Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-03-24 i Mercury

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE MAJOR banks have ticked some of the boxes on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD) detailed guidance but have ignored many of the recommended elements of reporting. This was according to the latest investor briefing by non-profit shareholder activism organisation Just Share, on an analysis by them of the most recent climate risk-related disclosures of Investec, FirstRand, Standard Bank Group, Nedbank Group and Absa Group, and assessing them against the recommendations of the TCFD. The TCFD, created in 2015, is a consistent climate-related financial risk disclosure standard for use by companies, banks and investors in providing information to stakeholders. “Recognising that all five banks are still in the early stages of TCFD reporting, we have highlighted what we believe to be the most important…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za THE sudden decision by the ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal to allow all branches that had been previously disqualified from taking part in various regional conferences has left some grumbling, with some members saying the decision may even delay the much-anticipated eThekwini regional conference. The decision to give a lifeline to the branches was taken on Tuesday by the provincial working committee (PWC). This was after it was agreed that the eThekwini and Mzala Nxumalo (Zululand) regions should go ahead with their elective conferences on the first weekend of April (1-3) this year. Out of the 11 regions of the provinces, six are outstanding and five have had their regional conferences. The provincial conference will be held in July at a venue that has yet to be determined.…

| Dorothy Parker OH BOY, what a cute glabella she’s got. Her petrichor is pretty sensational also. Her mininus ain’t too bad either… Er, the glabella is the space between her eyebrows. Her petrichor is her fragrance, suggestive of the fresh atmosphere after rain. Her mininus is her little toe. The words are among a list that comes this way of little-known words and their meaning: Aglet – The metallic or plastic coating at the end of a shoelace. Warble – A rumbling of the tummy. Vagitus – The cry of a new-born baby. Phosphenes – the sheen of light seen when you close your eyes and press your hands on them. Box tent – The tiny plastic table in a pizza box. Overmorrow – Day after tomorrow.…

THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN | Kloof ALL OVER the world cities have sprung up like mushrooms. The human populations grow at a phenomenal rate, cities are getting bigger and bigger, becoming sprawling urban jungles. Not only do these metropolises cover vast stretches of land but they reach dizzy heights into the sky. They have become modern man’s engineering marvels, his symbols of power, prosperity and progress. But as these concrete jungles spread relentlessly across the land, they have had a devastating impact on the environment. In a short space of 100 years we have put the Earth on the brink of collapse. It’s human activity alone, in man’s relentless quest for food, water and mineral resources and dominance over other creatures that is proving to be the greatest threat to…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za The Department of Higher Education and Training has made great strides in reducing certification backlogs that date back to the 1990s. It is left with just 186 cases in the certification backlogs of students who sat for multiple examinations as far back as 1992. This emerged when the department, State Information and Technology Agency (Sita) and Umalusi briefed the higher education portfolio committee yesterday. Director-general Nkosinathi Sishi said progress continued to be made in the reduction of certification backlog across all qualifications in TVET and private colleges notwithstanding the IT system defects that remained a Herculean challenge. “Sita has refined the backlog reporting programs to categorise most of the outstanding certificates and will keep on refining it as more in-depth analysis is done. Sita and DHET will…

MIKe greenaway mike.greenaway@inl.co.za The inclement conditions certainly played a part but this Currie Cup encounter was a turgid affair nonetheless and it was an endless avalanche of errors by the Sharks that saw the Cheetahs comfortably home 29-15. It was the Free Staters’ sixth consecutive win in the competition and back-to-back losses for the Sharks who were poor beyond the excuse of the steady rain that fell from start to finish. The game began with ten minutes of tentative sparring between the sides before Sharks loosehead prop Dian Bleuler was penalised at a set scrum and Ruan Pienaar stroked home three points after having fluffed an earlier attempt when the Sharks’ other prop, Wiehahn Herbst, had been penalised for a high tackle. The Cheetahs’ second veteran and another ex-Shark, Frans…

SUNDAY will see the crowning of the Port Natal Mixed Pairs Champions for 2022. The remaining four teams have applied technique, tactics and mental strength to bowl their way through the field and emerge as semi-finalists in this prestigious event. The quarter-final results dictated that the semis will be a two club shoot-out, and enthusiasts from Umhlali Country Club and Stella Park Bowling Club will, no doubt, be out in force on Sunday at Amanzimtoti Bowling Club to support their players in their quests for the crown. In the first semi-final, Umhlali CC’s Dave Riley and Moira Hutchison will take to the mat against Dougie Bashford and Cheryl Mostert from Stella Park BC. Making this encounter more interesting is that Mostert’s home club is Umhlali CC, and she often…

