Indholdsfortegnelse for 2023-04-26 i Mercury

Almost all 77 of the South Africans stranded in Sudan have been safely evacuated and arrived at the Egypt border, the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) confirmed yesterday. Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela, in a post yesterday on his Twitter account, said two buses carrying the South African nationals have safely arrived at the border. He said officials from the South African Embassy were there to receive them and facilitate their entry into Egypt. There were 12 more nationals expected to leave Sudan later yesterday and with them, “everyone we know will be accounted for”. According to Monyela, the South African government will pay for their flights back to South Africa. “The support of everyone, including Gift of the Givers and the government of Egypt, is acknowledged and appreciated,”…

At last some reliable information from outer space. Detailed images of Mars’s moon, Deimos, have been unveiled after a probe flew just 100km from its surface, according to Sky News. The unprecedented high-resolution pictures, captured by the UAE Space Agency during a series of flybys, include a glimpse of areas on the far side of the moon which have never been observed in such detail before. The moon, which is “small and lumpy”, takes 30 hours to orbit Mars and is just 15km long. The flyby images are part of the UAE's wider Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) to study the Red Planet. And how refreshing to be spared those endless Nasa spoofs in which they produce pictures of the surface of Mars, vast tracts of rock and grit, not a…

The Mercury is always a mix of good, bad and newsworthy. But when it’s bad, there are those who thrive on digging deep to try and expose the reasons, actual or imaginary. Their predictable target is often the evil whites. One writer (April 21) headed to America for his justifications. While expounding on that country’s gun fetishism, he even tampered with American history, alleging that “they” – presumably whites with guns – “killed all the buffalo”, an allegation which simple research will debunk. Continuing on the anti-white theme, he recounts a recent terrible story, referring to the “racist” shooting of a black teenager by a barely mobile 85-year-old white man, who maintained that he thought he was about to be attacked when the youngster, seeking directions to a friend’s house,…

THE victim of a hijacking last month found himself in a position that most people hope for, when he spotted one of the five suspects who had stolen his vehicle, busy doing his driver’s licence test at the Verulam Testing Ground in Lotusville, KwaZulu-Natal on Monday. Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said the suspect was arrested during a joint operation between Reaction Officers and the Verulam SAPS. According to Balram, an e-hailing driver was hijacked of his Datsun Go and robbed of his valuables in Oakford, KZN in March. “The (e-hailing driver) was renewing his driver’s licence at the Verulam Testing Ground in Lotusville when he spotted one of five men involved in the hijacking,” he said. Balram said after the suspect was spotted, the victim contacted…

Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Sihle Zikalala, has vowed to take action against “construction mafia” groups who were sabotaging the delivery of infrastructure. Zikalala gave the assurance when he outlined his infrastructure plan yesterday, in which he announced major construction projects throughout the country. Zikalala said his office would meetthe Economic Sabotage Unit set up within the police to deal with economic crimes, including the rising phenomenon of so called construction mafia who invaded, intimidated and disrupted delivery of projects on the ground. “We reiterate that everyone is allowed to partake in economic activity in the country, but this must be done in a legal and orderly fashion. “We will continue to engage communities on how they can benefit from construction projects and the entire value chain. “Equally,…

Energy experts have warned that Eskom’s coal fleet Energy Availability Factor (EAF) is hovering around 50%, which means only half of the available power is being generated by the power utility. Experts have said the low EAF could see higher stages of load shedding this winter. Lungile Mashele, an energy economist, said the EAF had been oscillating at 50% for some time now. “EAF is a tricky measure because it looks at a point in time, there might be improvements at some point during the month, week or day that are generally unaccounted for or negligible when computing the monthly EAF.” Mashele added that a higher EAF means lower stages of load shedding. “The 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) assumed EAF would be above 70% and that informed the investment…

