Table of contents for 2022-10-24 in Mercury

PREMIER Fishing celebrated its 70th birthday yesterday having grown from humble beginnings in 1952 into a Level-1 BBBEE group with internationally recognised brands, a fleet of vessels, and loyal staff, some of whom have celebrated a 40-year tenure at the group. What started as a collection of several subsidiaries listed on the JSE in March 2017 as a single group, and became one of South Africa’s foremost fishing entities. It was voted number one in the “Food, Beverages, and Other” sector by Integrated Reporting & Assurance Services, and it continues to expand, operating across four continents – Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa. Newly appointed chief executive Sooren Ramdenee said: “It has not taken me long to realise I have stepped into a company that truly values its people. It…

Analysts have questioned the timing of the release of a response plan by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the steps the government is taking to implement the state capture commission’s recommendations. Last night in a public address, Ramaphosa outlined the key actions to be taken to implement the state capture commission recommendations. He announced that he had handed over a document to Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Maphisa-Nqakula, which sets out the approach to the commission’s findings and recommendations, the methodology for developing the response plan and the implementation of the response. However, questions have been raised about the state capture report compiled by inquiry chairperson Chief Justice Raymond Zondo after the Pretoria High Court earlier this month approved his application for corrections to the report. He applied for the…

YOU couldn’t make it up. Is this a Charlie Chaplin movie? Boris Johnson gets the boot as prime minister in Old Blighty, he gets the heave-ho from his Tories who are sick of him. Liz Truss takes over with a play-play economic programme possibly learnt on the Monopoly board. There’s an outcry from everywhere – the Bank of England, the financial fundis, from all over the world – and the pound sterling plummets. Ordinary working people are about to take a financial hammering. Truss then fires her chancellor and gets in a middle-of-the-road Tory who’s doing his best to sort out the mess. There’s chaos in the House of Commons, strong-arm stuff on Tory MPs who might be thinking of voting the wrong way. And then – flourish of trumpets…

The principle of merit can be applied only when all things are equal. South Africa’s pathetic and, yes, disgraceful education system for the majority of our children, renders most pupils unemployable. When standards drop, so does income potential and contribution to a viable society which, I believe, should be the reason we are conceived. The ruling party cannot control educated people, who are taught to think and question. It seems the ANC believes it is best to keep the majority subservient through poor education, dependence on grants, giving temporary employment for some, and making empty promises for their vote. Let us pray this will end with the next election.…

Social media has changed the method of communication and is a great mechanism for accessing information and instantly interacting with friends, colleagues and family. Considering that, I would like to remind readers to be cautious when sharing other people’s posts on social media, such as WhatsApp or Facebook. It is not always wise to forward everything on social media. If you do choose to circulate a message or forward someone else’s post on social media, think and think again. Be certain it is not defamatory or misinformation or derogatory. The author and anyone who forwards dubious and questionable messages could face the risk of a defamation grievance and possible legal action. The Constitution is clear on the right to freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is not absolute; it comes…

HUMAN rights and non-profit organisation Sonke Gender Justice has called on the government to prioritise the safety of sex workers following the recent brutal killings of sex workers in central Johannesburg. The discovery of six decomposed bodies inside a panel beater’s shop by a security guard after he noticed a strange smell coming from the building left the country reeling in shock. The accused in the matter, Sifiso Mkhwanazi, made a brief appearance at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court last week and the case was postponed to October 25. In a statement, the organisation revealed that President Cyril Ramaphosa made a commitment in March 2019 to decriminalise sex work and to the safeguarding of sex workers’ human rights at the signing of the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Declaration. “Two years later,…

WITH the festive season around the corner, experts in the banking sector are warning consumers to be on the lookout for fraudsters trying to make a quick buck. This comes after the South African Banking Risk Information Centre released annual crime statistics on banking fraud last week. The report revealed that the amount of money lost to card fraud increased by 17% from R993.5 million in 2020 to R1.1 billion last year. Although there was an overall increase in card fraud in 2021, debit cards remained the card type with the highest fraud amount, with R664.4m lost to scams last year. Credit card fraud also increased by 40.7% to R240.9m last year. “The elevated fraud losses during 2021, when compared to 2020, can be attributed to the relaxation of the…

The unprecedented public criticism by three former presidents directed at the sitting head of state demonstrates the level of the rot in public office, and discontent this has brought both within and outside the ANC. This is the observation from analysts after former presidents Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership on different public platforms at the weekend. Yesterday the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal expressed concern about public spats in the media involving ANC leaders, saying it had noted a very strange occurrence wherein the leaders are attacking the sitting ANC president Ramaphosa and the ANC publicly. “Clearly, such an exercise is eroding the standing of the organisation in society. Whilst we respect their rights, as enshrined in the Constitution, of the freedom of speech, we…