WHILE other sporting codes have welcomed the decision to allow 50% attendance by the spectators, the Premier Soccer League appears to be in no rush to let the fans know when will they once again enjoy "the beautiful game". SuperSport Park - which hosted the third ODI match between South Africa and Bangladesh yesterday - and SA Rugby wasted no time in announcing that they’ll conform to the President’s speech on Tuesday, that fans can fill up stadiums to half-capacity. Danny Jordaan, president of the South African Football Association (Safa) told the federation’s media department yesterday afternoon that “we are very happy" and "welcome the decision" to re-open the stadiums”. On the other hand, the PSL was non-commital. In a press release that was seen by IOL…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za ETHEKWINI mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has called for cool heads and assured Durban residents that the process of appointing a new city manager is well on track and is being handled with the sensitivity and care it deserves. Speaking at the executive committee (exco) meeting on Tuesday, Kaunda said he had received correspondence from DA caucus leader Nicole Graham, who alleged political interference in the interview process leading up to the appointment of the next city manager. The mayor has reiterated that the ANC has no role in the appointment of city managers, adding that the only time the governing party ever gets involved in the filling of municipal positions is when it comes to the appointment of mayors, deputy mayors, speakers and ordinary councillors. “As things stand,…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff KWAZULU-NATAL ANC Premier Sihle Zikalala must be complimented for saying the quiet part out aloud. He wants the Constitution removed so he can exercise unrestrained power and by embracing black majority rule, shows he rejects non-racialism (The Mercury, March 22). Democracy has always been embraced by Marxists as a means to an end – absolute power. For them, checks and balances on executive power by means of a freely elected legislature, and an impartial judiciary presiding over a constitution, are merely temporary impediments. More than 60 years ago, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana pioneered the art of African dictatorship by ditching constitutional democracy and commencing a practice that has plagued Africa ever since. By seeking to replicate that ruinous odyssey, Zikalala indicates the extent…

How’s your heart towards your children, adults or very young, or somewhere in between? My heart is like a furnace in the middle of winter. It never turns off. My parent-heart (or brain) is working, thinking, planning, hoping, watching. There are times it’s distracted, but it’s never off duty. There are times I am anxious. There are times love doesn’t feel like love. It can feel like bubbling anger or a jolt of lightning. I find I unwittingly scan the surroundings for dangers and potential dangers. I experience my heart as hoping beyond hope, wanting the seemingly impossible for my sons. I know there are times I ignore my own needs and place things on hold until I know what the boys may need. My heart (or my brain) is…

Baldwin Ndaba baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za THE Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has ordered that the R1.8 billion corruption trial against former correctional services boss Linda Mti be heard in the High Court in Pretoria. The State was also granted permission to appoint a pulmonologist to assess the medical condition of fraud and corruption accused and former Bosasa COO, Angelo Agrizzi. The ruling was made during the appearance of Mti, former correctional service chief financial officer Patrick Gillingham and former Bosasa group chief financial officer Andries van Tonder. Agrizzi was not in court, but his lawyers made an undertaking to allow the State to have access to his confidential medical records to assess whether he would be fit to stand trial. The case against them was postponed until May 30 to the North…

Alexander arefiev | Russian Embassy We took note of the article titled “The ultimate test for a country is how it behaves in times of war” by Koert Meyer published on March 14, 2022, in the Pretoria News. In our opinion, not only has the author failed to explain the connection between a state’s “abolitionism” and its foreign policy, but he also premised his ideas on a number of mistakes that could mislead the readers. Let us help correct them. First of all, Meyer’s “Russia is notorious for centuries of fighting first among its own people, then extending it to its weaker neighbours”. Well, Russians indeed had to fight a lot to defend their country’s sovereignty and protect their right to exist as a nation – against Poles, French,…

