Table of contents for 2021-04-26 in Mercury

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za EMIRA Property Fund has received a mandatory R2.87 billion offer from Maitlantic 10 Proprietary (Maitlantic) and Clearance Cantara Master Fund (CC) after Maitlantic and its partners took control of 35.03 percent of Emira’s shares. Maitlantic and its partners have made a mandatory offer to acquire all of Emira’s shares for R9.15 a share, cash. Emira said on Friday that an independent board would review the offer. Emira’s JSE share price closed 2.35 percent higher at R9.57 on Friday. The price has drifted steadily upwards over a year from R7.60. The offer price was 2.6 percent lower than Friday’s price, and was much lower than Emira’s net asset value per share of R14.75 per share at December 31. Two of Emira’s existing shareholders, Luxanio Trading 157 and Tamela…

TREMATON Capital shares rose 4 percent on the JSE on Friday after the investment holding company said it expected its half-year earnings to show an improvement compared to last year. The group said its headline earnings per share for the six months to end February would now in- crease to 2.1 cents from 0.01c last year and earnings per share were now project- ed to hit 0.6c compared from 0.4c the prior year. Its intrinsic net asset value – which the board of directors of Trematon considers to be the most important measure of shareholder value – would increase to approximately 530c from 510c while its book net asset value is expected to remain flat at 411c. The share price rose to R2.60 a share, up from…

FAROUK ARAIE | Gauteng EARTH-shattering new revelations continue to make headlines in our dysfunctional country. State capture in its ugliest manifestations, a nation on the edge as we anticipate a third wave of Covid-19, and a municipal election frenzy engulf voters, with every political party promising voters a new Shangrila. The road to power is paved with hypocrisy and casualties. All the major political parties have lost their moral values to affluence that comes with power and materialism. It’s a bane that has survived in our political arena, hence it’s deserving of the term cronyism. Its waters are murky; it is not for the faint hearted. We are a nation in total disarray. Petrol price hikes, e-tolls, load shedding, corruption, the Covid-19 vaccine fiasco and Sassa grants debacle…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff DESPITE radical controversial policies being implemented by the Biden administration, unlike when Trump was president, mainstream media reporting and comment is conspicuously muted. However, an issue which is attracting negative publicity is the decision by Republicans in Arizona to conduct a hand recount of the 2.1 million votes cast in Maricopa County. Dismissed as a “sham audit”, “farcical”, “an embarrassing and dangerous circus” and as “undermining” the election outcome, opposition by Democrats and the mainstream media begs the question: why? If, as they claim, there was no election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, there should be no need for alarm and the deployment of 73 lawyers funded by the Clinton Foundation to descend on Arizona in an attempt to prevent or frustrate…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za EZEMVELO KZN Wildlife is facing financial challenges that are threatening the entity’s ability to function. Some opposition parties say the future of the entity, which falls under the provincial Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea), was bleak and it may face bankruptcy soon. But the department said despite the challenges, plans were afoot to ensure the entity achieved success. Ezemvelo recently tabled its budget before the Edtea portfolio committee in the KZN legislature. The budget raised concerns as it revealed that the needs of the entity outstripped the funds available. The budget report said: “Given the current uncertainties relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been deemed prudent to set revenue targets for 2021/22 at 75% of the revenue achieved in 2019/20. “This…

NONHLANHLA HLATSHWAYO nozizwe.hlatshwayo@inl.co.za FOUR people, including a child, died in a car crash on the N11 between Ladysmith and Newcastle in northern KwaZulu-Natal yesterday. KZN emergency medical services spokesperson Robert McKenzie said the crash involved three light motor vehicles. Four people were declared dead at the scene and paramedics treated six victims who were taken to hospital. McKenzie said the cause of the crash would be investigated by the police. The KZN Department of Transport said it was concerned about the apparent rise in crashes, especially over long weekends. The department’s spokesperson, Kwanele Ncalane, said the department had planned operations for this weekend as they had anticipated that many would be taking today off from work due to the Freedom Day public holiday tomorrow. Ncalane said they had arrested 56…

