Table of contents for 2022-07-26 in Mercury

South Africa’s power utility Eskom will procure surplus electricity capacity from its neighbouring countries and independent power producers (IPPs) in a bid to stabilise the energy crisis. President Cyril Ramaphosa last night said South Africa needed to urgently add much, much more capacity to the grid to end load shedding as Eskom has an electricity shortage of up to 6 000MW. The plan to import electricity from countries such as Zambia and Botswana was among the measures he presented. Last month, a combination of factors resulted in 18 000 MW of generation capacity being lost and forced Eskom to implement stage 6 load shedding. Ramaphosa said the country’s challenge in adding capacity to the grid was the time that it took for any energy project to receive the necessary approvals…

INVESTMENT analyst Dr James Greener notes in his latest grumpy newsletter the “Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra Report”. This apparently reveals plans for setting up a National Philharmonic Orchestra. “This is the brainchild of Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa who has R30 million in his budget that he is dying to spend. “Wisely he is choosing an art form which does not require electrical power. The instruments are, as they say, all ‘unplugged’ and, provided the acoustics of the venue are okay and you can attract audiences prepared to attend concerts in the daytime, it might even work. “The problem will still be to get the urns working for a cup of tea at interval. A potjie over a fire would tick the ‘Culture’ box.” Peanut feat “Man…

Interesting that the inflation rate has exceeded the target as set by the Reserve Bank, and so the interest rate was up by 50 basis points in May and now this month 75 basis points. Bearing in mind that the increase in inflation is as a result of the price of fuel, cost of food, transport etc, all of which consumers have no control of and are certainly not on a major spending spree on luxury goods, they are in a tight financial situation, so the Reserve Bank in its wisdom increased the rate, which further burdens the consumer. The objective is to lower inflation, which consumers have no control of, by burdening them further and to stop them spending on the necessary items in their daily lives, at a…

Three months after KwaZulu-Natal experienced severe flooding, hundreds of displaced people are still living in community halls, many of them under inhumane conditions. This information has come to light following a two-day oversight inspection by the DA in eThekwini. The purpose of the oversight was to, among others, assess the living conditions of flood victims. What we found was beyond shocking, with conditions at some of the halls completely inhumane. Not only are they poorly insulated, making it very cold, particularly at night, but there are also newborn babies living in these halls – some of whom were even born there. Other issues include a severe lack of basic facilities such as bathrooms, with people forced to bucket bath while some men are bathing in refuse areas outside. The halls…

Experts have urged consumers to prioritise paying off their debt and avoid spending on luxuries as living costs continue to rise. This comes after the latest interest rate hike of 75 basis points by the South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) last Thursday. The interest rate hike is the third consecutive increase since March. Property specialists warned that saving and cutting other costs were crucial as the hike would result in higher bond repayments. For rental properties, Jonathan Kohler, CEO of Lansdowne Property Group, said that increased rate hikes coupled with high inflation, the rand depreciating significantly against the dollar, and the soaring costs of utilities were going to affect the affordability for both rental property owners as well as tenants. “To counter this and future interest rate…

An officer from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) has been arrested in connection with the tavern shooting which left at least two people dead and others injured earlier this month. EMPD spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Kelebogile Thepa said: “Yes, we can confirm that the member is currently in police custody and is set to appear. I will be able to tell you with certainty what are the charges preferred on our member after attending court,” she said. It is understood that the suspected killer was arrested on Friday. During the attack, a group of gunmen entered a tavern in Katlehong and randomly opened fire on the patrons. Two died and at least four were injured. The country has been rocked by a series of random shootings at taverns in different provinces.…

Africans must stand up and defend the legacy of their leaders There is a vendetta against black people around the world, the aim of which is to discredit them as having contributed nothing to life, even in their freedom. It is not a coincidence that white supremacists have been pushing the narrative that it was FW de Klerk’s change of heart that led to South Africa achieving democracy. Quite interesting, it is the very same De Klerk under whose government the massacre of black people took place, even during the era of negotiations he is credited for. White supremacists say nothing about the slaughtering of black people in the country and beyond its borders. Some of the people those butchers from Pretoria killed were 6-month-old children suffocated by tear gas.…