South Africa 154 all out Bangladesh 156/1 Bangladesh won by 9 wickets Bangladesh win series 2-1 BANGLADESH claimed a major slice of history yesterday when they won a series in South Africa for the first time. The Tigers, roared on by a large group of enthusiastic expats at SuperSport Park, delivered an inspired performance, led by the magnificent Taskin Ahmed, to crush the home team and claim a thoroughly deserved victory. For the Proteas there will be plenty of soul searching. They were inconsistent with bat and ball, and generally poor in the field, continuing a trend in South African cricket that has become glaringly apparent this summer and needs to be urgently addressed. The bowlers, after failing to make an early breakthrough in the first ODI, lacked the…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa will host the fourth South Africa Investment Conference today, as the government places more emphasis on public-private partnerships to generate economic growth post Covid-19. Naspers chief executive Phuthi Maha- nyele-Dabengwa yesterday welcomed the business-friendly tone of the investment conference. “In order to fully drive confidence, it is critical that business leaders and policymakers work together to create a consistent policy environment that encourages investment and supports local innovation, where South African tech companies and talent can thrive,” she said. The conference is in line with South Africa’s commitment to raise R1.2 trillion in five years in a bid to boost eco- nomic growth and stimulate employment. Since the first investment conference in 2018, South Africa has attracted R770 billion in commitments across…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za A long-awaited report produced by the Mangosuthu University of Technology’s independent assessor has revealed shocking details of payroll irregularities, irregular expenditure and the existence of ghost employees at the troubled institution. The 96-page report, compiled by Professor Anthony Staak at the request of Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande last year, was looking into the affairs of the beleaguered institution. The investigation was initiated when problems at the institution came to a head after the MUT council suspended former vice-chancellor (VC) Dr Enoch Malaza. “Given the complexities and the nature of the allegations at MUT, we recommend that the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) institutes an independent and comprehensive investigation into the following areas: secondary contracts and part-time lecturing (evening classes); expand on the work…

The issue around sporadic attacks on foreign nationals is neither xenophobic nor political. It is what Charles Darwin called the survival of the fittest. Politicians’ obsessive need for the spotlight has led them to deliberately distort facts and create an unpalatable narrative that says attacks on foreign nationals are xenophobic. It has been blindly accepted that each time there are quarrels between South Africans and people from outside the country, it is because we hate each other. That is a blatant lie. In most communities, foreign nationals together with South African citizens coexist harmoniously. These people embrace one another. They have sold each other land and shelter, rented each other trading spaces, with some going as far as solemnising their romantic relationships. As a country, we tend to avoid core…

MOHAMED SAEED | Pietermaritzburg THE harmful effects and risks of nicotine and dangers of addiction and second-hand smoke are well-known. According to Johns Hopkins researchers, “vaping could lead to diabetes”. Similarly, the Canadian Paediatric Society believes vaping is not harmless as there is still a risk of being exposed to other harmful chemicals, including nicotine. The increased use of e-cigarettes, vape pens and tobacco products by teenagers and young adults is also a matter of great concern to all schools and learning institutions. Schools and parents/guardians need to engage with the youth about the dangerous impact of using tobacco products including e-cigarettes. As a community, we need to work towards changing the mindsets about e-cigarettes and not live with the mistaken belief that it is not truly smoking.…

Betty Moleya betty.moleya@inl.co.za The SA Post Office has warned its customers to be aware of criminals luring customers to pay money into a fraudulent account in order to receive their parcels. According to the post office, there has been a sharp rise in the number of enquiries arising from emails and text messages that appear to originate from the post office, but are designed to make the receiver pay money into a fraudulent account. “The messages state that the parcel can only be released once a clearance fee has been paid and include a link. Should the receiver click on the link, a page requesting payment opens where the receiver can make a payment to ‘release’ the fictitious parcel,” post office spokesperson Johan Kruger said. He said they had asked…

IF THE recent mass murders in townships and kidnappings of prominent business people across the country for ransom are anything to go by, one could be forgiven for thinking that these brazen crimes indicate the country becoming a failed state where law and order is concerned. Even Police Minister Bheki Cele and his boss President Cyril Ramaphosa can barely claim that they are in control of the situation. How when fearful residents tell of the daily horrors of children seeing bodies riddled with bullets in front of their homes, when kidnappers extort millions of rand from desperate families, when cash-in-transit heists are the order of the day and when vigilante groups called Operation Dudula have effectively taken over some communities? In less than a week, 17 people, mostly youth, were…

Ashfak Mohamed ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za at Green Point Athletics Stadium CASTER Semenya showed her undoubted class once more to clinch victory in the 3000m race at the Athletics South Africa Grand Prix event at the Green Point Athletics Stadium in Cape Town last night. The two-time Olympic 800m champion is pushing to qualify for the world championships in the 5000m race this year, and used this 3000m distance to work on her speed. Semenya ran in tandem with her good friend Glenrose Xaba for most of last night’s race, but on the third-last lap, she went to the front and charged away from the rest of the field to win in a superb time of eight minutes, 54.97 seconds (8:54.97) – the sixth-fastest time by a South African. The national record is…