Table of contents for 2023-02-23 in Mercury

Budget provides for a R254 billion debt relief intervention in a bid to turn the tide on the utility’s financial position ESKOM will not be spending capital on any greenfield projects for the next three years as part of the conditions attached to the R254 billion debt relief intervention provided by the government in a bid to turn the tide on the utility’s financial position. Instead, the struggling power utility will focus on maintenance of the existing generation fleet to improve the availability of electricity, while additional new generation capacity will be derived from independent power producers and the southern African power pool. These are some of the conditions attached to the large-scale debt relief arrangement announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana yesterday during his Budget Speech in Cape…

Religious bigotry hurled against any religion is a potent threat to world peace. Once again, Charlie Hebdo has published incendiary cartoons about the tragic deaths in Türkiye after the massive earthquakes. Such provocations must be universally outlawed. It’s a crusade against Islam. The reaction of the Western media to this outrage is absolutely shocking. Mocking the 50 000 innocent people who lost their lives in this monumental earthquake is an abomination of the highest order. The selective morality of the prejudiced media in not condemning the grotesque cartoons has nothing to do with freedom of expression. Muslims and Islam are fair game in Europe. In March 2014, Canadian federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay asked a local Nova Scotia paper to apologise for printing a cartoon of a flag with a…

The president has, at last, directed that all government departments conduct skills audits for their personnel (The Mercury, February 20). This is a long overdue step since most commentators on the poor performance of government departments ascribe the problem, to a large extent, to the incompetence of many, but not all, of their staff. Pockets of excellence do exist. As regards the engineering profession, the government has realised this problem in government bodies, and has issued document number 44 333 of 26 March, 2021, which defines the necessary regulations for the Identification of Engineering Work and the required skills to carry out specific engineering work. For “complex engineering functions”, registration as a professional engineer is required. Unfortunately, as those carrying out the audits will find out, many people carrying out…

A Limpopo woman, who has been unemployed for seven years, is now a millionaire after bagging the R22 million Lotto jackpot in the February 11 draw. She was the first person to win a Lotto jackpot by using the Capitec banking app. National Lottery Ithuba said the woman was notified about winning an amount in the jackpot by Capitec via an SMS. “She then visited her bank’s branch to verify the info before visiting the Ithuba offices to process her claim.” The winner said she played the National Lottery games weekly. “This is the first time I have won such a big amount. “I am so happy and so relieved. “I have always wanted financial freedom, and winning this jackpot has given that to me,” said the winner. The winner…

The mayor of Nkandla Local Municipality, Mbhekiseni Biyela, says he is happy with the progress made to rehabilitate roads in Nkandla. The northern KwaZulu-Natal town was brought to a standstill last month due to violent protests. Residents had demanded the immediate repair of several roads that were littered with potholes. Transport MEC Sipho Hlomuka visited the area last month and promised that the department would return to fix the roads. Biyela said yesterday that while the recent heavy rainfall had wreaked havoc in Nkandla and hampered the work of the contractors, there had been progress made. “A lot of work has been done and residents should be happy with the progress. “We experienced heavy rainfalls in Nkandla during the last week and the work was hindered by those rains. “Potholes…

Increasing physical activity could save lives and billions of euros of health-care costs annually in the EU, according to a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Increasing physical activity to the minimum level recommended by the WHO could prevent 11.5 million new cases of non-communicable diseases by 2050, avoid thousands of unnecessary deaths, and save the EU billions of euros annually in health care costs, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the report. “Our modelling study clearly shows that increasing physical activity levels is not only great for health – it will create a positive effect for the economy of any country,” said Michele Cecchini who leads the OECD programme of work on public health. Following the WHO recommendation of…

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party’s national executive committee (NEC) has expressed its support for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to appoint a dedicated minister of electricity. Mbalula said this minister would lead the charge in driving the necessary interventions aimed at eliminating load shedding and stabilising the electricity supply in the country. “This intervention is in line with the resolutions of the ANC’s 55th national (elective) conference, which calls on the government to take immediate and decisive interventions to end load shedding, alongside the implementation of long-term solutions to the country’s energy supply crisis.” Mbalula was speaking at a media briefing following the ANC NEC holding a special meeting at the weekend to consider a range of organisational, national and international matters. He said the minister would report directly…

