Indholdsfortegnelse for 2024-02-28 i Mercury

The water crisis in the city has led to residents and businesses being without water for days and even weeks at a time. Worse, certain rural areas have been without water for years. The result has been hardship, misery, inconvenience, suffering and frustration. Failing infrastructure – primarily old and leaking pipes – and little or no planned maintenance are the main cause of the crisis. The resultant water losses are massive. It is a crying shame that residents and businesses are subjected to such woes that are deemed an atrocity. It is a disgrace and reflects on the gross ineptitude and shortcomings of the City’s failed leadership. Yet it continues, unashamedly, to brag and gloss over or sugar-coat failures and weaknesses. The provision of effective and timeous service delivery is…

The ANC descended on Durban in large numbers at the weekend for the launch of its election manifesto. The stadium was packed with flag-waving supporters, religious and traditional leaders and business and minority groups showing the face of the ruling party. Before ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa took centre stage in buoyant mood traditional Zulu warriors clad only in animal skins and carrying shields and brandishing knobkerries did the impi war dance like in the times of old. It was a mighty show of force. Opposition parties would have felt intimidated. The gathering at Moses Mabhida Stadium was a two-pronged attack, one to launch the manifesto and the other to send a clear message to the numerous smaller parties that they are indeed small fry, and wasting their time and energy…

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has announced a programme to help unemployed people of all ages get learner’s and driver’s licences. Department spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane said the Thuthuka Driver Training programme is part of empowering the unemployed and preparing them with necessary skills required by the job market. “The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport will award support for learner’s and driver’s licences to 4 000 beneficiaries,” he said, adding that the programme is aimed at assisting people of all age groups. He said the department ran an open process where it invited members of the public to apply. “More than 50 000 applications were received. “After a very vigorous and transparent selection process, the department has decided on the first 4 000 applicants,”said Ncalane. According to Ncalane, the beneficiaries come from…

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says it has been allocated R2.3 billion for the elections, but warned of the financial implications of amendments to the Electoral Act. IEC chief financial officer Andile Dawn Mbatha told Parliament that amendments to the act would lead to a lengthy ballot paper, the need to employ more people to count ballot papers and other costs related to the elections. Parties and independent candidates have until March 8 to submit lists of candidates they are nominating for Parliament and provincial legislatures. The IEC will on March 22 inform parties if there are any candidates on their lists who appear on the lists of other parties. This will give them time to fix this. On March 26 and 27 the commission will make available…

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has called on manufacturers of peanut butter and peanut butter-based products to immediately test their products after a number of suppliers recalled their goods due to heightened levels of aflatoxin. Woolworths and Eat Naked became the latest suppliers to recall products. Woolworths last week confirmed the recall of their 2-litre Peanut Butter Dairy Ice cream with barcode 6009211273436, while Eat Naked is recalling various products including their Peanut Butter Sachet, Peanut Butter Seeded, Dark Chocolate Peanut Cup, and Peanut Butter jar. Consuming products with higher than acceptable levels of aflatoxin may lead to health complications such as nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Manufacturers of peanut butter, peanut butter-based products and products with peanuts, including but not limited to chocolates, sweets, cookies, ice cream, and peanut…

Parts of the Vaal River system, 40km of the river spanning from the Taaibosch Spruit to the Vaal Barrage, have become carpeted by water lettuce and water hyacinth due to decades of inaction and mismanagement. The two weeds are South American plants, with the water hyacinth first documented in South Africa in the early 1900s in the Cape Flats. It spread from there to various parts of the country, through our river systems or by people who took alien invasive plants and planted them or put them into rivers. Both are classified in our environmental legislation as invasive plant species which require removal due to the associated problems. The plants spread naturally by producing flowers and seeds. They also reproduce by branching and thrive on high nutrient levels in water.…

