Table of contents for 2022-07-21 in Mercury

The Insurance and Banking Staff Association (Ibsa), a union representing workers in the banking sector, has slammed the move by Standard Bank to cut ties with Sekunjalo Group’s Independent Media by closing its banking facilities. This comes in the wake of a notice of intention issued by the bank to sever its banking relationship with one of South Africa’s oldest publishers. The union’s legal head, Luke Bradley, said the move put at risk about 1 400 jobs of workers and their dependants. He said Ibsa was concerned that the latest development was also likely to encroach upon media freedom. “In a democratic South Africa, we are all entitled to freedom of speech and Ibsa is severely concerned whenever such freedom is put in danger,” he said. Bradley said the union…

Hundreds of metres above the village of Jenakpeng in northern Ghana, a small drone locked its sights on six airplanes parked in the middle of a verdant field kilometres away from the nearest runway. The drone’s 16-year-old pilot, Jenakpeng native Abdul-Latif Zakaria, stood with his father Danaa in the shadow of a vintage Antonov cropduster, one of six planes that world-renowned artist Ibrahim Mahama has transformed into a community learning space. In 2021, Mahama bought the planes using proceeds from $1 million worth of sales to add to his Red Clay Studio, a multi-acre compound that functions as an open-door, education hub. During the school year, crowds of students like Zakaria attend lectures on the physics of flight, computer science, basic engineering and more – free of charge. “It’s not…

Last week, the DA revealed that there has been an almost tenfold increase in the number of unemployed teachers in KwaZulu-Natal classrooms. This after the 2020 figure of 215 climbed to more than 2 800 this year. Provincial Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu’s department has now informed the public that these staff will not be removed – or have their functions repurposed – and that they will also not be replaced by any of the many qualified educators sitting at home without jobs. This is totally unacceptable, particularly when there are teachers who are skilled, fit and able to make a valuable contribution in our classrooms. It should also be an intolerable situation for the many parents whose children are being taught by individuals not adequately equipped to teach. It is…

Many results, or rather a lack of them, in this sunny 21st century country boggle the mind continuously. Ministers and others, already found guilty of wrongdoing in one form or another, are still at large. Criminals, already condemned, pass us in the street, smiling away. The Zondo boys are still laughing away in total arrogance. No jail term, even after the Next Coming, for sure. The latest failure to find solutions to the East London tavern tragedy is another everlasting comma that will probably vanish, as soon as public ears and eyes lose interest and move on to the next mind-boggling event. Nothing happens in this country. No action. No reaction. Methanol this, and carbon monoxide that. Alcohol content this and nicotine that. Is this a joke? Are those that…

The largest magnetite consignment in the Richards Bay Bulk Terminal’s history was recently loaded, as the 300m MV Seacon Africa sailed for China a day ahead of schedule. The operational team had averaged a loading rate of 1 699 tons per hour throughout the vessel’s five days – 54% above the normal loading rate. Newly appointed managing executive at the Richards Bay Terminals Kwazi Mabaso said: “We loaded MV Seacon Africa consistently and with few delays, thanks to the leadership of the terminal manager and his team as well as the co-operation between ourselves and the Palabora Mining Company team we have executed with.” A total of 39 magnetite trains pulling 80 wagons each were offloaded at a cycle of 18 wagons per hour through the terminal’s Tippler 2 that…

The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) has said that over the past year, South Africans have faced increased risk of becoming a victim of fraud. SAFPS chief executive Manie van Schalkwyk said this was particularly concerning given the current economic climate. He added that biometrics was adding an extra sophisticated layer of security to try to prevent financial crime. However, this makes fraudsters more insistent. Van Schalkwyk said according to recent statistics, Gauteng is the province which has the highest fraud stats. The statistics compared the first five months of 2022 to the same period in 2021. “The province makes up 62% of the country’s total fraud incidents and the number of fraud incidents that were recorded in 2022 increased by 117% over the number of incidents reported in…

