Indholdsfortegnelse for 2023-03-27 i Mercury

NEWLY-appointed Minister of Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has assured South Africans they will not have to suffer power cuts higher than stage 6 load shedding. This comes as Ramokgopa continued with his visits to all 14 Eskom power stations across the country to engage with the management, workers and unions on solutions to the ongoing energy crisis. The minister on Friday and Saturday visited the Ankerlig open-cycle gas turbines, the Koeberg Nuclear Power station, and the Palmiet pump station in the Western Cape. The Palmiet storage is a hydro-electric pump storage scheme which contributes 400MW to the national grid. “I want to give the South African public the assurance that I don’t foresee us moving to higher stages of load shedding,” Ramokgopa said. “When I say higher I mean…

THE BATTLE between the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and AYO Technology Solutions Limited (AYO) has come to an end, after the companies announced on Friday that they have reached a settlement. This follows the PIC heading to court, looking to dissolve and recoup its R4.3 billion investment in AYO. The PIC is the custodian of more than 80% of the Government Employees Pension Fund’s (GEPF’s) portfolio. The GEPF describes itself as Africa’s largest pension fund, with more than 1.2 million active members, more than 450 000 pensioners and beneficiaries, and assets valued at more than R1.61 trillion. On Friday, in a joint statement, AYO and the PIC said they settled the proceedings instituted by the PIC against AYO in the Western Cape Division of the High…

SOUTH Africa’s agriculture is currently faced with an array of challenges ranging from the high cost of production as inputs costs are high, lower output prices for many horticultural commodities, failing local infrastructure, high shipping and freight costs and recently continued accelerated load shedding. Land Bank, the agricultural industry and key stakeholders are particularly concerned about the extent to which the country has been experiencing power cuts recently. Productivity is negatively affected across the value chain. There is, however, an opportunity for farmers who may not have alternative energy sources such as solar energy to consider the financing of these alternative energy solutions to mitigate the risks and keep businesses running. The recently launched Blended Finance Programme by Land Bank in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and…

WHILE Eskom yesterday announced lower load-shedding stages over the next few days, energy experts have warned that the public should not be lulled into a false sense of security as the winter demand for electricity would see power cuts being ramped up. Energy expert Clyde Mallinson said that one of the reasons for the current lower stages of load shedding was a lower demand for electricity. “According to data, we have also seen an improvement in the coal fleet capacity factor which is another reason we are seeing lower stages of load shedding.” Mallinson added that the winter months remained a concern as there would be a higher demand for electricity. “During the summer months, Eskom has performed maintenance at power stations – load shedding is implemented to perform planned…

On everyone’s lips this past week was the exaggerated success of the national shutdown spearheaded by the EFF. All of a sudden South Africa was aflood with coroners and post-mortem specialists as the political rigor mortis set in. But a brilliantly penned blog caught my eye, which I thought was an excellent perspective and a masterpiece of narrative, written and posted on the same evening of the nationwide marches. In it, the writer questions the validity and success of the shutdown. What did they achieve? Where was the prominence of civil leaders and clergymen? He compared it to the most memorable protest of all time that changed the course of history – the March On Washington in 1963 in which Martin Luther King Jnr delivered his famous “I Have…

As part of Library Week, which is celebrated in March, access to libraries and creating awareness of them is advocated. Libraraies also provide a second home to youngsters. It is absolutely important to help every pupil to increase literacy skills so as to achieve great results academically. The initiative taken by Danville Park Girls’ High School must be commended. Some children have not seen the inside of a library, and to me, this is worrying. Libraries are the cornerstone of any community development, and reading, in particular, helps individuals to go places. My appeal to parents is to play a critical role in their future and encourage your children to join libraries. They must enjoy going to the library. Some schools are producing shocking results, mainly because they lack facilities…

