Innehållsförteckning för 2022-03-04 från Mercury

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za RUSSIA’S rouble hit a new record low yesterday with investors risk averse to emerging markets (EM) in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while keeping an eagle eye on spillover effects on South Africa’s economy. Surging oil prices fanned worries about global inflation. The rouble hit a record low of 118.15 against the dollar in Moscow intraday trading, extended declines for the fourth consecutive day, while the interbank rate tumbled more than 20 percent. The rouble was hit by a double whammy after its sovereign bond rating was downgraded to junk and as MSCI Emerging Market (EM) equities index and FTSE Russell pulled the plug on Russia equities in their indexes – a move that has far reaching consequences for EMs, wherein South Africa resides.…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE huge salary backpay owed to izinduna across the province has been reduced drastically, by more than half, from R1.5 billion to R630 million. At a meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in the KwaZulu- Natal provincial legislature yesterday, the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) revealed that following a thorough assessment it found that the backpay had been exaggerated. The department said the figure was exaggerated based on the assumption that all the vacancies of izinduna were filled and that all had worked the same number of months. The past reports had stated that there were more than 3 000 izinduna across the province. The department however admitted that it still could not afford to pay this reduced amount and was steadfast…

Aggravated by fiddly financial apps, retired urologist Carlos San Juan got more than he bargained for when he began a campaign for a more user-friendly service from Spain’s banks. The 78-year-old kicked off a revolt dubbed “I’m old, not an idiot” online at the end of December and by mid-February had more than 640 000 signatures, forcing a change of tack. Now Madrid has given Spanish banks until the end of the month to address the needs of the elderly, with services such as withdrawing money from ATMs or being able to operate remotely. Among Spain’s more than 9 million over-65s, who represent almost 20% of the total population, many have struggled to manage their finances since bank branches started vanishing from the high street. San Juan says urgent measures…

GLEN BEHN | eManzimtoti I find myself, for the first time, agreeing with Duncan du Bois (The Mercury, March 2)! I'm 78 years old and have read many books and articles over the years. I have also come to the conclusion that our planet goes through various climate changes naturally, and that nothing mankind can do will ever alter them. Thus I feel that the global warming now taking place and the rising level of the oceans are inevitable and we will just have to try to accept this and do what we can to survive.…

ALLAN WOLMAN | Tel Aviv, Israel Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general, who authored that infamous report labelling Israel an apartheid state, responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 25. Nothing, no further comment for the past five days, regardless of violations of international humanitarian law which could constitute war crimes. While Europe is teetering on a possible world and nuclear war, Amnesty International published a multi-page report on Israel yet, can only issue a few bland criticisms against Russia, and have yet to criticise or condemn Putin. This banal statement from Amnesty International: “The Russian troops should immediately stop carrying out indiscriminate attacks in violation of the laws of war. The continuation of the use of ballistic missiles and other inaccurate explosive weapons causing civilian deaths…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za A MAN who had to sit in a smelly police cell for two days because he would not pay a R10 000 bribe to police officers has been awarded damages of R275 000. Bhekumuzi Nhlapo, 41, was watching television when police officers burst into his home. They claimed the chassis number of his car was tampered with and threatened to arrest him if he did not pay R10 000. Nhlapo refused to pay the bribe. The police detained him and left him for two days in an overcrowded and unventilated police cell. Nhlapo turned to the Johannesburg High Court, where he claimed between R250 000 and R300 000 in damages. The police at first denied that the incident happened, but they eventually admitted liability. Counsel acting for…

Jolene Marriah-Maharaj jolene.marriah@inl.co.za A KwaZulu-Natal cop who pleaded guilty to culpable homicide following the death of a senior state advocate in 2019 has escaped jail time. Muzi Euchalystius Mkhize, 57, a Detective Warrant Officer in the SAPS, was convicted and sentenced in the Scottburgh Regional Court this week, following the death of Senior State Advocate Addelaid Ann Ferreira Watt, 62. According to Natasha Kara, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KZN, Mkhize was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for a period of five years with conditions. “The incident took place in November 2019 when Watt was prosecuting a farm robbery matter in the uMzimkhulu Regional Court where firearms and other possessions were stolen. “While the case was still proceeding in court, the complainant in the matter…

