Indholdsfortegnelse for 2023-07-17 i Mercury

PEOPLE are becoming more aware of the importance of taking care of their skin and are seeking out skin-care products that address their specific concerns. However, in addition to topical skin care, there is a growing trend towards taking care of the skin from the inside out by incorporating the right ingredients into your diet. We uncover the properties of natural hero ingredients with Nicole Sherwin, founder of Eco Diva Natural functional skin care and make-up. Hyaluronic Acid Hyaluronic acid possesses incredible hydration properties with the ability to attract and retain water, which makes it highly moisturising and lubricating. It maintains hydration, elasticity and cushioning. It can hold up to 1 000 times its weight in water, providing intense moisturisation and helping to reduce the appearance of fine lines and…

Over the past six months, business confidence in eThekwini has gone on a steady decline. The business confidence index, compiled by the Macroeconomics Research Unit, University of KwaZulu-Natal, looked at a variety of businesses and found that during the second quarter of 2023, business confidence in Durban declined to 37.28 from 43.27 in the previous quarter. This is the second consecutive decline of the index following a dip in business confidence in the municipality from 44.04 in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 43.27 in the first quarter of 2023. The index report, which was launched in October last year, showed that among the contributing factors to the depressed environment was the belief by businesses that service delivery was worsening. There was also insecurity over sporadic looting incidents…

Everywhere he goes, he is adored and sought after by roving global audiences as people, especially of the Indian diaspora, are drawn to him like filings to a magnet. With the glowing eyes of a patriot’s zeal, he could charm the venom out of a snake, and has the uncanny ability of getting people to listen to him. He is none other than the world revered Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On a recent visit to Australia, he was treated like a celebrity, with the Aussie prime minister referring to him as the Boss – in obvious reference to rock star Bruce Springteen. He said there were more people in the stadium than the night Springsteen appeared. Well, Modi most certainly epitomises Springsteen’s 1987 hit, Tougher Than The Rest. And…

IN reply to Ebrahim Essa (The Mercury, July 12, “NHI will benefit the poor if it is administered well”): Mr Essa do you have any facts to back up your claims that: “Many professional doctors and hospital executives haven’t been nice about carrying out their Hippocratic oaths”? “Most of them have also been looting sick patients”? “Grossly aggravating their illnesses”? “Demanding co-payments” ? “Insisting on medical aid details well ahead of inquiring about the illness”? “Most medical aids subject their clients to some evil punishment”? “Very few have a call back service”? If you have any evidence of the above, have you brought it to the attention of the relevant people or is the above just your opinion? Given the evidence of ANC mismanagement, incompetence, theft and greed I put…

Questions have been raised after almost R67 million in salaries was paid to employees of Orsmond Tuberculosis Hospital in Kariega, which has been closed for nearly two years. DA MP Jane Cowley said this was revealed during a response to a parliamentary question from the DA, where the Eastern Cape Department of Health acknowledged that while the hospital has had no patients for almost two years, 45 health workers refused to be allocated to other medical facilities in the district. Cowley said the situation raised concerns about the allocation of resources within the health-care system. “Many hospitals and clinics in the province already face challenges due to staff shortages, resulting in difficulties in providing essential medical services to those in need. Instead of filling vacant positions and addressing this…

Parliament has called on the public to have their say on those nominated for the position of public protector. The national Legislature has asked members of the public and organisations to submit comments and objections regarding the 38 nominees after the Ad Hoc Committee to Nominate a Person for Appointment as Public Protector received 70 nominations and applications for the position. The 70 applications was reduced to 38 after some applications were excluded due to not meeting the requirements. Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka was nominated by 17 people and has accepted the nomination. Also nominated was former CEO of the South African Human Rights Commission, Advocate Tseliso Thipanyane, as was former Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority CEO Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi. Candidates who vied for the deputy public protector position four years…

The Social Development Department said “high level” costing suggested the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) might need about R52 million to roll out a queue management system in the agency’s offices across the country. Last year, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said Sassa would pilot a ticketing system to manage queues at more of its offices across the country in this financial year. The initiative, which formed part of other online system measures, was to see beneficiaries making bookings to limit accessing the premises in an effort to address the ongoing crisis of vulnerable beneficiaries sleeping outside Sassa offices countrywide. Zulu said at the time there would be a ticketing system, which would identify the services that an applicant would like to access and then issue a corresponding ticket…

