Indholdsfortegnelse for 2021-06-08 i Mercury

Part One Over THE past few weeks, a flurry of articles has flooded the media ecosystem whose sole bent seems to be to impugn the dignity and damage the reputation of Dr Iqbal Survé and the Sekunjalo Group. Crafted with dedication and conveyed via Independent Media’s rival media chorus, these articles smack of McCarthyism, the term that has become synonymous with defamation of character and/or reputation through the widespread dissemination of indiscriminate allegations based on unsubstantiated charges. In other words, lies without proof or evidence are told often enough to become a version of the truth. McCarthyism came about in the US in the late 1940s and 1950s and is attributed to Senator Joseph McCarthy, who carried out a witch-hunt during this time, under the auspices of looking for supposed…

Kailene Pillay kailene.pillay@inl.co.za ALLEGED Gupta associate and former Transnet board member Iqbal Sharma was forced to spend another night in custody after his bail application was postponed until today at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court. His co-accused, former Free State Agriculture and Rural Development (FSDoARD) head Peter Thabethe was granted R10 000 bail yesterday. Sharma, Thabethe, and their co- accused, face criminal charges related to the alleged defrauding of the Free State Department of Agriculture (FSDoA). The fraud is in connection with a R25 million feasibility study in 2011 that was allegedly irregularly granted to Nulane Investment 204 (Pty) Ltd – a company owned and controlled by Sharma. The company had to provide a report to the department within seven months. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) – which claimed…

Lack of consequence management blamed for over R1bn of irregular expenditure Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE failure of the eThekwini Municipality to institute disciplinary measures against senior staff members is the main reason the municipality incurred more than R1 billion in irregular expenditure. The municipality has no record of holding its officials accountable when they do not follow legal processes in the procurement of goods and services on behalf of the council, resulting in the city incurring irregular expenditure. These concerns were raised in an oversight report, compiled by the city’s watchdog body the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC), which was tabled before councillors recently. Irregular expenditure is incurred when the legal processes that need to be followed to spend the money are not complied with by municipal officials. For instance,…

“MY HUSBAND is an angry man. On rare occasions when he is willing he says it (his anger) is well earned and he has a lot to be angry about. “He is very successful in the business world and he says that part of his success is because he is so eager to prove to the world around him that he made it despite so much that has been unjust in his life. “My problem is that it is like living with a time bomb. He goes off on me and I endure things nobody sees or would believe. I am not sure how much longer I can do this. Please help.” Thank you for your insights. I would suggest you pursue face-to-face help with a therapist who can help…

IAN LLOYD Durban North I AM extremely annoyed when the sun goes down in winter and the electrical supply to our houses is shut off. As we all know, the reason the electricity stops is because of Eskom, the power supplier is incapable of supplying the power needed by the country and all because the government allowed the entity to be looted by the Guptas and their associates. To supply electricity, you must have enough well-maintained power stations which we have not. Billions of rand are wasted on a dysfunctional airline but not on supplying electricity to the citizens of South Africa who pay the taxes and rates. Now where are these stalwarts of the Struggle who looted the billions from the state? They are living in their luxury villas…

While Temitope Balogun Joshua, popularly known as TB Joshua, was one of Africa’s most influential televangelists, the Nigerian pastor who founded the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos was also beset by controversy. According to Al Jazeera, the 57-year-old Joshua, who died on Saturday, was popular not only across Africa, but also in South America, where he held many religious campaigns. He often toured the UK as well. “God has taken His servant Prophet TB Joshua home – as it should be by divine will,” the church posted on its Facebook page. “His last moments on earth were spent in the service of God. This is what he was born for, lived for and died for,” read the post. Joshua rose to prominence in the 1990s and was known…

Mercury correspondent Rooibos, grown in the Cederberg mountains in the Western Cape, has become the first product in Africa to receive the international protection designation from the European Commission. In a first for African food, the European Commission has approved the registration of the designation “Rooibos”/“Red Bush” in its register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications. Rooibos/Red Bush now joins Champagne, Irish whiskey, Porto, Queso Manchego and other iconic products already registered. Food products listed on the EU register of protected designations of origins generate almost R1.24 trillion. Bilateral agreements between the EU and its international partners, including between the EU and China, recognise the protected designations of origin. The recognition of the products’ origin empowers consumers to distinguish quality products and trust that they are enjoying…