As Iranians head to the polls for legislative and other elections on Friday, candidates have promised them on campaign posters to “fight corruption” and “fix the economy”. In the minds of many voters, economic hardship is indeed the most burning issue as the Islamic republic suffers under punishing international sanctions and rapid inflation. At Tehran’s storied Grand Bazaar, many shoppers are simply wandering the aisles without buying anything, as prices have skyrocketed in recent years. Many doubt that a quick solution is in sight, among them 62-year-old retiree Aliasghari, who said he wished the politicians would “stop the empty slogans”. Citizens “are hearing a lot of fabrications and they have lost their trust in voting”, he said. Voters are due to pick new members of Iran’s 290-seat legislature and the…

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday toasted the four astronauts preparing for the nation’s first crewed orbital mission, saying the latest advance in spacefaring would inspire the next generation. The Gaganyaan, or “Skycraft”, mission is slated to launch the astronauts into Earth’s orbit in 2025, an important measure of the technical capability of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Visiting the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in the southern state of Kerala, Modi presented “astronaut wings” to the four men: Ajit Krishnan, Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Pratap and Shubhanshu Shukla. Gaganyaan is the first mission of its kind for India and comes with an estimated price tag of $1.08 billion (R20.6bn), according to ISRO. India plans to send the quartet beyond the reaches of Earth’s atmosphere for three days before bringing…

TOKYO: The number of babies born in Japan fell for an eighth straight year to a record low in 2023, preliminary government data showed yesterday, underscoring the task the country faces in trying to stem depopulation. The number of births fell 5.1% from a year earlier to 758 631, while the number of marriages slid 5.9% to 489 281 – the first time in 90 years the number fell below 500 000. Japan’s population is expected to fall by 30% by 2070. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the government would take “unprecedented steps” to try to reverse the trend, such as expanding childcare and promoting wage hikes for younger workers. | Reuters…

Strasbourg: Want to keep your driving licence in the EU? Get a clean bill of health, say European lawmakers, who yesterday debated whether to force drivers to pass medical exams. The proposal has sparked outrage in France, despite already being the case in more than half of all EU states. More than 20 000 people die every year on the EU’s roads, with 160 000 seriously injured. The lawmakers propose that motorcycle, car and tractor drivers get a medical check every 15 years; bus and truck users would have to seek a doctor’s green light every five years. But the French automotive association says the measure is “openly hostile” to drivers. | AFP…

Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife has unveiled a string of measures aimed at combating rhino poaching which is threatening to decimate the rhino population in its parks. For the second consecutive year, KZN recorded massive losses with 325 rhinos poached in the past year. About 11 of these were poached from private reserves. In 2022, there were 244 rhinos poached in KZN with 16 on private land. One of the most affected reserves is the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, together with the CEO of Ezemvelo, Sihle Mkhize, briefed the media in St Lucia yesterday on the rhino poaching statistics. The minister revealed that during 2023, 499 rhinos were poached across South Africa, with the most killed in KZN. This was an increase of 51 in…

IT’S two years since Russia invaded Ukraine in what they still call a “special military operation”, not a war. On this anniversary, the BBC’s Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, has produced a poignant account of what might have been. As he stood watching Russians laying flowers in memory of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a young man shared his reaction to Navalny’s death in prison. “I’m in shock, just like two years ago on February 24: when the war started.” It made Rosenberg think about everything that has happened in Russia these past two years, since President Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “It is a catalogue of drama, bloodshed, tragedy. As for Vladimir Putin, two years into this war he sounds increasingly confident and determined to defeat his enemies at…

The letter, “Are countries learning lessons from Israel?” (The Mercury, February 22) refers. The writer singles out India and says: “Minorities are being oppressed.” Which minorities? There are Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Jains, Muslims and even Hindu minorities in certain states. The LGBT community is also a minority. And there are several linguistic minorities in many states. Even the whites and Anglo-Indians are minorities. To which minority is he referring? Could it be those who do not want to abide by a common civil code and want a parallel judicial system? Or is it those who want child marriage and bigamy legalised and, in some cases, for elderly men in their sixties and over to be allowed to marry prepubescent girls? Is it those who do not want to…