Gasant Abarder GROWING up, I used to fantasise about the order being reversed: a two-day work week and a five-day weekend. Why not? Why didn’t we have weather days here in South Africa when it snowed so hard that there was no school for the day and later you could ride a sledge down the hill with your friends like in those American TV shows? That fantasy, I must confess, carried on into adulthood. A low-key monsoon that didn’t really cause any damage or flooding but only cut off the routes to work sounded great.Hmmm… Netflix and an endless supply of pizza while locked up at home in your PJs. Surely that represented the ultimate freedom? Free of responsibility and the daily grind. But, as they always say, be careful…

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi suspended the health minister and referred him for investigation after a fire at a Baghdad hospital, a government statement said yesterday. A fire sparked by an oxygen tank explosion killed at least 82 people and injured 110 at a hospital in Baghdad at the weekend that had been equipped to house Covid-19 patients. The fire sparked angry calls for officials to be sacked in a country with long-dilapidated health infrastructure. Many of the victims were on respirators when the blaze at Baghdad’s Ibn al-Khatib hospital started with an explosion caused by “a fault in the storage of oxygen cylinders”, medical sources told AFP. Flames spread quickly across multiple floors in the middle of the night, as dozens of relatives were at the bedsides of the…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za MTN ZAKHELE Futhi, the mobile operator’s special purpose empowerment vehicle, has received a further R75 million to lessen the blow from MTN Group’s decision to withhold the final dividend for the year to the end of December 2020. The scheme’s chairperson, Belinda Mapongwana, said the money would enable MTN Zakhele Futhi to meet its cash requirements for the next 12 months. Last September, MTN Zakhele received a R15m injection to meet its financial commitments after MTN withheld its interim dividend in the six months to the end of June last year. “The 2020 financial year has been a challenging year for MTN Zakhele Futhi, and for the first time in recent history MTN Group announced that no interim dividend would be paid for the six-month period ended…

TODAY, Independent Media unveils its Freedom Day campaign, a day ahead of South Africa’s 27th year of democratic inclusion. The gist of this year’s campaign though, is a strong reminder that while the country has come far, it still has a very long way to go until there is complete inclusion and, therefore, real freedom. “True freedom in South Africa can only be realised when all voices are heard and acknowledged,” commented Aneez Salie, Independent Media’s editor-in-chief. “We are not there yet, as the conversation is still, to a large extent, very one-sided, which is why Independent Media has committed to standing up to prevent the chasm of silence from growing any bigger than it already is,” added Salie. Salie was referring to the campaign’s title, #UnmuteFreedom, which reflects how…

MUHAMMAD OMAR | Durban North IT SEEMS according to media reports the Engen refinery in Merebank has reached the end of its economical operational capacity as a refinery and will now hopefully be a cleaner and safer place for the nearby residents. The refinery went through various name changes from Vacuum oil, to Mobil and during the apartheid sanctions to Engen (Gencor). Not too long ago, the Sasol purchase was scuppered by the Competition Commission which very strangely shows a skewed logic in allowing a foreign company to reap South African profits from the entire Engen value stream and denying a South African government owned company. Growing up in Isipingo, watching the flares in the ’80s, especially in winter, was a sight to see. Given the environmental concerns…