In the week that our country celebrated Armed Forces Day, it was maybe appropriate that two of our BRICS allies, Russia and China, engaged in joint navy drills with us off the east coast of South Africa. Armed Forces Day is held annually on February 21, the tragic day when the SS Mendi steamship sank on its way to France during World War I in 1917. This year, the day was commemorated in Richards Bay, on the east coast of South Africa. One is not sure if it was by design or coincidence, but the day before Armed Forces Day, the 42nd Chinese naval escort fleet, consisting of the guided missile destroyer Huainan, the missile frigate Rizhao and a supply vessel, also arrived in Richards Bay. The drill, code-named Mosi-2,…

THE Department of Tourism was prepared to spend R1 billion trying to promote tourism, but with Formula E Grand Prix taking place in Cape Town this week, it is a wonderful opportunity to display the wonders of Cape Town to many million viewers around the world, who will be watching the race on TV. However, the squatters still occupy the area outside the tennis courts in Sea Point, which will certainly be in focus during the race, and will surely detract visitors from deciding to visit Cape Town. It is obvious, more could have been done to place these homeless people in an area that is not constantly being shown on TV. However, it does appear that some action has been taken to limit the amount of what can only…

China pledged to deepen co-operation with Russia yesterday while US President Joe Biden discussed security with leaders of Nato’s eastern flank, highlighting geopolitical tensions as the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches. In Ukraine, schools took their classes online for the rest of the week for fear of an upsurge in Russian missile attacks a year on from Moscow’s February 24 all-out assault, which failed to topple the government. Making the highest level visit to Russia by a Chinese official since the countries signed a “no limits” partnership weeks before the invasion, China’s top diplomat, Wang Li, told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Beijing was ready to strengthen ties. A time of crisis required Russia and China “to continuously deepen our comprehensive strategic partnership”, Wang said. Putin said he…

The death toll in Madagascar from tropical cyclone Freddy has risen to four, the government said yesterday, as the storm moved west across the island nation toward mainland Africa. Freddy made landfall in southeastern Madagascar late on Tuesday with gusts of wind of up to 180km/h flooding the area and ripping roofs off houses. Its arrival came nearly a month after storm Cheneso killed 33 people and forced thousands from their homes in Madagascar. The government’s National Office of Risks and Disasters revised the death toll up to four from one earlier. The storm has displaced 11 047 people, flooded 2 276 houses and destroyed another 2 267, it said. After traversing Madagascar, Freddy could reappear in the Mozambique Channel, strengthening before making landfall in Mozambique and then potentially moving…

NABLUS: Israeli troops killed at least 10 Palestinians, including at least three gunmen and three civilians, and wounded over 90 others during a raid in the occupied West Bank yesterday, witnesses said. The Islamic Jihad militant faction said two of its Nablus commanders had been encircled by Israeli troops, triggering a clash. Explosions sounded and youths pelted armoured troop transports with rocks. Palestinian sources said the two Islamic Jihad commanders were killed along with another gunman. The fatalities also included at least three civilians. Ninety-seven Palestinians were injured, six of them critically, local medics said. | Reuters…

Paris: Participants at a global conference yesterday urged the international community to find better safeguards against online disinformation and hate speech. The two-day meeting was hosted by the UN’s cultural fund to brainstorm how to best vet content while upholding human rights. Unesco warned that despite its benefits in communication, social media platforms relied on algorithms that “often prioritise engagement over safety and human rights”. Filipina journalist Maria Ressa said social media had allowed lies to flourish. She said that, at the height of online campaigns against her for her work, she had received up to 98 hate messages an hour. | AFP…

