Indholdsfortegnelse for 2021-11-03 i Mercury

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za JOHANNESBURG-BASED Net 1 UEPS Technologies is acquiring the Connect Group for R3.7 billion as part of a transformation into South Africa’s leading fintech platform, offering payment processing and financial services to under-served merchants and consumers. Net 1 jumped 21.74 percent to R100 late yesterday afternoon on the JSE as the market reacted positively to the transaction. Chief executive Chris Meyer said the transaction was part of efforts by the new management and board to turn the company around from a cash logistics business to a fully-fledged and profitable financial services platform. He said too often its target market was under-served, neglected and overlooked and acquiring Connect Group advances the group’s mission of financial inclusion by bringing 44 000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),…

IT HAS BEEN shown empirically that the economic benefits of increasing public investment in agricultural research and development (R&D) is overwhelmingly strong. Thus the argument sometimes presented as to whether it makes sense to increase, or at least maintain, public investment in agricultural R&D has been rendered a moot point. Yet, South Africa and other developing countries’ governments continue to decrease public investment on this important and economically sound area of the economy. Other neighbouring countries have completely neglected investment in agricultural R&D, leading to the inevitable collapse of their agricultural sectors and increasing vulnerability to food insecurity. South Africa should see this apparent decline in neighbouring countries in the South African Development Community regional bloc as an opportunity to supply both agricultural technologies and inputs. Much attention over the…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za MASSMART said yesterday it would pay R650 million out of its own pocket after the looting in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng in July was not fully recovered from its insurance cover. Massmart, owners of Game, Makro and Builders Warehouse, estimated that the total replacement cost for property and stock damages as a result of the civil unrest to be R2.5 billion, of which R1.3bn relates to inventory losses. The group said this material impact was mainly due to two Makro stores, in Pietermaritzburg and Springfield, and two distribution centres (DC) in KZN, Riverhorse and Cato Ridge, being looted and severely damaged. The Makro store in Pietermaritzburg and the Riverhorse DC were completely destroyed by arson. “The group does have South African Special Risk Insurance…

Bongani Hans and Sihle Makhowana Thorough background checks are needed to weed out rogue members in the South African police force. This is according to police portfolio committee member Henry Andries Shembeni, who had first-hand experience with police conduct while he was an officer before entering politics. According to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (Ipid) annual performance plan 2021-2022, by February this year the unit was sitting with 337 unfinalised cases, including 215 deaths as a result of police action, 76 reckless discharge of official firearms and 27 deaths in police custody. There were also 13 charges of rape laid against officers. Cele had two years ago revealed that more than 4 000 police officers, including 32 senior managers, had criminal records. Investigations have over the past few years…

Sibusiso Mboto and Samkelo Mtshali THE IFP’s dismal performance at the 2016 local government elections was a wake-up call that prompted the party to launch a dramatic comeback that has seen it on the cusp of reclaiming several municipalities from the ANC. This is according to party spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa, who was reacting to the party’s performance in this year’s local government elections. While results have yet to declared, according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa website, the IFP was last night leading in the vote count in several of its northern KZN strongholds such as Abaqulusi, uMsinga, Nkandla, Ulundi, uPhongolo and Hlabisa Big Five Municipality, while the NFP was leading in eDumbe and showing strongly in Ulundi and in Nongoma. Hlengwa told The Mercury that they had a…

WHAT kind of week will you have this week? I am aware that the outcome of any day, let alone the whole week, is not up to you and it is certainly not up to me. Thankfully, we are not that powerful. None of us is. We are certainly not all-powerful, but we are empowered over some things. There are decisions we can make. There are outcomes we can hope for, tracks we can put in place to facilitate our desired outcomes. We can make decisions about who, and how, we will be as friends, neighbours, and members of all of our groups and various families. Planning how we will respond to others, even if our plans are derailed, is usually a wise step to take. My week usually goes…

MASERU MOERANE | Kempton Park I was moved to tears to witness Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi campaigning from pillar to post for the IFP. He was everywhere, not only campaigning for the IFP, but reigniting hope among South Africans. He said: “This is not the time for more empty promises from the ruling party. It is time for South Africans to intervene through that fundamental democratic right that is voting.” Our country can only be saved by the electorate. Voting is our greatest and our only hope. Thank you once again, Shenge, for your exemplary leadership. It is above party politics. We know that through your eyes we are all South Africans, green and white, black and yellow. You are indeed a dedicated servant.…