US researchers have unlocked a new frontier in the fight against ageing and age-related diseases. A study by scientists at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has published the first chemical approach to reprogramme cells to a younger state. Previously, this was only achievable using a powerful gene therapy. The findings, published in the journal Aging-US, builds on the discovery that the expression of specific genes, called Yamanaka factors, could convert adult cells into induced pluripotent stem cells. The discovery raised the question of whether it might be possible to reverse cellular ageing without causing cells to become too young and turn cancerous. In the new study, the researchers screened for molecules that could, in combination, reverse cellular ageing and rejuvenate human cells. The team identified six…

Washington: A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the Alaskan peninsula at the weekend, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, briefly sparking a tsunami warning. The USGS revised the quake’s magnitude down from an initial 7.4. The shallow quake hit about 89km southwest of the small town of Sand Point. The National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, cancelled an earlier tsunami advisory for south Alaska and the Alaskan peninsula. Alaska is part of the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire. The remote state was hit by a 9.2-magnitude earthquake in March 1964. More than 250 people were killed by the quake and the tsunami. | AFP…

London: The great-great-granddaughter of a police officer who investigated the Jack the Ripper murders in 19th century London believes she has uncovered the killer’s true identity. Sarah Bax Horton has written a book One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the Ripper on her research into local cigar-maker Hyam Hyams, who closely matches witness descriptions of the suspect seen with the victims. The Jack the Ripper murders, which saw at least six women killed in London’s East End in 1888, remain one of Britain’s most notorious unsolved cases. Bax Horton said she had identified Hyams, an epileptic and alcoholic who was in an out of mental asylums, as the likely culprit. | AFP…

One person was killed, a child is missing and hundreds of people were left homeless after 500 dwellings at the Kennedy Road informal settlement were gutted by a fire in the early hours of yesterday. The fire came just days before schools open for the third term and many of the residents said they had lost everything and were worried about how their children would go back to school. The eThekwini Municipality said 500 dwellings were destroyed during the fire in Clare Estate. “Tragically, one adult is dead and a child is missing. A search for the child is under way. Emergency and Disaster Management teams are in the area rendering assistance to affected families,” the municipality said. Sipho Mbhele, who lost his home, said it was suspected that the…

The Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers and Civics (Marrc) is raising funds in a bid to mount a legal challenge against Msunduzi Municipality regarding the tariff increases that came into effect on July 1. This comes after ratepayer bodies in eThekwini Municipality have also challenged the increases. Marrc chairperson Anthony Waldhausen urged members of the public to assist them in their quest. “We have tried to engage the municipality, but all the efforts have amounted to nothing and that is why the legal option is now being explored,” said Waldhausen. He added that a better financial position would enable them to challenge other questionable decisions that had been taken or were being considered by the municipality including: R27 million sponsorship which was given to Maritzburg United Football Club who have…

THE only comfort we can take from the weekend Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks is that after a disastrous start, the Boks managed to somehow overcome the psychological hurdle and come back in the second half and actually get back into contention. They lost that match in the first 20 minutes of the game, the Kiwis retaining possession and running at us, we doing nothing but tackling. But we did come back, somewhat surprisingly. When you consider that we did cross their line twice in the second half – the tries being disallowed – and we did score two beauties, anything could have happened if luck had gone our way. The plus is that we recovered psychologically from initial disaster. That is not easy. But it’s the only…

THE announcement that the ANC is at an advanced stage of establishing a state-owned pharmacy along with a state-owned bank should be seen as further milestones in the transformation of South Africa into a fully-fledged socialist state (Business Report, July 14). Already it is an established fact that the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority enjoys financial support from and adheres to Big Pharma and the WHO – both of which are financed by the Gates Foundation. From an economic standpoint, state control over the pharmaceutical industry is a huge win for Big Pharma because it means it can dictate to a single entity without fear of competition. For individual pharmacists, it spells the death knell for their economic survival as it means they can procure products only through the state.…

