Indholdsfortegnelse for 2025-01-07 i Mercury

Australian saltwater crocodiles were hunted almost to extinction 50 years ago for their skins. After World War II, the uncontrolled trade in their skins soared, and their numbers fell to about 3 000. But when hunting was banned in 1971, the population started rising again – and fast. They still are a protected species but are no longer threatened. Their numbers have risen to about 100 000 in the Northern Territory alone, according to the BBC. The recovery of the saltwater crocodile has been so dramatic that Australia now faces a different dilemma: managing their numbers to keep people safe and the public onside. There are also big “saltie” populations in Northern Queensland and Western Australia, as well as in parts of South East Asia. “The worst thing that can…

We are confronted by renewal, not of resolutions or the recycling of old ones but a unique opportunity to rescript values and challenges and, as someone penned, “a reimagined resolve, with 2025 offering a clean slate or tabula rasa upon which to write another chapter in the story of South Africa”. Hope and optimism must guide and inspire us so that the setbacks of the past year do not linger as unwelcome hangovers hobbling our efforts and becoming confrontational. As someone who has sampled the best of times far from home, I pray for all South Africans to reap a bountiful harvest, praying that the worst of times have lapsed, and that 2025 must be the year in which the Government of National Unity (GNU) reminds itself about Mozambique and…

CULTURAL experts have described the decision by Zulu King Misuzulu KaZwelithini to divorce his wife in court as an “anomaly”. They noted that this is the first time in recent memory that a serving king has brought a divorce action in court, adding that generally, if the king and a queen are no longer on good terms, the king simply keeps away from that queen. It was recently reported that the king filed for divorce from one of his wives in November last year. The matter is before the court. Professor Nogwaja Zulu said this is the first time in history that he is aware of where a king has lodged formal divorce proceedings. “It could be that because the marriage is a Western marriage with a marriage certificate, that…

THE Bench Marks Foundation and economists yesterday raised concern about the 3 500 jobs on the line at ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa) following an announcement that the steelmaker would wind down their Newcastle business by the end of this month. Amsa yesterday said that the company was at a point where any further delay could affect its sustainability. It said the number of retrenchments will depend on consultation, but that it could be as many as about 3 500. “Steel production is anticipated to cease by late January 2025,” Amsa said. David van Wyk, the lead researcher at the Bench Marks Foundation, a non-profit, faith-based organisation which has done extensive research on the mining industry, said it was devastating that so many jobs would be lost. “There is no alternative…

THE family of Ayabonga Mjilo, who was found murdered, have expressed their gratitude to the Greenwood Park police for their relentless efforts to search for her. They were present when Mfanafuthi Kunene, who is accused of kidnapping and killing 23-year-old Ayabonga, appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday. He told the court he would abandon his bail application. He was granted legal aid and the matter was adjourned to February 26. KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli also attended the proceedings at the Durban Magistrate’s Court. An emotional Nontobeko Mjilo, Ayabonga’s older sister, thanked police for not resting until they had found Ayabonga. Nontobeko, speaking after Kunene’s court appearance, said the Greenwood Park police officers, led by Sergeant Nhlanhla Mhlongo were relentless in their search to find her sister. “They did not…

THE family of a slain armed response officer who was hailed a hero after he rushed inside a residence to save a mother and her children from an intruder during a home invasion in Cape Town, said he lived up to his oath to serve and protect. Alexander “Chris” Bottomley, 57, from Pro-Sec Technologies Security Company was shot while responding to the panic alarm incident in Princess Road just after 4am on January 5. His daughter, Chantal Abrahams, said Bottomley, from Lavender Hill, who had four children and six grandchildren, married her mother Denise Bottomley last year after they started dating in 2021. The family soon learned what a caring and devoted family man he was, dedicated to his work and the community he served. “He would work a 12-hour…

