Indholdsfortegnelse for 2023-11-16 i Mercury

Members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) have downed tools at Productivity SA since November 13. This comes after Productivity SA Management stated that the protest was taking place at all the Productivity SA Offices, namely Midrand, Durban and Cape Town. The decision by Nehawu to embark on strike action follows a series of salary negotiations with the union for the 2023/24 financial year. The parties reached a deadlock and Nehawu declared a dispute regarding the salary increases for 2023/24. Nehawu demands 9.5%, which includes a 2% salary increase linked to financial performance in the 2022/23 financial year. “It should be stated the financial performance of the entity in the 2022/23 financial year resulted in a deficit, therefore the 2% was unaffordable and could not be…

Standard Chartered has agreed to provide the Competition Commission with transcripts of online communications implicating its competitors after the British international bank agreed to pay a R42.7 million settlement for manipulating the rand exchange rate. As many as 27 other banks were involved in the scheme that the Competition Commission says had wider implications running into trillions of rand. The charges against the South African and international banks centred on allegations that the banks had “engaged in an agreement or concerted practice to manipulate prices related to certain foreign currency pairs” tied to the South African rand. The respondent banks also reportedly “conspired to assist each other by allowing a trader with a significant open risk position to complete trades before others and by manipulating liquidity”, which was in violation…

The planned immigration legal reforms by Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, as presented in the recently published White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection, are nothing more than an attempt to place a Band-Aid on a bullet wound as it does not resolve the key constraints to South Africa’s immigration regime. As a party which values the rule of law, ActionSA has repeatedly asserted that the problem with South Africa’s immigration regime does not lie with the country’s laws, but with the application of those laws by state agencies and the failure to secure our borders. It is the dysfunctional state of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and our border management agencies which have led to the current dire situation, and legal reforms are therefore unlikely to…

HOLD God’s Hand, instead. It’s nearer than you may think. Right there, there’s God’s Hand. See it? It’s at the end of the arm of the woman begging at the traffic light. You and I and thousands of others drive off trying hard not to see her and when we do, many of us blame her for her addiction and say things like – in our heads of course – “I am not paying for her next pack of cigarettes” and “I bet she has a cellphone.” Did you see God wave at the traffic light? God’s Hand is the hand of the unshaved man holding the begging cup and grasping his homeless sign. You and I and thousands of others drive off remembering just how hard we work for…

In another step towards realising the large-scale commercialisation of the cannabis and hemp sector in South Africa, parties in the National Assembly this week threw their weight behind the industry that is set to create jobs, alleviate poverty and help reduce inequality in the country. The justice and correctional services portfolio committee presented a report on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, which has now been sent to the National Council of Provinces for deliberation. The report was supported by the ANC, EFF, DA, IFP, NFP, and PAC, while the Freedom Front Plus and ACDP voiced their opposition. Portfolio committee chairperson Gratitude Magwanishe said the bill was the first step towards the development of legislation on regulations of cannabis for commercial purposes, as the cannabis and hemp sector was a…

THE Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) and Afrika Ikalafe have joined in a historic partnership to advance rural democracy and to train traditional leaders. CALS, along with the University of the Witwatersrand and Afrika Ikalafe Pluriversity, has already begun work on this project. Its aim is to train traditional leaders on the existing constitutional framework, and use traditional courts to develop research on how to make the justice system work for indigenous communities. The director of CALS, Professor Tshepo Madlingozi, and the director of Afrika Ikalafe Pluriversity, Dr Mmatshilo Motsei, signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of the institutions last month. CALS and Afrika Ikalafe are undertaking a project to advance scholarship on rural democracy in the context of the Constitution and the on-the-ground experiences of rural communities.…

There was a sudden outburst from former mayor of eThekwini Municipality Zandile Gumede in her trial before the Durban High Court yesterday as the case was about to be postponed for another day. Gumede is on trial with 21 co- accused for charges which include conspiracy to commit corruption in a contract worth more than R300 million related to a Durban Solid Waste tender. When the court proceedings started, advocate Sicelo Zungu representing Mthokozisi Nojiyeza, accused six in this matter, asked the court for a postponement because he did not have statements. Nojiyeza had axed his previous lawyer whom he had shared with Gumede, advocate Jay Naidoo. Judge Sharmaine Balton was not impressed with this application and said Zungu’s client wasted the whole of last week when he did not…