ARTIFICIAL Intelligence (AI) might be the way forward for the world, but the technology proved not to be the intelligent source for searching for case law. In a case before the Regional Court in Johannesburg, an advocate explained that his attorneys had sourced case law through the medium of ChatGPT . This was in a case where a woman wanted to sue the body corporate of the complex where she lived, for defamation. The legal issue of whether a body corporate can be legally sued, came to the fore when counsel acting for the body corporate raised its serious doubts about this. But counsel for the applicant said they were sure of their case as they claimed there was case law in this regard. They told the magistrate that they…

The Labour Court in Johannesburg has ruled that a former employee who sent hostile and malicious emails to her employer after being refused early retirement was not constructively dismissed and should not be compensated. The woman was a sales consultant at a store at OR Tambo International Airport. She resigned from her employment in October 2020, saying she was being subjected to intolerable working conditions. In March 2020, the store was temporarily closed due to the pandemic, and as a result, the woman and other staff members were not working and were relying on the UIF Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme payments. At that time, the woman was 59 and about to turn 60 on November 20, 2020. In April 2020, she unsuccessfully applied for voluntary retrenchment. The answer she received…

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said there have been 10 laboratory-confirmed measles cases detected across the country in the past few weeks up until July 8. In a measles-outbreak update, the NICD said five cases were from Limpopo, four from Gauteng and one from KwaZulu-Natal. To date KZN has reported 23 cases in total. In week 26 (week ending July 1), Limpopo reported a total of five new measles cases and Gauteng reported four, while a sporadic case was reported in the Western Cape. Of the five cases in Limpopo, Waterberg recorded two, Greater Sekhukhune one and Capricorn district two. No cases from Limpopo were recorded in week 27. The NICD said all the cases in Gauteng were detected in the city of Tshwane. The percentage of samples…

THE woman convicted of kidnapping Zephany Nurse and raising her as her own child is expected to be released on parole next month. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board decided to release Lavona Solomon on parole on August 18. DCS spokesperson Candice van Reenen said: “The current period until the placement date will be utilised for the pre-release programmes. Thereafter, Lavona Solomon will be admitted into the system of Community Corrections and serve the remainder of the sentence until its expiry in 2026. Solomon was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for kidnapping baby Zephany Nurse, who was just three days old at the time, in April 1997. Solomon changed Nurse’s name and called her Miché Solomon. Her biological family made the discovery in…

Air strikes pummelled Khartoum yesterday, and fighting raged in Sudan’s western Darfur region, witnesses said, as a three-month war between the army and rival paramilitaries showed no signs of abating. In the capital’s east and northwest, army fighter jets “targeted bases” belonging to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which “responded with anti-aircraft weapons”, witnesses said. RSF drones targeted Khartoum’s largest military hospital. In a similar attack, on Saturday, on the same facility, five people were killed and 22 injured. The war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has claimed at least 3 000 lives and displaced more than 3 million people. Darfur, home to about a quarter of Sudan’s 48 million people, has had entire towns razed. | AFP…

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said Russia had a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster bombs and reserved the right to use them if such munitions, the use of which he regarded as a crime, were deployed against Russian forces in Ukraine. Ukraine said yesterday it had received cluster bombs from the US, its biggest military backer, which says the munitions are needed to compensate for shell shortages faced by Kyiv’s forces at a time when they are mounting a counter-offensive. Cluster munitions are banned in more than 100 countries because they can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Some fail to explode and can pose a danger for decades. | Reuters…

Twitter has lost roughly half of its advertising revenue, according to owner Elon Musk, since he bought the social media platform for $44 billion last October. Musk, who has been outspoken about the difficulties facing the company, revealed the figures in a tweet response to a user who was giving suggestions on financing for the platform. “We’re still negative cash flow, due to 50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load,” the billionaire tweeted at the weekend. “Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else.” Insider Intelligence has reported that Twitter was set to earn less than $3bn (R54.3bn) in revenue this year, down one-third from last year. Changes instituted by Musk since his takeover of Twitter have turned off users and advertisers…

Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates forward Tshegofatso Mabasa has issued a challenge to PSL clubs to contribute more towards the mental health of players. The 26-year-old has had a tumultuous last three years at club level. From banging in the goals for the Buccaneers on both the domestic and continental fronts back in the 2020/21 campaign, to now finding himself uncertain of his next destination after a somewhat unsuccessful loan spell at Sekhukhune United. Mabasa was only on the pitch for 915 minutes in the colours of Babina Noko in all competitions whilst managing just two goals in the DStv Premiership. In the midst of a huge conversation around the mental stability of professional players ignited by an emotionally challenging interview by Everton and England midfielder Dele Alli, Mabasa has…

TTHE INTERNATIONAL Air Services Council (IASC), a juristic body established under the International Air Services Act and appointed in March last year after a year without one, following the coming to end of term of the earlier council in 2020, has whittled down a backlog of airline applications. Chairperson Nomveliso Ntanjana, former principal legal counsel at the Competition Commission said the council, comprising of herself, Nare Thupana (vice chairperson), Grant Reagon Son and Pfumelani Mbulayeni, meet on ad hoc basis. Its work includes the consideration of license and exemption applications, adjudicating on complaints and such licences and exemptions, and attending to various enquiries. The jurisdiction of the IASC includes international air services, which are also regulated through interpretation of bilateral trade agreements in aviation, by various countries with…

THE Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) Rights Commission has ordered the KwaSizabantu Mission to apologise to its former members who may have been hurt by its former practices. The commission on Friday tabled its report on a variety of allegations that have been made against the mission based in KwaZulu-Natal. The commission’s chairperson said the allegations were varied and included labour and legal matters, as well as claims of abuse and criminality. Chairperson of the commission, Professor David Luka Mosoma, tabled the report on their investigation. The KwaSizabantu mission, in a statement, said it was studying the report. The commission said it had found several shortcomings with the mission when it came to protecting its members. It found that the mission did not have programmes that would assist…

The UN Human Rights Council’s adoption of a resolution condemning the burning of the Qur’an in Stockholm refers. The UN resolution urging countries to “address, prevent and prosecute acts and advocacy of religious hatred” is a step in the right direction to stop all forms of religious prejudice including the desecration of the holy Qur’an and insulting revered personalities. It is sad to note that many European countries, including the US, had opposed the motion, arguing it conflicted with laws on free speech. Western countries parade themselves as nations that are bastions of democracy, human rights and economic advancement. Why is the US government uncompromisingly hunting Julian Assange for having published disclosed documents that included possible war crimes committed by the US military? Is this not a full-scale assault on…

THERE is so much to learn from two readers who have responded to a recent column about unfinished grief: “My husband died after a very long illness (about eight years, although it’s hard to know when exactly it started) and after the initial shock, which lasted about three months, I started to think again. I can now say, five years later, that I am very grateful his pain has ended and some relief has come to our immediate and extended family. Of course I wanted a different outcome, but I am now living with what I have.” “Thank you for sharing the Path of Grief. My husband died almost three years ago. I still feel I am on a journey without him and could not contemplate ‘moving on’. It’s a…

A South African national and a Malawian are to appear in court after they were caught allegedly trying to smuggle a Toyota Fortuner out of the country. The vehicle, which was reported stolen in Durban earlier this month, was recovered at Oshoek border post which links South Africa and neighbouring eSwatini. Police spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the sport utility vehicle was recovered on Thursday morning, fitted with false registration plates. “According to information, the vehicle, which had two occupants, was reportedly identified as being stolen when it was at the departure section, en route to the Kingdom of eSwatini. “The two occupants, a 55-year-old South African national and a 42-year-old Malawian national, were arrested on allegations of being in possession of a suspected stolen motor vehicle. “The…

THE University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science won three of the acclaimed National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-South32 Awards for the 2022-2023 cycle. The (NSTF)-South32 Awards – dubbed the “Science Oscars of South Africa” were presented at a ceremony held concurrently in Johannesburg and Cape Town on Friday. According to its website, the NSTF awards honour and celebrate outstanding contributions to science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation. The university said in a statement that the three awardees from the School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences are Professor Onisimo Mutanga, Professor Andrew Green and the Centre for Water Resources Research (CWRR) which is headed by Professor Jeff Smithers. Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor and head of the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, Professor Fhatuwani Mudau said:…

