Indholdsfortegnelse for 2023-08-22 i Mercury

Minister of Police General Bheki Cele and the national commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola, yesterday delivered a message to members of the police and other law-enforcement agencies, including the SANDF and metro police, before the 6th BRICS Summit that is set to get under way in Sandton today. President Cyril Ramaphosa, President Xi Jinping of China, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to attend the summit alongside heads of state from the continent and other BRICS-aligned nations. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend virtually and will be represented in Joburg by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The SANDF has deployed troops to form part of the security detail. A security forces parade of law-enforcement agencies from various disciplines of the…

WHAT is a “holloway”? It’s an English surname; also the name of a neighbourhood in London and of several towns in the US. But actually it’s a sunken footpath or track caused by centuries of human and animal traffic, especially in the southern English county of Dorset. It means what it says: “hollow way”. Some holloways have actually been tarmacked and have roads running along them. Others have become footpaths, others have sunk so deep in forest and undergrowth that they are forgotten. But now, according to the BBC, Dorset’s holloways are being explored and documented by ecologist Andy Jefferies and archaeologist Rosie Cummings, who are leading a project with Natural England that aims, for the first time to map this ancient network across the region, using state-of-the-art 3D…

All of England came to a standstill early on Sunday. In homes and pubs across the country they were glued to the telly to watch the Women’s World Cup final taking place far away Down Under in Sydney. Many pubs opened early to get the delirious English fans into high spirits before the kick-off. Hopes were high in England. If the English Lionesses could beat the host nation Australia why couldn’t they bring down the mighty Spanish? Sadly it was not to be. Spain was a different proposition to Australia. This time the Spanish Armada proved too strong for the English. Spanish skipper Olga Carmona struck with a clinical finish early in the game to give her country a 1-0 lead over the English rivals. And they held on bravely…

If you are at school, please read this every few days... Your school books and your teachers are invaluable keys to a successful future. Like it or not, embracing this truth, investing in your education will have richer returns than you can possibly imagine. Your parents, for better or for worse, are the most important people you will ever know. Learning to enjoy and understand them, and stand up to them, will equip you to negotiate all the important relationships in your entire future. Money, sex, power and how you handle each will make or break you and are the only measures of authentic healthy spirituality. Read, research, and crave wisdom about each and act upon the wisdom as it unfolds. This will stack the odds of building a successful…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that the government are trying to rescue 23 South Africans who are stranded in Niger after the military seized power. President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown by the military in July and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has threatened to intervene and restore constitutional order. But Mali and Burkina Faso, who are ruled by the military, warned that if Ecowas intervened it would be a declaration of war on all three countries. A delegation from Ecowas was in the capital Niamey on Saturday in a last-ditch effort to find a solution to the crisis. Bazoum and his family have been detained by the military. The coup has been condemned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the AU and several Western powers. US acting Deputy…

MONTHS after opposition parties in eThekwini Municipality called for the removal of an ANC ward councillor who is drawing a salary despite being in prison awaiting trial for murder, questions remain over whether action has been taken. A recommendation was approved by council almost three months ago stating that ward 101 councillor Muzimuni Ngiba be removed as a member of the eThekwini council. However The Mercury was unable to establish how far the process had moved to remove the councillor and whether he was still being paid. DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa, in a council meeting last week, asked speaker Thabani Nyawose for an update on the matter, saying the council had “made a recommendation that the person who is supposed to be a ward 101 councillor be removed and the…

The leadership of the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) will be in KwaZulu-Natal this week to meet regional structures and explain the reasons behind their decision to nullify the body’s provincial conference held earlier this month. ANCWL national spokesperson Sarah Mokwebo confirmed yesterday that the decision to nullify the conference in which Nonhlanhla Khoza had emerged as the league’s KZN chairperson, was communicated to the ANC KZN provincial office on August 18 by email and WhatsApp. The conference, which was held from August 4 to 7, was beset by delays and complaints from some members. Reacting to the decision, Mpume Mabaso, an ANC member from the eThekwini region, who was among those delegates that lodged a dispute regarding the conference, said she and her comrades felt vindicated. She said the decision…

