Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-01-05 i Mercury

Tarryn-Leigh Solomons tarryn-leigh.solomons@iinl.co.za THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says more charges are likely to be added against Zandile Christmas Mafe, who was arrested in connection with the fire at Parliament. The 49-year-old made a brief appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges of housebreaking with intent to steal and theft, two counts of arson, possession of an explosive device and destruction of essential infrastructure. His arrest came after a fire at Parliament gutted the National Assembly and Old Assembly buildings in Cape Town on Sunday and Monday. The second day of the fire was fuelled by strong south-easterly winds in the city. NPA Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the State requested that the court postpone the case for seven days for the police to gather information…

Have you ever had New Year’s resolutions that worked long term, that resulted in sustained changes? I hope so and I would love to hear about them. Very few of my resolutions have had long-term success. I am more cognisant of the results of my annual tradition of mining the lessons from the ending year, and expressing them in a few words. Here are a few I have gathered over the years: No one is all good; very, very few people are all bad. Love and control cannot co-exist in the same relationship. My integrity is always my call. It is always in my hands. People want to be emotionally well, and wellness leads to greater wellness. Staying out of control (of others) is essential for emotional health. It’s never…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg I wish to express my disappointment at Queen Elizabeth II of England’s decision to ennoble former prime minister Tony Blair with a knighthood and award him the Most Noble Order of the Garter, which is the oldest and the highest-ranking British Order of Chivalry. May I ask, what outstanding bravery, public service or achievement did Blair accomplish? Blair is not an eligible person for any public honour. His untruths about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and the illegal war and invasion on Iraq, a sovereign country, is unforgivable. The Chilcot report into the Iraq War in 2016, the most scathing official finding given on any modern British prime minister, found that “there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein”. It is incomprehensible how…

FAROUK ARAIE | Benoni The latest road rage incident in Limpopo, where two people lost their lives, clearly illustrates how intolerant we are. Road rage is on the increase on our roads, leading to obnoxious behaviour and deaths as a result of anger. Anger can be very quick, powerful and reactive, and can make us do things we typically wouldn’t do. There is nothing inherently wrong with anger as an emotion, but nowhere is anger less helpful, more common, and potentially more dangerous than when we are behind the wheel of a car. Road rage impacts everybody on the road. Driving anger and the illusion of control is a dangerous combination. Diffused responsibility, emotional arousal and sensory overload can cause a normally safe driver to get involved in…

| Mercury Correspondent THE Southern African Agri-Initiative (Saai) has raised the alarm over the number of farm attacks that happened during December, saying farm attacks were a South African problem. Statistics have shown that at least 13 attacks took place in December across the country. Saai chairperson Theo De Jager said these numbers seemed low compared with crime taking place in urban areas, but it was still a concern. “It’s true that farmers are not the only victims of murders and it’s not even the highest statistics, but what’s different in farm murders is that urban crimes do not necessarily carry the same level of brutality and torture. “It is not always a white middle-aged man in khakis who is being attacked. It is farmers of all ages, races…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za ALTHOUGH the courts are there to maintain law and order, their function is also to be fair, as a thief with a sweet tooth found out when he was set free on Christmas Eve. In July last year, Bhuti Majola was convicted of theft after he admitted to stealing six chocolates worth R72.45 from the Witbank Spar Supermarket. He admitted to stealing the sweet treats and an eMalahleni magistrate subsequently sent him to jail for two years. The matter came to the attention of a high court judge sitting in the Middel- burg division as a matter of routine, as the court reviews judgments from the lower court. Judge TV Ratshibvumo, in his subsequent judgment, said upon perusal of the trial record, it was conspicuously incomplete in…

Yogashen Pillay yogashen.pillay@inl.co.za The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has announced that fuel prices will decrease across the board today. The department announced the following decreases: 93 unleaded petrol (ULP) and lead-replacement petrol (LRP) petrol, the price will decrease by 71 cents per litre. 95 ULP and LRP petrol, the price goes down by 68 cents per litre. Diesel (0.05% sulphur), the price will decrease by 67.80 cents per litre. Diesel (0.005% sulphur), the price goes down by 69.80 cents per litre. the price of illuminating paraffin will drop by 71 cents per litre. The fuel price decreases have been welcomed by the Automobile Association and the Road Freight Association, while the South African National Taxi Council and civil society organsation People Against Petroleum Price Increases (PAPPI)…