Myanmar’s junta had executed four prisoners including a former MP from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and a prominent activist, state media said yesterday, in the country’s first use of capital punishment in decades. The executions sparked widespread condemnation, heightened fears that more death sentences will follow, and prompted calls for the international community to take sterner measures against the already isolated junta. The four were executed for leading “brutal and inhumane terror acts”, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said, without saying when or how the men were killed. The junta has sentenced dozens of anti-coup activists to death as part of its crackdown on dissent after seizing power last year, but Myanmar had not carried out an execution for decades. Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former lawmaker from…

China’s latest launch of a huge rocket is, once again, raising alarm that the debris will crash into the Earth’s surface in an uncertain location and at great speed. At the weekend, the Long March 5B blasted off from the Wenchang launch site on the southern island province of Hainan, carrying a solar-powered new lab, the Wentian experiment module, to be added to China’s Tiangong Space Station. But the size of the heavy-lift rocket – it stands 53.6m tall and weighs 837 500kg – and the risky design of its launch process have led experts to fear that some debris from its core stage could fail to burn up as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere. As with two previous launches, the rocket shed its empty 23-ton first stage in orbit, meaning…

Copenhagen: The European Commission has approved a smallpox vaccine for use against monkeypox after the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global health emergency, the Danish drugmaker that developed the jab said yesterday. At the weekend the WHO declared the monkeypox outbreak, which has affected nearly 16 000 people in 72 countries, to be a global health emergency, the highest alarm it can sound. Imvanex has been approved in the EU since 2013 for the prevention of smallpox. It was also considered a potential vaccine for monkeypox because of the similarity between the monkeypox and smallpox viruses. | AFP…

PSL and Orlando Pirates chairperson Irvin Khoza, together with Kaizer Chiefs counterpart, Kaizer Motaung, have sent congratulatory messages to trailblazers Banyana Banyana following their historic 2-1 win over hosts Morocco in the final of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nation final in Rabat over the weekend. The South African senior women’s national team had failed to win the continental trophy on five previous occasions, but they came good on Saturday night and silenced a hostile home crowd with an accomplished display that saw them crowned champions. The PSL chairman, in a message to Safa President Danny Jordaan, said by winning the continental title, Desiree Ellis’ team had achieved a historic and significant event. ‘’Today, you can show sponsors SASOL dividend pay-out for their good corporate citizenry and their trust in…

Fraud amounting to about R3.5 billion, racketeering and contravention of the Financial Markets Act and Companies Act are among the charges that seven former Tongaat Hulett executives are facing. This is according to the State’s final indictment which was served on them yesterday. The seven accused – Peter Staude, Murray Hector Munro, Michael Edward Deighton, Rory Edward Wilkinson, Kamlasagrie Singh, Samantha Shukla and Gavin Dykes Kruger – made a brief court appearance in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. According to the summary of substantial facts in the indictment, the matter relates to how revenue from the sale of land was allegedly misrepresented in Tongaat Hulett Limited’s (THL) Consolidated Annual Financial Statements. THL’s subsidiary Tongaat Hulett Developments (Proprietary) (THD) was a property development company with a major part of its…

A protest by long-distance taxi drivers, who blocked roads with their vehicles and burning tyres, brought traffic to a standstill in central Durban and surrounding areas yesterday. EThekwini metro police said the drivers were unhappy about taxis being impounded by the provincial Department of Transport’s public transport enforcement unit (PTEU) and the failure of the department to approve their permits. Despite reports circulating on social media that shops in the CBD were being looted, the metro police said no looting had taken place, as attempts to loot were halted by the protesting taxi drivers. Sharmaine Sewshanker, PR (proportional representative) councillor for the Durban CBD, said Stamford Hill, Sandile Thusi (Argyle) and Umgeni roads were blocked. “The scenes of people leaving taxis and going on to the streets and the sight…

NASA has delayed its Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (Viper) mission aimed at studying the lunar surface’s ice and other potential resources by 2024. The Viper will be delivered to the lunar surface on US aerospace company Astrobotic’s lander via Nasa’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The initiative allows for the rapid acquisition of lunar delivery services from US companies for payloads that advance capabilities for science, exploration or commercial development of the moon. The delay is for additional ground testing of Astrobotic’s Griffin lunar lander, which aims to reduce the overall risk to the Viper’s delivery to the moon, Nasa said. To complete the additional Nasa-mandated tests of the lunar lander, an additional $67.8 million (about R1.14bn) has been added to Astrobotic’s CLPS contract, which now totals…