The EFF has welcomed the recent judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), which dismissed AfriForum’s appeal to lift the ban on displaying the apartheid flag. On Friday, the SCA, in a 33-page ruling, unanimously agreed that any gratuitous public display of the old South African flag constituted hate speech, unfair discrimination on the basis of race, and harassment in terms of equality legislation. This comes after AfriForum had appealed to the SCA after it had lost its case in the Equality Court. In 2019, the Equality Court in Johannesburg ruled that the display of the old South African flag, both in public and private spaces, is prohibited. The only exception to the rule is the display of the flag for artistic expression, academic expression, or journalistic expression in…

Civil society organisations have stressed the need for a retired judge to be appointed as an ombud for whistle-blowers to stem rampant corruption in the country. Lack of adequate support for whistle-blowers has led to the crisis of corruption and state capture, they said. The threats against whistle-blowers can be seen in the attempted assassination of the University of Fort Hare vice-chancellor (VC), Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, and the assassination of the VC’s bodyguard, Mboneli Vesele, and that of Gauteng health sector whistle- blower, Babita Deokaran, they argued. Corruption Watch executive director Karam Singh said: “We do not have a focal point within the state that whistle-blowers feel safe to go to. A designated ombud or panel with a track record to receive complaints and to protect the identities of those…

Modernisation today is often associated with technology and artificial intelligence. When living in a developing country such as China, we would witness this modernisation and technological advances first-hand. We came across robots acting as porters in Chinese hotels, and these played an instrumental role during Covid-19 when food and supplies had to be delivered to people who were being isolated. In a 2015 study tour to the country, we were taken to an agricultural hub in the heart of Hangzhou where a farmer was using drones to spray pesticides, as well as to watch out for any unwanted activity on his smallholding. But in China, modernisation, though embracing an aspect of technology, means something different. Addressing the recent Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernisation and the World, Chinese state councillor and…

TÜRKIYE yesterday detained at least 110 pro-Kurdish activists, journalists and lawyers in raids conducted just three weeks before a knife-edge vote that could extend President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-decade rule. Police said their “counter-terror” operation was conducted simultaneously in 21 provinces, including Diyarbakir, the Kurdish minority’s unofficial capital in Türkiye. State media said police held people suspected of financing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or roping new members into the outlawed group. The PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies for waging a decades-long armed struggle for greater autonomy in Türkiye’s south-east. The Anadolu state news agency said the detained included people suspected of fomenting nearly 60 street protests since 2017. The operation also involved suspects who allegedly transferred money to the PKK…

New York: Harry Belafonte, the superstar entertainer who introduced a Caribbean flair to mainstream US music and had a personal investment in civil rights, died yesterday in Manhattan. He was 96. Born in Harlem to a Jamaican mother and a father from the French territory of Martinique, the calypso singer and actor spent part of his childhood in Jamaica before returning to New York. Belafonte became a confidant of Martin Luther King Jnr and funded the cause. When King was thrown into an Alabama jail, Belafonte raised $50 000 to post his bail. | AFP…

Tehran: Iran has charged two prominent actresses for publishing pictures of themselves flouting the country’s dress code for women, just weeks after announcing a crackdown on breaches, reports said. Police in Tehran have referred the case against Katayoun Riahi and Pantea Bahram to Iran’s judiciary, accusing them of “the crime of removing the hijab in public and posting photos on the internet”. If prosecuted, the pair could face fines or prison terms. Police said they would begin using “smart” technology to crack down on women defying Iran’s compulsory dress code. The requirement was imposed after the 1979 Islamic revolution. | AFP…

GENEVA: Contaminated cough syrup made by an Indian company has been found in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday after a spate of child deaths linked to syrups in some countries last year. The WHO said samples from a batch of imported cough syrup, with the product name Guaifenesin syrup TG syrup, were contaminated with diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which are toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal. The new alert follows three WHO warnings last year about tainted cough syrups for children, made by different manufacturers in India and Indonesia and linked to 300 child deaths. | Reuters…