ANSWERING the question “What do you want?” is among the holiest of human exercises. Let the question swirl within then write a short list of broad parameters describing what you really want. Such contemplation will set the stage for reducing the waste of much time pursuing things which hold no significance for you. Before you begin: You can only want for yourself. Want cannot be borrowed or shared. Clarifying and knowing your wants is not selfish. What is selfish is to live as if others are supposed to guess or provide your wants as if it is their responsibility. Identify your wants and embark on doing your part in their fulfilment. Adults know we don’t always get what we want. We live in a world of co-operation and compromise, a…

POLICE officers will soon receive an increase in danger allowance that will be backdated to April 2022. The officers have until recently been receiving a danger allowance of R400 a month. The danger allowance has attracted the interest of NFP MP Munzoor Shaik-Emam, who asked President Cyril Ramaphosa during an oral question session on March 9 whether he would consider intervening as the officers obtained R13 a day in danger allowance. Ramaphosa said at the time the danger allowance had come up in various engagements and that it was being negotiated. Shaik-Emam then took up the matter with Police Minister Bheki Cele, asking in a parliamentary question whether he intended to deal with the concerns of police officers. In his written reply, Cele said the SAPS tabled a revised proposal…

The eThekwini Municipality says it is aware of the interruption of water supply to parts of oThongathi. In a statement, municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said areas affected in oThongathi are supplied by the Emona and Metcalf reservoirs. He said the interruption was due to failure of the pumps to fill these reservoirs and teams were working to repair the pumps. Mayisela said the damage was severe and as a result two reservoirs had an inadequate supply of water, resulting in intermittent water services from both reservoirs. He said the leaks were being repaired The City said the affected areas were Vanrova, Metcalf, Gandhi Hill, oThongathi Central, Plein Street, Watson Highway, Brake Village and oThongathi CBD. For more details, contact the toll-free number 080 311 1111 or use the eThekwini…

At least 25 people were killed by devastating tornadoes that ripped across the southern US state of Mississippi yesterday, tearing off roofs, smashing cars and flattening entire neighbourhoods, with the region readying for more severe weather. The powerful weather system, accompanied by thunderstorms and driving rain, cut a path of more than 60km across the state late Friday, slamming several towns along the way. Mississippi’s emergency management agency put the death toll at 25 and said dozens more were injured. Four people reported missing “have been found”, it added. And in Alabama, one man died after being trapped when a trailer overturned in the severe weather, the sheriff’s office in Morgan County said on Twitter. In Rolling Fork, home to fewer than 2 000 people, an entire row of…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz battled yesterday to put out the fires threatening his government as the three-way coalition met for crisis talks on a growing series of disputes. A little more than a year after taking office, the relationship between Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and his governing partners, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, looks more strained than ever. Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens has accused the FDP of blocking progress, while the FDP’s deputy chief Wolfgang Kubicki compared the Green politician to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kubicki later apologised but the damaging row underlines the state of the three-way coalition. The alliance got off to a good start in December 2021 but was put to a tough test when Russia invaded Ukraine just two months…

Tehran has condemned US airstrikes on Iran-linked forces in Syria that reportedly killed 19 people, which Washington said it carried out following a deadly drone attack on US forces. The Iranian foreign ministry late Saturday condemned “the belligerent and terrorist attack of the American army on civilian targets” in the eastern Syrian region of Deir Ezzor. Washington said it launched the retaliatory raids after a US contractor was killed – and another contractor and five military personnel wounded – by a drone “of Iranian origin” that struck a US-led coalition base in Syria on Thursday. The US strikes triggered further rocket attacks by Iran-backed militias, the Syrian Observatory said. | AFP…

SECOND T20 INTERNATIONAL West Indies 258/5 Charles 118, Mayers 51, Shepherd 41*; Jansen 3/52, Parnell 2/43 South Africa 259/4 De Kock 100, Hendricks 68, Markram 38; Reifer 1/42, Holder 1/48, SA won by six wickets to level three-match series 1-1 Quinton de Kock and Johnson Charles scored magnificent centuries in the record-breaking second T20 international between South Africa and the West Indies at Centurion yesterday. Over 500 runs were scored at Centurion as SA and the West Indies put on a performance the world and both teams will remember for many years to come. Aiden Markram won his first toss as Proteas T20 captain and sent the West Indies in to bat first. West Indies batter Charles then set Centurion alight with a superb maiden T20 international century as…