After almost a decade of ridiculous and relentless attacks on his person, his family, colleagues, friends and employees, the Democrats and CNN have not been able to destroy Donald Trump. FBI investigations, special counsel investigations, impeachments, porn star accusations, special hearings and arrests, you name it, they’ve tried it all, all to no avail. The Donald must be given credit for his resilience and tenacity. Lesser men would have folded years ago. Ironically, the attacks have in no way weakened his appeal, but have enhanced his popularity. His rallies are attended by thousands of supporters. He has swept every other Republican candidate aside except for Nikki Haley. He has won three major caucuses by massive margins, with South Carolina ready for the taking. He has turned adversity into advantage. He…

A woman has been arrested for allegedly impersonating a medical doctor at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto on Sunday. This was confirmed by Gauteng Department of Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba. He said in a statement that the so-called doctor demanded that R700 be paid for a patient to get assistance. According to Modiba, the member of the public became suspicious when the bogus doctor, wearing green scrubs with the name “Dr Zulu” printed on them, advised her to meet at the pedestrian gate where the payment would be made. “The person notified the security personnel who apprehended the bogus doctor at the hospital’s pedestrian gate,” he said. “When asked to produce her Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) registration number and a persal number by the security…

ANC head of elections strategy Mdumiseni Ntuli said the party was engaging with those who have resigned to join the newly formed MK Party. He said it was a “matter of deep concern” that long-standing party members were leaving the party and the ANC wanted to get to the bottom of the circumstances behind their decision. Former ANC President Jacob Zuma announced on December 16 that he would not campaign or vote for the governing party and instead endorsed the MK Party. Since then Zuma has embarked on a vigorous campaign as the MK party has set up branches and structures in all nine provinces. The ANC has suspended Zuma but disciplinary processes will only take place after the May 29 elections. Ntuli said national engagements were taking place with…

DRIVECAM footage on the dashboard of a gas manufacturing company’s vehicle has contributed to one of its drivers being fired after he skipped a red traffic light and nearly caused an accident. The man was not fired for skipping the light but for not telling the truth about the incident. Air Products South Africa turned to the Johannesburg Labour Court after the National Bargaining Council for the Chemical Industry (NBCCI) ordered it to reinstate the fired worker. The company asked the court to set aside the order. The company manufactures, supplies and distributes various gas products and has its own transport service. The respondent, who was fired, was involved in a near-miss accident at a four-way intersection controlled by traffic lights. A DriveCam on the vehicle had recorded the driver…

MUCH has been said about the May 29 general election being a watershed moment in the history of the country. Apart from this being the 30th year of democracy, the excitement emanates from the fact that there is no outright favourite this time around. The ANC is below 50% representation at local government and faces the prospect of losing control of Parliament for the first time. The EFF, ANC and DA have revealed their hands, with little fanfare. Don’t expect any miracle from the likes of the FF Plus, Umkhonto weSizwe Party, IFP, ATM, ActionSA and other smaller fish. Their only shot at glory is as part of a coalition arrangement. The Red Berets and the ANC chose Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban for their manifesto launch, while the DA…

South Korea granted nurses new powers and legal protections yesterday, and launched an investigation into a patient’s death, as hospital chaos caused by striking trainee doctors entered a second week. Major hospitals are struggling to provide services after thousands of junior medics handed in their resignations and stopped working last week to protest against government plans to sharply increase medical school admissions in the face of a rapidly ageing society. The government said yesterday that it has launched an investigation after a patient died of a cardiac arrest in an ambulance after struggling to find a hospital. Emergency services contacted seven different hospitals but “were told there were no trainee doctors”, the daily JoongAng Ilbo reported. “The government is conducting an on-site probe with related agencies into the death,” Health…