The plans of eThekwini Municipality and the City of uMhlathuze to enhance access roads leading to the Durban and Richards Bay harbours respectively, with the aim of alleviating truck congestion, stand as a promising development poised to steer the nation’s economy towards a positive trajectory. During the recent BRICS/KwaZulu- Natal Trade and Investment seminar held in Durban, eThekwini’s municipal manager, Musa Mbhele, unveiled ongoing initiatives to upgrade the road infrastructure surrounding South Africa’s busiest ports. Thabane Zulu, the CEO of the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ), also shared plans for the expansion and development of the area. Mbhele highlighted, “among the pivotal projects in motion is the enhancement of the M7 and N2 interchange, a vital logistics route that is currently in the tender process”. “The project’s focus…

Ugandan police announced the arrest of four people yesterday for allegedly engaging in same-sex activity, three months after the introduction of draconian anti-gay legislation sparked international outrage. The law, considered one of the harshest of its kind in the world, contains provisions making “aggravated homosexuality” a potentially capital offence and penalties for consensual same-sex relations of up to life in prison. Police said that the authorities had arrested four people including two women at a massage parlour in the eastern district of Buikwe on Saturday. The UN, foreign governments and rights groups have condemned the new legislation, which was signed into law in May. The World Bank announced it was suspending new loans to the east African nation, saying the law contradicts the lender’s values. But Uganda’s government is defiant.…

England went into the Women’s World Cup final dreaming of global domination, but their 1-0 loss to Spain - and the nature of it - was a reality check that will haunt them and Sarina Wiegman. England’s Dutch coach admitted Spain were the better team in front of nearly 76 000 in Sydney to lift the World Cup for the first time in their history on Sunday. Spain’s deserved triumph over the European champions came even with them missing several top players because of a mutiny in the camp that broke out 11 months ago. Fifteen players said in September last year that they no longer wished to represent their country because of numerous objections, chief among them to coach Jorge Vilda. Three returned for the World Cup but the…

The BRICS summit starts today, with more than 40 heads of state expected in Johannesburg to discuss the expansion of the bloc, trade and partnerships in what is being described as a “new world order”. The inclusion of leaders such as Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, India’s Narendra Modi and the People’s Republic of China’s Xi Jinping would have been significant in itself, but President Cyril Ramaphosa has also extended invites to African leaders and the Global South. The Russian Federation will be led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while President Vladimir Putin will join the summit via video link. Putin and Ramaphosa reached a formal agreement for the former not to attend after the International Criminal Court (ICC), of which South Africa is a full member, issued a…

The Multi-Party Charter of South Africa (formerly the moonshot pact) is considered to have succeeded, because all seven participating parties have (after some tense debates) put their signatures to the agreement. That was quite a two-day achievement. Sustainable success, however, will depend on whether the participants will continue to stand united in most of the positive aspects that flow from the joint responsibilities of governing policies. The former UDF also achieved unity (mainly with the initiative of massive international boycotts and sanctions) in making South Africa ungovernable under the previous regime. Unity in “opposition”, however, does not lead to unity in the responsibility of government. An apt description would be the picture of dogs chasing cars – what would they do if they “caught” the car? The failure of the…

I have to respond to Dr Duncan Du Bois’s falsehoods regarding Donald Trump’s indictments (The Mercury, August 21). I can understand the poorly educated, mostly racist Trump supporters believing his lies. However, Du Bois, who claims to be a historian, repeating them makes me question that title. His use of the terms, “globalist agenda”, “deep state” and “Soros funded” are all code words for “the Jews who control the world”. Trump did not comply when asked for the top-secret documents; he was flashing them to any guest that would listen at Mar a Largo. He was heard, and they have tapes, him telling unknown guests about plans to invade Iran. We have yet to see if he passed these secrets on to his close dictator pals. It does not mean…

It’s not right to jail priests, imams or rabbis for breaches of the Marriage Bill. This is the sentiment expressed by political party Al Jama-ah, among its objections to certain sections of the newly proposed Marriage Bill that seeks to “rationalise legislations” dealing with marriages and ensure that all persons, regardless of race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religious or cultural beliefs, are treated equally and with dignity. The Department of Home Affairs advances in the bill that legislative benefits should be extended to all marriages, concluded under any tradition, or a system of religious, personal or family law. It makes provision for those who may conduct marriages, different types of marriages including monogamous and polygamous marriage and also provides for penalties including jail time for marriage officers who breach provisions…

