Innehållsförteckning för 2021-10-18 från Mercury

GIVEN MAJOLA given.majola@inl.co.za THE INDUSTRIAL Development Corporation (IDC), a national development finance institution, said at the weekend its IDC’s Post Unrest Business Recovery Funding approvals had surpassed the R1 billion mark, sustaining 22 493 jobs.The businesses, impacted by civil unrest and looting, which hit parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in July, were now slowly returning to activity, it said. Following the unrest that disrupted businesses and livelihoods in the two provinces, the IDC established a Post Unrest Business Recovery Fund to help affected businesses recover and rebuild. Supported clients are spread across a variety of sectors, including the retail, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. IDC chief executive TP Nchocho said there was still work to be done to bring many businesses to full operations. According to him, the unrest…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za Former Struggle soldiers’ ongoing frustrations with difficult living conditions, rampant poverty and the government’s failure to provide for them, means that many are willing to do anything to have their voices heard. This is the stern warning from former uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Themba Mavundla. It comes in the wake of an incident in which former soldiers held Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise and her deputy Thabang Makwetla hostage at St George’s Hotel and Conference Centre in Irene, Pretoria, on Thursday. The former liberation fighters demanded an audience with President Cyril Ramaphosa last week. Mavundla decried the living conditions that many former soldiers faced, saying it was shameful to see many dying poor when they had sacrificed so much of…

| Arthur Koestler MANY, many years ago a visitor from overseas remarked to my dad: “Maritzburg’s a funny little town. It’s got hardly any traffic, yet it’s got a traffic problem.” It came back to me a couple of days ago on a visit to the capital. It began with a nose-to-tail crawl down Town Hill. I grew up on Town Hill and had never seen anything like it before. It must be an accident. But no, there was no accident. This was Maritzbug Traffic 2021 – volume exponentially increased, Traffic Problem exponentially increased, but out of proportion. I crawled across the city to Hayfields, on the edge of town, to meet a friend at a housing estate. A couple of hours later I left, taking the same…

BENNY PILLAY | Phoenix In response to Muhammad Omar (The Mercury, October 15). Contrary to your belief, the Phoenix issue has everything to do with an election and stinks of political failures. The people you hail as heroes failed our communities when they needed them the most. Why did members of our community rise up to defend themselves, their families and properties? Where were our police and other state protection units? Mr Omar, even the councillors for Phoenix were nowhere to be found. They were missing in action and the community had nobody to turn to. What happened in Phoenix should never have happened and the only way to prevent this from happening again is to have active leadership in communities and this is why the upcoming local…

SIYABONGA THUSI | Westville I AM in full agreement with the letter writer of The Mercury, October 13. I don’t think our government is being fair to South Africans on vaccination. On one hand, our government is discriminating against its people, while on the other it wants the vote from the same unvaccinated people. From what I have heard in the media, the government is issuing vaccination certificates for the vaccinated in order for them to travel, and gain access to entertainment areas, soccer fields etc. So these are some of the benefits for the vaccinated as compared to the unvaccinated. It’s amazing though that the vote of the unvaccinated is important, though they are not going to benefit as the vaccinated will. Our government is playing a…

Buhle Mbonambi buhle.mbonambi@inl.co.za Lalela Mswane, a 24-year-old LLB graduate, dancer and model, was crowned Miss South Africa 2021 at Grand West Arena in Cape Town on Saturday evening. It was the 63th crowning of Miss SA and saw the biggest gathering of reigning and former beauty queens, including the current Miss World, Miss Supranational and Miss Universe. Mswane succeeds Shudufhadzo Musida and it was announced that she would soon be preparing for the upcoming Miss Universe 2021, which will be hosted in the Israeli resort of Eilat in December. The runners-up were Zimi Mabunzi from the Eastern Cape and Moratwe Masima from Gauteng. Mswane hails from the remote village of KwaSokhulu in northern KZN, on the outskirts of the small town of KwaMbonambi, outside Richards Bay. She is the first…

