Table of contents for 2023-03-01 in Mercury

THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health and the country’s biggest private health-care providers are in ongoing discussions with Eskom to exclude hospitals and clinics from the devastating impact of load shedding. This comes as the UDM and 18 others are due to meet the power utility in the Pretoria High Court later this month, with the group wanting the court to declare the government’s response to load shedding unconstitutional as it breaches a number of human rights. They have asked that certain sectors, such as safety and health care, be exempted from load shedding. The case is set to be heard on March 20. President Cyril Ramaphosa has been slammed for his opposing affidavit in the matter. Ramaphosa said in the affidavit that the three spheres of government were not…

A man or woman who is a survivor of a difficult or traumatic childhood will often go to unusual extremes in several of life’s arenas. “Make it perfect” becomes the mantra. The extremes are intense attempts at perfection to put right the past or stop it intruding on the present. This may be particularly obvious when parenting. The man or woman with whom you may live, who is a survivor of a difficult childhood, will often feel heavily let down if well-made plans go awry. They may suddenly become disillusioned when discovering they were unable to create something perfect for you to experience together. Remember, it’s all about quieting the past. The survivor of a difficult childhood, whom you love, will go to endless lengths to please you once they…

It is no surprise to read about the enormous backlog and the destroyed administration of the Road Accident Fund (RAF). Like all other public entities and state-owned entities, the RAF has been hollowed out and broken. Unfortunately, the appointment of cadres and people who are not qualified to do their jobs has been the common practice over the past 20 years. Few people are appointed as being “fit for purpose”. You cannot blame the individuals as they have never been trained and nor do they have the qualifications. One has to blame the government for the destructive way in which they have approached each institution. The RAF is just one example of a hollowed-out governing structure. Hopefully in 2024 the voting population will remember what the ANC has done to…

The Gauteng police said yesterday that members from various units had arrested the driver of a suspiciously marked SAPS vehicle in Rabie Ridge, outside Midrand. SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant- Colonel Mavela Masondo said preliminary investigations revealed the vehicle was stolen in Bedfordview in December, and it is believed the vehicle was used to commit truck hijackings. “On Monday at around 1pm, members of Ekurhuleni District Crime Intelligence, Trio Task Team, Tembisa Tracing Team, and Highway Patrol Unit acted on a tip-off regarding a suspiciously marked SAPS vehicle in the Rabie Ridge area,” Masondo said. He said the Mazda BT50 resembling an SAPS provincial head office vehicle was intercepted driving out of a plot in Midrand, Modderfontein Road. The police said the driver fled and was pursued and apprehended.…

A brown bear that lay almost perfectly preserved in the frozen wilds of eastern Siberia for 3 500 years has undergone a necropsy by a team of scientists after it was discovered by reindeer herders on a desolate island in the Arctic. “This find is absolutely unique: the complete carcass of an ancient brown bear,” said Maxim Cheprasov, laboratory chief at the Lazarev Mammoth Museum Laboratory at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, eastern Siberia. The female bear was found by reindeer herders in 2020 jutting out of the permafrost on Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, part of the New Siberian archipelago. The extreme temperatures helped preserve the bear's soft tissue for 3 460 years. The bear is described as being 1.55 metres tall and weighing nearly 78kg. It died…

FIVE suspects appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town yesterday after being found in possession of items belonging to missing German tourist, Nick Frischke. A credit card believed to belong to Frischke was among items discovered by police in Hangberg yesterday. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the suspects had been charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances. “Igshaan Fisher, Jason Abrahams, Vanroy Petersen, Carlo Guenantin and Melvin Guenantin appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court. They were found in possession of items belonging to German national Nick Frischke. Their case has been postponed until March 6 for further investigation,” Ntabazalila said. Frischke, who was in the country on holiday, was last seen leaving his B&B in Pinelands about two weeks ago. The search for the 22-year-old moved to…