Se-Anne Rall se-anne.koopman@inl.co.za The Durban University of Technology (DUT) has begun a phased in re-opening of three of its campuses. DUT senior director of Corporate Affairs Alan Khan said from yesterday the Steve Biko, Ritson and ML Sultan campuses would be opened and only accessible to staff following two weeks of closure due to violent protests. Last week, nine cars were petrol-bombed by suspects at the Indumiso campus in Pietermaritzburg. A petrol bomb was also thrown at the guard house. Just days before, four vehicles were torched at the Steve Biko Campus. Khan said DUT management recognised the need to commence with the Back to Campus Teaching & Learning Plan that was shared with all students and staff on February 2, 2022. He said the phased-in approach would be adopted,…

Excess weight raises the risk of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, death and disability Obesity is a disease with medical consequences estimated at $1 trillion (about R15 trillion) by 2025. This has been worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, as those living with obesity are twice as likely to be admitted to hospital for the disease. Childhood obesity often continues into adulthood and increases the risk of non-communicable diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as premature death and disability. At the psychosocial level, children living with obesity are more likely to experience low self-esteem, depression, and social isolation. World Obesity Day (WOD), commemorated each year on this day, is an opportunity for the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) and our partners to increase…

Romania’s military was yesterday mourning after separate helicopter and fighter jet crashes in bad weather near the Black Sea that killed eight personnel in its deadliest day in years. The EU country is on the frontline in strengthening Nato’s eastern flank following Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, and has seen US and European military reinforcements arrive in recent weeks. An IAR 330-Puma helicopter crashed on Wednesday in the area of Gura Dobrogei, 11km from an airfield, the defence ministry said. All seven aboard, aged between 27 and 53, were killed. The helicopter had been searching for a missing Soviet-era MiG 21 LanceR fighter jet, which lost contact and disappeared from the radar while on air patrol. The missing jet was found overnight, having crashed near Cogealac, an uninhabited area near…

San Francisco: After less than two years since its launch, Meta-owned Facebook is shutting down its college students-only social network – Campus. Campus users could access a special news feed and join groups, events and chat rooms focused on college life. It also included a directory where users could find and befriend other students on the app, reported The Verge. “We have decided to end our pilot of Facebook Campus,” Facebook spokesperson Leah Luchetti was quoted as saying. Luchetti said that all profiles, groups, posts, events, and other content would be permanently deleted after March 10.…

THE offshore fishing has been phenomenal. The only issue or hurdle has been the big surf, making launching a clenching affair. The north coast has seen a lot of couta. The areas around Vidal have been full up of shoal couta and these greedy speedsters will very rarely say no to a bait. With the mackerel shortage at the moment, you might need to rely on the old faithful sardine. Don’t stress, they work extremely well. The lower north coast has had a good mix of gamefish with tuna, couta and snoek making up the bulk of the catches. The sharks have been an issue. Pull your strip baits in the morning for the snoek and then move deeper for the couta/tuna. The central stretch of KwaZulu-Natal has been a…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE eThekwini Municipality says it has reported to the police fraudulent transactions that have cost the city R45 million. The transactions were highlighted in a recent report by the metro’s audit committee. The audit committee briefed the municipality’s executive committee last month on a series of concerning systematic failures that are costing the municipality millions of rand. Under fraud risk management, the committee highlighted many fraud-related concerns, including that the municipality had lost about R45m through fraudulent transactions. The municipality declined to elaborate on the nature of these transactions, only saying it was a matter that had been reported to the police. One of the fraud-related concerns mentioned was the suspicious transaction involving the city’s Expanded Public Works Programme where it found that the metro had paid…

