Содержание выпуска: 2023-04-04 — Mercury

Individuals who install rooftop solar panels from March 1 will be able to claim a 25% discount SOLAR panel shortages in South Africa may lead to price increases on the available products with the impact of this more likely to be felt by smaller businesses, as well as medium and lower-income households with smaller budgets, according to KPMG partner and head of energy and natural resources Safeera Loonat. Loonat said this was happening while continued load shedding has seen banks offer new solutions to fund residential and small commercial solar solutions. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced in his Budget Speech in February that starting in March this year businesses would be able to reduce their taxable income by 125% of the cost of investing in renewables. Individuals who install rooftop…

TECK RESOURCES yesterday unani- mously rejected an unsolicited and opportunistic acquisition proposal from Glencore plc. This follows Glencore announcing its proposal for a merger between Glencore and Teck. Glencore submitted a proposal to the board of directors of Teck Resources – on March 26 this year – to merge with Teck and to simultaneously demerge their combined metals and coal businesses. Teck describes itself as among Cana- da’s leading mining companies, and says it is committed to responsible mining and mineral development, with major business units focused on copper, zinc and steelmaking coal. The offer is the largest acquisition attempt by the largest coal miner since its merger with Xstrata in 2013. Teck said if the acquisitions had happened, it would have exposed its shareholders to thermal coal and oil…

Political parties and civil society organisations have responded with concern to the news that Eskom has been exempted from disclosing irregular and fruitless expenditure in its annual financial statements. In a statement yesterday, the Treasury said that on March 31, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana granted a partial exemption to Eskom from section 55(2)(b)(i) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Treasury Regulation 28.2.1 for a period of three years. The exemption means Eskom will not have to declare irregular expenditure and fruitless and wasteful expenditure on its annual financial statements. However, this information must still appear in its annual report, the Treasury said. The statement added that by allowing Eskom to report on irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in its annual report and not in its financial statements,…

The Church calls South Africa to watch and pray. The remembrance of the Crucifixion and the power of the Resurrection remain important periods of evaluation, reflection, and prayer. The call for Christians to serve with servanthood and joyful obedience remains relevant in 2023. In this time, we remain encouraged by the words of Christ Jesus, our Saviour. The biblical truth, which teaches us that Christ has died, Christ has risen and Christ will come again, continues to inspire us with a sure and certain hope. The world in which we live has been captured by darkness and evil, but Christ says: “Take heart, I have overcome the world”. The apostle Paul encourages us to let our light shine in the darkness by allowing the light of God to live in…

I am writing this letter in regards to the charges that were laid by Visvin Reddy against Jackie Shandu for allegedly making derogatory and racist comments about Indians in South Africa. As we all know, racism is a disease that needs to be eradicated from society, and it’s important that those who perpetuate it be held accountable for their actions. Reddy, who will appear in court to seek justice, is a courageous and bold leader. He is sending a message to everyone that such behaviour will not be tolerated in our country. I commend him for taking this action, and I believe he is setting an excellent example for everyone to follow. It is only when we stand up against such acts of racism that we can begin to make…

IN a bid to keep the lights on during load shedding, several courts across the country, including the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, will soon receive generators to enable the wheels of justice to continue turning. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said it was working hard to minimise the impact of load shedding on the functioning of the courts and other service-delivery points. To ensure that disruptions to court activities resulting from load shedding are kept to a minimum, the department has registered a project to install 80 generators at various service points and courts countrywide with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. The department said the project was at different phases of implementation in all the provinces, in a bid to ensure courts were always functional.…

SUSPENDED Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has accused evidence leaders in the inquiry into her fitness to hold office of unethical conduct, and threatened to report them to the Legal Practice Council. This comes after one of the evidence leaders, advocate Nazreen Bawa, made a presentation to the Section 194 committee on aspects of the testimony Mkhwebane gave last week, before her funding for legal costs was stopped on March 31. The committee initially wanted to continue with the presentation as part of the inquiry, but objections were made in light of the absence of Mkhwebane’s legal team. Committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi then decided to convene their session as a meeting of the committee “to invite advocate Bawa to take members through parts that are important to traverse to save time…