Kristi and Jared Owens were checking in their luggage at the Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport in Texas for a trip to Las Vegas when an Southwest airlines gate agent Cathy Cook said the bag was overweight. The Owens wanted to avoid the fee, so they opened their suitcase. That’s when they discovered Icky, their rescue chihuahua, hiding inside one of Jared’s cowboy boots. The couple, naturally, was stunned. Kristi packed the night before the trip, and Jared added his belongings to the suitcase the morning of the flight. “And the last things I packed were those boots,” Jared said. The couple arranged to have Jared’s uncle pick up Icky so she could stay with Kristi’s mother. | The Washington Post…

BUS company Eldo Coaches has offered help to the injured passengers and families who lost their loved ones in a tragic accident last week. Ten people were killed and about 60 were injured in the accident. The bus, travelling from Durban to Johannesburg, crashed on the N3 northbound close to the Bergville off-ramp on Tuesday morning. Eldo Coaches last week said the accident was caused by a blow-out of a front tyre. The company issued a statement on its Facebook page on Saturday saying law firm Dev Maharaj and Associates (DMA) had been enlisted to help the injured passengers and families who had lost their relatives in the horrific accident with Road Accident Fund claims. “DMA has set up a dedicated help desk to assist the injured passengers and bereaved…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za TWO people have been taken in for questioning in connection with the murder of an ANC ward councillor candidate in Cato Crest. Siyabonga Mkhize was shot on Friday in Cato Crest in Durban. He was a candidate for ward 101 in the November 1 local government elections. It was reported that Mkhize was shot dead during alleged door-to-door campaigning for the ANC. Police Minister Bheki Cele visited Mkhize’s family yesterday, and later told the media that the police were looking at two suspects. He promised that the police would have made significant advances in their investigation by the end of the weekend. Cele had first held a community meeting at a hall where he assured residents that the police were dealing with crime. Cele also visited the…

Paphos, Cyprus: The climate crisis threatens a double blow for the Middle East, experts say, by destroying its oil income as the world shifts to renewables and by raising temperatures to unliveable extremes. Little has been done to address the challenge in a region long plagued by civil strife, war and refugee flows, even as global warming looks likely to accelerate these trends, a conference heard last week. “Our region is classified as a global climate change hot spot,” Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades told the International Conference on Climate Change in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Home to half a billion people, the already sun-baked region has been designated as especially vulnerable by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation. Yet it is also…

LA PALMA: There’s no immediate end in sight to the volcanic eruptions that had caused chaos on the Spanish isle of La Palma since they began about a month ago, the President of the Canary Islands Angel Víctor Torres said yesterday, citing scientists. There were 42 seismic movements on the island yesterday, the largest of which measured 4.3, according to the Spanish National Geographical Institute. Streams of lava have laid waste to more than 742 hectares of land and destroyed almost 2 000 buildings on La Palma since the volcano started erupting on September 19. About 7 000 people have been evacuated from their homes on the island with 83 000 inhabitants.…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter has credited attacker Keagan Dolly for the hard yards that he has put in to shed some weight following his outstanding display during their 4-0 win over Chippa United on Saturday. After a frustrating four-year spell in Ligue 1, playing for Montpellier where he was troubled by injuries, Dolly heeded the call to come back to South Africa, joining Amakhosi on a three-year deal. But his weight-gain also attracted attention. Dolly appears to have been busy behind the scenes – and at training – to get back into shape. That hard work has been rewarded, as he has made steady progress since joining Chiefs. But perhaps Dolly's best game for Chiefs came on Saturday against the Chilli Boys. He scored two goals…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za KAROOOOO, the Nasdaq and JSE-listed group that owns 100 percent of Cartrack Holdings, grew net subscriber additions by 102 609, or 111 percent, in the six months to August 31 due to increased investment in sales and marketing, which takes about six months to translate into new customers. Subscription revenue increased 16 percent to R1.23 billion, and by 20 percent on a constant currency basis. Operating profit fell 6 percent to R346 million, because, while much boosted sales and marketing investment had materialised in part, management expected to see the benefits via customer acquisition only by the end of the fourth quarter of 2022. Founder and chief executive Zak Calisto said in a telephone interview they had increased…

