Table of contents for 2022-11-14 in Mercury

EFF leader Julius Malema has delivered on his promise to table a private member’s bill that provides for the relocation of Parliament from Cape Town to Pretoria. In May, Malema gave notice that he intended to introduce the Relocation of Parliament Bill during the second quarter of the 2022/23 financial year. The bill finally made its way to Parliament last week. National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Friday the bill had been introduced and referred to the joint tagging mechanism for classification to determine whether it affected provinces or not. “The bill may only be classified after the expiry of at least three parliamentary working days since introduction,” Mapisa-Nqakula said. The relocation of Parliament has been on the radar since as far back as 2016, when former president Jacob…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm robbery scandal has continued to sow division within the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), with some members calling for him to step down and others defending him. This unfolded during an NEC meeting that ended yesterday at Nasrec, according to insiders. The party is preparing for its 55th national elective conference, expected to take place from December 16 to 20, where Ramaphosa is seeking a second term as ANC president. According to sources at the meeting, the ones to fire the first salvos were presidential contender Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and NEC member Tony Yengeni, who both called for the president to step down. Ramaphosa had attempted to explain the matter to the NEC on the first day of the meeting. The attack on…

It is very alarming that a part of the Jewish community – who were the victims of the Holocaust – are supporting politicians and political parties that have expressed racist, fascist and settler colonial ideology and practices. Israel’s shift towards the extreme right – with Benjamin Netanyahu set to forming a coalition regime with ultra-nationalist right-wing parties such as the Religious Zionism Party and Jewish Power Party – is extremely worrying. Israeli fictitious democracy has given rise to the election of far-right leaders such as Itamar Ben-Gvir into the Knesset. Israel’s “democratic processes” is an untruth because in a democracy every citizen has the right to vote, enjoy human rights, social justice, and are treated equally. In Israel millions of Palestinians are denied the right to vote, are marginalised and…

HAVE you licked any tasty toads lately? Yes, that’s a silly question, I know, but it’s in response to what looks like a pretty silly warning from the US National Park Service. The Park Service has warned people in a Facebook post to stop licking the Somoran Desert Toad, according to Sky News. Now you could understand if it was the First of April, but we’re into November. Do people in America really lick toads? Yes, says the National Park Service. It warns that the potentially deadly Somoran Desert Toad – also known as the Colorado River Toad – excretes a toxin which can harm humans. Some say it has psychedelic effects. “As we say with most things you come across in a national park, whether it be a banana…

The feats of businessman Mr Vivian Reddy are absolutely monumental. He is a man of immense talents, brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he can change the economic landscape of our country, and talented enough to do it. His numerous projects and expansion plans are shaping and benefiting communities across our geographical heartland. His capacity to revolutionise important sectors of our diverse economy by his powers of imagination and financial input are a source of inspiration for thousands across KwaZulu-Natal and the country. From humble beginnings, he is today one of the most influential creators and entrepreneurs of all time. He is simply the greatest CEO of his generation. His latest business achievements will inspire the community for generations. Reddy has demonstrated for decades that vision and…

Divers from a documentary crew looking for the wreckage of a World War II aircraft off the coast of Florida found a 20-foot section of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded and broke apart shortly after its launch in 1986, Nasa has said. The divers contacted Nasa after spotting a large, clearly modern object mostly covered in sand at the bottom of the ocean and bearing the shuttle’s distinctive tiles, the space agency said. “This discovery gives us an opportunity to pause once again, to uplift the legacies of the seven pioneers we lost, and to reflect on how this tragedy changed us,” Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. The find marks the first time in 25 years that a piece of the Challenger has been located. |…

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and Minister of Police Bheki Cele launched the integrated festive season safety plan on Friday. Speaking at the launch event held in Durban, Dube-Ncube said that police in the province were ready to take the battle to criminals. “The vision of the government is to ensure that the people of KwaZulu-Natal live in a safe and secure environment. Women, children and vulnerable groups should feel protected and have confidence in the criminal justice system to effectively apprehend and prosecute criminals.” She added that the country would soon be launching the programme for the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. “There is a lot of work that the provincial government is doing to mobilise society to root out this scourge. There will…

