Indholdsfortegnelse for 2021-05-13 i Mercury

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi and Thami Magubane rates collection DEPUTY President David Mabuza has said the government has entered into a deal with Eskom and municipalities for the power utility to take over the collection of rates in defaulting municipalities, which owe it more than R30 billion. This would enable municipalities to increase revenue collection. Mabuza told Parliament yesterday that they had struck a deal between 18 municipalities that had a huge debt with Eskom, to be first in line for the project. In the past, Eskom has gone to court to try to recoup the billions it is owed by municipalities. During a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, Mabuza said they had reached an agreement between municipalities and the power utility. “In our engagement with municipalities owing Eskom, we…

Emotional wellness, but for the severely unwell, is something you can monitor yourself, much like you can take your own blood pressure. Most of us have good and not-so-good days. May this column lead you to reflection and to a day of greater joy and emotional health. Please don’t use these lists to classify others, but only to reflect on your own behaviour and habits. Nobody is healthy all the time; few are unhealthy all the time. Healthy people: Promote freedom and discovery. Are open and clear about expectations. Move on efficiently after disappointment. Forgive others after consideration. Are aware they can be misguided and are open to correction. Are steered and guided from inner values and ambitions. Are grateful to others and know how much they need others. Try…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons Tarryn-Leigh.Solomons@inl.co.za Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Phathekile Holomisa, said relationships between prison officials and inmates were an embarrassment to the department. He told the portfolio committee on justice yesterday that these incidents damaged the reputation of the department. Chief Deputy Commissioner for human resources, Cynthia Ramulifho, said although incidents of sexual activities between officials and inmates seldom occurred, they were regarded as despicable and unfortunate. “These acts of misconduct defeat the mandate of the department and put the name of the department into disrepute,” said Ramulifo. Four cases have been reported to the department, with two finalised and the other two pending. A video of a female prison warden engaging in sexual activity with an offender at Ncome Correctional Facility in KwaZulu-Natal recently did the rounds…

Sfiso Mnguni Joint venture agreements in post settlement modelling of restituted land are nothing, but a second wave of land dispossessions by white land holders in South Africa – with more venomous effects than those of the 1913 Land Act. Recent events regarding the settlement of restitution claims in the northern KwaZulu-Natal town of Melmoth is a case in point. The Melmoth land claims by five communities of Entembeni Royal Household, Entembeni, KwaDludla, Emakhasaneni and Mthonjaneni date back to 1995 and in line with the provisions of the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994. The Act provided for the restitution of rights in land to persons or communities who were dispossessed and forcefully removed from their land, as a consequence of the government implementing provisions of the 1913…

OUR government is fast running out of excuses for not prioritising the Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine that the World Health Organization (WHO) has approved. WHO has listed the vaccine for emergency use, paving the way for it to be rolled out globally. As the country’s largest trading and BRICS partner, it boggles the mind that our government failed to use its strong bilateral relations to secure millions of doses of the Chinese vaccine at a much cheaper rate. Even President Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize have been at pains to explain the logic behind overlooking the Chinese and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines, often hiding behind the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority processes. Instead they have opted for a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine which is…

MOSCOW: The gunman who shot up a school in Russia’s city of Kazan on Tuesday was diagnosed with a cerebral disease last year, Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said. “Ilnaz Galyaviev did not have a psychiatric or drug abuse record. However, we have learned that he requested medical assistance for strong headaches multiple times. “Last year, after visiting a medical facility, he was diagnosed with a brain disease. His relatives were noticing his aggressive and irascible behaviour at the beginning of this year,” Petrenko said yesterday. His condition prevents him being investigated.…

Ashfak Mohamed THE SA Rugby Executive Council (Exco) will no longer be an “almost exclusively male preserve” following amendments made to the governing body’s constitution to ensure that more females are represented. SA Rugby held their annual general meeting on Tuesday, and made two constitutional amendments to boost women’s visibility in the sport. The first will see at least three women serving on a 12-14 person Exco from 2021 to 2025, after which the number of Exco members of one gender will not exceed the number of members of the other gender by more than three. In addition, each provincial union will have to have at least one female member among their three-person delegation that attends and votes at the General Council meetings. The organisation has been criticised in the…