Quite often, just like how the colour of a person’s eyes can reveal some underlying disease, or other, so also, a country’s state, in terms of economy, law and order, stability of government and adherence to metro regulations, is reflected in the manner that electrical cables hang in an erratic manner, this way, that way, some naked, many sagging, very dangerously low and going all over the place in a most uncontrolled, erratic fashion. This is seen in most Third World countries. I once remarked some 30 years ago, that one could not get away with connecting electrical supplies, for instance, in India. But over time, with distracting politics, illegal connections – especially in very crowded areas – are now the norm. There are too many, far more serious side…

The KwaZulu-Natal SAPS members seem to have violated their oath of office and breached the Constitution of South Africa, by not upholding the law and protecting assets and citizens during the July unrest last year. Even though they take instructions from their superiors, it is common cause that the Constitution of the country supersedes any other instructions. Those superiors within the SAPS KZN ranks should have been arrested a long time ago or should have been suspended without pay. As for the head of Crime Intelligence, he or she would receive a life sentence, if this was a normal democratic country. There seems to be no appetite by KZN SAPS to arrest the instigators of the unrest who should be charged for about 340 murders, instead the SAPS arrested about…

Controversial former Bosasa chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi’s R1.8 billion fraud and corruption case will be back in court in October. The matter was postponed again at the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Friday. Agrizzi and his co-accused, former Correctional Services chief financial officer Patrick Gillingham and former commissioner Linda Mti, face charges relating to fraud and corruption. The case involves four prison tenders awarded to the embattled Bosasa and its subsidiaries between 2004 and 2007. The tenders were for the procurement of catering and training services, the installation of CCTV cameras, perimeter fencing, and supplying television systems and monitoring equipment in the prison. Agrizzi was not in court, and has not been in court recently due to apparent ill-health since October 2020. The case has been postponed a number…

The eThekwini Municipality says it is in continuous engagement with Eskom to avert further damage to its infrastructure in light of load shedding that is set to be implemented at the start of August. The city released its amended load-shedding schedule yesterday which starts from stage 4. The municipality confirmed yesterday that it will only institute load shedding when Eskom institutes stage 4 and higher stages of the power cuts. EThekwini had been exempt from load shedding since the April floods as some of its infrastructure suffered extensive damage. It emerged recently that the city’s infrastructure was fragile, and load shedding may result in the infrastructure failing. “Some substations are still out of commission, and many parts of the network require re-configuration. EThekwini has therefore prepared a temporary schedule that…

SOCIAL Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said her department was in the process of finalising a study on homelessness amid the absence of a national policy on the issue. DA MP Alexandra Abrahams wrote to Zulu saying there was no national government policy on homelessness, a move that left affected individuals vulnerable. Abrahams asked what progress had been made by Zulu’s department regarding the specified gap in government policy and legislation, and the envisaged date for the government policy. She also enquired about the responsibility of her department in the daily plight of homeless individuals and the areas of co-operation between her department, provinces and municipalities on the issue. In her reply, Zulu said homelessness was a cross-cutting issue which required a collaborative effort in addressing it. She said the Department…

AS UK prime minister Boris Johnson exits Downing Street, a recent poll suggested that Democrats don’t want incumbent US leader Joe Biden to run again in 2024. The New York Times-Siena College poll pointed out that only a quarter of Democrats support Biden for a second term, whereas a Harvard-Harris poll found that fewer than a third of party members want him to run again as president. A whopping 71% of Americans, the poll found, did not want the president to run again. Some of the reasons provided by respondents were that the US president was either too old, or his job performance was appalling. While the results were being released, Biden was taking a trip to the Middle East to shore up US support in the region amid rising…

Ukraine said yesterday it hoped a UN-brokered deal aimed at easing global food shortages by resuming grain exports from the Black Sea region would start to be implemented this week. Moscow brushed aside concerns that the deal could be derailed by a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s port of Odesa on Saturday, saying it targeted only military infrastructure. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has denounced the attack as “barbarism” that shows Moscow cannot be trusted. A global wheat shortage and soaring European energy prices are some of the most far-reaching effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, threatening millions in poorer countries with hunger and prompting fears in Europe over heating supplies this winter. Officials from Ukraine, Russia, the UN and Turkey agreed that there would be no attacks on merchant ships…

NEW DELHI: India’s first president from a marginalised tribal community, Droupadi Murmu, said yesterday after being sworn in that her election was an “achievement of every poor person in the country”. Murmu, a former teacher and state minister from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is the second woman to hold the largely ceremonial role of president. She was born into a poor family of the Santhal people from the eastern state of Odisha. Members of parliament and of state legislatures elected Murmu last week for a five-year term “My election is proof that the poor in India can have dreams and fulfil them too,” Murmu, 64, said. | Reuters…