“My husband has fits of rage that no one sees but us, his family. We are the only ones who see it. I don’t know how he controls the rage so well. As soon as there is an outsider around or if someone comes in unexpectedly, he can change from shouting and screaming and he becomes the most controlled man who is calm and friendly and soft-spoken. I know he is embarrassed. I have told very few friends how much he scares us when one of us makes him angry and they don’t believe me. They can’t imagine he can get so cross with us. What can I do? This is getting out of hand. The children, as they are getting older, are seeing it more. If they speak up,…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff At a time when service delivery continues to deteriorate, reflecting the declining skills capacity within eThekwini Municipality, the pursuit of employment equity profiles shows how racial ideology is prioritised ahead of practical common sense (The Mercury, March 2). Such prioritisation, when the municipality has zero credit and wants to borrow R1 billion for capital projects, is akin to re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. What also rankles is that this situation is being facilitated by the ANC’s coalition with a bunch of one-seat parties. Before the election they all expressed opposition to ANC misrule, yet now lend their support for more of the same. For improved governance and service delivery, employment, procurement and promotion needs to be based on merit. Whereas in 2015…

DAVID PICKARD | Durban I read that President Ramaphosa is going to hand the NPA a cool billion to speed up corruption trials. What a laugh. When Zuma was removed, the country was crying out for a Rambo, but instead we got a Poser. He looks the part and even dresses the part, but that’s it. Instead of jumping out guns blazing, he slithered out frantically waving his battle flag, a white cross on a white background and shrieking his battle cry, “Don’t shoot I promise not to prosecute.” That, folks, was the only promise he has ever kept. Perhaps he should follow each promise with Ts and Cs apply. Where are the lifestyle audits promised in 2018? What action has been taken against the PPE fraudsters? The…

| Mercury Correspondent THE child support grant is not enough even to support a single mother and her young child, and there is a need to increase the grant to afford children adequate nutrition, a new report finds. The Children, Social Assistance and Food Security Research Report, commissioned by human rights organisation the Black Sash, was released last week. According to the South African Medical Research Council’s Wanga Zembe-Mkabile, the study used case study methodology to collect information from 12 primary caregivers of child support grant (CSG) recipients and their children in the Western Cape. The research aimed to understand how primary caregivers and children receiving social assistance experience food security. The child support is currently R460 and will increase by R20 to R480 in April. The report revealed…

A KwaZulu-Natal father who raped his daughter in 2019 has been handed a life sentence. The 32-year-old was convicted and sentenced in the Verulam Regional Court this week. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) the incident took place in November 2019 in the Cottonlands area. NPA regional spokesperson Natasha Kara said that the victim and her 8-year-old brother had been visiting their father, who lived with their grandmother. “When they got there, they found him alone in his room, as their granny had gone out.” After speaking to them, the man gave the boy his cellphone and sent him to another room, while he closed the door and raped the girl. | Jolene Marriah-Maharaj…

THE ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand is upon us with the eight-team competition having begun early this morning. From its humble beginnings in 1973 – it did indeed have a head start on the men’s global jamboree that was only staged two years later – the Women’s World Cup has been revolutionised. The tournament is even unrecognisable from when New Zealand last hosted the event in 2000, when all the teams were based in one city with all the players and support staff staying at local school dormitories. It will now be staged at six world-class venues all around the country with teams being transported in chartered planes. Television viewership is where the interest in the women’s game has exploded. More than 180 million people around…