AS THE Easter weekend begins in earnest on Friday, traffic enforcement officials should pull out all the stops to ensure that road fatalities are minimised. During the launch of the Easter Safety Plan and Pre-Easter Prayer in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube cautioned the province’s road users that KZN should not be turned into a site of mass graves. She made an impassioned plea to all stakeholders, including traditional leaders, interfaith leaders and the transport industry, to join government efforts to ensure a safe and incident-free Easter period. While holding a prayer session signifies the seriousness with which the government views the issue of road safety, it does nothing to prevent the serious road accidents and fatalities that are always associated with the busy Easter weekend. The visibility…

Teachers in Britain rejected a government pay offer yesterday, paving the way for further strikes and providing a fresh blow to Rishi Sunak’s government. Ministers had proposed a one-time, £1 000 (R20 000) payment to teachers for the 2022-2023 tax year and a 4.3% rise the following year. But some 98% of members of the National Education Union who cast ballots rejected that offer, the union announced at the start of its annual conference yesterday. The vote means teachers will now go ahead with walkouts planned for April 27 and May 2, disrupting schools as pupils prepare for annual exams and causing a knock-on effect for working parents. It piles pressure on Sunak just as his administration appeared poised to draw a line under months of industrial unrest…

PARIS: French junior social affairs minister Marlene Schiappa is facing criticism from her own party for posing in a white dress for the cover of Playboy, with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne calling Schiappa to express her displeasure. The furor comes at a time of social unrest in the country as the government is facing a big backlash over pension reforms. The Playboy cover will be accompanied by an interview in which Schiappa talks about women’s and LGBT rights. A far-left opposition party leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon, tweeted: “France is going off the rails.” | Reuters…

ISTANBUL: A mother has been reunited with her baby in southern Türkiye after a DNA test confirmed it was her daughter, almost two months after an earthquake ripped through the region, the country’s family ministry said. The 3-and-a-half-month-old “miracle baby” was pulled out of the rubble of a building in the province of Hatay more than five days after the February 6 quake with no health problems, it said. The minister handed her over to her mother, Yasemin Begdas, at a hospital in Adana 54 days after the disaster. More than 56 000 people were killed by the quake and tremors, with 50 000 of those in Türkiye and the remainder in Syria. | Reuters…

Manila: The Philippines yesterday announced the location of four additional military bases to be used by US troops, with one site near the hotly disputed South China Sea and another not far from Taiwan. The allies agreed in February to expand co-operation in “strategic areas” of the Philippines as they seek to counter China’s growing assertiveness over self-governed Taiwan and the building of Chinese bases in the South China Sea. The 2014 Enhanced Defense Co-operation Agreement, known as EDCA, gave US forces access to five Philippine bases. It was expanded to nine. The bases would also be used for humanitarian and relief operations during disasters. | AFP…

Chelsea interim coach Bruno Saltor said the players would be “sad” after the Premier League club sacked manager Graham Potter as he prepared the team to face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Potter was dismissed on Sunday, after a 2-0 home defeat against Aston Villa the previous day. Big-spending Chelsea, who hired the Englishman to replace Thomas Tuchel in September, have just 10 wins from 28 league games this season and are 11th in the table, 12 points outside the top four. There have now been 13 managerial departures in the English top flight this season - a new record. Julian Nagelsmann, who was sacked as Bayern Munich boss last month, is the favourite to be the next Chelsea boss. Bruno said yesterday that Potter’s dismissal had been “really difficult at every…

Red Bull ace Max Verstappen might have dominated a wild Australian Grand Prix, but Mercedes were also a big winner with the "Silver Arrows" finally starting to look competitive. After the season-opening grand prix in Bahrain, team boss Toto Wolff declared they had "one of their worst days" in racing, with Lewis Hamilton complaining of becoming "the fourth-fastest team". It followed a lacklustre 2022 when the eight-time constructors champions were dethroned by Red Bull, with the outlook bleak heading into the new year. But they made strides in Saudi Arabia and are now singing a different tune after seven-time world champion Hamilton came second to pole-sitter Verstappen, at one stage briefly leading the action-packed race. His teammate George Russell was also lightning-quick and in the hunt before a power unit…

