Indholdsfortegnelse for 2023-12-08 i Mercury

The R3 billion Beachwood development in Durban has been given the green light by the eThekwini Municipality. This comes after an appeal lodged by residents against the development was dismissed. EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the city approved the Beachwood development on July 24, and the matter was taken on appeal. Sisilana said that the appeal was heard and dismissed on November 21. “The decision was based on sound planning grounds and specialist work provided by the developer,” she said. Beachwood Investments director, Gavin Strydom, said the company was pleased the project had received the go-ahead. He said the development would create significant benefits for the metro and the province. “This includes providing a significant boost to the eThekwini economy, including creating 1 500 direct jobs at a time…

JOURNALISM in South Africa is in dire need of resuscitation. I write out of concern about the woeful lack of credibility and quality journalism at home. As a direct consequence, our constitutional democracy is in distress and barely escaped from being a foster child of an incestuous relationship. The evidence arising from the Com mission of Inquiry into State Capture serves as a template for this letter. It is also evident, if the latest experience of journalists being killed in Gaza is a live example, that around the world independent public interest media is under threat. Traditional business models which had been eroding for a decade or more are beginning to collapse, particularly as sources of advertising revenue shrink, and moving online. These problems, which are most acute in low-…

I ALWAYS thought torture was illegal in Old Blighty. Yet, here we have a former prime minister being put through agony at the Covid inquiry and the current prime minister on the rack as his minister of immigration resigns over the bill providing for illegal immigrants to be deported to Rwanda, plus the possibility of a right-wing revolt in his party that could lose him his majority in parliament. Yes, we’re talking about Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. A snap election in Blighty could come sooner than we thought. No pitter-patters GIANT pandas Yang Guang and Tian Tian have returned to China after spending 12 years in Scotland, according to Sky News. The furry couple had been the star attraction of Edinburgh Zoo since arriving in 2011, under a 10-year…

The Wynberg Regional Court has sentenced a man found to be part of an international child pornography network to eight years imprisonment for possession and distribution of 2 950 child pornography images. Jan Hendrick le Roux, 66, not only shared the images but discussed child abduction and child sexual abuse, according to the State. He was caught after Belgian police arrested a Belgian man who shared child pornography material with Le Roux using a peer-to-peer network. The Belgian investigating officer took over the IP address of the man the police arrested and went undercover to trace other IP addresses, including Le Roux’s address. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said further investigation confirmed that members of the network not only shared child pornography images, but discussed the abducting and sexual…

South Africa tops the list as the world’s most dangerous country to drive in. This is according to Zutobi, an innovative online driver education platform. The survey analysed countries based on indicators including motorway speed limits, blood alcohol concentration limits for drivers and road traffic death rates, to determine the world’s safest and most dangerous countries in which to drive. “South Africa is the world’s most dangerous country to drive in, according to the factors that we analysed. There are an estimated 22.2 road traffic deaths per 100 000 of the population,” the report said. “The maximum motorway speed limit in South Africa is 120km/h, which is not far from the 110km/h limit in the safest country to drive, Norway. However, just 31% of front seat passengers in South Africa…

The opposition to this blanket prohibition testifies to the deep disaffection with our politics AND so, where to now? Labour Court Judge J van Niekerk ruled on November 17 that prohibiting all municipal employees from holding office in a political party was unconstitutional. Effectively, the court declared invalid the often coldly communicated instructions by municipalities telling employees to resign from any political office-bearer positions they may hold or face dismissal. The instructions have been a source of controversy in several municipalities as party factions have sought to undermine one another in their thirst for political control over public funds and municipal managers, senior managers and staff members in municipalities who are also holding political offices or their parties deployed them as part of political goals. President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the…

Heavy urban combat raged in and around Gaza’s biggest cities yesterday as the bloodiest war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas entered its third month since the October 7 attacks. Vast areas of the besieged territory have been reduced to a rubble-strewn wasteland of bombed-out or bullet- scarred buildings as the death toll has soared above 16 200, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israeli forces have tightened the noose around major urban centres in their hunt for Hamas over the surprise attack that officials say killed 1 200 in Israel, and to search for 138 remaining hostages. Israeli forces backed by air power, tanks and armoured bulldozers were fighting Hamas in Khan Yunis, the biggest city in southern Gaza, as well as in Gaza City and the nearby…