SABER AHMED JAZBHAY | Newlands West AS PARTY and political analysts probe the data planning ahead for the national and provincial elections, there’s no need for post-mortems, for the captured democratic model is dead. It started dying in 2016, if we read the outcomes and what followed thereafter. No use for the biggest loser to wring its hands. It was the architect of its own woes, like the captain on board, the Titanic, I fault Captain Cyril Ramaphosa’s dithering about the icebergs ahead for the abysmal turn-out. The fact that some 13 million eligible voters didn’t bother to register, let alone vote, and some 18 million registered voters stayed at home, is an embarrassment. In other words a total rejection. Captain Ramaphosa’s pleas fell on the deaf ears…

A 3-year-old toddler girl, who was found face down at a public swimming pool on Monday, was rushed to hospital in a critical condition. According to Shawn Herbst from Netcare 911, they responded to reports of a drowning at the Port Shepstone public swimming pool on the KZN South Coast just after 5pm. “According to members of the public, a 3-year-old female child was found face down in the pool. “The child was pulled from the water and found to be unresponsive and not breathing.” Herbst said CPR was initiated by lifeguards, and a pulse was regained. He advised parents to ensure they were watching their children when they were swimming. | Mercury Correspondent…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za KWAZULU-NATAL MEC for Social Development Nonhlanhla Khoza said that she was outraged after five people were killed in a fire in Phoenix. The fire was allegedly started by a 57-year-old suspect who has been arrested and is in hospital under police guard. The names of the dead were released yesterday. They are 37-year-old Alicia Naidoo, her children Levi Chetty, 4, Jordan Chetty, 8, daughter Jadine Naidoo, 13 and nephew Liam Naidoo, 8. Khoza said the incident was linked to a domestic dispute. “It is alleged that a 57-year-old man set a flat alight in Phoenix in the early hours of the morning before fleeing the scene.” Khoza said the incident was shocking. “We are pained by this incident. The full horrific details of this crime is deeply…

The low voter turnout in the local government elections, which is likely to dip below 50% for the first time since 1994, is an indictment of our political parties and system in general. While the official national turnout figure has yet to be announced by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), the average figure across the voting districts and municipalities is 45%. For instance, the turnout in Ekurhuleni Metro has dropped from 57% in 2016 to 45% this year, while it dipped from 62% to 45% in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. This turn of events sends a clear message to the country: voters distrust our political parties and the electoral system, and see no reason to associate with them. It’s a vote of no confidence in our politicians…

At least 25 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in an attack on Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital yesterday which saw two heavy blasts followed up by gunmen attacking the site in central Kabul, officials said. The explosions took place at the entrance of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital and were followed immediately with an attack by a group of gunmen, Taliban spokesperson Bilal Karimi said. Four of the attackers were killed by Taliban security forces and a fifth was captured, he said. The blasts add to a growing list of attacks and killings since the Taliban completed their victory over the Western-backed government in August, undermining their claim to have restored security to Afghanistan after decades of war. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za BUSINESS activity in the manufacturing industry is expected to rebound in the next six months as the steel workers’ strike and a return to load shedding weighed on activity in October. The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released yesterday, fell further to 53.6 points in October from a downwardly revised 54.7 points in September. However, the PMI remained in expansionary territory for a third consecutive month at above 50 points which separates growth from contraction. Absa said the business activity and new sales orders indices lost the most ground in October, as was the case in September. Absa economist Miyelani Maluleke said supplier delivery lead times and purchasing prices remained elevated in October, highlighting the continued pervasive impact of global bottleneck…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za Vehicle exports in October fell 30 percent to 23,685 units in October compared with the same month last year, after the industry was affected by the three week strike in the steel and engineering sector and an acute load shedding program, but local vehicle sales continued to improve, albeit slower. The Automotive Business Council said yesterday that domestic new vehicle sales in October at 41,035 units increased by 6.1 percent from those sold in October last year. Stock shortages continued to thwart South Africa’s new vehicle market during October, but the market continued to show a robust performance, despite volumes being lower than September,” said Wesbank head of marketing and communication Lebogang Gaoaketse. The new vehicle market appeared to be recovering well, with demand out-stripping supply…