Plastic pollution is an urgent environmental issue, globally. Every year, about eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans. Most of the 17 west African countries have a problem managing plastic waste. Eight of them are among the top 20 with the least effective plastic waste management practices – up from five in 2015. This has worsened marine pollution and adversely affected activities in the region. Coastal provinces account for about 56% of west Africa’s gross domestic product and a third of the population lives there. In 2018, west African nations launched the West Africa Coastal Area Management Programme to protect and restore the ecological, social and economic assets of coastal areas. It’s supposed to do this by addressing coastal erosion, flooding and pollution. Last year, it received…

Britain’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the government’s scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful, dealing a crushing blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before an election expected next year. Under the plan, Britain intended to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers who arrived on its shores without permission to the East African country in a bid to deter migrants crossing the Channel from Europe in small boats. But the top court yesterday unanimously ruled that migrants could not be sent to Rwanda because it could not be considered a safe third country. The Rwanda scheme was the central plank of Sunak’s immigration policy as he prepares to face an election next year, amid concern among some voters about the numbers of asylum seekers arriving in small…

The world is losing almost 1 million square kilometres of productive land a year to sand and dust storms, made worse by human activities, the UN body in charge of fighting desertification warned yesterday. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) said an estimated 2 billion tons of sand and dust enter the atmosphere every year, wreaking havoc across large parts of Asia and Africa. In a report released at a meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to review progress in reversing land degradation, it said at least a quarter of the storms could be attributed to human activities, including overmining and overgrazing. It called for better land management to restore damaged land and boost resilience. It identified China as a success story in combating desertification with a long-term land restoration and…

Srinaga: At least 30 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir yesterday when a passenger bus skidded off a mountainous road and plunged about 250m into a deep gorge, police said. The accident took place on a remote road in the Doda area, about 200km south-east of the region’s capital, Srinagar. More than 25 people were also injured in the crash. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the accident was “distressing”, adding that compensation of more than $2 400 (about R45 000) would be offered to the next of kin of those killed, and $600 to those injured. Accidents are common on India’s vast network of roads, which are often poorly maintained. | AFP…

Brussels: Members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States yesterday signed a co-operation deal with the EU, due to come in to force next year. The new pact, inked in Samoa, is designed to serve as a legal framework guiding relations between the EU’s 27 nations and 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries for the next two decades. The accord, which follows one signed in Cotonou in 2000, lays down “common principles” in key areas such as human rights, climate change and migration. Negotiations for the agreement began in 2018, but a final deal was held up by Hungary and Poland over claims it could increase migration. | AFP…

BANKER Paul Miller has launched Utshalo, a new investment platform targeting non-institutional investors in South Africa, seeking to reconfigure and fill gaps in a market that now strongly favours and is dominated by asset management companies. A former Nedbank CIB investment banker, Miller has launched Utshalo in partnership with Ince, the South African investor marketing agency. Utshalo will use digital platforms. Investors can go to www.utshalo.co.za. “The particular target market for investors is mostly non-institutional investors like retail account holders, companies’ trusts, charities and everyone other than the traditional asset managers and insurance companies,” Miller told Business Report by phone yesterday. Ince described the Utshalo offering as an “innovative financial service designed to address challenges” faced by South Africa’s public markets. “This collaborative effort aims to reconnect non-institutional investors with…

The relationship between pain and sleep has been a subject of scientific inquiry, as the two often exert a profound influence on each other. Scientific studies consistently highlight the disruptive impact of pain on sleep. Chronic pain conditions, such as arthritis or fibromyalgia, can lead to difficulties falling asleep, maintaining sleep continuity and experiencing restorative sleep. Additionally, insufficient sleep may worsen the experience of pain, creating a harmful cycle. Pain disrupts sleep in a variety of ways. It is common for anyone in excruciating pain to wake up frequently. Secondly, pain-related distress, anxiety or depression can also contribute to sleep disturbances. Dr Alison Bentley, a sleep expert, sheds light on the intricate connection between sleep and pain. According to Dr Bentley, extensive research has been conducted on the link between…