Two good Samaritans have been commended for helping to save a Gauteng family of three who were swept out to sea at Stilbaai in the Western Cape. National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) station commander, Stéfan Grové, said rescue teams sprung into action following reports that the father, mother and teenage daughter from Brits had been caught in a rip current on Friday. “Upon our arrival on the scene, we found two surfers, good Samaritans, were paddling towards the three casualties, who were already about 800m off-shore. “Two NSRI rescue swimmers and an NSRI lifeguard, armed with torpedo rescue buoys, swam out to the family.They found the mother unconscious in the water but breathing. She was loaded on to one of the surfboards while the father and daughter held on to…

The latest outbreak in human metapneumovirus (HMPV), which was first detected in 2001 by Dutch scholars, is causing concern across the world as infection rates in China increase. However, a local economist told Business Report yesterday that the current situation cannot be used as an economic base-case as it was too soon to determine the extent of the epidemic. The respiratory disease has recently caused many people to become ill, especially children, with reports emerging of Chinese patients queuing outside of hospitals and concerns in India that there may be a lockdown on the way. Such news is reminiscent of the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) towards the end of 2019. “There’s lots of uncertainty around this because we know that's how the COVID virus started and expanded relatively quickly,”…

It was a bad start to the New Year. Saturday was a scorcher. I had parked on tarmac and the car’s temperature gauge showed 41°C. I could not believe it. It was so hot you could have almost fried an egg on the bonnet! I had never felt such intense heat before. Extreme weather patterns are becoming common all over the world. Blistering temperatures, droughts, wild fires, storms, floods and the big ones – typhoons, tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones, volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis all cause extensive damage. For many years scientists have been warning that rampant human development will cause climate change with dire consequences for man and beast. But the world was too preoccupied with production and profitability and largely ignored their warnings. So the industrialised nations continued dumping and…

SALOCHANA Moodley joined Child Welfare Chatsworth (CWC) three decades ago as a social worker. She served for many years before being appointed as a supervisor and ultimately as a chief social worker. She came into contact with our clients, stakeholders, sponsors and the community in general. She was supported by a team of 10 social workers and the CWC board of management. She officially retired on October 30, 2018, at the age of 60 and was offered contract work for a further five years. In the last two years, we saw the demise of the board of management volunteers, leaving a void in the governance structures. To mention a few, Mr EG Pillay, Dr PG Narain, Mr Steve Ramsamy, Dr SS Naidoo, Mr Raj Suklal and Mr Ricky Pillai. In…

A DURBAN man and a property development company are locked in a bitter dispute over a “prime” piece of land, valued at about R1 million, near the affluent town of Ballito. Ayanda Mchunu said he feared he had been “cheated out” of the land he won in 2018 as a prize in a competition organised by the property developer eLan Property Group. The land is at Blythedale Coastal Estate. However, the CEO of eLan Property Group said that while there have been delays, they intended to honour their obligations. The competition was held in 2018 and was publicised through various channels, including local radio stations. At the time, The Mercury also interviewed Mchunu after he was announced as the winner. Mchunu said that although he was taken to the site…

As diplomatic tensions escalate, the South African government finds itself under increasing pressure to take decisive action following Taiwan’s refusal to comply with a request to relocate its representative office in Pretoria to Johannesburg. This contentious situation has drawn remarks from senior officials and political parties, heightening the stakes in a long-standing international relationship. At the crux of the dispute is an ultimatum laid out by the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Ronald Lamola, who recently expressed the government’s disapproval of Taiwan’s failure to heed calls for the relocation. He highlighted that South Africa severed its political and diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1997, and this request aligned with UN General Assembly resolution 2758, a principle acknowledged globally. “Relocating what will be re-branded as trade offices both in Taipei…