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court indicted jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his third wife Bushra Bibi yesterday on charges they accepted the “gift” of land from a property tycoon in exchange for favours during his premiership, his party said. The couple pleaded not guilty to the latest charges, which follow a string of convictions against Khan ahead of the the February 8 elections, where his supporters won the most seats. Khan, 71 has been in jail since August over other cases and had already been convicted in four cases, including two on graft charges that disqualified him from politics for 10 years. | Reuters…

AMSTERDAM: One of the largest criminal trials in Dutch history ended yesterday with the main defendant, Ridouan Taghi, sentenced to life in prison for ordering a series of gangland killings. Taghi, 46, is seen as the mastermind of what is thought to be one of the Netherlands’ largest drug cartels. He was the Netherlands’ most wanted man before his 2019 extradition from Dubai. In the mega trial that lasted around six years including its preparatory phases, Taghi and 16 other men were accused of six murders, four attempted murders and the preparation of several other attacks. | Reuters…

A feeble-looking Golden Arrows are in search of a first win since October as they welcome Sekhukhune United to the Mpumalanga Stadium in Hammarsdale in a league match at 7.30pm tonight. The Durban-based outfit is on their worst run in DStv Premiership history. The only win Arrows have registered since October is a walkover they were handed following Moroka Swallows’ failure to honour the fixture against them in December. Head coach Mabhuti Khenyeza is seemingly coming under pressure as Arrows try to overcome a loss of confidence as well as a goal drought. Since their win against Kaizer Chiefs, Arrows have gone on to lose nine of their last 10 matches in the league and cup competitions, conceding 19 goals in the process, a worrying fall from grace for a…

Zulu King Misuzulu KaZwelithini has issued a royal order calling for politically-motivated killings and assassinations of traditional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal to be stopped, saying the murders were especially concerning as the country was heading towards national general elections in May. He also called on political parties to campaign in an environment of tolerance with no intimidation. The king, delivering the traditional address, as he officially opened the provincial Legislature yesterday and ahead of today’s State of the Province Address, said that the killing of councillors and Amakhosi must stop immediately. “All this bloodshed must stop immediately. That is the royal order that I am issuing today. I call upon the law enforcement agencies to arrest, prosecute and incarcerate all these criminals who are giving our beautiful province a bad name,”…

Reflecting on my public speaking events, I admit I seldom talk about my mother, Mavis Smith. Writing, thinking and talking about mother has never been easy. I confront mother periodically (Or perhaps it is mother who confronts me?) in casual social interactions or when I cook the wrong way or regard, with an air of flippancy, a matter to which she would have offered serious consideration. It is among several of my chief regrets that I discovered, when it was too late, the importance of a man knowing his mother. I hear Mom’s voice now and then. Mom had a beautiful singing voice and would fill the house when she sang. “Just like Virginia Lee,” Dad would say when he heard mom sing, “your mother sings just as beautifully. “Listen,…

IN RESPONSE to “Aid is voluntary, not obligatory” (The Mercury, February 22). The danger with repeating radically puerile statements using only holy books as title deeds is that somebody out there might actually begin to take every word, every line, every paragraph as really being authentic and cast in stone, carved by divine lightning, energised by solar power, on Mt Sinai. Imagine a cartoon with a representative of each religion ( there are over a thousand of these) all marching simultaneously into the Engineers’ Department Office at Old Fort Road, carrying a “holy manifesto” photocopy of their very own religious handout and demanding that the area between the Umgeni River and the Indian Ocean as proof that “this holy piece of turf” belongs to each of them! With the rate…

