Table of contents for 2022-04-08 in Mercury

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has issued a warning to staff at Msunduzi Municipality who are not doing their jobs. Zikalala was addressing the media following an engagement with the business community from Pietermaritzburg yesterday where he committed his government to help make the KZN capital a better city. He told the media that part of the reason for meeting with the municipality and organised business was the persistent complaints from communities, business and various sectors about the perceived dysfunctional state of the municipality. He added that while there had been political stability, there was a strong need to attend to capacity and performance, including productivity, at the senior administrative level. “We are extremely concerned about the view in the public domain that this municipality is failing,” said Zikalala. Some of…

I MET a grieving woman, at least middle aged, whom I will call Naomi. Naomi is completing a Master’s degree in family therapy and I am teaching one of her classes. The woman’s grief intensified as I publicly told, while teaching about “invisible loyalties”, about the adoption of my boys and the respect and honour I continue to afford their respective birth parents. I told of, despite my being, since their births, a consistent and sizeable presence in both of my sons’ lives, how they both have relationships, connections that pre-exist even my role in their lives despite being the only parent each has known. Of course, I was referring to their birth mothers and birth fathers – men and women about whom both boys know almost nothing. I reported…

ON June 21, 2020 – note, 2020 – a water leak was reported and repaired after hours of water gushing down the road. The hole that they dug with a payloader has never been fixed. It has been reported on numerous occasions and followed up ad nauseam by myself and our ward councillor. No action. So on January 23, 2022, I reported it again. Ref F220123/430. Once again, I asked the councillor for assistance. He has tried and tried since the date of the leak. He is ignored. Now we must pay more rates from July 2022, however, we receive no service for the money we pay. We receive less and less each year. EThekwini officials are only interested in taking home large salaries for doing nothing. That is actually…

MUSTAPHA Berraf writes eloquently about sport being a factor in our search for world unity. One appreciates that his recent letter was aired for good reason because that is what our world desperately wants. Isn’t it strange that while the greatest contributor to world unity and peace should be religion it most certainly isn’t? We like to believe that we are all children of one God yet there are in our midst, as there have been for centuries, the disrespectful ones who never show decency towards followers of other faiths. We live in a hideous world of disunity through crime, war and poverty and while we have our hands full trying to curb these we also have to face the disrespectful ones in society who have nothing better to do…

A SMALL bloc of parties in eThekwini Municipality say they are looking forward to opening the lines of communication with the ANC after the party said it wanted to iron out its differences with its coalition partners. The bloc is in a coalition with the ANC after it helped the party to retain control of the biggest municipality in the province. Those at the meeting of the bloc on Wednesday said the priority was to re-establish the lines of communication with the ANC, and then they would table a list of their grievances to the party. The coalition arrangement between the ANC and its partners came into sharp focus on Monday after the bloc decided to vote against the ANC, thereby supporting the opposition parties’ opposition to a report to…

ZULU King Misuzulu’s coronation is set for the end of May, according to a letter from President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed to Zulu Traditional Prime Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi. The letter dated April 4 makes reference to the invitation sent to Ramaphosa in March to attend the coronation. “I have noted that the royal family has decided to host the ceremony by the end of May 2022 at the Enyokeni Palace. This letter serves to confirm my availability to participate in the said event,” read the letter. The president’s letter appears to put to rest speculation that the coronation ceremony would take place in Durban. Buthelezi’s spokesperson, Liezel van der Merwe, said a formal announcement would be made by the traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch and nation once the date…

IN APRIL 2018, thousands of young South African women declared to the world, which did not know how much Mama Winnie meant to us, that “Winnie did not die, she multiplied”. Black women lifted their fists for Winnie Mandela the same way that she had lifted her fist for Mandela’s release, which eventually led to his presidency. This is once again our time as women to lift our fists for something that counts. We need a woman president now! The current message to black women is clear. We are told that we must wait. Our best shot, we are being told, is to aim for a deputy position, as confirmed by articles a few weeks ago that mentioned our former deputy president, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, that she was being lobbied…

Yemen’s president delegated power to a presidential council and dismissed his deputy yesterday in moves aimed at supporting UN-led efforts to revive negotiations to end a seven-year war. Riyadh announced $3 billion in financial aid to the Saudi-backed government after the announcement by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. It called for talks with the Houthi group that controls the north and has been battling a Saudi-led coalition. Yemen’s warring sides agreed on a two-month truce that began on Saturday, the first since 2016. The deal eased a coalition blockade on areas held by the Houthis, who ousted Hadi’s government from the capital, Sana’a, in late 2014. Analysts say the new council aims to unify anti-Houthi ranks by giving more parties a seat at the table. Riyadh urged the new council to…

THE DEPARTMENT of Mineral Resources and Energy’s launch of the sixth bid window (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme this week has been met with a mixed reaction by industry players, with some saying it is no longer a level playfield. An independent analyst, who declined to be named, said the tariffs had become far too low to be completive generally. “There are specific entities now lined up to take over the contracts because of the criteria,” he said, adding that only bidders with deep pockets and connections could compete at that level. “With previous bid windows, the price factors have been very low, but from bid window 5, the factors have been about 90 percent price and 10 percent of other factors…

