Mercury2021-08-20的目錄

Toyota will cut global vehicle production by 40 percent in September as global microchip shortages constrain chip supply to automakers, news outlets reported yesterday. Japan’s biggest automaker said it planned to reduce worldwide output by 540 000 vehicles, more than the initially anticipated 360 000, Japan’s national news agency Kyodo reported. The motor company announced in a statement that production at all but one of 28 lines at its 14 domestic plants would be paused for weeks between late August and mid-September. The global automotive industry slashed production due to a shortage of semiconductors, which are critical for the production of a variety of electronic devices. The crunch stems from the spread of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia, a key microchip production hub. |…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE RAND FELL to a near six-month low and breached the R15 level in the face of a stronger dollar yesterday after the US government indicated that it was preparing to ease stimulus to the economy. The US Federal Open Market Committee has stated that there is a likelihood of the Fed starting the taper of their bond purchases to the back end of this year. The Fed’s expected reduction of the central bank’s emergency monthly purchases of $120 billion (about R1.82 trillion) of US Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities immediately triggered a risk-off sentiment. The rand was trading 1.03 percent lower at R15.03 to the greenback by 4pm, its lowest level since early March, as the dollar gained strength on the prospect of…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za THE end of the grace period for renewing learner’s licences, driving licence cards, temporary driving licences, and professional driving permits (PrdPs) that expired between March and December last year is looming. The situation could result in a potential crisis, say taxi bodies, the trucking industry and motorist associations, which are calling on the government to act now to avert disaster. The grace period for the renewal of learner’s and driver’s licences, as well as PrdPs, that expired between March 26 and December 31 last year ends on August 31. The groups have argued that dozens of people, including taxi drivers, truck drivers and ordinary citizens, may find themselves on the wrong side of the law, as motorists have been faced with frustrations when they have attempted to…

THEMBA KHOZA | Department of Water and Sanitation IT IS Women’s Month and this year the month is celebrated under the theme: “The year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: realising women’s rights”. This theme is crucial as it emphasises the importance of women’s rights for the development and empowerment of women. One such important right is access to water and sanitation. Access to water and sanitation is a human right and makes life easier for all. Access to water and sanitation is the most important right for women. Water is life and central to all aspects of life while proper sanitation provides dignity, especially for women. Access to reliable water supply and proper sanitation is a critical right as it also ensures the right to safety for women. Lack…

KEVIN GOVENDER | Shallcross There were startling revelations of the payment of over R170 million to claimants at the media briefing of the Marikana reparations. I even admired The Honourable Solicitor-General, F Pandelani, when, obviously fed up, said: “We can’t have a bottomless pit of money!” While I am a firm advocate for the sanctity of human life and no amount of money can bring back a loved one, people need to understand you cannot hang today’s clothes in yesterday’s sunshine. The public were informed of among other things, the following: That over R69m was paid to 35 families. Advocate Dali Mpofu represents all the widows. They have rejected government’s offer of a further R500 000, but are insisting on R1.5m. They are even talking of a fund to be…

A global campaign aimed at ending discrimination towards the world’s 1.2 billion people with disabilities kicked off yesterday, spearheaded by Paralympic chiefs and backed by a broad group of international organisations. The campaign, called WeThe15, aims to “be the biggest ever human rights movement”, representing the 15% of the world’s population estimated by the UN to have a disability. Backed by corporate muscle and bringing together organisations from the worlds of sport, human rights, policy, and arts and entertainment, the launch comes less than a week before the Tokyo Paralympics open on August 24. “We believe that it’s really going to be a game-changer,” International Paralympic Committee (IPC) head Andrew Parsons said. “The fact that the Paralympics are in Tokyo can be a platform for that. It’s incredible.” The campaign…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo and Karen Singh THE National Coronavirus Command Council has approved the vaccination of people aged between 18 and 34 starting from today. Initially, the Cabinet had said that the vaccination process would start from next month. Cabinet made the announcement yesterday. Over 9.9 million vaccines have been administered in the country to date, with 7 million people partially vaccinated and over 4 million people fully vaccinated. Cabinet also approved keeping the country under level 3 of the national lockdown, as advised by the Ministerial Advisory Committee. “Scientific evidence confirms that vaccinated people stand a better chance of surviving from Covid-19 than unvaccinated people. “Therefore, we must all dispel the unfounded and misleading conspiracy theories about the vaccines and choose life by vaccinating.” The announcement comes after it was…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za WITH all eight parties with stakes in the rescission application by former president Jacob Zuma having met the deadline to state their case, the ball is now in the Constitutional Court to make a ruling. Earlier this month the court asked the lawyers of Zuma, the Zondo Commission, Minister of Police Bheki Cele and Commissioner of Police Khehla Sitole, among others, to state whether any international law was violated in detaining the former president. Zuma’s lawyers argued that the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the South African Constitution did not allow one to be detained without trial. On those grounds, advocate Dali Mpofu SC said the court ought to rescind its June 29, 2021 ruling and free Zuma. Democracy in Action (DIA), which…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za THE Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has shot down the EFF’s bid to have the deadline for submitting candidate nomination lists for the local government elections extended due to the current Covid-19-enforced restrictions on gatherings. The EFF this week asked the Constitutional Court to intervene in the IEC’s application to have the municipal polls scheduled for October 27 postponed until February next year. The apex court will hear oral arguments in the commission’s attempt to have the election date moved today. Although the EFF backs the commission’s attempt to have the elections pushed back, it has asked the apex court to direct President Cyril Ramaphosa, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and the national coronavirus command council to permit gatherings of more than 100…

