Table of contents for 2022-05-26 in Mercury

VUNANI, the listed black-owned asset management company, saw profit from continuing operations rocket 257 percent to R71.7 million in the year to February 28 and the final dividend almost doubled to 14 cents from 7.5c. Revenue and premiums from continuing operations increased 17 percent to R687m. Headline earnings per share increased very sharply to 34.7c from 7.2c in 2021. “The unbundling of the private equity assets last year enabled focused growth of the financial services businesses. “We remain cautiously optimistic that we can sustain organic growth over the medium to long term and that new opportunities will be evaluated on their own merits to ensure value-accre- tion and good strategic fit,” chief executive Butana Khoza said yesterday at the release of the results. The group’s reporting…

HEAD of electricity in eThekwini Maxwell Mthembu says the restoration of electricity supply to homes that were left without power due to the recent storms is almost complete. He said his department was yesterday dealing with faults that had been discovered in the oThongathi area where a few streets had been affected. He said several mini-substations had been damaged and were being replaced. The power outages have been a source of anger for many residents who then inundated their ward councillors with phone calls, demanding answers on when the power would be restored. During the executive committee (exco) meeting on Tuesday, DA councillor Nicole Graham demanded answers on the state of electricity in the city, saying they had received thousands of complaints from residents who had been without power for…

“AFTER a long illness, my wife of many years has been dead for just over three years. It has been very tough on my adult sons and daughters and on me. The illness was prolonged and the ‘glue’ that held the family together was finally gone. “My sons and daughters and I stay in close contact – two are overseas – but I find myself ashamed or embarrassed to admit that I want to start seeing women again. I feel like I am betraying my deceased wife and somehow cheating my children. “I don’t want to keep a secret from my sons and daughters but I’m afraid of their response. Please help.” I would suggest you be as open and clear with your adult sons and daughters in an open…

During the puppy days of my life, I used to listen to protest songs, and I remember the evocative lyrics to Miriam Makeba’s song Mayibuye. “We have long endured (Kudala sinyamezele)’, she crooned. ‘We are black people (Thina bantu abantsundu)/ They are from South Africa (BaseMza-Ntsini Afrika). “White rules (Imithe-tho yabelungu)/ Wake up, my brothers and sisters (Vukani mawethu)/ The time has come (Lifikil’ixesha)/ This is our freedom (Lenkululeko yethu)/ And the world is ours (Nelizwe ngelethu).” As Africa Day yesterday was being celebrated, these lines resonate and echo the enduring enslavement of an entire slice of humanity on the continent of Africa. It was on May 25, 1963, that the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the precursor to the AU was formed as the first step towards freedom from…

The highest fuel hike recorded will be imposed on South Africans next week. The government will be increasing the cost of fuel by more than R3 a litre after Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced that the temporary cut in the General Fuel Levy will not be extended. This had given South Africans a reprieve of some R1.50 a litre. People Against Petrol Price Increases (Pappi) founder and national convenor Visvin Reddy condemned the increases and called for protests to force the government to go back to the drawing board. He noted that the catastrophic petrol and diesel hikes would have a devastating impact on all South Africans, especially at a time when the economy was taking a battering from the Covid lockdowns, and high levels of poverty and unemployment. Fuel…

Debt Rescue SA and economists warn the latest interest rate hike by the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) will put more strain on the already struggling South African consumer. Last week, Sarb governor Lesetja Kganyago announced the repo rate would be increased by 50 basis points to 4.75%. Neil Roets, CEO of Debt Rescue SA, said this was terrible news for the consumer. “We have to take into account that the latest interest rate hike will increase loan repayments and in South Africa we have a major problem as people live on loans. “South Africans also tend to buy groceries on credit and this will mean people will be paying more for groceries because of credit. It’s not just groceries, if you have a mortgage, vehicle finance or any loan…

