Innehållsförteckning för 2021-05-14 från Mercury

STOCKS at the JSE were spooked by inflationary pressures and possible higher interest rates after the US recorded 13-year high consumer inflation. The rate of the US consumer price inflation (CPI) jumped to 4.2 percent on Wednesday, the highest since 2008 and well above forecasts of 3.6 percent rise. The jump in US consumer prices prompted a risk-off sentiment from investors on fears that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would tighten its dovish monetary policy sooner than expected. The JSE All Share Index closed 1.86 percent lower to 66 168.65 points dragged down by miners as a recent rally in prices of iron ore and platinum paused. African Rainbow Minerals fell 5.2 percent to 4.9 percent to R275.32 per share, while Anglo Gold eased R320.90. Kumba Iron Ore tumbled…

Sihle Mavuso sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za Following his ascension to the Zulu throne last week Friday and pending a few government formalities – like a public coronation – the new Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has met with KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala. The meeting took place yesterday morning, at KwaKhangelamankengane Royal Palace, in Nongoma. After the behind-closed-doors meeting, Zikalala said he assured the 47-year-old American-educated king that the provincial government he is leading will continue to play its role in supporting the royal household, as in the past. “The purpose (of the meeting) was to clarify how the government works with the royal house as a whole. It is known that the royal house is under the premier’s office, in terms of governance and the administration, and the premier’s office is expected to…

Karen Singh, Lee Rondganger and Vernon Mchunu There was chaos yesterday outside Durban’s St Augustine’s Hospital as hundreds of health-care workers formed snaking queues waiting to be vaccinated. Vaccinations under the Sisonke implementation study for health-care workers (HCWs) is expected to come to an end tomorrow as the study organisers did not want it to clash with the official roll-out. The study was also expanded to include non-patient facing HCWs. But the rush to get the vaccine before the study ended saw hundreds show up at the hospital without an appointment. There was also confusion among those queuing about whether they needed to have a voucher number to be eligible to get the vaccine. A doctor who had been queuing since 5.30am with a group of young doctors said: “If…

NARENDH GANESH | Durban North The ANC is asking Ace Magashule to apologise publicly to President Ramaphosa for issuing him with a letter of suspension after Magashule himself was suspended as ANC secretary-general for defying ANC instructions. If anyone thought that the circus was only coming to town in October – think again – because it is here – and we all have complimentary tickets to the show. And the ringmasters are upping their game as they attempt to palliate serious cracks and tears in the big tent. After his suspension was announced, a belligerent and rather disputatious Magashule went on the offensive against the same comrades who were literally showing him the door. The wannabe and aspiring boss man of the ANC should have had some prescience…

PAKS PAKIRIY | Durban North Many are aghast at the news of allegations of men perpetrating violence against women to enforce severed relationships. Social media pictures showing the aftermath of violent behaviour by some of the men, are alarming. Death by murder at the hands of their lovers, boyfriends and husbands are becoming far too common. The police and justice system seem to be failing some of the families who have lost loved ones through gender based violence (GBV). The scourge of GBV must be eradicated early, through education in schools. There must be a minimum jail time for all offenders. A few months in jail will send a message to men that they cannot resort to violence to solve relationship problems. I hope the…

MORE than 100 prisoners released early on special Covid-19 parole have been rearrested for crimes, including murder, grievous bodily harm, house robbery and assault. The Department of Correctional Services has cited low community support, which leaves them vulnerable and feeling they have no choice but to go back to crime, as the reason for re-offending in some of the cases. The department released a total of 13 989 prisoners, according to spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo. “These are people who qualified for the Covid-19 parole dispensation and they were considered low-risk offenders if they served a minimum required time. Unfortunately 0.96% (126) have re-offended and they are back inside, over 60 of them are back on what we call crimes of need, like housebreaking and robbery. We feel that this is…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za AS THE KwaZulu-Natal ANC said it was only days away from giving several high-profile leaders their marching orders in terms of the step-aside rule, party branches were expected to be told by last night to submit “complete” lists of those indicted for fraud and corruption. Branch representatives would meet provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli and present these lists, ANC KZN spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said. “It has surfaced that submissions on the names before us do not reflect the complete picture of comrades who are implicated and thus affected by the step-aside ruling,” said Ntombela. “The branches will meet Ntuli and the lists will be scrutinised to ensure that nobody escapes the net. After this process, we will by next week write letters to all comrades who are implicated,…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za LESS than half of children (43%) received free school meals in February and March this year, well below pre-pandemic levels (65%), and November/December 2020 levels (49%). This is according to Wave 4 results of the National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (Nids-Cram), released yesterday. The Nids-Cram Wave 4 data was collected between February 2 and March 10, with 5 629 successful interviews conducted. Respondents with children were asked if their child had received a school meal in the past seven days. “Restricting this to those dates where schools were open and children could receive meals shows that only 43% of respondents said yes. “The leading explanation for low school meal receipt is rotational timetables where only half of children attend on any one…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za THE Mangosuthu University of Technology management said the “no work, no pay” principle would apply to staff who had embarked on a protest since Monday. Workers, led by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), embarked on a protest after they objected to the delay in the implementation of their settlement agreement with management. Yesterday, the university confirmed that it woke up to the news of burning tyres and broken bottles at the campus entrances, with the protesters threatening to prevent staff, who are not on strike, from accessing the campus. The protest is over salary increases. Nehawu late last month told The Mercury that they had reached an agreement with the university about salary increases, bringing to an end a three-week protest. MUT confirmed…