A defiant British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appealed to his Conservative Party yesterday to unite behind his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, warning colleagues that if he toughened it any further the whole scheme could collapse. Sunak is facing the biggest challenge to his year-long tenure as he tries to stop MPs on the Conservative Party’s right wing from rebelling over their demand that Britain should quit international treaties to set its own migration policy. His immigration minister quit on Wednesday and he is facing questions as to whether he can get his key policy through a vote in parliament. Some Conservative MPs said yesterday that Sunak could face a leadership challenge. Sunak said if the government went any further in disregarding human rights law in the…

WASHINGTON: Australia is working to develop a “top secret cloud initiative” that will be “interoperable” with US and UK intelligence agencies, its director-general of national intelligence said this week. “What that will do is obviously transform how we do our work as agencies but also it’ll open up a shared collaborative space,” Andrew Shearer said at a talk hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said that after 9/11, Australia’s intelligence agencies had been going through a “similar journey” to those of the US to heighten collaboration. | Sputnik…

MOSCOW: A 14-year-old girl shot a fellow pupil dead and wounded five other children yesterday before killing herself at a school in the Russian city of Bryansk, officials said. “According to preliminary investigation data, a 14-year-old girl brought a pump-action shotgun to school from which she fired shots at her classmates,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement. Investigators were working to establish the motive. Guns are normally tightly controlled in Russia, but Bryansk is one of several southern regions that have seen cross-border attacks in the course of the war with Ukraine, and where Moscow has encouraged the formation of self-defence units. | Reuters…

Business Unity South Africa (Busa) and B4SA are preparing to submit a petition to President Cyril Ramaphosa to request that he refer the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill back to the National Assembly for amendment. Business groups said yesterday that the bill, in its current format, was not only unworkable, unimplementable and unaffordable, but also unconstitutional on substantive and procedural grounds. The bill was adopted by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) without any amendments on Wednesday. The South African Constitution, under Section 79, provides that once a bill is adopted, the president must either assent to and sign the bill or, if the president has reservations about the constitutionality of the bill, refer it back to the National Assembly for reconsideration. Martin Kingston, the B4SA steering committee chairperson, said…

Imanuwela David, the man accused of being the mastermind behind the February 2020 theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s house, at his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo allegedly used some of the stolen money to buy a property. This emerged during David’s bail application before the Bela-Bela Magistrate’s Court. Investigating officer Lieutenant Colonel Ludi Rolf Schnell revealed these details when he testified on how David, 39, was tracked and arrested last month. He said after searching for David in Cape Town, he was finally found in a Ford Figo that was parked along the street at night, just metres away from his mother Amalia David’s house in Rustenburg. In his oral evidence, Schnell said police have established that a house at Burgundy Estate, Cape Town, was purchased by David’s ex-girlfriend…

THE Sharks Board is doing a wonderful job. It’s killing sharks to save human lives. What a noble undertaking. For decades now the Sharks Board has been deploying the controversial shark nets along our coast to safeguard beach-goers and swimmers from the deadly jaws of the great white and the tiger shark. The horror film Jaws has played a large role in blackening the great white as an evil monster which should be wiped out from the ocean. While the shark nets have been effective in keeping the bathers safe and promoting tourism for KZN, they have also been death traps for the sharks, killing thousands of the ocean’s top predators. According to the latest statistics, 4 000 great whites are killed every year along our coast. But the great…

It is in us to love. It’s human. We are designed for love and have the capacity for it. Even hurt and rejected people can love. Once a person accepts that love has more than romantic connotations, as powerful and valid as these are, they will be able to see its broader power. Love is unleashed through simple, but not easy, human acts of seeking the highest good both for oneself and for others. Acts of offering unearned forgiveness, of reaching out to the estranged, of welcoming a stranger, of letting go of all prejudice, of rejecting dishonesty – all begin within the individual human heart. When a person intentionally facilitates others toward finding and enjoying and exercising the full range of their humanity, they will know and see and…