Kim Kardashian West and Pete Davidson are not romantically involved, according to a source. The 41-year-old star and Davidson, 27, were recently spotted holding hands on a roller-coaster at Knott’s Scary Farm in California – but they’re not romantically involved with each other and Kim isn't trying to hide anything, according to a source. An eyewitness explained: “Kim and Pete seemed like good friends.” The celebrity duo have previously acted alongside each other on Saturday Night Live. But Kardashian West was very relaxed at Knott’s Scary Farm, where she was joined by her sister Kourtney Kardashian and her fiancé Travis Barker. A source told Us Weekly: “Kim seemed very chill. It did seem like she was trying to hide.” Kardashian West officially filed for divorce from Kanye West earlier this…

Jehran Naidoo and Sibusiso Mboto The DA in KwaZulu-Natal has said that preliminary results show that it has won governance of a municipality in the province for the first time, as it declared that it had won the uMngeni Local Municipality in the uMgungundlovu district. The DA had said before the elections that it wanted to gain control of the uMngeni Municipality. While the results for the municipality were yet to be declared as some wards were still outstanding, according to the IEC results website by 5pm yesterday, the DA was sitting on 61.9%, followed by the ANC with 30.46% and the EFF with 4.63%. Head of the DA in KZN Francois Rodgers said the win would give the party an opportunity to roll out the model that it had…

Amid the arid desert and mountains of Al Ula in north-west Saudi Arabia, archaeologists are working to excavate the remnants of the ancient and long-forgotten kingdoms of Dadan and Lihyan. Al Ula, a flagship tourist destination since it opened in 2019, is known chiefly for the majestic tombs of Madain Saleh, a 2000-year-old city carved into rocks by the Nabateans, the pre-Islamic Arab people who also built Petra in neighbouring Jordan. A team of French and Saudi archaeologists is now focused on excavating five nearby sites related to the Dadanite and Lihyanite civilisations, important regional powers that flourished 2 000 years ago. “It’s a project that really tries to unlock the mysteries of (these) civilisations,” said Abdulrahman Al-Sohaibani, who is co-directing the Dadan archaeological mission. Spanning roughly 900 years until…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg The local government elections are over and voters have exercised their right to vote, now what or what comes next? After every democratic election, it is important to keep in mind that our civic duty does not end at the ballot box. Political and active civic participation requires more than individuals registering their votes every few years. No matter the choice of candidate voted for, citizens need to be involved, informed and continue to make their voices heard on mismanagement, bad governance, incompetence and poor service delivery issues. Elected officials need to be competent, responsive, responsible, and accountable, fulfil election campaign promises and manifestos, and deliver on their assurances given to the voters, including quality service delivery. New and even seasoned councillors should receive…

GLEN CHRISTIE | Durban North The subject headline in the BR section recently is just another example of the story of the ANC government that’s currently calling upon the electorate for a second chance to govern. How can any person give the ANC another chance? Their track record has been totally dismal, to say the least, taking into consideration what they have done to all the state-owned enterprises. I say this because all those appointed to the various positions within the SOEs were placed there by the ANC, who put their own comrades into positions of power, probably rewarding those who had been loyal to the party and for services rendered. It seems that the education levels of those appointed did not match the positions that they were…

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@inl.co.za DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille has hit back after being detained on Monday following a manhandling incident by police, saying she was accused of canvassing at a polling queue. Zille, 70, was dragged out of the Fernwood Primary School voting station in Bethelsdorp by members of the Nelson Mandela Bay police. The video has been doing the rounds on social media platforms. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is investigating a case of assault. On Monday evening, Zille took to her Facebook page and said her task while in Nelson Mandela Bay was to greet voters and to walk the queues, as she so often does during elections. “Greeting voters is self-explanatory. I enjoy doing it,” she wrote. “But when long queues start to form, the…

Nomonde Zondi Nomonde.Zondi@inl.co.za THE South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB) has alleged that the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) staff was not properly trained to assist the blind and visually impaired voters in Monday’s local government elections. In a statement, the SANCB said it rejected comments by the IEC that suggested that the elections were inclusive. “We register our concerns and reject any statements from IEC suggesting that the elections were inclusive, catering for blind and visually impaired through the Universal Braille Template (UBT) which is meant to provide access to the ballot paper,” said SANCB. The council further accused the IEC of failing to distribute the UBTs to many voting stations as well as training and informing their staff on how to handle blind and visually…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za UPL South Africa has welcomed the announcement by Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) MEC Ravi Pillay that the beaches affected by the chemical spill in July are to reopen for recreational activities. The beaches were closed in July after a chemical spill following an arson attack at UPL’s leased warehouse. UPL spokesperson Japhet Ncube said the latest developments demonstrated the success of UPL’s ongoing extensive clean-up operations. Ncube said that the reopening of the beaches was announced following a peer review by an external reviewer that was requested by Edtea on the final beaches report submitted by UPL. “This decision follows the finalisation of the Edtea’s external peer review of the independent specialists’ final beaches report, submitted by UPL on September 24 to the…