In Bukavu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the thousands of plastic bottles thrown into the Ruzizi River routinely clog the hydropower station’s turbines, shutting it down for months at a time and plunging the city into darkness. But for Elie Mapenzi Matabaro, the city’s plastic problem is an asset, allowing him to both make money and create jobs for young people. Seven years ago, his company, FDA Group, started transforming the bottles and other city waste into cheap, hard-wearing paving slabs for driveways and forecourts across the city. “There was no system for protection of the environment. We started our business to help resolve the waste problem,” Mapenzi said. The city’s mayor, Meschac Bilubi Ulengabo, said Bukavu has no proper dump for its 1.6 million residents, a situation…

FOOTAGE is doing the rounds of a fellow hitching a ride from a petrol tanker, one hand grasping the vehicle’s towbar. No, he’s not on a bicycle, he’s sitting in a supermarket trolley being pulled through pouring rain, doing at least 50km/h and as happy as a king. He’s holding on with one hand, with the other giving thumbs-up to whoever is filming, and grinning like a Cheshire cat. This is a sportsman of note, and to describe his situation as precarious is an understatement. And are the tiny wheels of a supermarket trolley designed to whiz at 50km/h or so along a public road? It seems supermarket trolleys are becoming part of the mode of transport in this country. Other recent footage showed a trolley wired to the axle…

I feel disappointed that Zimbabwe gained independence for nothing over four decades ago. It’s a nation that is blacklisted in celebrating this special day, April 7, World Health Day. Hospitals need to be renovated and resources need to be acquired such as drugs, machines and full medical equipment. People are dying in hospitals and clinics because they are lacking treatment. The government is failing to pay doctors and nurses their salaries on time and they are getting peanuts. Doctors are now tending to fewer people a day. This shows that the Zanu-PF government has failed to fulfil its duties. The world should intervene in Zimbabwean matters and harshly force President Mnangagwa and his government to resign immediately because they are a stumbling block for their citizens.…

The Constitutional Court has held that police should have been more diligent in their search for Andy Kawa, who was brutally raped for several hours on a beach in Gqeberha, known as Port Elizabeth at the time. Kawa has, after a legal fight of nearly 12 years, scored a huge victory for survivors of gender-based violence. The court upheld Kawa’s appeal and found that the police were negligent in their investigation regarding her case, and that they failed in their constitutional duty towards her. The landmark judgment was handed down on Tuesday. Kawa was brutally raped for several hours near Kings Beach in December 2010. She had been abducted. She went public with her story and documented it in a memoir, titled Kwanele, Enough! My Battle with the SAPS to…

With the rising costs of fuel, service stations have become targets for criminals who fill up their tanks and then drive off. The incidents have prompted some stations to ask for payment upfront. At one service station, the note read: “Due to the high incidents of fraud and drive off’s, we will be requesting payment first before dispensing any fuel.” A Glenwood service station, which also has a sign telling customers that they may be asked to pay for fuel in advance, said they had been robbed quite a few times. “Recently, we had four people drive off with four full tanks of fuel,” said the administrative worker, who declined to be named. She said while the sign was specifically for cars that didn’t have number plates, it was at…

Umgeni Water could have a new chief executive (CEO) by the end of the month. The chairperson of the board, Ziphozethu Gabsie Mathenjwa, addressing the media on the entity’s annual report yesterday, said the process to appoint the CEO was at an advanced stage. Mboniseni Dlamini is the acting CEO. The entity has been without a full-time CEO for more than a year. The former chief executive, Thami Hlongwa, resigned in October 2020. The board had also previously faced turbulent times. It was disbanded in August 2020 by the then-minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindwe Sisulu, citing the absence of a Cabinet endorsement of the board as the reason for her decision. This board was replaced with an interim board. It was then reconstituted in 2021 after the…

The UN General Assembly voted yesterday to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine. Of the 193 members of the assembly, 93 voted in favour of suspension as proposed by the US, while 24 voted against and 58 abstained, suggesting weakening international unity against Russia at the UN. It was the second ever suspension of a country from the council. Libya was the first, in 2011. Suspension required two-thirds of the votes for and against; the abstentions did not count. The countries voting against included China, Iran, the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and communist Cuba, Russia itself, Belarus and Syria. Despite pressure from Moscow for a no vote, several African countries only abstained, such as South Africa and Senegal. Also abstaining…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move to dissolve parliament was unconstitutional and called for MPs to return in two days, a decision that could spell the end of his premiership. The former cricket star had moved to dissolve the lower chamber ahead of a no-confidence vote against him that he had looked destined to lose. The court said that the vote would now go ahead. When opposition parties united against Khan last week to push for the no-confidence motion, the deputy speaker of parliament threw out the motion. Khan then dissolved parliament. | Reuters…