EBRAHIM ESSA | Durban The new year is here. Tidy-up time. I can only make new plans if dirty linen is removed. Lot of clutter collected even last year. Garage is already full with skeletons of the past. Door can’t close. Palestine issue taking up a large corner and getting ever-pushed under toilet seat. Iran-nuclear looming to counterbalance in same corner. Israel pretending to pretend as if worried. BJP putting excess weight on delicate mezzanine floor as ignoring threats from within and from China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, to collapse into a civil war that could make India’s old, classical, mythological violence seem like a peaceful Bharat-Natyam rendition. The USA’s creation of fleeing after installing yet more Frankenstein monsters in Afghanistan – not even unpacked on the side-stool under…

Multiple UK hospitals have declared “critical incidents” over dramatic staff shortages caused by surging Covid-19 cases. Such a situation is typically declared by NHS trusts when they believe they may no longer be able to provide a range of critical services. With National Health Service (NHS) staff sickness and absences doubling due to Covid-19 in the two weeks to Boxing Day across England, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) called on government ministers to introduce “a more cautious approach for England without further delay”. “The health and care system in England, already short tens of thousands of professionals, can ill afford the current losses,” it stated. The union voiced “significant concerns” about staffing for the new “Nightingale surge hubs”. Eight locations with a capacity for 100 patients are being rolled…

A Canadian court has awarded more than $80 million (roughly R1.3bn) in compensation to the families of six people who died when Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner almost two years ago, according to a decision made public yesterday. Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 was shot down shortly after take-off from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people aboard -- including 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Three days later, the Iranian armed forces admitted to downing the Kyiv-bound plane “by mistake.” Ontario Superior Court Judge Edward Belobaba had previously ruled that the strike on the civilian aircraft “constituted terrorist activity”, paving the way for bereaved families to seek compensation. He awarded the plaintiffs $107 million Canadian dollars ($83 million), plus interest. It was unclear how the money…

JERUSALEM: Israel, yesterday, lifted restrictions barring same-sex couples and single men from becoming parents through surrogacy, upholding a Supreme Court ruling to end the ban. Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said: “It is a historic day for the LGBTQ+ struggle in Israel.” Israel’s LGBTQ+ community had for years demanded to be allowed to pursue surrogacy, which is accessible to heterosexual couples and single women. In July, the Supreme Court, petitioned by gay rights activists, ruled that the surrogacy ban for same-sex couples and single men violated their rights and must be lifted within six months.…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za Unions have given the thumbs-up to the proposed increase in the minimum wage. The increase has been proposed by the National Minimum Wage Commission (NMWC) and was published in the Government Gazette last month. According to Section 6 of the National Minimum Wage Act of 2018, the NMWC needs to review the national minimum wage on an annual basis and make recommendations to the minister on any adjustment to the national minimum wage. According to the commission, the majority of commissioners recommended that the national minimum wage should be increased by 1.0% above inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), while a minority of commissioners recommended that the national minimum wage should be increased by 1.5% above inflation as measured by the CPI. The…

Loyiso Sidimba and Noni Mokati | Additional Reporting Baldwin Ndaba Almost four years after the state capture commission of inquiry was established, President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday received the first part of the report from ​state capture commission chairperson Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. The handover came after a court application to prevent Justice Zondo from giving the report to Ramaphosa was struck off the roll in the Gauteng High Court. Non-profit and civil society organisation Democracy in Action (DIA) had brought an urgent application to halt the handover of the first of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture’s three reports to Ramaphosa. The DIA, led by businessperson Thabo Mtsweni, approached the South Gauteng High Court in an attempt to stop Justice Zondo from handing over the report to…