ATTACKING and assaulting worshippers in prayer, whether at a mosque, in a church or anywhere else, is abhorrent and cannot be tolerated by the international community. Israeli soldiers have attacked Muslim worshippers during this holy month of Ramadaan and Christian worshippers during the Greek Orthodox Easter, and there have been little, if any, repercussions following this outrageous violation of their rights. Occupying Israeli forces attacked worshippers in the vicinity of the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre, established military checkpoints, obstructed access to the church, assaulted nuns and priests, and detained worshippers, according to the Palestinian Authority. Where else in the world would this type of behaviour be tolerated? There was no respect for the sanctity of holy sites, or the fact that they are to be accessed freely in…

Of the 100 cities worldwide most vulnerable to environmental hazards all but one are in Asia, and most are in India or China, according to a risk assessment published yesterday. Across the globe, more than 400 large cities with a total population of 1.5 billion are at “high” or “extreme” risk due to some mixture of life-shortening pollution, dwindling water supplies, deadly heat waves, natural disasters and climate change, the report found. The sinking megalopolis of Jakarta – plagued by pollution, flooding and heat waves, with worse to come –topped the ranking, while two other Indonesian cities are in the top 10: Surabaya (fourth) and Bandung (eighth). Pakistan’s two biggest urban agglomerations, Karachi (12th) and Lahore (15th), are not far behind. But India, home to 13 of the world’s 20…

The UK government yesterday promised to help families of 10 innocent civilians killed in Northern Ireland almost 50 years ago, amid demands for a police inquiry into the deaths. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis acknowledged families’ “terrible hurt” about the unrest in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, as sectarian violence escalated in August 1971. “We’re determined to address it in a way that enables victims and survivors to get to the truth which they deserve,” he told parliament. On Tuesday, a coroner concluded at an inquest that British soldiers used “clearly disproportionate” force against protesters in the nationalist area. She said the victims, including a priest and a mother of eight, were “entirely innocent of wrongdoing”, clearing their names after decades of smears that they were paramilitaries. Nine of the 10 were…

N’Djamena: Chadian National Reconciliation and Dialogue Minister Acheikh Ibn Oumar has accused the armed opposition group Front for Change and Concord in Chad (Fact) of being sponsored by foreign powers. According to the minister, who himself used to be an opposition leader, the difference between Fact and Chad’s other armed groups is that the former was formed outside the country. “It was formed abroad with significant and unidentified foreign support. They have a large number of equipment and weapons that are being used on the battlefield for the first time. They are also very experienced in using those weapons.”…