SUB-Saharan African (SSA) economies, including South Africa’s, have been subjected to a reality check in recent weeks, coming not only from the IMF and the OECD, but also from several African watchdogs. The prognosis for Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and his SSA counterparts is neither encouraging nor flattering. The narrative is largely the same, exacerbated by the impacts of the pandemic, the Ukraine conflict, and global economic shocks, especially rising inflation, interest rates, the cost of living and public debt. Any post-Covid-19 recovery, let alone normalisation, has been put on the back burner, at least for the near-to-medium term. Antoinette M Sayeh, deputy IMF manager, while agreeing that many developing countries needed debt relief, could not help but inject realpolitik. “For debt relief to be impactful countries also need to…

Arsenal dropped points for only the second time this season as Stuart Armstrong’s equaliser forced the Premier League leaders to settle for a 1-1 draw against Southampton yesterday. Mikel Arteta’s side went in front through Granit Xhaka’s first-half strike at St Mary’s but Armstrong levelled after the interval as Arsenal paid the price for failing to convert several chances to increase their advantage. It was a rare slip from the Gunners, who had won nine of their 10 previous league games this season, with their only defeat coming at Manchester United. The end of Arsenal’s eight-game winning run in all competitions leaves them two points clear of second-placed Manchester City, after 11 games. While Arteta will be frustrated that Arsenal squandered the lead given to them by Swiss midfielder Xhaka,…

The concept of a flying car is not new – inventors have been trying to add wings to wheeled motor vehicles for decades, with only limited success. Jim Dukhovny, founder of Alef Aeronautics, hopes to change that equation. His firm has come up with a novel approach to moving terrestrial vehicles into the skies and has attracted a prominent venture capitalist. Alef’s Model A looks less like the flying cars in old movies and more like Bruce Willis’ flying taxi in the 1997 film The Fifth Element. The appearance – which features a body that flips on its side to become the wing after lift-off – is just one aspect that attracted Tim Draper, an early investor in Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc and SpaceX. “The design is extraordinary. The sides…

The Mercury will be helping the people of South Africa by supporting Anivesh Singh on his brilliant efforts towards a fireworks-free Deepavali. He adds to the call by encouraging a vegetarian celebration. What a courageous call in the face of the monstrous ways publicity misleads people into believing what Deepavali is not. Only the most uneducated in the Hindu community associate the festival with fireworks. Business people do so for financial reasons. If people are aware of the ravages to our environment, they will not even mention the word. Fireworks have nothing to do with the deeper significance of what the triumph of good over evil implies. Deepavali is associated with our Divine teachers Bhagavan Sri Rama and Bhagavan Sri Krishna and our reverence for them. It is humiliating to…

I think I have come across a new type of municipal beneficiary. These people wearing overalls emblazoned with the letters “PEP” have descended upon Hillcrest in recent weeks and wander around the CBD in groups of three. I do not call them municipal workers since I have never seen them doing any work, only walking around carrying around new and unused brooms and spades. I have also seen them in shopping precincts in their overalls, with one woman carrying an expensive leather handbag over her shoulder. Perhaps the city manager could help to explain the purpose of these people. I assume they are connected to the municipality since I cannot imagine a private company which needs to make a profit to stay alive placing its people on the streets to…

A man who was on the SAPS wanted list for the murder of a taxi boss earlier this year was finally captured after the suspect and his brother went to a hospital in Ladysmith for treatment following an accident with a firearm. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said police officers from the Provincial Organised Crime Unit received information about two brothers who had been admitted to a hospital in Ladysmith on Friday. Gwala said the brothers were admitted to hospital due to an accidental discharge of a firearm. She said the team proceeded to the hospital where the brothers were found. “It was established that one of the brothers, 37, was wanted in the murder case where Siyabonga ‘Nginga’ Zwane, 46, was shot and killed on June 22, 2022…

Tributes and condolence messages continue to pour in for former Isipingo Ward 90 councillor Sunil Brijmohan, who was gunned down by two men on Friday in eManzimtoti. A funeral service for Brijmohan, who leaves behind his wife, two children and mother was held yesterday. Community activists and former MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Ravi Pillay were among those who attended. Brijmohan, who served as the Isipingo Ward 90 councillor from 2016 to 2021, was described as a patriot by Pillay. “It is with shock and devastation that we learnt of the murder of Sunil Brijmohan on Friday. We mourn with Sunil’s family, the passing of a community hero and stalwart. I first met Sunil 15 years ago. He was outspoken and never afraid to tackle issues that…

AFTER a week of recovery in global stock prices, financial markets now await the European Central Bank’s interest rate decision on Thursday, the US non-farm payrolls next Friday and the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision next Wednesday. The uncertainty of the outcomes of these two events led to great volatility in most equity markets last week, as well as pressure on emerging markets currencies like the rand. The rand ended the previous Friday weaker at R18.36 to the dollar. During the middle of last week, the rand appreciated strongly to trade around R18.02 to the dollar at one stage, then slipped back on Thursday to R18.32 just to close the week again on R18.09. These volatile, but stronger movements followed world stock markets. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones…