KWAZULU-NATAL recorded more than 26 000 teenage pregnancies between April and December last year, underlining the levels of unprotected sex in the age group and exposing high levels of sexual abuse taking place. These statistics, which were revealed by the KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane to Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs) as part of her budget vote last week, have led to calls from religious leaders for steps to be taken against sexual abuse of girls. The department said it was conducting awareness campaigns targeting teenagers, but conceded that such efforts were yielding limited results as reflected by the statistics. “As at the end of the third quarter of 2022/23 (or between April and December last year), KZN had registered a total of 26 515 pregnancies by girls between…

AS President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the ANC wants South Africa to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the US revealed yesterday that it would not pressure the country to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin when he attends the BRICS summit later this year. The ICC has issued the warrant for alleged war crimes related to the abduction of children from Ukraine. This is the second time that the ANC has taken a decision to withdraw from the ICC after an initial one in 2016. This was after the ANC government had come under fire from the opposition for failing to arrest the former president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, in 2015. At the ANC National Executive Committee meeting at the weekend, the party took a decision to again leave…

The rainy season is behind us in most parts of South Africa. As the rains depart, we need to be conservative and use the available water wisely and sparingly to ensure water security until the next rainy season. Without rain, our water resources cannot be replenished and this simply means we need to take care and use what we have in a more responsible and conservative manner – especially as South Africa is a water scarce and dry country. Climate change is also upon us, making it even more important to use the available water sparingly as we are no longer guaranteed good rains. Climate change negatively affects reliable water supply due to reduced rainfalls and extremely hot weather conditions, leading to high evaporation. High evaporation leads to high water…

It may come as a great surprise to many that Mr T Markandan’s gun-toting Americans do not enjoy a basic national government free health scheme for all and sundry. The average individual American psyche is more concerned about shooting other individuals. The broader guardians of the country are busy investing, instead, in warmongering abroad. Meantime, health care is treated like a downstairs step-child and is, surprisingly, extremely complicated. Each state differs. Some citizens have costly health insurance but most poor people (yes – there are plenty in that category, yonder side of the Atlantic!) have to contend with the darkness of their destiny if they encounter some serious illness or casuality. Back home, here in South Africa, we do have “free” government clinics and hospitals that attempt to…

The five refugees who appeared in court after they were evicted from outside the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Brooklyn, Pretoria, where they were camping, will have to wait one more week – behind bars – to find out if they are to be charged. The five refugees are among a group of more than 100 who had been camping outside the UNHCR offices since 2019, following the outbreak of xenophobic attacks in parts of Johannesburg, pleading for assistance or repatriation to another Third World country. Eight refugees were set to appear before the Hatfield Magistrate’s Court on Monday after they voluntarily left with the police following their eviction from the UNHCR offices on Friday, but only five were detained. The group, most of them from the South…

Disgruntled truck drivers will be striking on April 30 over long-standing issues related to the employment of foreign drivers in the industry. All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied South Africa’s Sifiso Nyathi said the strike would demonstrate the power of the local drivers, and serve as a warning that they should be taken seriously. He accused truck owners of overlooking local drivers and opting to employ foreign drivers, who offered cheap labour. The issue of foreign truck drivers being given preference for employment has been raised for the past three years by local driver associations. An inter-ministerial committee of various government departments, including Transport, Home Affairs and Labour and Employment, was set up in 2021 to look into the matter. “The fact is we have been calling for the matter…

A woman, believed to be 33 years old, was left in a critical condition after she was attacked by a pit bull in the Westbrook area on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast yesterday. IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson Dylan Meyrick said it was reported that the woman was walking home in a residential area when she was viciously attacked by dogs while passing a property. “The woman has sustained critical injuries, with traumatic bite wounds all over her body. She is currently being stabilised by IPSS Medical Advanced Life Support and will be transported to hospital for the further care she requires,” he said. IPSS said while there were three pit bulls on the property, only one dog had blood on it. Riza Sadack, spokesperson for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)…