“Deputy President Mashatile says Phala-Phala probe shows strength of democracy” (The Mercury, March 24) refers: How true is this assertion? Let’s divide the statement into two parts: The reference to the Phala-Phala probe is actually a sidestep into buying more time until, like the ugly Covid-19 virus, it hopefully just vanishes out of sight. Actually, in this country, it happens all the time. Very few get away without paying a fine or at least a bribe, for even mundane misbehaviour as speeding or parking near those yellow metal objects where stray dogs and even some on a leash do their thing. Except if your usual domicilium-ad-citandum happens to be the Union Buildings or Plein Street. In which case, exemptions from even load shedding appear automatically given, as part of…

Across the entire nation, our cities have become trash heaps. Dirt and waste are infused with undesirable connotations, which can be deeply hurtful. To be connected with dirt is to lose respectability, and to lose respectability is to lose class status. Characteristics of offenders include local residents, contractors and waste removers. The illegal dumping of industrial and household waste has become a huge environmental problem. Blatant evidence of the practice is in the form of individuals throwing their trash in streets, releasing toxic trash into the environment. Illegal dumping can impede the natural run-off of water during heavy rain as we enter seasonal downpours. Raw sewage continues to pour into our rivers, streams and oceans on a never-ending scale. Illegally dumped garbage can be a horrible eyesore. Should animals consume…

THE killer of Bond University student Leigh Matthews, Donovan Moodley, has lost his urgent court bid to prevent his parole hearing from going ahead on Wednesday. Moodley said in his failed application to the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg that the Department of Justice and Correctional Services did not supply him with the documentation it aimed to use during his hearing. This included, according to him, the latest social worker’s report, as well as the latest inputs from the police and the Matthews family. According to Moodley, the department is in contempt of an earlier court order, which, according to him, stipulated that he had to have all the relevant documentation on which the hearing was going to rely, by the end of last month. He said he was…

The former IFP mayor of Msinga in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Mletheni “Mlethi” Ndlovu, survived an attempt on his life on Friday night. Ndlovu and his bodyguard fled when the suspected hit men attacked them. They were forced to abandon their car, which the attackers shot at and torched. Last year, a fellow Msinga IFP councillor accused Ndlovu of allegedly masterminding the assassination of another IFP councillor. One of the councillors who survived the assassination, publicly fingered Ndlovu for the murder. The surviving councillor alleged that he saw Ndlovu coming to the scene soon after the shooting, thinking that he was dead, to inspect “if the hit men diligently carried out the work”. However, Ndlovu’s accuser did not open a case with the police and Ndlovu vehemently denied the allegations levelled…

Department of Basic Education (DBE) Minister Angie Motshekga has vowed to do away with pit toilets at schools that still have them across the country. This comes in light of the death of a primary school pupil who allegedly drowned in the Eastern Cape. Four-year-old Langalam Viki died at Mcwangele Primary School in Vaalbank village earlier this month. Speaking at a media briefing yesterday which sought to update the country on developments and progress relating to infrastructure and sanitation at schools, Motshekga said the department was committed to fast- tracking the eradication of pit latrines. She added that the department had identified 3 398 schools that were lacking infrastructure in the past few years. “Since that time, we have delivered 2 478 projects to schools across the country. I…

Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the government and businesses should be vigilant against those who sought and employed violent means to disrupt the country’s economic sectors. Mashatile was speaking in Gauteng on Saturday at an event to honour black business excellence, and celebrate the transformation in South African business. He said while the outcries and demands for economic inclusion were valid and transformation must be supported, this needed to happen within the framework of the law. “The increasing number of reported incidents of intimidation and violent attacks on business owners in the construction, chemical, mining and transport sectors in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Western Cape, Mpumalanga and other parts of the country is not conducive to the positive image of the nation that we seek to promote, and only contributes to disinvestment…