Feats ranging from the most hula hoops spun simultaneously while on stilts to solving the most rotating puzzle cubes while skateboarding were recently celebrated at this year’s Guinness World Records Day. In London, Liberty Barros, 14, completed the fastest 20m backbend knee lock, bending her body backwards while walking the distance in 22 seconds. In Naha, Japan, Junji Nakasone rolled three basketballs from one outstretched arm to the other across his chest 56 times. In Orlando, Florida, Dinesh Sunar did 21 backward somersaults while blindfolded in one minute. | Reuters…

Kenyan soldiers landed in Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at the weekend as part of a regional military operation targeting rebels in the conflict-torn region. Their arrival comes as the M23 militia has surged across the DRC’s North Kivu province, capturing swathes of territory and inflaming tensions in central Africa. Kenya’s parliament approved the deployment of more than 900 troops to the DRC last week as part of a joint military force from the East African Community (EAC). Two planes carrying about 100 Kenyan troops touched down at Goma airport on Saturday, according to AFP reporters on the ground, where they were greeted by local dignitaries. A Kenyan commander, Lieutenant- Colonel Obiero, said their mission was “to conduct offensive operations” alongside Congolese forces and to assist in disarming…

London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, pictured, faced new questions on Saturday over his choice of senior officials after his number two was accused of behaving aggressively towards staff. The controversy over Dominic Raab, who is deputy prime minister and justice secretary, came after fellow Sunak ally Gavin Williamson was forced out of the government because of alleged bullying. Raab, Sunak’s most vocal supporter in the Conservative leadership race against Liz Truss, was brought back into the cabinet when she was forced out as prime minister. Sunak restored him to his previous role of justice secretary, where he had presided over a “culture of fear”, according to the Guardian newspaper. The Sun newspaper meanwhile reported that Raab had once hurled tomatoes from a salad across a room in a fit…

Geneva: UN chiefs and Russian officials held talks in Geneva on Friday on the Black Sea agreements on unblocking the export of grain and fertilisers, eight days before one of the deals is set to expire. Two agreements brokered were signed on July 22 under the 120-day Black Sea Grain Initiative that ends on Saturday. The first was to allow the export of Ukrainian grain blocked by Russia’s war in the country, while the second was on the export of Russian food and fertilisers despite sanctions imposed on Moscow. The UN is seeking to renew it for one year. Moscow has not yet said whether it will agree to that. |…

CITY FLEET, the unit tasked with the maintenance of the 8 000 vehicles belonging to eThekwini Metro, has been accused of failing to maintain the vehicles and taking too long to fix them when they break down. These delays have impacted service delivery, with frustration building in the water and sanitation, parks and Durban solid waste (DSW) units, according to three councillors and a former senior manager, who spoke about the issues. They claim the unit was besieged by challenges including that cars needing minor repairs were kept for extended periods. But the head of the city’s fleet Malcolm Joshua rubbished the claims, and said his unit was one of the top performers in the city. He said the only time vehicles stayed in their workshop for longer periods was…

Too much screen time is something we usually associate with children. We think of little kids watching hours of cartoons on iPads, or teens absorbed in video games or YouTube. But there is another demographic struggling with putting down their devices: Baby boomers. Smartphones came into their lives late, but now their children say some are hooked, staring at their screens constantly. “My mother has become attached to her phone. When we’re together, she’s often on her phone, scrolling through social media,” says Angela, 37. “She’s unaware her grandchildren are trying to get her attention because she’s on her phone.” We asked more than 100 millennials and Gen Xers about their parents’ phone habits. Around half said their parents are good about not being on their phones too much –…

