Innehållsförteckning för 2022-05-10 från Mercury

The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is looking at a provincial investigation into areas affected by last month’s disaster as communities continue to struggle without water and electricity almost a month after flooding left more than 400 dead and thousands without homes in KwaZulu-Natal. On Friday, the SAHRC issued a statement saying that it had noted that the residents of oThongathi and surrounding areas had been without water for about 28 days due to extensive infrastructure damage caused to the water treatment plant. The organisation said its KZN provincial office had registered an own initiative complaint to investigate the current situation and assess what interim measures had been implemented. “Section 13 of the SAHRC Act empowers the commission to investigate any alleged violation of human rights and to secure appropriate…

AMERICAN firefighters found themselves on a highly unusual mission when they had to rescue a woman from a toilet. No, she hadn’t locked herself in the toilet, she had fallen into it. This was a non-flush pit toilet near a car park at the summit of Mount Walker in the Olympic National Forest, north-west of Seattle, in Washington State, according to Sky News. In such a toilet, the bacteria do the work in their own time, as with the kleinhuisies of the rural areas in this country. This lady accidentally dropped her cellphone down the loo. She tied together some dog leads to try to fish it out. This didn’t work so she attached the dog leads to herself and the loo and climbed down into the pit.…

THERE is a scene in the original Ghost Busters where an old lady in a New York library shrieks at seeing some apparition floating in front of her. The 30 seconds of footage sends me spiralling backwards in time, to around 1958/1959, when I was about 13, to a second-hand bookshop on the first floor of the same building where that famous CTC Bazaars, in West Street was located. I lived those days only to read books and comics. A friend had made me wise to the fact that this “secret” bookshop sold all the extra stocks of new books from some famous outlets in the area, as well as second-hand publications, bought from the public. Some of the public just happened to be foreign seamen who sold their…

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has clarified that applicants for government jobs have to submit the Z83 form. It has said its circular, sent to all national and provincial departments, had communicated that applicants were not required to submit certified copies of their qualifications and other relevant documents, “but must submit a duly completed Z83 form, copies of supporting documents and a detailed CV”. There were calls on social media for the Z83 form to be cancelled. One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane asked his Twitter followers last week, what they made of the form. Scores said it must go. Applicants for public service jobs were required to submit a printed Z83 form with each application. This means a trip to the internet café each time one…

A significant number of public servants could have been unlawfully benefiting from social grants. Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has revealed that nearly 178 000 public servants have been receiving social grants. The figure excludes public servants who have been paid the R350 a month social relief of distress (SRD) grant, introduced in May 2020 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. In total, beneficiaries of social grants employed by the state work across 45 national government departments and entities, such as the Civilian Secretariat for Police and Statistics South Africa. The recipients were found in 117 provincial government departments and entities across all nine provinces. Zulu said 3 268 public servants were found not to qualify to receive social grants after a review process was completed. “An amount of…

MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison in the province, Peggy Nkonyeni yesterday officially launched Operation Vala’mapotholes, which is aimed at reconstructing and fixing damaged road infrastructure following the recent floods. Nkonyeni launched the programme in KwaMakhutha in the eThekwini Municipality. She tabled her department’s R12 billion budget vote last Thursday. According to the department, the initiative, which will be rolled out throughout the province, is aimed at eradicating potholes and rehabilitating and maintaining road infrastructure. The pothole patching teams will focus on pothole repair, crack sealing and rut repair. “The long-term goal of this programme is to ensure that potholes are fixed within 24 hours and to have emergency teams in all local municipalities to speedily attend to potholes,” said the department in a statement. In her budget speech,…

SOUTH Africa is not yet in the fifth wave of Covid-19, according to the national Department of Health. For almost three weeks, South Africa has seen a steady rise in the number of reported Covid-19 cases, particularly in Gauteng province, which has contributed to about 50% of reported daily cases. Yesterday, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla and Gauteng Department of Health officials provided insight into the increasing number of cases. “We know now that this is driven by a sub-variant of Omicron. Our genomic surveillance team, led by Professor Tulio de Oliveira, has not said to us that this is a definite new variant, except there are mutations in Omicron. In their view, the spike is driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of Omicron,” the minister said. Phaahla added…