STRUGGLING businesses will soon be able to apply for their share of the R50 million in Absa’s energy subsidy grants, which it has made available to help keep the businesses running. Absa said in a statement yesterday it would provide up to R50m in energy subsidy under its Green Asset Finance programme for qualifying SMEs, in a move to support and grow small- and medium-sized businesses. Absa’s energy subsidy is the only grant of its kind providing some support to small business customers to finance solar installations and keep the lights on, the bank said. Eligible SMEs that had their commercial properties financed by Absa would be contacted by Absa and need not take any action to apply for the support. Subsidy amounts would be determined based on…

ADVANCED Health’s headline loss from continuing operations widened to R20.8 million in the six months to December 31, as it moves to exit the Australian market with the sale of its operations there for R522m. The company’s Australian majority owned Presmed Australia (PMA) owns or co-owns 10 operating facilities, including day hospitals and consultation clinics in partnership with the practising doctors in those facilities in and around Sydney, Australia’s Central Coast, and Tasmania. “In order to focus more strategically on developing and expanding its South African operations, Advanced Health has resolved to exit the Australian market and dispose of its equity interest within PMA,” the group said in its interim results released yesterday. PresMed BidCo on December 23 entered into a binding agreement to buy 100% of PMA shares…

The eThekwini Municipality has said it was not at fault for the sewage infrastructure damage brought about by two “one in a century floods”, experienced in April and May last year. This is according to the answering affidavit filed by the municipality in response to a court application brought by ActionSA. The party filed an application in November last year in the Durban High Court to compel the provincial government, national government and the eThekwini Municipality to fix the sewage crisis across the City. The party is seeking an order declaring that the respondents – the ministers of Tourism; Environment; and Water and Sanitation, and the MECs of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs; and Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, respectively; as well as the eThekwini Municipality, and mayor Mxolisi…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who must be charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, has resentfully postponed his highly controversial judicial amendments. Netanyahu may be the longest-serving leader of apartheid Israel, but in the recent past, he has been navigating perhaps one of the most turbulent periods in his political career. The massive demonstration in Tel Aviv and other parts of the country proves citizens’ dissatisfaction with his contentious judicial reform plans. One of the core grievances that citizens of the Israeli regime have with Netanyahu’s failed coup against the country’s judiciary, is that the overhaul will destroy the independence of the Supreme Court, by giving the Knesset full control over the judiciary. Hence, political commentators have accused the ultra-right coalition Israeli regime of attempting a…

It’s nothing new to experience violence when prices of basic foods keep rising. “Let them eat cake” is the classic insult from overlords who don’t care. Revolutions come and go in rotation. Real live heads roll with greater regularity than in Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto where hunger hits the psyche and normal humans suddenly turn into savages, engaging their gearshift into basic instinct mode and leap for the jugular. There are, however, a few new add-ons, lately, that extend this feeling of hopeless frustration of not being able to afford things due to the spiralling cost of everything to members of higher society, education institutions, banks, medical aid schemes, other professional bodies and in fact all services. While inflation potentially creates criminals out of the normally impoverished, the sudden leap of…

“My family – my daughter, her husband, and three grandchildren – who are overseas seldom write, text or phone and I feel abandoned here in Durban. The social-media posts of their wonderful life don’t help at all. I want to be part of their lives, as I was, until they left to go overseas. I babysat, I cooked for them, I was involved. This is painful for me, but they don’t seem to care. My daughter does phone once a month and I chat with the children, but it is not the same. What can I do to get them to write more and to call more?” (letter edited) My heart goes out to you and I think I understand. I see my own sons not only leaving the nest…

eThekwini speaker Thabani Nyawose has extended an olive branch to the DA and IFP after members from both parties staged a walkout from last week’s council sitting at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban. The walkout last Thursday was in protest over what they contended was Nyawose’s hostility towards the two parties and the kid-glove treatment of ANC councillors. DA deputy caucus leader in eThekwini council Mzamo Billy accused Nyawose of allowing ANC councillors to make disrespectful comments and homophobic insults about DA councillors. According to Billy, he was called names and accused of being a puppet of white people, a remark he labelled as reprehensible. Yesterday, he indicated the party would file a formal complaint against the speaker and ANC councillors. “We are in the process…