South African cricket has a date with destiny today when they face Australia in the second ICC World Cup semi-final. Play starts at 10.30am, South African time. The Proteas men’s team have never qualified for a World Cup final, having lost at this stage on four previous occasions in 1992 (Sydney), 1999 (Birmingham), 2007 (St Lucia) and 2015 (Auckland). Equally, they have never beaten arch-rivals Australia in a knockout match, with the team in canary yellow and green progressing in Birmingham and St Lucia. The Australians have also inflicted a genuine sense of trauma on the Proteas team and their long-suffering supporters since the 1999 semi-final. The Proteas, who were captained by the late Hansie Cronjé, were ranked the No 1 one-day international team in the world at the time,…

They say necessity is the mother of invention. Likewise, moments of crisis give birth to great leaders. We wouldn’t have had such outstanding men as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Albert Luthuli if it were not for apartheid. Sadly they are all gone. All we are left with are the dregs of that great liberation movement. The country has never seen a worse lot of poor leaders than the present ANC. Like a plague of locusts they swarm around the country, devouring everything in their path. Many have given up hope on the country ever regaining its position as the leading nation on the continent. They believe as long as the ANC remains in power, the country will be mired in crime and corruption. For almost three decades…

KING Charles celebrated his 75th birthday this week, with a gathering of family and friends and the launching of a project to assist people in food poverty. The occasion was also marked by gun salutes at the Tower of London and elsewhere. Charles is no doubt adjusting to his new role which, a few days ago, included granting a peerage to former prime minister David Cameron. The adjustment includes maintaining a neutral, non-activist stance in the most urgent issue of our times – reversing the ill effects of man-made global warming. Not easy. As Prince of Wales, Charles became one of the best-informed persons in the world on the science of this issue and was highly committed to the reversal of global warming. He travelled the world investigating nature and…

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has set a target of registering at least 1 million eligible voters this weekend as it prepares for the first general registration weekend of the upcoming 2024 national and provincial elections. The IEC has equipped 23 296 registration stations across South Africa to welcome voters to register between 8am and 5pm this weekend, November 18 and 19. Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said they have also engaged with the country’s security cluster to ensure no disruptions take place at voter registration stations. The recently released Census 2022 results indicated that South Africa’s population has grown to 62 million people, with an estimated 39.7 million voting age population. The voters roll currently stands at 26.2 million, representing 66% of the estimated…

EThekwini Municipality is conducting ongoing multi-department food blitz operations in and around Durban to address the surge in unregulated spaza or informal shops that have given rise to concerns over food safety. Municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said that the presence of counterfeit, expired and contaminated food products within these establishments needed looking into. “The City is actively developing a strategy to intensively monitor ‘tuck shops’ within its jurisdiction,” she added. Sisilana said that since September, operations were carried out in various areas, including Clare Estate, Clermont, Inanda, Phoenix, Folweni and the CBD. In a recent blitz, metro police, working together with the Environmental Health Department, the SAPS, Vector control and the By-law Unit, extended the enforcement operation to Pinetown. Sisilana said that during the inspection 12 informal traders were charged,…

“Help me, I’m being oppressed!” “Others are suffering worse oppression.” “Black Lives Matter.” “All lives matter.” “Please help, I’m being raped.” “What about the hundreds of other children who were raped and murdered?” “Help, Israel is perpetuating a genocide, killing one in every 200 people living in Gaza!” “What about the thousand people Hamas killed on October 7?” Whataboutism is a dangerous counter-argument. In response to the more than 11 000 Palestinians murdered by the Israeli Defence Force since October 7, thousands of Capetonians took to the streets in support of Palestine on Saturday. They came out in their numbers too on Sunday, and things got ugly. The passion ignited by this genocide is strong in South Africa. Because we know what it is like to be colonised. We know…

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping were to meet for the first time in a year at a high-stakes summit in San Francisco yesterday. With tensions soaring over issues including Taiwan, sanctions and trade, the leaders of the world’s largest economies are expected to hold at least three hours of talks at a country estate on the outskirts of the city. The meeting on the sidelines of an Apec (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in California was to be followed by bilateral talks behind closed doors. Biden, 80, held out an olive branch to Xi, 70, ahead of the talks, insisting the US was “not trying to decouple from China” and wanted to improve the relationship. But the US president could not resist adding later at…