THE RAND strengthened slightly toward R18.14 against the dollar yesterday, after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered a market-friendly Budget on the back of deteriorating economic outlook. Godongwana’s Budget Speech reiterated the government’s commitment to debt stabilisation, and a primary surplus. He beat down on a well-trodden path of fiscal consolidation, forecast lower budget deficits in the medium term, despite the debt stabilising at higher levels and economic growth weakening amid the ongoing Eskom power crisis. In this regard, he said the government planned to take on more than half of Eskom’s debt over the next three years to help strengthen the power utility’s balance sheet and operations, and enable it to restructure. Eskom welcomed the financial relief afforded by the government but indicated that it would study the details of…

FINANCE Minister Enoch Godo- ngwana has slashed South Africa’s economic growth forecast for 2023, citing the impact of the intense electricity supply shortages as the single biggest risk factor. Although South Africa’s economy is estimated to grow by 2.5% in 2022 from a previously forecast 1.9% on the back of the stronger-than-expected rebound in the third quarter, persistent power cuts have dimmed the outlook in the medium term. Eskom’s deteriorating electricity generation capacity is expected to worsen further this year after the power utility implemented record levels of load shedding in 2022, with 207 days of rotational power cuts compared with 75 days the year before. Delivering his 2023 Budget Speech inCape Town’s City Hall, Godo- ngwana said the lack of reliable electricity supply was the biggest economic constraint. Godongwana…

Finance Minister Enoch Gondongwana’s Budget speech has drawn mixed reaction from opposition parties, with many agreeing that it was the most practical approach given the country’s current climate. The DA, however, contended that he could have done much more to encourage investment, pointing to a missed opportunity to introduce any meaningful structural reforms that could drive economic growth, incentivise domestic savings and protect vulnerable South Africans. The party also argued that the Budget offered no solution to revitalise state-owned enterprises or address the energy crisis and criticised the announcement of bailouts for failed state-owned enterprises, including the Land Bank, Post Office and SAA. DA spokesperson on finance Dion George also questioned the offloading of over R250 billion of Eskom’s debt on to the country’s sovereign balance sheet. “This proposal is…

We were snowed in and I was somewhat caught up with my housekeeping and the laundry was all done and folded and Nate was in his room downstairs and Thulani was at work. And, it came over me. I began to miss my sons, both of whom were very reachable. One was so near I could hear his TV. I realised I was missing an era, the times they were both on top of me, getting in my way. I was missing them running all over the house, chasing each other, doing cart-wheels and landing on the sofa, skateboarding from the kitchen to the living room. I was missing their rapid shift from fast friends to seeming enemies they so mastered, and I was missing how they’d immediately make up…

It is a sheer waste of time and energy and, I opine, another wasted opportunity for President Ramaphosa to grasp the nettle of cadre deployment. This, together with affirmative action, are at the heart of poor or no service delivery and no productivity in government departments. Period. A skills audit is not necessary. The facts speak for themselves. We have a skills deficit because of a serious failure on the part of governments which are controlled by politically correct cadres to appoint skilled personnel for the benefit of South Africa. I’ve been informed by prospective employees that they’ve been told that if they’re Indian, it doesn’t matter if they’re born millennials, they shouldn’t bother. How true this is, I don’t know. Barney Mthombothi’s op-ed in a nationally circulating paper this…

It is no secret that load shedding has become the not-so-new normal, but the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) annual statistics report on power generation in South Africa for 2022 has provided insight into what South Africans have had to endure during the past year. The report by CSIR Energy Centre principal researcher Warrick Pierce and senior researcher Monique le Roux shows that not only was 2022 the worst year of load shedding in South African history but that it was the first year that most of the load shedding was at stage 4, not stage 2. Pierce said: “The year overtook 2021 as the most intensive load shedding year yet, more than four times more, also far exceeding 2019’s stage 6 load shedding. The collective load shedding…

THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the multiple life sentences handed down to a Pretoria North family convicted of running a porn sex ring that involved their children and two foster children. The Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court sentenced the 70- and 69-year-old foster parents to 12 life terms, including 95 years’ imprisonment, for their role in a sex ring, which involved the rape, sexual grooming of children and distribution of child pornography, dating back to between 2005 to 2010. Their son and his wife, aged 49 and 39, were given a five-year wholly suspended sentence and three years of correctional supervision. Magistrate Pieter Nel ordered that the sentences should run concurrently and that their names be added to the national register for sexual offenders, and they should be declared…

The IFP would like to remind President Ramaphosa of one of the many promises made during his recent SONA. He explained: “The state of disaster will enable us to provide practical measures that we need to take … Where technically possible, it will enable us to exempt critical infrastructure such as hospitals and water treatment plants from load shedding.” Mr President, that was 13 days ago, and it seems nothing has changed for the better. We urge you to call on Eskom to urgently liaise with water authorities across KZN and to prioritise these promised exemptions. Narend Singh | IFP MP…

NO CARING government can take pride in the fact that thousands of graduates are settling for social grants due to a lack of job opportunities. That can be best described as a disaster waiting to happen, just as we saw during the July 2021 KZN and Gauteng unrest, which claimed the lives of more than 300 people. Any nation’s hopes and aspirations are largely carried by its youth. Ours is becoming hopeless. That is why it makes for alarming reading that more than 700 000 graduates have applied for the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant since the start of the year. Of the more than 13.5 million applications the SA Social Security Agency had received for the SRD grant as of the end of January, about 716 000…

At least two people were killed and more than 50 are missing, Chinese state media reported, after an apparent collapse at a coal mine in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region yesterday. State broadcaster CCTV said a collapse occurred at a mine in the western part of the Alxa League region. Other outlets and government agencies described it as a “landslide”. “Currently, the incident has caused the deaths of two people and injured six, with 53 missing,” CCTV reported. A social media video, purportedly posted by a coal truck driver, appeared to show loose rocks cascading down a slope, kicking up clouds of brown dust that engulfed several vehicles. “The whole slope has collapsed ... How many people must be dead from that?” a male voice can be heard saying in…

WINDHOEK: US first lady Jill Biden arrived in Namibia yesterday on the first stop of a five-day Africa tour, part of a push by the US to strengthen its ties on the continent. Biden landed in Namibia’s capital Windhoek before heading to Heroes’ Acre, a war memorial with the first lady of Namibia. Her trip would focus on education, health and empowering youth and women. Biden will also go to Kenya where she will hear from those affected by drought and food insecurity. The Biden administration is planning visits to Africa this year to counter the influence of China and Russia on the continent. | Reuters…

New York: Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of murdered black civil rights activist Malcolm X, said she was suing the FBI, CIA and the New York City Police Department for her father’s killing in 1965. Shabazz, 60, was at the site in New York where he was shot dead 58 years ago. She was 2 when she saw three armed men shooting at her father as he was preparing to speak at a Harlem auditorium. Shabazz said US officials concealed evidence that they “conspired to and executed their plan to assassinate” her father. Benjamin Crump, the lawyer representing the family, said they intend to file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking damages in the range of $100 million (R1.8 billion). | IANS…

New York: A US judge has ruled that victims of the 9/11 terror attacks were not entitled to seize $3.5 billion (R 63.6bn) in assets belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank. Judge George Daniels said he was “constitutionally restrained” from approving access to the funds, which are frozen in the US, as this would amount to a ruling that the Taliban were Afghanistan’s legitimate government. He said the US government did not recognise the Taliban, which meant US courts did not have the power to do so either. “The Taliban, not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, must pay for the Taliban’s liability in the 9/11 attacks,” Daniels added. | IANS…

IN NOVEMBER 2021 the new Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said he was “the new sheriff in town, and he would tackle the outlaws”. In February 2022, he proclaimed that the time had come to round up the posse to take down South Africa’s criminals. In February 2023 he reported slow but steady progress in rounding up the criminals, which is why since taking the helm of South Africa’s public finances he has empowered law enforcement by increasing their budget allocations. Riding at his side to combat the wild west of South Africa’s dodgy dealings, came his posse: Team Treasury, the South African Revenue Service (Sars), the National Prosecuting Authority, and also the big guns – the extended help from international agencies such as Interpol and tax authorities from around the…