The world over has been gripped by the stealthy hand of uncertainty, and this perilous position is itself enveloping and exposing our very fragile global economic material conditions. The uncertainty is, among others, around economic recovery, health and safety and the very tenuous conflict situations playing themselves out in the Middle East and eastern Europe. The escalation of some of these tensions and the global uncertainty that comes with conflict has sparked the launch of the Global Security Initiative, which will be headed and driven by China in the interest of peace and stability. It will primarily be targeted at ensuring the creation of a global environment of peace and stability, ultimately easing the global uncertainty preventing us from seeing the boundless opportunities that lie ahead if we can all…

Sri Lanka’s prime minister resigned yesterday, hours after clashes with pro- and anti-government demonstrators in the commercial capital Colombo amid the country’s worst economic crisis. During weeks of demonstrations, protesters across the island nation of 22 million people have demanded that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, quit for mishandling the economy. The prime minister’s office said the 76-year-old had resigned. The prime minister said he was quitting to help form an interim, unity government. His departure came during a day of chaos and violence which culminated in police imposing a curfew across the country. The confrontation began with hundreds of ruling party supporters rallying outside the prime minister’s official residence before marching to an anti-government protest site. Police had formed a line on the…

Ferdinand Marcos jr yesterday retained his wide lead in the tally of votes in the Philippines presidential election with 66.1% of eligible ballots counted, unofficial data from the poll body showed. Marcos – the son and namesake of the notorious late dictator who ruled the country for 20 years – had 21.7 million votes, more than double the 10.3 million of rival Leni Robredo, an unofficial count by the poll body showed. The big early lead raises the prospect of a once unthinkable return to rule of the Marcos family, 36 years after its patriarch’s overthrow in a “people power” revolution and his family’s humiliating retreat into exile. Opinion polls showed Marcos, a former senator and congressman, with a huge advantage over Robredo, allied with the movement that toppled the…

Brussels: One in three EU countries oppose launching a procedure promoted by the European Parliament to change the bloc’s treaties, according to a joint document signed by Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia and Sweden. It was distributed on the day that the European Parliament in Strasbourg hosted a closing ceremony for the Conference on the Future of Europe. A key ambition of the plan is to remove the veto of member states from policy areas such as health, taxes, defence, and on future members. That means 15 of the 27 member states voting in favour. | AFP…

A good Friday turned into a stinging Sunday for Mercedes at the Miami Grand Prix with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton sweating to fifth and sixth-place finishes, and under no illusions about how far off the pace they remained. After winning the last eight constructor's titles, Mercedes are well adrift in third place in the standings, already 62 points behind leaders Ferrari and 56 behind second-ranked Red Bull. Mercedes had shown signs of better performance in Friday's practice sessions, but that proved to be a false dawn with neither of the cars ever in contention to win on the new South Florida track. "At the end of the day there is no happy moment. We are third quickest on the road and in a way, in no man's land. We…

IN WHAT could be a boost for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ambition for a second term, the slate most aligned to him won the Eastern Cape ANC conference with a clean sweep with his ally Oscar Mabuyane re-elected as chairperson. His deputy is Mlungisi Mvoko who defeated Xolile Nkompela, while Lulama Ngcukayitobi is the provincial secretary with Helen Sauls-August his deputy secretary. Rounding off the leadership is Mlungisi Williams as the provincial treasurer. Mabuyane said those elected to lead the province deserved and “earned” the victory. “We have earned what you see. It has come out of hard work. When you are elected you must rise to the occasion. We are bringing to the province a strong leadership," he said. Mabuyane said they were going to tackle “lack of…

The emperor penguin, which roams Antarctica’s frozen tundra and chilly seas, is at severe risk of extinction in the next 30 to 40 years as a result of climate change, an expert from the Argentine Antarctic Institute (IAA) warned. The emperor, the world’s largest penguin and one of only two penguin species endemic to Antarctica, gives birth during the Antarctic winter and requires solid sea ice from April through December to nest fledgling chicks. If the sea freezes later or melts prematurely, the emperor family cannot complete its reproductive cycle. “If the water reaches the newborn penguins, which are not ready to swim and do not have waterproof plumage, they die of the cold and drown,” said biologist Marcela Libertelli, who has studied 15 000 penguins across two colonies in…

