Indholdsfortegnelse for 2021-10-29 i Mercury

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za CONSUMERS will continue forking out a bit more for goods as prices remained elevated at a five-year high in September after upside risks to producer inflation materialised. Data by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday showed that annual headline producer price inflation (PPI) for final manufactured goods jumped to 7.8 percent in September, from 7.2 percent in August. This was the largest annual rise in headline PPI since February 2016 when the rate was 8.1 percent. StatsSA said this PPI reading was influenced mainly by prices of petroleum-related products. Chief economist for the Don Consultancy Group, Chifi Mhango, said the rising PPI rate was reflective of cost pressures of industrial activity in the global economy amid supply chain bottlenecks and rising energy costs, to an…

Adri Senekal De Wet adri.senekaldewet@inl.co.za Business Report (BR) is investigating a loan by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) into Sunrise Energy via the Mogs Mining Services Group (Mogs). The PIC’s loan to Mogs is over R1 billion – indirectly to Sunrise Energy. This loan has not been serviced in over five years, according to sources. Mogs is a black-owned provider of value-added services and products. PIC spokesperson Sekgoela Sekgoela said the loan was serviced, but could not provide any evidence by close of business yesterday on how it was serviced. Sunrise Energy has also been in receipt of a loan from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to the amount of R1bn in 2011. BR questions why Sunrise Energy was not part of the Mpati Commission of Inquiry, when it…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za LOCAL businesses, buckling under the pressure of load shedding, have urged Eskom to consider other ways of managing rolling blackouts that will prevent the total shutdown of their operations. The Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business (PMCB) has urged Eskom to consider allowing businesses to contribute only the amount of electricity required at each level of load shedding, rather than shutting down their entire operations. The chamber said the current manner of load shedding was pushing businesses to the brink of collapse, damaging factory equipment and causing massive losses in spoiled products and production time. It has been reported that in this financial year, beginning in April, the country has endured 29 days of load shedding compared with about 40 in the whole of the previous financial…

Billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin has unveiled plans to develop a commercial space station called “Orbital Reef” with Boeing, aiming to launch the spacecraft in the second half of this decade. The venture will be built in partnership with Sierra Space, the space flight wing of defence contractor Sierra Nevada Corp, and will be backed by Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions and Arizona State University. Orbital Reef will be operated as a “mixed use business park”, and plans to provide the infrastructure needed to scale economic activity and open new markets in space, Blue Origin and Sierra Space said. “Seasoned space agencies, high-tech consortia, sovereign nations without space programmes, media and travel companies, funded entrepreneurs and sponsored inventors, and future-minded investors all have a place on Orbital Reef,” the companies…

FAROUK ARAIE | Gauteng Fifty years ago, stalwart and freedom fighter Ahmed Timol was murdered by apartheid’s ruthless security police. His death is a painful and sorrowful mirror of our hideous and sordid past. Using torture as a political weapon is an affront to any civilisation. The International Committee of the Red Cross defines torture as the existence of a specific purpose plus infliction of severe pain or suffering, cruel or inhuman treatment for no specific purpose. What brand of brutal inhumanity could ever possess the killers of Ahmed Timol and 100 other cadres, so deeply that they could murder so many human beings without any compunction? They were a special brand of beasts programmed and trained to obliterate any form of dissent. We must loudly proclaim “NEVER…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff SPORTING bodies such as Cricket South Africa that embrace political and racial re-education as part of their agenda should register with the IEC as political parties. Politics has no place in sport (The Mercury, October 28). Black Lives Matter (BLM) was formed by Marxists for the purpose of fomenting racial polarisation, division and hate. Violence at the expense of the people it claims to champion, is evident in its actions in the US. Altruism in the interests of black people is not part of its playbook. While ostensibly objecting to racism, the objective of BLM is to racialise society. By endorsing BLM that is what Cricket South Africa is associating with. Racial quotas and demographic representivity have failed wherever they have been implemented…

Janine Moodley janine.moodley@inl.co.za Instead of sitting for his final exams a matric pupil is in hospital recovering after he was assualted and stabbed. The Woodlands Secondary School, Pietermaritzburg pupil was attacked with a knife while on his way to buy a loaf of bread last Thursday night. It is alleged that a 29-year-old man, under the influence of alcohol, assaulted Sameer Khan, 17, while he was with his sister and five friends. Melissa Singh, Sameer’s mother, said she could not understand why anyone would want to hurt a child. Singh said her son was taken to Northdale Hospital. Doctors told her Sameer sustained a fractured skull and cheekbone. “He has 30 stitches on his left hand and about 80 stitches from his skull, his face, (to) the inside of his…