THE increase in the price of diesel has dealt another blow to the farming industry. According to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the prices of both grades of petrol will now cost R1.27 more per litre, while diesel prices have gone up by 30 cents (0.05%) and 31c (0.005%). SA Canegrowers CEO, Dr Thomas Funke, said that the increases in the diesel price have added a significant burden for the cane farming sector. “Diesel accounts for about 11% of growers’ input costs as canegrowers are dependent on diesel for on-farm purposes as well as road transport and tractors for the haulage of their crop to the sugar mills.” Funke added that sugar cane farmers are paying more for diesel compared to the same period last year. “Our data…

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Northern Ireland yesterday to convince pro-UK unionists to back his breakthrough deal with the EU that overhauls post-Brexit trading rules in the province. Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Monday proclaimed a “new chapter” in relations after years of Brexit tensions as they agreed the new pact. It follows more than a year of tense talks over the “Northern Ireland Protocol”, which has unsettled the province 25 years on from a historic peace deal that ended three decades of armed conflict. Agreed in 2020 as part of Britain’s EU divorce, the original pact kept the province in the European single market for physical goods and subject to different customs rules than the rest of the UK, angering pro-UK unionists there…

Two more people in Equatorial Guinea have died of Marburg haemorrhagic fever, a cousin of the Ebola virus, bringing the death toll to 11, authorities say. “Two days ago, the monitoring system recorded eight notifications, including the deaths of two people with symptoms of the disease,” Health Minister Mitoha Ondo’o Ayekaba said yesterday. Forty eight contact cases had been documented, four of whom have developed symptoms, and three who have been quarantined in hospital. The Marburg virus is a rare but dangerous pathogen that causes severe fever, often with bleeding and organ failure. Authorities have declared a health alert in the remote northeastern province of Kie-Ntem province and in the district of Mongomo, which are on the border with Cameroon and Gabon. Measures include a lockdown plan implemented in collaboration…

TEHRAn: Iranian authorities have confirmed they are investigating reports that several schoolgirls were poisoned as “revenge” for the role the young women played in the recent protests against the mandatory hijab. Iran’s deputy education minister, Younes Panahi, said “after the poisoning of several students in (the city of) Qom, it was found some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed”. Dr Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi, a member of parliament’s health commission, also confirmed that the poisoning of schoolgirls “in cities such as Qom has been done intentionally … They want to take revenge on schoolgirls who are the pioneers of the recent protest.” | IANS…

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s government said yesterday it was banning strikes in several key sectors, a day ahead of a planned one-day national stoppage called by unions to protest against painfully high taxes and utility bills. Anger towards President Ranil Wickremesinghe is growing as his government slashes spending and hikes taxes to secure an IMF bailout after more than a year of economic and political upheaval. Wickremesinghe’s office said he used his executive power to invoke an “essential services” order that effectively outlawed the planned trade union action. He declared “public transports, delivery of food or drink, or coal, oil, fuel … as essential services”. | AFP…

“We back the players we sign and if we didn’t back you, we would not have signed you.” That was the clear message Springbok hooker Joseph Dweba received from the Stormers coaches when he started with the United Rugby Championship-winning team this season. And that backing from his coaches gave him the belief to play his rugby, and throw in at the lineout, in his own unorthodox way without the fear of having to change to what the team wanted. “My throw-in style is different to other hookers and others are different to mine,” Dweba said. “But when I got here (to Cape Town), I had a conversation with the coaches and coach Rito (Hlungwani, forwards coach) he told me he wants me to enjoy my rugby again as I…

If truth be told, the Mahatma Gandhi Pump Station spillage (The Mercury, February 28) contributed to the sewage spill into the Durban Harbour. However, the sewage issue has been there for years. The actual issue was confirmed when I nearly lost my leg to the bacteria in the harbour water. Besides failing, aged infrastructure below street level, the buildings surrounding the port have much of the same. In the older residential buildings, sewage pipes are blocked with rags and newspapers that have been flushed down toilets. To remedy the blockages, sewage systems have been diverted into storm-water drains. A quick fix, flushed by rains into the sea. This has been the case for at least 15 years. Ask any angler or boat owner who has enjoyed the body of water,…