A Durban woman who was convicted of fraud and forgery amounting to R6.2 million will spend seven years in jail. Ashish Lata Ramgobin, 56, was sentenced in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court and was refused leave to appeal. According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in KZN, Natasha Kara, Ramgobin was convicted of fraud, forgery and uttering. The court heard that in 2015, Ramgobin approached a company owner asking for a loan in order for her to pay the import costs for items she had bought for a hospital group. The company is an importer, manufacturer and wholesaler of clothing, linen and footwear. Kara said: “She advised him she needed R6.2 million. To convince him, she showed him what claimed to be a signed purchase order for the goods.…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za THE South African Military Ombudsman revealed that it has finalised 70% of complaints against members of the SANDF made during the lockdown last year. The cases are regarding the official conduct of SANDF members on duty during the financial year 2020/21. “The office is mandated, in terms of section 4(1) of the Military Ombud Act 4 of 2012, to investigate complaints, lodged in writing by current and former members of the SANDF, on their conditions of service and members of the public, against the official conduct of a soldier on duty.” According to the office of the ombudsman, they are yet to finalise 30% of the 56 complaints lodged by members of the public regarding the conduct of SANDF members deployed to enforce lockdown regulations. The office…

Colin Burger | Assagay THE EFF and its two head honchos, Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu, have yet again been exposed in corrupt and fraudulent activities by the explosive evidence given by Floyd Shivambu’s brother, Brian, in the VBS looting debacle of theft of public funds. This is part of an alleged contract that Brian Shivambu signed when agreeing to pay back R4.5 million to the official investigators of the incident. I think that the EFF and its leaders both need to back off from criticising anyone else or any political party. It is apparent that they are absolutely no different to those who have appeared at the Zondo Commission having been found wanting – the vast majority of whom are ANC loyalists. Zuma after all was…

HALF of the Japanese public think the 2020 Olympics will take place this summer, a survey by the Yomiuri daily newspaper showed yesterday, despite most people opposing holding the Games during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Olympics have already been postponed by a year amid concerns over how organisers can keep volunteers, athletes, officials and the Japanese public safe when they begin on July 23. Opposition lawmakers grilled Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and cabinet ministers in parliament yesterday over the decision to press ahead with the event. Top government officials repeatedly said that the government would continue to work on coronavirus measures for a “safe and secure” Games. “Taking infection control measures for athletes and Games officials so athletes from the world can safely participate and to protect our people’s lives…

Bamako: Malian strongman Colonel Assimi Goita was sworn in as transitional president of the unstable Sahel state yesterday. The ceremony in the capital Bamako came after Goita, the leader of a coup last August, ousted the civilian president and prime minister of a transitional government on May 24, to international condemnation. “I swear before God and the Malian people to preserve the republican regime... to preserve democratic gains,” said Goita, who was dressed in full military regalia. Mali’s second putsch in nine months has sparked a diplomatic uproar, with the AU and the Economic Community of West African States suspending it. | AFP…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za New Bafana Bafana assistant coach Cedomir Janevski says the new dawn they want to bring to the South African senior national team does not include teaching players how to play football, instead they want to help individuals gel together as a team. It’s been a tough year for Bafana. They failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon next year, after losing their last qualifier away to Sudan. They finished third in Group C behind leaders Ghana and the Sudanese. As a result, Molefi Ntseki lost his job. Safa have since appointed Hugo Broos as his successor. The Belgian coach then appointed two assistants, Macedonian Janevski and local footballing legend Helman Mkhalele. Despite having Macedonian roots, Janevski spent most of his life in…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE CONTINUING rally in the price of gold has seen South Africa’s net foreign exchange reserves climbing to a four-month high in May as the yellow metal rose on the commodity supercycle. The SA Reserve Bank (SARB) said yesterday that the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $54.14 billion (R726.25bn) from $53.69bn in April – the largest jump since Janu-ary, mainly due to the increase in the US dollar gold price as gold price increased 7.6 percent month-to-month to $1 904.30 per ounce. SARB said that it has also noted a $0.5bn increase in gold reserves to $7.67bn. The central bank said matured foreign exchange swops conducted for sterilisation and liquidity management purposes, as well as valuation adjustments due to asset price and currency…

SIRIUS Real Estate, which owns branded business and industrial parks in Germany, performed well in the year to March 31, declaring a higher dividend for its 14th consecutive reporting period, chief executive Andrew Coombs said yesterday.An 1.98 euro cents (32.3c) dividend was paid for the six-month period ended March 31, bringing the total payout for the year to 3.80 euro cents. Like-for-like rent increased by 5.2 percent in this period while the growth last year was 6.1 percent.Coombs said the group had generated an accounting return of 19.5 percent, bringing to seven the number of years of double digit growth, with the average accounting return at just over 16 percent. He said they were seeing high levels of investment in the German market with the country…