Pedigree cats confiscated by Thai police during a drugs raid have found a home with a feline fanatic after being put up for auction. All six pets, five of the Scottish Fold breed and one Bengal, were sold to Nutch Prasopsin, who runs a Facebook page followed by 3 million cat lovers, who helped her raise the 100 000 baht winning bid. “I was very excited. I had hoped that the cats would end up in my care. I've been following their status since the very first day,” she told reporters. The auction was held after a 30-day window expired for the owner, who remains at large, to come forward and claim the cats and prove they were not bought with drug money. The confiscated cats will share their new…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za LINDANI Myeni’s family said yesterday that they were relieved that they would be able to lay to rest the slain 29-year-old at his home in KwaZulu-Natal. Myeni’s family said that his remains would arrive in the country on Friday, after the consul-general in Miami indicated that the US government had released his body and it was being kept at a local funeral parlour. The KZN-born former rugby player from Empangeni was shot dead by Honolulu police in the island state of Hawaii, in the US, two weeks ago. Myeni, his wife Lindsay and children had moved to the island early last year. According to the Hawaiian police, Myeni was shot dead when officers responded to a home burglary incident. When the police arrived at the scene, a…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za NORMA Mngoma will testify at the Zondo Commission today, the inquiry has confirmed. The commission said hearings would resume today with Transnet-related evidence from the former Transnet group chief executive Siyabonga Gama. It said in its evening session, it would hear the evidence of Mngoma on Gupta-related matters. Her testimony was initially scheduled to take place earlier this month, but she pulled out of the proceedings at the last minute. Her lawyer told Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo that she was unwilling to continue assisting the commission by testifying. This drew the displeasure of Justice Zondo, who threatened to issue a summons to ensure Mngoma’s appearance. It is unclear whether her appearance today will be as a result of a summons that was issued. The inquiry is…

In South Africa it was used by the apartheid regime to terrorise our people. Therefore, the first judgment of our Constitutional Court declared capital punishment to be invalid; prohibited as cruel and unusual punishment which the government could not justify in the absence of proof that it was a materially more effective deterrent than life imprisonment. It violated everyone’s unqualified right to life, was irredeemable in effect, and arbitrary in enforcement - being dependent on race, poverty and ignorance. It annihilated human dignity, the other most important of all rights in our value system, and the source of all human rights. Nevertheless, several states – some of whom we entwine ourselves with politically, economically, and culturally – scorn our values. Amnesty International’s latest report estimates that China carried out thousands…

A Moroccan man suspected of stabbing to death six family members, including two minors, while they slept has been arrested in Spain, police said yesterday. The unidentified man is wanted in Morocco over his alleged role in the murders in February of his brother and his sister-in-law, as well as their two adult children and their two grandchildren, in Sale in northwestern Morocco. He was arrested in Castellon in northeastern Spain where he has lived since 2002 with his wife and one of his sons, Spanish police said. The man had been involved in a dispute with members of his family over an inherited piece of land and had threatened over the phone to kill his brother and his family “in their home at night”. In February “while six members…

Wynona Louw wynona.louw@inl.co.za WITH the Rainbow Cup South Africa set to kick off this weekend, it’s to be expected that SA players will want to go out there and make the most of their time on the pitch after a few tough weeks filled with all that uncertainty. From a Stormers perspective, here are two factors, or players rather, to get excited about (for different reasons) ahead of their opener against the Sharks at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (2pm kickoff). Pieter-Steph du Toit: The Comeback The Springbok superstar is ready, and after missing out on seeing him in action for more than a year, few sentences related to the game could be sweeter than that one. Whether the reigning World Rugby Player of the Year will feature off the…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za Adapt IT has informed its shareholders that Blacksheep Master Fund, which holds a 44.4 percent stake in the company, had given Volaris its irrevocable undertaking to support its bid for the takeover of the South African software company. Volaris, a subsidiary of Toronto-listed Constellation Software, tabled an offer to acquire 100 percent of the issued share capital of Adapt IT on April 7 for 650 cents a share, which represented a premium of 56.9 percent to the 30-day volume-weighted average-traded price of Adapt IT shares on the JSE of 414c as at January 26, which was the last trading date before the date on which the general offer by Huge Group to Adapt IT shareholders was announced. Constellation Software has more than 125 000…

| Judith Martin DETAILS emerge of a somewhat unusual court case in the US. It seems that 84-year-old Barry Dawson, of Waterbury, in Connecticut, is being sued for divorce by his wife, Betty, 80, for not speaking to her (or listening) during their 62 years of marriage, pretending from the start that he was deaf and dumb. Betty even learned sign language to communicate with him, according to website weirdworld.com, but it seemed his eyesight wasn’t too good either because communication was not 100%. Then Betty happened to see a YouTube of a pub scene with people singing karaoke. Barry was among them, singing away lustily. She blew up. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. For 62 years, during which they raised six children, he’d been faking…