Economic analysts have said while it was not likely that power utility Eskom would secure a 32.7% tariff increase from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), any increase would bring more pain for consumers already under financial strain. While Nersa still needs to publish Eskom’s tariff increase application for public comment and the amount being sought has not been confirmed, it has been widely noted that the power utility will seek an increase of about 32.7% for the financial year 1 April 2023 - 31 March 2024. The economic analysts said the double-digit increase demonstrated the poor management of Eskom. The country has been experiencing one of its worst rounds of power cuts over the past few weeks which Eskom attributed to a workers’ strike and a number…

The European Commission yesterday urged EU countries to reduce demand for natural gas by 15% over the coming months to secure winter stocks and defeat Russian “blackmail”. Announcing an emergency plan, EU commissioners also asked member states to give Brussels special powers to impose compulsory energy rationing if Russia cuts off Europe’s gas lifeline. A total shutdown of imports or a sharp reduction in the east to west flow could have a catastrophic effect on the European economy, shutting factories and forcing households to turn down the heat. Last year, Russia represented 40% of the EU’s total gas imports and any further disruption to supply would also push consumer prices higher and raise the risk of a deep recession. “Russia is blackmailing us,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen…

A British firm says it has produced the world’s first bioplastic vinyl record, which it hopes will reduce the need for highly toxic PVC. Bioplastics are derived from sources such as sugars and starches, rather than oil or gas, and do not create any toxic waste in their production. The new bioplastic vinyl by UK firm Evolution has been endorsed by NGO Music Declares Emergency, a climate change campaign group set up in 2019 by artists and music industry professionals. “If Evolution can deliver an alternative guilt-free vinyl, it could get rid of one of the key polluting elements of the music industry completely,” said the NGO’s co-founder Lewis Jamieson. All vinyl records are made from Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, described by Greenpeace as “the most environmentally damaging plastic”, whose…

New York: Vaccinations may not be enough to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus and the variants. But using nasal spray as boosters may help keep the majority of the population free from serious illness from the disease, suggests research. Published this week in the journal Science Immunology, the research documents for the first time the underperforming immune response in the airways of people with Covid-19 vaccinations compared to those with natural infection. The research validates scientists’ suspicion that greater immunity to the coronavirus can be developed starting where the virus first takes root, the mucus membranes of the nose. | IANS…

A joint operation between the SAPS and a private security firm provided a breakthrough in the Sweetwaters Tavern shooting when four men were arrested. Bonginkosi Genius Zaca, 27; Thembelani Sanele Malevu, 23; Melizwe Advocate Mjwara, 22 and Sabelo Felix Mabaso, 36, made a brief appearance in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday. They were remanded in custody. They are facing four counts of murder and eight counts of attempted murder. This stems from an incident on July 9 when a group of gunmen entered Samukelisiwe Tavern in Sweetwaters and opened fire on patrons, fatally wounding four and injuring another eight. According to a report on the case, the operational team that made the breakthrough, was made up of Magma Security and Investigations, the Provincial SAPS Task Team, the National Intervention and…

THE Women’s Legal Centre Trust has headed to court to defend the rights of two mothers from what they said was “unlawful interference” by the Department of Social Development, after the women were allegedly being persuaded to keep their biological children whom they gave up for adoption. According to the trust, both minor children have been in the uninterrupted care of their prospective adoptive parents for more than three years, and “have been thriving”. In both cases, the Children’s Court found the adoptions to be in the children’s best interests. However, the trust yesterday argued in a virtual hearing in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg that the provincial department has continued to undermine the women’s rights. They were 23 and 27 years old respectively, and both full-time students…

It is ironic that on the anniversary of Mandela’s birthday, when people are called to remember his role in ushering in a dispensation based on the rule of law, President Ramaphosa, as the first citizen pledged to uphold the Constitution, was reported as refusing to acknowledge his wrongdoing regarding more than R60 million in undeclared foreign exchange found on his farm (The Mercury, July 18). Yet, to add insult to injury, Ramaphosa insisted that he would not “stop the fight against corruption and wrongdoing”. Unless he comes clean about that cash stored on his farm, he needs to understand that his credibility in fighting corruption is zero. But it seems that upholding the Constitution – to which he is pledged – is only of secondary importance to what he says…