130th Canton Fair: jointly building China-South Africa economic and trade co-operation THE 130th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) was successfully held from October 15 to 19 in Guangzhou, China. Featuring a safe, orderly, innovative, efficient, excellent and brilliant event, this year’s Canton Fair has attracted the vigorous participation of a large number of domestic and foreign companies and made an effective contribution to promoting high-quality trade development, boosting global economic and trade recovery, and building a new development pattern. Fruitful results demonstrate the strong momentum of China's foreign trade Founded in 1957, the Canton Fair is a comprehensive international trade event with the longest history, the largest scale, the most complete variety of commodities, and the best transaction effect in China. It has a unique position in building…

JERUSALEM: Palestinian families facing eviction from their Jerusalem homes turned down an Israeli court compromise yesterday in a long-running legal battle with Jewish settlers, family member and social media activist Mohammed El-Kurd said. The families had petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to hear their appeal against a lower court ruling in favour of settlers who say their homes were built on land once owned by Jews. Facing eviction, the families considered a Supreme Court compromise to offer them “protected” status in exchange for recognising settler ownership.…

Mihlali Baleka mihlali.baleka@inl.co.za ORLANDO Pirates’ winless run in domestic football came to an end following their 2-1 win over new boys Sekhukhune United in a DStv Premiership encounter at a cool Orlando Stadium in Soweto last night evening. Pirates came into this encounter off the back of four draws in the league. That’s why they needed to respond if they were going to consolidate their spot on the standings. Indeed, they achieved that feat with two late goals from Linda Mntambo and Kabelo Dlamini. That ensured that they got the needed points, after an early goal from Brandon Parusnath for United. Yesterday’s Premiership Results Orlando Pirates 2 Sekhukhune United 1; Royal AM 2 SuperSport United 1; TS Galaxy 2 Baroka FC 1, Golden Arrows 0 Swallows FC0; Kaizer Chiefs…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE rand fell to an eight-month low yesterday as the combination of lower commodity prices, the resumption of rotational power cuts and an unprecedented petrol price hike put the skids on the risk sentiment in the markets. The domestic currency fell to R15.49 to the US dollar during the day, its lowest since March 8, as data confirmed that the standard of living was set to cost even more for consumers ahead of the festive season. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) announced on Monday night that the price of petrol (both 93 and 95 ULP and LRP) will increase by R1.21 a litre and diesel by R1.48 a litre from today. The DMRE said this increase was driven up by record high Brent crude…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za OCTODEC Investments’ taxed distri- butable income fell by 14.1 percent after the relief it granted to tenants who couldn’t pay rent, due to lockdown restrictions, and negative rental reversions resulted in lower rental income in the year to August 31. Managing director Jeffrey Wapnick, who has been managing Octodec since 1998 on behalf of his family, who control 39 percent of the shares, said in an interview yesterday that he was planning for succession of the management of the company, and they were in the process of establishing an executive team. The company, which owns 267 properties in the Johannesburg and Tshwane CBD, said rental income from the residential sector and specialised sectors fell 10.6 percent and 15.4 percent respectively, due to the…

Will Smith has contemplated suicide in the past. The 53-year-old actor – who is one of the best-paid stars in Hollywood – has revealed during the recording of a YouTube series about physical fitness and weight loss that he thought about taking his own life. Speaking in Best Shape of My Life – in which he seeks to lose 9kg in 20 weeks – Will shared: “This began as a journey to get into the best shape of my life. “When I started this show, I thought I was getting into the best shape of my life physically, but mentally I was somewhere else. I ended up discovering a whole lot of hidden things about myself. That was the only time in my life that I ever considered suicide.” Meanwhile,…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE Go!Durban transport project could face more delays due to a dispute between the eThekwini Municipality and taxi operators over who should own the buses that will operate on these routes. The taxi and bus operators believe they should have full ownership of the buses but the municipality believes it should own a percentage of them, The Mercury has learnt from taxi operators. The Mercury understands that the buses will be bought by the city. The launch of the Go!Durban first route between KwaMashu and Pinetown was expected this month after it missed the July deadline, but the taxi operators said the issue of the bus ownership was a sticking point that needed to be resolved before a launch date was announced. The delays have irked…