Goitsemang Tlhabye goitsemang.tlhabye@inl.co.za JUDGE Papi Masopa will be hoping for no further delays in the murder trial of billionaire businessman Wandile Bozwana. The matter was postponed for a third day in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, yesterday, with very little progress made. Masopa had to stand the matter down yet again after the legal representative for Sipho Hudla, one of the four men accused of killing Bozwana in 2015, indicated that they required more time to prepare for their defence. The legal representative said she still required copies of exhibits that were handed in yesterday, as well as for cellphone service providers’ maps to be provided to them. Lastly, she needed to consult with their witness and meet with the forensic team to go through CCTV footage handed in by…

Brij Maharaj Elections are a very humbling process for candidates and their political parties. They are forced from their high perches, to bow, beg and battle for votes, especially in South Africa, where there is a view that politicians are ruining rather than ruling the country. South Africa’s electoral system is based on a proportional representation (PR) system, the number of seats allocated depending on the percentage of the total votes, and the individuals chosen contingent on party lists’ hierarchies. In the digital age, the voters communicate with councillors via smoke signals. Since the 2016 local government elections, there have been more than 4 000 service delivery protests across SA, which have been referred to as the “rebellion of the poor”. Most municipalities are maladministered and dysfunctional, staffed with incompetent,…

Baghdad: Residents of an Iraqi village have killed 11 people in retaliation for a deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State group, an Iraqi security official said. The inhabitants of the majority Shiite village of Al-Rashad in the eastern Diyala province killed 11 people on Wednesday in the predominantly Sunni neighbouring hamlet of Nahr al-Imam, said a security official who preferred to remain anonymous. The assailants accused the residents of Nahr al-Imam of being behind an attack on Al-Rashad the day before in which 15 people were killed. This was an increase from an initially reported toll of 11. | AFP…

Four police officers were killed and hundreds injured after armed members of a hardline Islamist group clashed with Pakistani security forces on Wednesday near the north-eastern city of Lahore during a protest over a French newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The violence occurred during a demonstration led by the outlawed Islamist group Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistan outside the capital city of Punjab province, as they prepared to march on the national capital, Islamabad. More than 250 people were injured. The Islamists fired on security forces, police said. It is the latest of several deadly protests organised by the group in Pakistan since French President Emmanuel Macron honoured a teacher who was beheaded last year in France after he showed a class cartoons depicting the Prophet. French satirical newspaper Charlie…

Morgan Bolton morgan.bolton@inl.co.za I am on a journey with Siya Kolisi at the moment. After nearly a month, I finally got my hands on the Springbok captain’s autobiography, Rise, and so far I am appreciating the level of honesty and frankness within the book. It should come as no surprise that Kolisi has become something of a cult hero to many, and I admit unashamedly, that I am one of his fans. So, as I turn every page of his book and explore the revelations of his professional and personal life, I find myself humanising him more and respecting the man behind the jersey even moreso. This got me thinking about the other captains of the “Big 3” sports that South Africans simply cannot get enough of. Earlier this year,…

THE fishing has been going well for the past few weeks. There have been plenty of edibles around as well as some giant ineds to test your backing knots. The rock and surf fishing has picked up with amazing catches reported. The North Coast has seen the beginnings of a fantastic summer season. The diamonds have started being caught in good numbers at the banks and while fishing for the flaps, some other beasts have been landed as well. These areas are best fished with heavier tackle, 50lb braid and up attached to an FMJ trace and a 10/0 circle hook. This tackle combination will put you in good stead for the flatfish and sharks. Try using juicy baits with plenty of smell. You don’t have to throw a…

Mercury Reporter THE “#RevivingTownshipEconomies” initiative has to date reached 900 businesses, saving over 2 700 jobs in township-based small and medium enterprises. Youth development non-profit company, Afrika Tikkun Foundation has called for more businesses in need to come forward to take part in the initiative which seeks to help small businesses in affected communities. The initiative, which was launched shortly after the riots in July, is aimed at rebuilding and assisting small businesses directly affected by the destruction which affected hundreds of small businesses in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The foundation said the initiative had seen businesses on the brink of collapse revived through a holistic rescue programme with assistance provided in the form of financial resources, infrastructure as well as skills development. According to Alef Meulenberg, chief executive of…