POWER utility Eskom has initiated proceedings in the high court to review the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) decision to reject its Fifth Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD5) application. Nersa had rejected Eskom’s plans for electricity prices that run into 2025. Eskom said that going to court was the “only available option” to avoid extremely serious and negative consequences. The urgent high court review requires Nersa to urgently process the Eskom revenue application for at least one year, as required by law. The proposed time frame allows for a decision to be made in time for implementation by April 1, 2022. “As required by law, Eskom submitted its revenue application to Nersa on June 2, 2021. The application is for implementation from April 1, 2022. The…

FAROUUK ARAIE | Johannesburg THE looming conflict between China and its neighbours in the South China Sea has the potential to escalate out of control, with horrific consequences. The world is going into a New World Order of disorder. As a bolt of lightning that flashes across the darkening sky is witness both to the approaching storm and to the unbearable tension which is giving birth to it, so the fires of the stand-off near Taiwan has thrown a lurid light on the menacing return of a critical imbalance in world politics. The world must brace itself for ever-escalating rounds of mass conflict. Nor has the Muslim world, from Mauritania to Indonesia to Washington DC, yet spoken its final word. Why does the world seem to be crumbling…

VA VOLKER | Pietermaritzburg WHEN President Cyril Ramaphosa states that the ANC wants to fight corruption one would like to take him at his word. The ANC NEC decision requiring ANC office-bearers to “step aside” when they have been charged is merely an internal ANC arrangement, which in fact is also not implemented effectively. The ANC at present is still in charge of the state machinery and unless there is visible effective timely action by the state, when President Ramaphosa – who holds a dual position as leader of the ANC and as executive president of South Africa – speaks, the citizens of South Africa justifiably ask themselves whether Mr Ramaphosa was speaking in his capacity only as ANC leader or also as president of South Africa. The…

DAVID LAWSON | St Lucia THE letter in The Mercury (October 14) – “DA shot itself in the foot with posters” – refers: Thyagaraj Markandan has a valid point about the excesses of vigilantism, but society should focus on the people who are really responsible for these deaths. When mobs of people stream into an area where you live, work or own a business, intent on plunder, looting, pillaging and arson, it’s a natural reaction to defend family, friends and livelihood, especially when police protection cannot always be relied on. Invariably when these situations occur there is “collateral damage” – innocent citizens are injured or killed. Similar tragedies often occur during police shoot-outs with gangsters and incidents of terrorism. Unfortunately the main culprits seem to often get away…

Mashudu Sadike EMOTIONAL and cyberbullying are worse than physical abuse in schools, Deputy Minister of Basic Education Dr Reginah Mhaule has said. She was addressing pupils during the second leg of a bullying prevention event in schools at Ga-Nchabeleng, Sekhukhune in Limpopo on Friday. She was flanked by Deputy Minister in the Presidency Pinky Kekana, Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development John Jeffery and Limpopo MEC for Education Polly Boshielo. “In 2016, emotional bullying remained the most prevalent form of bullying among secondary school learners at 82.6%, followed by 56.7% of cyberbullying and physical bullying at 42.3%. “Based on the study, cyberbullying has increased – and even surpassed physical bullying,” Mhaule said. The engagement was prompted by the rise in bullying following the death of 15-year-old Lufuno Mavhunga, who…

THE fast-approaching local government elections again bring into sharp focus the role of councillors. Far too often, councillors are elected and remain aloof to their constituents until another round of elections is necessary. This does not apply to all councillors, but certainly there are many who see their role as a stepping stone into other spheres of leadership. And, sadly, service delivery and the very notion of local government suffer from the perspective of those who need councillors to represent them at a municipal level. Councillors are responsible both to their electorate and also to the municipal council. There are councillors who are responsive to residents in their ward, but do not make good decisions in the council. Some councillors are good leaders at municipal level but are inaccessible to…