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has revealed that 19 707 children under age 5 died due to pneumonia and diarrhoea in public hospitals, and 12 582 from moderate and severe acute malnutrition, in the past 10 years. In total, more than 178 000 children under 5, died at public hospitals in the country during the same period. Phaahla also revealed that 12 224 children’s deaths between 2013 to 2018 were due to unnatural causes. The minister was responding to parliamentary questions from the DA spokesperson on health, Michele Clarke. Clarke asked Phaahla for details on the number of children who died in public health facilities in each of the provinces. She also wanted the minister to give a detailed breakdown of the reason for each death and the number of…

Postbank has launched a new method of paying beneficiaries of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) which does not require a physical card. It said this meant that beneficiaries whose Sassa/Postbank gold cards have expired or haven’t been collected will still be able to get their grant money paid out safely and for free at participating retailers such as Shoprite, Usave, Boxer, Pick n Pay and OK. According to the spokesperson for Postbank, Dr Bongani Diako, grant recipients whose Sassa cards have expired, or are soon to expire, can use the new payment method. “To use it, Sassa beneficiaries just need to bring their ID document and Sassa/Postbank card PIN to any of the participating retailers. “At the till point, they will be asked to validate their identity and…

Three men are set to appear before the Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court in the North West this week for contravention of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act after they were allegedly found in possession of a Nile crocodile. The accused were arrested last Thursday after Stilfontein Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit members received information that a Nile crocodile was stolen from a crocodile farm in Hartebeesfontein, North West police spokesperson Colonel Adéle Myburgh said. The investigation led the team to an abandoned farmhouse where a 2.5-metre-long Nile crocodile valued at R25 000 was discovered hidden under tree branches. Police arrested the three men and seized a bakkie which was allegedly used in committing the crime. The reptile has since been returned to its owner. In another case investigated by members…

Fighting in Sudan eased yesterday and more foreigners and locals fled the capital Khartoum, where marauding combatants created what a UN agency said was a “high risk of biological hazard” by seizing a laboratory. The World Health Organization (WHO) said one of the warring parties had taken control of a national health facility that stores measles and cholera pathogens for vaccinations, and ejected the technicians. It gave few details and did not say which of the two sides – the army or the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – had captured the lab, which also contains a major blood bank. An exodus of embassies and aid workers from Africa’s third-largest country has raised fears that civilians who remain will be in greater danger if an alternative to hostilities is not…

The death toll among followers of a Kenyan cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves has risen to 89, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said yesterday, calling for the group’s leader to spend the rest of his life in prison. The toll has steadily risen in recent days as authorities have carried out exhumations of mass graves found in an 323ha area of the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya where the self-proclaimed Good News International Church was based. Most of the dead were recovered from shallow graves, while a small number were found alive and emaciated but later died. Exhumation sites were cordoned off and teams could be seen carrying away corpses wrapped in body bags. Kindiki said three more people had been rescued alive, bringing…

NEW YORK: Months after his departure from The Daily Show last year comedian Trevor Noah won a Webby Award for comedy in the America’s Door Problem segment of the late-night talk show, in which he pushes for gun control and criticises policymakers’ response to mass shootings. The 27th Annual Webby Awards, which will be handed out on May 15, also honour work featuring singers Rihanna, Lizzo and Doja Cat, former president Barack Obama and the cast of Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In Noah’s segment, he skewers the beliefs of some conservatives that books, critical race theory, video games and rap music lead to gun violence. “That’s how evil critical race theory is – it’s only been around for like a year and it’s already caused three decades of school…

Ankara: After the massive February 6 earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria, killing 59 259 people and damaging thousands of buildings, the government in Ankara is embarking on tens of thousands of housing and infrastructure projects in the region. This is in order to meet the pledge to complete them within one year. However, it faces a big challenge to reach the goal set by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan due to a severe labour shortage. The problem is likely to worsen as the number of constructions sharply increased after the catastrophe. More than 13 million people living in 11 provinces were affected by the destructive earthquakes. | IANS…