THE essential questions each of us must answer, and continue to answer, and are in fact answering with how we choose to live every day, are: “What do you want?” and “What kind of person do you want to be?” These crucial questions meld into one another. If we allow them to circle our awareness and we voluntarily offer the questions time for contemplation, we are likely to focus our lives on things that are really important to us. I believe such contemplations will enhance our opportunities of living lives of fewer regrets. “What do you want?” will go to the core of who you are and who I am. There are three things I want. I want to communicate with others in every possible way that it is possible…

There are several international examples of politicians drawing support from crowds based on a hate campaign. This eventually led to the unfortunate deaths of millions of people. Examples that come to mind are Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot. It would be a national disaster if Julius Malema were to be allowed to continue with his obvious hate campaign against a whole section of South Africa’s citizens. It is unfortunate that the ANC policy has failed miserably to establish a successful economic growth policy, thereby resulting in an official unemployment rate of more than 34% – and an estimated rate of more than 60% among the age group 18-35. This is obviously dry tinder for tension to be exploited by fiery negative hate speech by the EFF. The present political…

THE former wife of a deceased man and their three children turned to court to challenge the fact that a pension fund allocated his entire payout – about R1.2 million – to his girlfriend. The woman, only identified in a Western Cape High Court judgment as Ms A, was regarded as the life partner of the deceased at the time of his death. Momentum saw it fit to allocate the entire pension payout to her. But the former wife and children vehemently opposed this. The man had divorced his ex-wife in 2008. She and the three children of that marriage were aggrieved by the allocation and at first lodged a complaint with the Pension Funds Adjudicator. The complaint was dismissed, which led to the court proceedings. The deceased’s mother was…

Trade union federation Cosatu says it is concerned about the SA Post Office’s (Sapo) plans to retrench almost 6 000 employees. This comes after the cash-strapped postal service announced that it would begin further consultation with labour unions about retrenchments as the financial state of the parastatal has worsened. Cosatu said South Africa could not afford to have a large number of employees retrenched while the country was in a shambles due to the high unemployment rate. Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said in a statement that the federation was disappointed that government continued to weaken the capacity of the state through public service retrenchments. “The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies needs to work with Sapo and Post Bank to develop a coherent turnaround plan to not only save these…

THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison says traffic enforcement operations will be stepped up over the festive season. This comes after a fatal crash outside Umzimkhulu, in southern KZN, which claimed six members of the Tenza family. They were travelling in a Toyota Avanza when it collided head-on with a truck. The accident happened on the R56 in Clydesdale on Friday. MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Sipho Hlomuka urged motorists to respect the rules of the road. “As we are approaching the festive season holidays, we call on all road users to respect traffic regulations. We have launched an integrated festive season plan that seeks to promote safety on the road and in communities. The success of this plan is dependent on the proactive work…

THE argument (advanced recently by Carol Paton of News24) that “all of Minister Gordhan’s (BEE) regulations can still be used by state entities should they wish to make them part of their own procurement policy” is incorrect. It arises from a failure to read the Constitutional Court (Concourt) ruling in conjunction with the ruling made in November 2020 by the Supreme Court of Appeal, which stated that tenderers could not be disqualified on the basis of their BEE status (that the price and proposition of the tender had to be considered). In addition, the SCA stated that SOEs and other state-owned entities have to comply with Section 217(1) of the Constitution, which enjoins organs of state to contract goods or services in a manner that is “fair, equitable, transparent, competitive…

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 17th Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Bali, Indonesia, from today, at the invitation of President Joko Widodo of the Republic of Indonesia, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at the weekend. He will attend the 29th Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, as well as visit Thailand later in the week, news channel CGTN reported Hua as saying. Meanwhile, EU chief Charles Michel said the bloc expected China to use “all the means at its disposal” to push Moscow to respect international law, days before a G20 summit expected to be dominated by the conflict in Ukraine. The European Council president was speaking on the sidelines of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit taking place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Michel pointed…