THE upcoming 2021/22 DStv Premiership season promises to be one of the most interesting and different in recent memory. Bloemfontein Celtic, one of the most well supported teams with a rich history, will no longer be a part of the Premiership. While Celtic could never match the so-called “bigger teams”, their supporters always added much-needed glitz and glamour to the league. Phunya Sele-Sele were definitely one of the best, if not the best, supported teams outside the “big three” (Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs). It would not be surprising to see them resurface as a semi-professional team in the near future, but it’s hard to see them back in the top flight any time soon. Meanwhile, Kaizer Chiefs have no excuses not to win major silverware this season.…

Clashes between herders and fishermen in northern Cameroon have killed at least 32 people this month, with 19 villages torched, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said yesterday. Some 11 000 people fled to Chad and a further 7 300 were displaced in Cameroon’s far north after fighting broke out on August 10 between Choa Arab herders and Mousgoum fishermen and farmers, the UNHCR said. Officials described the fighting as Cameroon’s worst ethnic violence in years. The herders were angry because their livestock were falling into holes dug by fishermen to capture fish in pools of receding floodwaters, according to a local official. The refugees in Chad were in urgent need of shelter, the UNHCR said, with many sleeping under trees. “(UNHCR) calls on the governments concerned to do…

Jerusalem: Israel yesterday announced the removal of decades-old restrictions facing gay men seeking to donate blood, following similar moves by Britain and the US. “The prohibition on gay men donating blood was a relic of a stereotype that belongs in the past,” Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, himself a gay man, said. The clause prohibiting receiving blood from a man who had sexual relations with another man will be cancelled and questionnaires will instead include a new clause prohibiting donations from people who “had high-risk sexual relations with a new partner or multiple partners” for three months.…

MIHLALI BALEKA mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za INDEED, the winds of change are blowing at Bafana Bafana! This was evident after coach Hugo Broos selected a relatively youthful squad for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Ghana next month. Often players have been recycled at the national team, with some not selected on merit or form, but on popularity or experience. This was almost a “safe card” by coaches who perhaps knew their jobs were on the line. Belgian Broos is instead determined on rebuilding the team and giving youngsters a chance. After all, that had worked for him when Cameroon won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017. Broos won’t have to stress about the continental showpiece next year, given that his predecessor Molefi Ntseki had failed to inspire the team…

Lutho Pasiya lutho.pasiya@inl.co.za If you’re a fan of going out for afternoon tea, then you might be excited to learn it can actually be easy (and super fun!) to create your own afternoon tea party at home. The benefits of afternoon tea are plentiful – it bonds friends and families, and provides a great opportunity to relieve stress and take some time-out from your busy schedule. Here are some helpful tips on how to host a perfect afternoon tea occasion at home. Mark your calendar Selecting a date for your afternoon tea party is definitely the first main step, followed by making and sending out invitations to your guest list. Deciding on the size of your afternoon tea party may be based on your budget. Location Whether you're serving an…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE abuse of travel allowances in uMgungundlovu District Municipality (uMDM) is so rampant that some workers earned as much R100 000 a month on top of their salaries. This is according to the district’s municipal manager, Dr Ray Ngcobo, who said the travel allowance scam had been going on for some time. The revelation came to light following a dispute between Ngcobo and the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) over the municipality’s decision to change its travel allowance policy amid allegations that it was open to abuse. The decision to change the policy caused anger among the affected workers who conducted pickets at the district’s offices last week. The union accused Ngcobo of having dictatorial tendencies, claiming the changes were done without consultation and had left…