SOUTH Africa’s debt burden will cross the R5 trillion mark for the first time in history over the next three years, mainly due to the R254 billion partial take-over of Eskom debt, which will reflect on the national balance sheet henceforth. This was revealed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana as he warned of the risks to the fiscal outlook when he tabled his 2023 Budget Speech. These risks include a worsening of the economic outlook, a further weakening of the finances of State-owned companies, and an unaffordable public-service wage agreement. Godongwana said if these risks were to materialise, they would require the government to make difficult budgeting trade-offs. “For these reasons, we must continue exercising fiscal restraint,” he said. “Accordingly, government non-interest spending will be kept below the…

Concern has been raised by civil society organisations over the low increases in social grants that were announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his Budget speech yesterday. They argued that the increases were not in line with rising food inflation. Old age and disability grants will increase by R90 by April 1 and a further R10 on October 1, taking the grant amount to R2 090. The child support grant will increase by R30 to R510 by October 1, while the foster-care grant increases from R1 070 to R1 130 over the same period. Godongwana also announced that expenditure on social grants would increase from R233 billion in 2022/23 to R248.4bn in 2025/26 due to increases in the number of recipients and the value of the grants. Dr Kelle…

The latest set of appalling crime statistics – including over 80 murders and 135 rapes per day – exposes the extent to which South Africa has failed to recalibrate, narrow inequalities, and develop its people and communities over the past three decades. Rapid urbanisation was always going to be a feature of post-apartheid South Africa following decades of legislation that made urbanisation illegal. But our towns and cities were ill-prepared. The state built millions of subsidised homes, but instead of taking the opportunity to achieve spatial justice, and begin to integrate urban areas following decades of the Group Areas Act, most of these homes were poorly located, poorly built and poorly serviced – new ghettoes in the making. Millions of people are even worse off, living in squalor in informal…

Until the main reason for the failure of coalitions is addressed, their viability will remain volatile. The coalition of a dozen or so single- seat parties propping up the ANC in eThekwini Municipality is a case in point. From the outset their priority was to secure some form of payback from the ANC for their political support. As we see this week (The Mercury, February 21) a fresh round of manoeuvring is at play in eThekwini as the parvenus haggle for a committee chairmanship or so which enjoys a higher pay structure. Political clichés such as “shared principles, values and vision”, which Visvin Reddy piously recites, count for nothing in the political arena when positions and power are on the table. To remedy this situation, legislation is needed which specifies…

THE South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) in KwaZulu-Natal has said government has to address crime in communities in order to curb the incidents affecting teachers and pupils in schools. This comes after the deputy principal of Sandakahle Primary School in uMlazi V section was injured in a shooting in an alleged botched hijacking yesterday. In a separate incident, at Sarasvati Primary School in oThongathi, a teacher was allegedly assaulted by her colleagues and the principal of the school was attacked by a gunman on Friday. Sadtu KZN secretary Nomarashiya Caluza said criminal incidents at schools could not be separated from the crime that took place in the communities where they were based. Caluza said crime in schools was of major concern as it hindered teaching and learning. “Since the…

SA Tourism acting chief financial officer (CFO), Johan van der Walt, has resigned amid the controversy over the entity’s proposed R900 million Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship deal. Over two weeks ago, the former acting CFO was served with a notice of intention to suspend where Van der Walt was asked to provide reasons why he should not be suspended. The move came after a potential conflict of interest came to light regarding the deal. In terms of the proposed three-year marketing deal, SA Tourism would have received kit branding and advertising at the stadium, among other marketing opportunities. There was significant public outcry over the proposal when news of it leaked, with many sectors questioning the need for such a large amount of money to be spent on a marketing deal…