SUPPLIERS employed under the National School Nutrition Programme in KwaZulu-Natal have detailed the unbearable conditions they have been subjected to since the new model for the feeding scheme was adopted at the start of the second term. The challenges listed include sleeping outside the pick-up points in order to be first in the food queue, having to travel long distances to collect food supplies, waiting for a long period to receive food that is often inadequate, and being on the receiving end of complaints from angry school principals about the quality of the food being delivered. They also pointed out that under the new conditions they were no longer business people, but rather “delivery crews”. Those operating in the Ugu District on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast have warned that they…

Knowing when to step in, when to step up, and when to step out, and understanding that in some odd dance you may have to do all three at the same time. Accurately sensing when to ask for more information and when to mind your own business. Understanding that not everything pertaining to your child is your business. There are things he or she will really have to face and deal with without you and in his or her own way. Learning to accept that some of the things you will hear and some of the things you will see are to remain hidden in your heart forever. This includes discerning when to tell stories about your children and when to keep things private. Some things you think are cute…

The SAPS and the prison services are finally re-energised at having seized their elusive quarry, having brought their prized escapees home in a chartered plane, convoked at the cost of the South African taxpayer. The media continues to unravel the secrets and truths that have made this case intriguing and compelling. The authorities seem to be basking in the glow of this public relations exercise. Now it’s pucker time for criminal profilers, psychiatric gurus and psychologists to peep into their interior worlds and get a glimpse of their dark and secret past. But the media is doing a sterling job for them, every waking dawn full of revelations. But what will make a professional woman, bordering on celebrity status, with an eclectic lifestyle, fall for a convicted murderer and rapist?…

THE whereabouts of an alleged Isis terrorist and his bodyguard are still unknown, following their alleged kidnapping three months ago from the Mall of Africa in Midrand. And the court has struck down an urgent application for the government to reveal what had happened to them, after Abdella Hussein Abadigga and his bodyguard Kadir Jemal Abotose were allegedly snatched from the mall on the afternoon of December 29. It is claimed that the special force members of the SANDF were involved in their disappearance. Abadigga’s brother, Abdurahim Abadigga, turned to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, to obtain an urgent order for the State to declare the whereabouts of the men, or to produce them before a court for the latter to physically see them and then determine whether they had…

Zille was weighing in on the controversy surrounding US social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. She retweeted a post that misgendered Mulvaney. Mulvaney is at the centre of a sexuality and gender politics storm after appearing in an advert for a popular US beer, Bud Light. “Is it now considered insufficiently ‘woke’ to be merely gay?” Zille, who was recently re-elected DA federal council chairperson, asked on Twitter. “Must you be transgender to gain access to the inner sanctum of the ‘tribe’? And must you, in the process, trash and stereotype all women, eradicating the progress they have made to achieve equality over half a century?” When some Twitter users called her out, Zille doubled down. “I will (keep quiet) when Dylan Mulvaney does. I am sick of people like her…