YUGEN MOODLEY | ADeC Communication Team-Durban Born in 1931, in the town of Klerksdorp, Desmond Mpilo Tutu was to become one of the greatest men of God and a human rights activist who fought for the demise of the apartheid regime and until now was fighting for the demise of the ANC. Tutu stood firmly against corruption, and his passion was to uplift the poor and underprivileged citizens of our country. Most of the tributes at his funeral described him as a simple and humble man of this country without a materialistic bone in his body. Suffice to say that he requested the cheapest coffin for his funeral. Tutu saw everyone as equal and stood for humanity first, above religion and politics, and it was during our first…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za THE Public Servants Association (PSA) has warned that the government’s proposed remote working policy framework should not lead to job losses among state employees. In March, the government and its 1.3 million employees will hold a Public Service Summit to discuss moves to make remote working a permanent feature in national and provincial departments, not only due to Covid-19, but as part of a new way of working. The summit will also discuss all other issues still outstanding at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC), and the PSA indicated that negotiations and engagements on the draft remote working policy were referred to the gathering planned for March. Among the consolidated demands tabled for the government at the PSCBC during wage negotiations last year by unions representing…

KwaZulu-Natal police are still searching for the driver of a Range Rover who was seen driving into the ocean at a Richards Bay beach. The vehicle was later seen in a video partially submerged in the water. “The Richards Bay police are aware of the incident but no one has been arrested. “The suspect is still being sought by the police,” said spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele yesterday. The driver of the Range Rover was filmed putting on a show for beachgoers by driving through the water. The video was believed to have been recorded at the Pelican Island at the Port of Richards Bay on New Year’s Day. Two videos of the incident have since gone viral on social media. In the first video of about 24 seconds, the sport…

State criticised for inability to deliver services or effectively cope with unemployment President Cyril Ramaphosa has probably been the busiest national leader in the world to see out the old year and to see in the new one! Hardly had he finished addressing a hapless nation with his New Year’s message amid the Omicron coronavirus variant resplendently contagious in the Cape sun, when he delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu at Cape Town’s historic St George’s Cathedral. The following day, he had to reassure South Africans once again as a suspected arson attack resulted in a fire raging through the very seat of democracy, the National Assembly. Thanks to City of Cape Town’s prompt and heroic first responders, the inferno was quickly contained, albeit…

THE circumstances surrounding the burning of part of the national legislature have led to speculations about who might be responsible for the fire, and whether there was foul play or systems failures on the part of Parliament. Zandile Christmas Mafe, the man taken in for questioning, appeared in court yesterday on charges of arson, house-breaking, theft and contravention of the National Key Points Act. His case was postponed to January 11. Mafe’s lawyer, Luvuyo Godla, told the media his client rejected all the charges. Expectedly, the inferno that broke out on Sunday has become a political football between supporters and critics of President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa’s critics blame him for the blaze because he is now in charge of state security, while his supporters claim the incident is part of…

SRI LANKA has unveiled a $1.1 billion targeted relief package yesterday to help consumers pay soaring food costs as an economic crisis bites in the country. The island’s tourism-dependent economy was hammered by the pandemic and rampant shortages have left its people struggling to buy essential goods. Supermarkets have been rationing milk powder, sugar, lentils and other essentials, with food prices rising by a record 22% last month. More than two million state employees and pensioners will be given a living allowance of 60 000 rupees (R4 800) this year to deal with the rising cost of living. Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa also announced subsidies for home gardens, with crop yields expected to fall further after a disastrous campaign to make Sri Lanka the world’s first 100% organic farming nation.…

Just 15 minutes can make a big difference. Newborn fraternal twins Aylin and Alfredo Trujillo came into the world 15 minutes apart – but will celebrate their birthdays on different days, months and years. Baby boy Alfredo Antonio Trujillo was delivered first, at 11.45pm on New Year’s Eve – December, 31, 2021. His younger sister, Aylin Yolanda Trujillo, entered the world exactly at midnight, on Sunday, January 1, 2022. Alfredo weighed in at 2.7kg, while Aylin weighed 2.6kg, the Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, California, said. “This was one of the most memorable deliveries of my career,” said Ana Abril Arias, a family doctor at Natividad Medical Group. “It was an absolute pleasure to help these little ones arrive safely in 2021 and 2022.” Twin births in the US are…