The IOC seems to be desperate right now, and desperate people do desperate things that are not logical, or sensible, and certainly not in the interests of those around them. The situation in Japan is deteriorating, and according to Reuters this particular wave of Covid-19, fuelled by new variants, has placed the healthcare system under severe pressure. On Wednesday, 7 521 new cases of the disease were recorded with 103 further deaths, adding to 11 148 individuals that have sadly passed away in that country. You might think South Africa has concerns and problems with its vaccination programme, but Japan is struggling just as much, with only an estimated 2% of its 125-million citizens receiving the jab. The state of emergency has also been extended in the country to the…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za BANKING group Absa said yesterday it expected its earnings for the six months to the end of June to surge ten-fold compared with last year because of lower credit impairments as the bank recovers from the fall-out of the Covid-19 pandemic. The bank informed its shareholders that its headline earnings per share (Heps) and earnings per share for the six months to the end of June were expected to be more than 10 times higher – at 67.7 cents a share and 58.8c, respectively – compared with the first six months of 2020, with most divisions expected to report earnings growth. Normalised Heps was expected to be between five and six times the normalised Heps of 173.6c reported during the first half of last year. The…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize came under fire from opposition MPs yesterday on the slow pace of the vaccination programme. The government has vaccinated more than 400 000 health-care workers out of the target of 1.2 million. Opposition parties said the slow pace of rolling out vaccines would make it difficult for the government to reach its target of inoculating 40 million people by the end of the year. Mkhize was delivering his Budget vote speech when MPs slammed the government. DA MP Siviwe Gwarube said the government had only been able to vaccinate 1% of the population. This was the 400 000 health-care workers that had been given injections. EFF MP Suzan Thembekwayo also lashed out at the department, saying it was not on…

ABOUT 90% of respondents feel that video calls have helped them to combat feelings of loneliness amid the pandemic, a report said yesterday. The survey conducted by video-conferencing platform Zoom in collaboration with Qualtrics Research also revealed that 50% of respondents have used video calls for business purposes. And over half of them (52%) appreciate having a choice between virtual and physical meetings as they feel “hybrid workplaces will save time and provide convenience”. “India adjusted and adopted video call platforms rapidly. It wasn’t just a shift in technology but in behavioural mindset as well,” Sameer Raje, general manager and head of India, Zoom, said. In India’s sector-specific dive, the report finds that the most common use of video calls are seen in education (72%), celebration/social gatherings (62%), events (59%),…

| Don Marquis IT’S the auld enemy, the Bulls, in their own territory at Loftus tomorrow. And the Sharks have something to avenge, a memory to expunge – that debacle of a Currie Cup final. But the lads have altogether changed their style of play since then. The kicking is judicious, not automatic. The offloading and directional switches have become sublime. The threequarters are adventurous and pacy out wide. The tackling is solid – when the fellows don’t get foxed. They must eliminate the penalties against, not to mention the cards, mainly for stupid stuff. This time it should be different. The damsels of the Street Shelter for the Over-Forties are strumming at their knickers in anticipation of supplying elastic for a fashioning of catapults for the time-honoured celebratory…

MALCOM MITCHELL | Hillcrest I recently saw a TV programme about large areas of Johannesburg being unsafe to walk in at night because copper cable theft had caused the street lights to be out of operation. I need to say that for at least 35 years or more the “good guys” have not managed to beat the “crooks” in this type of problem. At that time I had the overall responsibility for national roads and we embarked on a project to light the freeway between Johannesburg and Pretoria. To our horror, about a week before we were due to switch the lights on, about 25km of copper cables were stolen overnight. It cost a great deal of money to set up a system to safeguard the cables into…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za IN THE LATEST salvo, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) has slammed the South African Local Government Association (Salga) for an alleged false public statement about the union’s stance in the ongoing wage deliberations. Salga had said that the employer body and organised labour were in agreement that the economic downturn had hampered the ability of municipalities to generate revenue. “Parties (at the negotiating table) have affirmed their commitment to work towards a common ground which will result in an agreement being reached. This augurs well for the prospects of peace and stability in the sector and in ensuring the continuation of service delivery without interruptions,” Salga said at the conclusion of the second round of the talks. In reaction, the union hit out yesterday and…

ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za A NIGERIAN citizen will have to return to his country of birth after South African authorities revoked his questionable citizenship nearly a decade after it was granted. This was based on allegations that he had illegally married a young South African woman. It, however, transpired that Antony Nwafor, although apparently telling Home Affairs he was a “bachelor” at the time of his wedding in this country, was already married to another woman in Nigeria. Home Affairs also questioned his South African marriage as his “new wife” was underage and needed permission from her parents to get married. The 57-year-old Nwafor, however, insisted that he never told the department he was a bachelor. According to him, he was indeed divorced from his first wife when he remarried. He…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za AS PARLIAMENT is due to decide the fate of the bill that seeks to make public the names of convicted sex offenders, a prisoner rights body has challenged the state to equally shame public servants found guilty of fraud and corruption. As part of the government’s efforts against gender-based violence, the Justice and Correctional Services Department recently proposed a set of three bills, including the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Bill, which would make provision for names of convicted sex offenders to be made available to the public. Departmental spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said the draft law was in the purview of Parliament, which was scrutinising public comments received. The bill “aims, among other things, to extend the ambit of the offence of incest, introduce a new…