Police Minister Bheki Cele has said that just over 18 000 people have been prosecuted for cattle theft across the country in the past five years. Cele said measures were being implemented by the government to ensure the safety and protection of individuals who reported cattle theft. “Information regarding stock theft is kept confidential, as is the case with information provided in respect of any other crime. “The witness protection programme is in place and is utilised, if necessary, for the individuals who provide information about crime,” he said. Cele was responding to written parliamentary questions posed by DA MP Christiaan Kruger. The minister said a total of 18 817 people were prosecuted for cattle theft between 2018/19 and 2022/23. KwaZulu-Natal has the highest number of affected people at 4…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has accepted the withdrawal of the names of three people who had been nominated to receive National Orders in a ceremony in Pretoria tomorrow. The Presidency said withdrawal of the names follows objections from sectors of society and recommendations by the National Orders Advisory Council (NOAC). Duma Ndlovu, Freek Robinson, and Mike Horn have been withdrawn from the list of 35 chosen recipients to be conferred. “To uphold the integrity of national orders, the NOAC will further adopt measures to strengthen the selection process. “These measures include a workshop to be undertaken by council members at the end of April, 2023. Timelines of the selection process will also be reviewed,” the Presidency said. National Orders are the highest awards that a country, through its president, bestows on…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has hinted at a plan that would get parties with the most votes to form a coalition government in a model developed for coalitions to end instability in municipalities. Ramaphosa commented on the coalition solution when meeting Finland’s President Sailu Niinisto, who is on a state visit in Pretoria. Finland is one of the countries that have had long-standing coalition governments for more than 100 years. Niinisto said in his country,parties did not go above 30% of the vote and this forced them to get into coalitions. Ramaphosa said they were working at a threshold where parties with a certain number of votes would go into a coalition to create stability at local government level. Many municipalities have been rocked by motions of no confidence. Since 2021…

They must assert their position as heirs to the great promise of SA I don’t remember hearing or using the phrase “children of freedom” very much to describe young South African children who were born around the time of Nelson Mandela’s release in 1990. Instead, it is a phrase that has largely been associated with the 1976 generation for their role in bringing about what is mistakenly considered a “revolution” in national politics. But watching the children of the children of 1976 – now in their 20s and 30s – grow up over the past 30 years, I have caught a glimpse of the society for which the latter made sacrifices. I have been disturbed by the navel-gazing focus that has been given to the 1976 generation, which has been…

US President Joe Biden announced yesterday his bid “to finish the job” with re-election in 2024, plunging at the record age of 80 into a ferocious campaign that could set up a rematch against Donald Trump. Launching his pitch in a video on the same date he first began his 2020 challenge against Trump, Biden said he was still fighting to save American democracy from Republican “extremists”. “When I ran for president four years ago, I said we’re in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are,” Biden says in the voiceover. “That’s been the work of my first term: to fight for our democracy,” Biden says. “Let’s finish this job – I know we can.” After a series of big domestic legislative wins, a strong economic…

BRITAIN’S Prince William has “settled” a phone-hacking claim against a UK newspaper group, court documents filed by his brother Prince Harry in his own lawsuit claimed yesterday. Harry, 38, is suing a number of UK newspapers over alleged unlawful information-gathering, including News Group Newspapers (NGN), part of Rupert Murdoch’s global publishing empire. It is asking the High Court in London to throw out the claims, filed by Harry and actor Hugh Grant, arguing they are out of time. But in court papers, the prince’s lawyers said William had “recently settled his claim against NGN behind the scenes”. Harry claims the delay in filing a lawsuit against NGN stems from a “secret agreement” between the royal family and the publisher. “This was to avoid a member of the royal family having…

NEW YORK: Donald Trump went to trial yesterday, where the writer E Jean Carroll is accusing the former US president in a civil lawsuit of raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Jury selection began in Manhattan federal court, where the former Elle magazine columnist is also accusing Trump of defamation. Trump, 76, has denied raping Carroll, 79, He called her claim a “hoax” in October 2022. He said she made up the encounter to promote her memoir and declared that she was “not my type”. Trump is not required to attend the trial, owing to the likelihood of security concerns and traffic delays. Trump also faces criminal probes. He has denied wrongdoing. | Reuters…

LONDON: Toy maker Mattel has introduced its first Barbie with Down’s syndrome in a bid to make its famous doll range more inclusive. Yesterday, Mattel said it had worked with the National Down Syndrome Society in the US to make the doll, which has a shorter frame and longer torso than its other Barbies. The new doll’s face is also a rounder shape, and has almond-shaped eyes, smaller ears and a flat nasal bridge, Mattel said. “Our goal is to enable all children to see themselves in Barbie, while also encouraging children to play with dolls who do not look like the executive vice-president and Global Head of Barbie & Dolls,” Mattel said in the statement.…