ERIC BLIGHT | South Beach I WISH to add my concern and disgust to previous correspondence concerning the once world-class King’s Park pool. It is derelict and abandoned. I have approached security at the pool for access, only to be told that only lifesavers are allowed to use the outdoor pool. Before the pool was allowed to fall into disrepair, I and a few other pensioners used the pool as a necessity for our well-being in our advancing years. Rachel Finlayson pool on the beachfront remains abandoned and is unlikely to ever be functional again. It is now a beachfront eyesore.…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff ETHEKWINI’S water woes as a result of its ageing infrastructure and the financial challenges posed to upgrading it (The Mercury, August 18) calls for a reconfiguration of its budget. But is that the only solution? The frequent pipe bursts in neighbourhoods are indicators of the extent to which the network requires upgrading rather than patching on an ad hoc basis. Neglect in providing more money to address the decline in the condition of the infrastructure coupled with water losses amounting to 50% while revenue has decreased by 20%, calls for more than a budget review. It calls for a local government restructuring. The signals that this bloated eThekwini Metro is unsustainable have been mounting steadily for years. Besides its stagnant rates base which…

A major sporting goods manufacturer has launched a campaign to find 1 703 Argentines named after football icon Diego Armando Maradona, who died last year following a heart attack. German brand adidas wants to offer a free replica jersey of Maradona’s former team Boca Juniors to people born and named “Diego Armando” in 1981, the year the late great won the Argentine title with the Buenos Aires giants. Last week, Boca and adidas unveiled the club’s strip for the new season, which was inspired by the one worn by Maradona, who was 21 at the time, and his teammates 40 years ago. That was the year when authorities registered the largest number of new born babies named Diego Armando, said adidas in a statement. Maradona was a fanatical Boca fan…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za Judgment has been reserved in the gag order matter before the Western Cape High Court, between Reverend June Dolley-Major and her alleged rapist, an Anglican Church reverend. The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC), which was admitted as a friend of the court submitted that the matter had dire consequences for women who chose to name their perpetrators of sexual violence publicly and on social media. The man, who is currently suspended from his pastoral duties, while a Diocesan Tribunal is under way, approached the Western Cape High Court seeking relief that Dolley-Major not name him on social media, citing that defamatory statements have been made against him in the public domain, after she named him as her alleged rapist. Earlier this week, arguments were heard at the high…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za A SOLDIER has failed to get a court to strike down military requirements that members should complete 25 metres of freestyle swimming before qualifying to become a physical training instructor. Strike Dzumba wanted the requirements struck down on the grounds of unfair discrimination. He argued the requirements were biased, groundless and oppressive. He launched an application at the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, after failing the 25m swimming component of the SANDF physical training instructor course. Dzumba’s internal complaint was dismissed as lacking substance. He escalated it to the Military Ombud, which also ruled against him. Acting Judge J Cochrane had another look on the matter and delivered judgment this week. The judgment detailed that Dzumba submitted that the 25m swimming requirement was inappropriate because it unfairly…

A 32-year-old woman who allegedly kidnapped a newborn in Jozini on August 10 is due in court and the baby has been reunited with his mother. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said the woman would make her first appearance in the Ubombo Magistrate’s Court today. Gwala said the mother, 35, had given birth to a boy and was leaving the hospital when she allegedly met a woman who offered to carry her child. “They boarded a bus from the hospital and when they got off at Mamlambo bus station, the woman disappeared with the baby while the mother was eating her meal. “When the mother made enquiries in the vicinity, she was told that a silver-grey vehicle picked up the woman with the baby and drove away.” Gwala said…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za AS Transnet’s process to rope in private investors is gathering pace to support the state company’s multibillion-rand recovery programme, the United National Transport Union (Untu) has said it was now assured the parastatal would not be privatised. Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan this week unveiled a set of reforms that will affect several divisions of the company, as well as the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) – newly re-established as an independent subsidiary. While the projects would include a TNPA linked R100 billion 10-year Durban port upgrade, the R3.5bn Point Terminal construction and the R100bn development of the country’s seven-container port terminals over a five-year period, others related to the operational systems of the Transnet Ports Terminals (TPT), the Transnet Freight Rail, Transnet Pipelines and Transnet Engineering…

Pardoning former president Jacob Zuma may offer the best solution SOUTH AFRICA stands at a crossroads as the Jacob Zuma factor remains a living reality, if not a horror movie. The recent unrest in KZN and Gauteng has put South Africa in a precarious condition, as such, the economic freedom so many are yearning for has further been delayed by a few who caused absolute mayhem that has affected the majority of the people in our country. We are faced with political and economic instability, and possibly another wave of violent destruction and violent action that could re-emerge if the courts find him guilty in the cases he faces. On the unrest, Zuma’s defiance of the Zondo Commission by walking out and not returning would prove to be costly, not…