With written comments from the public on the Climate Change Bill due by tomorrow, environmental organisations, activists and youth groups have been hosting meetings, webinars and gatherings to unpack the bill and assist the public to make informed comments and ensure a safe and climate- resilient South Africa. The Climate Change Bill was tabled in Parliament in February and was set to go through public participation and law-making processes to become South Africa’s Climate Change Act. The bill intended to ensure that South Africa was empowered to respond adequately and safely to climate change and its risks as well as impacts, by regulating climate change mitigation, managing climate change adaptation, and defining the responsibilities of all spheres of government in responding to climate change. The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER)…

THERE has been a multinational outbreak of monkeypox reported in several European countries, the US, Canada and Australia this month. However, there are no suspected or confirmed cases of monkeypox in South Africa as of yesterday. “We don’t expect large numbers of cases, but it’s important that we remain vigilant and identify cases earlier and disrupt the chain of transmission, should the virus come to South Africa,” said National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) executive director Professor Adrian Puren. The NICD hosted another technical briefing yesterday, where Dr Jacqueline Weyer from the Centre for Emerging, Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases shared insights on the monkeypox outbreak. Weyer said it was linked to international travel with a community-based spread. No fatalities have yet been reported and the source and linkage of the…

A 52-YEAR-OLD man is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court this week for allegedly impersonating a police official and being in possession of firearms and police attire. The suspect was arrested on Tuesday by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (Hawks)Serious Corruption Investigation team, along with the K9 unit. According to the provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Christopher Singo, the suspect was nabbed after members of the Hawks’ team received information on May 11 about the suspect pretending to be a brigadier in the Hawks’ Serious Corruption unit. “It is alleged that the suspect fraudulently made use of the Dog Unit when he intended to search the premises of one of the people who tipped off the police. “He told the owner that the search…

Driving through KwaZulu-Natal following the devastating floods, one noticed an abundance of soil in places not seen before. Roads, verges, homes, entire settlements and coastal developments were covered in soil as water coursed through long-forgotten drainage lines developed for economic advancement. Nature violently sent angry waters through built structures, showing no mercy for human life or for the value placed on property. Science has warned us for decades about the possible consequences of global warming and climate change. As much as we attribute extreme events such as the recent floods to climate change, we cannot deny the role humans have played in degrading landscapes for developments to accommodate our burgeoning population. To provide for human needs, agriculture has replaced naturally vegetated areas, and hard surfaces have replaced soil which would…

In a part of Nigeria that has dealt with monkeypox outbreaks for years, one doctor saw the photos circulating in Western media and chuckled. “Those are the very severe cases,” said Oyewale Tomori, a virologist. The virus, discovered five decades ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), causes mild illness in most people, he said, along with blisters that usually clear up in weeks. It’s much less transmissible than Covid-19 and much less deadly than Ebola. There’s already an effective vaccine. What bothers infectious disease experts across Africa is the double standard that has emerged since monkey- pox grabbed the world’s attention. Few seemed to care, or even notice, until people in the West started getting sick. In the past two weeks, cases of the animal-borne virus typically found…

To contend with worsening water woes, experts yesterday launched a new global commission to study the value of the world’s water, and work out ways of ensuring supply. The work by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water is meant to offer advice on water management worldwide, as climate change and deforestation take an increasing toll on the water and rainfall supplies, co-chairperson Johan Rockstroem said ahead of unveiling the new group at the World Economic Forum. He is the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Comprised of economists, scientists, community leaders and policymakers, the commission will investigate governance models to protect water resources and may consider pushing for a global price for freshwater, similar to what is being attempted with carbon markets. Water…

Loon-Plage: Police have dismantled a camp housing hundreds of migrants near Dunkirk in northern France yesterday after one person was killed and three wounded in suspected score-settling between smugglers, authorities said. Around 500 people, mainly Iraqi Kurds, had been living at the wooded site near a canal that often serves as a key launching point for boats hoping to cross the English Channel for Britain. One migrant was shot and killed and another wounded by what aid workers described as machine-gun fire, the day after two others were also shot and wounded, one seriously. | AFP…