Popular restaurant Wish on Florida has announced that it will close its doors on April 10. In an Instagram post, co-founder Philani Kweyama said they were extremely sad they had to close down. “It is with great sadness that we announce the imminent closure of Wish On Florida effective 10th April 2023 – where we will be hosting ‘The Last Supper’. “In light of the recent tragic event on our doorstep, we have experienced a severe downturn in business which leaves the directors with no other choice but to close the business permanently as the brand equity of Wish On Florida has been deeply hindered.” Rapper Kiernan Forbes, known as AKA, and celebrity chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane were shot dead outside the restaurant on February 11. Kweyama said the…

OBESITY is a major global health challenge and the leading risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus, which are now among the top 10 causes of mortality in South Africa. Obesity rates are rising across Africa, particularly in southern Africa, where South Africa has the highest prevalence of overweight people and obesity, with up to 70% of women and 33% of men classified as overweight or obese. Similarly, the rates of overweight and obese children are particularly high in South Africa compared with other African countries, with about 19% of boys and 26% of girls under 20 years of age classified as overweight or obese. In addition to a growing obesity epidemic, South Africa has the highest reported burden of adolescent HIV globally. Before…

Donald Trump left his Florida home yesterday bound for New York where he will surrender to criminal charges, taking the US into uncharted and potentially volatile territory. The 76-year-old Republican, the first American president ever to be criminally indicted, will be formally charged today over hush money paid to a porn star during the 2016 election campaign. TV footage showed a motorcade departing Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home to head to the city where he made his name, and where he hopes to use his appearance before a judge to rouse support for his 2024 White House bid. “The Corrupt D.A. has no case,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social, of the Manhattan district attorney prosecuting the case. “What he does have is a venue where it is IMPOSSIBLE…

Russia has taken another initiative to reach out to African nations by inviting journalists of the continent to a first online gathering, organised by the Russian-African Club at the prestigious Lomonosov State University in Moscow. The gathering, which was attended by 300 journalists, lecturers and students from Russia and various African countries, laid the foundation ahead of the conference of African and Russian journalists which will be held on May 3, which is the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day. It will be held in Moscow and aims to promote wide ranging co-operation between Russia and the continent, including through educating young journalists to develop strategies to defend freedom of speech. Russia, which is often criticised by Western media, aims to counter allegations of being repressive towards journalists…

Helsinki: Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has conceded defeat after the opposition National Coalition Party won the parliamentary elections. According to the preliminary results reported by Finnish national broadcaster Yle, the National Coalition Party won 48 seats in parliament, an increase of 10 from four years ago, followed by the Finns Party with 46 seats, an increase of seven. Marin’s Social Democratic Party won 43 seats, an increase of three. Soon after National Coalition Party leader Petteri Orpo claimed victory, Marin conceded the election. “Congratulations to the winner of the elections, congratulations to the National Coalition Party, congratulations to the Finns Party. Democracy has spoken,” she said. Marin, 37, continues to enjoy high poll ratings and has been praised for steering Finland towards entry into Nato and navigating her country…

Washington: At least 32 people have died after strong tornadoes and deadly storms struck multiple states in the US’s South and Midwest over the weekend, authorities said. More than 50 preliminary tornado reports were recorded on April 1 in at least seven states. The tornadoes crushed homes and businesses, ripped roofs off buildings, splintered trees and sent vehicles flying. Wynne, Arkansas, where at least four people died, was cleaved in half, leaving a line of destruction from the city’s western limit to its eastern, officials said. Deaths have been confirmed in Arkansas, Indiana and Tennessee.This comes a week after a tornado levelled a town in Mississippi. | IANS…