LONDON: Climate activist Greta Thunberg pleaded not guilty to a public order offence charge in a British court yesterday, following her arrest last month at an environmental protest in London. Thunberg, 20, and protesters had obstructed the entrances to a hotel where an oil and gas conference was taking place. The judge at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court set February 1 as the date for her trial. She has been charged with a public order offence and could face a fine of up to £2 500. | Reuters…

Antananarivo: Authorities in Madagascar yesterday imposed a curfew in Antananarivo ahead of presidential elections today that are being boycotted by most opposition candidates amid high political tensions. This follows “acts of sabotage” including the “burning of a polling station”, said Angelo Ravelonarivo, the police prefect in the capital. The nation has been shaken by a fierce battle between President Andry Rajoelina, who is running for re-election, and most opposition leaders, who have complained about an “institutional coup” in favour of the incumbent. Ten out of 12 opposition candidates have called on voters to shun the elections. | AFP…

THE HAGUE: Venezuela told the World Court yesterday that it will go ahead with a referendum on December 3 over its rights to a potentially oil-rich territory that is the subject of a border dispute with Guyana, which asked the court to halt the vote. In April the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that it had jurisdiction over the issue. But a final ruling on the main case could be years away. The referendum asks Venezuelans if they agree with Caracas’s position to reject the ICJ’s jurisdiction over the Esequiba region and agree to a plan to incorporate it and create a state called Guayana Esequiba. | Reuters…

Two civil society organisations, with interest in matters related to the judiciary, have criticised Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s recent public comments, including those on the ongoing case involving former president Jacob Zuma. Alison Tilley of Judges Matter yesterday said they agreed with a statement issued by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) which urged Zondo to exercise restraint in his public engagements and to always act with the best interests of the judiciary in mind. Zondo participated in a TV interview on Monday where he expressed his views on several issues, including judicial misconduct, the implementation of the recommendations of the state capture commission and the ongoing prosecution of Zuma. During the interview, Zondo said he did not want to speak much about the Zuma…

TWO marches, by the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and temporary workers employed under the Public Employment Programme (PEP), to the Durban City Hall brought parts of the city to a standstill yesterday. The first march was by PEP workers who have lost their jobs because of funding shortfalls. There is, however, a possibility of this being reconsidered by the City as money has become available. Afterwards, Samwu members took to the streets as they said the City had failed to address their concerns raised during a march a few months ago. The marches led to traffic gridlocks across the city and pictures started circulating of roads in and around the city centre blocked with municipal vehicles, including trucks. The Samwu march triggered reaction from City Hall which…

THE PASSING away of iconic writer Wilbur Smith is sad but his brief story in The Mercury on Monday, at least serves to make a point for reading and writing. I tutor young, primary school children and find that there is an alarming resistance to reading, especially aloud. The most possible reason besides the usual, resigned rolling of eyes to high heavens and exclaiming “whatever” under one’s breath, is partly laziness, but mostly to avoid the embarrassment of not recognising many words and not being able to pronounce them correctly. This leads to a dislike for reading. If one does not read, one does not write. This, in turn, leads to rote learning and the regurgitation of the same words that really carry little meaning. There was a time when…

The announcement by the National Treasury of approval of the R1.6 billion grant roll-over last week came at a time when the city is intensifying the rebuilding and restoration programme of the flood-damaged infrastructure. We were confident that through constructive engagements, the National Treasury would work with us to put the interests of the citizens of eThekwini, who were adversely affected by this catastrophic weather event, first. The city was approved because we presented a convincing and thorough plan of action that covers the more than 700 road infrastructure and 200 water and sanitation projects the city is implementing. The funding was initially granted in March this year, three months before the end of the city’s financial year in June. It became impractical to spend R1.5bn in three months, hence…

A 20-YEAR-old Grade 10 pupil was stabbed to death, allegedly by a 17-year-old boy in Boschfontein, Mpumalanga, this week. Mpumalanga police said the alleged killer was attending the same school as the victim before he was apparently expelled last year when he was in Grade 9. “Immediately after school hours, the victim (the 20-year-old learner) was attacked just a stone’s throw away from his school,” Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said. “When police attended the scene, the deceased was found in a pool of blood with a stab wound to his chest. The knife, believed to be the murder weapon, was also found next to the lifeless body of the victim.” The 20-year-old learner was certified dead on the scene by paramedics on Tuesday. “The circumstances that led…