The implications of overturning Roe v Wade are grave as it could set a dangerous precedent when one of the most powerful countries in the world seeks to curtail the sexual and reproductive rights of women. Considering the influence of the US in the global public health sphere, we should be worried that decades of advocacy and activism can be reversed when those in power do not see women as autonomous beings. The reversal of Roe v Wade by the US Supreme Court would mark the removal of a woman’s right to decide what to do with her body, and, therefore, her human rights. The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act ensures legal protection of the right to abortion. However, much of the funding in the public sector still comes…

The largest white diamond ever auctioned will go under the hammer in Geneva next week, part of a sale by Christie’s that features two stones weighing more than 200 carats each. “The Rock”, a 228.31 carat pear-shaped stone roughly the size of a golf ball, is expected to sell for up to $30 million (about R486m), the auctioneer said. “Often with these large stones, they sacrifice some of the shape in order to keep the weight,” Max Fawcett, the head of Christie’s jewellery department in Geneva, said. “This is a perfectly symmetrical pear-shape form and ...one of the rarest gems ever to be sold at auction.” Diamond prices have been buoyed by sanctions on major producer Russia as well as the return of VIP events as pandemic restrictions unwind.…

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport said partial operations resumed yesterday at the Rossburgh Driver Licence Testing Centre (DLTC) after weeks of closure due to flood-related damages. KZN Transport MEC Neliswa Peggy Nkonyeni said the partial opening of Rossburgh, the third largest testing centre in the country, was important to the people of eThekwini and the province. In a statement yesterday, the department said minimum services were being offered. “In the main, the station is currently attending to the issuing of driving licence cards. The cards that are being issued are those dating back to between October and December 2021,” it said. These licence cards had already been delivered when the province was hit by floods and were not damaged, said the department. “The bookings for learners, driving licences and testing…

National lottery operation Ithuba said the woman won R39.9m from the April 30 draw. She played via the FNB Banking App, with a R10 quick pick. The winner told Ithuba that she planned to travel and invest in her children’s future with this “life-changing jackpot”. “As a regular Lotto and PowerBall player, this is my first time winning such a significant amount. We are extremely grateful and excited,” said the winner. The Durban woman enjoys reading and watching TV in her spare time. She said she spent about R20 a month playing the Lotto. Ithuba CEO Charmaine Mabuza congratulated the winner. “This is yet another successful story of the good relationship we have with our banking partners, in this case being FNB, as well as our innovative ways of operating…

A TOTAL of 35 magistrate’s courts need repairs following the floods that ravaged parts of KwaZulu-Natal, according to Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola. Some courts have been forced to close early because of the lack of water, and periodical courts operating in damaged mobile courts will be relocated to the main seats. This emerged when Lamola responded to IFP MP Themba Msimang. He wanted to know the extent of damage caused to public infrastructure by the recent flooding in KZN and the Eastern Cape. Msimang also wanted to know the timeline for repairs and contingency plans to ensure that the work of the courts continued. In his response, Lamola said the flooding had negatively affected the day-to-day operations of the courts last month due to damaged infrastructure. He…

The Hawks have discovered more fake car parts and accessories in Johannesburg. They said the items found were worth over R500 000. Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Philani Nkwalase said the counterfeit parts were discovered at three businesses in Boksburg last week. “The Intellectual Property Rights Section attached to the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team and Tactical Operations Management Section (Toms), both from the Hawks head office, working together with brand protector experts from Spoor & Fisher Attorneys, executed a search-and-seizure operation. “The operation, in line with the Counterfeit Goods Act 37 of 1997, was directed at three businesses trading in the Lifestyle Centre in Boksburg following a systematic investigation into dealing in counterfeit vehicle parts and accessories sold under the guise of genuine Ford branded products.” Nkwalase said the search was…

SINCE policy issues were relegated to the back burner at the Eastern Cape elective conference, the new ANC leadership has a duty to call a special Provincial General Council (PGC) to contribute to the policy debate. The hotly contested conference, where the premier, the re-elected Oscar Mabuyane, went up against former provincial treasurer Babalo Madikizela, had to be extended to a fourth day after a number of delays. Allegations of bribery of delegates, a failed court application to interdict the conference and a prolonged debate on the adoption of credentials on Sunday meant that there was no space to discuss critical policy issues that the province would take to the national conference in December. Policy discussions at ANC conferences are critical because they would become government policy if the ANC…