YET another staff member from the eThekwini Municipality’s water unit has been shot dead. The worker was shot in the Folweni area, near uMlazi, on Tuesday night. The circumstances leading to the shooting are unclear, but The Mercury has learnt from a municipal workers’ union that the worker was on duty or had just responded to a call when he was shot. Furthermore, sources in the municipality said the official was shot inside his municipal vehicle. The vehicle has since been towed to the water unit at the Springfield depot. The worker has not been identified publicly. He is the third worker to be shot dead while on duty in the past four months. In February, Amos Ngcobo was shot dead in his office in Springfield Road, while Phumzile Qatha…

OH BOY, will there be no end to this “Partygate” thing back in Old Blighty? The Met police have fined 126 people, from the prime minister downward, for contravening the anti-Covid regulations against social gatherings. Is that an end to it? No, senior civil servant Sue Gray has released her own report on the parties in and around Downing Street. And suddenly a photograph emerges of Prime Minister Boris Johnson hoisting a glass of the amber fluid in a pose that would be worthy of a festive occasion in the Street Shelter for the Over-Forties, here in Durban. Worse, the shot is said to have been at a Downing Street party which the prime minister told parliament did not happen. There’s confusion in Britain over the origin of a monkeypox…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa should once again declare the country a state of disaster. Not because of Covid, but for the fact that we are in a state of disaster. The South African Revenue Service is about the only government-run body that I can think of that is performing well. The rest, including the government at all levels, Eskom, SAA, Denel, the Post Office, Home Affairs, the Department of Health, the police, Transnet and so on are suffering from rapid transformation, and lack of discipline, accountability and good leadership. Crime is on the increase, with more and more sophisticated crime syndicates and mafia-type groups attacking our way of life and assets. People are raped and murdered and the crimes have become common place. Unemployment is at a record level yet there…

IT’S awful that the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the AU, was established for nothing on May 25, 1963. It’s 59 years since it was established to help African countries. Africa is still in a shambles. The continent produces 51% of minerals in the world, but is poor. The OAU failed Zimbabwe which was called the breadbasket of Africa. Africa is actually not poor, but it is poorly managed because of corrupt, brutal and careless leaders who are failing to rebuild their nations. A good example is Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Zanu-PF government. They allow others to destroy the markets and take minerals instead of helping Zimbabwe rise. They are contributing to the downfall of the state. The AU should be dissolved since they are not…

A Cape Town man who became the fourth person in the world to swim from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand 100 times, has raised more than R120 000 for the Cape of Good Hope SPCA. On Saturday, Howard Warrington took to the icy Atlantic waters from Robben Island to start his 100th swim in aid of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA. “Swimming one hundred 7.4km crossings from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand in a period of seven years took me on a journey I could never imagine. My first swim was done with no idea what I was diving into, literally. As it all progressed, I came to realise this journey chose me more than I chose the journey. With the swims accumulating I also realised that, as in life, there…

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has issued a warning for job-seekers to be careful of a post circulating on social media which claims to come from the department but instead advertises fake positions. In a statement yesterday, director-general Yoliswa Makhasi said the department had noted with concern the social media post circulating adverts for vacancies purporting to be issued by the DPSA. “The public is warned that the adverts for administrative clerks (x5) and government vacancies (x53) that are making the rounds on social media are false, fake, and the websites are not affiliated with the DPSA,” said Makhasi. Makhasi said the department advertises government jobs through the Vacancy Circular that can be found on the DPSA website and not through third party websites. “The DPSA advises…