Russian forces with high-precision weapons disabled a reserve radio and television centre in Kyiv, Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said yesterday. He said the centre had been used by the Security Service of Ukraine. The Russian Armed Forces had destroyed 1 612 Ukrainian military infrastructure objects since the start of the military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov said. More than 2 000 Ukrainian civilians, not counting the country’s “defenders”, had been killed in the conflict, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted the State Emergency Service of Ukraine as saying yesterday, adding that hundreds of transport infrastructure facilities, residential buildings, hospitals and pre-school had been destroyed. Meanwhile, the head of Russia’s National Defence Control Centre, General Mikhail Mizintsev, said Ukrainian nationalists were detaining and preventing the evacuation of civilians and…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yesterday claimed that it had intercepted and tracked India’s submarine INS Kalvari’s movement in its territorial waters. Pakistan also shared the video of interception on a social media platform. The claims were made by Major General Babar Iftikhar, who also stated that the incident took place on March 1. On Twitter, he stated: “Pakistan Navy Anti-Submarine Warfare Unit intercepted & tracked latest Kalvari class Indian submarine on March 1.” He also said that the recent incident being the fourth detection in the last five years. He lauded the detection.…

Smiso Msomi smiso.msomi@inl.co.za SOWETO derby fever seems to be finally coming into fruition, the tensions are building up and there’s always gaps for a sneaky jab just to unsettle the opposition dug-out. Kaizer Chiefs were last in action on Saturday when they won against Baroka FC, so they’re expected to look the fresher of the two sides – a key factor in what promises to be a high octane match at the weekend. Orlando Pirates coach, Mandla Ncikazi, spoke after his side’s stalemate against Cape Town City and revealed his displeasure with his side having just two days to rest compared to their opponent’s six. “The sad part is that we played on Sunday (against Royal Leopards) and they played on Saturday, and then we had to play again…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za THE National Lotteries Commission (NLC) says it has taken disciplinary action against its chief operating officer (COO) after an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into a series of alleged corrupt activities involving grants. The SIU’s investigation was authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa in November 2020, and it had to look at grants that were approved between 2014 and 2020. “The disciplinary hearing into the conduct of the NLC’s chief operations officer (Phillemon Letwaba) that began in early 2022 has been concluded. The commissioner of the NLC has received the report from the chairperson of the hearing, and delivered the same to Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel. A copy of the report has also been shared with the SIU,” the NLC said yesterday.…

ABOUT 6 000 Russians are said to have died in the invasion of Ukraine, suggesting that Vladimir Putin’s venture is a clunker. One has sympathy for the Russian servicemen who thought they were on a liberation mission and would be garlanded with flowers. One has more than sympathy for the Ukrainians as the assault will probably intensify, while many thousands of people – mainly women and children – have fled for shelter in Poland and other neighbouring countries. What a sorry mess. How did Europe come to this? Perhaps we need to lighten up a bit with some jokes that happen to come this way about Russia from 30-odd years ago, cracked without real malice by then American president Ronald Reagan. He said he’d researched real jokes told among…

FAROUK ARAIE | Johannesburg The entire word is going through cataclysmic events from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The rapid acquisition of arms from global intelligence institutions in these volatile regions bodes ill for the peace and stability of the planet. In all these global conflicts, $100 billion has been channelled through to many combatants. The world as a whole has not been at peace since 1914, and is not at peace now. All this is an unfortunate legacy of the 20th century world wars, but also of wars increasingly powerful machinery of mass propaganda, and of a period of confrontation between incompatible and passion-laden ideologies which bring into today’s conflicts a crusading element comparable to that seen in religious conflicts of the past. Armed conflicts within states…

NEVILLE MATTHEWS | New Germany I have to take issue with my friend Roland Fisher about his comment that we are losing our moral compass (The Mercury, February 28). It was lost a long time ago. I know of a situation where schoolteachers now have to travel on the school bus to keep unruly pupils under control. Not only that, they get the driver to deviate from the predetermined route because they are too lazy to walk from the predetermined bus stop to wherever they are going. A while ago, I stopped a bunch of kids who got off the bus because they were not wearing masks, a legal requirement at the time. I got a lot of attitude when I told them the law applied to everyone.…