Nineteen million years ago, sharks nearly disappeared from the oceans, according to a new study, which provides evidence for a previously unknown mass ocean extinction event. Sharks as a species never recovered from this, said scientists from Yale University and the College of the Atlantic. The shark today represents only a fraction of what it once was, according to the study published in the journal Science. The findings showed that sharks vanished from the record during the early Miocene, roughly 19 million years ago, declining in abundance by more than 90% . This puzzling extinction event appears to have occurred independently of any known global climate event or terrestrial mass extinction. The team suggests that this event fundamentally altered pelagic predator ecology and subsequently set the stage for the large,…

JEAN MICHEL BOUVIER Bryanston THE Education Department put their heads together again and this time after a “brain storming” they came up with another hare-brained decision/pronouncement. This time they decided that they will introduce Kiswahili as an extra language aimed towards “decolonisation” ,as they put it. Any excuse to cover their mistakes or experimenting with new ones, if they cannot blame the legacy of apartheid. Now they have found “decolonisation”. So on top of the 11 official languages and 15 non-official that we have now, we have Kiswahili . My heart breaks when I hear and read that the unemployment rate keeps on going up every month and for the young people, has reached 63.3% and the department is putting more languages in their curriculum. When the whole world focuses…

FAROUK ARAIE Johannesburg THE deadly war of attrition between Iran and Israel continues unabated, on land, at sea, in the air and in the fringes of outer space. Retaliation and counter-retaliation have become the vocabulary of these two deadly foes. The Mossad (Israeli) and Iranian Intelligence are at work every day penetrating each other’s shields of armour with blows and counter-blows, a war with no end. The Iranian navy’s largest warship sank on Wednesday last week in the Gulf of Oman after catching fire. Connect the dots: Israel and Oman are friends. This could be retaliation for the attack on an Israeli-owned vessel in the Gulf of Oman on February 26, which was blamed on Iran. Last year, during an Iranian military training exercise, a missile mistakenly struck a naval…

Police officers based at a station in Roedtan, outside Modimolle in Limpopo, helped a distressed young woman to deliver a baby girl inside the station. Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said Sergeant Nkang Winner Mogoru and Constable Solomon Kleinboy Mnisi on Sunday assisted the 23-year-old woman after she arrived at the police station. “The young mother came to the community service centre (of the police station) complaining about labour pains at about 13:30. “Constable Mnisi was on duty and he managed to contact Sergeant Mogoru who was on patrol duties, and she quickly rushed back to the station,” said Ngoepe. He said the duo helped the woman to deliver her baby in the police station’s boardroom. He said paramedics were then summoned and transported the mother and newborn baby…

ITUMELENG MAFISA THE SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) could declare a dispute with the SA Local Government Association (Salga) should facilitators fail to break the stalemate in the current wage talks between the two parties. Last week marked the last round of negotiations following many rounds since March, wherein the unions presented demands to Salga which represents the country’s 257 municipalities and their entities. Samwu spokesperson, Papikie Mohale, said the unions were waiting for a proposal from the facilitators on what they should settle for. The unions were originally asking for a R4 000 salary increase, R3 500 housing allowance, and six months’ paid maternity leave among other demands, but had to fall back on their original demands because Salga had early on made it clear what it can…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za THE battle for the word “butter” came under the spotlight in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, when dairy giant Clover took on the household brand Stork about its latest “butter spread”. Clover, in its urgent application against Siqalo Foods, owners of the Stork brand, is aggrieved about the latest addition to the rival stable – the Stork Butter Spread. In its advertisement regarding its latest product, Stork said “the cream of butter spreads is here”. But Clover told the court that this was misleading because it was definitely not butter. Clover argued this labelling misrepresents that it is pure butter while it is a modified butter product. Clover wanted a final order interdicting the owners of Stork from using the word “butter” on the presentation of…

Yogas Nair and Moleboheng Mosia MEDIA law guru Dario Milo has got it all wrong. Independent Media’s internal Ombud’s office does have teeth. It operates exactly like the Press Council of South Africa, consisting of highly experienced panel members who act without fear or favour. Independent Media’s Ombud exists to help foster transparency and accountability in news outlets. Concomitantly, Independent’s Ombud allows the audience to feel that they are a part of the news gathering and dissemination process, and that their voice is listened to and taken seriously. In a recent article in the Daily Maverick, Dario Milo, a partner at Webber Wentzel attorneys and adjunct professor at Wits University, says Independent Media should consider whether its absence from the Press Council is doing it more harm than good.…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa needs to move with breath-taking speed to finalise the matter facing Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize. Failure to act promptly will have dire consequences for the country’s response to the deadly Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination programme. Mkhize is embroiled in a serious corruption scandal that is the subject of an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). Recent revelations in the media detail how Digital Vibes, a company owned by Mkhize’s allies, allegedly paid for maintenance work at his “family property” in Joburg. It was also revealed that Digital Vibes allegedly transferred money into the company account of Mkhize’s son, Dedani. As if that were not enough, recent media reports revealed that the company transferred R160 000 to a Pietermaritzburg car dealership for a 2003 Toyota Land…