Brazil’s intensive gold extraction threatens over 6.2 million hectares of national reserves in Amazonia, a study, conducted by Instituto Escolhas, a Sao Paulo-based non-governmental organisation promoting sustainable development, found. “Over the last five years, the devastation of Amazonia forests increased five times solely due to mining activities,” Larissa Rodrigues, a project manager with Instituto Escolhas, said. In 2020, Brazil exported 110.6 tons of gold to about 20 countries, with 17.2% of the gold mined and exported illegally. Illicit mining is one of principal causes of deforestation in Amazonia, which lost 850 000ha, according to official data. On August 4, Brazil’s Congress passed a law on appropriation of Amazon lands, occupied by businesses, opening the areas, inhabited by indigenous people, for mining and other extractive activities. The move was…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za KAGISO Rabada will step into the world of talent management, setting up his own agency to assist artists and athletes. Rabada, 26, has collaborated with sports management firm, Forwardzone, to create KGR Sports and Entertainment. The likes of Roger Federer, and his company Team8 and Lebron James with KlutchSports, have been involved in similar ventures. “Being a direct collaborator in my own commercial opportunities, partnerships and branding is incredibly important to me - something which has now become real in KGR Sports and Entertainment,” Rabada said in a statement yesterday. “This will also be true for every athlete and artist represented by KGR - enhanced and empowered by a team of commercial and creative experts.” The agency will assist clients in sourcing marketing opportunities and growing their…

Eshlin Vedan eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za ROYAL AM goalkeeper coach Postnet Omony has confirmed that the club plans to integrate the players from the acquired Bloemfontein Celtic alongside their top performers from last season as they prepare for their tricky opening day Premiership clash against Swallows FC at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday. The controversial Durban-based club suddenly find themselves in the top flight after having acquired the PSL status of the now defunct Celtic. Royal AM lost their court case which they had hoped would see them being crowned as winners of last season’s GladAfrica Championship, ahead of Sekhukhune United. During the week, Celtic players were informed by their now former boss Max Tshabalala that they needed to get to Durban and meet their new boss Shauwn Mkhize. It is uncertain how much…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za GOLD Fields said yesterday that it plans to acquire additional assets as profit during the half-year ended in June doubled to $387 million (R5.9 billion) from $156m on a combination of the strong bullion prices and extra production. Gold Fields, whose South Deep mine in Westonaria has the world’s third-biggest gold reserves, expects annual production to reach 2.7 million ounces by 2024 before contracting as some of the mines reach the end of their lives. Newly appointed chief executive Chris Griffith said additional gold resources would come from existing assets and regions around where the company currently operates. Griffith said Gold Fields, which has previously invested in junior exploration firms, was also actively looking for assets around its Cerro Corona mine in Peru. “We…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi and Mayibongwe Maqhina Opposition parties have expressed dissatisfaction with the election of Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as Speaker, saying it was a blow to Parliament. An analyst also warned that it was likely to be “bumpy road” for Mapisa- Nqakula. UDM leader Bantu Holomisa has lodged a complaint with the joint standing committee on defence to probe Mapisa-Nqakula for allegedly receiving a bribe while she was minister of defence. The committee is investigating her. In her speech, Mapisa-Nqakula said she wanted to protect the integrity of Parliament and work with other political parties. “I extend a hand of co-operation to each member and to each of the political parties represented in this House and pledge to protect the integrity and mandate of the House together with each one of you,…

GERRY NELSON | Durban North WHAT is it with alarmists? We had Al Gore and that balloon burst. We had “the elves are going to drown” Thunberg and I’m glad she stepped down after her breakdown, unfortunately only for a short while, as I’m sure her parents want her to lead some great big costly government environmental department somewhere. And now we’ve got “high time to declare a climate emergency” Cassim whose letter was published in The Mercury on August 17. Always “in 79 years” or “in 25 years” time something bad will happen. Why worry about what will happen then? According to the climatologists we’ve only got some nine years left to live on this planet. What about looking at what happened with the weather over the…

