Indholdsfortegnelse for 2024-07-24 i Mercury

Some of the biggest global drugmakers, undeterred by mounting Sino-US tensions, are scouring China for deals to replenish drug pipelines and boost their presence in the world’s second-biggest pharmaceutical market, industry executives and investment bankers said. Several major deals have already been completed this year, including AstraZeneca’s $1.2 billion purchase of China-based cell therapy developer Gracell Biotechnologies and Novartis’s acquisition of the remaining shares of kidney disease therapy developer SanReno Therapeutics for an undisclosed amount. South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare, which announced in December that it had agreed to buy Swiss group Sandoz’s China unit, is expanding in other markets to balance China risk while continuing to scout for Chinese assets, said Larry Merizalde, the firm’s China CEO. China accounted for about 10% of Aspen’s global revenue, Merizalde said before the…

Energy Partners, in collaboration with property firm Fairvest, has unveiled South Africa’s first solar facade skyscraper with the completion of the Metalbox project in Auckland Park, Johannesburg. The project features building- integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) that generate up to 300 megawatts an hour. Metalbox stands 80m tall and has just under 15 000m² of gross leasable area. Energy Partners CEO Manie de Waal said: “The Metalbox skyscraper project is history in the making. We’ve seen similar projects succeed worldwide. But it required a visionary client and a committed team to set a new benchmark for South Africa’s green energy transition.” The project incorporates two solar systems. Monocrystalline panels on the building’s sides provide energy efficiency and aesthetic appeal, performing well even in low light, while the roof features carport-type panels, optimising…

“I’m 27 and a nurse in a large hospital in the UK. My family in South Africa – mostly my dad – has cut me off from my mother and young brother and sister (they sneak texts to me sometimes) because I no longer attend his choice of church and I’m seeing a man my dad does not approve of. He cannot approve for ‘complex reasons of culture, faith and history’. I love my family (and my dad) and am at a loss at what to do. I’ve been away for 3 years. Things were almost fine until the man came along. I’ve gone from ‘daddy’s little girl’ to almost full rejection.” You are an accomplished adult. If you can get yourself qualified and then employed in a country far…

PERSONAL tribute to Mr Vivian Reddy, chairman and founder of Sibaya Trust. Words can never express how much someone like Vivian Reddy means to the masses who benefit from his monumental contributions to the citizens of our rainbow nation. This apostle of caring and giving, is a promise to the vast geographical mass of South Africa that there is hope in the seemingly most hopeless conditions. His dedicated life-long, monumental contributions to the community reaffirms our faith in humanity that the streams of unending assistance to the destitute and homeless, have not dried up. Nobody can forget this exemplar of utmost devotion for all the tasks he undertakes which defy description. His life is a fabric of compassion, the main strands are helping and assisting thousands of men, women and…

POLITICAL analysts and some uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) members have asserted that the ANC, leader of the Government of National Unity (GNU), has shown its weakness after former president Jacob Zuma’s Disciplinary Committee (DC) hearing was stalled again yesterday. Zuma was to appear before the party’s National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) yesterday after a postponement last week. Zuma has refused to meet the NDC virtually, citing network problems at his homestead of Nkandla. His long-time comrade, Tony Yengeni, at the DC has instead represented him. In early May, prior to the general elections, Zuma had been given notice to appear before the ANC’s disciplinary committee at the party’s Luthuli House headquarters to face charges including contravening the party’s constitution for collaborating with another party. The ANC, through its Secretary-General Fikile…

The Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS), which has merged with other Ombuds to become the National Financial Ombud (NFO), helped to close cases on 7 884 bank customer issues in the past year, with 76% of those going in favour of the banks and 24% for the customer. The OBS’s interventions, however, helped customers recover some R25.74 million, Ombudsman Reana Steyn wrote in the latest and last annual report of the OBS. The OBS, Credit Ombudsman, Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance and the Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance unified to form the NFO, which became operational from March 1. OBS chairperson advocate John Myburgh said the OBS ended on a high in all respects, including cases managed and resolved, a healthy financial balance sheet, increased communications and education, and almost no staff…

The dome that was used during the funeral of former president Nelson Mandela is set to be constructed in Parliament as a makeshift structure after the National Assembly building was gutted by fire two years ago. This was revealed by National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza during the debate on the budget vote of Parliament on Monday. Didiza made the announcement when the joint sitting of the two Houses held their debate on the Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) and consideration of committee reports on budget votes was held in a marquee at the Nieumeester parking lot on the corner of Roeland and Plein Streets in Cape Town. Other sittings scheduled for the week will also take place there. Didiza said Parliament took note of issues raised by MPs towards the…

