national elective conference in December can effect changes to the controversial policy, which many party members are fiercely opposed to. This is according to ANC provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli. Briefing the media yesterday, Ntuli conceded that many party members were opposed to the policy, whose application was seen to be selective. He also dismissed suggestions that there were moves by either the party’s provincial leadership or the National Executive Committee to force eThekwini chairperson Zandile Gumede to resign from her position. “I sit in the National Executive Committee and am not aware of any instruction directly or indirectly from the head office…

THE EFF needs to distinguish between parliamentary and extra-parliamentary politics. Democracy and disruption are not synonymous, but rather antonymous. There is no freeway and leeway for the EFF, but rather rules that are applicable to everyone in Parliament. Just like in any game or sport there are rules. In sporting codes, like soccer, players and fans do not agree with all the rules, but they cannot be changed during the game. What must be borne in mind is that there are high expectations of Parliament. These expectations are correct because it is like the family homestead of the country. People must not break the rules they swear to respect, or violate them and play the victim although they are the culprits. Using women to break the rules and claim gender-based…

Burkina Faso’s ruling junta is creating two military zones in the north and east, reputed havens for jihadists, where “human presence is forbidden”, the army said late yesterday. The decision was taken at a defence council convened yesterday by junta leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba to discuss the country’s “worrying security situation”. “The council decided to create two zones of military interest in the East and (northern) Sahel regions,” the head of domestic operations, Lieutenant Colonel Yves Didier Bamouni, said. He said the aim was to make it easier to combat “the terrorist hydra”. The areas are in the northern Soum province bordering Mali, and the protected natural reserves between Pama and the “W” National Park in the east. All human activity and human presence will be banned in…

HONG KONG: A desperate developer in China’s softening property market is coming up with a novel promotion to attract buyers, recently offering to take wheat and garlic as down payments. An advertisement of Henan-based Central China Real Estate that had “swop wheat for house” in the title, says buyers can use the crop, priced at 2 yuan per catty, a Chinese unit of mass equal to 500g, to offset as much as 160 000 yuan (R383 900) of down payment. A company sales agent said the promotion, aimed mainly at farmers in the region, would end on July 10. Property developers are scrambling to boost sales after a nosedive in transactions. | Reuters…

Kaizer Chiefs continued to lead the surge in transfer-window activity from Premier Soccer League clubs as they released two more players yesterday after announcing seven new recruits the previous night. Ramahlwe Mphahlele and Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya were the latest pair to be shown the exit doors at Naturena, with the remodelling of the squad in full swing. The Amakhosi stepped up their preparations for the 2022/23 season by adding seven more players to the squad on Monday. The arrival of Dillan Solomons, Kamohelo Mahlatsi and Lehlogonolo George Matlou from Swallows FC, Ashley du Preez and Zitha Kwinika from Stellenbosch and Siyethemba Sithebe from AmaZulu FC are a signal of intent from Chiefs, while 18-year-old Mduduzi Shabalala was also rewarded with a three-year first team contract for his fine displays in…