We will begin the holy month of Ramadaan within the next three weeks as war, the grim reaper, continues to claim the lives of innocent people across the world. The dire consequences of war, hatred and prejudice, particularly for the civilian population, defy description. War is like fire in the human community, one whose fuel is human beings. Wars expose man’s ultimate inhumanity to man. They are an innate but obsolete part of human nature. Wars reflect man’s basest instinct, untamed by rationality; all wars are instigated by hungry megalomaniacs, the politicians, managed by professional killers, the military, and fought by the brainwashed members of their prospective population, the cannon fodder. This is the ultimate war crime against humanity, while a passive global audience looks on. Today’s world abounds in…

Malaysian reptile enthusiast Yap Ming Yang hopes visitors to his pet-friendly café will learn to appreciate snakes and lizards as much as they do furry creatures such as dogs and cats. Bearded dragons, leopard geckos, and corn snakes are among the species resting in glass tanks stacked around Yap’s café on the outskirts of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, species he says are commonly bred in the country. Customers, including children, hold and pet the scaly animals while ordering drinks and food. “People only care about furry animals, cats, dogs, but always leave out reptiles and snakes,” said Yap, who has a background in environmental science and is part of a community of Malaysians with an interest in herpetology – the study of reptiles. “So I hope showing the public how…

FEBRUARY has come and gone and President Cyril Ramaphosa is yet to announce his anticipated Cabinet reshuffle, despite ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula’s recent promise that the changes would have been announced by now. Mbalula is widely reported as having told a February 20 press briefing at Luthuli House that the Cabinet reshuffle would be wrapped up by February month-end. According to recent reports, Ramaphosa had consulted with the ANC’s tripartite alliance partners, Cosatu and the SACP, at the weekend. Meanwhile, yesterday Independent Media reported that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana was sworn in as MP. Godongwana and Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel were appointed to Cabinet outside the benches of Parliament. The Constitution allows the president a maximum of two people who can be appointed to Cabinet if they are…

Incident twisted and used to attack and smear China Recently, a Chinese civilian unmanned airship strayed into the US due to force majeure. The US took advantage of the incident and went all out to stage a ridiculous political farce. Nearly a month later, the incident is still being hyped up, highlighting the dangerous imbalance in US policy towards China. Disregarding the facts and distorting the truth After the incident occurred, the Chinese side, in a responsible attitude, immediately made a thorough inquiry and informed the US side. China confirmed that the airship was owned by a private Chinese enterprise and used for meteorological scientific research purposes. Due to the influence of the westerlies and limited self-control capabilities, the airship veered off its scheduled route and strayed into the US…

A transgender woman in Scotland convicted of raping two women before beginning to transition was yesterday jailed for eight years, in a case that has stoked political controversy in the UK. Isla Bryson was handed the prison sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, and will also spend a further three years “on licence”. The 31-year-old was convicted last month of raping two women in 2016 and in 2019 while still a man known as Adam Graham. The case garnered widespread attention and a public outcry after Bryson was initially held in a women’s prison, before the Scottish government reversed course and removed the rapist from the facility. After details of the contentious case emerged last month, the Scottish Prison Service decided transgender women with a history of violence against…

NICOSIA: Nikos Christodoulides was sworn in as Cyprus’s president yesterday, promising to make finding a solution to the “Cyprus problem” his top priority. Christodoulides, 49, inherits a deadlock in reunification talks on the ethnically split island, labour disputes over high inflation, and challenges of irregular migration. Cyprus has an executive system of government, with power invested in the presidency and its council of ministers. Backed by centrist and right-wing parties, Christodoulides won 52% of the vote over his main rival, leftist-backed Andreas Mavroyiannis. | Reuters…