WHILE President Cyril Ramaphosa has since 2001 made 234 proclamations authorising Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigations, there is still a low level of compliance by departments in terms of reporting on disciplinary cases. The presidency this week updated the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on the implementation of investigation reports submitted by the SIU to the president. The SIU has issued a total of 162 reports to the president since 2001. Of these, 37% involve provincial governments, 30% national government, 26% involve municipalities and 7% state-owned entities. There are 67 proclamations categorised as “active”, by the SIU. In terms of progress on disciplinary referrals by the SIU, the presidency noted, “low level of compliance by departments on updating status of disciplinary cases on the Personal and Salary System (Persal)”.…

More space is needed for people at a cost of nature and their activities lead to pollution By the end of May 2023, following February’s elections, Nigeria will have a new president. Among the many duties of the person who takes over is an appraisal of the nation’s performance and its commitment to protecting the environment. Nigeria is a signatory to many international conventions on environment-related treaties. Nigeria’s biological and physical environments – in particular, its forests, inland waters and coastal waters – have been affected by its population growth. This rise in population has led to growing socio-economic needs. These include residential buildings and more physical infrastructure, such as roads, hospitals and schools. More space is needed for people, at the cost of natural environments; and people’s activities have…

I AM fully aware that many of us taxpayers in this country can only view from the sidelines the realities of the ANC government’s array of failures resulting from the incompetence of those deployed to run many of our land’s municipalities and to the ineffectiveness of many of its appointed representatives to sit on the well-paid seats of Parliament. And as such, from the sidelines, the state president’s tardiness in reshuffling his Cabinet seems to be nothing more than an admission that he has nothing better to choose from in his stodgy lifeless ANC. Harry Wiggett | Fish Hoek…

A woman stripped of her British citizenship after travelling to Syria as a teenager to marry an Islamic State group fighter yesterday lost her legal battle to reverse the decision. The ruling from Judge Robert Jay means that Shamima Begum, 23, cannot return to the UK from her current home in a refugee camp in northern Syria. While the court determined that it was for the minister to make the decision, it also said that some of Begum’s arguments had merit. Begum was 15 when she left her east London home for Syria with two school friends in 2015. While there, she married an IS fighter and had three children, none of whom survived. In February 2019, she said she was left stateless when Britain’s then interior minister Sajid Javid…

The death toll from heavy rains that devastated coastal areas of Brazil’s south-eastern Sao Paulo state reached 48 people, official figures showed yesterday, but dozens were still missing as search and rescue efforts continued. “We are working with a tally of at least 38 missing people,” Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas said as weather forecasters cautioned more rain was expected later in the day. Massive downpours have caused landslides and flooding since last weekend in coastal towns of Brazil’s richest state, so far hit by more than 600mm of rain, the highest cumulative figure ever in the country. The number of casualties rose from 46 which was reported a day earlier, the Sao Paulo state government said. The city of Sao Sebastiao, some 200km from Sao Paulo, bore the…

LONDON: The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney have joined forces to record a song together for the rock band’s upcoming new album, a spokesperson for the Stones said yesterday. Hollywood industry publication Variety said the former Beatle had recorded bass parts “for a forthcoming Rolling Stones project being helmed by 2021 Grammy producer of the year Andrew Watt”. It said the recording sessions were done in Los Angeles recently and that McCartney’s ex-bandmate, Ringo Starr, was “also slated to play on the yet-to-be-announced album”. A spokesperson for the Stones confirmed McCartney “guests on bass on one song” for the album, which will be released later this year. He said Starr had not been involved. Last month, Stones guitarist Keith Richards told fans “there’s some new music on its way”. The…

PARIS: A teacher was stabbed to death by a 16-year-old pupil yesterday at a Roman Catholic high school in the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz in south-western France, officials said. The Spanish-language teacher, a woman, was 50, local newspaper Sud Ouest said. Police arrested the pupil, who told another teacher he was possessed and had heard voices that instructed him to attack the teacher, according to local media. Pupils fled after the stabbing, the paper said, citing two pupils who were in the classroom and witnessed the attack. The attacker stood up during a lesson and walked to the door, before turning around and stabbing the teacher, they said. | Reuters…