TRANSNET will have to compensate 15 farmers who suffered damages due to a fire most likely caused by the brake blocks of a passing train overheating to the point where it disintegrated and caused multiple ignition points in the railway reserve. The fire spread onto the properties of the various plaintiffs - all farmers in the vicinity of the railway line. They turned to the High Court in Bloemfontein, where they claimed damages. The amount of damages will be calculated at a later stage. The veld fires took place on August 11, 2012 around the railway reserve and railway tracks in the vicinity of the Karee railway station, Brandford, in the Free State. While the farmers blamed Transnet for the fire, the train operator denied negligence.…

THE Transnet National Ports Authority announced this week that it was calling for proposals for the reconstruction, deepening and lengthening of berths at the Durban Container Terminal’s Pier 2 North Quay over a five-year period. It said the expansion would allow for the effective berth length to safely accommodate the simultaneous berthing of three Super Post Panamax vessels of 350m in length and draft of 14.5m. The move was welcomed by marine experts who said the plan was long overdue. However, they warned that it would not alleviate the current crisis where there is a backlog of containers waiting to enter the port. Professor Mihalis Chasomeris, a port and maritime economist at the Graduate School of Business and Leadership at the University of KwaZulu- Natal, said the plan to deepen…

THE country’s high murder rate can be attributed to disputes between people, vigilantism and organised crime. This is according to the latest data released at a summit on evidence-based policing which was hosted by the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) yesterday. The data also indicated that persistent load shedding had led to an increase in criminal activities. David Bruce, an independent researcher on policing and consultant to the ISS, said based on a sample of 10 883 murders in South Africa in 2022/2023, five provinces recorded the most murders. “The murder rate recorded in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal indicated the most murders, with Mpumalanga also showing an increase in murders. “There were 15 554 murders in 2011/2012, and 27 494 in 2022/2023. Nationally, 81% of…

IN THE Cape where the sea caresses the shore and Table Mountain watches over its people, a movement of charity and kindness came into existence. Hopeful Heroes are recognised monthly for their selfless contribution to society. General Louis Botha once said: “Let us not forget that we work together in a community of communities and we have a responsibility towards one another.” The Cape Forum started a remarkable initiative in the Cape, known as Cape Champion. It generated a wave of positive energy where people not only think about their own well-being, but also that of their fellow man. Various individuals help their communities grow and thrive. Each month, a person or group that stands out in their community is recognised for their contribution. This recognition of Good Samaritans has…

Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s two biggest oil exporters, yesterday called for all Opec+ members to join an agreement on output cuts for the good of the global economy just days after a fractious meeting of the producers’ club. Hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin went to Riyadh in a hastily arranged visit to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kremlin released a Russian-Saudi statement about the conclusion of their discussions. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allies agreed last week to new voluntary cuts of about 2.2 million barrels per day, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia rolling over their voluntary cuts of 1.3 million barrels per day. “In the field of energy, the two sides commended the close co-operation between them…

A blast at an explosives store wrecked buildings and caused massive damage to an industrial zone on the Seychelles’ main island Mahe, officials said, prompting President Wavel Ramkalawan to declare a state of emergency yesterday. The blast shook the island as heavy rains triggered flooding which killed three people, the president said, calling for a minute of silence. Footage broadcast on national television showed streets covered in deep mud and strewn with debris and uprooted trees. “Everyone is being asked to stay at home. All schools will be closed. Only workers in the essential services and persons travelling will be allowed free movement,” Ramkalawan’s office said. The government’s official “Visit Seychelles” account on X, formerly Twitter, said that the international airport and ferries between its islands remained operational for tourists.…

LONDON: The EU’s landmark Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act may exempt open-source models from strict regulation, according to a leaked compromise proposal. MPs and governments were still wrangling yesterday over several key issues concerning the governance of AI, after talks extended through the night into a second day. The EU has been trying to finalise details of the draft rules proposed by the European Commission two years ago. According to the document, the AI Act would not apply to free and open-source licences unless, for example, they are deemed high-risk or are being used for already banned purposes. | Reuters…