FRANKFURT: Anti-poverty campaigners yesterday criticised a deal reached by seven wealthy countries to impose a minimum tax on multinational companies, saying it would benefit rich nations at the expense of the poor. Finance Ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies agreed on Saturday to back the creation of a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15%, aiming to squeeze more money out of multinationals such as Amazon and Google and reduce their incentive to shift profits to low-tax offshore havens. Oxfam and Eurodad, a network of development agencies, said the new regime would entitle big companies’ home countries, often in the United States or Europe, to a larger share of the tax, leaving little for poor states where multinationals also operate. “The G7 is a small club…

VIENNA: The UN atomic watchdog has seen indications in North Korea of possible reprocessing work to separate plutonium from spent reactor fuel that could be used in nuclear weapons, the head of the agency said yesterday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not had access to the secretive state since Pyongyang expelled its inspectors in 2009. The country then pressed ahead with its nuclear weapons programme and soon resumed nuclear testing. Its last detonation of a nuclear weapon was in 2017. The Vienna-based IAEA now monitors North Korean activities at sites including the main nuclear complex at Yongbyon.…

Herman Gibbs herman.gibbs@africannewsagency.com The “Foreign Legion” in the PSL were smiling all the way to the bank after striking it rich at the virtual awards function for the 2020-21 season on Sunday. Namibian Peter Shalulile walked away with the prize awards of PSL Footballer of the Season (R250 000) and PSL Players’ Player of the Season (R200 000) that allowed him to bank just under half a million rand. He has been at the forefront of Mamelodi Sundowns’ Premiership-winning season. The awards were massive recognition for the lanky striker who came within a whisker of also winning the PSL Top Scorer award. It was lifted by SuperSport United’s Bradley Grobler, with 16 goals. Shalulile ended the season on 15 goals, after bagging a brace against Cape Town City in the…

LENDER FirstRand said yesterday that it expected its annual earnings to increase by 35 percent, because the economy had rebounded faster than initially expected. Its current trends indicated that customers were using their discretionary savings as the economy had opened up. “Consumer spending is now back at pre-Covid levels,” First-Rand said. FirstRand’s portfolio of leading financial services franchises includes Rand Merchant Bank, First National Bank and WesBank. FirstRand’s headline earnings per share (Heps) of 308.9 cents, earnings per share (Eps) of 303.5c and normalised Eps of 307.8c for the year to June 30, 2020 would be exceeded by more than 35 percent in the year to June 30, 2021. FirstRand’s Heps, Eps and normalised Eps would be at least 417c, 409.7c and 415.5c, respectively, it said. The financial…

INVESTMENT analyst Dr James Greener tells us, in his latest grumpy newsletter, that Gilbert, a firm that manufactures rugby balls, has managed to insert some robust electronics inside the ball. “Rugby players will soon encounter something on the field that is way cleverer than they are. Just for a start, the ball knows where it is. “Then it can tell who handled and kicked it last and, my personal favourite, it issues an alert if it feels it has been passed forward. Every fan has a view about this specific infringement and a lot of beer is often needed to cool down opinions about the ref’s eyesight.” Yes, the game of rugby becomes almost unrecognisable in this modern age. What would William Webb Ellis have made of it? The ref…

KEVIN GOVENDER Shallcross BRINGING a child into the world is an umbilical attachment that only a mother feels and understands as she nurtures the child through various stages of life. Denying a child the full flight of life is one of the most abominable acts ever conceived by man at his most evil. Just last week I saw in the rubble of crumbled buildings in Palestine, toys strewn amongst the debris – a stark reminder of delicate young fingers that once cradled those toys that is no more. More than 60 children were killed in the Israeli-Palestinian violent clashes. In the depredations of political conflict, war-mongers have no regard for the sanctity of human life. In Canada, a gruesome discovery has been made of the remains of 215 school children…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE LEGAL action by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) against the Judicial Service Commission over the interview process to appoint judges was a long time coming. This was the view of legal experts as they reacted to the court action filed by Casac in the Johannesburg High Court last week challenging the constitutionality of the recent JSC interviews for candidates to fill vacancies at the Constitutional Court. Casac wants the court to declare the JSC’s recent Constitutional Court interviews unlawful and to set aside its recommended list to President Cyril Ramaphosa for appointment. During the interviews, questions from the EFF’s Julius Malema, especially to judge Dhaya Pillay, among others were criticised. Judge Pillay was asked about her relationship with Minister of…

