Indholdsfortegnelse for 2022-12-08 i Mercury

After nearly three decades behind bars, Chris Hani’s killer, Janusz Walus, yesterday for the first time got a glimpse of the world outside the walls of the Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria, when he was released on parole. Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola confirmed that Walus was placed on parole earlier in the day. His release follows the judgment of the Constitutional Court handed down on November 21. The ruling sparked mass outrage, with Hani’s widow Limpho describing the judgment as “diabolical”. The Justice Ministry said Walus had been released under strict conditions and his parole would remain in place for the next two years. It has not been made known where Walus will serve his parole, but it will be in South Africa and not in…

THE two prominent swimming pools on Durban’s beachfront are unlikely to be available for use this festive season as they undergo repair work. The city revealed that it had started working on the popular Rachel Finlayson Pool and would soon start to fix the Children’s Amusement Centre paddling pool next to it. The pools have been out of commission for some time. The closure of the pools has come into sharp focus following the contamination and subsequent closure of beaches because high levels of E coli were detected in the water. Some of the beaches have since been reopened because the E coli levels have dropped, but some remain closed. The uMhlanga beaches that reopened last week had to be closed again after tests showed a spike in E coli…

Candy floss, toffee-apples and candied popcorn were part of the repertoire of growing up in the ’60s. So too were the delights of spinning a top and yo-yo, opening a lucky dip, ears pricked and running to the chimes of an ice cream van and feeding the pigeons at Durban City Hall. But the biggest thrill of them all was when the Tommy Chetty Fun Fair arrived in town. Like a band of gypsies in a travelling circus, caravans in tow, this mobile amusement brigade would travel the length and breadth of KwaZulu-Natal, pitching their tents on vacant land and providing entertainment to inhabitants of towns far and wide. At the time, we called it the “Merry-Go-Round” and the star attraction were the “Horse Ride” and “Star Ride” – grimacing…

Many words have been written on the subject of President Ramaphosa and the foreign currency hidden on his Phala Phala game farm, but I have yet to read one word on his alleged involvement in the murder of 34 striking miners at Marikana on August 16, 2012. He was a director of one of the companies involved and took a strong stand in writing against the miners. He is known to have said that a larger presence of police was needed at Marikana, but whether he was the person who said the strike must be broken, I do not know, but it is highly likely to have been him. To my knowledge, those murdered miners’ families have yet to be compensated or those who gave the order to open fire…

In the light of the ongoing debate around the ban of pit bulls in the country, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) said it was engaging with various role-players to address growing concerns. The DALRRD said it would have discussions with organisations early in the new year. “The pit bull is not a registered dog with the department. However, in the interest of this important matter, engagements with different stakeholders is ongoing. This includes some pit bull owners, research and development organisations. “The department can only confirm that there is co-operation with pit bull owners and representatives of different government departments including those in the security cluster. “Plans are under way to invite relevant parties to sit during January 2023 to plan on the way forward…

At least 150 ethnic Rohingya are stranded at sea off Thailand after their boat broke down, activists said yesterday, adding that several may have died and urging authorities to rescue the survivors. Each year many Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority, risk their lives boarding rickety vessels to escape violence in Myanmar and squalor in Bangladesh refugee camps. Many attempt to reach Malaysia. The number attempting the treacherous journey has surged following deteriorating conditions in the camps and last year’s military coup in Myanmar which brought the army back to power. The vessel left Bangladesh in late November and began to leak off the coast of Ranong, in southern Thailand, said Chris Lewa, director of rights group the Arakan Project. “They have almost run out of food and water on…

Since at least 2013, the Nigerian Army has run a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme in the country, terminating 10 000 pregnancies among women and girls, many of whom had been kidnapped and raped by Islamist militants, reports said yesterday. The abortions were mostly carried out without the women’s consent – and often without their prior knowledge, according to witnesses. The women and girls ranged from a few weeks to eight months pregnant, and some were as young as 12. The investigation is based on interviews with 33 women and girls who say they underwent abortions while in the custody of the Nigerian Army. Reporters also interviewed five civilian health-care workers and nine security personnel involved in the programme, including soldiers and armed guards engaged in escorting pregnant women…