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Aoun yesterday reiterated Lebanon’s insistence on preserving the best ties with the Gulf States, particularly, Saudi Arabia. “We are keen to preserve the best ties with Arab countries and the international community. This is Lebanon’s official stance,” he said in a statement by Lebanon’s Presidency. “This keenness must be mutual as it is in the interest of both Lebanon and the Gulf States,” he added. Aoun’s statement came one day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of supporting the Islamic State in Syria and holding thousands of Lebanese hostages in the Gulf.…

Princess Charlene of Monaco, who has been receiving specialised care outside the principality, is still some months away from a full recovery, the palace said. Charlene, the wife of Prince Albert II, is being treated for extreme fatigue away from her family after returning to Monaco in November following months away in South Africa. Her absence from Monaco’s annual national day in November, the biggest annual event in the palace calendar, had fuelled new concern over her health, but also speculation about the state of the couple’s marriage. The princess “is recuperating in a satisfactory and reassuring manner, although it may take a few more months before her health has reached a full recovery”, a palace statement said. Albert and the couple’s children had visited the princess during the Christmas…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za More than 1 600 households have been affected by storms and damaging winds across KwaZulu-Natal, with Pietermaritzburg and the surrounding areas being heavily affected, the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Department confirmed yesterday. As mop-up operations continue this week, Cogta spokesperson Senzelwe Mzila said parts of the province, especially the Midlands, remained vulnerable as the South African Weather Service had issued another warning of severe thunderstorms this week. Over the past few days, the Midlands area, including Howick and Wartburg, experienced heavy rains and strong winds which uprooted trees, blew off roofs and damaged houses and road and electricity infrastructure. By yesterday afternoon, Pietermaritzburg residents were holding their breath as another bout of heavy rain, accompanied by hail, was expected to hit the KZN capital, raising…

INFORMATION comes this way about a young demon fast bowler from Kroon- stad. Fifteen-year-old Dreyer du Toit has been electronically recorded putting down seven deliveries in succession at 160km/h. In a match against KZN Country Districts, he took 9 for 14. He was unable to take the final wicket because that batsman had retired hurt after taking one of Dreyer’s thunderbolts in the ribs. He is 1.9m tall and young enough to catch up with his dad, who is 2.3m. It gets better and better. I wonder who’ll pinch him first – the Poms or the Aussies? Frank ‘Typhoon’ Tyson THAT bowling speed of 160km/h equals the 100 miles per hour of England’s Frank Tyson back in the ’50s. Has there ever been anyone faster? I was still in short…

THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN | Kloof I wonder if the powers-that-be know the old proverb “a stitch in time saves nine”. The ANC government doesn’t believe in maintenance and taking care of public buildings and infrastructure. If you look around you will see everywhere, public buildings and infrastructure going to rack and ruin. Look at the parlous state of our trains. They don’t run any more, placing a huge burden on our roads. Once rail carried 60% of the freight between Johannesburg and Durban; now it carries only 14%. Our national power grid which supplied the country with reliable energy for years is now ruining our economy. Eskom doesn’t believe in maintenance but waits for power stations to break down before carrying out costly repairs. Town halls which were once…