In his first provincial Cabinet Lekgotla since taking over as the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal in June, Thami Ntuli vowed to accelerate service delivery and revive the economy of the province. The first two-day KZN provincial Cabinet Lekgotla of the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) met from yesterday at the Archie Gumede Conference Centre in Mayville. The Lekgotla was attended by members of the Executive Council, senior government leaders, councillors, CEOs of public entities and other relevant departments. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the meeting, Ntuli said they would discuss infrastructure projects, health-care improvements, education, and social services. Ntuli said the GPU has adopted President Cyril Ramaphosa’s three strategic priorities which are to drive inclusive economic growth and job creation; to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost…

US Vice-President Kamala Harris was campaigning in the critical battleground state of Wisconsin for the first time as a presidential candidate yesterday after securing enough Democratic delegate support to clear a path to the nomination. Harris has emerged as the Democratic candidate after President Joe Biden, 81, abandoned his re-election campaign on Sunday. This comes after weeks of calls from within his own party to end his bid, questioning his ability to beat former President Donald Trump or to serve for another four-year term. Less than 36 hours after Biden endorsed Harris, she secured the nomination on Monday by winning the pledged support of a majority of the party’s delegates who will determine the nomination, the campaign said. “I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become…

Israel swiftly condemned an agreement brokered by China yesterday which Beijing said would bring Hamas into a “national reconciliation government” for post-war Gaza. Foreign Minister Israel Katz insisted that “Hamas rule will be crushed” and accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah faction signed the deal, of embracing the group whose October 7 attacks triggered the war. Any involvement by the Islamist militant group in the post-war governance of Gaza is anathema to the US as well as Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington to address a joint session of Congress and has vowed to continue the Gaza war until Hamas is destroyed. The diplomatic spat came as Israel hammered Gaza, including the southern city of Khan Yunis, where it had ordered a partial evacuation of civilians.…

ADDIS ABABA: The death toll from two landslides in southern Ethiopia has risen to at least 229 and could increase further, a government official said yesterday. A landslide buried people in Gofa zone in Southern Ethiopia regional state, then a second one engulfed others who had gathered to help on Monday. “Searching is still going on and there are bodies that are yet to be recovered. The area is very challenging,” said Markos Melese, head of the National Disaster Response agency in Gofa Zone. Footage shared by the local administration showed people digging up bodies with shovels and bare hands. | Reuters…

PRESIDENT Joe Biden has done the wise thing for an old man. Facing intense criticism from various quarters and even from his own party, he has given up the re-election race to the White House. His challenger, Donald Trump, must be in seventh heaven. A doddering old man has played right into his hands. He couldn’t have asked for a better rival to boost his image. But with the stammering, stuttering and tottering Biden out of the race, you would think that it would be a walkover for Trump. Not really. A woman, Kamala Harris, stands in his way. She’s the US vice-president and she has been endorsed by the Democrats to take up the baton from Biden in the race to the White House. Harris is no blundering old…

THE democratic party inner circle are yet again playing the race card, bringing vice-president Kamala Harris to the forefront of American life and chasing the presidency, with gusto. The democrats think they can emulate the success they had with Barack Obama. The American people were conned once with the “Yes we can” mantra, however, clear-thinking Americans learnt their lesson with that particular political experience. At this point, America is a vehicle without a steering wheel and Donald Trump rightly asks : “Who is running the country?” In spite of his eccentricity, Trump is eminently better qualified than Harris to get America back on track. The nation has lost its relevance across the globe over the past four years.…

The DA has better prospects of winning the Phala Phala matter involving President Cyril Ramaphosa that the party is flip-flopping on than challenging uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) leader in Parliament Dr John Hlophe’s designation to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). That is how the MKP has responded to the DA following its urgent bid to reverse Parliament’s decision granting Hlophe the green light to represent it in the JSC. Hlophe was impeached as judge earlier this year in what he has maintained was a political decision. Chairperson of the DA’s federal council, Helen Zille, said in her founding affidavit that Hlophe’s participation in the selection process of a judicial officer will taint the process as he “creates the risk that judges will be selected who do not have the necessary…