Baldwin Ndaba, Ntombi Nkosi, Sihle Mavuso and Samkelo Mtshali POLITICAL parties today gear up for the final run of election campaigning ahead of this weekend’s special voting and general municipal elections on Monday. The ANC will host its Siyanqoba rallies across the country today, while the EFF will host its virtual Tshela Thupa rally. Yesterday, parties were also out in full force as the DA addressed its supporters in Eldorado Park. DA leader John Steenhuisen and the party’s mayoral candidate for Joburg, Dr Mpho Phalatse, have vowed to show Eskom the door if the DA takes over Joburg after the elections, following the power utility’s decision to place the country under Stage 4 load shedding. The two leaders stated that independent power producers and City Power were the next…

INVESTMENT analyst Dr James Greener turns his attention in his latest grumpy newsletter to the municipal elections next Monday. “There is obviously substantial attraction to becoming an elected official in South Africa, even at the lowest municipal level. There are 60 000 candidates and 325 parties standing in the local authority elections. “It is very obvious that something is wrong and that this is not proof of a healthy, functioning democracy. The barrier to entry must be raised. Simply rejecting candidates who don’t live in the ward they hope to represent would be a good start. “In fact there was a time when municipal elections restricted voting to actual ratepayers and political parties were not involved. This seems a very good idea. There is nothing vaguely political in a sewage…

NICOLE GRAHAM | Caucus Leader: DA eThekwini THERE has been a lot of commentary about potential coalitions in eThekwini after Monday’s election. A lot of this has centred on who the DA will or will not join hands with. The DA has been clear that we will only work with political parties that share our values and intended programme of action. As polling indicates a real chance that the ANC will not reach the 50% threshold in eThekwini, it has become critical to ask: who is prepared to work with the ANC if they need help to build a government in eThekwini? In 2000, the ANC only got 47.5% of the vote and had to rely on the Minority Front to get over the line. There are a…

ROLAND FISHER | Durban THE ongoing truck blockade of major highways at great expense to economies of state and provinces, as well as to businesses coming out of the recent unrest, deserves comment. The reason is allegedly the employment of foreign drivers. Why? I believe it’s not only about lesser salaries. Local drivers seem to want to strike at the drop of a hat, while foreign drivers are happy to have a job or am I missing the point? Another irksome point, is the fact that while truckers are destroying economies by their action, authorities are on site “monitoring“ the situation? Protest peacefully by all means, but blocking national roads requires those causing the obstruction to be made to move. But no, let’s rather monitor while the repercussions rumble through…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za AN ATTORNEY accused of failing to account for millions of rand that the Road Accident Fund (RAF) erroneously paid into his firm’s trust account has been suspended from practice. Chupjana Chueu did not even put up a fight against the Legal Practice Council’s (LPC) court application to suspend him pending finalisation of its investigation into his conduct and the affairs of his firm, Chueu Incorporated Attorneys. Replying to the urgent application brought in the Polokwane High Court, Chueu consented to his suspension and placement of his firm’s trust account under a curator. The RAF named Chueu Incorporated Attorneys as one of the law firms that it double-paid as a result of administrative errors. It complained to the LPC against the firms that it said refused to pay…

Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) has called on businesses that were affected by the July civil unrest to apply for financial relief. This comes after the government entity announced that the applications deadline had been moved from October 25 to November 1. At the beginning of October, TIKZN announced the launch of the financial relief support fund for businesses that were affected by the July civil unrest for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises in the province. “The applicants were requested to submit their applications by October 25. Considering the time factor, it has been decided to extend the closing date to November 1, 2021,” said Neville Matjie, TIKZN chief executive. | Sibusiso Mboto…

IF we were to have a discussion about development, progress and governance over the past 50 to 60 years, there would be a handful, if any, stories that are comparable to the story of the People’s Republic of China. A story of how a country can move, collectively – with vision and leadership – from poverty to prosperity, and with the determination and vision that China has, is remarkable. The story of China is, undoubtedly, the story of how each and every country can move from rags to riches, by investing in strong governance and having an unrelenting focus on the factors that underpin a development path suited to the specific national conditions of that country. This development path has made China a dominant global force and a factor that…