A South African report into excess deaths over the past year suggests more than 133 000 people in the country have died from Covid-19, far more than the official tally of nearly 55 000. The SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has been monitoring excess deaths since May 2020. In its latest report, published on Wednesday, the SAMRC said South Africa had seen 157 000 excess deaths in the past 12 months and estimated that 85% of them were caused by Covid-19, which means just over 133 000 people have died from the disease. This compares to an official death toll of 54 968 since the start of the pandemic. South Africa implemented a tough lockdown from March 2020, when case numbers were relatively low, and the SAMRC said increases in…

Nyaniso Qwesha | Wynberg Where are we? Is this the South Africa I know? Or is it a convergence of politics? A week ago, we were inundated with former DA Western Cape leader and MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela’s misrepresentation of facts, claiming to have obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree in his CV. This saga resulted in him being suspended and he then resigned from all his leadership positions. Xanthea Limberg is another DA member on the list of members whose qualifications have come under scrutiny. Noting the above, one will need to think clearly about the need for ethical foundations within our politics and government circles. It cannot be right that people lie and there are no consequences. On the other hand, the ANC has been struggling with implementing…

As clashes continue in East Jerusalem with the pending eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, to make way for Israeli settlers, the repeated raids into Al Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces and the rising death toll in Gaza, anger within Israel’s Green Line has reached boiling point. On Wednesday Israel declared a state of emergency and a night curfew in the northern city of Lod, where a young Palestinian man was shot dead by an Israeli on Monday. Protesters clashed with Israeli forces during the funeral procession on Tuesday night. This was the second time in the city’s history that a state of emergency had been declared, the first being in 1966 just before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Benny Gantz…

BRASILIA: Only about 24% of Brazilians think the administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has been “good” or “great”, his lowest popularity rating since taking office in 2019 and down from 30% in March. Bolsonaro has been widely criticised for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including for opposing lockdown measures, downplaying the severity of the disease and not prioritising the purchase of vaccines. Brazil has the world’s second-largest death toll from Covid-19.…

Taipei: Taiwan faced rolling blackouts yesterday after an outage at a power plant, days after the affected electricity supplier warned that drought and heat wave conditions were creating an energy crunch. Officials said the cause of the outage was still under investigation, saying power could be restored as early as the evening. Taipower’s Hsinta Power Plant – a coal- and gas-fired facility at Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan – tripped after equipment failure at a substation, said Kao Tzu Hang, a company representative. Starting 3pm local time, electricity supply on the island of 24 million people was restricted to 2 million households.…

THE fishing has been wild across all facets. The freshwater guys are doing well and the salt is being kind. The winter is on the way and so are the sardines. Let us hope that the silver shoals grace our shores with a good run this year. The offshore scene has been on fire. The winter swells are here and the sea has definitely settled a bit. The crocodiles are patrolling and the tuna are hungry, so get on your boat and head out. The North Coast has been the place to launch/fish. The biggest of the couta have been caught from the Umdloti section north. It is the time of the year to put out the bigger baits and look for that shallower water bite. The bigger fish generally…

Princess Charlotte is set to follow in the footsteps of her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, as a style icon. The six-year-old royal looks set to become as much of a trendsetter as her mother Catherine after the floral dress she was pictured in for her recent birthday post on social media completely sold out. According to Rachel Riley – who owns the upscale Rachel Riley boutique where Catherine bought her daughter’s blue and pink dress – the item is now out of stock, and the designer has “no doubt” the young royal will one day become as much of a fashion influencer as her mum. She said: "It was such a treat to see Princess Charlotte wearing our button front floral dress to mark her sixth birthday! She looks…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za WILD animals at the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park could make their way in to nearby communities after protesters damaged sections of the fence. The community of Bhiliya embarked on a violent protest this week, complaining about the lack of employment opportunities provided by Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife. The mob went on the rampage, and Ezemvelo officials said the protesters were not prepared to talk to them, but demanded the organisation employ them. “When the protesters were told that the organisation currently did not have any employment opportunities to offer all of them, they continued with cutting down poles and burning them, and started cutting the fence,” said Ezemvelo. The newly erected fence was put up through donations by the Peace Parks Foundation nearly three years ago. Ezemvelo’s acting chief executive…