Sihle Mlambo sihle.mlambo@inl.co.za As power utility Eskom announced it would implement stage 1 load shedding from 5pm to 10pm yesterday, it also warned that South Africans should brace for more power cuts this week. Eskom said it was implementing load shedding because of further breakdowns and delays in returning generating units to operation. Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said in a statement that the power cuts were due to breakdowns at two power stations, while at three other power stations, units which were expected to return to service, were experiencing delays. "Eskom regrets to announce that that it will implement stage 1 load shedding due to the loss of two generation units at Kusile and one each at Kendal and Tutuka power stations. These constraints have been exacerbated by delays in…

Zintle Mahlati zintle.mahlati@inl.co.za TRANSPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula has said that although the finances of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) were still a concern, the fund has made some improvements, with a surplus of more than R3.2 billion reported for the period ending in 2021. The RAF has been in financial trouble for years, with Mbalula attributing this to the large number of fraudulent claims. The RAF is funded through fuel levies and pays out claims for accidents. Mbalula said that since 1981 the RAF has posted a deficit, which rose to R1.2bn in 2015. He yesterday briefed the media on the fund’s performance and its strategic recovery plan. He was joined by RAF chief executive Collins Letsoalo. Mbalula said the RAF was the country’s biggest liability concern after Eskom. It…

Siviwe Cingo and Yonela Mlambo Education and access to education is a complex phenomenon in South Africa and this is informed by our past history of colonialism and apartheid. The 2015-2016 university #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall protests and numerous protests in our schools are the manifestation of obstinate social engineering of our past that sought to systematise the marginalisation of black people from getting an emancipatory education. The colonial government and apartheid government committed themselves in effect to black epistemicide to create docile black subjects who were going to participate in their oppression. In 1976 black students in Soweto utterly rejected apartheid epistemicide endeavours and took it to the streets. We are all aware of the Soweto Student uprising massacre. Nevertheless, post-apartheid, black people – concerning education and many other…

At least 47 people were killed and dozens injured yesterday when a packed Pakistani inter-city train ploughed into another express train that had derailed just minutes earlier, officials said. Several people were still trapped in the mangled wreckage near Daharki, in a remote part of rural Sindh province, which took rescue workers with specialist equipment hours to reach. The double accident happened at around 3.30am when most of the 1 200 passengers aboard the two trains would have been sleeping. “We tumbled upon each other, but that was not so fatal,” Akhtar Rajput, a passenger on the train that derailed, said. “Then another train hit us from nowhere, and that hit us harder. When I regained my senses, I saw passengers lying around me, some were trying to get out…

KENYA should intensify action on the climate crisis in the coastal region that has disrupted livelihoods of predominantly fishing and pastoralist communities, Mithika Mwenda, executive director of Nairobi-based Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) said. “We have seen rapid deforestation, which has reduced forests and coastal wetlands, endangered biodiversity, human livelihoods and wildlife,” Mwenda said in a statement. He noted that extreme weather events, which have become a regular phenomenon along the Kenyan coastline, have escalated food insecurity, vector-borne diseases, and resource-based conflicts. According to Mwenda, the destruction of mangrove forests and peatlands has undermined the ability of coastal communities to cope with climatic shocks like droughts and flooding. He said the central government and devolved units should strengthen the protection of habitats, including wetlands and marine species, as part of…

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed a law to officially quit the Treaty on Open Skies, the Kremlin said. The multilateral Treaty on Open Skies, which came into effect in 2002, allows its states-parties to conduct short-notice, unarmed reconnaissance flights over the others’ territories to collect data on military forces and activities. After Washington announced its withdrawal last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in January the country had started domestic legal procedures for the pullout from the treaty. The Russian Federation Council passed a bill last week to endorse Russia’s withdrawal.…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za IN A major blow to some local athletes still pushing for Olympic qualifying performances, the African Championships in Athletics, scheduled to take place in Lagos, Nigeria, has been cancelled. The event had already been postponed and moved to different dates and venues in Algeria, and late last month, the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) made a final decision to have the championships held in Nigeria. But yesterday, Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) excellence manager, Hezekiel Sepeng, sent out a circular to the local provinces where he announced that the event was off. “(ASA) has received communication from the (CAA) confirming that the CAA African Senior Championships that were to take place in Lagos, Nigeria, from 23-27 June, 2021, has been cancelled,” Sepeng wrote. The 800m Olympic silver medallist…