Beijing: Light therapy leads to significant improvements in sleep and psycho-behavioural symptoms for people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study. The cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s is often accompanied by sleep disturbances and psycho-behavioural symptoms, including apathetic and depressive behaviour, agitation and aggression. The study, published in the journal PLOS One, used photobiomodulation – a non-pharmacological therapy that uses light energy to stimulate the suprachiasmic nucleus – a sleep modulator in the brain. The team from Weifang Medical University in China concluded that light therapy is a promising option. | IANS…

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino said he was not disappointed in their performance in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss at Manchester United because his players “gave everything”. Pochettino said Chelsea had played well enough to get a draw, but could not match the hosts’ energy and aggression. “A few days ago, we were talking about a fantastic performance and how we were going well,” he told reporters, referring to their win over Brighton on Sunday. “Today because we didn’t get what we wanted here … we cannot change what we say now.” Pochettino had predicted a tough outing at Old Trafford, saying it was not a good time to face Manchester United as they had a point to prove after losing at Newcastle United. “I am not disappointed because the players gave everything,…

THE fishing has been magic, with plenty of good-sized catches in all facets. The rock and surf fishing has been up and down over the last week. The North Coast has still seen some good inedible fishing with a couple sandies and honeycombs testing knots and backs in the north. Blythedale and Zinkwazi have been the two most productive spots along this stretch of coastline, with edibles and inedibles coming out in most conditions. On the edibles side, chokka and prawn have been the best baits mentioned while the bigger shad have preferred sardines. There have also been plenty of spadefish around, which love a white bait. Fishing has been best around rocks and particularly in bays that form some protection from the seas. The inedibles have favoured mackerel and…

The ANC yesterday called on its veterans and leaders to stop de-campaigning the party ahead of next year’s elections. The party was reacting following the resignation of the Veteran’s League (ANCVL) deputy president Mavuso Msimang. Msimang, who served the party for more than 60 years, in a strongly worded 3-page resignation letter, addressed to secretary-general Fikile Mbalula lamented what he described as endemic corruption within the party. Mbalula had earlier in the week spoken out against veterans or senior leaders publicly criticising the ANC, describing this as de-campaigning. Mavuso on Wednesday said he was leaving the party, as he cited corruption, dwindling electoral prospects, and the party’s inability to act against those accused of criminality as some of his reasons. In response to the criticism, the ANC said it has…

SINCE President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Senzo Mchunu as the Minister of Water and Sanitation in August 2021, there has been a shift and a productive way of doing things under his leadership. He got on the ground to solve problems in areas affected by water shortages. He has been making sure he gets first-hand information about the bottlenecks that cause water challenges. Be it projects in progress that stalled or those just begun, he wants to see wheels in motion and get good results. Municipalities are rated among the highest for unaccounted potable water loss, with water getting wasted through unattended pipe bursts and leakages. Apart from leakages, the municipalities are also major contributors to our water resources pollution as they fail to adhere to the Water and Sanitation Green…

In a civilised society, a government is expected to provide basic services to its citizens. The municipalities are entrusted with the task of ensuring that citizens have access to basic amenities, including clean water, proper sanitation facilities and electricity. However, in Durban, the situation has reached a stage where citizens are afraid to open their bills, fearing the astronomical amounts charged by the municipality. There are several cases of residents who have been billed incorrectly for water and electricity in Durban, and the situation borders on criminality on the part of the municipality. The eThekwini Municipality has been incompetent and mismanaged the situation, leading to fake billing. The situation has become so untenable that residents are left bewildered with the unexplained water and electricity bills that they receive. A classic…

More than 9 000 medical interns, community service applicants and doctors have been placed in the 2024 Internship and Community Service Programme. The National Department of Health announced that 9 395 applicants in the programme, including medical interns, community service applicants and doctors, have been placed at health-care facilities across the country. Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said it had received 10 386 applications through an online application system. He said this number was made up of 10 228 South African citizens and permanent residents and 158 foreign nationals. “A total number of 9 395 applicants were successfully placed, and this includes medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals, at health facilities throughout the country,” he said. According to Mohale, most of the posts were allocated to rural and under-served…