Nick Frischke, 22, a student from Döbern in Germany, was last contacted by his family on February 15. He was spotted hiking in the Hangberg area after he had travelled there from his accommodation in Pinelands. Relatives in Germany have made countless pleas for the man’s safe return and Hout Bay residents and tour guides have joined in the search for Frischke, but to no avail. In a recent short documentary posted on social media, tour guide Johan October, said: “Somehow I feel responsible because it happened in our area, my area. I hope somebody finds him.” Five men have since been arrested and will appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on May 4. Igshaan Fisher, Jason Abrahams, Vanroy Petersen, Carlo Guenantin, and Melvin Guenantin have been charged with aggravated…

A top security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday that Russian plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would destabilise that country, which had been taken “hostage” by Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the decision on Saturday, sending a warning to Nato over its military support for Ukraine and escalating a standoff with the West. The move was not unexpected and Putin said it would not violate nuclear non-proliferation promises, but it is one of Russia’s most pronounced nuclear signals since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago. Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, called it “a step towards internal destabilisation of Belarus”. “The Kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage,” he tweeted. Putin likened his plans to…

Hong Kong police yesterday permitted a small protest march under tight restrictions in one of the first demonstrations to be approved since the enactment of a sweeping national security law in 2020. Several dozen demonstrators were required to wear numbered lanyards and were barred from wearing masks as police monitored their march against a proposed land reclamation and rubbish processing project. Participants chanted slogans against the reclamation project as they marched in the rain with banners in the eastern district of Tseung Kwan O, where the project is slated to be built. Some also criticised the restrictions on their protest, which included a maximum of 100 participants, according to a seven-page letter from police to organisers. Responding to the protest, the city’s Development Bureau said the project was intended to…

A group of 380 rebels handed life sentences over the 2021 death of former Chad ruler Idriss Deby Itno have been pardoned. This was according to a statement from the president’s office. More than 400 rebels had been sentenced on Tuesday following a mass trial for “acts of terrorism, mercenarism, recruitment of child soldiers and assaulting the head of state”. The trial started last month. It took place behind closed doors at Klessoum prison, 20 kilometres southeast of the capital. But a statement from the office of transitional president General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, one of the former ruler’s sons, said 380 had received a presidential pardon. | AFP…

The Mamelodi Sundowns faithful were sent into a frenzy on Saturday night as club duo Themba Zwane and Andile Dlamini won big at the South African Sports Awards. The ceremony was held at the Sun City Superbowl. Zwane walked away with the prominent Peoples’ Choice Award, while Banyana goalkeeper Dlamini was named the SA Sport Star of the Year. Dlamini had to beat off swimming sensation Mathew Sates and golf star Ashleigh Buhai for the biggest award of the night. The 30-year-old goal minder had an unbelievably successful 2022, helping Banyana Banyana win their first ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title, where she also won goalkeeper of the tournament. Dlamini also enjoyed victories on the domestic front as she helped Sundowns Ladies to their third consecutive league title and…

ALMOST all people experienced a time in their lives when they wished they could turn back the clock. Sometimes it is to change certain poor decisions that have been made, fix a mistake in the past, to relive special moments of joy, or to properly say goodbye to a loved one. Although the ability to turn back the clock has long been embraced by science fiction and debated by theoretical physicists, it is impossible in the classical physical world. We are all too familiar with the directionality of time and that all events follow a unidirectional path. Once an event has occurred, it cannot be reversed because we are not able to manipulate time as an entity. However, an international team of scientists claim that they have succeeded in speeding…

Some eThekwini residents are still not receiving black plastic bags used for refuse removal and have had to buy their own, despite getting charged for the service on their monthly municipal utility bills. Several residents from different parts of Durban have spoken about how the situation has changed in recent months, contributing to a noticeable decline when it comes to refuse collection and blaming the problem on the City’s Durban Solid Waste unit. A resident from uMlazi’s U Section, Thulisile Ngubane said the problem of refuse bags supply had been going on for quite some time, and had prompted some residents to simply buy their own bags. “We used to get bags at a three-month interval in this part of the township, but in recent months this has changed and…