Santa Cruz: Riot police used tear gas to quell violent protests in Bolivia’s largest city, the latest in three weeks of unrest over demands that a new census be conducted. Protesters set tyres ablaze in streets and threw rocks at opponents of leftist President Luis Arce in the centre of Santa Cruz on Friday. Santa Cruz, a key hub of the energy industry in Bolivia’s tropical lowlands, is a stronghold of centre-right political forces that are opposed to the Arce government. They argue that the region is not adequately politically represented. The federal government said four people have been killed and 178 injured in the unrest. |…

AS KwaZulu-Natal continues to deal with the scourge of violent killings involving guns, crime experts and activists say they are not surprised that there are more illegal guns in circulation than before, being used to commit murder. The comments come in the wake of the latest report from advocacy group Gun Free South Africa which indicated that as many as 30 people were killed by guns in the country each day, with KZN accounting for more than a third of this figure. In recent days KZN has reported more gun-related killings, including the deadly shooting of six people in Clermont, west of Durban, and the killing of five people in Ndwedwe, north of Durban. Adele Kirsten, researcher at Gun Free South Africa, expressed the lobby group’s concern over KZN. “It…

Your headline in The Mercury, “Billion-dollar loan sparks fears of SA debt trap”, refers. Having also read about the tenders that China has won from Sanral to do work in this country, please allow me to give you my scenario of what I believe is happening and what will happen in the future in regard to SA-China relations. It does not take a rocket scientist to see the bigger picture looming ahead of us. First, from various sources on the internet, one can easily establish what this country of ours owes the various financial institutions insofar as loans are concerned. The only information that is somewhat hidden is what we owe China. This must be the most guarded secret ever. We all know the footholds that China has made in…

A few months ago, the Sanral board, which has no professional engineers in its membership, cancelled the award to various South African contractors of some urgently needed road projects, largely in the KwaZulu- Natal area, and to the value of some R18 billion. The programme included the upgrading of the EB Cloete four-level interchange, the deviation of the N3 to remove the dangerous Key Ridge section and improvements to the tortuous section of the N3 between Ashburton and Pietermaritzburg. The ostensible reason given for the cancellation of the awards was that the board was unhappy with the method of analysis of the tenders for adjudication. This method used was a decades- long, tried-and-tested procedure for complex projects where the design engineers carry out the adjudication analysis for later approval by…

Horrific bus, taxi, truck, light vehicle collisions on the eve of the December holidays already scream volumes about what’s to come. Like Lemmings on a suicidal course, we march on, mesmerised, in a stupor. Most Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal residents are heading for the far country of Cape Town. All under the illusion of a far peaceful mountain hideout from crime and grime of the Western states. The historically-starved academics risking nausea on the high seas as they head towards the Island where some of our bigwigs – God bless them – cut their teeth and sharpen their fangs on a million and one ways to loot coffers. But let’s revert to the main item. We know what happens during Easter holidays. Mayhem. We are fully aware of the astronomical payouts…

Conservationists have sounded the alarm regarding the African penguin population, as numbers have dwindled by up to 80% over the past four decades. Last month, 19 penguins were killed by two huskies in Simon’s Town. Executive for strategic projects at the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, Dr Judy Mann, said to date only 10 400 pairs of African penguins existed in South Africa. “In the early 1900s, we had over a million breeding pairs. Around 1956, there were only around 300 000 penguins left. “In 1979, they did the first full count and discovered there were about 100 000 penguins left. By 2021, there were only 10 400 pairs breeding in South Africa and Namibia,” she said. By 2035, the African penguin population is expected to be functionally extinct if the…

DEPUTY mayor of eThekwini Municipality Philani Mavundla says the remaining closed beaches in Durban will be opened by December 1, in time for the start of the festive season. Mavundla is the chairperson of the city’s infrastructure and services committee, which is currently focused on ensuring that sewer infrastructure damaged in the floods is repaired. The sewage leaks have led to high E coli levels at some Durban beaches. “The beaches fall under the parks department, and it is their mandate to speak on that, but as the unit that is in charge of the infrastructure that is impacting on the beaches, we are targeting that it is fixed (before the end of this month) and the beaches are opened by December 1,” said Mavundla. His statement is in line…