TOMORROW is the launching pad for Down Under. The Boks need to wrap it up against the Pumas in fine style to get in the right mindset for the Wallabies and the All Blacks. We are all on tenterhooks. The damsels of the Street Shelter for the Over-Forties are standing by with their knicker elastic for a fashioning of catapults for the time-honoured celebratory feu de joie in which the street lights are shot out. But tomorrow is only stage one as we progress to the Boks’ 100th Test against the All Blacks in about a month. Once more unto the breach, dear friends… ’Erewego, ’erewego, ’erewego! Gripes, responses WE LIVE in an age of jet travel only temporarily (we hope) interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Its safe functioning depends…

A FRAMED Jock Leyden cartoon hung for years in my dad’s Red Hill tea room. Jock Leyden was a ubiquitous sports and political cartoonist who lived in Durban for most of his life. “The impossible we do immediately. Miracles take a little longer,” read the caption. My literal, pre-adolescent brain didn’t get it. I wrote it off as not funny at all. Jokes were supposed to be funny. I get it now. How? When? I get it every time I meet a teacher. Watch them. Listen to them. They are women and men often conquering the impossible in the immediate. Their reward, the miracle, may take decades to unfold. I have seen it with the women and men who were my sons’ teachers. I have seen it with friends who…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za A granny who wanted her son’s body exhumed so that DNA samples could be taken to prove her theory that he was not the father of two boys was referred to as a “putative grandmother” by a judge. The granny, who is not named to protect the children’s identities, has been embroiled in litigation with the deceased’s wife and the administrator of his pension fund for years in a bid for the money to be paid to her. She insisted that paternity tests must be done on the teenage children because she said her son assured her over the years that he was “barren”. The reason for this, she told the court, was because of “torture” he had suffered under the then apartheid regime. “He had many…

The Film and Publication Board (FPB) has welcomed the sentencing of Dale Mackintosh to an effective five years behind bars for the possession of child pornography. | Mercury Correspondent The FPB worked closely with law enforcement on the case, conducting an analysis of the images found in his possession. The Oudtshoorn Regional Court on Wednesday sentenced him to seven years imprisonment, of which two years are suspended. At least 200 images were found in his possession, and were confirmed to be Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). “This sentencing, after many hours of diligent work by our Child Protection Officers in close relationship with our colleagues in law enforcement, is warmly welcomed,” said interim chief executive officer of the FPB, Nomvuyiso Batyi. “In our pursuit of eradicating Child Sexual Abuse…

Among the most powerful and disturbing testimonies at the Social Justice and Nation Building Project (SJN) hearings was that of former Proteas cricketer Paul Adams, who revealed that he was racially discriminated against by former South African teammates, including the current coach Mark Boucher. “I was called brown s*** when I was playing. It often used to be a song when we won a game and we were in fines meetings. They would sing, ‘brown s*** in the ring, tra la la la laa’,” Adams said. Adams said he continued to take it because he was a racial minority in the team and it was a means of acceptance and survival. “They wouldn’t call a white player, ‘white s***’, or anything like that, it was ‘brown s***’.” Adams said it…

KABUL: Several people were killed yesterday in the Afghan city of Asadabad when Taliban fighters fired on people waving the national flag at an Independence Day rally, a witness said, a day after three people were killed in a similar protest. The protests by people waving the Afghan flag, in some cases after tearing down white Taliban flags according to media, are the first signs of popular opposition to the Taliban since their stunning advance across the country and capture of the capital Kabul on Sunday. It was unclear if the casualties in Asadabad resulted from the firing or from the stampede that it triggered, witness Mohammed Salim said from the eastern city, the capital of Kunar province. “Hundreds of people came out on the streets,” Salim said. “At first…

Port-au-Prince: The number of people who have died as a result of the earthquake in Haiti has risen to 2,189, the AP news agency reported, citing the country’s civil protection agency. According to the previous estimation, the death toll stood at 1 941 people. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Haiti on Saturday. Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced that he would declare a state of emergency in the country and urged for solidarity in the face of the disaster. A number of countries have already expressed their readiness to provide Haiti with humanitarian aid.…

Zaahier Adams zaahier.adams@inl.co.za CAPE Town City have been handed a major boost with new signing Nathan Fasika being registered in time for their DStv Premiership season opener against SuperSport United tomorrow. Fasika, an imposing Congolese international defender, missed City’s MTN8 quarter-final victory over AmaZulu last weekend due to his paperwork not yet being finalised. But the 22-year-old, signed from Saint-Éloi Lupopo for close to R700 000, is now ready to make his Citizens debut. It will be interesting to see where Fasika fits into the line-up after Abbubaker Mobara and Taariq Fielies were outstanding as a central partnership in Durban. Mobara was named Player of the Match for his efforts. “We have his (Fasika) work permit,” City coach Eric Tinkler confirmed. “All of that is good. It is making…