Google has released data into what the most “clicked-on” destinations were in South Africa and globally over the past year. In commemoration of 15 years since Google Street View was launched, Google Maps released data which shows the most “clicked-on” beaches, museums and general points of interest in South Africa over the past 12 months. “In the 15 years since its launch, Google Street View has come a long way. From going under water to capture the Great Barrier Reef in 2012, being available in VR in 2015, to exploring the ‘Top of the World’ in Canada in 2017, Street View has achieved incredible milestones. “Today, it has expanded to more than 100 countries and territories around the world and captured more than 10 million miles of imagery – a…

Being thrown in a filthy prison cell for no reason is inhumane, but taking a man’s artificial leg away from him while he has to face the harsh prison environment is even worse. This is according to a judge who ordered the police to pay a victim R525 000 in damages. Daniel Scheepers turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, following his harrowing ordeal. He was arrested out of the blue and for no reason and kept at various police stations and prisons for three weeks. He was then simply told he could go home as he was not facing any charges. The police did not give him any explanation as to why he was incarcerated, or an apology. Scheepers told the court that his stint behind bars was…

President should be acknowledged for working to resolve his country’s internal issues Why is the People’s Republic of China (PRC) pursuing a zero Covid-19 strategy when other countries are relaxing their approaches to tackling this global public health pandemic? Why is there no industrial-scale embezzling or misappropriation of public funds (kleptocracy) by political leaders in the PRC, as is common practice in other polities? Why has there been no individual or group acts of religious or racial terrorism in the PRC as happens elsewhere? Part of the sensible answer lies in what can be termed a human rights path development with Chinese characteristics. In September last year, the Communist Party of China (CPC) released a comprehensive fourth human rights action plan, for the 2021-25 period, which details the government’s core…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blasted the West for lacking unity yesterday, as the Russian invasion entered its fourth month and Moscow’s troops advanced in eastern Ukraine. Fighting reached the edge of the industrial city of Severodonetsk, which is under fierce bombardment by Russian forces who are trying to encircle it in one of their key goals in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Moscow told the West to lift sanctions to stave off a global food crisis sparked by the war between two countries that together produce nearly a third of the world’s wheat. Zelenskiy renewed calls for heavy weapons from foreign partners, saying the billions of dollars’ worth already put up were not enough to help Ukraine’s outgunned forces. “Unity is about weapons. My question is, is there this unity in practice?…

PARIS: Princess Charlene of Monaco, who had been away from the principality for months, with the palace saying she needed to treat health issues including a “profound general fatigue”, said she was better but her health was still fragile. The 44-year-old former Olympics champion, who married Prince Albert in 2011, returned to Monaco in March as her health improved. She only recently resumed official duties. “My health is still fragile and I don’t want to rush things,” she said. “It’s been a long, difficult, painful path. I feel more serene.” “I’m very happy to be back home in Monaco,” she said. | Reuters…

SEOUL: North Korea fired three missiles yesterday, including one thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, after US President Joe Biden ended an Asia trip where he agreed to new measures to deter the nuclear-armed state. South Korea’s deputy national security adviser, Kim Tae-hyo, said the North also appeared to have conducted multiple experiments with a detonation device in preparation for its seventh nuclear test. In response to the missile launches, the US and South Korea held combined live-fire drills, including surface-to-surface missile tests, both militaries said. | Reuters…

TRANSPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan allegedly fell out over R17 billion in contracts which the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) recently cancelled at the behest of Mbalula, citing irregularities. The five critical road infrastructure projects were canned due to irregularities in the tender processes, according to Sanral and a statement released by the agency’s board this week. Sources claimed that the tender specifications had been tailored to benefit big and mostly white-owned infrastructure company Raubex Group Ltd and to systematically exclude black-owned firms. The specifications were allegedly manipulated by some Sanral officials for the benefit of the identified companies. In a statement released this week, the Sanral board, led by chairperson Themba Mhambi, said it had been “vilified”, “emotionally blackmailed” and treated like…