TRADE union federation Cosatu has called for the ministerial handbook to be scrapped in the wake of Parliament being told that more than R7 million has been spent on generators and inverters for ministers and their deputies as the country experienced its worst period of load shedding. New Public Works Minister Sihle Zikalala, in reply to a parliamentary question last week, said the department had, since 2019, spent R7.04 million on alternative power supply systems at ministerial homes. There was outrage last year when it was revealed that President Cyril Ramaphosa had altered the handbook, which outlines perks for ministers and deputies, to not only allow them free utilities, but to also allocate more support staff which would see the expenditure on the budget item rising to more than R80…

The ICC is a farce. Go through the most-wanted list, and what do you find? Geriatric Nazis, some leaders from former USSR satellite states and so- called African dictators. Now Putin is on the list, and South Africa is being criticised for not cutting ties with Russia. While I am not a Putin fan, we do need to put things into perspective. Why is it that the US is never held responsible although it has broken many international laws? They are very good at forgetting what sovereignty means. Why can they bomb Syria and Libya? What about interference in Iran and Iraq? Let us go further back and look at Pearl Harbour. Japanese Americans were sent to interment camps post the event. Then there was Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not only…

EVERY now and then you encounter novel word usage you’ve never heard before. Especially if you’re with people from Ladysmith. The other evening I was at a dinner party in the company of some folk from Ladysmith. They kept using the word “commando”, speaking of girls “going commando”. What did this mean? I kept quiet as long as I could. I’m always very careful not to offend people from Ladysmith. They take offence so very easily. Years ago, Jack Shepherd-Smith, my highly-esteemed forerunner in the Idler’s chair, almost caused a civil war in the province when he wrote that they’d held a beauty contest in Ladysmith which nobody won. The Ladysmith folk took great offence. They called a special meeting of the council, which condemned The Mercury for this…

The race to succeed John Steenhuisen as DA leader is set to intensify in the final run-up to the party’s elective congress next weekend, analysts said. Former Tshwane mayor Mpho Phalatse is challenging Steenhuisen, while wild-card contender Lungile Phenyane dropped her bid to become the party’s new leader this week. Phenyane, a branch member in Tshwane, will also not challenge Helen Zille for the position of federal council chairperson, nor will Phenyane vie for the position of federal finance chairperson. This makes Zille the sole contender for her position. Thousands of DA delegates are due to convene on April 1 and 2 to elect the party’s new leadership. The chosen delegates are scheduled to be announced on April 2. Phalatse launched her leadership campaign at the Hector Pieterson Memorial in…

A man masquerading as an attorney, and his client are expected to appear in an Mpumalanga court today. The 31-year-old man was arrested for impersonating an attorney. According to the Hawks, he had represented a man charged with murder, at the Bethal Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga. Hawks spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Captain Sekgotodi Dineo, said the man had represented Mhlabuyaxega Mntungwa, 37, in court. Mntungwa was arrested in connection with the murder of a former manager of Sam Holdings, Nkosinathi Emmanuel Ngcongo, 34, who was killed on September 12, 2019. In the 2019 murder, Ngcongo was shot by two suspects who fled the scene. “Some time later, Phindokuhle Eugene Nkosi, 30, who was the driver of the van used on the day in question, was traced and arrested by Bethal SAPS…

The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Sipho Hlomuka has called for the swift arrest of suspected hit men who shot dead five men in two shooting incidents in oThongathi last week. The department said in one incident the three men killed were believed to be protectors of a local taxi boss, who is also the chairperson of one of the associations. In another incident, two men were killed. The shootings happened one after the other on Thursday about 4km apart. “The taxi boss is believed to have survived.” Police were following up leads. Hlomuka condemned the latest spate of killings. The department said there were at least three incidents of suspected taxi violence last week alone. “We call on police to investigate the oThongathi incidents and…