FAROUK ARAIE | Benoni The world’s fourth-largest military power launches a full onslaught against civilians and worshippers during the holy month of Ramadaan. Palestinian resistance is often criticised as futile given the grotesque power imbalance between the two sides. War continues in Palestine on a scale that is truly shocking. The global community looks on, while the savagery continues. The battle for the heart and soul of Palestine rages on unabated. This is the story of a courageous people who face horrors beyond belief, a people whose story is seldom told in the West and a story about war and its consequences. When blood is spilled on such a massive scale, there are no winners only various kinds of pain. The combination of revelations about the scale and…

BRADLEY SINGH | DA KZN spokesperson: Sports and Recreation While libraries play a vital role within KwaZulu-Natal communities, it appears the vast majority in the province have not received any new books for as long as three years. The issue was recently uncovered by the DA after more than 180 regular book suppliers claimed they had been struggling to earn an income since 2018. This, after the KZN Municipal Library and the KZN Provincial Library Services stopped purchasing books. The claims come despite KZN’s Department of Arts and Culture’s (DoAC) supposedly audited financials which show the budget allocation for library books has been used in full during this period. The potential misuse of funding allocated to the purchase of library books is of extreme concern to the DA.…

Examine your life if you want any change. Desired change won’t happen without you. Five or 10 minutes, pencil and paper and a strong dose of sincerity is all you need and you could change the direction of your life. Really, it is done by “beginning small”, by jotting down answers to a few questions, and then acting on the insights that come your way by doing what you can to turn insight into action. If there’s too much, just pick one question from each section. That will be a good start. Does the week drawing to a close need any repair from me? Is there anything I need to “clean up” with anybody? What have I left undone that needs my attention? Who deserves my attention that I’ve been…

| Mercury Correspondent A 32-year-old man, arrested in connection with a cash-in-transit (CIT) heist and the murders of two police officers in 2019, has been sentenced. Sandile Gumede was sentenced to life imprisonment for the CIT heist, and for the murder of Warrant Officer Sifundo Musa and Lieutenant-Colonel Carl van der Vyver. Hawks spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said the officers, Musa from the Special Task Force and Van der Vyver from Crime Intelligence, were killed in a shootout with heavily-armed CIT robbers in Nongoma, in February, two years ago. He said seven suspects were also fatally wounded during the shootout with police. "Gumede was arrested after the incident and was found in possession of the vehicle that was used during the robbery. Hawks members from Pietermaritzburg Serious…

Four African conservation heroes have won awards for their efforts to protect wildlife and natural environments at the UK charity Whitley Fund for Nature’s awards. The Whitley Awards support grass-root conservationists from the global south leading impactful projects in their home countries, according to a statement by the charity yesterday. After an international search, in 2021 they recognised work to safeguard sea turtles (Kenya), southern ground hornbills (South Africa), hooded grebes (Argentina), Lahille’s bottlenose dolphins (Brazil), bats (Nigeria), Amur falcons (India) and elephants (Kenya). This year’s top gold award of £100 000 (about R1.9 million) in project funding was awarded to Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu for her outstanding leadership of Africa’s conservation movement and support of her outstanding work to secure justice for wildlife and citizens in the fight against…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za The nomination of Umtentweni in a national small town competition bodes well for the region, Ugu South Coast Tourism chief executive Phelisa Mangcu said yesterday. The small town is up against St Lucia, Vryheid (KwaZulu-Natal), Hazyview, Nelspruit and Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga) and Aranos, Gochas and Luderitz from Namibia in the Kwêla Dorp van die Jaar competition on DStv’s kykNET channel this month. Mangcu said the town’s nomination indicated that the South Coast region was increasingly becoming a major player in the tourism space as Port Edward was shortlisted in the same competition last year. “People are increasingly becoming aware that Ugu district (Port Shepstone and surrounding areas) has a lot to offer for tourists,”she said. Mangcu added that the filming of the SABC’s Longest Date series in the…

The Eastern Cape police officer who allegedly shot his girlfriend and lied about the incident to investigators, leading to his arrest by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), will spend the weekend behind bars. Constable Sinethemba Mceleni, 29, was arrested by Ipid investigators this week after he allegedly shot and wounded his girlfriend during an argument last Friday. Mceleni opened a case of attempted murder, claiming to police investigators that his girlfriend had been shot during a robbery attempt. However, the girlfriend told police investigators that she had been shot by her police officer boyfriend during an argument. She spoke to police after gaining consciousness at a local hospital. Providing an update on the matter, Ipid spokesperson Ndileka Cola said the suspect appeared at the Mount Fletcher Magistrate’s Court yesterday…