CRIME experts and political parties have described the rate of crime in KwaZulu-Natal as “extremely worrying” despite the latest crime statistics showing a decrease in violent crimes such as murder, rape and hijacking. The first quarter crime stats, released on Friday, showed that in KZN murders decreased from 1 623 cases to 1 584 in the period from April to June 2023 compared with the same period in 2022. In the same period, rape decreased from 1 953 cases to 1 879, while hijacking decreased from 913 cases to 835. Robbery with aggravating circumstances decreased from 6 334 to 6 084. In terms of the stations recording the most cases in the country, Inanda police station continued to record the most rapes and murders nationally. Police…

Was the EFF formed out of anger or a vendetta? This is not an easy question where one can jump for a “yes” or a “no”. Sometimes the answer is both. Julius Malema holds a grudge against certain people who he says expelled him from the ANC. Yet the very same EFF, when it suits them, say that the ANC took a collective decision, instead of one person taking responsibility. That is a contradiction. On top of that, they have a vendetta against the people they say ill-treated Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Yet Thabo Mbeki made it clear that the position was a decision of the ANC. Though this anger was not directly linked to their expulsion or them leaving, there is a link. From their analysis, Cyril Ramaphosa was one of…

A British nurse was jailed for life yesterday, with no prospect of release, for murdering seven newborn babies and attempting to kill six others while they were in her care. Lucy Letby, 33, was convicted of killing five baby boys and two baby girls, making her the UK’s most prolific child serial killer in modern history. She was arrested following a string of baby deaths at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in north-west England between June 2015 and June 2016. The prosecution said Letby attacked her vulnerable prematurely born victims, often during night shifts, by either injecting them with air, overfeeding them with milk or poisoning them with insulin. Following a trial that started in October, a jury at Manchester Crown Court ended more than 100…

Tropical Storm Hilary drenched Southern California with record rainfall, shutting down schools, roads and businesses before edging in on Nevada yesterday. California Governor Gavin Newsom had declared a state of emergency over much of the typically dry area, where flash flood warnings remained in effect until yesterday morning. The Los Angeles branch of the National Weather Service said overnight that multiple daily rainfall records in the region had been broken. With people already on edge ahead of the storm’s arrival, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake jolted the southern California town of Ojai, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The deluge from Hilary swamped roads, transforming highways into rivers and stranding some motorists. The start of the public school year was widely delayed for a day, with class postponed…

Former New Zealand coach Steve Hansen has joined Australia in a short-term advisory role in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup in France after accepting an invitation from Wallabies coach Eddie Jones. An Australia team spokesperson confirmed Hansen, who guided the All Blacks to their 2015 World Cup win in England, would be in camp this week ahead of Sunday’s warm-up Test against World Cup hosts France in Paris. Hansen is not being paid by Rugby Australia for what is expected to be a one-week stint, the spokesperson said. Jones and Hansen have battled from opposing coaches’ boxes throughout their long careers, most notably during the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Under Jones, England upset Hansen's All Blacks 19-7 in the semi-finals in 2019 before losing 32-12 to South…

OPPOSITION parties have rejected the findings of the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) into the Phala Phala saga, saying it was an attempt to “cleanse” President Cyril Ramaphosa. Sarb found no evidence that a sale was concluded and that no exchange control regulations were contravened, following complaints relating to the stolen cash in US dollars, which had been concealed in couches at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in 2020. In March this year, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) said a tax compliance statement indicated that the $4 million sale of game at the farm in 2020 had been declared. The Sarb said yesterday that it had finalised its investigation into the matter, but the report would not be made public as it was a “private internal report”. “On the facts…