Our beautiful Earth is burning. The US and Europe is in the grip of a deadly heatwave. Soaring temperatures have set several countries ablaze. California is burning again. Fanned by dry winds, raging wildfires have devastated large parts of Spain, Portugal, southern France and Greece. Thousands have abandoned their homes and fled. Farms and woodlands have been reduced to cinders. Sadly, a thousand people have lost their lives in the infernos. It’s apocalyptic. It’s hell on Earth. And across the English Channel, the British are sweltering under intense heat. The Europeans and the British are not used to high temperatures. Their summers are like our winters. But this summer, Britain is in the grip of an intense heatwave. For the first time, a temperature of 40.3ºC was recorded at Conningsby…

WHAT brings you joy? It doesn’t take much to please me: It brings me inordinate, even quizzical, joy to find a lost sock and to reunite it with its mate. It’s a shot of pure joy when either of my sons asks me how I’m doing or how my day is going. I really like it when friends, whom I introduce to each other, end up doing something wonderful together. Being in a position to send a little cash to another country to buy a child’s soccer kit and know they can be part of a team delivers a joy I can hardly describe. Having sufficient excess income to be able to tip well, knowing the server is a single mother working several jobs to make ends meet. Meeting the…

Giuseppe Paterno, who is 98, has become Italy’s oldest graduate – again. Paterno has added a Masters in history and philosophy from the University of Palermo to an initial degree in the same subjects he earned there two years ago. He passed the latest degree with top marks, again, his proud family said on Facebook. He has no plans to rest and wants to write a novel using his trusty typewriter. Born in 1923, Paterno grew up in a poor family in Sicily and despite his love of books and studying, he wasn’t able to go to university. Instead he served in the navy during World War II from the age of 20 and went on to be a railway worker. In a society focused on rebuilding after the war,…

A 36-year-old man who was convicted of raping his teenage stepdaughter has been handed a life sentence. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, was convicted in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court this week. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said that the accused, who lives in Northdale, had raped the victim on numerous occasions between September 2016 and June 2017. The court heard that he was married to the victim’s mother. Provincial spokesperson for the NPA Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said he would rape the 13-year-old girl while her mother was at work. “The child did not tell her mother for fear that her mother would not believe her. She reported the rapes to her cousin.” | Jolene Marriah-Maharaj…

Strong measures are taken to control sources of infection Coming back from my annual leave from China recently, I have been frequently asked about China’s approach to containing Covid-19. Based on my personal experience and observation, the dynamic zero-Covid policy is a MUST for China. M: Matter of Life and death M means masks, obviously, yet it means more a matter of life and death. The Communist Party of China (CPC) has always placed people’s well-being in a paramount position throughout its history. Chinese Communists are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, for the interests of the people. “Safety and health are the prerequisite for human development and progress,” Xi Jinping, general secretary of CPC Central Committee, stressed. Facing the ravaging pandemic, the CPC gave top priority to protecting…

Amnesty International has called on the Nigerian authorities to probe the death of seven young men in the country’s restive southeast, where separatist tensions are on the rise. Operatives of a government-backed security unit called Ebubeagu are alleged to have killed the seven on Sunday in the Oru area of Imo state, Amnesty said in a statement yesterday. The watchdog said the victims had gone to attend a wedding and were returning from the ceremony when they were shot dead. “It is horrifying that unarmed young men who clearly posed no threat to anyone were gunned down, in utter disdain for the right to life,” said Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International Nigeria. “Such killings cannot be justified under any circumstances whatsoever.” Amnesty called for an investigation, prosecution of those…

LOS ANGELES: Priscilla Presley has rejected the idea that Elvis was “racist”, citing the influence of African-American musicians in his music. The 77-year-old businesswoman, who was married to the King of Rock ’n’ Roll for six years until their divorce in 1973, has defended her late ex-husband against the idea he was “prejudiced”. Appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored, she said: “He was not a racist. He’s never been a racist. Elvis had friends, black friends, friends from all over. He loved their music. He loved their style … He loved being around blacks … He was just not prejudiced in any way. And not racist in any way.” | Bang Showbiz…