Lionel Messi’s hopes of winning an elusive World Cup will come up against the tactical scheming of veteran coach Louis van Gaal as Argentina face the Netherlands in Friday’s quarter-final at Lusail. Messi, 35, once again carries his nation’s hopes on his shoulders as he looks to crown an extraordinary career that includes seven Ballon d’Or awards and multiple club titles, but only one Copa America to show for his efforts with Argentina. Messi can expect little in the way of sympathy from the 71-year-old Van Gaal, who is determined to give the Dutch their first World Cup title after runners-up finishes in 1974, 1978 and 2010. The coach’s planning will largely focus on containing Messi and catching Argentina on the break, as Van Gaal thumbs his nose at his…

OPPOSITION parties the ATM and UDM have asked Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to review her decision to deny MPs an opportunity to vote via secret ballot when Parliament decides whether to proceed with an impeachment committee for President Cyril Ramaphosa. They said that the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) decision on Monday, that the party would vote against the adoption of the Section 89 independent panel report as it was being taken on review, meant an instruction had been given to party members and only a secret ballot would allow them to vote with their conscience and not along party lines. In refusing the secret ballot, Mapisa-Nqakula on Monday said that an open and transparent procedure for voting could only bring about public trust and confidence in the Assembly and…

Some folk are born into poverty and others into wealth. Some have educated parents and others not. These and other factors influence a person. However, sometimes we must question the desire and/or ability of some to improve themselves. For example, some time ago after Friday prayers at mosque, a beggar approached me. I asked him to wash my car at an agreed price. As he knew where I lived, we agreed to meet in 30 minutes. He immediately disappeared and only reappeared months later at mosque, to beg. At election time, desperate for labour to load posters into my vehicle and get posters on to poles across the city, I asked the roving beggar to work at an agreed price. I cabled the poster and brought it for hanging, as…

Poverty and struggles and life’s many sources of resistance and feeling powerless, test character – yes. You will see a man or a woman for who he or she is when under these and similar pressures. Many families – perhaps yours – have histories of poverty and struggle and tell stories of grandparents and parents who were legends for their long hours or hard, often manual, work. They were often men and women of immense generosity and goodwill when resources were scant. They were often very happy and very thankful people despite possessing so little. They displayed integrity in the face of untold hardships. Was this your grandparent? Was this your mom or dad? Is this you? Success and wealth and the belief that one has power also tests character…

’TWAS a disconcerting moment standing there at the St Clement’s arts soiree this week, addressing the assembled throng on my work as a wordsmith. How were they going to react? Would the gals treat me as some kind of pop star and start throwing their knickers at me, the way they sometimes do at pop concerts? They’re a lively lot at St Clement’s and anything could happen. Also, I was being interviewed by the lovely Wanda Hennig – herself an accomplished wordsmith – and she knows the ins and outs of the trade. No chance of blindsiding her. It made me noivous. Plus I was being paraded there as some kind of freak who has reached an advanced age – 180 or something, I think – and they were for…

On November 25, Durban lost one of its medical pioneers with the death of Dr Ambalavana Kanapathy Thambiran. An unassuming and gentle man from humble beginnings, he rose to become an international expert in the treatment of neonatal tetanus. Known as Ambala to his family and Thambi to his friends, Thambiran was born in Merebank in 1932. In those days, home births were the norm and his mother, Subbama, recalled giving birth to him in her kitchen. Thambiran’s grandfather Muruga was an indentured labourer who arrived in the colony in 1901 on board the Umkuzi VII. The family hailed from the North Arcot in Madras. Muruga was indentured to the Natal Government Railways. His father, Kanapathy, had a small acreage in what is now Chatsworth. Thambiran told his children stories…

A Mozambican court yesterday found a former president’s son and 10 other people guilty on charges related to a $2 billion (about R34bn) “hidden debt” scandal that crashed the nation’s economy, sentencing them each to more than 10 years in prison. Eight of 19 individuals, including state security officials, who had been on trial on charges such as money laundering, bribery and blackmail, were acquitted by the court. Armando Ndambi Guebuza, son of former president Armando Guebuza, was sentenced to 12 years for his role in the scandal, which saw hundreds of millions of dollars in government-backed loans disappear. Others who were convicted were handed sentences of between 10 and 12 years. Two intelligence service officials, general director Gregorio Leao and head of the economic unit, Antonio Carlos do Rosario,…

NEW YORK: Britain’s Prince Harry and wife Meghan accepted a human rights award at a Ripple of Hope gala in New York where they were honoured for addressing racial injustice and mental health. The British royals received the award late from the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Foundation which honours leaders across various sectors who have shown an “unwavering commitment to social change”. Kerry Kennedy, foundation president and daughter of the slain US Senator Robert F Kennedy, said the couple had been brave to talk about their experience of racial injustice and mental illness. | Reuters…