Los Angeles: Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate after a fast-moving wildfire spread to over 57.5km² near the Yosemite National Park in California. The wildfire, dubbed the Oak Fire, has destroyed at least 10 structures, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. A further 3 271 structures, both homes and businesses, are under threat. Driven by hot, dry weather and drought conditions, the blaze erupted on July 22 in Mariposa County. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency there. More than 6 000 people have been evacuated. Another wildfire, the Washburn Fire, has burned over 19.6km² with 79% contained. | IANS…

While the main reason for the Rugby World Cup Sevens' sudden-death format is meritorious, it adds too much levity to such a major event. In Cape Town, from September 9 to 11, teams will have to win every game in order to have a chance of lifting the Melrose Cup. At the last RWC Sevens, the women's games were initially set to be played at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, a smaller Major League Soccer venue. That plan was dropped in order to treat the men and women equally and give the women's sides the same opportunity to play on the "big stage" at AT&T Park. A normal pool format over three days was considered unwieldy by organisers, so the knock-out format was introduced. Speed, skill and boss-level fitness are…

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler expressed confidence over senior players in the team to step up as the one-day international team looks to cover for the absence of Ben Stokes, following his retirement from the 50-over format last week. England lost Stokes from ODIs after the first match against the Proteas, citing unsustainable workload. This is a second big blow for England after their talismanic skipper Eoin Morgan retired from all forms of international cricket in June. After taking over from Morgan, Buttler is still waiting for his first series win as England’s full-time white-ball captain, after the rain washed out the series-deciding third ODI against the Proteas at Headingley this past weekend. “We have to be realistic with where we are as a team in the ODI format,” said…

THE ANC needs to come clean with the public on its step-aside policy and explain that it needs refining for it to serve its intended purpose. This is the view of academic and political analyst Professor Bheki Mngomezulu following calls by ANC delegates for the resolution to be reviewed. Mngomezulu said such a move would not harm the ANC’s image, and may in fact demonstrate commitment to fighting fraud and corruption. He was reacting to the resolution taken by the ANC KwaZulu-Natal conference that the policy in its current form should be scrapped. According to newly elected provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo, the conference had approved the move to do away with the policy, which it contended was not being applied evenly. “The conference noted the urgency to review the implementation…

Size is very important – the kind which has nothing to do with physical size. In some families, a mom may be huge and dad is very small. In others, the dad may determine everything (be huge) and mom may have lost her voice (and size) in the name of love. In many families, sons or daughters may dominate; wield too much power. It usually serves no one in the family very well. Size is much more than about families. May you find your size, a size appropriate to your role in your family. To do this you will have to get into the driver’s seat of your life. Repeat this a few times in reference to all your many contexts, like where you work and within sports or music…

I have a heartfelt request to put to DStv. I am using the press to convey my need as they are consistently unresponsive when approached directly. As a monopoly with unrelenting high subscriptions and no relief in this regard for pensioners, one would expect them to consider their customers in a more co-operative light. I feel that there is a dire need for DStv to open a more localised centre eg. in the Highway area. It is excruciating to have to make one’s way to only one office from far and wide and that in Durban North. I appeal to a counsellor or other organisation to bring their power of persuasion to bear and make this happen for all our sakes. DStv would only benefit from the consequently happy customers.…

THE Minority Front has called on Mxolisi Kaunda, the mayor in eThekwini, to ensure that the Hindu community is consulted on the new fireworks by-laws, which is intended for gazetting. This appeal is due to the annual Diwali festival which is marred by negativity – where articles decry age-old Hindu celebratory practices of lighting fireworks. The proposed by-laws are too wide and can lead to misinterpretation, for example, where animals are kept. Also, the MF has proposed for the council to investigate and provide a report on the use of green crackers in light of environmental protection as these are available in India. These have a smaller shell size compared to normal crackers and are produced with safer raw materials. Furthermore, the MF wants the times and dates for the…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has signed five proclamations to authorise the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe two departments, two state entities and a municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. Ramaphosa authorised the SIU to probe the affairs of the national Department of Health and the provincial Health Departments after allegations were made as to the affairs of the institutions. He said the institutions may have suffered losses that may be recovered. “I deem it necessary that the said allegations should be investigated and civil proceedings emanating from such investigations should be adjudicated upon.” Ramaphosa ordered that the SIU probe unlawful conduct by claimants or their agents of civil action for relief against the institutions for medical negligence claims that were fraudulent. The terms of reference of the investigation include serious maladministration in connection…