Three knife-wielding suspects who were captured on video robbing an e-hailing driver have been arrested and are expected to make their first appearance in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court, in Cape Town, this week. Nearly two weeks after the robbery of 36-year-old Ali Zaib, police confirmed that the suspects from Hanover Park were in custody. The incident in Rylands on Christmas Eve sparked an outcry on social media and the dashcam footage went viral. In the video, the suspects are seen jumping into Zaib’s vehicle, one threatening him with a knife. The driver is heard telling the robbers to take what they want and even hands over the access code to his cellphone. Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg, said three suspects aged 18 to 21 were arrested. Zaib said police recovered his…

The SABC is calling on South Africans to pay their TV licences. This comes after the public broadcaster reported a decline in TV licence fee revenue in the 2023/2024 financial year. The SABC noted that its non-compliance rate increased to 85.6% in 2024. According to the SABC Annual Report for 2023/2024, the public broadcaster collected more than R686 million in TV licence fees in the 2023/2024 financial year, although total TV licence debt still amounted to over R4.8 billion. The broadcaster recorded a R192m loss in 2023/24, however this was a significant improvement compared to the loss of R826m in the 2022/23 financial year. It also attained an unqualified audit for the first time in 14 years. However, the SABC remains in a financially precarious situation and wants to make…

The future of a Gauteng man hangs in the balance as his former school refuses to release his matric certificate due to R600 in unpaid fees. Emmanuel Moiloa, 23, who completed his matric in 2022, has had to put his plans on hold as he could not afford the payment. His sister, Violet Moiloa, said the family was dependent solely on social grants and her attempts to explain their financial struggle were met with indifference. “The school officials refused to listen to me, insisting that they will only hand over the certificate once the outstanding amount is paid,” she said. To make matters worse, she said she had been denied the opportunity to speak to the school principal. “They told me that all they wanted wass money before they can…

THE year 2024 has indeed been a momentous one for South Africa. The reasons are manifold – some genuinely groundbreaking, some fortuitous, and some downright disappointing. The 2024 Report Card reflects a rainbow nation, even after three decades of hard-won democratic freedoms, remaining in subdued transition to a truly equal non-racial society, still weighed down by the legacy and schisms of over three centuries of colonialism and apartheid and a string of metrics of unfinished business, especially in much-needed redemptive and restorative policies of more meaningful land reforms, addressing the ever widening inequality gaps in income, social safety nets, access to employment and standard of living, and exorcising the politics of race and hate from the psyche of South African body politic. Whether South Africa can ever become a nation…

I am neither superior nor inferior to anyone anywhere. We are equals. While it is true that we all have different roles, different responsibilities, vastly different experiences, we remain equals. We are not the same, but we are equal. My life is not more or less important than yours. No matter how educated or uneducated or wealthy or so-called poor, or “powerful” or “powerless” you or I may be, we are equals. While the world around you and me may not, and does not, affirm this truth, I will embrace it and live it to the best of my ability and hope you will too. Why? Because it is good for us – you and me. And, it is the truth. I aspire to live this way so that I…

“Ahistory” – distorted, unclear history – continues to surface every little while to plunge many of us into unnecessary, present and clear frenzy. Zionists continue using the myth of a “promised” land. And continue murdering tens of thousands of absolutely innocent people. No documented evidence except legends like the Dead Sea scrolls are presented as proof of land between rivers, ponds, streams and even some stormwater drains belonging to certain religious sects. The narrative swings to India, which is again in the crosshairs, this time of the European Union. Current conventions there are pointing to the “disleadership” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the spotlight of delegates from different countries who accuse him of gross violations of human rights, oppression and victimisation of minorities. This “sudden awakening”, however,…

MY FIRST visit to the 1860 Heritage Centre in Durban was a transformative one. The recent talks about the upheavals in Bangladesh and Pakistan piqued my interest and I felt that I would get a deeper sense of what was going on in the region by first acquainting myself with my own roots. As a South African Indian Muslim who has never visited India, I never really felt a connection to my Indian roots. Sure, I had heard, anecdotally of course, about the migration of my great-great grandfather from a little village called Gujarat to South Africa, but the details of indenture, the very nature and extent of the sacrifices made by all of our forebears, Muslim and non, was lost on me. Although I am a Muslim and understand…