THE Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious, and Linguistic Communities (CRL) has called for extra safety measures to be put in place by religious leaders after at least 17 people were killed in separate incidents during baptisms last week. Fifteen died in the Jukskei River in Gauteng, and a pastor and a woman drowned at Inanda Dam, near Durban. CRL spokesperson Mpiyakhe Mkholo said church leaders should take measures to ensure the safety of congregants. “The commission, whose mandate is to protect and promote the rights of cultural, religious, and linguistic communities, wishes to state that the religious communities have the right to exercise their faith and practise their rituals, such as water baptism. However, the commission cautions that the practice of these rights…

For the past few days, many of us couldn’t take our eyes off Ramaphosa and his Phala Phala game farm scandal. It has been such gripping stuff that it could easily be better than a Hollywood soap opera. But for soccer fans it has been a terrible distraction from the World Cup matches taking place in Qatar. Tuesday was an especially important day for football fans in Africa. Morocco was the sole surviving African nation and the only Arab team left in the World Cup in Qatar. They took on the Spanish giants for a place in the quarter-finals. The match wasn’t a thriller. For 120 minutes the Spanish tried to penetrate the Moroccan defence but the team from north Africa was no pushover. They were well organised and kept…

The dangerously escalating military crisis between Nato and Russia over Ukraine has reached new levels. Tension is running high, with apocalyptic rhetoric emerging from all sides. The unending primordial conflict between the various combatants could serve as a catalyst for World War III. Entire conflict zones are being disassembled with a ferocity unequalled since World War II. Any miscalculation or acts of political brinkmanship will lead to carnage unprecedented in modern warfare. Ukraine has now become a pawn in the deadly game of political chess, ominously unfolding as all compete for total control. As a bolt of lightning that flashes across the darkening sky is witness both to the approaching storm and to the unbearable tension which is giving birth to it, so the fires of conflicts have thrown a…

POLITICAL parties across the political divide yesterday threw their weight behind the 12 names recommended to President Cyril Ramaphosa by the National Assembly for appointment to the SABC board. Former SABC head of news Phathiswa Magopeni, who was dismissed after she was pressured into agreeing to an impromptu interview with Ramaphosa, is tipped to be on the new board. The public broadcaster has been without a board after the term of the previous board ended on October 15. Tabling his report this week, communications and digital technologies portfolio committee chairperson Boyce Maneli said Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni informed the National Assembly in June of the impending expiry of the board’s term of office. The call for nomination of people to be appointed on the new board was advertised in August. “A…

The Road Freight Association (RFA) has welcomed the drop in the price of both grades of diesel. For diesel 0.05% sulphur, the price decreased by R1.57 a litre, and diesel 0.005% sulphur dropped by R1.52 a litre. The RFA said this would drop retail pump prices to R24.23 and R23.92, respectively (inland prices). Gavin Kelly, RFA CEO, said the Central Energy Fund (CEF) attributed the price cuts to an appreciating rand. He said while they noted the increase in petrol of 59 cents a litre, with the decrease in the cost of diesel, transport costs were starting to head south from the incredible highs seen during the year. “But fuel prices are still 33.4% higher than what they were this time last year. We have a long way to go…

Germany yesterday detained 25 members and supporters of a far-right group that the prosecutor’s office said was preparing a violent overthrow of the state to install as national leader a prince who had sought support from Russia. Prosecutors said the group was inspired by the deep state conspiracy theories of Germany’s Reichsbuerger and QAnon, whose advocates were among those arrested after the storming of the US Capitol in January 2021. Members of the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) do not recognise modern-day Germany as a legitimate state. Some of them are devoted to the German empire under monarchy, while some are adherents of Nazi ideas and others believe Germany is still under military occupation. The plot envisaged a former member of a German royal family, identified as Heinrich XIII P.…

Chinese president Xi Jinping touched down in Saudi Arabia yesterday for a visit that is likely to focus on energy ties but also follows months of tensions with the US. Xi, recently reanointed as leader of the world’s second biggest economy, arrived in the capital Riyadh, Chinese state media said, for a three-day visit that will include talks with the Saudi rulers and other Arab leaders. He can expect a warm welcome in Riyadh, where the Chinese flag alternated with the Saudi emblem on major routes. The Chinese leader was pictured on the front pages of newspapers that highlighted the trip’s potential economic benefits. China is the top customer for oil from Saudi Arabia, the leading exporter of crude, and both sides appear keen to expand their relationship at a…