| Mercury Correspondent G4S Cash Solutions is offering a reward of up to R1 million for information leading to the successful arrest, prosecution and conviction of criminals who shot and killed one of its guards last week. A G4S guard was killed on Friday at 3pm during a robbery at Mnandi’s Spar, on Tulip Road, Centurion The G4S guard was loading a cash collection unit into the armoured vehicle, when he was accosted and shot with an R5 rifle. G4S said the criminals absconded with the cash device, but were unable to access any cash as the security technology installed across G4S devices was aimed at rendering the money unusable. Two of the perpetrators were caught on CCTV, wearing distinctive clothing. Kevin Govender, Cash-In-Transit (CIT) director for G4S Cash…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za A skills audit has revealed that 29% of the staff members in the uMngeni Municipality are not “qualified” for the work they do. This was revealed by uMngeni mayor Chris Pappas as he celebrated his 100 days in office this week. The DA wrested control of uMngeni (Howick) Municipality from the ANC in the local government elections last year. It is the first municipality that the party controls in KwaZulu-Natal. Pappas said the focus in the past 100 days had been to assess the state of the municipality in order to start building a strong foundation. “Some of these things are not ‘sexy’, but are the fundamental building blocks of good governance and a capable, ethical institution.” When they took over, the DA had promised to conduct…

AS THE second-largest economy in the world, China’s economy has shown astonishing growth over the past few years. In 2021, faced with multiple tests of grave and complex international environments and sporadic outbreaks of the pandemic at home, the Chinese government consolidated efforts in stabilising the six sectors (employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and market expectations), fully implemented the policies and measures of safeguarding the six areas (employment, basic living needs, operation of market entities, food and energy, stable industrial and supply chains, and normal functioning of primary-level governments), strengthened the macro policies for cross-cyclical adjustment, and enhanced the support to the real economy. As a result, national economic recovery and development were sustained, reform and opening up and innovation were further advanced, and new achievements were…

DubaI: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent energy prices surging, but the oil-rich Gulf monarchies have so far resisted Western pressure to raise output, prioritising their own strategic and economic interests. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude topped $115 yesterday, the highest since 2008, as the war and sanctions against Moscow stoked fears about global supplies. Russia is the world’s second biggest crude exporter after Saudi Arabia, which is close to Western governments but also to Moscow. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), led by Riyadh and Moscow, failed to respond to a call this week to produce more and faster, despite pressure on the Gulf states. The group argued the “current volatility was not caused by changes in market fundamentals but…

PARIS: French authorities have seized a yacht they linked to Rosneft ROSN.MM boss Igor Sechin – a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin – in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said yesterday. The move came as western states are implementing massive sanctions, including asset freezes, against Russia for starting a war against its neighbour Ukraine. “Thanks to the French customs officers who are enforcing the EU’s sanctions against those close to the Russian government”, Le Maire said. A finance ministry statement said the yacht was owned by an entity of which Sechin was identified as the main shareholder.…

RIYADH: A Saudi Arabian court handed down a new death sentence against a young man for crimes committed when he was a minor after a higher court overturned a previous ruling, his family said, in what rights groups called a “grossly unfair trial”. Abdullah al-Huwaiti was arrested when he was 14 years old and sentenced to death three years later in 2019 on murder and armed robbery charges. A court overturned the conviction in November but, under Saudi law, a retrial followed. “The Criminal Court in Tabuk sentenced the minor Abdullah al-Huwaiti in retribution,” his mother Um Abdullah said after the ruling. “After the Supreme Court overturned the first ruling because of false confessions, today it pronounces an unjust conviction just like last time.” The Saudi government media office did…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za THE new deal that will see local athletics events televised live could lead to South Africa becoming a dominant force like Jamaica in the sport. That was how sprinter Anaso Jobodwana felt about the four-year partnership concluded yesterday between Athletics South Africa and SuperSport. The national track and field championship, ASA Grand Prix and long-distance events such as the Comrades Marathon will be broadcast live on the SuperSport channels, starting this month. Over the past few years, local athletics was not featured much on TV, with only the odd big event such as the Comrades Marathon being shown on SABC. But now they will be able also catch highlights in what is a big season for the sport, with the World Championships and Commonwealth Games later this…