QUINTON de Kock will kneel. He will abide by a directive from his bosses at Cricket South Africa. He will not do so voluntarily or because he has educated himself about why Black Lives Matter. He will do so because he is being forced to. There are other white players who chose not to kneel. They chose not to kneel in the West Indies and Sri Lanka. There were photos of them standing, but Cricket SA chose not to act then. And while Cricket SA’s Board says it chose to act now because it cares about the team making a unified stance against racism, don’t be fooled, Cricket SA’s Board did this because the optics were bad. That picture from last Saturday’s opening World Cup match looked bad. But the…

BEIRUT: The judge heading Lebanon’s investigation into the devastating Beirut port explosion suspended the interrogation of former prime minister Hassan Diab yesterday after Diab filed a suit questioning the judge’s authority, a legal source said. The suit, filed on Wednesday, is the latest in a series of cases that have derailed Judge Tarek Bitar’s attempts to question top officials over last year’s blast that killed more than 215 people, injured thousands and destroyed large swathes of the city. | Reuters…

France is ready to hold talks with Britain to resolve a dispute over fishing rights as long as London meets its obligations under post-Brexit agreements, Prime Minister Jean Castex said yesterday. France has threatened to disrupt trade with Britain from next week if its boats are not granted more access to British waters. But Castex said his country was “always open to talks, morning, noon and night”, so long as Britain “honours its commitments”. On Wednesday, France fined two British fishing vessels during checks, with Maritime Minister Annick Girardin saying they were made against “the backdrop of the tightening of controls in the Channel, in the context of discussions on licences with the United Kingdom and the European Commission”. Castex’s statement came shortly after Britain’s environment secretary George Eustice told…

ORLANDO PIRATES (1) 1 Mntambo 45’ ROYAL AM (1) 1 Mashiane 32’ ORLANDO Pirates are becoming their own worst enemy in domestic football. The reason they shared the spoils with Royal AM at home last night was due to their wastefulness upfront and blunders at the back. This was…

Nomonde Zondi nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za CLERMONT businessman Siyanda Phungula, who owns a scholar transport business, says just as his business was starting to recover after the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, the July unrest hit. Phungula, the owner of Mayanda Transport Services, said his business took a knock when the country went into lockdown in March 2020 and the situation had since deteriorated. Mayanda Transport Services is part of the 54 000 informal sector businesses that are represented by the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Phungula said he had been running his business for the past 20 years but 2020 and this year had been the most difficult. He said it was hard for him to maintain his two vehicles, pay school fees for his son and provide for his family. “During…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za THE cause of death of Mondli Majola has become the centre of focus in the bail hearing of the Phoenix men charged with his murder. Majola died in July amid the violence in Phoenix. The State alleges that Majola was among a group of people that were attacked by armed Phoenix residents. Brothers Ned and Dylan Govender and Jeetendra Jaikissoon were arrested for the murder. Jaikissoon’s matter was officially struck off the roll in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court yesterday after he died last week in custody. He fell ill while at Westville prison. His family have questioned the events that led up to his death and want it to be investigated. How Majola died has become the focus of the bail proceedings after an initial post-mortem found…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za CONSTRAINTS have forced the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council (KZNCC) to send a lower-than-desired number of election observers and mediators around the province for this year’s local government elections. For the November 1 polls on Monday, the KZNCC will send less than 500 personnel to watch over the elections in all corners of the province. KZNCC Ecumenical relations manager Thataetsile Semeno said their elections team will include: 330 elections observers 44 violence monitors 44 mediation and co-operation officers The deployment of the team, Semeno explained, was part of the civic duty that they had exercised in all past elections over the years. “In the past we have always taken a keen interest in the elections because we want to see for ourselves through the observers whether they were free…

Babies bring cataclysmic shifts to families. Hours after my son Thulani was born I knew I would choose a grandmother for him. I called my friend Judy from the hospital very early in the morning of the baby’s first full day and informed her I had chosen to adopt a baby and that I would like her to be his grandmother. Judy was an outspoken member of the church whom I had gotten to know well through the death of her beloved husband. She would freely recount how I had deeply angered her when I asked her if she was ready to bid her beloved Dick goodbye as he approached death. Within days we buried him. My “insensitive” question at the hospital was what she said she really needed to…

YUGEN MOODLEY | Chatsworth voters must not be misled by big political parties who say that if the voters don’t vote for them then the votes will be divided or there will not be a strong enough opposition. The voters need to know that these are not national elections, where one has to vote for opposition parties. Local government elections are about the quality of the candidate and less about the party they represent. Voters must ensure that these candidates have post-matric qualifications and are community activists. Community activists are people who have a passion to uplift the community without any remuneration. These activists, when elected as ward councillors, must have the ability to speak out in council and not listen to their party bosses and put their…