Scientists have demonstrated that normal brain ageing is accelerated by approximately 26% in people with progressive Type 2 diabetes compared with individuals without the disease, according to a study. There is already strong evidence linking Type 2 diabetes with cognitive decline, yet few patients undergo a comprehensive cognitive assessment as part of their clinical care. The results, published yesterday in eLife, suggest that by the time Type 2 diabetes is formally diagnosed, there may already be significant structural damage to the brain. The findings also suggest that the patterns of Type 2 diabetes-related neurodegeneration strongly overlap with those of normal ageing, but that neurodegeneration is accelerated. Sensitive ways to detect diabetes- associated changes to the brain are therefore urgently needed. “Routine clinical assessments for diagnosing diabetes typically focus on blood…

THE letter in The Mercury on May 24, from Richard Herbert about the sad degradation of King Edward VIII hospital, refers. Yes, I am in full agreement with the sentiments held by Mr Herbert. A once-mighty force in the management of matters medical in Durban has been allowed to slide into disrepair. However, while the alleged move to rename the hospital is said to be receiving preference to much-needed upgrading and repair of the ailing facility, perhaps the proposed renaming is significant in an “evolving” South Africa? Clearly, the hospital has “slid downhill” in typical fashion experienced under ANC rule. Thus it is only appropriate that the name should become one endeared to ANC ideology.…

THE headline in the Business Report of May 23, is most interesting. Suddenly after all these years someone has had the sense to realise the wealth of experience that veteran engineers have, and how harnessing that talent can/could get us out of the mess that Eskom or other malfunctioning state enterprises suffer presently. The obsession years ago to rid the public service of its veterans “in favour of transformation” is now coming home to roost. Be it hospitals, utilities like Eskom or the rail transportation services, among others, they functioned efficiently because of experienced staff. Once the experienced staff left, the wheels “came off” and as a result we landed in the “it” we’re in now. If approached correctly one could assume that the veterans would be…

A woman was in such a hurry to divorce her husband of 23 years and join her new lover that she said she wanted nothing except to get out of her marriage. But she has now had second thoughts about being left with nothing. Nearly three years after signing a settlement agreement during her divorce, stating that she wanted nothing from her now former husband, the woman has now demanded a share of his R10 million estate. She asked the Eastern Cape High Court, which dealt with her divorce, to overturn the settlement which said she wanted no money or assets from her husband. The parties were married out of community of property with the inclusion of the accrual system during 1996. They were divorced in 2019, and entered into…

THE KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC, Nonhlanhla Khoza says protection of women and children housed in temporary shelters is everyone’s responsibility. Speaking during a visit to flood victims housed at Shekinah Ministries, Tshelimnyama, outside Pinetown, Khoza said women and children housed in shelters as a result of the devastating floods should feel safe while they were sharing shelters with men. She said the government was working hard to ensure people’s lives returned to normal. “We are not pleased that our communities are still housed in these temporary shelters. Equally, we are grateful that churches donated their spaces while communities also allowed halls to be used to provide shelters to the affected people. “We can assure our communities that the government is working around the clock to help flood victims rebuild…

POLICE Minister Bheki Cele has said that task teams will be established in identified hot spots to tackle economic sabotage, extortion at construction sites and the vandalism of infrastructure. He was delivering his Budget vote speech on Tuesday. Another key issue raised in the speech was the need for the police to work closely with community policing forums (CPF) and private security companies. Speaking on economic sabotage and related crimes, Cele said: “These crimes will not be allowed to go unabated, this is why task teams will be established in 18 identified hot spots, linked to municipalities with highest reported cases of such crimes. These multi-disciplinary task teams will focus on extortion at construction sites and businesses and illegal mining. The highly-skilled teams will tackle theft of non-ferrous metals,…