The only consistency the Sharks have brought to this season is their inconsistency. Their form has oscillated, sometimes wildly, between the sublime and the atrocious; and knowing who will pitch up on matchdays can be an exercise in speculation. This past fortnight is a case in point. Last weekend, the Sharks dished up an abject display against a struggling Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship (URC), creating doubt around a top eight finish in that tournament. This past Saturday, the Durban-based side smashed through Munster 50-35 to progress to the quart-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup. For a team that is so rich in talent and depth – one which has aspirations of dominating SA rugby and claiming championships at every opportunity – such swinging fortunes have failed to instil…

Mamelodi Sundowns defender Grant Kekana has brushed away any assumptions the club would take their foot off the pedal after sealing another league title with several games of the season left to play. Supersport United’s failure to win at the weekend meant the Brazilians have won the Premier Soccer League title with seven games still left to play, the earliest title victory in terms of remaining matches in PSL history. Following their exploits in the CAF Champions, Sundowns now turn their attention back to the DStv premiership, with a tough test against Cape Town City on Tuesday at 7:30pm at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium. Bafana Bafana international Kekana spoke to the club’s media department as they recover and prepare for the Citizens, and revealed that no one should expect a…

AYO TECHNOLOGY Solutions (AYO) has informed its shareholders it would repurchase R619 million of the shares that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) holds in the company, as part of its settlement agreement with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and the GEPF. In a statement following a JSE notice issued by the ICT group earlier yesterday, AYO said it is revealing some details of its settlement deal after an article in the Daily Maverick on March 25, which disclosed the settlement terms and which the group said misrepresented the agreement between it and the PIC. “AYO wishes to emphasise and confirm that at no stage has it disclosed or verified the terms of the settlement to Daily Maverick or any other media publication. AYO must assume that the PIC acted…

THE SETTLEMENT between the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and AYO Technology Solutions (AYO) has ended their protracted legal dispute. However, the AYO case highlights the impact of negative media coverage and the weaponisation of quasi-judicial processes, such as commissions of inquiry against companies. The case has broader implications for the South African business landscape, particularly international investor sentiment. AYO, a large information technology company, was formed by amalgamating several long-standing, profitable IT companies into the ICT group. But hostile media gave the impression that a “small, newly formed IT company” approached the PIC for a more considerable investment than its actual size. The media built the narrative to target and undermine AYO. The disproportionate targeting of AYO and associate companies at the Mpati Commission of Inquiry raises concerns about the…

A RELATIVE of five family members who were killed when three gunmen stormed their rural home in uMbumbulu on Saturday night has described the horror he witnessed. The man, whose name is known to The Mercury but is not being identified due to his fears over his safety, described yesterday how he was in another house in the yard when he heard gunshots. Six people were killed in the Mpandwini Reserve area, however, the man said five were his relatives and he did not know the sixth person. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said yesterday that police had made a breakthrough in the case and had arrested an 18-year-old suspect who would appear in court soon. More arrests were expected. Speaking about what happened, the man said that when…

IN HIS latest grumpy newsletter, investment analyst Dr James Greener explores the pros and cons of artificial intelligence (AI). “There is a great deal of excitement about the latest generation of AI computer programmes and how clever and useful they are especially for everyday tasks for just the average Joe. “This morning before I was properly awake and was looking for smart things to say about the recent interest rate hike, my laptop was offering me a dinner party recipe for six vegetarians and a chocolate desert. “Well, this smarty-pants computer has not learnt anything about me in the past 10 years. “What I really wanted to know and share with readers, was why we were hit with a double jump in the price of money (repo rate increased…

As a nation we are mourning the brutal murder of an innocent soul. Iconic journalist Jeremy Gordin was killed in a brutal robbery. We are reeling in shock at all the horrible events that seem to overwhelm us on a daily basis. We profess to be a democracy, but the sad reality is that we are living under siege. The murders and kidnappings that we are grimly witnessing on a daily basis have prompted serious soul-searching as this escalating menace is pervasive in South Africa. Violent crime, accompanied by death, in our beleaguered country must not continue without drastic consequences for the perpetrators. Law and order have collapsed and the law-abiding masses have no right to their lives and properties. These ruthless criminals terrorise our society, deprive us of our…