A TAXI driver who suffered multiple fractures after his minibus crashed into a cow, lost his R2.8 million in damages claim against a Limpopo municipality. He said the firefighters who had rescued him had injured his foot with the Jaws of Life. Hulisani Sithangu turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) after the high court in Limpopo turned down his claim against the Capricorn District Municipality. He said the municipality should be held liable for the conduct of its firefighters. The SCA also concluded that Sithangu had not proved that the firefighters were responsible for the open fracture on the right heel pad of his foot. Sithangu was involved in an accident on the road between Polokwane and Mankweng when the minibus he was driving crashed into a cow.…

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) yesterday confirmed that it has secured a new site for its Chatsworth offices. Last week Sassa announced the closure of its branch in the Durban South area after it was certified unsafe for use. In a statement issued at the time, Sassa said the issue also impacted the electricity in the building and prohibited people from entering the premises. This week, Sassa said it had since moved its offices to the 1st floor, 6 Bhaktivedanta Swami Circle and would open on November 20. “The new premises are situated opposite the building Sassa used before, and the agency is expected to temporarily utilise this office space for a period of three months starting from Monday, November 20. Office business hours are from Monday to…

PROFESSOR Dire Tladi’s election as a judge of the International Court of Justice couldn’t have come at a more pertinent time for South Africa. The many issues confronting our nation make it almost impossible to acknowledge the good that comes out of it. That is why today we want to use this space to reflect on Tladi’s historic election, which will go a long way in elevating the country’s profile on the global stage. Perhaps before we do that, it’s worth pointing out that Tladi, according to his University of Pretoria profile, holds the BLC LLB cum laude (Pret), an LLM (UConn), and a PhD (EUR) degrees and was recently a Professor of International law in the Department of Public Law, and a Fellow at the Institute of…

Israeli soldiers yesterday raided and then combed through Gaza’s main hospital, a key objective in their war on Hamas but which has raised fears for thousands of patients and other civilians trapped inside. Both Israel and its top ally the US say the Palestinian militants have a command centre below the Al-Shifa complex, a charge denied by Hamas and leaders of the hospital that has become a focal point in the 40-day-old war. Israeli soldiers ordered young men to surrender, reports said, as the army said it conducted a “precise and targeted” operation at the facility. About 1 000 male Palestinians, their hands above their heads, were in the vast hospital courtyard, some of them stripped naked by Israeli soldiers checking them for weapons or explosives, the journalist said. The…

Hundreds of former rebels and government troops in South Sudan’s unified forces were deployed at a long-overdue ceremony yesterday, marking progress for the country’s lumbering peace process. The world’s newest nation has struggled to find its footing since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, battling violence, endemic poverty and natural disasters. The unification of forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice-President Riek Machar, was a key condition of the 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year conflict in which nearly 400 000 people died. Tens of thousands of former fighters were integrated into the country’s army in August last year but none have been deployed until now, with the delays fuelling frustration in the international community. The first battalion comprising nearly 1 000 soldiers will be deployed…

PARIS: French judges have issued arrest warrants for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and two other senior officials over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, a judicial source said yesterday. The arrest warrants – which refer to charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes – follow a criminal investigation into chemical attacks in the town of Douma and the district of Eastern Ghouta in August 2013, attacks which killed more than 1 000 people. The Syrian head of state’s forces responded to protests that began in 2011 with a brutal crackdown that UN experts have said amount to war crimes. The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons. | Reuters…

MOSCOW: Russia has conceded for the first time that some Ukrainian forces have crossed onto the River Dnipro’s eastern bank, but has said they face “hell fire” and that the average life expectancy of a Ukrainian soldier there is two days. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Ukrainian forces had secured a foothold on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region. Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of the part of Kherson region which Moscow controls, acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had crossed the river. But he said Russian forces had pinned the Ukrainians down. | Reuters…

Today, South Africa continue their quest to make history at the World Cup in India as they face Australia in the second semi-final at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Play starts at 10.30am, SA time. We looked at three factors the Proteas need to nail down to get over the line against the five-time world champions. Get Maxwell out early Glenn Maxwell has been the backbone of the Australian batting unit in this World Cup. His explosiveness in the middle order is a massive threat to any bowling attack, and in South Africa’s case, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi will be key today in dealing with the right-hander in the middle overs. Eden Gardens will offer a lot of spin, perhaps more than any other ground in India, and if the…