A group of 17 missionaries and family members – primarily Americans – were kidnapped in Haiti on Saturday after returning from a site visit to an orphanage, according to an audio alert from their Christian aid group and a person familiar with the abduction, marking the latest in a wave of kidnappings to grip the spiralling Caribbean nation. An audio recording described as a “prayer alert” from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries stated that “men, women and children” associated with the group were being held by an armed gang. Those abducted included organisation staff as well as family members, according to the recording. “The mission field director and the American embassy are working to see what can be done,” the voice on the recording stated. “It later added, “Pray that the…

MOSCOW: Senior Russian lawmaker Vyacheslav Volodyn said yesterday that indiscriminate awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize could tarnish its image and suggested a pathway for taking the reward away. “Confidence in it could be restored if there were a way to take the prize away in cases where crimes, abuse of human rights and freedoms were proven,” he said on social media. This year, the prize was awarded to Maria Ressa, co-founder of the Philippine news website Rappler, and Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper, “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression”.…

LOOKING at the recent political events in South Africa, it would seem as if it doesn't take much to expose its economic underbelly, with disastrous long-term social consequences. And considering the tenuous relationship between and among the millions of unemployed people, an administration with a complicated attitude towards economic growth and an extremely wealthy class that lacks empathy, the masses have been viscerally conditioned to react in only one way every time discontent manifests itself. Violence. There is no doubt that a $100 (R1 460) barrel of crude oil will be an uneasy political moment, an unwelcome one at that. A government that is afraid to govern, always finds excuses not to take hard decisions, especially by avoiding those areas which may somewhat perturb the financial interests of…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za TWO children between the ages of 5 and 9 are among the nine people killed in a mass shooting at the Clare Estate informal settlement on Saturday. A girl, Thandolwethu Mathangana, 5, and boy Yanga Mathangana, 10, were shot in their mother’s house at about 10pm. Their mother narrowly escaped death because she had gone to the shop five minutes before gunmen burst into the house and shot them. The two children were with their father, Ncedani Mndaweni, who was also killed. A relative said the image of the children’s bodies being removed from the scene was devastating and the pain of their deaths would never go away. Six people were killed in that house before the gunmen moved into another home and shot two more people,…

“Hello”, a smile, and “thank you”, would make my shopping (my banking, my dining) experience very rewarding. I know I’ll find myself recommending you to others. Good, friendly service gets etched into my brain (which, by the way, is hot-wired to the hand that holds my wallet) and I do tend to want to share good news. Positive experiences get my loyalty juices flowing and I’ll find myself returning because you’re polite and you try hard on my behalf. I know I’ll return to your establishment if there is some indication that you care. It is when you are surly, abrupt, and I feel unwelcome, that I find myself looking elsewhere for the services and products you provide. Little things like ignoring me, avoiding eye contact, talking to co-workers, answering…

Robin Naidoo | Phoenix Can Patrick, crack it? Patrick Pillay is running with a lot of no-name hopefuls in his one-man party, the Democratic Liberal Congress (DLC). Can Shameen Rajbansi bring the Indians back home, and for what? Has she provided homes for the homeless, land for the landless or jobs for the jobless? We must not forget that Amichand Rajbansi sold the Indian Minority Front (MF) vote to the ANC for the position of MEC of sport. As for the MF candidates, the majority are Hindi and only one is Tamil. This speaks volumes for minorities. The DA without a doubt will win most of the wards in Phoenix and other townships, only because there are no safer alternatives than trusting its white leadership to deliver,…

SANKU TSUNKE | Communicator at the Department of Water and Sanitation THE message of washing hands with soap and water is still being communicated, particularly as the world observed Global Hand Washing Day on October 15. This year’s theme for Global Handwashing Day was: “Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together.” The theme highlighted the need for the global authorities to heighten the importance of hand hygiene, even beyond Covid-19 when the world would be entering a “new normal” post the Covid-19 era. Even as the battle to contend with this global Covid-19 pandemic continues, it is a known fact that the common and easy way of contracting the virus is by touching objects or surfaces that have been contaminated by the virus that causes…