It STARTED as a land invasion next to a piece of land that was donated to blind and deaf people of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. Now, the blind and deaf are fearing for their lives and say they are at the mercy of extortionists who are allegedly demanding what has become known as a protection fee. Failure to pay could lead to their homes being taken by force. Police confirmed five people aged between 39 and 57 have been arrested on charges of extortion. They were to appear in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. “The circumstances surrounding the incident form part of the investigation. They appeared in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on July 16. They were remanded in custody and are appearing in court again for a formal…

Former Intelligence minister Lindiwe Sisulu has laid a criminal complaint against Muhammad Suliman Vawda, known on social media as @Goolammv. Vawda is accused of having used his social media platform to spread hate speech against those opposed to President Cyril Ramaphosa and those in his close circle. The Mercury’s sister publication The Star has seen an affidavit which Sisulu has deposed through lawyers JG and Xulu Incorporated, dated July 23, through a Rosebank address of the legal firm. In the affidavit, the former minister says she has decided to lay criminal charges against Goolam, who has reportedly fled the country after he was unmasked by Independent Media’s investigative journalists. Sisulu accuses the now-Mauritius based Goolam of hate speech, cyberbullying and crimen injuria spanning more than six years on social…

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets across Kenya yesterday in defiance of a police ban, the latest in a series of anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the East African nation. In the capital Nairobi, shops and offices were shut as some protesters mobilised to march to the main Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), one of the busiest in Africa. Police had warned against the march, saying trespassing on protected areas, including airports, would risk prosecution. Activists led by young Gen-Z Kenyans launched peaceful rallies last month over steep tax increases that spiralled into deadly violence, before morphing into wider anger against President William Ruto’s government. While Ruto has taken a series of measures to try to end the worst crisis of his near two-year presidency, including dropping the tax…

LONDON: British radical Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary, whose followers have been linked to plots across the world, was convicted of terrorism offences after a trial. Crown prosecutors said Choudary directed al-Muhajiroun, banned as a terrorist organisation more than a decade ago, and encouraged others to support the group, which he denied. Choudary, 57, was found guilty of directing a terrorist organisation and addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court. Once Britain’s most high-profile Islamist preacher, he was jailed in 2016 for encouraging support for Islamic State before being freed in 2018. | Reuters…

KUALA LUMPUR: A chartered flight carrying 123 Malaysians evacuated from deadly violence in Bangladesh arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Malaysia’s home minister said. Student-led protests against quotas in government jobs in Bangladesh spiralled into violence last week, with at least 147 people killed. Bangladesh’s top court then agreed to scrap most quotas following clashes between protesters and security forces that prompted the government to shut down internet services, impose a curfew and deploy the army. The flight, which included 80 students among the passengers, arrived safely at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. | Reuters…

Former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto will lead Audi’s Formula One project from August 1 with bosses Oliver Hoffmann and Andreas Seidl leaving in a major management shake-up announced yesterday. The German manufacturer said Binotto had been appointed chief operating and chief technical officer at Swiss-based Sauber Motorsport, whose entry will become the factory Audi team in 2026 when the sport enters a new engine era. Binotto will have “responsibility and accountability for the operative management and sporting success of the racing team”, Audi added. Hoffmann previously had overall responsibility for the project as chairman of the boards of directors of all Sauber companies while former McLaren principal Seidl was CEO of Sauber Motorsport and effectively ran the team. “I am delighted that we have been able to recruit Mattia…

AN ITEM comes this way from far-off New Jersey in the US. An elderly Italian gentleman lived alone there. The time came for him to plant his annual tomato crop. To do that, he had to dig up his garden plot. But the task had got beyond his capabilities in his advanced years. The ground was hard. Normally, his son would do the digging for him but, unfortunately, he was in prison. Vexed, the father wrote to his son in prison to seek his advice. “Dear Vincente “It’s pretty sad. I just know I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m getting too old for digging up a garden plot. “I know that normally you would dig it for me like in the old days. But…

ZIMBABWE, a country once heralded as the breadbasket of Africa, has faced decades of economic turmoil, political instability and social challenges. The question on everyone’s mind is: Will Zimbabwe recover as a nation? Zimbabwe’s economy remains in a fragile state.The country is experiencing hyperinflation, currency instability, and a lack of foreign investment. Unemployment rates are high, and many citizens rely on informal employment to survive. The Covid-19 pandemic strained a struggling country.The political landscape in Zimbabwe is characterised by a lack of genuine democratic processes. Elections are often marred by violence and allegations of fraud. The ruling Zanu-PF continues to suppress opposition and civil society, stifling political reforms and perpetuating a cycle of instability. Zimbabwe faces significant social challenges, including a struggling health-care system, inadequate education infrastructure, and widespread poverty.…