I WAS reading something about turn-of-the-19th-century naturalist and writer Eugene Marais, who translated into English from his own Afrikaans The Soul of the White Ant and The Soul of the Ape – and then had his work shamelessly plagiarised by a Belgian writer. That act of plagiarism must have been exceedingly simple. The Flemish dialect of Dutch, as spoken in parts of Belgium, is uncannily close to Afrikaans I first noticed this on a Belgian ferry from England. To my astonishment, I could understand every word being spoken by the Flemish crew. Then I had another experience of it, in India of all places. I was in the Taj Mansingh hotel in New Delhi – absolutely splendid – when I encountered a group of highly entertaining Belgians in the bar.…

MAGGIE TAYLOR | Berea The definition of “a pensioner” is “someone who lives on a government pension or company pension”. The term pensioner is loosely and erroneously used to address people over 60 or 65 years of age. There is an enormous percentage of over 60s who are financially independent who do not qualify for the government pension; they live on interest accrued from capital invested or family support and who live comfortably; they are “retired”, they are not “pensioners”. Therefore to address everyone over 60 as a pensioner is complete ignorance of the meaning of “pensioner” and should be taken up with journalists in mainstream media, supermarkets, companies and the general public. I urge everyone over 60 who is not living on a government pension to correct…

VA VOLKER | Pietermaritzburg Many commentators on the outcome of the local government elections refer to the probability of an increased number of coalitions being formed. However, the comments also refer to the instability of coalition governments. The instability is because invariably the coalitions that are formed are not based on common ground between the coalition parties, but rather on the basis of a common opposition to either the ANC or the DA. That is an obvious basis for instability. Coalition governments in Europe have become a common feature of recent elections. In Germany in 2016, no party obtained an absolute majority and the two main parties became involved in a lengthy negotiation process with smaller parties to find sufficient common ground to form a stable government. After…

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country’s expectations from the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference were high. In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa said the conference in Glasgow, Scotland was taking place at a crucial time. “South Africa’s expectations from COP26 are high. It is our expectation that as we are playing our part in the global climate change effort and have raised the level of our ambition, other nations should so the same. We will also affirm our position that developed countries have a responsibility to assist developing countries to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.” He said nations of the world urgently needed to slow down the rate of global warming and tackle the effects of climate change. “While the discussions taking place on the other…

Sizwe Dlamini sizwe.dlamini@inl.co.za The Gauteng Provincial (GP) Government has threatened to take Independent Media to court. This follows the media house’s exposé of negligent and unacceptable conditions to which patients are exposed at some Gauteng hospitals. The announcement follows Independent Media’s revelations of gross medical negligence at Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital, that allegedly resulted in the death of a patient which could have been avoided. In its statement, the GP government said it wanted to protect the integrity of all government officials as well as that of public institutions. It did not mention anything regarding Independent Media’s exposé on the poor treatment at some hospitals. Independent Media chairperson Dr Iqbal Survé said it was clear that the province did not care about the well-being of its patients. “Clearly their priority…

GLASGOW: More than 100 world leaders representing more than 85% of the world’s forests yesterday, at COP26, the UN climate summit under way in Glasgow, Scotland, pledged to halt deforestation over the next decade. The announcement included Brazil, home to the Amazon rainforest, as well as Canada, Russia, Norway, Colombia and Indonesia. The US also signed onto the agreement, which was backed by $12 billion (about R185bn) in public funds and $7.2bn in private money. The destruction of forests is a major factor driving up global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, with about 23% of total emissions stemming from agriculture, forestry and other land uses. Trees play a critical role in absorbing carbon dioxide as they grow, slowing global warming. When they are…

MANILA: A fire that broke out over the weekend at a vaccine storage facility in the southern Philippines destroyed nearly 150 000 Covid-19 shots, media said yesterday. The blaze hit a Pagadian City health centre that doubled as cold chain storage for the entire Zamboanga del Sur province, the Philstar daily cited the coronavirus national task force as saying. More than half of the doses compromised were produced by Pfizer and must be kept supercooled. Hundreds more doses were made by China’s Sinovac, the US’s Moderna and UK-Swedish firm AstraZeneca. The shots were intended for teens, who were cleared for vaccination last month.…