Sizwe Dlamini sizwe.dlamini@inl.co.za DEPUTY Finance Minister David Masondo said yesterday that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) should be allowed to do what it was mandated to do by its investors and stakeholders, and that no other entity could tell the asset manager how to act. Masondo said this while making his submissions to the meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance (Scof) with the PIC, the Sekunjalo Group, Matome Maponya Investments and the National Treasury on the Mpati Commission of Inquiry Report yesterday. Masondo said there seemed to be huge discontent over the findings of the PIC Commission of Inquiry report by Justice Lex Mpati, as well as serious issues and disputes over transactions between the PIC and parties involved. He strongly recommended that those entities that were unhappy with…

MPHAHLELA M RAMMUTLA | Pretoria Many believed that the impoverished community of Steynsburg, under the Walter Sisulu Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, was being rejected and neglected when it came to development and service delivery. The community is characterised by a high employment rate, high levels of crime and a high percentage of youth idling with no direction. The community lives below the poverty line. The cries from Steynsburg have finally woken the master. It was a great relief to learn that the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural development, Mcebisi Skwatsha, has roped in other stakeholders to hear the struggles of the people. The deputy minister brought five other deputy ministers from various departments, three MECs, mayors and non-profit organisations such as the Gift…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala says there is a need to prioritise economic development in a manner that would not be harmful to the environment and lead to challenges as a result of climate change. Zikalala was speaking at the inaugural sitting of the reconfigured KZN Climate Change and Sustainable Development Council held at the Durban ICC yesterday. The structure is responsible for co-ordinating responses to climate change in the province and the event was attended by MECs, district mayors, academics, business representatives, traditional leaders and representatives of civil society formations. The meeting focused on environmental sustainability, economic development, climate change and work done by the provincial government. Speaking to The Mercury, Zikalala said the council had put in place priorities that sought to preserve the environment while…

BLOODY fangs on display … the Dracula connection … will the anti-vax brigade try to use this as ammunition in their campaign against Covid-19 vaccinations? So it’s not Big Pharma who are behind the gigantic hoax after all, nor Big Government who want to wipe out society. It was actually planned centuries ago by blood-sucking vampires, led by a Wallachian prince called Vlad the Impaler. Or will the Romanian government’s blending of the touristy Dracula connection with its Covid vaccination campaign turn out a success? The government has chosen Bran Castle, a spooky pile in the Carpathian mountains – which has terrible associations with vampirism – as a Covid-19 vaccination centre, according to Sky News. Medical workers with bloody fang stickers on their scrubs are offering free shots of the…

The exodus began after the Israeli missiles struck the Gaza apartment building. Carrying luggage, personal documents and valuables, residents walked away from the damaged structure, where an air strike wrecked two apartments that they said was used by the Interior Ministry, run by Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant group. “Israel is bombing civilians in their homes because they are unable to face the men from the resistance. We are easier targets for them,” said one woman, who gave her name only as Umm Hassan. Residents on both sides have sought cover as rocket attacks and air strikes have escalated since Monday into the heaviest fighting between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in Gaza. In Tel Aviv, where sirens blared repeatedly early yesterday, heralding rocket barrages launched from Gaza, Margo…

London: An Italian financier facing probes by Vatican and Roman prosecutors has been arrested here, court officials said. Gianluigi Torzi, 42, was arrested by police on Tuesday and appeared at Westminster Magistrate’s Court “following a warrant issued from Italy. Prosecutors in Rome issued that arrest warrant on April 12 for alleged money laundering and fake invoicing. Torzi is believed to have a house in London. “Full bail arguments were heard. He was remanded in custody until May 18,” the court official said, adding that a date for an extradition hearing was expected to be determined then.…

HERMAN GIBBS and ESHLIN VEDAN EMBATTLED Kaizer Chiefs were back in the trenches last night at the FNB Stadium, where they kept their slender top eight hopes alive with a 1-1 stalemate against Swallows. Swallows drew first blood with a goal by striker Kagiso Malinga. The riposte by Chiefs emerged seven minutes later when Chiefs’ Colombian goalmouth predator Leonardo Castro netted. In KwaZulu-Natal, Maritzburg United eased their relegation fears as they blunted Golden Arrows 3-2 at Harry Gwala Stadium. The Team of Choice took the lead in the 15th minute as Ryan Rae exposed some slack defending from Arrows with a long throw, which found its way to Tebogo Tlolane who fired in a volley. After a scrappy first half, the game came to life in the second half…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE UN HAS forecast that South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) will rebound less than 3 percent in 2021 due to a number of downside risks clouding Africa’s outlook. In its World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2021 yesterday, the UN said South Africa’s GDP was projected to expand by 2.8 per cent in 2021. This is the lowest GDP forecast for South Africa this year after an upwards growth outlook of 3.8 percent by the SA Reserve Bank, 3.3 percent by the National Treasury, and 3 percent by the World Bank. The UN report also warned that medium-term prospects were constrained by lack of fiscal space, chronic high unemployment and lingering power shortages as Eskom fails to resolve the energy…