AMID chants of “we do not want the GNU”, the relationship between the ANC and the DA found itself under the microscope yesterday during the SACP’s commemoration of Joe Slovo’s legacy at the Avalon Cemetery in Soweto. Those attending said it was a poignant reminder of the political divisions that continue to shape the country’s discourse. Speaking at the event, President Cyril Ramaphosa, alongside SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila and Cosatu leader Duncan Luvuno, paid tribute to Slovo’s contribution as an anti-apartheid activist. Slovo was a founding member and later chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mapaila did not shy away from criticising the DA, labelling them as “hyenas gunning to finish off the ANC”. He voiced concerns over the Government of National Unity (GNU), warning Ramaphosa of the…

Taxpayers will have to foot the bill yet again in a case of police misconduct in which a couple were arrested, pepper sprayed and the wife had insults hurled at her. The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, ordered the minister of police to pay R420 000 in damages to Salthiel Langa and R490 000 to his wife, Zanele Langa. The pair were so affected by their ordeal that both suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The couple instituted separate claims for damages against the police for unlawful arrest and detention, and for assault, as a result of an incident that occurred in October 2020. Both had to spend a night in a police cell before they were allowed to go home the next day. For six months they faced court proceedings, which…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that Professor Sibusiso Bengu, the democratic government’s first minister of education, will be buried in a Special Official Funeral Category 2. Bengu, 90, died in his sleep at his home on December 30. “Monday, December 30, 2024, Professor Sibusiso Mandlenkosi Emmanuel Bengu passed away peacefully at home, in his sleep,” the family said. “We will fondly remember him as a dear husband, father, uncle, grandfather, educator, former minister of education and ambassador, amongst others.” Bengu served as minister of education from 1994 to 1999, after which he was appointed as the country’s ambassador to Germany. Ramaphosa reiterated his condolences to the family and friends of Bengu. Bengu’s Special Official Funeral Category 2 will be held at the University of Zululand on Friday. Proceedings will include…

Whether detecting rising anxiety or managing a full-blown panic attack, the tech industry is offering new tools designed to support mental health. Scores of start-ups will pitch their solutions at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, one of them the Swiss firm Nutrix, which is introducing cortiSense to measure levels of the stress hormone cortisol. CortiSense allows users to test and analyse their saliva directly – without having to spit into a tube and send it to a laboratory. Results can be obtained in minutes via a mobile app. Nutrix founder Maria Hahn said that to test cortisol, people used to have to go to hospital, or submit samples. If a user’s levels are too high, Nutrix says it can put them in touch with health professionals…

IN 2019, I wanted to write a column about how widespread exploitative intergenerational sexual partnerships in my broader social circles encapsulated everything bad about South Africa, not just what bad things were happening in our private lives but also in our public acceptance of causes and effects of those things. My persuasive cousin said no – we had to draw a line somewhere concerning publicly discussing the sexual conduct of peers, acquaintances, friends and relatives. I deferred, which was annoying because I felt justified in entertaining the way my heart was burning within me while explaining my observations to him. Intergenerational sexual partnerships, also known as age-mixing or cross-generational relationships, are the sexual relationships of people with an age difference of 10 years or more. Everything going wrong with them…

In a move that many see as ill-informed and reckless, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has issued a directive for the disbandment of the task team focused on political killings. This shocking decision follows a period during which the task team has made significant strides, successfully arresting suspects linked to over 40 political murders. Yet, alarmingly, approximately 120 political murder cases remain unsolved, raising questions about the minister’s judgement and timing. The Moerane Commission, established in 2016 to investigate the causes of political killings in KwaZulu-Natal, identified that these tragic events often arise from intense internal political battles, fierce competition, and struggles for access to state contracts. Given these critical insights, Mchunu’s decision to dismantle the task force feels particularly misguided. Political tensions in KZN are fuelled by power struggles and…