A 40-year-old man was arrested in the Eastern Cape this weekend after he was allegedly found with drugs hidden in yoghurt containers. Police spokesperson Captain Namhla Mdleleni said members of Cradock K9 and highway Patrol held an intelligence-driven operation on Sunday. “Members from Crime Intelligence Unit intercepted information of illicit drugs in transit, which was quickly relayed to Cradock K9 and Highway Patrol teams.” Mdleleni said police spotted a hitchhiker fitting the description of the suspect on the N10 near Cradock. The man was stopped and a routine search was done. “It is alleged that the illicit drugs were found hidden in several filled yoghurt containers and concealed with foil.” Mdleleni said the drugs had a street value of about R12 400. The man is due to appear in…

Abysmal performance of president is making the opposition leader’s job look easy IT TAKES a genuinely abysmal president to make the opposition leader’s job of overtaking the governing party look easy. It is the toughest gig in South African politics as the DA grapples with losing electoral support in an environment of endemic corruption in society and widening poverty among citizens. For instance, between the 2016 and 2021 local government elections, the party shed 1.4 million votes; between the 2014 and 2019 national elections, it lost 470 000-odd votes. John Steenhuisen's conference speech marked the terrain on which the DA must fight the next election more precisely than panache, but the ability to deliver votes is not assured. Under the theme, “The moonshot pact to stop ANC-EFF doomsday”, he…

Russia yesterday accused Ukraine of organising the murder of a prominent war blogger in a St Petersburg café and arrested a young Russian woman shown in a police video admitting delivering the bomb that killed him and injured over 30 others. Ukraine, which did not take responsibility for Sunday’s attack, blamed “domestic terrorism” for the murder of Maxim Fomin, a Russian military blogger and cheerleader for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine who called himself Vladlen Tatarsky. Darya Trepova, the 26-year-old Russian woman arrested over his murder, confessed in a video released by the interior ministry that she had brought in the figurine of a likeness of Tatarsky that exploded shortly afterwards, killing him. But reports said she had told investigators that she had been set up and had not known the…

Kenya is to launch its first operational satellite next week, the government has said. Taifa-1 is to be launched on April 10 aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The observation satellite is “fully designed and developed” by Kenyan engineers and will be used to provide data on agriculture and food security, the defence ministry said. Testing and manufacturing of the parts were done in collaboration with a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer. As of last year, at least 13 African countries had manufactured 48 satellites, said Space in Africa, a Nigeria-based firm that tracks African space programmes. | AFP…

Ramallah: Palestinian authorities have condemned the Israeli cabinet’s move to vote in favour of establishing a National Guard force controlled by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Stressing that “the formation of the national guard will not frighten our people”, a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement in Gaza denounced the Israeli move. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the National Guard would deal with violent clashes between Jewish and Arab citizens of the country. Ben-Gvir had said the force would be deployed in Arab communities. Ben-Gvir is one the most extreme ministers in Israel’s cabinet. | IANS…

brussels: Finland will join Nato today, marking the completion of a swift journey into the military alliance for the Nordic nation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said. Finland has a 1 300km border with Russia, so Nato’s frontier with Russia will almost double in length, and the move drew a pledge from Moscow that it would beef up its forces in border regions. The last hurdle to Finland’s membership was removed last week when Türkiye’s parliament voted to ratify Helsinki’s application even as it kept Sweden’s bid on hold. Türkiye says that Stockholm harbours members of terrorist groups, a charge Sweden denies. | Reuters…

The next time Aiden Markram bumps into former Proteas star Herschelle Gibbs they will have a few extra things to talk about. Markram not only equalled Gibbs’ legendary 175 on Sunday in the Pink ODI at the Wanderers, but he also slayed the Netherlands to all parts. Gibbs famously butchered Dutch bowler Daan van Bunge for six sixes in one over of the 2007 World Cup clash in St Kitts. Markram did not quite match the mercurial Gibbs’ feat, but he did strike seven sixes on the day, including one massive hit into the Memorial Stand to bring up his 150. "His (Gibbs’) innings was probably a lot better than mine in terms of the match situation and the series context, but I watched that game when I was young…