A Banksy picture that was half sliced by a shredder concealed in its frame when it was sold at auction fetched £18.6 million (R371m) when it went back under the hammer in the same room in London last week. Onlookers gasped when the then-titled Girl with Balloon was sucked into a shredder as the hammer fell following a bid of £1 042 000 at an October 2018 auction at Sotheby’s in London. “Some people think it didn’t really shred. It did. Some people think the auction house was in on it, it wasn’t,” the street artist, whose identity is a closely guarded secret, said on Instagram in 2018. Now called Love is in the Bin, the work sold for £18 582 000 – more than three times the top end…

Mashudu Sadike mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za LIMPOPO ANC treasurer Danny Msiza, who is facing charges in connection with the looting of VBS Mutual Bank, wants to be put on trial separately from his co-accused. Msiza has applied to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria for a separation of his trial. Last week, 14 people, including former VBS officials as well as municipal workers, appeared before the court for a pre-trial hearing. They are accused of looting more than R2.3 billion and collapsing the bank in in 2018. Community groups and individuals, mostly the elderly from rural Vhembe district, had invested their monies with the bank. In court last week, Msiza’s lawyer said the separation of trial application had been served on the State. However, State prosecutor Hein van der Merwe told the court that…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za Businesses are set to feel the strain of a force majeure declared by Transnet Port Terminals at the Richards Bay port on Friday. The force majeure comes as a result of two major fires that took place at the port, on October 6 and 13, which caused extensive damage to the import conveyor route. Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) confirmed the force majeure in a statement. “Given the catastrophic nature of the incident Transnet Port Terminals has no other option but to declare force majeure in terms of its entire operation until further notice, and until the Business Continuity Plan has been finalised. Force majeure is therefore hereby declared in terms of clause 13.1 and 13.2 of TPT’s Standard Trading Terms and Conditions, therefore declaring a total shutdown…

Country lacks capacity, expertise and structures to contain phenomenon ON OCTOBER 7, NatWest Bank, which is 55% owned by the taxpayer, pleaded guilty at the Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London to money laundering. The charges were brought by the Financial Conduct Authority under new anti-money laundering (AML) measures in the UK. NatWest failed to monitor and report suspicious activity by a client, who deposited £264 million (R5.26 billion) in cash over a three-year period. On the same day, Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the independent inter-governmental gatekeeper that “protects” the global financial system against money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, issued a damning evaluation of South Africa’s current anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing policies. FATF recommendations are recognised as the…

Police in Democratic Republic of Congo used tear gas to break up clashes between supporters of the president and an opposition leader on Saturday, as MPs selected a new head of the electoral commission. The National Assembly chose Denis Kadima, an election expert with decades of experience, to lead the Independent National Electoral Commission (Ceni), criticised for its role in the disputed 2018 vote where Felix Tshisekedi emerged as president. “The fact that Kadima’s candidacy was pushed behind the scenes by people close to President Tshisekedi raised suspicions about his independence,” said Tresor Kibangula, of the Congo Research Group at New York University. In 2018, amid widespread accusations of fraud, the Ceni declared Tshisekedi the winner, while opposition leader Martin Fayulu, who said he had won a landslide victory, came…

Zeeshan Maqsood returned bowling figures of 4/20 to set up a 10-wicket win for hosts Oman in the T20 World Cup opener against debutants Papua New Guinea yesterday. Maqsood’s four wickets kept Papua New Guinea to 129/9. Openers Aqib Ilyas (50) and Jatinder Singh (73) then clattered the Papua New Guinea bowlers without being parted to steer Oman home with 6.2 overs to spare. Singh reached his fifty with the third of his sixes and brought up victory with the fourth by which stage Ilyas had joined him in the half-century club. Maqsood remained the hero with his left-arm spin as he struck thrice in one over to rattle Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea captain Assad Vala, who made 56, and Charles Amini, who smashed 37, hit back with…