A woman has been sentenced in the Western Cape High Court after she was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder for hiring hitmen to kill her husband. Patience Kwaza, 42, Loyiso Ludidi, 36, Thando Chwayi, 26, and Sivuyile Shasha, 41, were found guilty of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and defeating the ends of justice. The court heard that Kwaza hired Chwayi to carry out a hit on her husband. Pasika Kwaza was shot in the head on June 23, 2016 in Khayelitsha. The State said the motive was to cash in on insurance and pension benefits. As part of their plot, Chwayi got Shasha and Ludidi to stage a robbery as a cover up for the murder. The State said Shasha…

ARGUMENT regarding the amount the State should pay as compensation to those injured and arrested during the Marikana tragedy nearly 10 years ago was put on hold yesterday, after the State agreed to settle the matter by making offers to the mine workers. The civil trial has been set down until August 19 in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba is due to determine the amount of damages which should be awarded to the miners. But the seven-year legal battle by the Marikana mineworkers to sue President Cyril Ramaphosa, Sibanye Stillwater and the government for almost R1 billion is on hold for now while their legal team assesses the offer. Lawyer Andries Nkome, who represents the claimants, said: “The State has made offers and our clients…

The national Department of Transport has dismissed claims that the Taxi Relief Fund (TRF) is a scam and urged taxi operators to register for and collect relief funds. The department said this week that on March 30, 2021, the government issued the first directive for the provision of relief for taxi operators. It said the TRF, launched in January 2022 in Gauteng, set aside funds to mitigate the negative impact suffered by taxi operators due to the national lockdown imposed in March 2020 to contain the spread of the coronavirus. As a follow-up, and in order to speed up beneficiary registration to receive such relief funds, on March 2 this year, the government issued, again in terms of regulation 4(7) of the regulations made under section 27(2) of the Disaster…

The results of the ANC KZN conference may have taken many by surprise, but the outcomes were known to delegates on the eve of the event. Newly elected chairperson Sboniso Duma and the four other office bearers in the top leadership all have Youth League credentials, and some of them were students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Delegates at the conference called for change, and this is certainly what they received. There are massive challenges that need to be addressed in the province, including unemployment, inequality, poverty and voter apathy, and Duma will have to hit the ground running. The ANC has lost ground to the IFP and DA and will have to self-correct, or continue on the same trajectory and face the possibility of dismal results in the 2024…

Tunisians voted yesterday on a new constitution which critics of President Kais Saied fear will dismantle the democratic gains of the 2011 revolution by handing him nearly total power, with analysts expecting it to pass amid a low turnout. The divided opposition has urged a boycott, calling Saied’s moves a coup that risks flinging Tunisia back into the autocratic era from before the revolution and putting the final nail into the coffin of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Casting his vote, Saied hailed the referendum as the foundation of a new republic, a year to the day after he ousted an elected parliament, established emergency rule and began governing by decree. Western democracies which looked to Tunisia as the only success story of the Arab Spring have yet to comment…

SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk refutes allegations he had an affair with Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s wife. The Tesla founder and chief executive clapped back at the Wall Street Journal’s reporting he had slept with lawyer Nicole Shanahan, who is in the process of divorcing the 48-year-old billionaire, labelling the claims “total bs” and declaring there was “nothing romantic” between them. Elon wrote on Twitter: “This is total bs. Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night! I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic.” Sources close to the couple say Nicole and Sergey were separated but cohabiting. In another tweet, the 50-year-old billionaire wrote that the “WSJ has run so many bs hit pieces on me…

Singapore: South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project has formally asked Singapore to indict Sri Lanka’s deposed president Gotabaya Rajapaksa for crimes against humanity during his country’s decades-long civil war. Rajapaksa fled his country after his official residence was stormed by thousands of protesters infuriated by the nation’s economic crisis. He went to the Maldives; then to Singapore. Rajapaksa helmed Sri Lanka’s defence ministry while his brother Mahinda was president when the country’s Tamil separatist conflict ended in 2009. Government forces are accused of killing 40 000 Tamil civilians during the war’s final weeks. | AFP…