It would appear that eThekwini is not interested in providing services to ratepayers as usual. The refuse was not collected for two weeks and I was told that my councillor should keep me updated on this matter. Really, like it is the councillor’s job. I was then told that my bags would be collected this past Saturday. They were not and the person at the local DSW office has blocked my calls. It is becoming abundantly clear that the ANC must go as they cannot run a municipality. Sometimes it can take up to two years to have a pothole fixed, dug by themselves to fix a water leak. We now have a pile of soil and rubble covering the pavement in Sahaguntine Road, a main thoroughfare from the other…

Durban Central police have arrested four suspects who were allegedly part of an estate fraud syndicate. KwaZulu-Natal provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said four suspects were held in connection with the Master of the High Court fraud in which deceased persons’ estates were swindled by fraudsters. Netshiunda said the breakthrough came after intensive investigations by police detectives. Zinhle Msomi, 42, Lorraine Ndlovu, 44, Zanele Hlengwa, 45, and Nkosinathi Moya, 62, were arrested in Durban. The suspects were remanded in custody when they made their first appearance in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday. “In July 2022, a woman went to the Master of the High Court to register a claim for her late son, but she was perplexed when she was told that her son’s R700 000 estate had…

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga says there are 805 schools in high-risk communities across the country. But the department was taking measures to address the issue to help pupils located in these communities. Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed in the crime statistics that from April to June this year, seven pupils were killed in schools and 55 rapes were reported. Motshekga, who was replying to a written parliamentary question from Baxolile Nodada from the DA, said: “A total number of 805 schools is being prioritised for the provision of comprehensive psycho-social support across the nine provinces.” She said part of the programme included capacity building of school-based support teams for psycho-social support, visits by professional nurses and social workers, and a Learner Support Agent in each school. Other…

Need for urgency to address poor governance problems, rising crime and corruption I AM pleasantly impressed that I am not alone in itching for an early national and provincial election following last week’s agreement by seven opposition parties involved in pre-election moonshot coalition talks, which re-branded their pre-election agreement as the Multi-Party Charter for South Africa and invited more parties to join the pact in a bid to secure a majority of votes needed to constitute a distinctive national and nine provincial governments after the poll. Last week, my snap poll of political science and law students at UCT and UWC found that seven in 10 of us think the president and premiers should dissolve the legislatures this year and call an election as soon as next February. Some communities…

Hundreds of Syrians took to the streets again yesterday in the country’s southern Sweida province, local media reported, as dire living conditions stoke discontent in regime-held areas. Rare protests have erupted in the country’s south in recent days after the government lifted fuel subsidies last week, dealing a blow to Syrians already struggling with the heavy toll that 12 years of war have exacted on the economy. A local news outlet posted videos showing hundreds of protesters gathered in the province yesterday, holding up banners and chanting anti-government slogans including “freedom” and “long live Syria, down with (President) Bashar al-Assad”. The protests come on the heels of a strike on Sunday against deteriorating living conditions and price hikes across Sweida province – the heartland of the country’s Druze minority –…

More than 10 000 people, many clad in bright yellow, gathered yesterday for a climactic show of support for Zimbabwean opposition leader Nelson Chamisa ahead of tense general elections. The country goes to the polls tomorrow for presidential and legislative elections, with Chamisa, 45, vying to defeat hardline 80-year-old head of state Emmerson Mnangagwa. The vote, taking place against a backdrop of discontent at Zimbabwe’s economic crisis, is being closely watched as a barometer of popularity for the Zanu-PF party, in power since independence 43 years ago. Supporters of Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) gathered in central Harare from where the Zanu-PF’s towering headquarters are visible. “Zimbabwe, our time has come. This is the time!” Chamisa told the crowd. “We are going to win with a big and wide…

Springbok wing Kurt-Lee Arendse has backed his roommate at the Bulls and the Boks, Canan Moodie, to hit the ground running at outside-centre on Friday night against the All Blacks. The 20-year-old Moodie was the surprise selection in the Bok team for the last warm-up game before the World Cup as coach Jacques Nienaber looks to add depth to the position following the injury to Lukhanyo Am. “I know what Canan is capable of doing,” said Arendse. “He has grown as a player, he is very competitive and I think he will do really well at 13. “I am very happy for him. “When we are in the room, he always says he would like to get an opportunity at 13. “Now he has the chance and I think he…