A father has won a court battle to stop his ex-wife from relocating to Dubai with their 11-year-old daughter. Gauteng High Court Judge David Makhoba ruled that evidence placed before him did not favour the mother’s court application. The mother, who divorced the father in 2014, sought to relocate with the 11-year-old identified as L to Dubai to join her new husband. The daughter lived with her mother based on a primary residency agreement reached after divorce. The father remained involved in her life as per the joint-parenting plan. It was common cause before Judge Makhoba that L was close to both her parents and the immediate extended family members. Judge Makhoba found the mother did not make a case to show how L’s relationship with her father would be…

The Skukuza Regional Court has sentenced convicted poacher, 47-year-old Sam Khoza, to nine years’ imprisonment after he was arrested in the Kruger National Park. “The accused was sentenced following an incident in which three armed intruders entered the Kruger National Park through a section on November 11, 2020. However, they were spotted by the field rangers who were on duty that day. It is said that when the three men noticed the field rangers, a shooting ensued,” said Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala. Two of the suspected poachers evaded arrest, but Khoza, who sustained some injuries during the shooting, was captured. “The police at Skukuza were notified about the incident, and upon their arrival the accused was arrested and charged accordingly. During his arrest, he was found in…

A tight-knit Latino community in Texas was wracked with grief yesterday after a teen in body armour marched into an elementary school and killed 19 small children and two teachers, in the latest spasm of deadly gun violence in America. Details of the atrocity, the victims and the 18-year-old suspect -- who was killed by police – emerged as America grappled with its deadliest school shooting since the Sandy Hook tragedy in Connecticut a decade ago. “This town is heartbroken, devastated,” said Adolfo Hernandez, whose nephew was at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, a small community about an hour from the Mexican border, during the Tuesday shooting. “We feel like there’s a black cloud above this town,” he said. “You just want to pinch yourself and wake up from that horrible…

China’s Covid-19-hit capital Beijing further tightened its dragnet on the virus with zero-community transmission as the target, punishing workplaces that flout rules or circumvent curbs and imploring residents to police their own movements. Since late last month, the city of 22 million has wrestled with dozens of new cases a day. While these have been mostly in quarantine areas, a handful have been found in the community at large, illustrating the challenge the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant poses, even to the world’s most stringent pandemic policies. With Shanghai, China’s commercial hub, and other cities also shackled by curbs, the zero-Covid-19 approach remains the government’s focus. Some employees at the state-run Beijing postal service were dismissed or given a stern warning after Covid cases hit a private logistics company…

NEW YORK: Captain Abdelrazakh Hamit Bahar of Chad, who was killed as a peacekeeper in Mali in January last year, is to be honoured with the UN’s highest award for valour. UN Secretary-General António Guterres will award the “Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage” to Bahar’s family during the International Day of UN Peacekeepers commemorations in New York today. It is only the second time the UN Security Council-authorised Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage has been awarded. The medal was named in honour of Diagne who saved hundreds of lives while serving as a UN peacekeeper in Rwanda in 1994, before he was killed in action. “Abdelrazakh’s willingness to risk his own life to save others exemplifies the courage and dedication of the more than one million…

NEW YORK: US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said it would sell its patented drugs on a not-for-profit basis to the world’s poorest countries as part of an initiative announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “The time is now to begin closing this gap” between people with access to the latest treatments and those without, CEO Albert Bourla said. Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal and Uganda have committed to joining “An Accord for a Healthier World”. Another 40 countries are eligible to sign bilateral agreements. Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, said “additional investments and strengthening of Africa’s health systems and pharmaceutical regulators” would be needed. | AFP…

JOHN Steinbeck wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Such was the case this weekend when drastic adjustments had to be made to the planned rollout of the South African National Championships of Bowls for the Disabled. The heavy rain that beset Durban on Saturday and Sunday, and flooded the greens at the designated clubs, delayed the start of the competition from Sunday morning to Tuesday. The deluge also forced a venue change for the visually impaired competitors who were scheduled to play at Durban Collegians Bowling Club. The damage to the greens at Collegians requires considerable work to get the greens into playing condition, so the competition has been moved to Parkhill Bowling Club while the physically disabled competitors continue at Durban…