China’s two largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai, tightened Covid-19 curbs yesterday, fuelling public angst and even questions about the legality of its uncompromising battle with the virus that has battered the world’s second-largest economy. In Shanghai, enduring its sixth week of lockdown, authorities have launched a new push to end infections outside quarantine zones by late May. Residents in at least four of Shanghai’s 16 districts received notices at the weekend saying they would not be allowed to leave their homes or receive deliveries, prompting a scramble to stock up on food. Some of these people had previously been allowed to move around their residential compounds. “Go home, go home!” a woman shouted through a megaphone at residents mingling below an apartment block impacted by the new restrictions on Sunday,…

Hong Kong: Western multinationals and local tycoons published newspaper adverts yesterday congratulating John Lee on becoming Hong Kong’s next leader, succeeding Carrie Lam, following a rubber-stamp selection process condemned by critics as anti-democratic. Lee, 64, a former security chief who oversaw the crackdown on Hong Kong’s democracy movement, was named the business hub’s new leader by a small committee of Beijing loyalists. Lee wants to reboot the city’s economy and reopen its pandemic sealed borders. But it is unclear how he can do that given China’s zero-Covid strategy. | AFP…

Port-au-Prince: Eight Turkish citizens were kidnapped while travelling by bus in Haiti, the Turkish consul said yesterday, as the Caribbean country struggles with a surge of attacks by powerful gangs. They were taken hostage on Sunday as they drove to the capital Port-au-Prince from the Dominican Republic, said consul Hugues Josue. The five men and three women are all aged between 20 and 26 and are members of Muslim association Ashape, which provides language courses and religious education. The UN said that clashes between rival gangs in the capital have claimed the lives of at least 75 people since fresh violence erupted on April 24. | AFP…

THE proposal by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure for eThekwini Municipality to reduce the rates charged on government properties has caused a stir among residents, with ratepayers’ associations describing it as “ridiculous”. Thousands of Durban ratepayers have recently lodged objections to the city’s valuations of their homes, saying this would lead to an increase in their rates. Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, ratepayer organisations reacted with shock to the department’s proposal, saying such a move could lead to residents being charged more to compensate for such a reduction. The department, which is the custodian of government property, said recently that it was looking to negotiate what it was being charged by the municipality for rates on government properties. While delivering his budget speech at the provincial legislature recently,…

While we don’t control much – as much as we may continue to try – it is usually a good idea to have somewhat of a plan, a vision, of who you want to be. Knowing well who you want to be will serve as a reminder when you are tempted to stray from your decided path. Perhaps you want to be: An honest person who is able to live with a clear conscience. A growing person who learns from mistakes and does all that is possible to not repeat them. A kind person who is aware that there is so much to be kind about and is aware of the needs of others and who tries to see the world from the perspective of others. A loving person who…

DA leader John Steenhuisen’s visit to Ukraine refers. Steenhuisen commented after he landed in Ukraine: “We owe it to the people of Ukraine to tell the unfiltered truth about what is taking place there so that the world can stand united in bringing this injustice to an end.” His visit and statements reeks of hypocrisy. In order to score political points against the South African government’s response to the Russian invasion, Steenhuisen cynically visits Ukraine and expresses his support for the people of Ukraine. Will he visit Palestine, Yemen, Syria or even suffering communities in Africa to be a voice for the voiceless people? If he is serious about the effects of the Russian invasion and the ongoing occupation of parts of Ukraine, showing solidarity with war victims, the reason…

A few years ago, I wrote a letter to you in response to a complaint by a visitor that the Hluhluwe/iMfolozi game reserve she had visited didn’t have any animals. My purpose then was to give my different opinion as to how great it was as a game reserve, filled with wonderful sightings for those that spend some time and effort, as one should, in such a reserve. My wife and I still regularly visit it and particularly love the iMfolozi area. Although we would love to camp in the reserve, camping is not available, so we use the chalets at Mpila Camp. As a self-drive game reserve relatively close to Durban it is still magnificent. Four days there during the recent long weekend produced sightings of at least 15…