SOUTH African growth indicators for April saw the highest and fastest growth on record, signalling a strong economic bounce back to pre-Covid levels, according to the BankservAfrica Economic Transactions Index (Beti) for April. The Beti increased by 25.9 percent year-on-year in real terms, boosted by current higher commodity prices. The headline Beti is a reflection of the economy’s recorded changes on an annual basis. However, with the lockdown impact from April 2020 distorting the number somewhat, the short-term variations were important to observe, BankservAfrica cautioned. Economist Mike Schüssler and BankservAfrica’s Head of Stakeholder Engagements Shergeran Naidoo said yesterday that while the index was encouraging, true growth still remained elusive. “On a monthly level, the Beti improved by 2.3 percent. This is the strongest since February 2021; the…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za THE Sekunjalo Group will take the report of the Mpati Commission of Inquiry into impropriety in the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) on judicial review. This was revealed by Sekunjalo Investment Holdings chairperson Dr Iqbal Survé when he led a delegation to the standing committee on finance yesterday. Survé took up the challenge after Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo said those unhappy with the Mpati Commission’s report should take legal action. “We definitely are to take that (report) on review. We did not take it on review simply because of the fact that there were no adverse findings,” Survé said. Earlier, he said the Mpati Commission did not investigate 97% of the white-owned companies that the PIC invested in, even though the entity lost more than…

JEAN MICHEL BOUVIER | Bryanston I read that the spat between different countries and the pharmaceutical companies regarding Covid-19 patent waiver for vaccines production will probably be settled by December, according to the head of the World Trade Organization. This is still over six months away, but the president, Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize and everyone else in government gets excited about that possibility and of course more freebies. Looking back during the same period of six months, from November 12 of last year to today, we had 34 410 people who died and 854 550 infected. Even if the same will happen and hopefully not worse with a third wave hitting our shores only 0.55% of the population has been vaccinated so far (330 000),…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za The killing of four men, including three brothers, in Richmond on Tuesday has sparked fears a pattern of violence, last seen in the late 1990s, may rear its head again. Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said two brothers and a friend were shot by two assailants at a house in Esigcakini and died on the scene. The other brother, who was driving a truck, was also killed by the assailants. Mbele said no one had been arrested. While the motive for the killings is unknown, rumours suggest competition over business interests, including taxi routes, may have been behind the killings. Mantombi Ngcamu, mother to the slain brothers said the pain was too much to bear for the family. “I am not alright, none of us are, and…

TSEPANG MOLEFE IN EARLY 2003, a landmark litigation was brought by the Treatment Action Campaign against the government. The TAC confronted the government for not providing proven and cost- effective medicines for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to pregnant mothers. It won the court case on the basis of the constitutional guarantee of the right to health care, and the government was ordered to start programmes for prevention of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV in public health facilities. As the wheels of justice turned, it became clear that the struggle for ordinary people against HIV would never be the same again and that people could live healthy lives with the virus. The “Deadly Air” case, which will be heard in the Pretoria High Court from May 17 to the 19, is…

Bangkok: A severely ill hunger-striking Thai democracy activist released from prison vowed yesterday to keep fighting for reform to the country’s monarchy, defying his bail conditions. Parit Chiwarak, was held in pre-trial detention for nearly 100 days for multiple royal defamation charges. He is one of several protest leaders hit with such charges after massive demonstrations calling for changes to the kingdom’s powerful royal family. To protest detention, Penguin had gone on a hunger strike for 57 days. A Thai criminal court granted the university student bail on Tuesday under strict conditions, including that he doesn’t engage in activities that “dishonour the monarchy”.…

MIHLALI BALEKA HUGO Broos is an ambitious man. But the new Bafana Bafana commander in chief is also realistic, saying yesterday that inspiring the senior national team to the 2022 Fifa World Cup might be impossible as it might take time to rebuild the team. “If there’s something that I want from you, it’s patience,” Broos said in his first media briefing yesterday afternoon. “We’ll do everything to qualify for the World Cup. But you have to be realistic also, it’s not an easy group. We have Ghana, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.” He continued: “Africa is not at the top level. But it’s tough. On the other side, I also said before, we’ll try to rebuild a successful team, and there can be moments of weaknesses. And it can happen…