TASHKENT: More than 4 000 Uzbekistan residents were admitted to hospital because of the abnormal heatwave this week, the Uzbek Ministry of Health said yesterday. In Uzbekistan, the hottest period of the year is from June 25 to August 5. During the day, the air in Tashkent warms up to 40-43°C, in the south of the country – up to 45°C. “From July 17 to date, July 20, the republic’s ambulance service received 130 115 calls,” the head of emergency service said. Over 23 400 people contacted the ambulance service with complaints of high blood pressure, shortness of breath, asthma attacks and other chronic diseases, with 4 215 of them hospitalised. | IANS…

Local bowls interest will focus on Wayne Ritmuller as he does duty for the South African lawn bowls team at the Commonwealth Games which start in Birmingham on July 29. The Stella Park star and his teammates will be hoping that history will repeat itself, as they will be playing their matches at Victoria Park greens in Royal Leamington Spa, which have proved to be a happy hunting ground for South African teams in the past. I was, as a journalist, fortunate to be covering the Women's Outdoor World Championships in 1996 where South Africa first tasted success. It was a tough two weeks, with players required to compete in three matches a day starting at 9am and finishing around 9pm and South Africa team won the overall title…

THE recent surge of violent crimes in KwaZulu-Natal has placed into sharp focus the need to have an effective crime intelligence-gathering division within the SAPS. This was the frank admission by KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala, who spoke exclusively to The Mercury this week. His admission on police weaknesses comes in the wake of violent crimes including a tavern shooting in Sweetwaters and the rape and murder of two women and a girl in Sobantu Township in Pietermaritzburg in recent weeks. The incidents have led to questions from opposition parties, including the IFP, over the state of policing in the province, especially the ability of the police to stop criminal acts before they get committed. IFP member of the provincial legislature Blessed Gwala argued recently that lack of depth in the…

ETHEKWINI Municipality, which has come under fire for its slow pace in delivering services, wants a review of procurement processes which are stalling service delivery. Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda voiced his concerns about the slow procurement processes this week. During the executive committee (exco) meeting on Tuesday, Kaunda called on city officials to assess the possibility of decentralising the supply chain management (SCM) unit. The call came after a tense engagement with city officials who had come under scrutiny for failing to finalise a tender to procure technology that could improve the functioning of the city’s call centre for the past three years. The tender was meant to integrate the call centre from Water, Electricity and Revenue Services to improve customer satisfaction and response. The exchange with the officials came…

It is interesting to read that there is a call for the step-aside rule to be removed. Am I surprised? Of course not, I expect no less from the current rulers. This will allow the scurrilous in our government and councils to continue their corrupt, thieving ways, with no consequence and no prosecution since, as it stands, every attempt at bringing those miscreants to book is thwarted by every blocking and delaying tactic that can possibly be used, as evidenced by our former No 1. The law is already hobbled by corruption and intimidation and threats whereby investigators and prosecutors would rather not perform their function for fear of death threats and possibly being called racist, and slow action from the NPA and the police. This proposal, if actioned, will…

THE socks are getting smelly in the American state of Missouri. A fellow in the city of Springfield has launched a class-action lawsuit against a socks manufacturer that’s refusing to honour its lifetime warranty on its product, according to Associate Press. Kent Slaughter says that after years of exchanging his “Redhead Lifetime Guarantee All-Purpose Wool Socks” every time they wore out, the company – Bass Pro – changed its policy in 2021 before he tried to return four pairs of socks. Instead of getting others with a lifetime warranty, Slaughter says he was given socks that carried only a 60-day warranty. The lawsuit says Bass Pro is misrepresenting the socks in its ads because it says they are “The last sock you’ll ever need to buy” because of the lifetime…

Not all financial woes can be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown period. Sometimes the shoe pinched simply due to a downturn in the economy, a judge said in an application in which the owner of a Ford Ranger who could not keep up with his instalments was ordered to return the vehicle to the dealership. FFS Finance South Africa turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, for an order confirming the cancellation of an instalment of sale agreement between the parties and for an order directing the car’s owner to return the Ford Ranger. The owner admitted he was in breach of his obligations by being in arrears with payments, but told the court it was impossible for him to keep up with the instalments due to…