African Democratic Change (ADeC) leader councillor Visvin Reddy has vowed that he will continue to fight to remove the speaker of eThekwini Municipality Thabani Nyawose despite the failure of his motion of no confidence against the speaker last week. The motion that was expected to be brought before a council meeting on Thursday last week was not debated due to a technicality. Reddy said he would table a new motion that will be focused on the general performance of the speaker’s office. The initial motion had been focused on the allegation that Nyawose had misled council about whether there was a criminal case against city manager Musa Mbhele; but the City has since confirmed publicly that there is no case against Mbhele. “The motion (was) not discussed (on Thursday) because…

Scorching weather gripped three continents yesterday, whipping up wildfires and threatening to topple temperature records as the dire consequences of global warming take shape. Predictions of historic heat hung over swathes of Asia, Europe and the US. In the Vatican, 15000 people braved sweltering temperatures to hear Pope Francis lead prayer, using parasols and fans to keep cool. But in their black robes, priests like Francois Mbemba said they were “sweating like hell”. The 29-year-old said it felt hotter in St Peter’s Square than in his Democratic Republic of Congo diocese. In Japan, authorities issued heatstroke alerts to tens of millions of people in 20 of its 47 prefectures as near-record high temperatures scorched large areas and torrential rain pummelled other regions. National broadcaster NHK warned the heat was life-threatening,…

SANA’A: a vessel chartered by the UN set sail from Djibouti at the weekend toward Yemen to transfer oil from a deteriorating tanker that poses a major environmental and humanitarian threat. The replacement vessel, Nautica, was to arrive at the site of the FSO Safer supertanker to extract the oil from the Safer, which is estimated to contain 1 million barrels of oil, has been deteriorating for years and is at risk of breaking up or exploding. A major spill from the vessel would have devastating consequences for the environment and the millions of people who live in the region. The UN has warned that a spill could have a devastating impact on the Red Sea. | Xinhua…

DAKAR: Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko led a peaceful protest banging pots and pans after authorities blocked a rally to publicly confirm he would run in next year’s presidential elections. Sonko, 49, appeared outside his home on Saturday evening to kick off the protest, banging pots. Sonko has been confined by security forces to his home in Dakar since May 28 and his nomination comes despite questions over his eligibility due to criminal convictions and prison sentences. People joined the noisy protest in several districts of the capital Dakar and major towns. Sonko has said that President Macky Sall is a corrupt, would-be dictator. | AFP…

PARIS: British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin, a 1960s wildchild who became a beloved figure in France, has died in Paris aged 76, the French Culture Ministry said yesterday. She had been found dead at her home. Birkin had a mild stroke in 2021 after suffering heart problems in previous years. Birken was best known overseas for her 1969 hit in which she and her then-lover, the late French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, sang the sexually explicit Je t’aime...moi non plus. She had lived in her adopted France since the break-up of her marriage to British composer John Barry in the late 1960s. Apart from her singing and roles in dozens of films, she was a popular figure in France for her warm nature, stalwart fight for women’s and…

Carlos Alcaraz defeated seven-time champion Novak Djokovic to claim his first Wimbledon title yesterday, shattering the Serb’s dream of a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam crown. World No 1 Alcaraz recovered from dropping the first set and saving a set point in the second to win 1-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 after four hours and 42 minutes on Centre Court. It was a second major for the 20-year-old Spaniard following his US Open title last year as he became Wimbledon’s third youngest men’s champion. Alcaraz was unable to settle and let a break point slip away in the seven-minute opening game. Djokovic took advantage and raced into a 5-0 lead on the back of a double break before the Spaniard got on the board. It was too little, too late…

Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard kept the overall lead of the Tour de France yesterday crossing the finish line in the second of four Alpine tests wheel-to-wheel with Tadej Pogacar. Dutch climber Wout Poels won the 15th stage, raced in the shadow of Mont Blanc. Vingegaard remains 10 seconds ahead of Pogacar. Carlos Rodriguez is more than five minutes behind in third, but the 22-year-old Spaniard, on his first Tour, tightened his grip on a podium place as Australian Jai Hindley dropped to fifth with Briton Adam Yates rising to fourth. The 179km run from Les Gets to Saint Gervais Mont Blanc was again dominated by the duel between the two favourites and by a series of falls. Pogacar twice attempted characteristic blistering late attacks. Vingegaard caught up both times and…