THE rock and surf fishing has been dominated by edibles. There have been fish all along the coast so make a plan and go wet a line. The North Coast has seen some good edible fish. Our own Dean Reddy has been flashing these on social media making us jealous (well done Dean). The pompano and stumpies have been the main targets along the north. Try chokka and prawn baits if you are fishing in the open surf or a mussel if you are close to the rocks. Some big flatfish will happily eat these baits as well so don’t be surprised if something giant picks up your delicate edible bait. The snoek have started arriving in better numbers so have your spinning gear ready to go and get to…

The KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu) said that the poor conditions of some roads and general infrastructure is stifling economic growth and poses a threat to food security. Kwanalu said that a severe lack of road maintenance and upgrading of roads was hindering, and in some cases completely preventing, the collection and supply of goods and services to and from agricultural and rural areas. Some of the problem roads identified by Kwanalu include Bushman’s Nek Road (Underberg), Loteni Road (Himeville), Nottingham Road (Mooi River), R612 (Donnybrook) and Hella Hella Road (Richmond/Ixopo). Sandy La Marque, Kwanalu’s CEO, said the catastrophic state of rural infrastructure, and in particular the roads, had a direct impact on trade, with poor agricultural and tourist routes throughout the province causing a significant knock-on effect for the economy.…

The new valuation roll is coming under extreme criticism from eThekwini ratepayers in general. ADeC cautions that the eThekwini Municipality must take this seriously or face the real threat of widespread rates boycotts. Ratepayers contribute more than 33% of the budget of the metro and are a key stakeholder in the running and management of the city. It is outrageous that the values of properties have risen markedly over the past year and in some cases these values have doubled. There is a perception among ratepayers that the city is using the valuation roll to increase rates income to pay for its poor management of its finances, high levels of corruption and large allocations to projects that do not yield income. The date for objections to the roll has been…

THERE appear to be strong parallels with how the outbreak of smallpox in the Kimberley diamond fields in 1883/84 was dealt with and the somewhat arcane nature of the amended draft health regulations regarding Covid treatment (The Mercury, April 6). Originating from migrant Mozambican workers, between November 1883 and the latter part of 1884, smallpox accounted for the deaths of 600 African mine labourers. For mining magnate and capitalist Cecil Rhodes, the possible closure of the diamond fields as a result of the disease was a prospect he refused to consider. Consequently, he ordered what historian Russel Viljoen termed “a conspiracy of silence”. Although his chief medical officer, Dr JA Smith, had verified the outbreak as smallpox, Rhodes blackmailed him into denying it and instead required that it be hushed…

AT THE start of the lockdown in 2020, I was confined in the house with my mum stuck on Lotus FM 24/7. After a few weeks, I began to enjoy listening to the station. The music brought me closer to my culture. A year later, when I had to go back to work, I continued to listen to Lotus FM. But over a recent weekend, there were changes. There is extra English being aired. Lotus will lose another listener. Bringing back an ancient DJ, especially for English music on a weekend, will surely lose listeners.…

A drawing by Michelangelo, discovered in 2019, will be offered for sale next month by Christie’s and could fetch €30 million, the British auction house said this week. The drawing, one of the few works of the Renaissance Italian artist in private hands, was sold in 1907 in Paris and billed as a work of the school of Michelangelo. It was forgotten until 2019, when a Christie’s specialist recognised it as one of Michelangelo’s own. The drawing is thought to be one of the artist’s early works, from around the end of the 15th century. It reproduces a shivering man depicted in a fresco, Baptism of the Neophytes, by Masaccio. Two other people stand near him in the drawing. “This drawing I think is one of the most exciting discoveries…

REACHING consensus on policy issues is crucial for the ANC, but the focus will be on leadership tussles at two regional conferences starting in KwaZulu-Natal today. The Harry Gwala region will hold its elective conference at the Kokstad Youth Centre, while the eThekwini conference will take place at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli ICC. Thabani Nyawose and former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede are the main contenders for the position of chairperson of the powerful eThekwini region. Nyawose yesterday said that the issue of policy would take on greater significance at the party’s national policy and elective conferences that are scheduled for later this year. “We will go to those conferences as a region and the discussion will be on ANC policy. Delegates will check how far policies taken at the 2017…

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) says community encroachment on to railway lines and the theft of infrastructure is a constant challenge. The media was invited by TFR on a tour of the Container Corridor in Durban yesterday. The line services an estimated 70 customers across various sectors, with the dominant industries serviced being the container, automotive, agriculture and fuel sectors. Rudzani Ligege, the managing executive for the Container Corridor in Durban, said that rail infrastructure was being targeted by community members. He said there was an increase in encroachments on to the rail reserve – the open space on both sides of a railway line. The encroachments were attributed to the increase in informal settlements and invasion of land along the rail reserve. He said electricity was also stolen by people…

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen vowed yesterday to issue fines to Muslims who wear headscarves in public, as candidates made a final push for votes three days ahead of an election seen as increasingly close. President Emmanuel Macron built what seemed an unassailable lead ahead of the first round of polls this Sunday but Le Pen has eroded the margin and feels she has a real chance of winning the run-off on April 24. With France’s traditional right- and left-wing parties facing electoral disaster, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is on course to come third. Le Pen said of her pledge to ban the headscarf: “People will be given a fine in the same way that it is illegal to not wear your seat belt.” She has said she…