Sihle Zikalala In May, the month iconic Zulu poet, freedom fighter and poet laureate Mazisi Kunene was born, we are called upon to rededicate ourselves to self- and collective renewal. Good poets and philosophers like Kunene should not just fill our hearts with epic joy, but also be the fresh salt that wakes us from complacency and the folly of thinking we have arrived, Yithi oNgqo Shishilizi. In recalling Kunene’s life, we are remembering a life rooted in the service of the people. This celebration gives us an opportunity to remember, with fondness, Mazisi kaMdabuli weKunene, born on May 12, 1930 at Amahlongwa on the South Coast of our beautiful city, Durban. Had he lived, ubaba uMntimande would have celebrated his 91st birthday on Wednesday. Although we were…

The next two weekends will be very important for the “big three” of South African soccer – Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns – as they prepare for their Caf Champions League and Confed Cup quarterfinals. Football on the continent brings its own special challenges and rewards. It’s a very different proposition to the local Premier Soccer League, but it almost always makes for intriguing tales and storylines. Our three glamour clubs find themselves in contrasting headspaces. Sundowns are poised to wrap up their fourth-consecutive league title and they face a fascinating clash with Egyptian giants Al Ahly, who are coached by former Sundowns mastermind Pitso Mosimane. There is a long history between these two clubs, not least because, in 2016, Sundowns, with Mosimane at the helm, won the…

A three-day ceasefire agreed to by the warring Taliban and Afghan government came into force yesterday as the country celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr after weeks of deadly violence. Proposed by the militants and approved by President Ashraf Ghani, the truce offered respite for Afghans as they mark the Muslim festival with friends and family. Violence has intensified in the country since the US missed a May 1 deadline, agreed with by the Taliban last year, to withdraw all of its troops. If the ceasefire holds, it will be only the fourth pause in fighting in nearly 20 years of conflict. Ghani used his annual Eid address to urge the Taliban to agree to a lasting truce now that international troops were leaving. “We don’t want you to surrender, but we want you…

HARARE: Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended the tenure of the chief justice by five years following contentious changes to the constitution that allowed for the extension and are being challenged in court by lawyers. Chief Justice Luke Malaba had been due to retire on Saturday when he turns 70, but Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party used its majority in parliament to amend the constitution, allowing the president to extend the retirement age of senior judges to 75 years. In a statement, the chief secretary to the cabinet said Mnangagwa had accepted a medical report from Malaba, which showed the top judge had the “mental and physical fitness to continue in that office”. But lawyers and the opposition say the amendment that allowed Malaba to continue in office and empower Mnangagwa…

TRIPOLI: The Libyan Ministry of Justice yesterday announced releasing dozens of detainees who fought with the eastern- based army against the former UN-backed government of national accord for control of the capital Tripoli. A deadly armed conflict broke out in April 2019 between the eastern-based army and the former UN-backed government of national accord in and around Tripoli, which ended in June 2020 with the former UN-backed government announcing its takeover of all western Libya after withdrawal of the rival eastern-based army.…

HERMAN GIBBS DEFENDER Reeve Frosler says Tanzania visitors Simba SC will not derive much benefit from watching Kaizer Chiefs in action against Swallows FC in a midweek DStv Premiership match. Simba, CAF Champions League quarter-finalists two seasons ago, arrived in South Africa on Tuesday, ahead of their quarter-final match against Chiefs on Saturday at the FNB Stadium (start 6pm). On Wednesday, Simba's squad watched Chiefs in action on television as part of their preparation for Saturday's showdown. "Simba has done well to arrive early so that they can acclimatise, and also have a look at our game," said Frosler. "This is a CAF fixture, and we play differently than when we play a Premiership League game. The game plan will be different, and the make-up of the team will…

LAWN bowls may appear to be a low impact, sedate game; but ask any bowler who has participated in a two or three day tournament and they will tell you that they feel the effects of the physical activity for a few days after play. Injuries do occur - the most common being an accidental strike by a bowl being driven into the head, tripping when stepping onto the green or stepping onto a bowl and muscle or ligament damage from over exertion and the repetitive movement associated with delivering the bowl. Shoulder, knee and muscular injury can be minimized through a regular pre-match warm-up routine that clubs need to promote with their members. Start with a brisk walk around the green, half a metre outside the boundary slabs, which…