SABER AHMED JAZBHAY | Newlands West As a survivor of that cruel experiment known as apartheid, I was excited after reading in 2018 a recommendation by a task team established by the country’s minister of basic education, at the time, contained in a report released in early June of that year, that apartheid history be made compulsory as a module in Grade 12. The rationale behind that was and still is sound. An education in history develops critical thinking skills. I support that. The second rationale is, I understand, to develop a “pan-African identity” with the ultimate aim of attaining cohesive nation-building and social cohesion. The third is crucial, I submit. Our ability to transcend racial, class and ethnic barriers by understanding the failed experiment of racial engineering…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za Supportive listening and allowing vaccine-hesitant patients to express their fears and concerns while being respectful and patient, provided them space to reflect and think about their decisions. This is according to research published in the South African Medical Journal on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy, those who refuse to get vaccinated and supporting health-care workers to navigate the unvaccinated. Authors Jackie Hoare of UCT and the University of Plymouth and Marc Mendelson and Louise Frenkel of UCT found that understanding the reasons that individuals provided for their reluctance to be vaccinated against Covid-19 was useful, but a more helpful approach may be to identify the psychological processes that characterise and distinguish vaccine-hesitant individuals from anti-vaxxers. “Our experience of anti-vaxxers admitted to the Covid-19 wards at Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH),…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE Department of Basic Education (DBE) has announced a “staggered” calendar will be followed in school opening dates for 2022. The academic year was expected to start next week. Pupils in the inland provinces of Gauteng, the Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West go back on January 12, but pupils in the coastal provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape go back on January 19. DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said yesterday that the department was ready to open schools next week and said the state of readiness report was compiled late last year in preparation. “What is of utmost importance for us is curriculum coverage.” He said that in 2021, the opening of schools was delayed because of Covid-19 cases. “But this…

Neville Sherman THE END of a year is a time to reflect back and think ahead in a positive way to the next. Having retired from teaching after over 40 years, I still share some of my time by working with pupils in what is fair to say, schools that face challenges. I believe in “giving back” to the community. Having been a UK school inspector, and a principal of eight schools in the UK, Dubai, Kampala and Vietnam, I’m not ready yet for the pipe and slippers! For the past six months, I have undertaken volunteer sessions post-school with extra-curricular activities for Grade 2-7 learners. I intermix my two-hour sessions with African drumming, sharing and learning from stories or famous pieces of art or drama and then letting the…

Khartoum: Sudanese security forces fired tear gas yesterday at anti-coup protesters in Khartoum chanting slogans against the military days after the resignation of the country’s civilian premier, witnesses said. Protesters shouted “No, no to military rule” and called for the disbanding of Sudan’s ruling council headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who led an October 25 coup that derailed a transition to civilian rule. Thousands of protesters gathered across Sudan, including in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman as well as the eastern city of Port Sudan and the South Darfur capital of Nyala. Demonstrators in east Khartoum “burnt car tyres and built rock barricades on the streets”, witness Sawsan Salah said. Other protesters urged the military “to go back to the barracks”. Streets leading to the presidential palace…

Paris: Two unvaccinated French TV star twin brothers, who made their name on a science programme in the 1980s before becoming famous for their cosmetic surgery, have died within a week of each other from Covid-19. The death of Igor Bogdanoff, 72, was confirmed on Monday by his lawyer, Edouard de Lamaze. He died just six days after his brother, Grichka Bogdanoff, passed away in a Parisian hospital, also of Covid, the lawyer confirmed. Instantly recognisable in France and a favourite in the country’s glossy celebrity magazines, they also claimed to have taken part in the creation of Bitcoin. “We were implicated, very early, in the birth of the cryptocurrency,” Grichka told French TV show Non-Stop People in June, with their claim largely based on their proximity and friendship with…

NEW YORK: A UN court has ordered Niger to suspend its expulsions of eight Rwandans linked to the country’s 1994 genocide, officials confirmed. Niger’s government announced the expulsions in late December – just a month after the Rwandans were officially welcomed in the capital Niamey – citing “diplomatic reasons”. But a judge with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals on Friday ordered Niger to “stay” the removals as they may be in violation of earlier UN agreements. A UN spokesperson in New York confirmed the official publication of the court order to AFP on Monday.…

Stuart Hess stuart.hess@inl.co.za Keegan Petersen, who spent more time batting in the second Test against India than any other South African, said the surface won’t be getting any easier, and that any target above 200 in the final innings would be extremely difficult to chase. India’s lead is already 58 runs after they’d wiped out South Africa’s slim 27-run advantage in rapid fashion in the final session of the second day yesterday. Petersen top-scored with 62 as the Proteas made 229 in their first innings. It was an innings that showed off the 28-year-old’s solid technique that allows for some very elegant strokeplay. “I’m happy. I wish I could have done more to put the team in a better position. It was a decent effort, given the conditions,” he…