HARRY SEWLALL | Sandton RECENTLY, Professor of Public Law at the University of Cape Town, Hugh Corder, referred in passing to the “failure of current Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to separate his religious views from his public office”. I would go so far as to suggest that the Minister of Justice, Ronald Lamola, should have removed the chief justice from office a fortnight ago after his questionable conduct at the interview of candidates for the post of Constitutional Court judge. What surprises me is that apart from one opinion piece and a hard-hitting feature article by that suave, seasoned journalist, Barney Mthombothi, no one in the legal fraternity has demurred at the chief justice’s unwarranted interference in that interview where his gratuitous comment about the relationship of one…

WHAT will you do with this day? Will anger overwhelm you, or will gentleness, kindness and peace be your guide? Plan ahead. These things can be planned. Will bitterness and resentment blind you, or will goodness and forgiveness for others light your path? Plan ahead. You can decide now, before you head out the door. Will randomness lead you to nowhere in particular, or will it be a day you move nearer to achieving your long-term goals? Plan ahead. All you need to plan is a pencil and paper. Planning ahead will not remove all excitement and joy from your day. It’s more likely to increase both. Decide who you will be today before circumstances dictate who you will be. When, and if, you take care of destructive and overwhelming…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za THE government is duty-bound to nurse Mango airlines back to health through a financial injection since the challenges facing the state entity have been inflicted through years of maladministration and corruption. This was the reaction of organised labour in the wake of reports that Mango, the subsidiary of South African Airways (SAA), was in need of an urgent financial bailout if it was to remain in the air and continue to pay salaries to some 500 employees whose pay had already taken a 50% chop when Covid-19 worsened the challenges. In a letter circulated via social media, the acting chief executive William Ndlovu told stakeholders that the airline company had agreed with its board and the board of parent company SAA on a proposal to move Mango…

Karen Singh karen.singh@inl.co.za THE KwaZulu-Natal government plans to vaccinate 2.9 million people by October in phase 2 of the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out programme. KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala announced the plans for phase 2, which is scheduled to start on May 17, during a provincial Covid-19 update in Durban yesterday. He said the Sisonke Johnson & Johnson implementation study, under which health-care workers received the Covid-19 vaccine, was expected to resume soon and would end on April 30. This follows the temporary suspension of the Johnson & Johnson vaccination roll-out after six US women developed a rare blood-clotting disorder after receiving the vaccine earlier this month. Zikalala said that from the start of phase 1 on February 18 until its suspension on April 12, KZN had vaccinated more than…

Tomorrow South Africa will commemorate 27 years of freedom, but the greatest concern of all is the fact that there is little to celebrate for many of our people. Most of the country’s citizens have not reaped the benefits of freedom, while a select few have accumulated so much wealth that they are richer than some poor African and Asian countries. However, that is not the point for today. Our point is that while we are commemorating 27 years of freedom, it is being slowly eroded by crime, corruption and failing public institutions. Our people’s freedom to move around freely and at any time has been taken away by crime and ruthless criminals. Our people have to confine themselves to their homes, which sadly offers a false sense of security…

Herman Gibbs herman.gibbs@africannewsagency.com EMBATTLED Kaizer Chiefs overturned a first-half deficit to score an upset of humongous proportions when they defeated DStv Premiership leaders Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria yesterday afternoon. The result marked Sundowns’ first Premiership defeat this season. This reverse will be welcomed by the chasing pack, which is led by AmaZulu, who are three points adrift after 24 matches. Sundowns, after 22 matches, are on 47 points. The outcome also spoilt the 50th birthday celebrations of Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi. Chiefs nevertheless moved into a top-eight slot for the first time in a while. Sundowns sounded an early warning of how they might hurt Chiefs when midfielder Gaston Sirino unleashed a low drive from outside the penalty area after good work by teammate Lyle Lakay.…