The frantic search for a biokineticist, 26, ended with tears of joy after she was found unharmed on Friday. Riana Pretorius was abducted outside a Newton Park medical practice in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape when she arrived for work at 8am on March 16. She was allegedly forced into a Toyota Corolla, later recovered, by three armed men who reportedly demanded a ransom of R2 million. Hawks Eastern Cape spokesperson Yolisa Mgolodela confirmed the young woman had been found and reunited with her family. “She is safe and sound. I can’t get into the specifics. I am happy that she is home with her loved ones,” said Mgolodela. News of Pretorius’ kidnapping spread swiftly on social media with messages of support and prayers pouring in for her family. Last…

Nothing is valued by politicians as much as that little mark on our ballot papers Over the years I have learnt that there is no such a thing as a free lunch. Whenever someone offers you a free lunch, you must know that you have something valuable that your host wants from you, something whose worth is far higher than the cost of the lunch. I will use this analogy in relation to our gullibility as an electorate, in the context of the periodic elections that take place. By the way, it is not a South African phenomenon but something universal all over the world. Nothing is valued by politicians as much as that little mark we make on the ballot paper on election day, for it is a gateway…

China and Honduras began formal diplomatic relations yesterday, with Taiwan accusing Beijing of using “coercion and intimidation” to lure away its few remaining allies. China announced the move soon after Tegucigalpa said it had officially severed ties with Taipei. “The two governments have decided to establish diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level”, effective immediately, China’s foreign ministry said. The switch cuts to 13 the number of countries that still diplomatically recognise Taiwan, which has lost several Latin American allies in recent years. China considers the self-ruled, democratic island a part of its territory, to be retaken one day – by force, if necessary. Under its “One China” policy, it does not allow countries to recognise both Beijing and Taipei. Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina said, “The government of the People’s Republic…

Sudan’s leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said yesterday that the country’s army would be brought under the leadership of a new civilian government. Speaking before a session for security and army reforms in Khartoum, Burhan said his country would build a military force that would not intervene in politics and would be trusted by the Sudanese people in building a modern and democratic state. More than a year after the military took power in a coup, the military and its former civilian partners and other political forces have agreed on a framework to form a new transitional government and write a new constituation to be announced next month. | Reuters…

Nairobi: The police chief yesterday announced a ban on fresh opposition demonstrations called for today, after protests last week degenerated into riots. “We will not allow illegal violent demonstrations where hooligans loot and destroy people’s property and businesses,” said Inspector-General of Police, Japhet Koome. Opposition leader Raila Odinga urged people to take to the streets today and on Thursday for further protests against the surging cost of living in Kenya. Last Monday’s demonstrations – not authorised by police – descended into violence. A student was killed by police fire and 31 officers injured in running battles. More than 200 people were arrested. | AFP…

Former South African women’s national team captain Janine Van Wyk has expressed her views following her recent snubbing from the set-up. Van Wyk, now 35, is the highest-capped player in South Africa with over 180 appearances and is also the highest-capped female in African football. Following her brief but successful stint in Scotland with Glasgow City, Van Wyk is now playing for Greek club Ergotelis Women FC. Nevertheless, she has found it hard to reclaim her place in the national squad. The Alberton-born defender was an integral part of Banyana’s remarkable 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations success but has since been left out in the cold as the team prepares for this year’s World Cup. Van Wyk has, on her social media, expressed her displeasure at not being part…

Natal Sharks (13) 20 Tries: Penxe (2), Sobahle; Penalty: Zeilinga; Conversion: Zeilinga Western Province (7) 7 Try: Robertson; Conversions: Wolhuter It was like enduring root canal treatment for long periods, but the Sharks eventually prevailed over both Western Province and the gusty wind conditions in Durban to win this Currie Cup game 20-7 yesterday. It was a strange old encounter. The home team enjoyed a mountain of possession but found the Province defence and spiteful wind difficult to overcome, with the second and third quarters of the game delivering perplexing rugby as both teams did their best not to score. The Sharks started well enough when fullback Yaw Penxe scored from a play set up by a very good tactical kick by scrumhalf Bradley Davids. Veteran…