PAM LENTIN | Glenmore IT SADDENS me to read or hear about the way foreign nationals are treated by many of the locals. I often wonder if the situation were reversed and South Africans were forced to seek refuge in other countries because of instability in their own country, just how would they feel, if they were treated in the same inhumane way? Why can’t we extend the hand of friendship to our “brothers and sisters” who are forced, through no fault of their own, to seek a better life for themselves and their families in a safer and more stable part of our world? We know, that it takes tremendous strength and courage to leave a home country and all that one holds dear, to start a new life…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za A TEACHER who spanked a Grade 10 pupil on her buttocks has been axed, after his victim’s no-nonsense stand that he should face the music for the “sexual assault”. Lucky Baloyi, a physical science teacher at Kgomotso Comprehensive High School in Soshanguve, Pretoria, learnt his fate this week. Education Labour Relations Council arbitrator Monde Boyce found Baloyi guilty as charged and ruled that he should be summarily dismissed over the sexual assault in April. The Gauteng Department of Education had proffered a charge of sexual assault against Baloyi. He spanked the pupil’s buttocks in the school’s laboratory. But had Learner A, as his victim is identified in Boyce’s ruling, listened to the advice of a teacher, Baloyi would have remained untouched. She reported the sexual abuse to…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za MUNICIPALITIES and their officials have been warned against using public funds to contribute to their favoured political parties and councillor candidates’ local government elections war chest. The SA Local Government Association (Salga) issued the stern warning this month and cautioned that ignoring it could lead to municipalities incurring irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and their officials charged with financial misconduct in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA). “Any official who instructs or processes or approves such expenditure will be liable for the expenditure in terms of section 32 of the MFMA and may be charged for financial misconduct in terms of the provisions of the MFMA and the 2014 Financial Misconduct Regulations,” the association said in a presentation titled “Ensuring the Continued Functioning of Council…

Even apartheid judges would listen to him as they found him honest and reliable Those who are quiet by nature and refuse to grab the limelight so often end up underappreciated and recognised for the immense contribution they made to our liberation. Denis Kuny was one of those quiet but extremely effective Struggle lawyers, who for over three decades took on political cases few others would. In the wake of Kuny’s death this week at the age of 89, we have to ask ourselves why some advocates in our Struggle have been put on a pedestal while others, like Kuny, have remained in virtual obscurity despite having done more than probably anyone else. Kuny was one of 120 members of the Johannesburg Bar in 1961, but one of the very…

Bangkok: Laotian police have netted Asia’s biggest-ever single seizure of illegal drugs, finding 55 million methamphetamine pills in the back of a beer truck, a UN official confirmed yesterday. The 55.6 million meth tablets and 1.5 tons of crystal meth seized late on Wednesday is a record for a single seizure in the region, UN Office of Drugs and Crime regional representative Jeremy Douglas said. “It is three times the meth tablets that Laos seized all last year, and close to a third of the crystal meth,” Douglas said. Authorities arrested the driver of the beer truck in Bokeo province, which is part of the so-called Golden Triangle – a notorious drug smuggling zone at the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. | AFP…

Sudan’s army launched a new wave of arrests of opponents to Monday’s coup, activists said, shrugging off AU and World Bank suspensions and pressure from the US as it looked to consolidate control. Cities countrywide were rocked by protests, strikes and civil disobedience on Wednesday, as Sudanese challenged the military’s seizure of power, a step that’s thrown the North African nation’s democratic transition into chaos two years after long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted. At least 12 people have been killed and 150 injured in the unrest, doctors say. Detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, whose case was raised by the UN, was allowed to return home late on Tuesday under guard, however, security forces have wasted little time in seizing other deposed members of his cabinet. More than 40 activists,…

Pfizer and BioNTech SE said yesterday that they expected to deliver 50 million more doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to the US government by April-end, as the country prepared to vaccinate children. The move comes after a panel of outside advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted on Tuesday to recommend its authorisation for the vaccine in children aged 5 to 11. The agency’s decision for the age group is awaited. If authorised and subsequently recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory panel, the companies said they expected to then begin shipping the vaccine as directed by the US. | Reuters…