The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a rise in mental health disorders worldwide, with health-care workers on the front line among the most affected, yet those who take care of others are more likely to suffer in silence than to seek help for their own symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress and burn-out. The Healthcare Workers Care Network (HWCN) has found that 82% of the South African doctors, nurses and allied health professionals using its counselling services believe there is a stigma attached to health-care workers asking for help with their own mental health. The network was set up early in the pandemic by a number of health-care professional bodies, anticipating the added stresses on health-care workers and aiming to provide mental health support through a 24-hour helpline and online counselling, individual…

A Pretoria man is confident that he has set a new world record for rope skipping. SD Heijns, 21, completed 71 185 skips in eight hours. The previous world record was 70 031 skips in eight hours – thus Heijns believes he has comfortably beat the record by 1 155 skips. Heijns, who started skipping at age 12 as part of his kickboxing training, made the Guinness World Record attempt at Sun International’s Maslow Time Square Hotel in Pretoria. While it was plain sailing physically for this very fit man, it did take its emotional toll. Heijns said he started off too fast, but later found his pace and slowed down a bit, which proved to be the winning recipe. “Skipping formed an integral part of my personal training regime…

Electoral Act Amendment Bill must make place for independent candidates Let me introduce you to South Africa’s latest electoral system eyesore plan – the marginalisation of independent candidates. For many years, selfish political party interests have been making a mess of our democracy – and the mishandling of the current Electoral Act Amendment Bill process is among the worst. I could not imagine that the governing ANC might inflict any more political damage on the deliberative and representative values of our democracy than it has already done. No self-respecting former liberation movement on Earth should be allowed to mess up our constitutional values and principles. The Department of Home Affairs opposes many objections against aspects of the bill raised in public hearings held throughout the country by Parliament’s Home Affairs…

Russian forces stormed the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine’s strategic port of Mariupol yesterday and stepped up missile strikes elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said, as President Vladimir Putin oversaw a parade of military firepower in Moscow. Putin marked the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II by telling his armed forces they were fighting for their country. But he did not say how much longer their assault on Ukraine, now in its 11th week, would last or how it would end. Azovstal, a vast complex of building and underground tunnels, is the last holdout for Ukrainian troops in Mariupol, whose capture would link Russian-seized areas in southern and eastern Ukraine and cut Ukraine off from the Azov Sea. Putin has already declared victory in Mariupol…

Nine African heads of states attended yesterday’s opening session of the UN’s COP15 talks to fight desertification and land degradation that have devastated large swathes of the continent amid climate change . The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), 196 countries plus the EU, is meeting for the first time in three years, in Abidjan. Decades of unsustainable agriculture have depleted soils worldwide and accelerated global warming and species loss, the UNCCD says, with an estimated 40% of land degraded. “Our summit is taking place in the context of the climate emergency which harshly impacts our land management policies and exacerbates drought,” Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara announced. Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, Niger’s Mohamed Bazoum and the DRC’s Felix Tshisekedi were among the continent’s leaders listening to the Ivorian host. Ouattara…

BOSTON: Celebrity chef Mario Batali went on over trial yesterday over allegations that he forcibly groped and kissed a woman in the only criminal case to result from multiple #MeToo-era claims of sexual harassment and assault that helped fuel his downfall. Batali appeared in Boston Municipal Court on a 2019 charge of indecent assault and battery of a woman at a bar who came forward to report her experience after other women accused the chef of sexually aggressive behaviour. The woman, Natali Tene, said Batali assaulted her after posing with her in 2017 for “selfie” photographs at Towne Stove and Spirits, a bar near Boston’s Eataly, the Italian market and restaurant chain he at the time partly owned. Batali’s lawyers have called those claims fabricated. If convicted, Batali would face…

Havana: Rescue workers have pulled another four bodies from the ruins of a Havana luxury hotel wrecked in an explosion last week, raising the death toll to 35, an official said. Crews continued to comb through the rubble of the Saratoga five-star hotel, which was being renovated and had no guests at the time of the late-morning blast last week that was seemingly caused by a gas leak. The search is now focused on the basement and sub-basement of the building. At the time of the blast there were 51 workers inside the hotel, the tourism ministry said. It is estimated that there are about 12 or 13 people still trapped. The explosion tore off large parts of the facade. | AFP…