THE Fusion Centre has secured 43 convictions against entities and 51 against individuals in relation to various crimes including corruption and fraud cases. The Fusion Centre, a multidisciplinary corruption-fighting agency, was established in 2020 to mainly deal with Covid-19 crimes related to procurement fraud. It was expanded this year to include other crime categories such as organised crime, maladministration, terrorist financing and other serious financial crimes, both in public and private institutions. Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya provided an update this week on work that has been done. He said a total of 556 cases were investigated relating to incidents of fraud, maladministration, tax evasion and cases of corruption involving 168 accused persons. “In these cases, 51 people and 43 entities were convicted for various crimes including corruption, fraud, tax evasion,…

An off-duty cop survived a shooting in the Pinetown area on Wednesday night. The incident took place on Gumtree Road in Nazareth just before 10pm. According to police, the 35-year-old man had just got out of his car to open the gate when he noticed a motor vehicle, with four suspects, who opened fire on him. Provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said the victim retaliated, firing shots at the suspects, wounding two of them, aged 35 and 38. “They were taken to hospital where they are under police guard. They will appear in court once they are discharged from hospital.” It is further alleged the policeman was shot in his stomach and arm and was taken to hospital for further care. A case of attempted murder is being investigated…

South African vehicle sales declined for the fourth month in a row in November as the shipping crisis and escalated load shedding took their toll on the local market. According to Automotive Business Council Naamsa, 49 986 new vehicles were sold in South Africa last month, a worrying 9.8% decline over the same month in 2022. The passenger car market, at 29 384 units, saw a 12.1% year-on-year decline, while the bakkies and light commercial vehicles fell 3.9% to 12 941. The medium and heavy commercial vehicle sectors posted respective declines of 13.5% and 10.7%. Naamsa said the current logistical challenges at South Africa’s ports and across the rail network in general would soon have a devastating domino effect on the entire value chain of the automotive industry. “While supply…

Sun, colourful outfits, lots of food and drinks stalls, being in the Mother City – what’s not to love about the Cape Town Sevens? Well, for the Springbok Sevens team, the pressure of playing in front of a home crowd. The Blitzboks will go into this weekend’s World Sevens Series tournament at the Cape Town Stadium in great form, having claimed the Dubai Sevens title last weekend. But that has been the case many times before, as the South Africans clinched their fifth crown in a row in the United Arab Emirates. Yet, they last won the Cape Town title in 2015 ... Some of the players have spoken this week of wanting to do it for the fans, but that also adds extra weight on their shoulders. We know…

Climate change is already having catastrophic impacts on many migratory animals and their ability to provide vital ecosystem services to humanity, a major new report of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a UN biodiversity treaty, said yesterday. The report, released at the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, finds the direct effects of climate change on many migratory species are already being seen, including poleward range shifts, changes in the timing of migration, and reduced breeding success and survival. Integral to the ecosystems they live in, migratory species support vital ecosystem services that both mitigate the impacts of climate change and increase resilience to climatic hazards. The study also emphasises the urgent need to “act now” to help vulnerable migratory species adapt…

Tokyo: Amid a growing slush funds scandal, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was to step down as chief of his faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), reports said yesterday. Kishida, also president of the LDP, was set to resign as the leader of Kochikai, the party’s fourth-largest faction. It is among the five LDP factions that allegedly understated their revenue from political fundraising parties, from which the extra income may have been returned to some of their MPs as kickbacks. Seiwaken, the largest LDP faction previously led by the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe, was suspected of having pooled 100 million yen in secret funds over the past five years to 2022. | IANS…

Lahore: A zoo in Pakistan has been shut down after a man was mauled to death by tigers in an attack discovered during routine cleaning, officials said yesterday. The body was found on Wednesday in Bahawalpur’s Sherbagh Zoo in Punjab after staff saw one of the three tigers with a shoe in its mouth. The condition of the body suggests the attack happened late on Tuesday. The victim has not been identified and no family member has come forward to claim the body. The three tigers present in the den when the body was discovered have been restricted to a smaller space while evidence is collected. | AFP…