THERE’S an old saying suggesting that when America sneezes the world catches a cold. America is in a mess with a frail president drowning in a personal vendetta against Donald Trump instead of doing his job and focusing on the mess at home, the shrinking economy, the border crisis, the Middle East catastrophe, the Ukraine invasion etc. While Biden pontificates blisters and mumbles about Trump’s misdemeanours, Russian President Vladimir Putin is rubbing his hands in glee at the thought of Trump putting a stop to the military aid the US sends to Ukraine should Trump win the election. Biden’s demonising Trump by suggesting that Trump must be stopped “at all costs” validates the theory that he’s lost the plot entirely. The attempted assassination of Trump sits squarely on Biden and…

THE eThekwini Municipality yesterday approved a R50 million Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study towards the construction of a second access road to the Port of Durban to deal with traffic congestion. This comes as the Durban harbour battles to find a permanent solution to the major traffic congestion at the Bayhead Road to the port. Opposition parties yesterday welcomed the move, but said that progress had been too slow and the traffic was costing eThekwini’s economy millions while damaging road infrastructure. A report tabled by the City requested authority from the executive committee to approve a new memorandum of agreement with Transnet National Ports Authority for a joint implementation of preliminary design and environmental impact assessment for a second access road to the Port of Durban within eThekwini Municipality. “On…

The eThekwini Municipality has responded to The Mercury article “Planned water restrictions in eThekwini areas today ahead of major shutdown” published on July 23, saying there was no water shutdown at the Wiggins Treatment Works Gravity System. “If there was a planned water restriction or shutdown, this information would have been officially published by the City’s Communication Unit. “The media is requested to verify information before publishing and be mindful of our 24-hours turnaround response time as we also have to verify the information we issue in response to any media enquiry,” the City said. The Mercury was provided with information by Ward 64 councillor Samantha Windvogel, who shared an email communication she received from the City’s head of water, Ednick Msweli, in response to her queries about the water…

Ugandan police detained scores of demonstrators, including protest leaders, in the capital Kampala yesterday, as scattered anti-corruption rallies took place despite being banned by authorities. Riot police were out in force across Kampala, with police saying the authorities will “not allow a demonstration that risks the peace and security of the country”. President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for almost four decades, had warned at the weekend that the demonstrators were “playing with fire”. On the eve of the rally, authorities had cracked down on the opposition, besieging the headquarters of the National Unity Platform (Nup) of former presidential candidate Bobi Wine, arresting several of his party’s MPs. As yesterday’s rallies began, a lawyer said scores of protesters were arrested in Kampala, with at…

WASHINGTON: US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned yesterday after the agency came under harsh scrutiny for its failure to stop a would-be assassin from wounding former president Donald Trump during a campaign rally. The Secret Service, which is responsible for the protection of current and former US presidents, faces a crisis after a gunman was able to fire on Trump from a roof overlooking the outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. Cheatle faced bipartisan condemnation from the US Congress and said she took responsibility for the shooting, calling it the largest failure by the Secret Service since then-President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. | Reuters…

EDMONTON: About 5 000 people were forced to leave the western Canadian town of Jasper yesterday to escape approaching wildfires, the latest victims of what experts say could be one of the worst seasons for fires. The evacuation order covered Jasper and the National Park, in the province of Alberta about 370km to the west of Edmonton, the capital. Scorching heat in the Northern Hemisphere has baked much of the Western US and Canada. Alberta said about 50 fires were burning out of control across the province. In the easternmost province of Newfoundland and Labrador, thousands who had to flee were told they could return home. | Reuters…

LONDON: Britain’s new Labour government will end the use of the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge to house migrants off the south coast of England as part of its overhaul of the asylum system, it said yesterday. Use of the vessel, which can house up to 500 men, began under the Conservative government with the aim of cutting the £8 million (R190m) a day cost of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers while their claims were being processed. Anchored off Dorset, human rights activists compared it to a prison ship. One man died on board last year and water contamination forced the government to remove migrants for a weeks. | Reuters…