Xenophobia, visa issues and the poor state of the country’s economy have crippled the tourism sector in Durban and seen the number of visitors to the city drop by 2 million over the past five years. A recent report tabled before the economic development and planning committee has exposed how the city has battled to attract tourists, leading to a significant drop in numbers between 2017 and 2021. It showed that the number of people that visited the city in 2017 compared to 2021 had dropped by almost 2 million from 5.0 million to 3.2 million. The biggest decline was the number of international tourists that dropped from 339 000 in 2017 to 58 000 in 2021. Domestic overnight visitors dropped by almost a million in the intervening period from…

Day to day we are all faced with the challenge to forgive others and to do so without compromising ourselves or feeling pressured into forgiving others. It is forgiving from a place of strength and freedom and courage. “Forgiveness” that comes from a sense of obligation or guilt or duty is not forgiveness at all. Day to day we are all faced with the challenge to establish relationships that are equal, mutual and respectful. Equal is knowing that all people are of equal importance. Mutual, is knowing the ground is level, one person doesn’t get more say or better treatment than another. Respectful, means there is validation and honour visible in all of our relationships. Day to day we are all faced with the challenge to avoid acts of manipulation…

Durban will host the World Table Tennis Championships in May next year, which is expected to attract about 400 players from 227 countries in addition to hundreds of officials, representatives and journalists. Consequently, it is of the utmost concern that this year’s SA Open (which was held in Durban from October 4-8) fell behind schedule almost immediately and was abandoned four days later – in the early hours of Sunday October 9 – without the finals of the singles, doubles and mixed doubles taking place. Apparently, the delays were caused, among others by: 1. A “last-minute” decision – made about five weeks before the SA Open – to hold the SA Veterans’ Championships at the same venue from October 2-4. The veterans had originally been scheduled to take place at…

There are questions about the equity of the legislation providing for the candidacy of independent candidates in parliamentary and provincial elections. It appears that the hurdles inherent in the bill are being bulldozed by the present majority party, without giving effect to the intention of the Constitutional Court, which is to enable Parliament to become a legislature to represent the needs and interests of the people – its citizens. The present parliamentary and provincial electoral systems only provide for the interests of political parties. I would venture to suggest that 99% of voters do not know which MPs or MPLs represent their direct local interests. At least in local government elections, voters have an opportunity to vote for a ward candidate and they can approach the elected representative for the…

Eskom has bumped up load shedding from stage 3 to stage 4 until 5am today due to generation unit failures at Duvha, Kriel and Medupi power stations over the weekend. Stage 4 was implemented at midday yesterday. It said the power cuts would vary between stages 4 and 3 until Wednesday morning. From this morning, at 5am, the power cuts switch back to stage 3 until 4pm when stage 4 will come into effect. Stage 4 remains in place until 5am on Tuesday morning. The sequence will then repeat with stage 3 from 5am until 4pm, switching to stage 4 until 5am on Wednesday. “The emergency generation reserves are almost depleted, both the diesel and pumped storage dam levels,” Eskom said. “The higher load-shedding stages are required to help build…

THE provincial government and Agriculture and Rural Development department have launched the SMART agriculture project to drive innovation and digitisation in the agriculture sector. Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, accompanied by Agriculture and Rural Development MEC Bongi Sithole- Moloi, launched the SMART Agriculture Project in KwaXimba in the eThekwini Municipality at the weekend.Dube-Ncube said the project would see the implementation of drone technology in agriculture to grow and develop the sector in rural areas and townships. Digitisation would bring job opportunities as young people could train to become drone pilots, she said. The government would roll out programmes to educate young people on how to become drone pilots and data analysts. Sithole-Moloi encouraged communities, especially women, to practise subsistence farming. Agricultural innovators Zigi Ziqubu and Siphesihle Sithole, founders of eNgonyameni Partners based…

NOW that the crippling Transnet strike has been resolved, the difficult task of reducing the backlog caused by the 12-day industrial action should begin in earnest. Early last week, the majority union – the United National Transport Union (Untu) – accepted a 6% wage increase. The union was followed by a reluctant SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) that accused its counterparts of “selling them out” after they had attempted to hold out for a double-digit settlement. The end of the strike came as a huge sigh of relief for the government and the business sector, particularly those who are involved in the transportation of goods. According to industry experts, the strike prevented the transportation of an estimated R65.3 billion worth of goods. It is estimated that while operations…

Fresh clashes between the army and M23 rebels have erupted in eastern DR Congo, officials said yesterday, breaking a period of calm between the two sides. A mostly Congolese Tutsi group, the M23, resumed fighting late in 2021 after lying dormant for years. It has since captured swathes of territory in North Kivu province, including the strategic town of Bunagana on the Ugandan border in June. The resurgence of the group has destabilised regional relations in central Africa, with the Democratic Republic of Congo accusing its smaller neighbour Rwanda of backing the militia. The frontline between Congolese troops and M23 rebels had been calm in recent weeks. But clashes erupted again on Thursday. Yesterday, army officials and local residents said M23 fighters had captured the village of Ntamugenga, a strategic…