CROTONE: Italy arrested three people who are suspected of trafficking up to 200 migrants aboard a boat that smashed apart on rocks off southern Italy on Sunday, killing at least 64 people, police said yesterday. Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Lippolis said a Turkish man and two Pakistani nationals had sailed from Türkiye despite the terrible weather. They were identified by the survivors as “the main culprits of the tragedy”. “They allegedly asked the migrants for about E8 000 each for the deadly journey,” said Lippolis. One of the Pakistanis was a minor and police were searching for a fourth suspect, a judicial source said. | Reuters…

MOSCOW: A hacking attack caused some Russian regional broadcasters to put out a false warning yesterday urging people to take shelter from an incoming missile attack, the emergencies ministry said. Among the regions was Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. Radio stations played a loud siren sound with a message stating: “Attention, attention. An air alert is being issued. Everybody head to shelters now. Attention, attention. Missile threat.” Gazprom Media, which operates regional TV stations, said its infrastructure had been “attacked”. | Reuters…

ETHEKWINI Municipality wants to have an additional 400MW of power on its grid by December 2025 to limit load shedding for residents and businesses. The Mercury previously reported on the power plan, however, yesterday the City revealed its time frame and how it would help to ease load shedding. The additional energy, from alternative sources, would help the City avoid the lower stages of load shedding and it would only have to load shed from Stage 5 and above. Chumisa Thengwa, the deputy head of biodiversity management and climate change, this week spoke of the City’s plan to ensure energy security in the short term and begin the process of energy transition towards zero-carbon emission. Thengwa discussed the plan ahead of the City’s two-day Energy Transformation Summit which began today.…

It is appalling that the ANC and its Cabinet have chosen to respond to the allegations made by former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter by attacking him instead of looking into the matter. This is a clear indication that they are not interested in tackling the endemic corruption and mismanagement that has crippled the state-owned entity. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the ANC cannot be blamed for corrupt officials in Eskom. He is wrong. The minister responsible for Eskom is from the governing party which failed to hold him accountable. The allegations made by De Ruyter are not new. Former chairperson of the Eskom board Jabu Mabuza echoed similar warnings. These are serious allegations and cannot be taken lightly. More than R1 billion going missing every month is an incredibly…

The deafening silence from our president about the goings-on in this coun try at the current time, is in itself a worrying factor about his leadership abilities and whether he is indeed in control of this country. We read that he has had consultations with both Cosatu and the SACP relating to his proposed shuffling of his Cabinet. Is our president a puppet? Surely he is big enough to make his own decisions in the interest of the country as a whole and not based on what effect it will have on Cosatu and the SACP. If his ANC Cabinet reshuffle depends on the agreements from the ANC alliance partners, then indeed he does not have total control of the goings on and there are others pulling the strings like…

AS I keep saying, the more one reads the news, the more one is gobsmacked at ministers’ responses. Our Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, admitted that former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter spoke to him about alleged corruption practices by a senior government official at Eskom. His response was: “Yes, he made allusions about certain individuals, but it was precisely that. Allusions.” But excuse me, Mr Gordhan! Your government put Mr de Ruyter in Eskom to turn it around. He comes to you with evidence of corruption and you do nothing? Do you not listen to whistle-blowers? That is the problem in this country. Whistle-blowers are going to be few and far between as they get little help from the powers that be. And their lives are definitely at…

Public Protector SA (PPSA) senior investigator Bianca Mvuyana says investigation processes at the institution were followed when they probed the so-called SA Revenue Service (Sars) “rogue unit”. Mvuyana was testifying before the Section 194 Committee on the fitness of suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to hold office. In her report, Mkhwebane made adverse findings against Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and two former SARS commissioners. The report has since been set aside on review by the court. Questioned by Mkhwebane’s legal counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu, Mvuyana said at the start of the investigations there were consultations and an assessment to determine what the complainant wanted probed. “We even met the complainant. He explained and qualified the allegations.” Mvuyana said they wrote to Sars to obtain more information; to the president…