To mark this year’s Mandela Day, East Coast Radio (ECR) partnered with Futurelife to spend the day at the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Waterloo Crisis Centre. The two brands started off the day by serving a nutritious porridge breakfast. ECR also prepared meals and packed food parcels for the children to take home. The station’s Breakfast team also replaced some of the broken doors at the centre, and donated a gas stove and other kitchen utensils. Children from the local community spend the day at the centre which runs a daycare to assist working parents who do not have the financial means to pay for childcare. “Mandela Month holds a very special place in the hearts of most South Africans and people really dig deep to support initiatives that provide…

The acting principal of Grosvenor Girls’ High School has been suspended by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education. The department said it took the decision in line with recommendations made by an independent panel that uncovered racism and financial mismanagement at the Bluff school. “We are implementing the recommendations of the independent panel fully,” the department stated. The probe was launched after pupils at Grosvenor Girls’ High School staged a protest outside the school against alleged racism in February this year. In March, the department appointed an independent panel to investigate allegations of racism at the school. The panel received evidence from former and current pupils, members of the teaching staff, general school workers, School Governing Body members and parents. Following the release of the report, KZN Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu…

THE arrests of a Gauteng farmer and 97 illegal miners – Lesotho nationals – by the police is a step in the right direction in the fight against organised crime and lawlessness in the country. Last week, an SAPS multi-disciplinary team pounced on the group on a farm in Heidelberg. They seized mining equipment and implements. Spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said the illegal miners had been operating from the farm. “The team also discovered that all the suspects – between the ages of 18 and 35 – are Lesotho nationals, and the majority of them were in the country illegally. Three unlicensed firearms and 570 rounds of ammunition were also seized. The firearms have been taken in for ballistic testing to determine if they were utilised in any other crimes,”…

Sri Lankan MPs voted in acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new president yesterday, hoping his long experience in government would help pull the country out of a crippling economic and political crisis. The six-time prime minister garnered 134 votes in the 225-member parliament, despite public anger with the ruling elite after months of severe shortages of fuel, food and medicines. “Our country is facing massive challenges and we have to work on a new strategy to fulfil the aspirations of the people,” the 73-year-old leader said after his victory. “Now everyone must come together.” The response of protesters was broadly muted, with just about 100 people gathered on the steps of the presidential secretariat, but some vowed to turn their focus to dislodging Wickremesinghe. “We’re shocked. He’s a person…

Tehran gave assurances yesterday that its nuclear policy was unchanged and that it still adhered to a fatwa banning weapons of mass destruction, after an Iranian official said the country was able to make atomic bombs. It is the second time in the past 18 months that Iran has reiterated its opposition to nuclear weapons following comments by an official. “In regard to the topic of weapons of mass destruction, we have the fatwa”, or religious edict, by Iran’s supreme leader that prohibits the manufacture of such weapons, said foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani. The fatwa declares the use of atomic bombs and other weapons of mass destruction to be “haram”, or forbidden by Islam, and it is often cited by Iranian authorities as a guarantee of Tehran’s good intentions.…

London: To one last round of cheers from his recently mutinous MPs, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson bowed out of parliament yesterday, signing off by saying: “Hasta la vista, baby!” Johnson defended his three years in office, from Brexit and Covid-19 vaccines to Ukraine, and praised the candidates battling to succeed him, as he fended off opposition attacks at his last session of Prime Minister’s Questions. The House of Commons breaks for its summer recess today, and the new leader is to be announced when it reconvenes on September 5. Labour leader Keir Starmer quoted bitter attacks hurled against each other and their own government’s record by the three remaining Conservative candidates: Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt. Johnson’s Downing Street operation is accusing ex-finance minister Sunak of orchestrating…

Washington: The US House of Representatives passed a bill on marriage equality in a 267-157 vote, with 47 Republicans joining all Democrats in supporting the measure. The Respect for Marriage Act, which calls for the repeal of the Defence of Marriage Act, will face an battle in the evenly divided Senate. Signed into law in 1996, the Defence of Marriage Act defines marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman and allows states to refuse to recognise same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. The White House said the bill “would enshrine the right to federal recognition of marriage for same-sex and interracial couples.” | IANS…