Eskom has experienced a total of 44 043 electrical infrastructure theft incidents from the 2018/19 financial year to date. This was revealed by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. He was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Jacques Smalle, who asked about the theft of transformers and sabotage of electrical infrastructure between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 financial years. Gordhan’s response showed that KwaZulu-Natal recorded the most electrical infrastructure theft incidents at 8 598 over the six-year period, followed by the Eastern Cape with 7 129 and Gauteng with 7 030. Limpopo recorded 4 691 incidents, North West 4 522, Mpumalanga 4 433, the Free State 3 345 and the Northern Cape 2 544. The Western Cape recorded the lowest number of theft incidents at 1 751. Gordhan said there were…

A team based at UCT will design the technical specifications and business case for a proton therapy centre to be established in Cape Town, near the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Groote Schuur Hospital. Proton therapy is a form of radiation therapy for cancer that utilises a beam of energetic protons from a cyclotron – a machine that accelerates charged particles to speeds approaching the speed of light. The unique characteristics of this proton beam allow a type of radiotherapy treatment that is highly effective for a wide range of tumours and significantly reduces the late side effects of radiation therapy. In children in particular, proton beam therapy is now recognised as superior to conventional radiotherapy techniques, with less damage to normal tissue and reduced risk of secondary…

Israel, Hamas and Qatari mediators all expressed caution yesterday about progress for a truce in Gaza, after US President Joe Biden said he believed a ceasefire deal could be reached in less than a week that would halt the war for Ramadaan. Hamas is weighing a proposal, agreed to by Israel at talks with mediators in Paris last week, for a ceasefire that would suspend fighting for 40 days, the first extended truce of the five-month-old war. According to a source close to the talks, the proposal would see militants free some but not all of the hostages they are holding, in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees, humanitarian aid for Gaza and Israeli troops pulling out of populated areas in the enclave. However, it appears to…

A frozen Arctic vault built to preserve global agricultural crops from extinction received seeds yesterday from the largest number of new contributors, a custodian of the remote facility said. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, set in permafrost caves on an island halfway between mainland Europe and the North Pole, was launched in 2008 as the ultimate backup for the world’s gene banks to protect plants from war, disease and climate change. The vault has received samples from across the world, and played an essential role between 2015 and 2019 in rebuilding seed collections damaged during the war in Syria. Yesterday, depositors carried crates of seeds into the vault’s entrance. Twenty-three seed banks took part, nine for the first time, the largest number of newcomers introduced at one single occasion, according…

Brussels: Nato has no plans to send ground troops to Ukraine, an alliance official said yesterday, after French President Emmanuel Macron said the idea could not be ruled out. “Nato and allies are providing unprecedented military support to Ukraine,” said the Nato official. “But there are no plans for Nato combat troops on the ground in Ukraine. In terms of international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defence, and we have the right to support them.” Macron triggered a shockwave in Europe by refusing to rule out sending Western ground troops to Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion. He had sought to rally greater European support for Kyiv, which faces battlefield challenges and dwindling munition stocks. | AFP…

Mexico City: Highlighting the importance of Mexican migrant workers to the US economy, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena has again urged Washington to regularise their legal status. Alicia Barcena said Mexicans working in the US contributed over $324 billion (about R6.2 trillion) annually to the nation’s economy in such essential sectors as agriculture, services and construction. “In 1986, 3 million Mexicans were regularised,” she said. Mexico is requesting the US to make “a similar and fair gesture” to regularise undocumented Mexicans who have worked there for more than five years, including half a million young people. | IANS…

A ray of light in an otherwise gloomy South African Sevens challenge in Vancouver last week, was the unusual feat of Bok Womens’ flyhalf Nadine Roos scoring all her team's points in the Canada Sevens. Roos scored a try in all five matches they played (including a brace against Brazil) and kicked two conversions for a tournament tally of 34 points. She was also amongst the team's leading tacklers over all three days. Unfortunately, it could nor prevent Roos’ team from finishing in 12th place and the Bok Women have dropped to last on the series log. “Nadine is a true professional and her value to our team is immense,” said coach Renfred Dazel. “Her personality is such that she wants to be a winner and always gives her best,…