A serial rapist who preyed on women in Mpumalanga has been sentenced to 83 years of direct imprisonment. Charles Mahlangu, 29, was sentenced in the Kwaggafontein Regional Court after he was convicted of five counts of rape, five counts of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and one count of sexual assault. Provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Monica Nyuswa, said Mahlangu terrorised the community of Vlaklaagte between August 2017 and May 2019. She said his modus operandi was targeting women who walked along a pathway between Gembokspruit and Vlaaklagte number 2. He would threaten them with a sharp object, which resembled a screwdriver, and force them to go into the bush where he would rape them. In some instances, he would rob his victims of their belongings, such…

The parents of pupils attending Dloko High School in uMlazi J-section held a protest outside the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education’s Phumelela circuit office over the shortage of teachers. The parents, who held their protest on Monday, said more than 820 pupils are taught by just 14 teachers. One parent, Gugu Gcabashe, said about eight teachers left last year and they were not replaced. Gcabashe said this was of concern to parents as their children were falling behind with the syllabus compared to neighbouring schools. “It is difficult for teachers to teach so many pupils and some classes go unattended. In some cases, they come back home without even studying a single subject. This has been happening since June last year and we have been complaining about how badly it affects…

KWAZULU-NATAL Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has rubbished claims that the government is not doing anything to fight rampant crime, insisting that overcrowded prisons proved that criminals were getting arrested and prosecuted for their activities. Closing the debate on the State of the Province Address (Sopa) yesterday, Dube-Ncube however conceded that the criminal justice system needed cleansing of “rotten apples”. Responding to a call from DA leader Francois Rodgers for a discussion among leaders of political parties and other formations as a means to end crime in the province, Dube-Ncube expressed scepticism about any possible outcomes stemming from such a move. “There is no crime that will be ended by leaders sitting at a round table. We need to take the fight against crime to communities because criminals are known and hidden…

Provisional results from Nigeria’s disputed presidential election showed Bola Tinubu from the ruling party closing in on victory yesterday, a Reuters tally of votes in 33 of the country’s 36 states and the federal capital Abuja showed. Tinubu’s potential victory extends the All Progressives Congress party’s (APC) grip on power in Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation, although he inherits a litany of problems from outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari. Nigeria is struggling with Islamist insurgencies in the north-east, armed attacks, killings and kidnappings, conflict between livestock herders and farmers, cash, fuel and power shortages and perennial corruption that opponents say Buhari’s party has failed to stamp out, despite promises to do so. With only four states left to declare results, Tinubu was ahead with about 34% or 7.6…

More than a thousand Kenyan traders protested in the capital Nairobi yesterday against a new Chinese-owned retail shop they accuse of undercutting them with ultra-low prices. Traders in Kenya and other rapidly growing economies in Africa have protested periodically against their Chinese competitors. Kenya’s relationship with China was in focus during last year’s presidential election, won by William Ruto. Ruto promised to publish government contracts with China agreed under his predecessor and to deport Chinese nationals working illegally. The Kenyan traders have been angered by a newly opened China Square retail shop on the outskirts of Nairobi, whose prices for everyday goods like curtains imported from China are on average 50% cheaper than those brought in by local traders. Clad in overalls used in their retail outlets, the traders marched…

New York: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has admitted in a deposition that hosts on his Fox News network promoted the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, court documents show. The 91-year-old billionaire said some anchors had “endorsed” the falsehood, according to a filing by vote machine maker Dominion, which is suing Fox for defamation. Murdoch denied that the conservative network in its entirety had pushed Trump’s baseless claim that he had lost to Joe Biden because of widespread fraud. The media titan said he had doubted Trump’s claims. “I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it, in hindsight,” Murdoch testified. Dominion sued Fox News in a Delaware court in 2021 for $1.6 billion. It alleges the 24-hour news behemoth promoted Trump’s false…

Darwin: Authorities have warned monsoonal flooding is likely to become more widespread across Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) after rural communities were cut off. More than 200mm of rain has fallen across the NT over the past week, with more expected as an active monsoon trough produces thunderstorms. More than 20 river catchments have been impacted by the heavy rains and several have broken their banks, flooding roads and isolating outback communities. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a moderate flood warning for the Daly River and a severe weather warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall in six districts. | IANS…