Richester Foods said the results of preliminary tests done on the identified batch of XPOP Energy Cola Fizz lollipops, which allegedly caused Verulam Primary School pupils to fall sick after consuming them on Friday, will be released by an independent laboratory today. The sweet and confectionery manufacturer’s managing director, Dr Hussein Cassim, in a statement on Friday, said the company had identified the product batch of the lollipops in question, and it had been sent to an independent laboratory for chemical and microbiological testing. “The laboratory intends to share preliminary results on Monday,” he said. Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said approximately 40 pupils displayed symptoms of food poisoning after eating lollipops purchased during their market day event last week. Balram said a teacher contacted Rusa at…

THE Festive season is upon us, and eThekwini Municipality needs to work around the clock to ensure the city’s beaches are ready to welcome tourists. Some of the beaches that remain closed until further notice are Westbrook, Bronze, Laguna, eThekwini, uMhlanga, uMdloti, Winklespruit and Ansteys. The municipality has come under extreme pressure from the tourism sector, business and opposition parties to fix the sewerage infrastructure that was damaged during the floods earlier this year. The sewage leaks have led to high E coli levels at some of Durban beaches. City authorities responded by closing the beaches, leading to several businesses such as restaurants and hotels losing much-needed revenue. Unlike Cape Town, which receives a big slice of international tourists, Durban relies heavily on local and southern African visitors. If…

The 2024 race for the White House could be uncharted territory in the US, which celebrates youth, but where millions of Americans – including presidents – now keep working well beyond the traditional retirement age of 65. Ronald Reagan was 77 when he left the White House, but President Joe Biden, who turns 80 next Sunday would be 86 by the time a second four-year term ends, should he win it. His leading potential Republican opponent, Donald Trump, would be 82 when he left office if he won in 2024. As a society, the US is ageing, and working until later in life. The 65-and-older population is projected to nearly double from 52 million in 2018 to 95 million by 2060. Still, some Americans have concerns about the advanced age…

Türkiye has appointed an ambassador to Israel after a gap of four years in the latest step to normalise ties with the Jewish state. Sakir Ozkan Torunlar, who served as Türkiye’s consul general in Jerusalem between 2010 and 2014, was named to the post in a presidential decree at the weekend, it was reported. Ankara withdrew its ambassador to Israel in May 2018 and dismissed the Israeli envoy over the Israeli army’s killing of dozens of Palestinians. Israel riposted by sending back the Turkish consul in Jerusalem. While this led to tensions, there has been a move to reinstate a relationship as Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdo an sent a congratulatory letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his victory in elections this month.…

Dubai: Bahrainis headed to the polls on Saturday but a ban on opposition candidates means the elections will bring no meaningful change despite a record number of people vying for seats, rights groups said. More than 330 candidates, including a record 73 women, are competing to join the 40-seat council of representatives – the lower house of parliament that advises King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of the Sunni dynasty, who has ruled since his father died in March 1999. The country has barred its main opposition groups from fielding candidates – the Shia Al-Wefaq and secular Waad parties which were dissolved in 2016 and 2017. |…

ENGLAND’S Tommy Fleetwood became the seventh player to defend Africa’s major as he won the Nedbank Golf Challenge by one shot over New Zealand’s Ryan Fox at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City yesterday. With no tournament in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Fleetwood was the defending champion with his victory in 2019. In the previous 39 editions of the NGC, there had only been six players to successfully defend their title. Those players are Seve Ballesteros (1983 and 1984), David Frost (1989 and 1990), Nick Price (1997 and 1998), Ernie Els (1999 and 2000), Jim Furyk (2005 and 2006), and Lee Westwood (2010 and 2011). Fleetwood finished on 11-under after a closing 5-under 67, with Fox one adrift on 10-under after a 4-under 68.…